I recently discovered that for the last seven years I have been paying for an unused antivirus subscription to Norton. I took it out as a student with my university email address.
However, this ceased to work when I left in 2013. In spite of the fact that the annual renewal emails would have bounced back each year, Norton continued to take my money, which now totals more than £550.
I asked for the subscription to be closed and the money returned, but it has refused a refund.
Surely the bounced-back emails would be proof that the reminders weren’t reaching me.
SL, by email
After we made this case, Norton agreed to refund you in full. As its emails would have bounced back, it could hardly argue it had made you aware of your renewals.
You were caught out by a continuous payment authority (CPA), which allows payments to be collected from a bank card in perpetuity – unless cancelled. You had even changed cards during this period, but that didn’t stop Norton taking its payments.
Consumers should be very wary of agreeing to CPAs. You can often cancel straight after signing up, meaning the payment won’t be taken again in a year’s time unless you actively authorise it.
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