End a subscription
When Premium Services are subscription based, the Content Provider needs to inform you how to end a subscription. This is stated in messages such as SMS’s you get from the Content Provider when you sign up, or a welcoming email or SMS, and often there are monthly subscription reminder SMS or emails. Depending on your country, you might even get a message or SMS when you spent a certain amount during a certain period.
If you receive SMS’s, the unsubscribe message comes mostly in the form of: “text ‘stop’ to stop” or “Send ‘Stop’ 2 end” etc). In order to end, you have to follow the instructions in the SMS, alternatively you can call the Content Provider’s Help Desk and unsubscribe via their Help Desk.
Alternatively, if your service is completely app-based or web portal based, you might be asked to log onto your account and end the subscription there, most commonly by unticking a box.
Premium SMS services that send messages that have a premium charge always start with “$MSG”, “$msg” or another monetary reference so you know it is not a normal message.
In case of Carrier Direct Billing and other forms of billing that happen offline (via your credit card or a PayPal account), you might receive an SMS or an email stating “thank you for extending your subscribtion” or ” we have billed your account …”, to inform you that you have been charged. However, regulations and customs around this are different for every country.
If you receive message or emails: deleting messages starting with the $ character or stating ‘you have been charged for…’ or ‘thank you for your subscription’ will NOT stop further or existing costs.
ALWAYS CONTACT THE NUMBER IN THE MESSAGE IF YOU FIND YOURSELF SUBSCRIBED TO A SERVICE THAT YOU DON’T WANT!
Example 1: Assume you have Pay TV at home (e.g. Foxtel). Selling your TV set will NOT end your pay TV subscription. You have to contact the Pay TV Provider in order to end a subscription.
Example 2: You have a fitness membership that automatically extends with a certain period. Not going to the gym, or throwing away your fitness bag and shoes, will NOT end your subscription. You have to contact the gym to end a subscription.