Premium subscription got renewed

[EastsideDick]

I guess I received a premium subscription after buying a 200 dollar watch.  Somewhere in there I became subscribed to Premium.  I get an automatic renewal and try to stop it the same day. I am told too bad. 80 bucks for stuff I dont understand.  Bull crap.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @PamABC123.

I understand your concern, and appreciate the information provided. I've requested a new case on your behalf and forwarded your posts to our Support team so they can provide you with further assistance. You'll receive an email with more details, please keep an eye on your inbox, as well as an open communication with them.

[sosad2]

Hi Lizzy, are all of our concerns being escalated or do we each need to create a new case? If so, how do we create a case? I’ve spoken on chat and over the phone with Fitbit but nobody could help me. I would appreciate having a case number and the ability to talk with someone can that make this right.  The only notification I had from Fitbit was 1 email sent 1 month before renewing that stated my plan the previous year was $0.00.  It does not indicate the price I would be charged 1 month later.  
Below is the text from the email.

This email is to remind you that your subscription with Fitbit will automatically renewsoon.

Product Name                        Subscription Date  Expiration Date  Amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitbit Premium™ Membership          03/18/2022           03/18/2023           0.00USD

[Thiochrome]

I have this same issue as of yesterday morning. I contacted support chat but apparently they didn't understand that I wanted to get rid of my renewed subscription completely and be refunded. I'm trying to contact support through Twitter now but next is to dispute through PayPal.

My "notification email" was much like sosad2's where they never actually gave me the amount I was to be charged and after multiple attempts through the app and website prior to it going into affect, couldn't cancel the automatic renewal before it went through.

[Ammars27]

I had the same. Tried to cancel kept going round and round and then they take the money out and said tuff luck, have reported to Amex who said they get my refund but this is not legal in UK 

[diane2238]

Then why can people who live in Germany can get a prorated refund but people in the United States cannot.  Bad for business.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone, and welcome to our new members.

Thanks for joining this thread and sharing your feedback about Premium. Because Premium services are not refundable, I'd recommend contacting your phone's app store to explore your options. To learn more about our terms and policies click here.

@sosad2 Thanks for the details provided, and the steps tried on your own. As you noticed, the email sent by Fitbit will only contain the information of your current subscription, and you can check our website to verify the plans that we have for Premium. I'm sorry for this inconvenience. If you'd like to start a new interaction with our Support team, please click here and select the option that best works for you.

[Thiochrome]

A small update on my end for anyone following:
I was able to contact Fitbit support through Twitter. They gave me the same "These are our Terms of Service..." twice and I had to reiterate multiple times that the system *wouldn't* let me cancel at all prior to contacting support. If I had subscribed through the app store, maybe this would have been different but it was a free trial and therefore wasn't an option. Then I quoted back them breaking their own ToS because they hadn't properly notified me prior to being charged - which is something that has been mentioned here, multiple times.

I don't know what did it, but eventually, they came back to me a couple of hours later and notified me that I would be receiving a refund. So the entire thing seems to be resolved for me, at least.

I've been with Fitbit for 9 years and this is my fourth watch from them. The only reason I even have Premium is because of the Ionic recall last year but it's not something I would pay for, personally. But this issue alone is enough for me to consider switching brands when my current watch no longer works.

@ Fitbit
From reading everyone's accounts, this seems to be a common issue with people who had Premium trials. The Fitbit automatic notifications and/or system as a whole couldn't properly process the cancellation of a free trial - either through the app or the website - for multiple people. Considering that the FTC is looking at pushing a new rule requiring that canceling subscriptions be made easier for the customer soon (I believe it's called "Click to Cancel"), Fitbit should probably look into this matter further before that happens.

[DaveW64]

Lizzy, that seems a bit of a 'cop-out' to be fair. Fitbit have NOT followed their own Terms of Service. I didn't realise I was on premium nor did I receive ANY notification that a subscription was renewing. In ToS it states you will receive this notification - but you dont.

Similarly, we keep hearing that it is policy not to refund re Premium (regardless of where fault lies or if you followed your own ToS it seems) - but 'Thiochrome' below seems to have been refunded.

How about trying to preserve some credibility in Fitbits reputation and treating each case on its own merit?

The amount of dissatisfaction on here and SM is huge - massive own goal by Fitbit here.

Like many - I have had numerous Fitbits over a number of years - but unless things change then never again

[HankFi]

Very well said, and I agree.

[sosad2]

So if we complain/ address the issue in a public forum they’ll help us? That’s unfortunate.

[HankFi]

No, apparently they won't. Just like they won't notify you before making a
charge on your credit card.

[mjf1001]

Had exactly the same problems and been charged for a subscription I didn’t know I had. 
After receiving notification from PayPal that I had been charged the renewal headed straight to the app to cancel.  You say it is not linked to the watch but there was no way to cancel it through the app.  Went online and followed instructions and the subscription wasn’t in my i-phones’s subscription setting so couldn’t cancel there.  Followed further instructions and logged into the online portal and still no way to cancel. Went to the Fitbit help pages and no way to find where to cancel other than the three ways I’d already had with no joy.
It  wasn’t till I went to Paypal and found the instructions to cancel recurring payments which I didn’t know I’d set up with Fitbit for the Premium subscription,  that I found could eventually cancel but apparently too late not to be charged for a product I didn’t use and don’t want.

