Almost everyone enjoys internet shopping. You can browse at your leisure, enjoy good deals and sign up for subscriptions to save money. 

However, if you are not careful, you can fall into subscription traps. This often happens when you sign up for a free or specially-priced subscription and forget to end it before the real subscription plan starts. This mean you end up paying the full price and are subject to continuous payment authorities (CPAs). Sometimes, you do not even realise and are unable to cancel the subscription as the company decline.

Of course, a lot of subscriptions are unfair and deceitful. That is why we are going to help you send a request for cancellation of a subscription.

The Law on Subscriptions

Terms and conditions are required to be clear to consumers. However, this is often not the case. They are be hidden at the bottom of webpages and the terms are not prominently displayed so that you know what you are signing up to. While this is not considered fraud, it is certainly unfair to the consumer and the law recognises this. This could mean that the subscription you are stuck in is in breach of the Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, as well as the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Practices Regulations 2008.

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 state that any information should be clear and prominent before the consumer obligates to pay for the service. For subscriptions, this means the total costs per billing period. It is imperative that consumers are providing with information before creating a distance contract that is online.

Cancelling CPAs Through Your Bank

A continuous payment authority or CPA is when a company has been given permission to take repeat payments from you. This usually involves consenting to recurring payments and giving them your credit or debit card details. This often happens with monthly subscriptions and a CPA runs until the end of a contract. Most of the time, this works out well; you do not have to worry about payment. But if you are stuck in a subscription, this can become a problem. This is where the law steps in. A payment service provider should cancel CPAs when required to under the Payment Services Regulations 2009:

the payer may withdraw its consent to the execution of a series of payment transactions at any time with the effect that any future payment transactions are not regarded as authorised.

This means that if you are stuck in a subscription trap, you can ask your bank to cancel the CPA. They are obligated under the Payment Services Regulations 2009 to follow your instruction and remove authorisation for the subscription payment.

Getting Your Money Back

The good news is that there is a way to get your money back from a subscription trap. You are not stuck in them forever and you have not lost of all of your money. You are protected under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. If you have been misled or deceived by a company in its terms and made a transaction you would not have made, this is a criminal offence. You may be able to unwind your contract, which means you could gain all of the money back that you have lost.

Cancellation of a Subscription in Other Countries

Subscription traps are not just a problem that is unique to the UK. In fact, it is a worldwide problem due to an increase in promotional offers. In California, the California Senate Bill No. 313 introduced in July 2018 makes it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. It also states that any promotion must be clearly states and explained to consumers so they know pricing and details about the trial. Indeed, Federal law in the USA states that all sellers are required to disclose material terms of a transaction, as well as needing to obtain the consumer’s consent before they can charge them.

References:

Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Practices Regulations 2008

Payment Services Regulations 2009

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

California Senate Bill No. 313

Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 8401-8402