Hi @imaginarymedia,
Thanks for the honest feedback, and I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. The Link checkbox not staying disabled is a real bug we’re aware of, and we’re working with Stripe to get it sorted. I can absolutely understand why it’s frustrating, especially when it looks like the setting just isn’t doing what it says.
First, I want to be absolutely clear: there is no intention, hidden or otherwise, to push merchants away from Stripe or toward WooPayments. Both are first-class products, and you should always have full control over which payment methods are enabled on your store. What you’re experiencing is a genuine bug, not a design choice, and I sincerely apologize for the impression it has given.
We’re aware of the issue with the “Link by Stripe” express checkout being unable to be disabled from the settings, and we’re actively working with Stripe to resolve it as a priority. In the meantime, if you’d like Link disabled on your Stripe account right away, please reach out to us here and we’ll take care of it for you: https://woocommerce.com/my-account/contact-support/#contact-us
Regarding your broader feedback about features and hooks, I’d really like to understand more about the specific changes that have impacted your store. If you can share details (release versions, hooks affected, features you’re missing), I’ll make sure that feedback reaches the development team. This kind of input from merchants running real stores is exactly what helps us course-correct.
Thanks again for flagging this, and for your patience while we work through it. We’ll keep you updated as we have more information to share.