I have looked in my junk inbox today and found an email about the subscription renewing which  stated the Premium subscription, not free trial subscription but Premuim subscription, from March last year to this was  £0.00 and nothing in the email about being charged £79.99 for the next 12 months.

Certainly very underhand practices verging on fraudulent behaviour and certainly won’t be ever buying a Fitbit product again. Shame as the Ionic was a great watch and only ended up with my current Charge 5 due to the recall and given a voucher which included the Premium for free and as I’d paid through PayPal initiated without warning the recurring subscription. Felt like I’d been miss sold there too as it stated the Charge 5 counted swim laps… which it does.. but not as would be expected that the laps can only be seen when uploaded to the app and not whilst swimming, which is where almost all swimmers want to see them whilst training. 
This is another issue that has been raised all year long but the company has refused to release a fix to show swim laps on the watch in the pool.
Just like they are refusing to reimburse and admit their culpability for taking money from their customers for a product they didn’t realise they had been signed up for.

[makedeluxe]

In the same boat here. Got renewed with no warnings and apparently "cannot refund purchases made on fitbit.com". I've now filed a dispute claim with PayPal. Way to shoot yourselves in the foot Fitbit!

[craneshana]

I'm dealing with the same thing right now. I'm just being quoted the TOS over and over, despite explaining to CS that on my iphone, the "account" screen doesn't show subscriptions, and there was no subscription in the app store either. Like others here, I've owned several Fitbits and only have this Premium subscription because of the Ionic recall. Had I known it would turn into an $80 problem I never would have accepted it in the first place. 

[HankFi]

Yep, I filed a dispute with my credit card company.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone, and welcome to our new members.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As mentioned before, services such as Fitbit Premium subscriptions are non-refundable and for this reason it's recommended to cancel before the renewal date, as described in our Terms for paid services. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused and I appreciate your feedback. You can always contact your phone's app store to explore your options.

@mjf1001 Let me clarify the email will provide the information of your current subscription, meaning that it'll show £0.00 if you were using a free trial. However, after the subscription period ends, you'll be charged for the subscription fee selected when joining Premium. For more details about the Premium plans, click here.

[mjf1001]

@LizzyFitbit let’s be totally clear, not everyone can contact their phones app store to explore options because there are no options to explore for many of us who have had Fitbit Premium auto renewed without fare warning of the 12 month charge. I’ve had the app 3 years prior to Fitbit premium.  That’s because we received the Premium trial as an add on for when we got a credit we could purchase new Fitbit watches with, when our Ionic watches were recalled last year. These transactions were  through a third party so the Premium cancellation function was for some reason not available either through the Fitbit app, through the Fitbit online portal accessed through a browser, nor through our phones Subscriptions in our phones Settings, as I’d tried all those places to unsubscribe from the Premium service which is a big error and unacceptable practice on Fitbits part.  
The email sent telling members that their subscription was going to auto renew, yes gave the price as 0.00 for the past year but did not state that that  was the trial price and why did it not give the cost of the renewal?  You know why and that’s because you know lots of people would have tried harder and  unsubscribed before the auto renewal date. 
I’ve outlined two at best bad practices but I’d say both are more likely underhand practices on Fitbits part to trap subscribers into another 12 months of Premium service. 
A third bad practice is the one that points directly to the first two being not just unacceptable but underhand, that is stating it’s against Fitbit policy not to refund whilst at the same time acknowledging they broke their own policy by not informing premium subscribers before the auto renew date, of the cost of renewal and still refusing to refund.

[craneshana]

Exactly this. My case was “escalated” and after several days I received an email back from Fitbit today finally simply telling me again that they are unable to issue refunds. My response to them via email was:

Firstly, it was a 12-month free subscription, given as part of the Ionic recall last year. Secondly, as I explained to both your online chat agent and your telephone agent, there is no apparent way, when following any link sent in Fitibit emails regarding subscription notices, to see account information on mobile devices. Thirdly, your own terms of service regarding free trials state, "Before charging you at the end of the your free trial period, we will notify you of the applicable fees." (screenshot attached and TOS linked). My "reminder" email a month ago about my upcoming subscription renewal showed a subscription fee of $0.00. When I followed the link provided in the email to confirm that I was not actually subscribed for a paid service and subsequently found that I could not access any subscription information, I assumed the email was sent in error, in large part owing to the fact that it showed a $0.00 fee. None of these practices are transparent or designed to make it easy for users to opt out of "free" subscriptions. It's a predatory practice, and judging by the evidence I collected from the Fitbit community message boards after your customer service agents were unhelpful, it's not only predatory, but a widespread and common practice in which Fitbit is engaging. Finally, you state ad nauseum that you're categorically unable to provide refunds, but per your TOS, Fitbit does have some latitude: "At any time for any reason, we may provide a refund, discount, or other consideration (“credits”) to some or all of our users." (screenshot attached). I've already opened a dispute with my credit card company and will be providing them with all the logs and evidence I've gathered.

TOS referenced: https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/legal/terms-of-service

@LizzyFitbit 

[HankFi]

That is completely untrue, as I never received a email.

[diane2238]

I never received an email either. I wonder how many Fitbit premium or regular users have switched to Stridekick since Fitbit app changed its program. Is Google doing research without telling Fitbit users.

Sent from my iPhone