We’ve all been there: you buy a new laptop, it comes with a free trial of antivirus software, and then a year later, you get a surprise charge on your bank statement. One reader, Tony Souter, was charged £129 by a company called Total AV for a subscription he didn’t want. The charge came out of the blue, and he never received a notification about it.
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Tony was advised to contact the company immediately and explain that under the Consumer Contract Regulations customers can cancel subscriptions within 14 days, as long as they haven’t used the product. He should also ask for a chargeback from his bank, which would cancel the payment and return his money. By law, banks have to cancel unauthorized transactions if instructed.
Why Wasn’t He Notified?
Tony never received an email from Total AV informing him the subscription was about to start. By law, companies must send such notifications around 30 days before subscriptions are due to start. If Total AV didn’t send this, it has broken consumer law and Tony is allowed to cancel at any time without paying a fee.
Thankfully, cases like this should become less common once the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act becomes law in 2026. The new law will give the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) more power to crack down on misbehaving firms and ensure they make it easy to cancel subscriptions.
What About a Refurbished TV?
It’s not just software subscriptions that have rules. If you buy a refurbished TV with a 12-month warranty, the retailer is only allowed one repair or one replacement under the Consumer Rights Act (CRA). So, if the first repair doesn’t work, you’re entitled to a refund. This is a good example of why it’s important to know your consumer rights, as an AI chatbot gave a slightly incorrect answer regarding warranties.
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Bibliography:
- “Can I get a refund for unwanted antivirus?” Computeractive, Computeractive – Issue 715, 30 July-12 August 2025.
- “Was ChatGPT’s ‘one-repair rule’ advice correct?” Computeractive, Computeractive – Issue 715, 30 July-12 August 2025.
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