contract-law consumer-protection finance breach-of-contract
Can I fight a charge from forgetting to cancel a subscription?
<p>I just got charged a substantial fee for renewing some domains that are years old, (old enough that my card on file had expired, so I don't know how they even managed to charge it) that I had completely forgotten about until the charge appeared on my card. I called them up, and they explained that domain renewals are non-refundable and it's my own fault for not telling them I didn't want the domains renewed. Can they do that? I was thinking about calling the credit card company and asking for a chargeback, but I'm concerned that might put me in the wrong...</p>

<p>That will depend on what the company bases their claim on.</p>

<p>Read the contract for the domains, and/or the general terms and conditions of the company.</p>

<p>My guess is that your contract with the company (for the domain) says that the contract renews every year (or so) until you cancel it - that is standard for many types of service contracts. In that case, the company is indeed entitled to payment for their services.</p>

<p>If there is no such language in the contract, things become more complicated. In that case, ask the company (in writing) on what contractual basis they are charging you.</p>

<p><em>Note:</em> Even if your contract contains a renewal clause, it may in some cases be invalid (for example, if the clause is unexpected, and/or well hidden). However, the rules for this are quite complex and highly jurisdiction-dependent, so to explore that further, you'd need to add the exact language of your contract, and your jurisdiction.</p>
