Auto-Renew: The Evil of Our Time
It’s so convenient. It’s so easy. You don’t have to remember anything; they will take care of it.
It’s auto-renew . . . the evil of our time.
The business often sucks you in by offering a discounted price to go with auto-renewal. It’s a big win for them: One less bureaucratic step for them to take at the end of the year when it’s time for you to renew and . . . here’s the biggie for them . . . quick, easy money dumped into their coffers.
Now, so far, so good — both the company and the customer are happy with the arrangement. The problem — and what they are counting on — is that you won’t remember to cancel the subscription. And most of them are not going to send you a notification that your subscription period is coming to an end. They will remind you, however — almost daily — if your subscription’s term is coming to an end and you are not on auto-renew. They will go to any lengths to get you to renew your subscription, especially with the lower-cost auto-renewal.
See, the lower-cost auto-renewal is to their advantage because personnel is not needed to collect your money, and they are counting on you to forget.
It’s bad enough that they don’t give you a little heads-up that the auto-renew is about to kick in. But the real evil is when they raise the price and don’t give you a heads-up. They are hoping you are busy with your jet-setting life and are not going to notice or care that your subscription price just doubled overnight.
You expect these games from some of the online streaming services, but this recently happened with my car insurance. I called them up. “Why did my monthly car insurance payment just jump $40 a month?” I asked. “I’ve had no accidents, no claims, and no tickets.”
“Oh, your introductory offer rate ends after two years, so it went to the normal rate.”
They correctly figured I wouldn’t remember that I had a two-year introductory rate. What they didn’t figure was that I would look and question. I’ll be looking for new car insurance before the year is up.
SiriusXM is so brazen with their auto-renew that they jack up the price and then when you question it in a robo-chat, they send you a link to renew at a bargain rate — about $1 more than the previous year’s rate. There’s no apology (human or otherwise) and they do not reimburse you for the month you paid double the previous year’s rate. It’s a real let’s-not-get-our-hands-dirty affair: just click the link and agree to the discounted rate for another year.
Watch closely, because you’ll notice the rates creeping up slowly month to month and they are going “ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching” every time. Those few cents a month for AT&T go a long way when you have, say, 30 million customers.
Recently, after a hiatus, I signed up for Netflix again, the basic $9.99 plan. They charge my credit card monthly. But soon I realized that my Xfinity Comcast bill seemed high. Somehow, they got a notification that I had signed up for Netflix and did me the favor of including it on their bill; you know, for my convenience. The thing is, they charged me for the deluxe, fancy Netflix plan (whatever the fuck they call it), so another $20/month. I was being charged $30 a month from two different bills! Netflix figured out the problem right away (and I spoke to a human!), but getting through to Xfinity and getting them to fix it on their end was a nightmare!
Listen: They are counting on your nightmare!
Believe it or not, there are auto-renew laws (ARLs) in place. I’m sure most corporations follow the law by the letter if not in spirit. But they probably assume you don’t know the laws and that you certainly aren’t going to sue them. That’s why they are quick to apologize (humanly or robotically) and fix the problem . . . if you catch them. I don’t think they have a sleaze monitor who checks such things on their end. It’s up to you.
Here are a couple of things to watch out for:
1. Free trial offers. Many subscriptions will offer a free trial period, but be wary. They often require your credit card information and if you don’t cancel before the free trial offer period ends, you will be charged. Set a reminder for yourself about when the free trial offer period ends.
Also, they may say “free” but you have to pay for shipping on the item; the charge may be higher than expected once you sign on.
Finally, some companies hire what are called affiliate marketers to create and promote ads; they are paid when you click their ad. Thus, their claims may be exaggerated to get you to click.
2. Negative options. A negative option is when you are automatically billed for something when you didn’t specifically say not to bill you. Make sure to look for checked boxes; some companies check a box that may say “I agree to accept auto-renewal payments until I notify you in writing.” Again, they are supposedly making it easy for you, but they are making it easier for them to fleece you. Uncheck the box!
Be sure you know the cancellation policy and, again, put the end of the subscription date on your calendar so you will see the notification.
Carefully check your monthly statements to make sure you are not being charged or overcharged for your auto-renew subscription.
ARLs vary by state, and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is stepping up its efforts recently as well. The basics are that the company should clearly state what the offer entails, send a written acknowledgment to you once you subscribe, cancellation should be cost-effective and easy, and you should get a reminder of the upcoming renewal. (That last one has been kind of an epic fail, in my opinion.)
Hopefully, it won’t come to this, but you can always report problems to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov if you can’t resolve the problem with the company yourself.
I’m feeling ready to go back to my parents’ day when you wrote out a check and enclosed it in an envelope. Back when we didn’t know what identity theft was or didn’t have the need for a thousand stored passwords or didn’t have to scream “speak to a representative” into a handheld phone.
But we have to deal with what we have. Be careful out there, and good luck!
