How to cancel a subscription and keep proof.

Cancel in the way the company offers, write down the day you did it, keep a copy of the confirmation, and check your statement 30 and 60 days later. If you are charged again, you will have the proof to ask for the money back.

Six steps

1. Find it. List what leaves your account every month. The free Subscription Check reads a statement on your own phone and lists each payment that repeats, with its yearly cost.

2. Cancel where you signed up. A subscription bought through an app store is usually cancelled in that app store. One bought on a company’s website is cancelled with that company. On Google Play, deleting the app does not cancel the subscription, so check the subscriptions list in the app store as well.

3. Get it in writing. Ask the company to confirm the cancellation and the date it ends. Cancel and Keep Proof writes that message for you.

4. Keep the proof. Take a screenshot of the confirmation with the date and time showing, or save the email. Write down how you cancelled and any reference number.

5. Check twice. Look at your statement 30 days and 60 days after you cancelled.

6. If it is taken again, ask the company for the money back first, then ask your card provider how to dispute the payment. Card providers set their own time limits, so do it soon.

What this cannot do

The rules for refunds and disputes differ between countries and card providers, and nothing here is legal advice. If a company does not answer, your card provider or the consumer body where you live can tell you what to do next.

Sources

Google Play Help, cancel, pause or change a subscription; Apple Support, cancel a subscription from Apple; United States Federal Trade Commission, disputing credit card charges, which gives the United States time limits.