Post Planner Review – The Pitfalls of the Subscription Model

As a full-time blogger I like to recommend products and tools that’ll help you to grow as a blogger but in this Post Planner Review, I also feel the need to warn you of the Pitfalls of the Subscription Model.

Often the Subscription Model begins with a free trial or something similar and then perhaps you’ll get a crazy discount to join. Then before you know it you’re signed up to regular monthly or yearly reoccurring payments.

In most cases, this is fine because you’ve agreed to the software subscription as a way lower your upfront costs. But what happens when you no longer use the service and forget you’ve got an active Software Subscription?

Post Planner Review

I trialed Post Planner over a year ago now and although I still have an active software subscription I haven’t been back to use the service.

Why?

Because unlike most software subscription services I’ve used, Post Planner refused to cancel an ongoing subscription just days after I realized I was still subscribed.

That’s right, there was no goodwill offered by this company, although it was clear I had stopped using their service months before my subscription had ended.

However, I hope you weren’t looking for a positive Post Planner Review here because this experience left me very dissatisfied with the service at Post Planner.

And for the record, this isn’t the first time I tried to cancel a subscription I didn’t need and have always got my money back.

What is Post Planner?

Post Planner is a social media planner similar to the one offered at HootSuite. You can schedule posts on your social media accounts and your followers will receive them in due course.

In principle, this sounds like a great idea if you’re trying to reach an audience in a different timezone, but it also has its pitfalls.

Check out what the King of Social Media, Gary Vaynerchuk has to say about scheduling social media.

And although he’s specifically talking about Twitter, I’ve come to believe that scheduling social media isn’t the best use of your time, whereas actually doing it is.

Growing a social media account seems like the right thing to do, but followers aren’t an indication of engagement and it’s the one-to-one engagement on social media that’s more likely to get you a sale or find you a lead.

Scheduling Social Media was a bad idea.

And paying Post Planner to schedule my social media was even worse.

However, I digress as this is supposed to be a Post Planner Review, isn’t it?

Post Planner vs Hootsuite

When I first trialed Post Planner it was new and far less of a product than Hootsuite, but Post Planner was still developing and frankly I preferred their interface. Post Planner had a trial version (no longer available), and this was meeting my needs even though Hootsuite had many more connected social media platforms at the time.

And I was really becoming a fan of Post Planner and was happy to recommend its services to my readers.

Then one day an unbelievable offer came through email and I was offered the paid version of Post Planner for some crazy discount like 73% off of something similar.

How could I refuse such an offer, to get more connected social media accounts. And as a bootstrap blogger, I didn’t want to spend too much money trying something new.

Meanwhile, at Hootsuite, I could have got more connectivity for my social media accounts and this is still true today.

And yet back at Post Planner, I see they’re still trying to oversell their product with sweet talk and unbelievable testimonials.

I must be one of those 6% of people that no longer recommends this app to colleagues and I certainly didn’t see 650% more engagement when I was using Post Planner.

Verdict:

As a product Post Planner is fine, but it’s the company I recommend you avoid. Any company that doesn’t look after their customers is surely worth avoiding IMHO.

Essentially Post Planner was happy to take my money even though I clearly weren’t using their service, and I wasn’t even aware I was actually signed up to an ongoing subscription rather than a one-off yearly fee. It was an honest mistake and usually, reputable companies try to right this wrong, but not Post Planner.

The Golden Rule is that the customer is always right, even if they’re wrong.

And surely a negative Post Planner Review isn’t worth the $100+ dollars subscription fee they wouldn’t refund.

It’s taken me some time to write this Post Planner Review, because generally I only like share positive experiences with you, as I know your time is valuable. But sometimes it’s important to make sure you don’t fall for the pitfalls of the Subscription Model like I did.

If you must try scheduling your Social Media posts then, give Hootsuite a try first.

Avoiding the Pitfalls of the Subscription Model

• Setup a Payments Calendar – When you sign up for any subscription model service, be sure to record the anniversary dates so you can stop the service before it’s due.
• Don’t wait until it’s too late – Some subscription services bill ahead of time, so don’t wait until the last day before canceling a service.
• Request a Refund – Always ask for a refund if you’ve accidently paid for a service you no longer require. Even if it’s a pro-rata refund, it’s better than nothing.
• Cancelling can save you money – Even if you still require a subscription service, canceling can often save you money. As you’ll often be offered another crazy discount to re-join. Cancel and wait for the email marketing machine to invite you back. And if this offer doesn’t come, then you simply join again.
• Request a Refund from your Credit Card Company – As a last resort you can request a refund from your credit card company, but hopefully, it doesn’t get this far.

If this Post Planner Review was helpful, please share with your friends and hopefully I’ve also given you a few ways to avoid the pitfalls of the software subscription model.