The model of operation of services and applications by subscription is a relatively new thing for a wide audience, and acquaintances often turn to me with a request to show how to disable charges for a particular subscription. Sometimes it even becomes unpleasant from such methods of monetization: a person downloaded a conditional photo editor, agreed to a free trial period, but either through inattention, or because of vague wording, or maybe because of a little stupidity, he did not understand the principle of work, thinking that the application will additionally ask whether to withdraw money or not. This person remembers about the subscription at the moment when he receives an SMS from the bank about the withdrawal of several hundred rubles. “Okay,” he most often thinks, “I’m probably a fool myself and misunderstood something, I’ll go look for where to turn off these write-offs”. And it's good if it finds it, because the process of disabling a subscription may not be as obvious as it seems at first glance.
The idea for writing this material was given to me by two events at once. Firstly, I decided to put things in order in my subscriptions, as I realized that somehow I was spending a lot on them. Secondly, news appeared on the network that one of the largest payment systems MasterCard plans to change the approach to direct debit from its cards. The company noted that it is taking such a step due to the increased frequency of customer complaints about automatic write-offs. Merchants will now be required to obtain additional consent from customers, as well as provide detailed instructions on how to unsubscribe before the end of the free period. Moreover, the seller, even having received your consent once, will be obliged after each write-off, along with the receipt, to send instructions on how to disconnect in case the subscriber wants to. It is not yet clear how this will work, but MasterCard can only be commended for this commitment.
In the meantime, neither MasterCard nor its colleagues in the market have implemented the innovation, let's look at specific examples of where and how to find paid subscriptions in order to disable them. I note that it is physically quite difficult to list all the services, so I will try to consider the principles of such a search, and by analogy you will be able to figure out if not all, then 99% of the services. Let's get started!
In-app subscriptions from the App Store and Google Play
Among my acquaintances, the most common complaints about in-app subscriptions are related to the free trial period. You need to search for them in the corresponding app store: for Android – devices – Google Play, for iOS – devices – App Store.
The most obvious path is just at Android:
Google Play – Side Menu – My Subscriptions
Here we can both cancel the subscription and change the payment method, if required.
On iOS, the path is a little more complicated, but also on the whole on the surface (judging by the fact that those familiar with iOS use more often than with Android):
App Store – Your avatar in the upper right corner – Manage subscriptions
In addition to canceling a subscription, here you can change its type, for example, change a family subscription to an individual, annual or student.
It is important to note that in this way we can only cancel or edit subscriptions that were activated using the App Store or Google Play In-App tools, not the developer's own tools.
Direct subscriptions to applications or services
If you made a subscription not through In-App tools, but, for example, on the website of a particular service or application, then you should look for it in the same place – on the official website in your personal account or in the settings of the official application.
Take YouTube Premium for example: you can cancel or change your subscription options in your account settings.
You can do the same with a Yandex Plus subscription (including Yandex Music), although I had to look for the subscription management button here.
Paid services within the system (ecosystem)
There is one more type of subscriptions – additional functions of the operating system or shell (ecosystem), for example, additional space in iCloud, Samsung Cloud, etc. They are managed in the corresponding settings menu, as a rule, in the settings of the corporate account under which your smartphone operates. At the moment I have only iPhone and Meizu at hand, in the shell of which there are no paid functions, so we will consider only an example with iOS.
In iOS, outside applications and third-party services, only additional iCloud space is offered for money, which is managed along the way:
Settings – Account (the first line of settings with your data) – iCloud – Manage storage – Change storage plan.
Here we can change the amount of our cloud storage or even refuse paid space, leaving free 5 GB.
Disabling subscriptions through support
Above, we looked at examples where you can unsubscribe yourself, albeit a little looking for the coveted button. But there are also such services where the developers did not foresee this possibility. The clearest example is Adobe. Subscribing to her Creative Cloud is a snap, but then you can't find the cancel button – it's just not there. Whatever one may say, you will have to contact technical support. If you don't believe me, you can make sure by following the link.
I don't use Adobe products, but I still had to deal with canceling my subscription through technical support, and it was Amazon. Wanting to order several gadgets from there to the reseller's address, I decided to cheat a little and sign up for a trial subscription period Amazon Prime, which would allow my purchases to be delivered to the warehouse within two days. The cost of an annual subscription (then it was the only option) is $ 99, the trial period is 1 month. So, I issued Amazon Prime, ordered the gadgets and after they arrived at the reseller's warehouse, went to my Amazon – account and, as I thought, abandoned Amazon Prime. Imagine my surprise when, 30 days later, $ 99 was still debited from the card. Fortunately, the technical support canceled the transaction without any problems and questions, refunding the funds, but since the purchase was made from a ruble card, I still lost a small amount for conversion.
In general, if you cannot find the unsubscribe cancellation buttons, then look for how to contact technical support, they will probably help you there.
Disabling subscriptions through a bank
This item will come in handy in case the subscription cannot be turned off either independently or with the help of technical support, or when you cannot remember “where your legs grow from” and understand where these or those write-offs are coming from.
The only way to resolve this issue through a bank is to block and reissue your plastic card. In this case, the old details will be blocked, and no other service will be able to make direct debits from your account anymore. Cardinally, yes, but effective.
Conclusion
Not all services are equally useful, just as not all services are completely straightforward to your wallet. Be careful, read everything that is written, and do not let unscrupulous or just cunning developers get into your pocket. And I gave you an educational program for this.