Microsoft and google a subscription tangle

dibley999

In the middle of last years first lockdown I subscribed to Microsoft 365 for my wife as she was using it to edit and create Cv's and other documents in Word while looking for a new job.
 The subscription allowed her to access 365 online and download and edit documents etc which was essential for the job search process.
I purchased the subscription through google ( as we use a Chromebook as our main computer) and paid using my Paypal account. 
The regular subscription is £5.99 a month and after the first 2 months of using it ( in a limited way), we no longer needed it so I decided to cancel the subscription.
That was last June and I am still trying to cancel it!
Google say that the subscription is with Microsoft so they cannot cancel it.
Microsoft says there is no subscription with them and I need to speak to Google to cancel it.
Paypal says that they cannot cancel the payment until the subscription is cancelled.
And so it goes around in an endless loop with me still paying £5.99 for the privilege of being caught up in it.
Looking at Google's help forum, I am not the only one that is, in the words of Elvis, "caught in a trap" as at last count there are over a hundred requests for help on the topic without a single answer.
Has anyone out there encountered this issue?
Is there a way to escape the endless loop short of closing my Paypal account and changing my identity?

RumRat

You should be able to cancel via PayPal. You just have to cancel the payment by going into your account, click on the last payment you made it should take you to 'Microsoft payments'. Click on manage Microsoft payments. Cancel it from there.
You can also get there via settings - payments. Manage your automatic payments. click on Microsoft payment and then cancel.
PayPal can't stop you cancelling until the subscription is cancelled anymore than your bank can if you cancel a direct debit.
Apologise if you already used this method and it didn't work...If it didn't, no idea why....

dibley999

Thank you for that.😀
 As you might suspect I have tried that multiple times ( about 7 attempts at last count, one for each month I have been trying to cancel it) and each time it says
 "sorry we cannot cancel that pre-approved payment at this time please contact the subscription provider"
I thought I would give it one more go just to screenshot the response to put on this thread and, lo and behold, this time they have actually cancelled it! 😲 😀
It remains to be seen whether this will actually be the end of the saga however, as technically, I am still subscribed until I can cancel the subscription and therefore I am still liable for any future payments for the service they are providing (even if I do not use it).
It seems to me that both Microsoft and Google are doing their level best to stop users from cancelling the service by making it almost impossible to work out how to do so. If there are ( as I suspect) huge numbers of subscribers all over the world paying monthly, who are unable to cancel their subscriptions, they will be raking in massive sums for a service that users cannot escape from.
On the plus side, for this month at least, I won't be contributing any further to their coffers.😂😂👍

J_B

For future reference, Lifetime Office 365 can often (but not always) be purchased from eBay for around the price you paid for one month

RumRat

dibley999 said:

Thank you for that.😀
 As you might suspect I have tried that multiple times ( about 7 attempts at last count, one for each month I have been trying to cancel it) and each time it says
 "sorry we cannot cancel that pre-approved payment at this time please contact the subscription provider"
I thought I would give it one more go just to screenshot the response to put on this thread and, lo and behold, this time they have actually cancelled it! 😲 😀
It remains to be seen whether this will actually be the end of the saga however, as technically, I am still subscribed until I can cancel the subscription and therefore I am still liable for any future payments for the service they are providing (even if I do not use it).
It seems to me that both Microsoft and Google are doing their level best to stop users from cancelling the service by making it almost impossible to work out how to do so. If there are ( as I suspect) huge numbers of subscribers all over the world paying monthly, who are unable to cancel their subscriptions, they will be raking in massive sums for a service that users cannot escape from.
On the plus side, for this month at least, I won't be contributing any further to their coffers.😂😂👍

For information, I cancelled 3 recurring payments within PayPal today without any problems. Not sure why you had a glitch, but, glad you got it to work, eventually. Anyway, it shows you can escape from it. I doubt there are 'huge' numbers over the world paying for it with no means of escape.
Now try logging into your MS account again and just cancel it from there. 
You can cancel the subscription any time without penalty. If they don't get the next payment your subscription will not renew for the next month. You won't end up owing them anything.