I canceled the Starter plan on the settings page before the automatic payment was to be processed. I was aware of it because there was a message stating, “0 days left until the end of the trial period, and you may cancel if you don’t want the payment to be processed,” so I followed the instructions and canceled. However, the payment had already been processed. I found out about this through an email just after canceling, which was extremely disconcerting. This was one of the worst user experiences I’ve ever had, but it didn’t end there.
I had no choice but to reactivate the Starter plan, thinking that I would be stuck using it for a month anyway. And then, what kind of magic happened next? Yes, a second payment was made. As a result, I ended up paying twice within three hours for a project I no longer needed. I was so furious that I checked the payment email and found a line saying, “If you feel there’s been a mistake or have any questions, please visit the Bubble Support Center to get in touch with our Support team.” However, upon visiting the Bubble Support Center, there was no email address provided, just a link to the FAQ, which stated, “We do not offer refunds for any transactions at this time as per our Manual.” Is this a joke?
Up until today, Adobe held the title for the worst dark patterns I had ever seen, but now, that title goes to Bubble. I am a UX designer with over 10 years of experience, and I can confidently say that Bubble’s dark patterns are the worst user experience I have encountered since I started using the internet. Even the infamous Adobe did not refuse refunds for plans that would go unused or hide their customer service contact information. This is truly shameful.
Did you not think about providing at least minimal convenience to the user in the payment experience?