Default Policy: Charge Another Month

WP Engine is a premium hosting service for websites running WordPress. They basically invented dedicated WordPress hosting as a category, and they do a great job in exchange for being paid well. As an early adopter, I signed up almost seven years ago. Their service is great, but my hobby sites hosted there became dormant, and it was time to clean up subscriptions I am not really using.

I cancelled my account on the last day of my billing period (11/22). The next day, I received the following email:

Thank you for submitting your cancellation request. Your account is scheduled to be canceled on December 22nd, the day before your subscription renews.

Please note your scheduled cancellation date may be up to 30-days per our Terms of Service, section 5bii.

As the email implies, this is per a policy buried in their Terms of Service. I am sure that language gives them the right to charge me for another month, but this was a surprise to me, so I was leaving on an unhappy note.

Modelled by WP Engine: Keep ‘em Happy

I responded to that email, arguing that since I cancelled my account on the last day of my billing period (i.e., the day before it would renew), WP Engine should not want to bill me for another month.

About a week later, I received a credit for that extra month, and a nice email from a WP Engine supervisor wishing me well.

This is exactly the class act I would have expected from WP Engine. Founder Jason Cohen is a legend in the software world. I have admired him for years, and I have recommended WP Engine to many people–including my current employer.

• I will be delighted to keep recommending WP Engine for premium Wordpress hosting.

Customer Lesson Learned: Understand the Subscription Cancellation Policies

This idea sounds obvious, but then again, who reads that impenetrable Terms of Service language? In fact, who even thinks about this stuff when signing up for subscriptions? I certainly haven’t–until now.

In the future, I’m going to understand what will happen when I cancel before I sign up to a new subscription or service. I strongly suggest you do the same.

SaaS Team Lesson Learned: Set Clear Expectations

This stuff doesn’t have to be in legalese buried in Terms of Service language that nobody ever reads.

If we want our customers to have a great experience (and we definitely want that for Mindery users), it is up to us to make stuff like this crystal clear.

Our No-Excuses/No-BS Cancellation Process

• If you cancel your Mindery subscription on or before your renewal date, your subscription will end on your renewal date.
• If you forget to cancel until after your renewal date, let us know, and we will work with you to make it right.

Clear Enough?

We certainly hope so. If not, feel free to jump into our Discord community to help us improve our clarity.

• Ready to start saving money by remembering (and cancelling forgotten subscriptions)–and maybe save your relationships by remembering important events? Get Mindery.