Auto-Renewal after a free trial subscription? Here is what you should do

The benefit of autorenewal is that it saves you the time and stress of subscribing at the last minute to a service you enjoy using regularly.

But opting for auto-renewal to just any service is not a good idea because the likelihood of you forgetting about that service is high, thereby wasting money unnecessarily.

So, it is advisable always to use the auto-renewal option on a service you regularly use, e.g., Netflix, Spotify, etc.

Opting for a lot of auto-renewal is not only hard to manage; most times, it can be overwhelming, and you might miss out on something.

Now, if you feel like the service or products they provide is worth subscribing to, these are things you should check before accepting.

Check to see if you can cancel the auto-renewal subscription.

Canceling subscriptions is vital because, maybe after a while, you might no longer need this service, or you can get a better offer.

Therefore, before you decide to use the auto-renewal option on a particular product, it is best to see if you can cancel your subscription at will.

If you subscribe to an app service, the easiest way to cancel an app subscription is through App stores.

That said, you have to check your google play store if you are using an android device or your apple store if you are using an iOS device.

Canceling a subscription on Google play store or apple store is as easy as taping your screens or clicking a few options.

There are other ways you can cancel a subscription; some include but are not limited to; contacting your credit card company, contacting your bank through writing, etc.

Make sure they send you a notice before charging you.

You saw a service or product and fell in love with it; it solves your problems, and you can’t just get enough of it.

Be mindful; humans are difficult to satisfy, and you might get tired of it or see a better option in the future.

You might even forget about this subscription; many of us, including me, I do forget about some of my subscriptions.

Therefore, the best thing that should remind you is the notice before the bill.

Now, if you know how to cancel these subscriptions, as discussed in the first option, the next is to ensure you get a reminder notice.

With a reminder notice of an impending auto-renewal subscription, you should be able to know the list of all your subscriptions.

You can cancel them if you don’t need them again and save yourself some money.

Check the subscription cost you will be auto-renewing to

If you have received these notifications, they usually include the cost of the impending subscription. Make sure it’s the same amount as the price listed on their official website.

Most companies try to look good to the public, but they become wolves in sheep’s clothing when you get in.

You usually get charged extra 10 or 20 dollars, but in the long run, that money adds up to a considerable amount; if you ask me, that’s eating out of your wealth.

So ensure you get an explanation of where your extra penny will go.

Make sure you can contact the company

Suppose you are subscribing to an auto-renewal of a reputable company; in that case, this might not be something you should consider.

We often find it challenging to contact a company we are paying money to for a service or product.

Contacting some companies is one problem I faced while trying out freebies. I think, in general, many people face it too. 

I have tried to contact companies I subscribed to, maybe to make a complaint, inquire, or cancel a subscription.

But I often find it difficult, but here is something I have checked and perfected; I use the format to get human contact with some companies.

This is how I know if I can contact a company’s human customer service; 

“Put this keyword into your google search engine “(company name) get human contact 800”. 

This option will display their contact if they offer phone number support.

Most importantly, it will bring up a page you can check for other means of contacting them.

Read the terms and conditions for auto-renewal and subscription.

Have you ever heard the saying that those who write Terms and Conditions spend their time writing what people will not read?

Lol, but consider this saying “Put your money where your mind is.”

Before applying to where you will spend money, please try to see their term, so you won’t spend money on companies that will make it legally hard to get a refund.

Most times, companies use precheck boxes for options that will favor them, so make sure you check for those precheck boxes and see if you agree to that willingly.

If you think the post will be too long, consider using the skim-read method.

You can use skim-reading to read through long articles by scanning for the most apparent sentences, e.g., heading titles, bold texts, underlined texts, etc.

But you might consider these tips on how to read terms and conditions by Robert Brandl, founder of Tooltester.

You might be surprised what you agree to when you accept some terms and conditions online.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that if you are auto-renewing a free trial, ensure you can opt out of it as quickly as possible.

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