4 Ways To Avoid Getting Stuck in Free Promotion Traps
Written by
Stephanie Mickelson
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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If you’ve ever signed up for a free trial and then cringed when you saw a charge come through your bank account for a subscription you swore you’d cancel, we’re here to help.
Free trials are not only offered, they’ve come to be expected in many cases. In fact, it seems like you can get a free trial for almost anything — a quick Google search turned up 24 free trial opportunities, including Amazon Prime Video, BritBox, Spotify, Discovery, Kindle Unlimited, and more.
Some companies even partner with other companies to promote their products or services when you sign up. For instance, Amazon Prime members receive two free audiobooks and a 30-day free trial from Audible that auto-renews at $14.95 per month after the trial, and certain T-Mobile plans come with Apple TV+ On Us for a promotional period.
This all sounds great, but it’s all too common for people to forget about the subscription only to be surprised by a charge for a service they don’t want or need.
GOBankingRates talked with Sarah Keish, a financial expert and founder of RBT Practice Exam, and Melanie McGovern, director of public relations at Better Business Bureau. They recommended these four ways to avoid getting stuck in these free promotion traps.
Read the Fine Print and Watch for Pre-Checked Boxes
One mistake McGovern sees when it comes to promotional deals is you may not realize you’re opting into a subscription. If you’re not checking or unchecking boxes or not reading the fine print, you may be agreeing to a trial without realizing it.
The Federal Trade Commission also warns of this. By leaving certain boxes checked or unchecked, you may unknowingly be giving the company permission to charge you after the trial.
According to Keish, it’s important to check the fine print — “particularly the subsection regarding how long the free trial is and when the billing starts.”
Pay Attention to Deals That Require a Credit Card
If the deal requires a credit card, McGovern said, “there’s a likelihood that there’s a charge associated with the ‘free’ trial.”
Keish backs this up saying, “Just because it’s advertised as ‘free’ doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t eventually cost you.”
Entering credit or debit card information means that the company will have the means to charge you when the free trial ends, so you’ll have to be extra vigilant about cancelling before the subscription auto-renews.
Cancel During the Trial
If you wait until the trial is over to cancel it, you run the risk of missing the deadline and watching as the subscription auto-renews. Keish recommends you cancel flat-out — “yes, even during the trial.”
“In most cases, you can cancel the trial whenever you want and still keep access through the length of the time. If it’s a 30-day trial, canceling on Day 1 typically doesn’t take away your access — it just halts the auto-renewal,” she said.
Do a Periodic Subscription Check
Keish recommends taking about five minutes a month to review your accounts and check for unwanted charges. Accounts can include your bank account, credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay accounts.
She calls it a “subscription audit” and makes sure her clients do one each month. If you have a lot on your plate, she said that there are programs like Rocket Money or Trim that can scan your accounts for subscriptions and then help you cancel any unwanted ones.
If charges show up that you disagree with, the Better Business Bureau recommends disputing the charge with the company directly, and if that doesn’t work, contact your credit card company to dispute the charge.
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