The company says you never cancelled. You say you did. The winner may be whoever has the better evidence.
In a Subscription Dispute, the Timeline Is the Story
Most cancellation disputes are not about complicated legal theory. They are about whether a specific action happened on a specific date and whether a specific charge afterward was valid. A clear, dated record usually does more to resolve a dispute than a strongly worded complaint.
Save the Original Contract Before You Need It
- The subscription confirmation or welcome email.
- The price and billing frequency at the time you joined.
- The terms and conditions in force on that date.
- Any promotional offer or trial terms that applied.
- The cancellation method the trader described at sign-up.
Capture the Cancellation Event Itself
- Date and time you submitted the cancellation.
- Method used — account settings, email, phone, chat.
- Account identity shown on the confirmation, matching your account.
- Confirmation received from the trader, if any.
- Final status shown afterward in your account.
If no confirmation was provided, note that explicitly — the absence of a confirmation is itself part of the record.
Keep the Payment Trail
Save bank or card statements showing every charge from the subscription, both before and after the cancellation date. Note the exact amount, date and merchant description used by the trader, since it may differ from the service's public name.
Build a One-Page Timeline
- Date you subscribed.
- Date and method of cancellation.
- Any confirmation received.
- Date of the next charge after cancellation.
- Date you contacted the trader about that charge.
- The trader's response.
- Any further charges since then.
Preserve Evidence Properly
Screenshot pages rather than relying on memory of what they said. Save emails in a format that keeps the full headers where possible. Keep a single folder or file for the dispute so nothing gets lost across devices or apps.
Escalation Starts With a Clean Record
Contact the trader first, in writing, referencing your evidence directly. If the trader does not resolve the issue, national consumer organisations, applicable alternative dispute resolution bodies, and — for cross-border EU disputes — the European Consumer Centres Network can assist.
The former EU Online Dispute Resolution platform should not be cited as a current route: it was discontinued as the EU moved to a different framework for cross-border consumer redress.
What This Means for You
- Build the record before you need it, not after the dispute escalates.
- Document the cancellation event with as much specificity as possible.
- Keep the full payment trail, not just the disputed charges.
- Present the trader with a clear, dated timeline first.
- Use ECC-Net or the applicable national route if the trader does not resolve it.
Related Kibbo Tools
Sources
- Your Europe — Information you should get when buying, signing a contract. europa.eu
- European Commission — Consumer Rights Directive. commission.europa.eu
- European Consumer Centres Network — Cross-border consumer assistance. eccnet.eu
- EUR-Lex — Institutional material on the discontinuation of the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform. eur-lex.europa.eu