Premium subscription got auto renewed

[Hagg1s]

Hi folks, I have been stung for £80 due to Fitbit auto renewing my free subscription (provided when I purchased a Sense). I contacted customer services within a few hours of receiving a payment notification from my credit card company. Initially I suspected fraud since I hadn't made any purchases. I contacted Fitbit via chat and was informed about the renewal. I asked for my subscription to be cancelled and an immediate refund to be initiated. They stated that the could do the former but not the latter. After a series of phone calls and emails Fitbit are still sticking by their no refund policy. Having looked in CMA regulations and best practices I feel that Fitbit have failed to adhere to these principles. They may have broken the law (not sure) but have certainly applied an unfair policy. Firstly, their initial correspondence does not clearly specify a start date, end date nor renewal date. Secondly, Fitbit did not send me a timely reminder that renewal was imminent and a reminder of the increase in cost. Thirdly, I should have been able to cancel the subscription within a certain period without a financial penalty. I therefore had no opportunity to cancel the subscription prior to a renewal date that I did not know, nor determine,  was imminent.

I have auto renew subscriptions set up with other companies and they have adjusted their policies and procedures to let customers know when offer periods are ending and how much it will cost. Fitbit need to wise up before they alienate their customer base.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Nelliee6]

Last year, Fitbit issued a recall of the Ionic watch. They replaced my watch and offered a free Premium membership as well. Only because the membership was free, I opted in. A year later, I received an email stating that my charges were $0. Since a full year had elapsed, I thought that the free membership was for 3 years as appeasement for the fact that they sold me a watch that could explode on my arm. I noticed shortly after that they had charged me for a full year of the Premium services, which I do not want. Upon contacting them, they stated that the email was sent in early 2023 to let me know I paid nothing for the service in 2022. Why? No company does this and comes off as intentionally misleading. They never sent a subsequent email stating that they would be charging for the upcoming year. To me, this is fraudulent. Fitbit refuses to refund my money for an issue that they caused with a defective product and then subsequently sent unclear and unnecessary emails to further muddy the waters. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @Hagg1s. @Nelliee6 Welcome on board.

Thanks for the detailed information, and the time taken while contacting our Support team. I understand where you're coming from and I apologize for this experience. Because you already have a case created, I've forwarded your posts so our team can look into this and see what can be done for you.

Your feedback is appreciated and please keep an eye on your inbox, you'll receive an email shortly with more information.