I am annoyed with myself. I am usually careful about subscribing to websites but got caught out recently and that cost me €200.00. I needed a once off QR code so saw a website QRTY and bought one for what I thought was .99cents. However, this was a free trial, really, and two weeks later €200.00 was taken from my credit card for an annual subscription which I had no need of and certainly did not want. I informed the company but too late as they said you bought it and in reality ‘tough luck’. I tried to reason with them but all emails have been ignored.
I made a similar mistake a couple of years ago where a monthly subscription was taken but in fairness the company was reputable and refunded the money without any quibble. Nice to see that there are some companies out there that understand what customer service is all about and protect their reputation by responding to customers’ needs.
Anyway this latest incident prompted me to review all subscriptions both business and personal and it unearthed some interesting information. I am in fact paying more for some services because the special offer period has expired and went under the radar. It also appears that I am paying on the double for some services which went under review. I raised this issue with a networking group of more than 200 SME business owners I established and at a meeting attended by some of them it emerged that this is an issue that is more common than I imagined. In response I created a document attached here which I hope you find useful. If you decide to use it I believe that you will be surprised at how many subscriptions you are paying, often small monthly amounts that go under the radar. You will also have the ability to diary each of these subscriptions for review in your diary so that you can make informed decisions about renewing or cancelling as suits your needs. I suggest that you also include your personal expenses, in particular your utilities as loyalty is punished and you will not be advised of the serious increase that are going to be levied on you.
Many of the discounted offers are complex and need careful monitoring as the special offer periods can be for as little as 10 days, a month or anything up to a year.