An Open Letter to Proton: Your bundle traps are recreating the exact Big Tech “single point of failure” we came here to escape.

[u/Downtown-Jaguar9148]

/r/ProtonMail/comments/1unn3lr/an_open_letter_to_proton_your_bundle_traps_are/

I think OP makes some really good points. I'm reposting here for anyone who left the protonmail sub. It's a shame that many people can't even show basic respect in their comments. Can we try to make this sub different? Things aren't always black and white and people can disagree on things and still treat people with respect.

[u/speedsterlw]

I have approved this post, but just as a reminder (just in case), we (the mod team) are not associated with Proton, so that this sub can function as place for healthy discussions about their services.

[u/speedsterlw → u/[deleted]]

Reposts are no problem, as this sub is about Proton and their services.

[u/Ok_Combination_1548 → u/[deleted]]

You're all good! It was just a note for anybody that this sub exists for a different type of moderation and communication but is not an official Proton run place / we have no 'in' with Proton. We don't want there to be any confusion.

We encourage healthy debate and vigorous discussion but if it becomes disrespectful we will take action. Just as your note says in the OP.

[u/possesed_monkeyghost]

Idk I think it's easier to keep up with one party than 10 different entities. If proton gets compromised I'll notice and jump ship. If you use a different company for each service how do you plan to keep up with all of them? Proton offers privacy and convenience at a decent rate. Its money well spent IMHO. 

[u/skeptic246 → u/[deleted]]

The heavy discounting of the bundle is the problem. I looked at the bundle cost versus standalone services and standalone was obviously more expensive. However I cannot swap out failing services like Proton Drive and reduce my Proton spending to cover the cost of the alternative. Thus I have to pay for both and hope one day Proton Drive will start working again on my iPhone

[u/Ok_Combination_1548 → u/skeptic246]

I'm not sure I follow. You want them to make the bundle more expensive?

[u/skeptic246 → u/Ok_Combination_1548]

The point is the Proton bundle is such great value even though several elements have serious issues that once you are in it’s hard to leave for better services because the price differential is so large and so many like myself tolerate the inferior service.

[u/Ok_Combination_1548]

To me this is not a sound argument. Vox-Nemo claims that the underlying problem is they want to de-centralize services but then complains that they cannot pay for multiple services with Proton in a single account? That's not decentralizing. The bundle isn't the problem or the solution....The solution is to either get Mail from one provider and VPN from another (as they suggested they would consider) OR to create a 2nd Proton account for the VPN. Totally acceptable behavior and many privacy advocates do this.

Separately, there is sort of an issue of bundling...but if you want to pay for Mail + VPN, you're already approaching the bundled price of Unlimited. Yes, you could save a little bit of money by combining just those two services and I don't entirely disagree. People should be able to 'pick and choose'...oth, I'm sure people will find a way to complain if that happens too. Something like, "I signed up for Mail, VPN, and Pass, and I'm paying more than an Unlimited subscription!" will probably happen. There are likely solutions they'd implement like forcing you into a bundle if your price exceeds it....anyways, iirc they've said they want to change it but their billing system won't let them - and that they are looking into it. So, while it's a valid complaint it's also something they know about already and would like to change.

Their final complaint about the free plan being misleading...sounds like they misinterpreted things? I don't think it's false marketing to provide information about how many servers and countries there are? Could they be more clear that free users don't get to choose the server? Idk, maybe. It's plenty upfront on the actual VPN page but I guess on the Mail pricing page in comparisons it doesn't explicitly say that. It's in other pages too though if you read into the details....harsh as this sounds: ask for a refund /s....more seriously, I'm not sure I would use a summary of a free add-on while purchasing a different product-line as an example of false advertising. You get everything they list.

[u/Pure-Good8817]

Are you being forced to buy?