Wittels McInturff Palikovic is investigating numerous complaints regarding ExpressVPN’s potentially illegal practice of luring customers into paid subscriptions by offering “risk-free” no-cost trials that automatically renew into paid plans. Consumers complain that once enrolled, ExpressVPN makes it difficult and confusing to cancel their automatically renewing memberships to prevent consumers from stopping automatic payments to ExpressVPN.
Upon investigation, evidence suggests that ExpressVPN may have designed the cancellation process so as to actually prevent ExpressVPN users from cancelling. These deceptive design techniques include over-complicated navigation menus and requiring users to request cancellation multiple times before the cancellation is in fact processed.
Consumer complaints accuse ExpressVPN of using “sneaky” business practices designed to “trick people” into “paying even when they don’t want to.” Customers accuse ExpressVPN of being “scammers” who will “steal your money and not give it back.” Upon investigation, evidence suggests that consumers must request to cancel autorenewal at least three times before it is actually canceled, and some consumers report the autorenewal function was turned back on again after successfully disabling it. Tactics like the ones used by ExpressVPN to prevent users from cancelling subscriptions have been named “dark patterns” by experts.
Consumers also complain that they did not know that their paid accounts would automatically renew, and some claim that they were charged by ExpressVPN despite never signing up for the service. Other consumers claim that although ExpressVPN has a 30 day money back guarantee, the company fails to honor that guarantee. Consumers further allege that even in instances where ExpressVPN promises to refund charges, the company fails to follow through and refund consumers’ money. Consumers allege that ExpressVPN’s customer service department is difficult to contact, and that those consumers who complain have their accounts locked.
If you are or were previously an ExpressVPN customer and you were charged without your knowledge or consent, or had difficulty trying to cancel your membership, you are not alone! We urge you to contact a class action attorney at WMP for a free case evaluation. Should a lawsuit be brought, there is no cost or fee involved in joining the case. You can contact us by clicking here, calling (914) 775-8862, or emailing us at case@wittelslaw.com.