How Much are You Spending on Subscriptions?

Have you ever worked out how much you are spending on regular subscriptions? You may be paying a monthly fee to a music site you rarely use or have signed up to a 'free trial' online but never unsubscribed when the free period ends.

Find out how to avoid being trapped by online subscriptions by:

Knowing what you are subscribing to

• Ask the company if you can pay a subscription using a direct debit as unlike a recurring charge, you can cancel a direct debit directly with your bank.
• If you see an attractive advert online for a 'free trial'  of a service, don’t commit to the offer without spending time reading the full terms and conditions.
• If you are signing up for a free trial, make sure you know what happens after the trial period ends. In many cases, you have to cancel the subscription yourself. Otherwise, the free trial period may automatically rollover to a subscription where you pay a monthly fee.
• Sometimes, the advert on the website may not be for the same company. So when you click on the ad you are brought to the website of another company to sign up with them. Without realising, you have authorised this company to take the monthly subscription fee from your account. Always check the URL at the top of the page so you know who you are signing up with.
• Make sure the company you are signing up to have listed their contact details on the website such as a physical address, telephone number and an email address.
• Don’t provide bank details to a company you don’t know without doing some research on them first. Search the company online to see if there are any negative reviews. Don’t sign up if you have any doubts.

You should be aware of companies who:

1. Are not upfront about additional costs such as subscription fees.
2. Do not clearly disclose the nature of subscription services.
3. Do not make the terms and conditions readily available by hiding them away on separate pages, in hard-to-read grey text or fine print.
4. Place restrictions on the cancellation of the unwanted services. 
5. Use pre-clicked boxes that require consumers to actively opt out.

Review your existing subscriptions regularly

• Review your monthly bank or credit card statements and work out exactly how much you are paying for regular subscriptions. These could include online subscriptions to a newspaper, donations to a charity or gym membership.
• Ask yourself: Do I use this service regularly or am I paying for something I get no benefit from?
• If you are spending money on a service you never use, see if you can unsubscribe from it. However, you may have signed up for a period of time without knowing it and you may not be able to cancel until the term is up.
• Check your bank or credit card statements regularly for unexpected payments or charges.

Remove unwanted subscriptions if you can

• Increasingly, subscriptions are a recurring charge on your debit or credit card as opposed to a direct debit. You cannot cancel a recurring charge with your card provider/bank (as you can with a direct debit) so you must cancel directly with the company.
• Contact the company to cancel the recurring charge. This should be done in such a way so that you have proof that you asked them to cancel your subscription.
• Check your bank or credit card statements to see if the recurring charge that you have cancelled is no longer being taken out of your account.
• If the company continues to deduct the subscription from your card after you have cancelled it, you could talk to your card provider (usually your bank) about the possibility of a getting a chargeback on your card (which is the reversal of the transaction). You should also provide evidence to your card provider that you have attempted to contact the company to cancel the subscription but have not been successful, for example, send them a copy of emails you have sent to the company.
• If your card provider will not provide you with a charge-back and you are not happy with their reason you can make a complaint to them in writing. If you are still not satisfied with the response you can make a complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman.
• If all else fails, your last resort may be to cancel your card and apply for a new one. You should also continue to apply for the chargeback.

Clodagh Coffey is Head of Consumer and Digital Communications with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). The CCPC is responsible for enforcing competition and consumer protection laws across the economy. To help consumers make informed decisions it also gives independent, unbiased information about consumer rights and personal finance products and service through its consumer helpline 1890 432 432 and consumer website.