VPNs are widely used nowadays for a variety of reasons. They offer anonymous access to restricted content and set security measures for protecting your identity online. However, if you’re not satisfied with the performance of a VPN, you can contact customer support and get your money refunded.
Claiming a money-back might sound like a stressful process, but it’s actually quite simple. In fact, most providers have the same process with just a few changes. So, if you know how to refund NordVPN while canceling your subscription, you can apply the same method for other providers as well.
The process is a little lengthy and sometimes requires a small negotiation and communication with the support team. However, once you’ve spoken to the support team, the refunded money is transferred to your bank account within a maximum of thirty working days!
Prerequisites for Availing Money-back Guarantee
VPNs do offer a money-back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied with their service. But in some cases, the offer is not applicable, and you may miss the chance to avail of it. Here are the prerequisites for claiming the money-back Guarantee from a VPN service.
- You must have to claim it within an applicable period decided by the provider. So, if the refund guarantee extends till 30-days, you need to submit your claim before it ends.
- Refunds are not available for recurring subscriptions. Therefore, if you already have an account with the provider for some time, you are not eligible for a refund!
- If you purchase through an app store, you will have to contact them directly instead of the provider. Google Play and Apple App stores both have options to avail refunds.
- Some services offer a no-questions-asked refund, while others do require you to give an appropriate reason. So, make sure you have one ready when the time comes.
Be Careful – Whether It’s a 15-Day or 30-Day Guarantee
As mentioned earlier, you cannot claim a refund if you fail to process your request within the timeframe. For instance, if your VPN service offers a 30 days money-back guarantee and you placed the order at 8 am on July 1, you cannot claim the refund, after 8 am on July 31.
How to Claim Your Money Back
Step #1: Turn-Off Automatic Renewal
Before contacting the support team and claiming for refund, make sure to disable the automatic payments method to prevent additional costs from being charged. You can still use the service for the remaining days of your subscription period.
After that is done, follow the below steps for canceling your VPN subscription. Note that these are general steps to give you an idea of how the process works, as different VPN providers may have slightly varied ways of claiming a refund.
- Go to your service provider’s website.
- Sign In with your credentials.
- Now look for settings | Profile | Change Plan | Question Mark | Menu Tab.
- Find the ‘automatic payments’ option and disable it.
Step #2: Contact the Support Team
Just disabling the automatic renewal is not enough, you have to contact customer support:
- Live Chat: A representative from the support team will have a chat with you. You can claim the refund here. He may ask you about the reasons for leaving the service.
- Email: If you don’t want to have a live chat, you can send your request for refunding, to the company through email. This process may take a bit longer to complete your request.
Some VPN services refund the money without asking any question, others ask for reasons to improve their service, and some offer an alternative but attractive deal. Some services even don’t reply, and you have to be at their mercy.
When to Expect Your Refund
Normally VPNs offer money-back guarantees within 10 to 30 days of submitting the request. But you can expect the refund within 3 to 14 days. Make sure whether they are processing your request, before waiting for that long.
Possible Issues and How to Fix Them
You may have to replace your VPN for some issues, while other issues can be fixed with a few tweaks and tricks, as there are guides available for troubleshooting these issues.
- Too Expensive: You can get a bigger plan to save value, avail of occasional offers, deals, or coupons during Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
- Too Complicated: Watch a tutorial online for using the service or get a bit more simple and user-friendly VPN that has a prominent place in the marketplace.
- Slow Streaming: Maybe you’ve connected with a server far away from your location. Try to connect with a nearby server for streaming videos with reasonable speed.
- Device Compatibility: Some devices do not support VPNs like Apple TV or Roku, so you have to use an alternative router method for connecting to a VPN server.
- Connectivity: Sometimes, servers get overloaded, and the best way to tackle this issue is by connecting to another compatible server.
- Security Leaks: While security leaks can’t be identified so easily, if you doubt your service provider, you may shift to a more reliable VPN.
Bottom Line
You don’t need to use a service you don’t want, thanks to money-back guarantees. That doesn’t mean you should put your privacy at risk while working online. You can remain protected online and unblock your favorite streaming or torrenting sites with these best alternatives.