Another confusing online system

Back in March I mentioned how United Airlines was using an automated check-in system that might end up costing you a lot of money, because it was (perhaps deliberately) confusing and poorly designed. Now comes the news that Chase is doing something similar with its overdraft protection system.

So my wife got an email today talking about the changes coming to our Chase account (well, WAMU, but we unfortunately inherited Chase). The email is REALLY confusing and tells that you can opt out of debit overdraft coverage, but adds other stuff that's confusing and makes it SEEM like you'll be charged an overdraft fee whether or not you opt out of overdraft coverage. It really confused my wife. Not happening until August automatically. Not good enough for me. I logged in to opt-out today.

Here's where it gets better. Instead of a simple "opt out" yes/no, Chase has added TWO questions, with opposite answers necessary. The text below the first "Yes/No" seems to be explaining the first Yes/No, when in fact, it's talking about the second. The first Yes/No is COMPLETELY unnecessary, and I think just put there to bamboozle people into selecting "Yes" on the overdraft coverage below.

There's more at the link, including a screenshot of Chase's form. It's certainly confusing to me!

I wonder how many other companies are using this sort of tactic, designing their Web sites to be deliberately confusing and/or hard to follow, so that they can make a great deal of money out of visiting consumers who simply don't realize the implications of clicking on the wrong button? It might be a source of a great deal of revenue for companies that are losing income from conventional sales, thanks to the economic slowdown.

If any readers have experience of such systems and schemes, please let us know about them in Comments. I think we'd all benefit from pooling our knowledge.

Peter