Wyze Deceptively Adding Subscriptions to Camera Orders

Cameras
1

I recently ordered a Pan Cam V2 to replace a broken one. What I didn’t notice when I placed the order is that Wyze added a “Cam Plus” subscription to my order. It was “free” for one month but then had automatic monthly charges. They used the credit card I provided to purchase the camera for the monthly charges. I didn’t notice this for a month or two.

You do have the option to “uncheck” the offer and I should have done that. But I think that the default should be for the customer to check the box if they want the order added. You will see in my attachment that the box is checked by default. I think this is a very unethical practice.

Wyze Auto Check
Wyze Auto Check627×566 45.6 KB

3 Likes
2

Welcome to the Wyze User Community Forum @timmonskinholt! :raising_hand_man:

I saw that also when I recently ordered 4 cams. However, when reviewing my order prior to final checkout, I saw this listed as an item on my order in my cart. I did see it was free, however I have CamPlus Unlimited so I easily removed it from my cart prior to checkout.

I was not aware they were auto billing continuation for the subscription. This is a change from how they previously handled the trial.

Did you get any notifications or emails at the end of the 30 days to warn you of the transition to a paid monthly subscription?

1 Like
3

The 14-day Trials automatically terminate, anything more than that is actually using a full license enrollment with X amount of time waived (usually 30 days, 90 days, 6 months or 1 year). It has been this way at least since Complete Motion Capture was renamed to Cam Plus. In fact, anyone who has had one of these “Free Trials” longer than 14 days doesn’t qualify for special deals that are limited to “First-time Cam Plus subscribers only” but people who have used the 14-day trials do qualify.

I do think it would be better for Wyze to be more clear that these other subscriptions automatically start/renew since most people think of “Free trial” to mean it automatically cancels itself like the 14-day trials do. While they have explained this in the past, not everyone keeps up with all of that, and it isn’t really clear in this ordering screen that this is how it will play out, and it should be clear from the start.

I believe they are supposed to send notices by email, etc before it starts charging. I guess I’ll find out next month. I have some cams with a 90-day trial that ends in March. I didn’t put them on Cam Plus Unlimited because they are at a separate location from the rest of the cams, and CPUnlimited is only for a single location. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll get them separate licenses or just have them use the SD card and CPLite, but I’ve been enjoying the 90-day “trial” for now. We’ll see what happens.

A person can always try to talk to Support about the misunderstanding. I’ve always had good luck contacting support.

1 Like
4

Yes, I did talk with Support. They said there were no refunds for subscriptions. I explained that I did not put this subscription in my cart, it was automatically included with the default “check mark”. I guess it’s my fault for not “unchecking” this. Luckily I caught this after just one month so it was only $2.19. So, it’s not about the money. It’s the principal as to how they get people to purchase these by automatically adding it to your order. If anything, the default should be to not include it.

I received no email before they started the automated withdrawals. They used the same credit card I used to purchase the camera. I suppose that that pre-checked box also gave them permission to keep my credit card information and use it for the monthly charges?

3 Likes
5

No, I received no emails prior to the automatic withdrawals. And, after I terminated the subscription, I received no confirmation email, at least as of yet.

2 Likes
6

That’s odd, I usually receive emails for any actions related to subscriptions.

Do you receive marketing or any other Wyze emails?

What email do you use?

7

Yes I do get marketing emails from Wyze, and received other ones recently about system outages. But never got any emails about subscriptions.

Just now I did get an email saying that they refunded the charge. So they did the right thing. That’s good.

Now I just don’t think they should fix their website so that they don’t automatically add a subscription to your camera purchases. At the very least have the option but don’t put the check in the box for the customer. Let the customer do that.

2 Likes
8

Yea I agree, I don’t love that they add the trial by default

3 Likes
9

I had a couple of v3 cameras on Cam Plus trials. I felt it was best to delete the Trials early. I went to the Wyze site and logged in. I was able to delete the Trials early. Took a couple of minutes for the deletion take effect in the App.

1 Like
10

Actually, I don’t think I was able to delete the subscriptions in the app. A message came up saying that I would need to log on to the website to do it. It was actually easy to delete this subscriptions from there.

But that’s not my point here.

Wyze or any other company should not be allowed to automatically add on a subscription as a “default”. They can certainly bring up the opportunity to add a subscription by having the customer add the check.

3 Likes
11

The screenshot above shows what is being added to the cart. It is a “Free 30 Day Trial”.

I put this in my cart and tried to click on it and look for the terms and conditions of the “Free Trial” and it took some very deep diving into the FAQ to find the terms:

Screenshot_20230211-233102-276
Screenshot_20230211-233102-2761080×2136 149 KB

It is not clearly communicated in the order screen. It is intentionally hidden in layers of menus that a customer would have to actively seek out.

Furthermore, when it is in the cart, there are also no links to the Terms and Conditions.

Screenshot_20230211-234049-951
Screenshot_20230211-234049-9511080×802 46.3 KB

This represents a a clear and intentional lack of transparency and up front honest disclosure to the customer. It is not how a company should be treating their “Friends”.

At an absolute minimum, before the customer is allowed to check out, the checkout process should launch a Terms and Conditions screen that lists all terms and conditions of the trail and requires the purchaser to acknowledge understanding of those terms by scrolling thru and accepting the terms.

