Thread: Think This May Stand in Dispute?

Hi all,

I recently purchased a LinkedIn subscription for work. Only needed it for a month. All of a sudden I saw it back on my credit card, charged on July 14th, and the new month of subscription was set to start on July 15th.

So I sent an email to them on July 14th, asking them to cancel it before new service was enacted (kept a copy of said letter).

Basically the response was they won't refund, because I agreed to the following

‘Your paid account will renew automatically, unless we terminate it, or you notify us by telephone or by submitting a request through the customer service link on your LinkedIn account ( http://linkedin.custhelp.com ) to terminate your paid account. You must cancel your subscription before it renews in order to avoid billing of subscription fees for the renewal term to your credit card.’

To me, it doesn't say anything about refunds that they aren't possible - it just says to avoid getting billed, cancel before you're billed. It's like if you go to Best Buy, and when you walk in the store, they say "Hey, to avoid getting charged for an item, don't buy anything." You can still come back to the store and return an item, AFTER you've been billed. In this case, it's a subscription, but the subscription hadn't taken effect yet.

My thought is that since I requested cancellation before the good was provided, and I can prove I did, I have some ground to stand on in a dispute. But, I don't have much experience with disputing cards, and don't want to pay needless finance charges if I have absolutely no chance of "winning".

Do you think I have a case to take to my credit card to dispute the charge? My card is Discover, so unsure if they are more or less lenient.

I think you would lose a dispute. But if you make that argument to LinkedIn directly (that your subscription was to renew on July 15 and you gave legal notice on July 14 per your agreement) then you might win. They have two basic problems: First, they have every right to specify how you give notice to cancel but courts generally do not enforce those kinds of provisions. If you made an effort to cancel on time and can prove it then you might have some grounds. Second, a dispute will hurt them even if you lose. So, if you have a reasonable case they might make an exception. You can do things like send notice to their law firm and that sort of thing that cost them money to deal with.

There is also a glimmer of hope in that they may have charged you too early. If they said they would charge you on July 15 but did it on July 14 instead then they violated the agreement.

My sense is that you should just cancel for next month and move on. Your time is probably worth more than the $15 or whatever that they charged you. If it is a matter of principle for you then you can dispute. You probably will lose but you can at least have the satisfaction of standing up for yourself.

Good luck

I agree with DH, it will entail so much time and effort; it is better to cancel the next month. Besides, if you don't have a strong case, why proceed?