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Now You Can Turn Off Xbox Live Gold Auto-Renewal!

fragglefartfragglefart Registered User regular
edited July 2011 in Games and Technology
I figured this would be of interest to enough people to warrant it's own thread, so folks catch it.

Logged onto Xbox.com this morning and went to accounts to check my download history for the month.

Noticed that the layout has changed a little, and that the option to untick 'Auto-renewal' by my Xbox Live subscription had returned - it was disabled a while back.

I'm sure this had annoyed people - only way to cancel was to phone MS, and I'd heard some people had some real grief trying to do this.

There is a slight caveat however, when I clicked the ticked box to disable auto-renewal, there was the usual page extolling the virtues of Xbox Live and also a little blurb saying if I top-up my Live subscription using a pre-paid card before Live Gold expires (next year) Auto-Renewal will reactivate itself! :P

I'd taken advantage of a big discount (40%) when I signed up for Auto-Renewal, knowing full well it may be tricky to 'kill' once activated. Previously I'd used a combination of pre-paid cards and various offers (I'd actually used Live for free for a couple of years due to various bundled peripheral deals and some sneaky trading on a warranty-replaced RROD'd 360 or two). I'll happily continue paying for the service since I get so much use out of it but either through another deal on the Dash / Marketplace or through discounted pre-paid cards. Auto-Renewal on your credit card and paying full price is a bit daft, really glad the option to turn it off has returned.

Might not stay there forever though!

Also worth noting I'm a Euro (UK) user, no idea if this option will be available for all territories.

Would be awesome if this doesn't turn into a "fneeer paying for online, how stupid" thread, thanks. :^:

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Posts

  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    From the US site:

    "To cancel your Xbox LIVE membership or to change your auto renewal status, please call Xbox Support."

  • Local H JayLocal H Jay Registered User regular
    got all excited for a minute

  • Zilla360Zilla360 21st Century. |She/Her| Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
  • Jealous DevaJealous Deva Registered User regular
    Or you could just call them. It took me all of 15 minutes. The magic words are "I sold my xbox 360 and don't have any use for an account".

  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    Zilla you're a saint.

  • sir_pinch-a-loafsir_pinch-a-loaf #YODORegistered User regular
    Apparently I never had it set to on since I've never used a credit card directly. My gold expired on Tuesday with no action needed.

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    Zilla360 wrote:

    The only problem with that option is you won't be able to buy point cards directly through the Xbox anymore. True, you can get point cards all over the place, but going out and buying them, then taking the time to input the code, take significantly more work.

    There's really no reason you can't turn off auto-renew with a click of a button, considering you can subscribe with a click of a button.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    Buy the instant ones from Amazon. Then you don't have to drive anywhere. And then add them via the Xbox site.

  • JihadJesusJihadJesus Registered User regular
    This has reminded me that my Live runs out in 3 days, and I didn't leave myself enough time to hunt up any deals. Damn.

  • RamiRami Registered User regular
    Thanks for making a thread about this. Mine is due in a week or two and I was going to have to ask my dad to call them since I don't even live in the same country anymore.

    Also the UK site links to accounts at xbox.com, so shouldn't it be the same for any country? Note that it says to call support to turn it off, and then underneath says you can also use the link provided.

    Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
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  • Local H JayLocal H Jay Registered User regular
    urahonky wrote:
    Buy the instant ones from Amazon. Then you don't have to drive anywhere. And then add them via the Xbox site.

    wait, they just give you a code right when you buy it? that's, like woah

  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    urahonky wrote:
    Buy the instant ones from Amazon. Then you don't have to drive anywhere. And then add them via the Xbox site.

    wait, they just give you a code right when you buy it? that's, like woah

    I've been getting all mine this way for ages now. Shopto here in the UK used to send you a code direct to your phone and email (no extra charge), but have now changed it to where they have an image of a code that you have to log in to access. Still though, pay money, receive instant code.

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  • RiokennRiokenn Registered User regular
    urahonky wrote:
    Buy the instant ones from Amazon. Then you don't have to drive anywhere. And then add them via the Xbox site.

