Deceptive Checkout Trap & Spam: A Warning to Shoppers
I placed two orders with Dead on Paper. This review documents the 3 issues I encountered.
1. The Account Creation / Save My Data Trap
I paid manually by credit card, intentionally avoiding express checkout options. Just above the "Pay now" button, the site uses confusing verbiage to describe how to check out without saving your information or creating an account.
Order #1: I clicked the "Not now" text widget to ensure a guest checkout. The system ignored my choice, saved my information anyway, AND forced the creation of a global account with their e-commerce vendor. I had to spend time on another website to request that data and account be deleted.
Order #2: Believing my "Not now" click caused the problems in my first order, I left the "Not now" widget alone. To my amazement, immediately after placing the second order, the next screen informed me my information was successfully saved. So there was no real "guest" option.
No matter what you do, they save your personal & payment information for purposes beyond executing your transaction, giving you no choice to opt out. And if you guess wrong on the confusing verbiage, and click the "Not now" text widget, they also create an account in your name. Then you're stuck having to go to another website and ask them to remove that stuff (and hope they actually do).
(See attached screenshots showing both versions of the checkout screen)
2. The Spam & Automated Review Nagging
When asked, the merchant claimed they do not send spam. After my purchases, I was targeted with automated emails demanding reviews for the Dead on Paper products I bought. The email was from a third-party app. If a customer must click "unsubscribe" for emails they never requested, that is spam. I should mention that a few hours later, the merchant sent a second email stating they turned off their review app. While I appreciate the gesture, I cannot independently verify my data was actually wiped from all of their third-party networks, so the warning remains.
3. Dismissive Customer Service
I tried resolving this privately. My first two emails were ignored. Only when I warned them of a negative review did they reply in under an hour. Their initial response was a masterclass in passing the buck, claiming "guest checkout" fixes this, and telling me to deal with their e-commerce provider myself. Their second email ignored the deceptive account creation / data-harvesting issue entirely. Overall, they did not seem to grasp how the e-commerce platform THEY CHOSE works, or they didn't care (or maybe both). I buy lots of stuff online from lots of different merchants, and my experience here was uniquely bad. All of these concerns are solvable for a merchant that wants to solve them.
The Bottom Line:
The products are fine, but they are not worth the forced account creation, privacy headaches, aggressive data harvesting, spamming, and subpar customer support. Shop here at your own risk.
(Note: Based on the merchant‘s email responses, they either didn't understand the Account Creation / Save My Data Trap, or didn't care. To be sure, if you buy from their website, it WILL become your issue. So if you see a dismissive merchant response to this review claiming it's beyond their control or not a real problem, odds are the issue still exists. Your best bet is to examine the verbiage near the pay button. If that verbiage still looks the same as in my screenshot, it’s likely the problem has not been resolved. And because the problems don't occur until after you click the pay button, there's no way to be sure without springing the trap.)
