Have you been passed by the App automatic renewal routine?
Subscription members automatically renew by default, cancel the subscription, and the renewal service hidden obstacles
Editor's note
Automatic renewal, harvesting member users’ "memory tax"; cross-border claims and excessive collection of user information; pop-up advertisements that cannot be closed and cannot be returned to induce clicks; do tasks to receive red envelopes and drain profit is the goal... With the development of the mobile Internet With rapid development, App has been integrated into all aspects of people's daily life and brought convenience to people. At the same time, many problems have also surfaced. How to protect legitimate rights and interests has become an "emergency and hopeful" problem for App users.
Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued several batches of "App Circulars on Infringement of User Rights and Interests" and "Circulars on "Looking Back" Circulars on App's Excessive Request for Permissions and Excessive Collection of Users' Personal Information."
Under the heavy blow, relevant companies have rectified and reformed in accordance with regulations, some App chaos has been contained, and the phenomenon of infringement on user rights has been alleviated, but there are still many "fish that slip through the net".
Starting today, the "Law Jingwei" version has launched a series of reports on App chaos investigations, revealing the current hidden routines in App, and discussing how to fundamentally protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
stay tuned.
● Many apps attract consumers to choose continuous monthly subscriptions by setting discounts for the first month. Many users thought they could save a little money through continuous monthly subscriptions, but they fell into the trap of automatic renewal.
● "Into the pit" is easy, but "out of the pit" is not easy.
Some apps set many obstacles to cancel subscription and renewal services. Refunds need to be found in the third-party payment platform with a level 4 or level 5 interface and click the relevant button to complete, which infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
● The "Internet Transaction Supervision and Management Measures" clearly stipulates that consumers must be notified in advance before the automatic renewal expires. If consumers refuse to renew, they cannot regard refusal or default non-response as consent.
If there is still a disguised forced automatic renewal situation, it is suspected of breaking the law
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
□ Intern Yang Yinan
Another 19 yuan was deducted!
This is already the third fee for Beijing citizen Tang Fei to be "automatically renewed" in November.
When he first received the notice of deduction, Tang Fei didn't know why he was deducted. After some operations, he realized that it turned out that the monthly subscription of the video app he had subscribed to expired and the platform automatically renewed.
As more and more high-quality content on the App is only available to members, many consumers have to choose to subscribe to App membership, but in reality, there are not many people who are "automatically renewed" like Tang Fei.
A number of consumers interviewed by reporters from the Rule of Law Daily reported that they did not receive any relevant notifications before the automatic renewal, and they could not even see the specific deduction platform directly from the bill; they only wanted to try but were automatically renewed and canceled their subscription. Problems such as cumbersome and complicated operation steps are not uncommon.
Purchasing App membership was originally for a better user experience. Why did you spend money and fall into the trap of automatic renewal?
What are the pitfalls?
How should consumers protect their legal rights?
Around these issues, the reporter recently launched an investigation.
Monthly subscription offers a lot of discounts
The automatic renewal routine is quite deep
After returning home from a day of work, Tang Fei is used to watching TV dramas online to relax. He has purchased members on 3 video apps.
He found that monthly membership subscriptions are cheaper than monthly subscriptions. For example, for a certain video app, a monthly subscription is 25 yuan/month, and a continuous monthly subscription is 19 yuan/month.
In order to save money, he generally chooses to open a monthly membership service package.
The reporter's investigation found that many apps have also set up discounts for the first month to attract consumers to choose continuous monthly subscriptions.
If a new customer of a music app chooses a continuous monthly subscription, the first month membership fee is only 3 yuan, and the second month and thereafter are 15 yuan, but if they choose a single monthly subscription, it costs 18 yuan.
Guo Kai, a citizen of Beijing, noticed that in some apps, if users manually cancel the automatic renewal every month, they can still receive the "first month benefits" at a discounted price next month.
For example, if the original price of a certain App member is RMB 20, the auto-renewal fee will be RMB 20 for the first month of RMB 15 and thereafter. However, if the user cancels the auto-renewal fee in the current month and activates the auto-renewal fee next month, the first month will still be calculated as RMB 15.
"In this way, wouldn't the one who activates the membership and keeps the automatic renewal been'sucked up'?"
“The first month of some apps’ new user membership offers really great incentives, but the original price will be restored in the second month. In order to enjoy the first month’s discount, I usually choose to continue monthly subscriptions.” said Wenya, a master student at a university in Beijing.
However, many users thought that they could save a little money through continuous monthly subscription, but they fell into the trap of automatic renewal.
According to Tang Fei, when subscribing to the continuous monthly service, the platform will force users to check the relevant service agreement, otherwise they cannot purchase it.
