Yousician Free Trial Scam

lukemoneysaving

I signed up for a 'free trial' to Yousician - a popular music-learning app - on the 17th June 2020. I put in my debit card details, set a reminder to cancel it on my phone by 24th June but, annoyingly, missed the deadline and cancelled on 26th June.

I saw that I was charged on my bank account (£10.99) and an e-mail from Yousician read: 

"This email confirms that your Yousician subscription renewal has been canceled and you will not be charged for the next annual contract period. Please note that you will have full access to the Premium features until the end of your current annual contract on 24 June 2021. After this, your account will be automatically downgraded to a Free plan."

I thought that I'd accidentally paid for a month and then cancelled, but checking my bank account today I have been charged for another month, and worse, it seems I have to pay every month until June next year! £10.99 a month until my subscription ends in June next year. Over £130 for an app I have only used once! Their communication and advertising seems misleading and dishonest and many other users have found themselves in the same situation. Have a look at the 1 start reviews on TrustPilot to see (I can't post links).

Yousician's Terms state that "The subscription fee for our auto-renewable subscription plans may be billed as one-time advance payment for the subscribed period (e.g., 1, 3, 6 or 12 months) or in monthly installments charged every month in advance for the duration of the subscription period." Nowhere was it made clear that I was subscribing to an annual service rather than a monthly one other than this line deep in the terms and conditions.

I know I should have checked more closely, but I thought I was dealing with a trustworthy company with a model like Spotify's or Netflix's. Ideally, I would like a full refund as I have only used their app once, however, I would be happy to just stop having to pay for this service every month for a year.

Short of changing bank accounts, what can I do in this situation? I realise that I should have read their terms and conditions closer, but surely this is unethical practice?

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated, and I'm sure an article for the wider MoneySavingExpert Community about how not to get caught out by 'free trials' would be useful. 

powerful_Rogue

lukemoneysaving said:

I signed up for a 'free trial' to Yousician - a popular music-learning app - on the 17th June 2020. I put in my debit card details, set a reminder to cancel it on my phone by 24th June but, annoyingly, missed the deadline and cancelled on 26th June.

I saw that I was charged on my bank account (£10.99) and an e-mail from Yousician read: 

"This email confirms that your Yousician subscription renewal has been canceled and you will not be charged for the next annual contract period. Please note that you will have full access to the Premium features until the end of your current annual contract on 24 June 2021. After this, your account will be automatically downgraded to a Free plan."

I thought that I'd accidentally paid for a month and then cancelled, but checking my bank account today I have been charged for another month, and worse, it seems I have to pay every month until June next year! £10.99 a month until my subscription ends in June next year. Over £130 for an app I have only used once! Their communication and advertising seems misleading and dishonest and many other users have found themselves in the same situation. Have a look at the 1 start reviews on TrustPilot to see (I can't post links).

Yousician's Terms state that "The subscription fee for our auto-renewable subscription plans may be billed as one-time advance payment for the subscribed period (e.g., 1, 3, 6 or 12 months) or in monthly installments charged every month in advance for the duration of the subscription period." Nowhere was it made clear that I was subscribing to an annual service rather than a monthly one other than this line deep in the terms and conditions.

I know I should have checked more closely, but I thought I was dealing with a trustworthy company with a model like Spotify's or Netflix's. Ideally, I would like a full refund as I have only used their app once, however, I would be happy to just stop having to pay for this service every month for a year.

Short of changing bank accounts, what can I do in this situation? I realise that I should have read their terms and conditions closer, but surely this is unethical practice?

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated, and I'm sure an article for the wider MoneySavingExpert Community about how not to get caught out by 'free trials' would be useful. 

Not sure where the scam is. I've highlighted the errors in bold.

You signed up for a free trial and did not cancel in time. You are now signed up for a year in which you pay monthy, rather then the full amount in one go.

Changing bank accounts will not resolve the situation.

Not sure why I guide is needed in regards to free trials - However here goes. "Canel before the free trial expires. Check the T&C's of the free trial" - Neither of which you did.

born_again

Contact the bank and tell them to stop the payments.
It will then be up to Yousician to chase you for the owed funds, or simply close the account.

Aylesbury_Duck

Where's the scam?

Spank

OP, you signing up for a free trial and not cancelling before you get charged is not them scamming, it's you forgetting.

lukemoneysaving

Thanks everyone! 

cymruchris

lukemoneysaving said:

I'm sure an article for the wider MoneySavingExpert Community about how not to get caught out by 'free trials' would be useful. 

Well I suppose I could write an article if it helps. Here goes.

When you sign up to a free trial - set a reminder to cancel it the day before the trial expires - when you get the reminder - don't ignore it - do cancel it - otherwise you'll end up paying for something you didn't really want. 

How does that sound? (Yes it's harsh - but sadly what you've done is what they hope many people do - and you're one of the ones that have done it.)

Spank

Unless it's something like Amazon prime where you can cancel on the day you sign up and you can use it up until the day it runs out.