Unfiltered Story #56852

(I buy image editing software on a subscription basis, paying $20 monthly for it for school. The school year ends and I no longer need the software, so I do an online chat with a customer service representative and he says he has ended my subscription with no cancellation fee. I thank him and go about my business until I receive a bill for my subscription the next month. I do another online chat with their customer service…)

Me: Hi, I believe there was a mistake with your system. I ended my subscription with you last month but I was billed for it this month.

Rep #1: Yes, that was the payment for your image editing software.

Me: Yes, I know, but I ended that subscription last month.

Rep #1: I would like to inform you that your credit card information was updated so your subscription was renewed.

Me: I’m sorry but that didn’t happen. I did not change anything with my bank account or update my credit card info with you at all. That is incorrect.

Rep #1: I would like to inform that the subscription gets renewed automatically since you were in one year commitment you were billed for the subscription.

Me: That’s not what the last rep told me. He told me my subscription had ended. I have the transcript of our conversation to prove that.

Rep #1: I have checked out your previous case and the representative said that the subscription was suspended and it would be renewed upon your credit card information being updated.

Me: …. no, that’s not what he said. *I copy and paste his post saying the subscription was cancelled into the chat* That is what he said, verbatim, copied from the transcript. It clearly says the subscription was cancelled.

Rep #1: I apologize for the inconvenience, but if you have the funds in your bank account you will be charged for your subscription.

Me: But I ended the subscription so I shouldn’t have been charged.

Rep #1: Do you want to cancel your subscription now?

Me: Yes please, but I also want to be refunded from the money you took without my permission after the subscription should’ve been cancelled.

Rep #1: One moment while I transfer you to our cancellations department.

Rep #2: Hi, I would like to inform you that by cancelling today you will be ending your subscription early and be subject to a $135.00 cancellation fee. If you would like to continue I can offer you one month of free service.

Me: The first representative I talked to said there was no cancellation fee.

Rep #2: As the subscription is annual based with lower monthly fee, if you cancel the subscription within the commitment, you will have to pay cancellation fee. Would it be helpful for you to continue your annual membership, if I could go one step further and give you 2 months of service for free?

Me: I was told the subscription had been ended already.

Rep #2: The subscription was not cancelled, the payment for the subscription was processing from your bank.

Me: That’s not what I was told.

Rep #2: The payment of the subscription was processing and it was in suspended state, you will have to pay the cancellation fee, if you cancel before the commitment ends.

Me: But I contacted your representative SPECIFICALLY to cancel the subscription, and he said that it WAS cancelled. He also told me there was nothing I needed to do: no cancellation free, no paying for May.

(We go back and forth for about 30 minutes, with him repeating that I need to pay the cancellation fee and continuing to offer me more months for free. I continue to decline, telling him my subscription should’ve been cancelled. Eventually, after 45 minutes…)

Me: Either your rep didn’t charge me the fee or he didn’t cancel the subscription. Either way that’s not my fault, but I was told the subscription was cancelled and I would not have to do anything else, so that’s the commitment I expected from your company. I do not expect to pay a fee for something that should have happened in April, that I was told would not have a fee.

Rep #2: We will not able to cancel the subscription without fee, if you cancel the subscription now, you will be charged cancellation fee.

Me: If you cannot do what I ask and end my subscription now, without the fee that I was told I would not have to pay, then elevate me to someone who can.

Rep #2: As per the terms and conditions, we will not able to cancel the subscription without fee, however I will go ahead and escalate this case to my higher level support team to check, if we can waive off the cancellation fee. You will receive the confirmation email within 2 – 3 business days.

Me: Thank you.

(Two weeks go by with no word from the company. I contact them back twice, with the last time getting lucky.)

Me: Hello. I’m involved in an ongoing issue where my subscription failed to be cancelled and have been told to pay a fee I was initially told would be waived.

Rep #3: I’m so sorry to hear that. I will do everything I can to help you today!

(And Rep #3 got my subscription cancelled and the fee waived within 24 hours! I honestly expected to see more charges appear on my bank account, so I blocked any withdrawals coming from them just in case. Amazing how different some people working for the same company can be.)