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Auto-renewal charged me 3 days before expiration, no refund policy

Deals & Offers by lee_mcr 24 replies 3.6K views
lee_mcr

Member OP

#1

Right then, got done dirty by Hetzner and need to vent proper.

Annual vps renewal: expires may 14, 2026. They charged me may 11. No email warning, just £89 gone. Their terms say "no refunds on auto-renewal." I asked within 2 hours of charge, still no.

I know, I know, should've cancelled before. But 3 days early? That's not renewal, that's advance billing with extra steps.

Cheers lads, anyone got out of this or am I just £89 lighter and wiser

Honey badger don't care... about downtime
jane_ffm

Member

#2

Hi Lee, sorry to hear about the frustration with your renewal timing. That's certainly an unpleasant surprise.

At Contabo, we send reminder emails at 30, 14, 7, and 1 day before any auto-renewal, and we process charges on the expiration date itself, not before. I'm not sure if that helps your current situation, but I wanted to share our approach for comparison.

A few questions that might help you:
- Are you based in the EU/UK or elsewhere? Consumer protection rules vary significantly
- Did you sign up via their website directly or through a reseller?

Happy to check if there are any Contabo options that might work for your needs — feel free to DM me.

— Jane @ Contabo

Single mode till I die 💀
JA

Member

#3

Jane_ffm 30 days warning is luxury lah

JokoNord

Member

#4

Sir lee, I am in netherlands. Same thing happen with other provider last year. I invoke cooling off period, 14 days! Made complaint to autoriteit consument & markt. Got full refund in 8 days.

Thank you very much, EU have strong rule for this. You are in UK? Maybe similar protection? Worth to check

traffic worse than my packet loss
harbourops

Member

#5

I was charged 72 hours prior to expiration per section 4.2.

kasiaxus

Member

#6

3 days early is just theft with a calendar mate

POLISH SERVERS. LOUD FANS. GOOD PRICE.
OwnerSeeker

Member

Small Biz

#7

Where are you based Lee? EU/UK consumer rights might cover this

lee_mcr

Member OP

#8

Cheers all. Manchester UK here so yes, EU/UK rules apply or did apply. Brexit muddied the water but Consumer Rights Act still stands. I'll look up the 14 day cooling off, ta JokoNord.

Update: Hetzner just replied. "Billing cycle begins at 00:00 on expiration date, charge is pre-authorisation." So they say it's not early, it's how their system works. Still no refund.

Honey badger don't care... about downtime
OwnerSeeker

Member

Small Biz

#9

Lee_mcr pre-authorisation my foot. They took the money, it's not a hold on your card. US side I'd be doing a chargeback with my bank at this point. Different game over there though.

kasiaxus

Member

5 #10

Portland baker doing chargebacks, Manchester sysadmin quoting EU law. What a forum.

Lee_mcr did you pay by card or PayPal? PayPal gives 180 days to open dispute, card is 120 days with Visa/Mastercard chargeback reason 4855 (non-receipt of goods/services). Not saying do it yet, but know your weapons.

POLISH SERVERS. LOUD FANS. GOOD PRICE.

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