How to Cancel a Subscription Charge for an Account I don't have access to

Question

I have been getting a monthly charge for $7.20 for over 2 years now. I can't figure out what the charge is. I don't have any active subscriptions on my account, and I even removed the credit cards, but I still keep getting this charge. It's almost impossible to talk to a human at Microsoft. My credit card company won't help me either. Now the charge has gone up to $8.40 a month, and I'm about to cancel the card but would like to avoid that if possible. Somehow I got a hold of a human in a Microsoft chat that I can't find anymore and they said they thought it was a business charge. I used to have a business account but I can't sign into it anymore. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

Hi,

Thanks for your help. I tried to recover my account, and it said it cannot be recovered because it was closed more than 60 days ago. Any other ideas?

Answer 2

Hi,

Thanks for your help. I tried to recover my account, and it said it cannot be recovered because it was closed more than 60 days ago.

Answer 3

Hi jm,

I hope you're doing well.

From what you've shared, it sounds like this charge may be tied to an old business (work or school) account rather than your personal Microsoft account. Business subscriptions are managed differently, so even if you don't see any active subscriptions under your personal Microsoft account, the charge could still be coming from a Microsoft 365 business tenant associated with your previous business account.

In this case, you'll likely need to regain access to the business account first before you can cancel the subscription. Since you're unable to sign in, I recommend contacting Microsoft Support and asking them to engage the Data Protection team. They can help verify your ownership of the account and guide you through the account recovery process.

Once access is restored, you can review and cancel any active subscriptions through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

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One approach to reach the team is by phone. You can find Microsoft's support numbers here:

Customer service phone numbers: Contact Microsoft customer support | Microsoft Support (Work account tab)

When contacting Microsoft, be prepared to verify ownership of the subscription. You may be asked for information such as:

• Organization name
• Billing or payment information
• Registered phone number
• Alternate email address

Tips for navigating the IVR:

In some countries, an automated voice system is used. Example of a dialogue:

IVR: What problem is bothering you?

Client: Lost access to the only admin account

IVR: What product do you use?

Customer: Office 365 for business

IVR: School or Business Account?

Client: Companies

IVR: Are you an administrator?

Client: Yes

IVR: Is there another administrator in your organization?

Client: No. I am the only admin in my tenant

IVR: Do you need to create a support ticket?

Client: Yes. I need to create a ticket. Please send me direct to the Data Protection Teams.

Just to gently clarify, as a fellow community member, I do not have access to user account settings and cannot assist with logging in, resetting passwords, or changing access rights. While I do not have access to internal systems or administrative tools required to resolve account-specific or backend-related issues, I’ll continue doing our best to support you.   

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• In case you are unable to contact the frontline support:

Consider signing up for a trial subscription to create a new tenant. Once set up, you can access the new tenant's admin console and submit a support ticket to speak with the data protection team on behalf of the previous tenant. Once your issue is resolved, please remember to cancel the trial subscription to avoid any unintended charges.

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• If your organization's subscription is from a partner or reseller:

Contact the reseller's support provider to help open a service request on behalf of you instead.

I hope this helps point you in the right direction. If you have any updates or additional questions, feel free to reply back and I'll do my best to assist further.