It’s clearly a dark pattern thought up by shitbags because users are more likely to create an account after they’ve typed something out vs. leaving when they find out an account is required to participate.
Even the shitbags over at Mozilla are doing it.
Yes, you can. It’s called a chargeback. Companies hate it, because it’s a refund plus a fee/fine they have to pay for being awful. You just call your credit card company and ask them to initiate a chargeback. They’ll ask some questions about if/how you attempted to go through the right channels, how much time you allowed them, etc.
I knew there was a mechanism but not the name for it! Thank you!