The automatic renewal service terms stipulate that if the user has activated the automatic renewal service and has not actively cancelled it during the subscription period, the fee will be automatically deducted next month.
"As long as you choose a continuous monthly subscription, the platform will automatically deduct the fee after the membership expires this month, without any prompt. What is more outrageous is that the deduction bill does not indicate which platform is deducting the fee." Tang Fei said helplessly. "After buying a member, I forgot it accidentally. I didn’t remember it until I was automatically renewed next time. Sometimes I got busy and didn’t care about it, so I kept going back and forth and renewing it all the time."
Wenya, who is a collection of various App memberships, has also been "automatically renewed". Among the apps she purchased for membership, there was once an app that had been uninstalled but was still "automatically renewed."
Yang Yu, a student at a college in Zhengzhou, also had similar troubles.
In order to pass the final English exam, Yang Yu purchased a member to practice listening comprehension on an English learning app.
The membership packages provided by this app include 18 yuan/month, 98 yuan/year, 198 yuan/2 years, and 298 yuan/lifetime. Considering that he is only using it for a short period of time, Yang Yu spent 18 yuan to purchase a one-month membership.
Unexpectedly, she suddenly received a fee deduction notice in the second month.
After re-opening the App, Yang Yu discovered that the 18 yuan/month package purchased before was an automatic subscription model, and once it was activated, it would be automatically renewed every month.
"It didn't give me any tips before the automatic renewal, which made me spend an extra month of money in vain." Yang Yu Tucao said.
In the interview, some consumers mentioned a "fishing deduction" model.
Liu Wen, a citizen of Yingkou, Liaoning, once used a photo processing app, which can only be used after membership activation, but there is a 3-day free trial period.
In order to handle the work, Liu Wen bought a 3-day trial package before he had time to take a closer look.
"When I purchased the package, it was shown that the payment was successful, and no money was deducted. But a few days later, I received a notice of deduction of 20 yuan." Liu Wen said.
According to the situation described by Liu Wen, the reporter downloaded the app, and the rules of the free trial description read: "You can enjoy a 3-day free trial when you subscribe to the package for the first time. It will be automatically renewed 24 hours before the trial expires and can be cancelled at any time." As can be seen in the rules, the 3-day free trial is included in the automatic renewal package, and the subscription is not cancelled within two days, which means that the default is automatically renewed.
"Isn't this digging holes for consumers under the banner of a free trial?" Liu Wen was a bit aggrieved.
Different entry levels to operate
Steps to unsubscribe are cumbersome
"Into the pit" is easy, but "out of the pit" is not easy.
The reporter's investigation found that some apps set many obstacles to cancel subscription and renewal services, infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
"When I first purchased a member, I didn’t know how to cancel it. I could only watch the monthly fee deductions. After searching online for a long time, I found out that canceling a subscription is very complicated. The operation time is almost 5 times the time of purchasing a member. The fee is deducted 24 hours before the due date. If you forget to cancel it later, you can only accept it." Tang Fei said.
According to Tang Fei, although he is a member who purchased in a video app, the entry for canceling subscription on an Apple phone is not in the app. You need to click on the phone’s "Settings" to enter your personal account, then click on subscribe, select the corresponding app, and click You can only cancel after canceling the subscription.
Regarding the complicated cancellation of Apple mobile phone subscription operations, Wenya deeply agrees: “Different payment methods have different windows and methods for canceling subscriptions. Purchases made in the App Store need to be cancelled in Apple’s account. Payments via other platforms need to be Cancellation within the platform. Not only that, the unsubscribe link is also hidden very deeply, and the final cancellation can only be done after layers of operations."
"Because there are many apps that are subscribed, there will often be cases where one app is automatically renewed and deducted to cancel the subscription in batches. However, due to the inconsistent windows and steps for canceling subscriptions for different apps, there will still be "fish that slip through the net"." Wen Ya said .
Yang Yu found that when subscribing to App membership, you will see the steps to cancel the subscription. Some are in the supplementary terms of automatic renewal under the terms of service. Some apps will also directly indicate that they are closed in the account settings, but the page and font size, The color design and so on are very inconspicuous, if you don't look closely, you can't see it at all.
Through the screenshots of the unsubscribe steps of related video apps shown by Yang Yu to the reporter, the reporter saw that the terms of cancellation and renewal are set in gray, small font or hidden in the relevant terms of service.
"When you cancel a subscription, you have to follow the steps step by step, and you can't remember it at all. Several times I gave up canceling because it was too troublesome. The membership fees for several apps are also a lot of money every month. "Yang Yu said.
The reporter downloaded a variety of apps with automatic renewal function and found that if you want to unsubscribe, you need to find the level 4 or level 5 interface in the third-party payment platform, and click the relevant button to complete.
In addition, some apps do not provide an unsubscribe method in the email, although they will prompt for the deduction in advance in the form of an email.
