Trying to Cancel

blakemiller428207281

September 21, 2014, 08:53 PM posted in General Discussion

I love ChinesePod, but I can't afford it anymore. I have been trying to cancel for over a month with no success. I have called and emailed to no avail. Please help me cancel and refund the charges that were made to my credit card. I don't know what else to do but post here. I see no way of cancelling the automatic renewal on the website and no one ever answers the phone when I call.

bonscott

September 21, 2014, 10:40 PM

ChinesePod, why are we getting so many of these complaints? Why won't you allow people to cancel easily?

sp3ctre18

While I never got to use it, the options used to be clear and accessible, so this seems to be a recent complication or unusual situation. It's disconcerting that it's been going on for quite a while though, and I haven't seen them informing us about it. Since it was there before, I hope they get this fixed soon.

Gwilym-ChinesePod

September 22, 2014, 01:31 AM

Hi blakemiller428207281, simply click "My Account", go into Settings. In the 1st tab (Profile) you will see the Delete button at the bottom of the page. Go ahead and click that to cancel the re-curring payment and I will make sure you keep all your data. If you have any problems feel free to contact me directly at gwilym@chinesepod and I will make sure this is fixed promptly.

bonscott

So does "Delete Account" mean what it says, or is it "Cancel Recurring Billing" in disguise?

It seems to be a way of scaring people off cancelling recurring billing by making them think they will lose their whole account.

Or am I wrong?

sp3ctre18

I'm reviewing ChinesePod for my website, and this is definitely a huge negative I will have to point out.

This has been happening for at least 2 months now. I got it resolved over email but I just got charged yet again. I really don't know what's going on. I see they're redesigning and moving other aspects of the profile and settings part of the website, but they're still totally ignoring this most critical part - not allowing people to cancel? Not giving them a clear way to do it?

Recommending we delete our account and saying you'll make sure our data is safe is indeed scary, and sounds like a work around.

If you guys are having issues you have still been unable to resolve for 2 months, you guys need to AT LEAST send an email to ALL your customers to alert them, and set up a way for people to cancel. Otherwise, this seems very irresponsible and almost scammy. So many of us initially had a high respect for you guys, so get your act together; FIX the issues, or ALERT everyone and set up a work-around.

Back to emailing support....

Gwilym-ChinesePod

Hi all,

Apologies if the website has lead to some confusion. I have spoken with the team and changed the terminology to "Cancel Subscription" to avoid any ambiguity from hereon-in. Upon pressing this button your recurring billing will be cancelled and you can continue to enjoy ChinesePod until the final day of your billing :)

You should not get billed upon cancelling your subscription provided you cancel before your renewal due-date, and if this is the case please email support@chinesepod.com and we will make sure your case is handled with the utmost urgency.

With regard to small UI changes, I have written a short blog on that here, and any further changes will also be documented here. https://blog.chinesepod.com/settings-has-a-new-home/ I am working on videos and blogs that will update everyone on UI changes.

More will be released this week. We are working hard on making the website very clear for everyone going forward, with short video tutorials on each page.

Thank you all for your support.

Gwilym and the Team

mikeinewshot

Gwilym

I do not understand your instructions. When I click on My Account and choose Settings, there are no 'tabs' as such but there is a menu on the left hand side with 5 items: Profile, Email notifications, Lesson Settings, Feed Settings and Billing. The first one ie Profile is already selected but the only button at the bottom of the page is Save Settings.

Gwilym-ChinesePod

Hi Mike, sorry if my instructions weren't very clear. The button should be on the first "Profile" page. However, it might not show if you don't have an active recurring subscription. By this I mean that you have either cancelled the recurring payment, or you bought a 1 time package. If you head over to your dashboard you will see a small box on the right which should have your name and the date of your membership expiration. It will either say renew or expire. If it says expire, then you won't see the red button on the page. I will get my team to double check this but I believe that the reason you don't see it is that you had already cancelled.

mikeinewshot

Thanks Gwilym - that is probably the situation. I also am a little nervous as some time ago my subscription was automatically renewed without my consent, and the Chinesepod attitude at the time seemed to be 'tough luck - stop winging', but I think things are changed for the better in this regard.

Romontana

September 24, 2014, 07:21 PM

On the topic of account cancellation and such. I was traveling for the last month and neglected to realize that my subscription was ending and was set to be automatically renewed. I was just charged a few days ago for another full-year premium subscription, which I did not know until I checked my bank account for other reasons and noticed that the money had been withdrawn. No warning or anything – not that I was going to be charged, and not even that my subscription was due to expire.

Even if CPod insists on sticking with the automatic billing, is it too much to ask for some sort of email or notification before the money disappears? Or is there a non-greed-related reason for the surreptitious under-the-radar approach?

bonscott

Would ChinesePod please give Romontana's request some consideration.

All reputable sites email customers when their subscription is about to lapse or be renewed.