And, as presented by the OP, if Wyze isn’t sending multiple notifications and emails at the 1 week left mark, 3 days, and the day of expiration of the trial, the customer should be refunded 100% of what was charged.

This practice, without up front transparent full disclosure, is no better than the silent introductory offers the Cable Companies run… and they are historically rated the worst in customer satisfaction amongst all companies year after year.

It is not a good look for Wyze. I expect more and it disappoints me to see them stoop to this level.

I am with the OP here. It is a bad business practice that clearly shows a disregard for informing customers.

2 Likes
12

@timmonskinholt, I am really glad Wyze did the right thing and refunded your money.

Thank you for creating this thread. This new extended free trial practice wasn’t something I was aware of. I am grateful you brought the topic to the forum so it can get the discussion it deserves.

I am not so opposed to Wyze defaulting the checkbox to adding it to the cart so long as the customer is fully informed and has the opportunity during that process to decline the trial. Neither of those is happening.

I will continue to advocate for a change to this practice and warn other users to be vigilant about what is being added to their cart.

13

Just to clarify. I checked this out again by pretending to make another purchase and sure enough the subscription does get added automatically to a camera purchase with the box checked by default . However, the customer can uncheck the box.

I just don’t feel that the customer should have to uncheck the box. It should be just the opposite. Present the opportunity and have the customer decide whether they want it or not.

And if there is a one month free trial, they should definitely send emails well ahead of time letting the customer know that they are about to start a paid subscription and give them an opportunity to decline. Others have said on here that they did get such emails. I did not. Not sure why. I did check my spam folders.

I’m very happy that Wyze did the right thing and refunded my money. But it’s not about the money. It was only $2.19 but I bet there are other customers out there that don’t check their credit card statements. Close enough and several months go by when they might be paying for a service they really don’t want or need.

2 Likes
14

I agree with you SlabSlayer. I don’t think there is a problem with having it default to being on/added as long as the customer gets to make an informed decision that they will need to cancel it before the end of the month if they don’t want it to continue. That should be clear.

2 Likes
15

I respectively disagree.

A much more business and consumer positive approach is for a company to give the customer the opportunity to “opt in” end rather than forcing them to “opt out”.

1 Like
16

I believe both perspectives can be accommodated.

There is already the option to deselect the trial for those what already know what it is about.

For those who do miss that and proceed, allowing it to be added to the cart, when they click checkout, the very next screen should be a “Trial Service Agreement Terms and Conditions” screen stating “You have a Trial Service Subscription in your Cart. Here are the terms and conditions of that Trial Subscription, yada yada yada, Here is how to cancel, yada yada yada, Here is how we will notify you before the expiration of the trial, yada yada yada.”.

The bottom of that page should have two buttons:

  • I agree to the terms. continue to Checkout.
  • Remove this item from my cart. I don’t want it.

That way, no one is unknowingly checking out with a trial subscription in their cart and it can’t accidentally slip thru.

1 Like
17

Its called up sale and if you could not see the massively obvious option and just click clik cliked this is on you not the company you can not say something that obvious is deceptively adding stuff to the subscription

[Mod Edit]

Read and verify before you agree to anything or pay for anything this is a rule of survival always has been always will be use this as a learning lesson since its not costing you thousands inwould say you got off with a slap on the wrist until you litteraly cryed about something you caused

MOD NOTE: Post edited to conform to the Community Guidelines.

18

Now this i could agree with again it comes down to always review what you are buying thanknyou for having a solution or idea on how to improve the situation instead of most of the coments and as far as i can see wyze is refunding anyone who asks and they probably will adress this as well justvnot instantaneous might take a day or two

19

I agree that it should be an “opt in” option, not an “opt out” option. That being said, when I ordered a Pan Cam V3, I saw that it had the subscription checked and I unchecked it. I ordered it to replace a V2 cam that already had a license for CP, so no, I didn’t need it. What was interesting though is that when I activated the new PC V3, it asked me I wanted to “try” a 14-day trial of CP. I opted out (again) and then moved the license from the V2 cam I was replacing to the new PC V3. It’s been fine since. No new additional licenses have been added to my account.

I guess this goes back to old line that has been around for ages, “Buyer beware”. READ before you sign anything! (But I do think it’s proper for Wyze to refund it when you call them out about it.)

20

Indeed, I could have simply unchecked the box. Buyer beware! That’s the world we live in. We must constantly be on alert for companies that try to trick us into purchases or nickel and dime us with fees.

Or, we can fight back and regulate those who do this.

In the 2020 elections, some candidates soliciting campaign contributions were including a check box, automatically checked, that turned a single contribution into reoccurring monthly contribution. Many who thought they were making a one-time contribution found out otherwise, sometimes months later.

This went to court and it was decided in the contributor’s favor. They forced campaigns to adopt an “opt-in” model rather than an “opt-out” one.

Yes, Wyze did offer me a refund but it wasn’t automatic. I had to escalate it to the next support level.

When I suggested they change their policy, they again put it back in me. They told me I should add this to their “wish list” of future features.

BTW. I love my Wyze cams and recommend them to others all the time.

2 Likes