With everything going to the cloud in recent years, we’ve seen the elimination of actually purchasing software in favor of buying an online subscription. Many stalwart software applications of the past from venerable software vendors including Microsoft, Adobe, and Intuit either don’t offer outright purchase or make it extremely difficult and/or confusing to do so. What do folks need to look out for when subscribing to a new service?
First, let’s be clear, there are several advantages to going to a subscription versus buying outright. Chief among these is never having to worry about the legality of the software you have. The software police (and there actually are such agencies) won’t bother you if all of your software is subscription-based.
And there’s basically no way for you to use illegal software if you’re on a subscription, because the vendor will cut you off almost immediately in case your subscription lapses.
Another tremendous benefit for users and IT folk alike is that on a subscription you always have the latest version of the software. Worries about compatibility or inoperability largely go out the door. Cost is also a benefit, that is, at least for folks who always wanted to remain completely above board, which, let’s be honest, isn’t many. For example, Microsoft 365 is purposely priced to cost less over time than buying the stand-alone versions and staying up to date.
But as with many other things in life, the devil is in the details. Many subscription services have “gotchas” that will end up costing you more than advertised or, even worse, paying for services that you no longer use.
Chief among the tricks is the “free 30-day subscription.” Of course, even though it’s free, you have to enter your credit card information. Why? Because if you don’t cancel within 30 days, your credit card will get charged. And in many cases, if you don’t cancel within the promotional period, you are on the hook for a lot longer, in some cases up to a year.
Of course, you can try and call the customer “service” line to cancel. But for many if not most of these promotions, the first person to answer the phone is trained to tell you to (nicely) go pound sand.
Another common strategy employed by purveyors of subscription software is a limited cancellation period. Usually found on annual subscriptions, they limit cancellation to only the last 30 days of the period. So if you subscribed on Jan. 1, then you can cancel only between Dec. 2 and 31. This one is even harder to keep track. And for organizations, this type of agreement typically extends to a reduction in licenses. So if you bought 50 licenses on Jan. 1 but found on July 1 that you only needed 30, you can’t reduce the count until the last month of the year.
Auto-renewal is another common strategy used with subscriptions. Be careful when checking this box, as it could lock you into terms similar to what you initially signed up for. You can try turning to your credit card company. But in most cases, if you agreed to the terms, usually by clicking a simple check box, they can’t help you, either. Typically, they can put in a temporary credit, but after a few days they will deny your claim. Let’s face it, the folks offering the promo have put a lot of thought and effort into these scams — oops — programs.
You can try and cancel the card, but the charges tend to follow you around and can end up being more onerous than just paying for the subscription. Reporting your card lost or stolen doesn’t help in most cases; the charges will show up on your replacement card. Anecdotally, however, credit card companies might take your side in the case of an auto-renewal attempted on an old credit card number.
Bottom line, pay attention to the details and keep track of any subscriptions for which you sign up, or you might find yourself on the hook for a lot more than for which you bargained.
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John Agsalud is an IT expert with more than 25 years of information technology experience in Hawaii and around the world. He can be reached at jagsalud@live.com.
