Tell me if my understanding is correct:
Nobody cancelled the auto&renewal for the subscription and nobody noticed the auto renewal warning or it was never delivered (I think an email or something is required by some states, though I’ve heard options out of emails can prevent it or many go to spam folders). So once it did change, you cancelled the renewal immediately, and then filled a payment dispute before contacting Wyze customer service? So customer service tried to refund you the $99 since you cancelled right away, but they were unable to because you already locked it up in a payment dispute. So instead, the agent tried to do a workaround and refunded you the $89.99 charge from a year ago because that one wasn’t locked up in a dispute from the payment provider. Then they gave you an extra $20 credit to make up the $10 difference (an extra $10). Then Wyze responded to the payment dispute and showed the payment provider that you were already adequately compensated, so the payment provider agreed with Wyze and denied the payment dispute.
Assuming the above is accurate, This outcome would be frustrating to anyone who doesn’t plan to ever buy anything else from Wyze again because that $20 credit would be almost worthless or feel like a chain. I get that.
I expect others would point out that all subscriptions auto renew by default now a days and it’s our responsibility to change that status, not the company. And then starting a payment dispute before contacting customer service for resolution is the primary problem. I can understand those arguments too. However, just because something is typically done by all businesses doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not reasonable to wish a company that wants to be “friends with users” would consider going out of their way to ask that friend if they’re okay with auto renewal or not instead of assuming automatically. Also, I feel like it would be more friendly to send an app notification about the automatic renewal instead of solely relating on an email that might go to spam. Also, I feel like their payment dispute shouldn’t necessarily lock up allowing a refund. They could’ve just issued the full refund and then replied to the payment provider showing proof the refunded the full thing.
In this case, the rep should not have refunded the original payment from a year ago as a workaround. They likely should’ve just said "I can’t issue the full refund because of the payment dispute you already filled with the provider, but I will escalate to someone to reply to the provider that we will agree to refund the payment in full so they will release the hold.
I think the rep screwed up. I think they had good, helpful intentions, and I think they were generous giving back a total of $109 instead of just $99, so their heart was in the right place, but I agree they should not have done this workaround, especially when a payment dispute was actively pending. They should have let the payment dispute process go through the proper procedure once it was started. That rep should receive coaching not to do “creative workarounds” when a payment dispute is actively in progress. It messed things up from normal processes.
If you’re still planning to buy anything else from Wyze in the future, then the good news is that you came out ahead. If you weren’t ever planning to use Wyze again, then this is extremely frustrating because that $20 credit feels like handcuffs, so I can understand your frustration.
Anyway, please feel free to clarify if I misunderstand the situation. The above is just how I interpreted what I read.
