[pilgrim]

Maybe a slightly odd thing to post about, but I wanted to share that I was impressed with the lady who answered the phone when I called yesterday to cancel my membership of the official Sonoma site. I had one of the 7-day trial memberships and wanted to cancel before I got charged, as I didn't really feel the additional resources were worth the cost - the boards were fairly quiet, the diet information is mostly cut-and-pasted from the book, and I can do things like food journalling and meal planning elsewhere. About the only interesting thing to me was the recipe section, and that wasn't worth $4 a week to me (it might be for a novice cook, but cooking is a long-standing hobby of mine, and I quite like a cooking challenge to motivate me - so adapting my old recipes to the Sonoma way of eating excites me more than it bothers me).

Anyway, I was a bit apprehensive about calling the number to cancel - I don't like phones anyway, and as I'm not in the US, I was afraid they would try to keep me on the line dissuading me (or on hold music!) and cost me a lot of money. I know some sites are sneaky like that. Actually, though, it was a very quick, friendly and efficient call. They did ask why I was cancelling, but in a very polite way. They did not try to change my mind, and overall they actually made me feel good about the whole experience. So if you want a trial membership but are worried about not being able to cancel if you don't like it, you probably don't need to worry - so long as you make a diary note to call them before the 7 days expires.

[2Bees]

glad you posted that.

Whoever did the market research to set that price did them a HUGE disservice.
They would probably make twice the bucks and have an active board if the charged $12-24 a YEAR.

[bargoo]

I tried to get out of WW online with no success and this was after I had signed up only about two hours before. I am stuck with it for 3 months, the only thing I do is track my weight and I can do that on my own.

[pilgrim]

2Bees, I agree, their business model seems rather lacking. I thought I would at least give them credit where they had earned it, though!

Bargoo, I sympathise over trying to get out of WW. I used to be a member there and never found it very useful - and looking back, the menus contained a lot of things that were low-fat/low-cal, but actually still junk - highly processed, low in actual nutrition, etc. I much prefer the Sonoma way of eating.

[Mom2boxers]

Hi, Pilgrim! I just cancelled my membership also. I have had the older version of the Sonoma Diet book for years now... and just got back into reading it. Her recipes are absolutely delicious! I am so happy I am rereading this book. I ordered her newest book also, so I don't feel guilty trying the trial membership. My experience was the same as yours as far as cancelling but ... get this! ... they offered me a reduction in price! She said I could pay $30.00 quarterly rather than the $52.00.

It did make me hesitate. LOL! What upset me in the very beginning of my trial is the fact that I was so loaded down with spyware and cookies from advertisers by the time I logged out of the site, my computer kept freezing up and was sluggish. I had to run a spyware program every time I logged out.

So, they are getting paid from advertisers AND from people who are paying members, but taking advantage of them as well. I was not amused.

[pilgrim]

Hi, Mom2Boxers! I haven't had any trouble with spyware, but my AV software is pretty good (F-Secure, not one of the better-known ones, but I really like it.) That's really disappointing that you had so much trouble.

I see on the other thread that you're doing a low-carb Med plan. Come over to the weekly thread and tell us how you're getting along and what you're eating!