Un-fee-sibly Unhelpful

(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. 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 you that the subscription gets renewed automatically; since you were in a 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.” *copies and pastes 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 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 annually based with lower monthly fees, if you cancel the subscription within the commitment, you will have to pay a cancellation fee. Would it be helpful for you to continue your annual membership, if I could go one step further and give you two 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 for the subscription was processing and it was in a 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 fee, no paying for May.”

(We go back and forth for about thirty 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 forty-five 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 a fee; if you cancel the subscription now, you will be charged a 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 a 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 two or three 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!”

([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.)