Our "cancel" flow had a 61% completion rate. Our "save" offer did not help.

We built a cancellation flow with three steps: reason survey, offer (discount or pause), confirm. We expected the offer to retain 15–20% of cancellers.

Results from 1,400 cancellation sessions:

Completed cancellation: 61%
Abandoned the flow: 39%
Accepted a discount: 4%
Accepted a pause: 2%

The 39% who abandoned were the surprise. When we followed up, most said they got distracted, hit a confusing step, or could not remember their password and gave up. They did not stay because they wanted to. They stayed because leaving was harder than expected.

We simplified to two steps and removed the survey. Cancellation completion rose to 82%. Voluntary churn did not change. We had been counting friction as retention.

What does your cancellation flow actually measure — intent, or friction?