Auto renewal rights

Wullie32

I paid £50 last August for a year's subscription to Premier Sports to watch European football and I've just been sucker punched by the auto-renewal (£89!), it's a pending transaction on my bank statement. I'm usually on top of these things but I didn't get a reminder (possibly them, possibly Outlook's dreadful junk filter) and fell into the trap. My own fault, I know.

What are my rights? Do I just have to grin and bear it or do these things have any sort of cooling off period when renewing? Can I do a chargeback?

MalMonroe

Who provides your programmes??  Just phone them as soon as possible, like later today and tell them there's been an accidental renewal for footy and you don't want it. Ask for your money back as you can't afford that much, etc. and so on.  Emphasise the fact that you didn't receive any reminders. I'm with BT and got my money back when they auto-renewed on two occasions. No problem they said. 

I've also had my money back from amazon when they do their sneaky renewals. 

It's really awful, the way companies are allowed to do this. Some of them send reminders so you can cancel before it renews but some don't bother.

PLEASE, do NOT grin and bear it at all!  Phone and get your money back. It isn't your fault, it's a devious tactic that should be stopped.

Wullie32

MalMonroe said:

Who provides your programmes??  Just phone them as soon as possible, like later today and tell them there's been an accidental renewal for footy and you don't want it. Ask for your money back as you can't afford that much, etc. and so on.  Emphasise the fact that you didn't receive any reminders. I'm with BT and got my money back when they auto-renewed on two occasions. No problem they said. 

I've also had my money back from amazon when they do their sneaky renewals. 

It's really awful, the way companies are allowed to do this. Some of them send reminders so you can cancel before it renews but some don't bother.

PLEASE, do NOT grin and bear it at all!  Phone and get your money back. It isn't your fault, it's a devious tactic that should be stopped.

It's an online subscription only so I use the app to cast to my TV, rather than get it through Sky or Virgin.
Called them and they've refused outright to engage beyond saying it's tough luck basically. Going to try a chargeback through Barclays but I don't hold out much hope there.

Chino

MalMonroe said:

It's really awful, the way companies are allowed to do this. Some of them send reminders so you can cancel before it renews but some don't bother.

Or you could put reminders in your calendar/diary to cancel these subscriptions. Or is that too much like taking personal responsibility?

Wullie32

Chino said:

MalMonroe said:

It's really awful, the way companies are allowed to do this. Some of them send reminders so you can cancel before it renews but some don't bother.

Or you could put reminders in your calendar/diary to cancel these subscriptions. Or is that too much like taking personal responsibility?

I might have been happy to auto-renew when I signed up 12 months ago so had no need to set a reminder, but perhaps my financial circumstances have changed in that time. Maybe there was a pandemic, and maybe this pandemic changed the very nature of what I had actually purchased - I bought a pass to watch sports with crowds, not in huge empty stadiums, which, even if you're not a sports fan, you can probably appreciate is quite a different (and lesser) experience. 
Despite "personal responsibility", when you sign up to a contract in the first instance, there is generally a cooling off period enshrined in law. It seems strange to me that they have no obligation to remind you of the imminent recurring payment 12 months on and that there is no similar protection within the law to decide you don't want it once the payment has been made.

matelodave

Some subscription services have been regulated and now impose a requirement to remind customers that their product sub is coming to an end - mostly utilities and phone deals.
Many others, especially entertainment aren't and so it's incumbent upon the customer to keep a note of all these and take control themselves.  Some suppliers do send out reminders but frequently these can end up in the junk folder so you need to check there as well - don't forget some junk folders can get auto-wiped after a period, so make sure you check it regularly.

Suppliers don't know that your circumstances might have changed and if you read and take note the T&C's when you took out the sub you'd understand the requirements around cancellation. If auto renewal was originally quoted in the T&C's then there will be no cooling off period - you signed and agreed to it when you entered into the original contract.

Basically all you can do is enjoy another year and make sure you put a reminder in your diary for next year (and check any others subs that you might have taken out to ensure that you've got those under control as well)

DoaM

Wullie32 said:
I bought a pass to watch sports with crowds, not in huge empty stadiums,.

That might have been your (unstated) intent at the time, but that is not what the supplier offered you.

JJ_Egan

I bought my pass to watch sports .

i did not buy one to watch crowds , neither i suspect did watching with crowds be part of that posters sign up thoughts.

Different experience yes  , lesser experience no .