Entering a subscription

Willyeckerslike · 2025-05-10T05:27:11+00:00

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Hi all,

I have bought a 2 year subscription and when I enter it, it keeps asking me for my credit card details for renewal. I don't want bitdefender to have my credit card details at all.

How do I get around this? Seems ridiculous I have to give my credit card details for something I have already bought!

Cheers,

Will

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Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/104083/entering-a-subscription

Kindly contact Bitdefender support by visiting https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

Select, How to's & Troubleshooting Bitdefender products→Troubleshooting→I don't know→Contact Support→ You will get the option of chat, call or email.

To get immediate update, make use of the chat option. Bitdefender support may require logs and will assist you in generating them.

Also, ensure you do not have any ad-blocker or privacy-blocker extensions enabled, as they might prevent the chat window from appearing.

Regards

Willyeckerslike

Thanks Flexx, will do.

Alexandru_BD

Hi @Willyeckerslike,

May I ask where did you purchase the license from? As far as I know, some licenses do require enrollment in automatic renewal for continuous protection when they expire, so this could be the case here. But regardless of this, the automatic renewal feature can be deactivated anytime afterwards, so after you enter the payment information you can turn it off, should you decide to renew manually after 2 years and take advantage of any discounts that may be available at that time.
For what it's worth, research and industry trends suggest that many companies, particularly in the tech, media, and software sectors, are shifting towards subscription-based services, and the shift from ownership to access (e.g., owning physical media to subscribing to a digital streaming service) is becoming more accepted. Similarly, this can be observed in several vendors from the antivirus software industry.

Regards,

Alex

Willyeckerslike

Hi Alex,

I asked my son (it was a gift from him) and he said he bought it from g2a. He doesn’t use Bitdefender but I always have.

The thing is I don't want bitdefender or any other company for that matter to have my credit card details. In my opinion for what it's worth a paid for subscription of two years is just that - already paid. It is and should be the customer's choice and not the vendors choice to give credit card details. I was given a 2 year subscription to use and I'd like to use it. No more, no less. If Bitdefender decide its too hard to let a customer use their product without having all their credit card details data, then I will move on.

My current 2 year deal ends in a week. I'm sure I can find something out there that doesn't require my banking details.

Kind Regards,

Will

Alexandru_BD

Hi @Willyeckerslike and thanks for getting back. I understand. Was it a mandatory step, or an optional one?
I'm asking because some Bitdefender partners and resellers have this as an option when activating the license, but even if it's a mandatory step, the payment method can still be deactivated or removed afterwards.
In case it's optional, you should have the possibility to skip this step. I think this flow was designed to provide a way for users who purchased a license to be able to also enroll in a subscription, for continuous protection and a seamless renewal process later on, which doesn't require to reinstall the product, or to place a new order manually. Because until recently, you could enroll in a subscription only if you ordered the product from the Bitdefender website.

Certainly, you may still find other vendors which do not require this when purchasing an antivirus license, but when looking at available market research and the trends in the antivirus industry (and other types of services), I think this is the direction in which the provision of security services is heading, towards subscription-based models in which bank details for renewal will eventually become mandatory when purchasing this type of product. It's just a matter of time, in my humble opinion.

Regards

Willyeckerslike

Hi Alex,

When I tried to add it in Bitdefender Central it was mandatory. I just couldn't get past it. I've never been asked before as far as I can remember.

When purchasing a two year subscription it should be just that. The fact they want my bank details for a renewal 2 years down the line is very very strange. Of course this is just my opinion.

But now I'm left with a paid for subscription that I can't use.

Customers shouldn't be forced to give bank details for something they've already purchased, trend or no trend. Again only my opinion.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Now to do a bit of research I guess.

Kind Regards,

Will

Alexandru_BD

Yes, this means that the license was purchased from a reseller which had this as a mandatory flow. Again, not all of them have this flow available for the licenses they sell, at least not yet. As for the subscriptions available online at various antivirus providers, you will notice that all of them offer a subscription model, and you may receive a discount for the 1st year of subscription, with the payment information mandatory in order to subscribe. Of course, automatic renewal can be disabled after the initial purchase. If you are looking at marketplaces such as Amazon for instance, you will find many vendors selling there, but make sure you are ordering the antivirus from an official store or authorized reseller. Because on such marketplaces, you may also encounter unauthorized resellers who may sell antivirus products cheaper, but you have no assurance that these products correspond to the local description. In my experience, it can sometimes happen that the licenses are not valid or have the correct maturity, and some may even resell license slots instead of activation codes for various security products, so my advice would be to proceed with caution, check the seller and their reviews, and be careful when you come across deals that seem too good to be true. 😉
Also, I think you can try to obtain a refund for the 2-year license, in the event you don't wish to use it. I mean, the reseller should normally have a refund policy in place, but that's something you'll have to check with them..

Regards