    MY MIND HASN'T PROCESSED THAT BEFORE.

    Why would I drive to gamestop (gas money) pay sales tax (from buying live for a year) and waste $60 dollars from said year sub?

    WHEN ITS ON AMAZON FOR $48.99.

    Thanks for the tip. :D

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  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    More like Slowcal H Jay and.. Rio..kenn wait I'll get this. Riotardy? Yes.

    Nailed it.

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  • BullioBullio Registered User regular
    Live really needs to have an "auto-renewal" day where users can toggle auto-renewal on or off once per year. It'll be like a Steam sale, except the opposite!

    ...or stop being jackholes and let people cancel their fucking service without the hassle. *sigh* Evil Microsoft (TM) may not be as evil as they used to be, but they're still evil.

    Thanks for the PayPal thinger. I'll give it a shot.

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  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    urahonky wrote:
    Buy the instant ones from Amazon. Then you don't have to drive anywhere. And then add them via the Xbox site.

    Wait, you can do that now?

    I always thought it was madness when you bought a points card from them, they insisted on mailing the damn thing to you in enough packaging to choke Captain Planet.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote:
    urahonky wrote:
    Buy the instant ones from Amazon. Then you don't have to drive anywhere. And then add them via the Xbox site.

    Wait, you can do that now?

    I always thought it was madness when you bought a points card from them, they insisted on mailing the damn thing to you in enough packaging to choke Captain Planet.

    No. The site even says "Online Game Code." It comes to you in e-mail, and then you can just copy-paste that into the xbox.com window. Easy.

    The downside is that the point codes rarely go on sale like the point cards do.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • DemiurgeDemiurge Registered User regular
    Thread necromancy but I'm SO ANGRY RIGHT NOW!

    I haven't owned an Xbox for years, but it keeps renewing my gold membership once a year and I every time I call them to cancel it I just give up because they're twats. I just got off the phone with them again and when I told the guy what I wanted he just went "... hm, okay, yeah. Lets help you do that" and then spent the next 5 minutes pretending I sounded like a robot and there was massive distortion and he couldn't make out my handle. Eventually I just hung up. FUCK Xbox live support.

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  • fragglefartfragglefart Registered User regular
    See if you can do it via the website now dude, coupla weeks since I posted the OP but fingers crossed!

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  • DemiurgeDemiurge Registered User regular
    I actually got it done with the paypal trick. I'm only slightly less angry now. Never buying anything xbox or windows live again.

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  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    This isn't working for me, I removed my card from the Billing site but it's not going away from the Xbox site. I have it set to PayPal right now, maybe it just needs a while to update in their database?

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  • BullioBullio Registered User regular
    Question about this. The card I have tied to my account is now expired. If I don't update my billing info with the new expiration date when it comes time for them to bill me, what happens? Does my account get cancelled and my card removed? Would I face any sort of penalty for just letting it lapse like this?

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  • JHunzJHunz Registered User regular
    Bullio wrote:
    Question about this. The card I have tied to my account is now expired. If I don't update my billing info with the new expiration date when it comes time for them to bill me, what happens? Does my account get cancelled and my card removed? Would I face any sort of penalty for just letting it lapse like this?
    It's not lapsed unless you've canceled the card. What happens if a credit card company receives a charge on an expired card is that they will just go ahead and charge your new card that has the same number. They don't give a fuck.

    bunny.gif Gamertag: JHunz. R.I.P. Mygamercard.net bunny.gif
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    JHunz wrote:
    Bullio wrote:
    Question about this. The card I have tied to my account is now expired. If I don't update my billing info with the new expiration date when it comes time for them to bill me, what happens? Does my account get cancelled and my card removed? Would I face any sort of penalty for just letting it lapse like this?
    It's not lapsed unless you've canceled the card. What happens if a credit card company receives a charge on an expired card is that they will just go ahead and charge your new card that has the same number. They don't give a fuck.

    Yep. That trick can cause more harm than good.

    Really the best bet to get around this is to just call Microsoft and tell them to turn off auto-renewal. It's a little bit of a hassle, but it's the only way.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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