The 7-Day Nintendo Switch Online Trial Was Longer Than 7 Days

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Well, that's awfully nice of them. Also, the KoopaTV Family Plan has started.

I said it to the universe: I'd be using the 7-day Nintendo Switch Online trial for the Retro vs. Modern Splatoon 2 Splatfest. (Once I fully understand the new Splatfest system, I'll write an article about it... but quite frankly, I still don't understand it.)

I got the free trial on Saturday, September 22, at 4:09 PM Eastern time. Apparently, the free trial expired Monday, October 1, at 1:09 PM Eastern. That's nearly nine days. That's more than a seven-day free trial.

Compare the Purchase History with Your Subscriptions. Longer than seven days.

 
This week is National Customer Service Week, previously covered here during 2015. Giving free extra days on the free trial is good customer service, right?

Still, that doesn't erase how I described the 7-day free trial in my article about how to stick it to Nintendo if you dislike Nintendo Switch Online.

“That's... really slimy and scummy of Nintendo if it's correct that the 7-day free trial will automatically convert to a $4 1-month subscription unless you go out of your way to opt-out.”

Let's back up. I got the trial on the 22nd for Splatoon 2 purposes. I immediately encountered a problem — one has to store their credit card number or PayPal account to access the free trial because you're automatically signing up for a 1-month, $4 Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Available Funds, while an option to renew with in your eShop settings, wasn't an option to actually get the subscription to begin with. Only credit (debit) card or PayPal.

Let's just say... I don't exactly trust storing my personal financial information on Nintendo's servers. You know, hackers target gamers... and gaming companies.

But I had to to get the trial.

So here's what I did. I entered my credit (debit) card information. Got the trial. I immediately went to the eShop settings and wiped out my credit (debit) card information from my Nintendo eShop account. I have no idea if Nintendo would still be (illegally) storing that information even after I ordered it eliminated, but that's the most I can do.

I then went to the automatic renewals part of the eShop settings, switched it back to Available Funds (it was Available Funds before the trial, then automatically changed to credit card after I got the trial), and turned off automatic renewal.

TURN IT OFF.

And then once I turned off automatic renewal, the trial end date went from September 29 to October 1. I don't know why doing something that Nintendo doesn't want me to do gets me a reward, but I'm impressed, I guess. 

I was so impressed that I went ahead and did what I was supposed to do this whole time — purchase a family membership for the KoopaTV Family Group. Unfortunately for me, even if I have more than double the $35 cost for the family membership, credit card information or PayPal is required for a purchase. The same is not true for an individual membership. (Though it was true for the trial.) So once more, I put my information in, only to delete it. Of course, automatic renewal is on. Or else the other KoopaTV staffers would be mad at me.

Family Membership for a year from my funds. Aren't I nice?

Kamek and Witch Princess are the only other members of the Family Group and they're too busy sleeping to confirm that they can use online services now.

(Update: Witch Princess woke up and can confirm her online access.)

You might have noticed that I did the exact opposite of my big article on sticking it to Nintendo. I got the trial... and then converted off of it to the most expensive plan possible. With auto-renewal. Nintendo is going to look at me as a success and a data point that Nintendo Switch Online is a good value.

My bad.


Ludwig doesn't have a credit card, so he really doesn't want his bank account scammed by unethical Nintendo employees or hackers. KoopaTV was always going to have the family plan since it was promoted as a benefit, so this whole thing was unavoidable. Still nice of Nintendo to offer extra days on the trial, though.


If it wasn't already made clear, a benefit to being in KoopaTV's staff is access to the family membership. Learn more about joining KoopaTV's staff here!
This isn't the only secret benefit of Nintendo Switch Online. Now there's special SP versions of NES games, too.
Not wanting to store credit card info on a gaming service is a super good idea.
For a limited time, Nintendo offered an extra, second trial!
The auto-renewal shenanigans is getting Nintendo some regulatory scrutiny.
Trying to renew your Nintendo Switch Online subscription is a massive pain if you want to protect your rights as a consumer.