Really pissed off about this magazine subscription

[RedRobyn2021]

I bought 1 years subscription to a magazine for DP for Christmas last year, little did I know the company (Bauer Media - Great Magazines) automatically renew the subscription without notifying me.

I've bought subscriptions before for family members for Christmas and this has never happened to me before.

I emailed them after a £50 payment went out my account that I wasn't expecting right before Christmas and they've come back finally saying basically tough, it's in our terms (hidden and not made clear).

Absolute crooks IMO

Even in their email to me they haven't said they'll cancel it for next year so I've had to go back to them again. I cancelled the direct debit but I suppose that won't be enough?

I'm worried they're going to do it again next year now, I actually can't be bothered with any of this. The £50 sent me into my overdraft, I am not working like I was last year and this has really thrown me.

Correct screenshot here

@RedRobyn2021 After they took the money out my account, I rang and was on hold for ages but finally managed to speak to someone who claimed they didn't get my previous email and online cancellation but agreed to refund and cancel as a gesture of goodwill. Which they did. But the subscription is still active on my account and I have now received another issue. ARGH! I've removed my card details from my account and hope that's the end of it and I won't get any more!

Every single subscription I’ve ever taken out (magazines, Disneyplus, Amazon prime, audible, car insurance etc) always auto renews - it’s how they make their money.

It was your fault for not checking and cancelling the subscription.

Next time put a reminder on your calendar to stop the auto renewal before the end date.

You live and learn and it’s just one of those things.

OP please do not compare this to marital rape, that is not going to do you any favors at all. You have made an error hear, a frustrating one yes and the terms of the contract haven't been to your liking but it's what you chose. Rape in any form is a devasting and traumatising experience sometimes with life long consequences. Please don't use it in this way, it makes you appear to be the one who is morally out of order, not your magazine company.

For the subscriptions I pay for, it’s always been crystal clear on the payment page when the next payment is due, before I press the button. I’ve had at least 20 different monthly TV subscriptions over the last four years, mostly on rotation, so I just keep a note in my diary when to cancel before the period is up. These companies rely on the subscriptions for steady income. They also rely on people like you who haven’t read the terms and conditions, or have forgotten to cancel.

Did you know it was legal in the U.K. to rape your wife until 1992?

Yep, that marks the end of any sympathy I had for you.

To be fair to the OP, I think some people are being a bit obtuse. My understanding is that the OP’s reference to marital rape is, however clunkily, pointing out that just because something isn’t technically illegal (as marital rape wasn’t until the early 90s), does NOT make it acceptable. Surely, that’s obvious 🙄