I have been charged USD 99.99 for my Office 365 instead of USD 69.99

Question

Hello, suddenly this year, the charges for Office 365 has been raised from USD 69.99 to USD 99.99.

Why ?

Please advise and keep the same price of USD 69.99

Answer 1

I have the same issue. A few weeks before the new charge, they send an email as a notification; you then have to search via Google yourself to find information about why, according to Microsoft, the 43.48% price increase is necessary. How is it possible to raise the price by nearly 45% without any further explanation?

In the meantime, the €99 has already been charged, but can I expect another increase like this next year? Will the price then become €150? The only option is: cancel or pay..

This is truly far below acceptable standards and, honestly, a ridiculous way to treat customers. But what would Microsoft care? They haven’t cared about their customers for years — something this forum clearly demonstrates.

Here's the mail they sent to you:

"Important update about your Microsoft 365 Personal subscription

We have received your latest payment of EUR 69.00 for your Microsoft 365 Personal subscription on Saturday, October 26, 2024. Thank you for your payment.

We would like to inform you that the amount of your next payment has changed. Unless you cancel your subscription at least two days before Tuesday, March 3, 2026, we will charge EUR 99.00 per year, including taxes, to your PayPal account.

We will notify you if this price changes again in the future. You can cancel your subscription at any time to avoid future charges or change your payment method by managing your subscription in your Microsoft account."

Best regards,

Sander

Answer 2

The increase from USD 69.99 to USD 99.99 is due to a change in the subscription offer and/or pricing of the Microsoft 365 plan being billed, not an arbitrary extra charge on the existing plan.

Recent changes include:

1. Plan and feature changes
   • Microsoft 365 subscriptions can be updated or replaced with plans that include additional features (for example, AI/Copilot capabilities or other premium benefits). These enhanced plans are priced higher than earlier offerings.
   • When a subscription is upgraded or moved to a different SKU, the new plan’s price applies at the time of that change or at renewal, as described in the pricing guidance for license-based offers.
2. Normal price changes at renewal
   • For license-based products like Microsoft 365, subscription price changes take effect at renewal, upgrade, or term conversion. The charge is based on the price at the time of subscription creation or the current price when it renews or is changed.
   • If the subscription renewed into a period where the list price is higher, the new price (for example, USD 99.99) is applied automatically at renewal.
3. What to do next
   • Sign in to the Microsoft account’s Services & subscriptions page to confirm which exact Microsoft 365 product is being billed and its current price.
   • If the subscription has been upgraded to a plan that is not desired (for example, a plan including AI features), contact Microsoft Billing Support and request options to move back to a lower-priced plan or to receive billing assistance:
     • Go to https://support.microsoft.com/contactus/
     • Sign in with the Microsoft account that owns the subscription.
     • Choose the relevant product and select a billing-related support topic to reach a live agent (chat or call-back) who can review the account, explain the price change, and discuss possible adjustments.

Only Microsoft Support can review the specific account, confirm why this subscription is now billed at USD 99.99 instead of USD 69.99, and determine whether any refund, credit, or plan change is available.

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References:

• Pricing and offers for Office 365, Dynamics CRM, Enterprise Mobility Suite, Azure, and more
• overcharged for microsoft 365 family classic - Microsoft Q&A