I know it's caveat emptor / charges that autorenew

Are great for things that like to auto-renew.

@johnnatash4 Would that be samsclub? The one by us is so ghetto I even refuse to go there with free membership (last 2 years). Last one expired in august. There's a free one ($45 with $45 giftcard) on slickdeals, but I don't really care enough about the store to go there.

We do go to costco every 1-2 weeks.

Virtual cards are great. Citi's new van 2.0 is garbage though. The security features of v1 are gone. Once a number is generated, it can be used with any merchant. Also, the dollar amount is not cumulative any more. Rather it resets daily. If you want to ensure security, you need to deactivate the van as soon as it's used.

I have AAA Classic that is the cheapest membership level. It has never renewed automatically though. Each year I receive a bill in the mail that I log on the website and renew online with a credit card.

- I find out exactly how much I'll be spending
- create a virtual card with exactly that amount.
- limit the length of time the card can be charged to.

As soon as the card is charged, its basically dead.

Works great.

But that's the way I do it. All my online purchases are done using virtual cards with exact amounts and limited time.

That I'm a su****! lol

Here I am paying $122/yr, and my wife's cousin says oh I'm paying only $95 (he's in the NYC area). So I check and in my area (Phila.) people are paying $85.

I call like Sept. to cancel, when it starts October, and the person tells me we don't usually issue a refund? hahahahahahaha I didn't even get mad. I said the period didn't even start yet so absolutely you will issue a refund. I can simply dispute it on my CC and then if you deny that I go to the BBB. Imagine filing a complaint on the AAA with the BBB....

BJ's. There are times I feel sorry for them and their workers, the workers are all nice. But the upkeep of the clubs is terrible, and they always give their memberships away (pay $20 for a year, get a $20 shopping card). But again, they even have a prompt to reverse the charges without even talking to someone, that is an indication of how many might call.

My understanding is they and Costco started the same year, from memory maybe 1984. One in WA, one in MA. You would think the MA slicker woulda been the successful one.

I am a Costco fanboy and shareholder...

I hate autorenewing subscriptions. What really sets my teeth on edge is when companies market them "for [my] convenience." Make no mistake, it's for their convenience, not their customers'.

I also hate that when I'm incapacitated or dead, the charges can keep accumulating on a joint credit card account, and my spouse may not even be using the service or have any idea how to cancel it.

Keep in mind that depending on the company and the terms of service you've agreed to in subscribing, this does not always get you off the hook.

SiriusXM is a good example. An account with them is autorenewing debt that continues until you cancel it in one of the ways acceptable to them. Having previously used a now-no-longer-valid credit card is not one of the ways that cancels your account and stops charges from accumulating in the future; in fact, their contract specifically rules that out as having any effect on your subscription. They can pursue the debt legally or sell it off to a collection agency, and it doesn't matter whether or not you're still using the service. The charges will continue to accumulate until you formally cancel your subscription.

Dying cancels subscriptions, legally. So you can always do that. But if you've ever used a joint credit card that is not one-use-only to pay for a SiriusXM subscription, they will bill that, even if you're dead, and any joint account holder would still be paying the bill. The surviving joint account holder could get the subscription canceled, but that would only stop new debt after the cancellation, not the charges already billed before the subscription was canceled. Nice, huh? How convenient. For SiriusXM anyway.

They are weird. You can get a free trial this and that. Then, it was like $5/mo for 6 mos, or $30. But with taxes and fees more like $39? Reminds me of a PA state inspection, $29.95 coupon, $43 out the door lol

Anyway I did the Billy Shatner name your price. I said I want $4/mo after taxes and fees, and they did it.

One day in 2020 I went to renew my $4/mo after taxes rate, and some man was playing all hardball saying there has never been any such price and I can't give it to you (unlike all the others since 2011 hahahahahahaha). I said cancel it on both cars, which he did.

Still working today, who knows why? Same thing happened to my mom on her car, canceled XM, and 3 years later it's still working. That's one messed up co. for sure.

Also, the thing about them, and a trick many vendors use....say I got $4/mo after taxes, and I went insane and agreed to accept $30/6 mos or $39 after taxes (effectively $39 v. $24 or a 62.5% increase, like I said, pretend I lost my mind). I don't want to hit the autorenew so I call 1 week early.

I get 7 days credit at the $24/6 mos. rate, and pay 7 days earlier at $39/6 mos. DUMB. Like at costco when you see people using their annual executive certificates to buy things. Why not get cash? You're losing or actually paying 2% on what you're not earning with your CC cash rewards. On $500? That's an Alexander Hamilton. If I saw one on the sidewalk? I bend over to pick it up.

Autorenewals should be against the law. Sirius is the worst, Abd their deals are not even that good.

You have to watch XM-Radio they do the same thing. I just paid 99.99 for a year, they tried to charge me almost 300.00 for the same. All of a sudden they found a promo. Who in there right mine is going to pay 300.00 a year just to listen to radio?

What happened to me with AAA. I was ok paying $122/yr, until I found out others were paying $85.

So now that you've found out I was paying $48/yr after taxes, are you ok with $99.99 plus taxes lol

My buddy said can you send me a screen shot of what you paid, I'm paying $123/6 mos. I did, but he never negotiated for $4/mo after taxes, he just canceled, which is what I did with AAA. Sometimes we don't as Americans like to haggle. We feel more comfortable, yes, but then we leave money on the table.

I shop car insurance every few years. Seems the new customer promos fall off and prices no longer competitive. Last time around I debundled the house/car because the overall net rate was still lower than keeping both with the same company.

Last time I saved like $400/yr.

What that really means is, I was paying $400/yr too much.

But I never save when I shop.

I only save when I get an unsolicited quote, and it already has our VIN#'s and home address....