All current IPVanish VPN customers should be aware that subscription renewals are not eligible for refunds.
IPVanish has been promoted as one of the best VPN services by TROYPOINT for many years and rightfully so. As of this article, IPVanish is ranked #3 in the TROYPOINT VPN Rankings.
Many of you are still using IPVanish which is great. It’s important to share the following information with you about their auto-renewal process.
We’ve all been there. We register for a service, and the fine print indicates that we will be automatically charged for the next billing period.
I personally don’t have a problem with this business practice if the service provides an easy way to turn off automatic renewal or they serve up a refund when asked after the renewal has been processed.
I’ve found myself in this situation numerous times with various online services. A simple email asking for a refund and cancellation is quickly granted. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case for IPVanish customers.
Here’s a post by 65GTO on September 7th, 2023, on the TROYPOINT Insider.
IPVanish automatically renewed my subscription on 8/31/23 for $91.00. I contacted them on 9/2/23 and told them I was no longer using their service and would like to cancel my subscription. I was informed that per their refund policy, they do not refund annual renewals. They offered me some deal for $31.45 for the year to continue. I informed them I had changed to a different VPN provider, but they simply said no refund for a renewal. So now I am out $91.00 for a service I don’t use. Buyer beware!
Upon further investigation, I found the following statement on the IPVanish support site regarding refunds. You will see that they bold the first sentence, indicating that they do not offer refunds for subscription renewals. It seems that most people who are told, “Too bad, so sad, no refund,” will simply contact their credit card company and put in a claim for a fraudulent charge.
IPVanish Subscription renewals are not eligible for refunds. IPVanish offers refunds for yearly and 2-year plans within the first 30 days of service. However, no refunds will be given for monthly plans. Refunds are also available for 7-day free-trial accounts created through the IPVanish mobile apps within the first 6 days of your trial (You must cancel through Google or Apple). If an account was created without your authorization, your financial institution should be contacted. Refunds will not be given for problems with the VPN that are beyond our control. For more information, check IPVanish’s Terms of Service. For full details regarding refunds, please continue reading…
No IPVanish VPN Auto-Renewal Shutoff
After reading the IPVanish refund policies, I logged into my account to see if there was an easy way to turn off auto-renewal, but unfortunately, there wasn’t.
There was a Cancel Subscription button on my Account Information page that took me to an online cancellation form. My concern was that it would immediately cancel my account, and my remaining pre-paid time would be gone. So, I opened a live chat which you will see below.
Alright
I just disabled the auto-renew feature on your account.
Thank you.
You’re welcome.
Is there anything else I can help you with?
No that’s it. Thank you.
If there are no other concerns, I will now close this chat.
Thank you for your time. Have a great day! Goodbye for now.
So, as you can see, I had to jump through a few hoops to turn off auto-renewal on my account with IPVanish. Definitely taking more time than expected, but likely intended to deter subscribers from disabling auto-renewal.
I hope that IPVanish will introduce a more convenient method to disable auto-renewal within our online dashboards.
During the chat, I opted to receive a transcript of the chat via email as a precaution in case auto-renewal continues after my current subscription expires. I will store this in a folder within my StartMail Email account for future reference.
Surfshark VPN Auto-Renewal Process
Following this experience, I felt it was essential to examine whether our #1 ranked VPN Surfshark provides a user-friendly way to disable auto-renewal.
Upon logging into my Surfshark account, I immediately noticed a prominent option to manage auto-renewal. It seems I had previously disabled this setting.
I’m pleased to see that Surfshark offers a straightforward approach for users to manage this feature on the main dashboard without any complexity.
ExpressVPN Auto-Renewal Process
Turning to our #2 ranked VPN ExpressVPN, I discovered they also offer the option to disable automatic renewal under My Subscription/Edit Subscription Settings, although it’s not a one-click process.
After clicking the button labeled Turn Off Automatic Renewal, I am directed to the subsequent screen.
Clicking Turn Off Automatic Renewal again leads me to the following page.
Software As A Service (SAAS) Depends On Auto-Renewal
Many of us overlook auto-renewal charges that are debited from our accounts, making it a considerable revenue stream for online businesses. They exploit the fact that these charges often go unnoticed, even if the service is unused for a long time.
This serves as a gentle reminder from the TROYPOINT team to review the auto-renewal settings for your current VPN and other online services. If you use IPVanish VPN and wish to disable auto-renewal, follow the steps I took via their chat system. For Surfshark VPN or Express VPN users, you can easily toggle auto-renewal off through your account settings, as demonstrated above. Alternatively, keep auto-renewal active if you don’t plan to change services after your current plan expires.
If you’re interested in creating virtual credit cards with limited balances that prevent automatic rebilling, consider exploring the service known as IronVest, formerly Abine Blur.