by Domovoi on Sat Jul 16, 2016 10:48 am
Allow me to bump. I have just found out about this, having taken a surprised look at my credit card statement earlier today. Having gone through the 11 pages of conversation in this thread, I feel like this issue has not been addressed at all.
Let me make one thing clear from the start. When I purchase premium membership, I am not a community member contributing to the continued existence of Conquer Club. I am instead a customer at Big Wham LLC, paying money in return for a service. And that service is, in my opinion, worth 30 dollars a year.
In the past, I have purchased 12-month subscriptions for a total of four times, and never have these been renewed without me going through the CC Store. I would get a nice email saying “Hello Domovoi, your Premium Membership has expired. Please consider renewing to enjoy the full Conquer Club experience!"
Last year, I was obviously unaware that the terms had been changed. Having received no notification of the sorts, I renewed my premium membership in good faith. That faith, however, was misplaced. There are two main reasons for that:
1. When purchasing the 'annual subscription,' the words 'automatic renewal' are not mentioned throughout the purchase process. Unless you read the terms, something no-one does, and I had no reason to do so - having purchased premium membership three times before.
2. The actual 12-month membership is hidden in the Redeem section.
Obviously this change of the terms of use has caused a lot of uproar. This could be resolved really easily by just adding those magic words to the description of the annual subscription AND by placing the annual subscription and 12-month membership on the same page.
As said, CC is worth 30 dollars per year to me, but only when I decide that for myself. I sent an email to Big Wham demanding a refund. If that happens, I'll be happy to purchase premium membership again in the future. If not, the 30 dollars that went off my account last week will be the last CC ever gets from me. I will continue to play - I'll just limit my games to 4 at a time.
Let me end by saying that apart from making members feel cheated upon, the way in which the subscription is presented in the Store seems legally dubious to me. It only takes a quick look at California's Automatic Renewal Law...
If you're registered as a company, act like it.