Auto Renewal

Hughby

Really disgusted by the forced entry of auto renew credit card details when entering a new subscription code, the lack of a clear cancel auto renew option in Bitdefender Central and being palmed off to Verifone by technical support. What should have been a 30 second entry of a new code has become a whole morning of unnecessary hassle and I'm probably going to have to cancel my credit card for peace of mind.

I like the product but I really think I'm done with Bitdefender. I don't expect this sort of scammy behaviour from an Internet Security company.

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/103886/auto-renewal

@Alexandru_BD, can you check on this?

Regards

Alexandru_BD

Hi,

@Hughby a quick search online will reveal that many reputable vendors are shifting towards subscription-based models for a variety of services, so in reality this is a market trend, and the automatic renewal feature is not something new in the antivirus industry anyway.
I have multiple subscriptions for entertainment, streaming, security, communications, and so on. A subscription is not a scam. It is a business model in which a customer pays a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service, and is now used by many businesses worldwide.
There are of course ways to set your preferences and you can opt out anytime, even if you have entered your payment information when you enrolled. You can find the steps to set your preferences for the automatic renewal feature in the article below, and if you find them too difficult to follow, you can always get in touch with the Support teams and they can do it for you.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/29081/

Regards

ahall88

I agree with Hughby - it's disgusting behaviour

All we really need here is the option to turn off auto-renewal from the start and we should not be forced into entering card details from the beginning. Yes you can offer this for those who want it but by forcing it - you're clearly trying to catch out those who forget to cancel or don't take the time to realise you can turn it off later.

It's irrelevant what other industries are doing so don't play that card

Alexandru_BD

Hi @ahall88,

If you ask me, I think it's quite relevant what happens on the market for consumers and providers alike, particularly in the tech, media, and software sectors where the subscription model became popular.
There has been a clear shift towards this business model in many industries, it's how many services are being provided these days, and the world has already started to adapt to this service delivery model. And I think very soon, it will become the norm for most reputable vendors. According to a report by McKinsey, 70% of consumers now subscribe to at least one service, and the market for subscription services has been growing steadily across a variety of sectors, including entertainment (Netflix, Spotify), software (Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365), and even physical goods (e.g., food delivery services, subscription boxes). I also think that many consumers appreciate the convenience of subscribing to services that automatically renew and offer a wide range of content or features. It's the same with Bitdefender, you are enrolled in a subscription, but as with any other service, you can unsubscribe anytime or choose not to start using the product (or request a refund), if you disagree with the terms of use.

ahall88

You're missing the point, no one has an issue with the subscription model - we just want an option to not put our card details in and have auto-renewal disabled by default.

Alexandru_BD

For convenience's sake, but also for personalization (the subscription often provides tailored early renewal offers or additional services with a discount), I think the enrollment method upon purchase was preferred, as opposed to having this feature disabled by default.
However, the automatic renewal feature can be disabled straight after the order is completed, and more information about this feature is available on the product page, shopping cart and terms, so there is transparency in enrollment and managing preferences, precisely to help the user make an informed decision.
And I think there is another nuance here. Subscription models encourage long-term relationships with customers. With ongoing access to a service, a vendor can foster loyalty, collect continuous feedback, and make iterative improvements to their offerings. There are good reasons to have this feature enabled by default, despite the fact that they may not be obvious at first.