After some apps are bound to the automatic renewal service, the membership fee will be deducted a few days before the start of the next service billing cycle, and consumers cannot refund them.
Rule design is conducive to merchants
Frequent automatic renewal disputes
On May 1 this year, the “Internet Transaction Supervision and Administration Measures” promulgated by the State Administration for Market Regulation was formally implemented, which clearly stipulated that “Internet transaction operators who provide services by means of automatic renewal, automatic renewal, etc. shall be provided before consumers accept the service. And 5 days before the date of automatic renewal and automatic renewal, the consumer will be drawn to the attention of the consumer in a significant way, and the consumer will choose it on his own.”
The Measures also stipulate that during the service period, consumers should be provided with obvious and simple options for cancellation or change at any time, and unreasonable fees should not be charged.
But in reality, complaints and disputes caused by the automatic renewal of the App are not isolated cases.
On the relevant consumer complaint platform, there were more than 60,000 complaints with the keyword "automatic renewal".
"Many App merchants take advantage of consumers' vague consciousness or weak awareness of rights protection, to make the ball. Many consumers choose automatic renewal without full knowledge. This is directly related to the design of the renewal rules of the App entrance." Communication University of China Wang Sixin, deputy dean of the Institute for a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity, analyzed.
According to Zheng Ning, director of the Cultural Law Research Center of the School of Cultural Industry Management, Communication University of China, automatic app renewal is not a new problem. Own plan has resulted in damage to the interests of consumers, and the relevant supervision is not in place.
"For the platform, automatic renewal has many benefits to increase user retention and profit; for consumers, not only the information is not equal, but also the lack of information communication capabilities. In fact, the platform and consumers have reached an unfair clause. If consumers default, it means automatic renewal, and will continue, even if some consumers do not use this App, the renewal will continue." said Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law.
In addition, Zhu Wei also mentioned that there is a special agreement between the general service platform and the payment channel. Many payment methods are secret-free payment, and there is no need to confirm the payment to the consumer again. This process is not affected by the consumer. Completing it under the awareness of the situation can also easily lead to frequent occurrence of automatic renewal disputes.
Earning memory tax is suspected of illegal
Multi-pronged approach to strengthen supervision
Some insiders admitted that for App operators, attracting users to pay is a common way of making money.
PPT presentation designer Wang Lu told reporters that all kinds of apps now try to let users choose automatic renewal. On the one hand, paying members can cultivate user habits and increase the stickiness of products; on the other hand, manufacturers also know that users often “forget” "Cancel", thereby earning users' "memory tax", "but there should be a way to pay for profit."
Zheng Ning agreed with this.
He pointed out that user payment is an important profit method for apps. Some app operators create obstacles for consumers to exercise their right to know and choose by manually setting cumbersome exit steps, automatic renewal without reminding, and deliberate use of small print prompts, etc. The purpose of user renewal.
So, how to fundamentally solve the chaos of automatic renewal?
Several interviewed experts suggested that the issue of forced automatic renewal of apps in disguised form should be addressed in accordance with laws and regulations, and the right of active choice should be returned to consumers.
“The Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions clearly stipulate that consumers must be notified in advance before the automatic renewal expires. If consumers refuse to renew, they cannot regard the refusal or default non-response as consent. If there is still a disguised forced automatic renewal situation, then Suspected of breaking the law." Zhu Wei said that the App platform needs to improve the quality of related products and services and make consumers like it in order to retain consumers.
Zheng Ning suggested a multi-pronged approach.
Consumer rights protection departments need to support consumers who have damaged their rights and advocate rights protection. Consumer associations can file public interest litigation or issue suggestions to the App; consumers can also complain to the Consumer Association and request help; App operators need to perform e-commerce The provisions of the Law and the Consumer Rights Protection Law effectively protect consumers' right to know and choose; supervisory authorities should strengthen supervision.
In the interview, on the issue of automatic renewal, many consumers interviewed asked whether it is a bit difficult for consumers to protect their rights independently?
"If you prosecute, you don't need to provide evidence from consumers, because the platform will be renewed without the consumer's consent. The burden of proof lies on the App platform, that is, if the platform says that the consumer agrees, it must prove where the consumer agreed." Zhu Wei explained Now, the law directly stipulates that the platform must solicit opinions from consumers every time. This is the burden of proof. Whoever advocates who submits evidence, the platform says that the consumer agrees, must produce evidence to prove that the consumer agrees.
Zhu Wei believes that the promulgation of the "Internet Transaction Supervision and Management Measures" will have a great impact on judicial, litigation, and supervision.
All parties involved must perform, and failure to perform will face strict penalties.
(In the text, Tang Fei Wenya Yang Yu and Liu Wen are pseudonyms)