Continuity subscription merchants offer a free trial of their service or product and bill customers after a certain time. For services, they usually process a payment after a one week or ten day usage period. Alternatively with products, they might complete the purchase when a customer keeps a free sample they were sent.
Continuity subscriptions are common for software services, nutraceutical products, online streaming, and. Merchant accounts for continuity subscriptions are considered high risk because of high refund and chargeback rates.
If you are a continuity subscription merchant, you may come across customers that want to cancel their subscription. If so, it’s imperative to make the process simple and have a generous refund policy in place so you can avoid potential chargeback disputes.
If you’re a customer, you should first try to cancel your billing through the merchant that’s charging you. Go to your account and change downgrade to a free account or cancel the service altogether. Some malicious merchants might add steps to the process by making you call in to cancel or hide it in a difficult to find location.
If you can’t find where to cancel online, then write an email or message to their support team. Even if this is a message that’s embedded in their website on a contact page, be sure to log it by taking a screenshot before you send. If you don’t hear back then file a chargeback through your bank provider for the unapproved charges.
Amazon Prime offers the ability for merchants to sell their products using a continuity subscription model. This new type of billing is highlighted as a preference on the checkout page, and often comes with lower costs. The benefit for merchants is that they can count on more consistent transactions over time which make for steady revenue and brand loyalty.
