Cancelling Xbox Live - Aaaaaaaah

[whooleytoo]

Has anyone tried to cancel their Xbox Gold subscription? I never realised how awkward they made it! I'd actually forgotten I'd subscribed to it until I started playing the 360 for the first time a while, so I started trying to cancel it:

1) Looked in the account options on the console itself. No joy. It'll allow me signing up options, but not cancelling.
2) Ok, logged into Xbox Live on my Mac. No joy. There are upgrade options, modify your credit card options, no option to cancel. So I googled "Cancel Xbox Live" and came back to the same page, but with different options showing! (Can post screenshots) which had a cancel option.
3) The cancel option merely states "Contact Xbox support", so I emailed them.
4) They replied they don't do cancellations by email, I need to call. They provided a link to the site which would show the numbers for each country.
5) The link was to a non-existant page. But there was a suggestion link that enabled me to select "Ireland".
6) To enter that site, I need to install Silverlight. So, in order to get rid of one Microsoft product, I need to install another.
7) to be continued.....

I'm not going to be denied! I'm going to get rid of this subscription, even if it kills me.

Seriously though, it does annoy me, when companies try to keep customers not by improving their service, but by making it as inconvenient as possible to stop paying.

 

[tag]

Basically you are looking to turn off Automatic Renewal. While you can't flat out cancel Xbox live, canceling auto renewal will let you keep whatever is left on your subscription, and you won't automatically get charged again when that time is up.

To do this follow these slightly long and annoying steps. Though luckily you won't have to install silverlight to do this.

1. Sign into xbox live online (xbox.com)
2. Click on "My Xbox" then in the dropdown menu click "Accounts"
3. Then under the heading "Membership Options" click "Upgrade/Manage Account"
4. Now on the left side, under your Account Summery and gamer icon, there is a line that says "Automatic Renewal: On". Click the "On"
5. A new page or two will load telling you about Auto Renew, click Next each time (For some reason I got the same page like 4 times in a row, so annoying).
6. Now you can finally turn off auto renewal, change "On" to "Off" then click next
7. New page will load, click "Done" and you're all done. Your credit card won't be charged again.

I actually just had to do this myself the other day.

 

[whooleytoo]

Thanks a lot for the response!

I'll have to try it later though. Believe it or not, I can't load xbox.com.

Edit - Ok, it's back online. However, I can't do Step 4, the "On" is just text, it's not clickable. I wonder if you might have some plugin installed that I don't - perhaps Silverlight already? Or perhaps the US store is just slightly different.

 

[SevenInchScrew]

This is exactly why you don't use a credit card for this type of thing. ALWAYS use the XBL Point and Subscription cards when available. That way, you aren't locked in for anything, just the amount of the card.

 

[HBOC]

I agree with what others have stated about the XBL cards, BUT sometimes it is more convenient to buy XBL straight from the dashboard.

 

[SevenInchScrew]

I agree with what others have stated about the XBL cards, BUT sometimes it is more convenient to buy XBL straight from the dashboard.

True, but then you end up with a situation like this thread details. Convenience at the start, ending in soul-crushing frustration at the end.

Amazon sells XBL Points and Subscriptions that you can get as an emailed download code. Then all you do is enter the code on the Xbox website or on the dashboard itself. It only takes 2 minutes, and you don't even have to leave the house. As Prime user, it is just a single click, and I'm good to go.

 

[tag]

Edit - Ok, it's back online. However, I can't do Step 4, the "On" is just text, it's not clickable. I wonder if you might have some plugin installed that I don't - perhaps Silverlight already? Or perhaps the US store is just slightly different.

You did do step 3 right? In my account under the heading "Membership Options" click "Upgrade/Manage Account" on the right side first right? As there is a listing of automatic renewal on the my account page as well, but there you can't click on the "On" link. You need to be on the manage subscriptions / membership details page for the "On" link to be clickable.

If its not that.... It's not silverlight because I don't have it installed and it asks me to install it when I go to certain pages on xbox.com. Region based? Possibly., The "On" link (when I load it anyways) is simply a html link with javascript which takes you to the authorization page. Perhaps try a different browser? I'm currently using Firefox and it worked.

 

[whooleytoo]

If its not that.... It's not silverlight because I don't have it installed and it asks me to install it when I go to certain pages on xbox.com. Region based? Possibly., The "On" link (when I load it anyways) is simply a html link with javascript which takes you to the authorization page. Perhaps try a different browser? I'm currently using Firefox and it worked.

I tried Firefox as well, and on the Xbox site here it's not a link, just text. I did find an Irish support number on that page, so I'll call tomorrow and get it sorted.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated!

(The funny thing is, I remember I was going to cancel it about a year ago, but decided to keep it "just in case" I wanted to play something online, it's not too expensive. But now that I see the hoops you have to jump through to get rid of it, I'm determined to cancel!)

 

[stridemat]

I paid for a mates xbox live account (long story) The only way we could truly cancel it was to give Xbox themselves a call.

 

[Huntn]

This sounds much more complicated than it should be but I've never subscribed to the paying level of xbox live. From some of the replies it sounds just like WoW. If you use a credit card, you simply set for auto renewal and when you are tired of it, turn auto renewal off.

 

[fsck-y dingo]

Oh it's a pain in the ass for sure. I went through it twice but no more. I only use subscription cards from Amazon. When you go that route you can find it for a lower price, there's no need to cancel and you never have to talk to customer service. I'll never give Microsoft my credit card number again.

 

[OutThere]

This sounds much more complicated than it should be but I've never subscribed to the paying level of xbox live. From some of the replies it sounds just like WoW. If you use a credit card, you simply set for auto renewal and when you are tired of it, turn auto renewal off.

It's the same setup as WoW, but much more difficult to cancel.

When I found out they were jacking up the rates I looked into canceling just to see how it was done—the method of canceling was so well hidden that I made it a mission to cancel.

 

[Nermal]

Edit - Ok, it's back online. However, I can't do Step 4, the "On" is just text, it's not clickable.

Same here; in the end I had to call to cancel.

 

[Huntn]

It's the same setup as WoW, but much more difficult to cancel.

When I found out they were jacking up the rates I looked into canceling just to see how it was done—the method of canceling was so well hidden that I made it a mission to cancel.

If the PS3 service is free, this sounds really odd to me. I guess they think their service is superior and not worried about driving customers to the PS?

 

[Miharu]

At least in Europe, you MUST call Microsoft and ask them to cancel your renewing subscription. It simply is impossible to do online, or by trying to remove your credit card information.

Fun stuff, the number you have to call from Finland now goes to Estonia, it used to go to Sweden... Is that an upgrade? Ridiculous how Microsoft is allowed to do this. Imagine if you couldn't cancel your WoW account without calling Blizzard, it would be all over the news everywhere and Blizzard taken to court by the EU.