Account, payments & subscriptions

[CS70]

One of the baser examples of the depths to which the tech world is sinking.  Let's force people to do something that is unquestionably wrong on so many levels, but it's ok because it's a simple game of numbers.  We don't care how much frustration and anger this causes people... most will just acquiesce and do it anyway - AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS!!!  Principles be **bleep**!

My Roku is now mingling with the rest of my garbage at bottom of my bin, and I will selling all my Roku stock asap.  I don't believe this type of policy is wise for a company's long term growth, especially with so much competition out there.  Not that the soulless robots that made this decision are capable of caring, but it make me feel better...

[renojim]

You're not "FORCED" to do anything.  Admittedly they don't make it obvious, but you can skip entering payment information.                                               

[MilesT]

There are ways round this..do more searching.

Easiest is to register with a card, then immediately remove it from the account. Roku will still work.

Make sure you are signing up via the official web link not sone scammy link that has bought its way up to the top of the search ranking (sadly this has been happening.)

[makaiguy]

@CS70-

It's been a bunch of years since I created an account so things may have changed since then but ...

When creating an account, the payment info entry page had a "skip this step" (or similar wording) link.  Admittedly it was small and inconspicuous but it was there.  Unfortunately, this only showed when viewing via a web browser on a desktop.  The version shown on smaller screen mobile devices lacked this link.  (Roku is not known for its page coding expertise.)  But as mentioned, even if you enter a payment method it can later be deleted.

Should you ever choose to rent a movie, view a pay-per-view event, or subscribe to a channel through your Roku interface, having the payment method pre-entered streamlines the process and many people find this convenient, but opt out if you want to.

[Strega]

I also signed up years ago and did so at:  https://my.roku.com/signup/nocc

It was just something I googled up prior to buying.   Does that no longer work??

It might be better to stick to index funds and keep your emotional reactions to gadgets separate.  Also, given that you just registered to post this, I'm guessing the Roku is new, so why not return it?  And if the answer is: emotions, then I would say: see my recommendation on investing!

[CS70]

Perhaps you can let me know exactly how to "skip" the credit card thing.  I couldn't find it, and after reading several posts on this community about how it cannot be done, I concluded that it can't be done.  If I'm wrong about this, please let me know how to do it.  Thanks

[CS70]

Yes, I'm sure you are correct that there are ways around this.  But that is completely missing my point.  I don't want a work-around.  What they are doing is WRONG, and if we just do work-arounds we are allowing them to continue with that terrible policy.  It's about principles.  I believe it's a very bad business practice to use a policy like that.  By using work-arounds we are only encouraging them to continue to do it, and also encouraging other companies to start doing the same.

I don't believe in that type of policy, and I don't want any part of it, whether as a customer or a shareholder.  Again, it's about principles.

[CS70]

I 100% agree with: many people find this convenient, but opt out if you want to

The problem is I can`t opt out...

I should have that choice - but I don`t

[CS70]

Yes, I am new to this forum, and new to having a Roku account.  However, I`ve owned a Roku for many years, but the old one (very old - didn`t require an account) doesn`t work with Amazon Prime, Disney +, etc, so upgraded to a newer one.  When I tried to set it up, I ran into this whole credit card thing.

I bought it several months ago, and I also butchered the packaging when I took it out of the box, so I don`t think returning it is an option.

As for the investing advice and emotional counselling.... thanks

[Strega]

Um, did you try the link?  (It's not the main way, but it's not that big of a secret either.)

I think there is also a small "skip this step" even if you go in the main way.

As I recall, when I set up my first android phone, they wanted that to be connected to my google account and they too wanted a payment method for the play store. (Though they also had a skip step option.)

I think my iPad was also similar.

Butchered packaging is taken back by retailers all the time.  It is a good idea to try an item out soon after you receive it, but some vendors like Target and Costco have pretty generous return periods.  Buy from them if you like to take it slow on the installs.