Subscription Help

Question

Hello. I unintentionally must have signed up for a free trial or something of the sort and got the notification that $138 dollars had been taken out of my account today. I don't remember signing up for a free trial since my university gives us free access to all of Microsoft's programs. Is there a way I can get a refund please?

I also cannot find the subscription or manage tab under my account to cancel my subscription.

Answer 1

Since you didn't specify your account type, I will provide solution based on the tag of your initial post. If you're using a personal account (@hotmail, @gmail, @outlook.com...) please let me know so that I can provide guidance with more accuracy.

Hi Bryant, Paxton,

I’m happy to help clarify this for you.

The charge of approximately $138 USD closely matches the cost of a Microsoft 365 Family annual subscription, which is ~$129.99 + tax ≈ $138.

Typically, if you are using a university or school account, you would not be able to purchase personal subscriptions such as the Microsoft 365 Family plan through that account.

Since you’re unable to find the subscription or the “Manage” option under your current account, it is very likely that you are signed in with a different account, and this subscription is not associated with your school account.

Before we go any further, I’d like to gently clarify that this is a user to user support forum. I’m not part of the Microsoft billing team, so I don’t have the ability to directly cancel subscriptions or intervene on billing matters. That said, I truly hope I can help review your situation, offer some guidance, and support you in finding the right next steps as best as possible. 

I recommend checking any other personal email addresses you may have used. You can also search your inbox for Microsoft-related emails, such as receipts or invoices, which should indicate which account was used for the purchase.

Once you locate the correct account, please cancel the subscription as soon as possible. After that, you can contact Microsoft Support through the Contact Us – Microsoft Support page to request a refund, if eligible.

I hope this provides enough clarity and helps you stay inform with your current situation.

In the meantime, if you see my replies bring helpful information, please kindly accept it as an answer and vote it up by your original account, which raised this question. Once marked, it will automatically pin to top. As other users will also search information in this community, your valuable vote up will definitely also help other users who have similar queries easily to find the correct channel and useful information more quickly.   

 

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.   

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Answer 2

To request a refund and cancel the unexpected Microsoft 365 charge, follow these steps:

1. Check which account and subscription were charged
   • Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services and sign in with any Microsoft accounts that might be associated with the payment method used.
   • Under Services & subscriptions, look for any Microsoft 365, OneDrive, or other Microsoft subscriptions.
   • If the subscription was purchased via Google Play or Apple App Store instead of directly from Microsoft, contact their support for cancellation or refund:
     • Google Play: Learn about Google Play refund policies
     • Apple: Apple support
2. Cancel the subscription so it does not renew again
   • Once the correct subscription is found, select Manage.
     • If Turn on recurring billing is shown instead of Manage, the subscription is already set to expire and will not be charged again.
   • On the next page, select Cancel (or Upgrade or Cancel, depending on the subscription) and follow the prompts.
3. Check refund eligibility and request a refund
   • For Microsoft 365 Basic, Personal, Family, or Premium purchased directly from Microsoft, refund eligibility is checked by cancelling first.
   • After cancellation, the flow will indicate whether a refund is available based on region and subscription details.
   • In some countries (Canada, Israel, Korea, Turkey, and for certain renewed subscriptions in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal), a prorated refund may be available. See Countries with prorated refunds for Microsoft subscriptions from the referenced documentation for details.
4. If the charge or subscription cannot be found, or the account cannot be identified
   • Use the guidance for unrecognized or duplicate charges to investigate the billing charge and then request a refund using the same refund article.
   • If still unable to resolve, contact Microsoft Support directly via the Contact Microsoft Support or Contact – Microsoft Support paths described in the referenced Q&A answers, choose Microsoft 365/Office → Manage my subscription, and use chat or callback to have an agent review the charge and refund options.

Because the university provides free access, continue using the university-provided Microsoft 365 account after cancelling the personal subscription.

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References:

• How to get a refund on a Microsoft subscription
• Cancel your Microsoft subscription
• Can I speak to someone? -- Billing issues - Microsoft Q&A
• How to unsubscribe microsoft 365 account? - Microsoft Q&A
• Request refund - Microsoft Q&A
• refund please - Microsoft Q&A
• How to Cancel Microsoft 365 subscription if you do not have account info? Or get anyone to help? - Microsoft Q&A