Guide
Subscriptions, automatic renewal and cancelling
The feature list is what you compare. The subscription terms are what you live with. In this category the second one is where the money is.
Quick answer
Security software is sold almost entirely on subscription, usually at a discounted first term that renews at a higher standard rate unless it is cancelled. Before you subscribe, find the renewal price and the cancellation method on the vendor's own pages and save both. After you subscribe, put the renewal date in a calendar with a reminder a fortnight ahead. Those two habits prevent most of the complaints people have about this category.
How the pricing model works
The standard shape is a first term — twelve months, sometimes twenty-four — sold at a promotional rate, followed by renewal at the vendor's standard rate for the same product. Both numbers are legitimate and both are usually published, but they appear in different places: the promotional rate is on the page that sells the product, and the standard rate is generally in the subscription terms or the account area. The gap between them is not small, and a household that budgeted on the first number is often surprised by the second.
Two other patterns are worth recognising. Tier inflation is when the renewal moves you onto a broader product than the one you bought, because the original edition has been retired. Seat inflation is when the renewal covers more devices than you need, because the entry-level licence is no longer offered. Neither is hidden, but neither is prominent, and both are easiest to catch at renewal time rather than after it.
What automatic renewal actually commits you to
Automatic renewal means the vendor holds a payment method and charges it when the term ends, having notified you in advance. It is a convenience rather than a trap, but it changes where the responsibility sits: cancelling is an action you must take, and taking it after the charge has gone through is a refund conversation rather than a cancellation.
Where a subscription was bought through an app store rather than from the vendor directly, the renewal is managed by the store, not by the vendor, and cancelling in the vendor's own account area may do nothing at all. This catches people out regularly. Establish which of the two you used at the time of purchase and write it down, because a year later nobody remembers.
| Where you bought it | Who takes the payment | Where to cancel |
|---|---|---|
| The vendor's own website | The vendor, or its payment processor | The account area on the vendor's site, or the vendor's support channel |
| An app store on a phone or tablet | The platform operator | The subscriptions section of that store's account settings |
| A retailer, as a boxed or card licence | The retailer, once, at the counter | Usually nothing to cancel, but check whether activation created an auto-renewing account |
| Bundled with a new device or an internet plan | The device maker or the telco, then the vendor when the bundle lapses | Start with whoever is billing you now; it may not be the vendor |
What to record at the moment you subscribe
Five minutes at purchase saves an hour later. Keep these somewhere you will find them — a note in a password manager alongside the account credentials works well.
- The exact product and edition name, and the number of devices. Renewal notices refer to the edition, and editions change names.
- The price paid, in AUD, and the term. Screenshot the confirmation page rather than relying on the email.
- The renewal date and the renewal price as stated at purchase. Then put the date in a calendar with an alert two weeks earlier.
- Which account or store took the payment. This is the single most useful thing on the list when you come to cancel.
- The cancellation and refund terms as they stood on the day. Save the page, not the link — terms pages are updated in place.
Cancelling, in the order that works
Work from the party that is billing you outwards. Skipping steps tends to create a dispute rather than resolve one.
- Sign in to whichever account is charging you — the vendor's account area or the app store's subscription list — and turn off renewal there. Take a screenshot of the confirmation.
- Look for the confirmation email. If none arrives, treat the cancellation as incomplete and contact support in writing rather than by phone, so that you have a record.
- Check that the product stops billing at the next cycle. A cancelled subscription usually runs to the end of the paid term; that is normal and is not the same as a refund.
- Uninstall only after the term ends if you have paid for it. Removing the software does not cancel the subscription, and cancelling the subscription does not remove the software.
- If a charge appears after a confirmed cancellation, contact the vendor in writing first, quoting the confirmation. Only then take it to your bank or card issuer, and only then to a consumer agency.
A refund request is not the same as a cancellation
Cancelling stops future charges. A refund asks for a charge already made to be returned, and it sits against both the vendor's own refund policy and the consumer guarantees in Australian law, which operate regardless of what a policy says. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission publishes plain-English material on when a consumer is entitled to a repair, replacement or refund. Our page on consumer rights goes through how that applies to software.
When a charge is not yours, or not what you agreed to
Unrecognised charges from software vendors have two common explanations and one uncommon one. The common explanations are a renewal on a subscription taken out years ago and forgotten, or a family member's purchase on a shared payment method. The uncommon one is a fraudulent charge, which is a matter for your bank immediately rather than for the vendor.
Where a charge is genuine but you believe the terms were not made clear, the sequence is: written complaint to the vendor, then your card issuer if the vendor does not resolve it, then a report to the ACCC and a complaint to the fair trading or consumer affairs office in your state or territory. The ACCC uses reports to identify patterns rather than to resolve individual disputes, and the state and territory offices are the ones that deal with individual matters, so it is usually worth doing both.
What to watch out for
- Renewal notices that are not from the vendor. A fake renewal invoice, often for an amount large enough to make you call a number in the email, is one of the more common approaches in circulation. Never use contact details from the notice itself — sign in to the account you already have. Scamwatch publishes current examples.
- Refund offers that require remote access. No legitimate refund needs somebody to control your computer. This is covered in detail in fake alerts and support scams.
- Cancelling by removing the payment method alone. It may leave the contract in place and the account in arrears.
- Bundled trials on a new device. They often convert to a paid subscription on a date nobody wrote down.