Sometimes, an "automatic renewal" on a publication or software's yearly subscription can be a deceptive marketing tool. It is like the "hunting" seller has the "dear" buyer squarely in his "sites". This is true if the seller doesn't do a clear, conspicuous, comprehensive, and completely comprehendable disclosure upfront, before the buyer signs up. Most of the time, this disclosure is communicated in the form of "fine print" that is buried in a lengthy (very time consuming to read in detail) "terms of service".
But, even when it is disclosed upfront in a conspicuous way, many times the complete procedure for early notification of that auto-renewal date is not given. Plus, when the seller does give a fair number of pre-notification e-mails, the renewal date may be left out, and many times the options on the pre-notification e-mails are "renew now" or "renew later", and NOT "cancel now" or "cancel at subscription termination date".
I canceled my subscription to WebmasterWorld not because it isn't a fine publication, but because I no longer needed it as much as I used to, and their "Subscribe to WebmasterWorld" page had an automatic renewal subscription plan that did not send me any pre-notification renewal notice e-mails (that I ever received), besides never stating upfront how many times they would send those e-mails. At least they did disclose upfront on their PayPal form above that the automatic renewal would be at the previous rates by saying: "Note: Your subscription will automatically renew at the rates stated above unless you cancel prior to the end of the billing period." However, on their "2CheckOut" credit card form it only says "Subscribe to WebmasterWorld for 6 months - Bills every 6 Month(s) Until Canceled". The possibility, or not, of increased rates upon automatic renewal need to be disclosed upfront by any seller.
No consumer wants to forget his 6 month or annual renewal date on anything, and then receive a bill a month later stating that his account has been charged! Here are some of the problems for both the buyer and the seller.
With WebmasterWorld if you decide on PayPal, you could discover in PayPal's "User Agreement" a link to "PayPal Billing Agreement for Preapproved Payments" which has a "Waiver of Advance Notice" that says: "...you have the right to insist on 10 days' advance notice before the payment is pulled from your bank account. This is designed to protect you as a consumer from insufficient funds charges. By signing up for this Billing Agreement, you are agreeing to get this advance notice only when your total payments to a merchant exceed the billing limit." This means that if WebmasterWorld does not send out any pre-notification reminders, or you don't get them for whatever reason, and you forget the renewal date either 6 months or a year later, then you waive your "advanced notice" rights.
Of course PayPal refers the consumer to their "Buyer Complaint Policy", but that says: "The Buyer Complaint Policy only applies to payments for tangible, physical goods which can be shipped, and excludes all other payments, including but not limited to payments for intangibles, for services or for licenses and other access to digital content." So, the intangible service of WebmasterWorld has a cancellation policy that goes like this: "Note: Given that this is a service, all subscriptions are final and refunds are not granted." I looked at the 2CheckOut "Terms of Service" and "Purchase Terms", and could not find anything that protected the buyer if he was billed by an auto-renewal, but really wanted to cancel.
I'd bet most people signing up for WebmasterWorld don't realize all these rules and regulations when they sign up. It is not a problem if you want a "lifetime subscription", or if you do remember to cancel many months later, or if WebmasterWorld is sending out plenty of reminder notices, and they are not being caught in customer's spam filters (or not read for any reason).
It is a shame in my opinion, because I respect the quality of the content of WebmasterWorld forums. I believe an "automatic renewal" is not necessary for them as most subscribers would want to renew if their circumstances dictated so. It only invites the potential of user generated, negative branding content on the Internet.
I'll have more on the dangers for buyers and sellers doing "Automatic Renewals" in my next post, but the first, and best, suggestion that I have is for all sellers to at least offer an upfront choice of "automatic subscription renewal" or not.
PS - Out of respect for WebmasterWorld Forum and as a courtesy to Brett Tabke, the owner, I have sent Brett an e-mail asking him to review this post for any inaccurate facts about his "automatic renewal" process that I may have stated above.
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