This month on Which? Conversation: May 2022

I am not keen on auto-renewal of subscriptions but at least Bitdefender do send out a reminder by email. Mine on 11 November to warn me that the subscription would end on 21 November. I take a computer when I’m away on holiday but if you don’t do this it’s work keeping a diary of when auto-renewals are due. I would prefer to pay by direct debit.

Hi wavechange,

If they tell you 10 days before the subscription ends, that means you have already paid?

Bitdefender appear to renew much the same as my old internet security – i.e. the renewal price is a lot more than just going on their website and purchasing the product.

Not exactly fair renewal terms are they, but at least with the old one I get a warning and it is up to me to decide whether I want to accept their renewal price or look for a better offer.

Hi Alfa, it’s common practice for most businesses to increase the price with auto-renewals and as you suggested, they will typically have taken payment and then advise you afterwards that the service has been renewed. Bit naughty really, but that is the downside of enabling auto-renewal.

If Bitdefender is your preferred option, I would just disable the auto-renewal, make a note of the renewal date and assuming you have been happy with the product, you can always negotiate with them if the renewal price has increased significantly.

I have used McAfee for many years now and especially like their customer service and support. An 0800 number gets you through to a person, should you ever need any help. My auto-renewal is disabled, but I do receive an email from McAfee when the service is due to expire. If the renewal cost has increased significantly, I call McAfee and negotiate a better price. I tend to renew for a 2 or 3 year period and in doing so, McAfee always offer an exceptionally good rate.

Some users complained the McAfee dashboard was not very user friendly, but I think this was perhaps several years ago, whereas the new dashboard is quite simple, easy to navigate, user friendly and it’s easy to check when the service is due to expire.

I’m now on my third subscription with Bitdefender, Alfa. I’m paying £31.99 for three machines and as the Which? review says, the cost of three licences is £24.99. Back in November when I renewed I do not remember there being this difference and I had a reason for not going for a longer subscription, which does save money. At least it’s not like the AA, which has been known invite members to pay twice the price they charge new members.

A computer came with McAfee already installed a few years ago. Once it was on there it wasn’t going anywhere if it could help it. Uninstalling only half-removed it and still prevented another internet security from working. It comes to something when a McAfee Removal Tool is required to get rid of it. Thanks Wingman, but because of that experience, I am in no hurry to go for McAfee again.

I am very happy with what I have been using for many years now, but in current times, you do have to consider cyber threats.

The AA does not force you to have auto-renewal and although I agree renewal prices are high, has always been open to negotiations.

I’ve checked and Bitdefender does provide an uninstaller. If you have tried it you will be aware that they do send some marketing emails.

It’s possible to cancel auto-renewal of Bitdefender: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/29081/ The reason I have not done this is because I have not been caught out by any auto-renewal so far. Maybe if I do turn off auto-renewal I might be offered a better deal next November.

I have gone with Bitdefender and set a date to cancel autorenewal next year as it is unclear whether I will get the latest software updates if autorenewal is not set.

I would like to see an end to unfair price hikes for existing customers, Vynor. Now we are in a period of high inflation, price rises are inevitable but perhaps companies should be required to state explicitly that the price will be increasing more than the CPI. If a company hikes the price significantly I move elsewhere and then ring to say I am leaving. There is usually some protest and the suggestion that I should have rung to discuss the matter, in which case I say that they should have thought about the consequences of trying to rip me off.

On 31 March I received an email from Vodafone to remind me that my monthly charge would be rising by 9.3%. I was well aware that the cost would be rising because that was in the contract but perhaps it would have been better to issue the reminder two weeks before. I suppose I can forgive them because my contract has another year to run.

Several years ago, insurance companies were required to show the premium paid for the previous year and perhaps this should be extended to other service providers and subscription payments.

When we enter into a contract, service providers will make us stick to that contract and penalize us heavily if we don’t.

So why are service providers allowed to raise prices when we have jointly agreed to a contract? They might give you advance warning of an increase, but Sky for example won’t tell you what it is. If they put it up by a very unreasonable £1000 a month, would we have a leg to stand on?

I think Wavechange is being too kind to Vodafone. Although CPI increases are expected because they are written into the contract, it does not mean that Communications Providers (CPs) have carte blanche to do so.

OFCOM General Condition (“GC”) 9.6 says:

“The Communications Provider shall:

a) give its Subscribers adequate notice not shorter than one month of any modifications likely to be of material detriment to that Subscriber;

b) allow its Subscribers to withdraw from their contract without penalty upon such notice; and

c) at the same time as giving the notice in condition 9.6 (a) above, shall inform the Subscriber of its ability to terminate the contract without penalty if the proposed modification is not acceptable to the Subscriber.”

It then gives the following specific example where “material detriment” may occur:

“The subscriber agrees and enters into a 24-month contract for services on terms that the core subscription price will be £10 per month. The contract also contains a term to the effect that the CP may increase the agreed core subscription price by up to a certain amount, percentage or index-linked level (such as RPI).

Ofcom is likely to treat any exercise of the discretion to increase this agreed price during the fixed minimum term of the contract as a modification meeting GC9.6’s material detriment requirement.

Ofcom’s concern is with the application of price and price variation terms which give the CP discretion as to, for example, the possibility, amount and/or timing of a price increase. ”

I haven’t had time to research whether Which? have provided adequate guidance to members about what to do when faced with these increases due to the unprecedented levels of inflation we are now seeing.

Although I am not a legal expert in such matters, I believe that the bundling of a mobile device (as opposed to a SIM-only contract) does not invalidate the concept of “material detriment” and the CP must still give notice and provide an opt-out. It seems to me that everyone faced with a mid-term contract increase has certain OFCOM rights that they can use to negotiate a better deal or walk away.

My SIM-only contract is for two years, ending in May 2023. When I renewed it I listened to someone reading me the information about the CPI increase, which I was already aware of. Nevertheless, I agree that Vodafone should be complying with the rules.

Vodafone is not my favourite company and when the end of my contract is approaching I will be looking for one of the MVNO’s that uses their network – the one that offers the most reliable signal where I live. A friend who has a similar SIM-only contract is paying 26% more than me and has half the monthly data allowance. I will pass on the information about condition 9.6 (a), thanks. 🙂