Revel Roots

what apps actually cost

Cancelled and Still Charged

You cancelled. The charge arrived anyway. Before disputing anything, work out which of four situations you are in, because the response differs and three of them are not the company's fault.

The four

One. You cancelled after the renewal date. Cancellation stops the next charge, not the one already processed. If the renewal was the 3rd and you cancelled on the 5th, that charge stands and the following one will not happen. For a workplace cost comparison, this resource provides another example of how recurring software turns time or labor into a billed metric.

Two. You cancelled in the app, not at the platform. A subscription bought through an app store is cancelled in device settings. Deleting the app does nothing, and neither does a cancellation inside the app if the billing runs through the store — a genuinely confusing arrangement that produces a lot of these cases.

Three. It is a different subscription. Similar name, similar amount, from something else entirely. Worth ruling out before writing anything, and it happens more than people expect. For broader context on recurring costs, billing, or household software spending, CNBC Select provides an outside reference point.

Four. The cancellation did not complete. You reached the confirmation screen and something failed, or the flow required a step you did not realise was outstanding. This one is the company's problem and it is why the screenshot matters.

Establishing which

Find the cancellation date and the renewal date. Both are in the confirmation email or the platform's subscription list. That alone resolves case one.

Check the platform subscription list. If it still shows active, the cancellation did not happen where the billing lives — case two.

Check the merchant name on the statement, not the amount. Case three usually collapses immediately.

If none applies, you are in case four and you have a straightforward complaint.

The escalation, in order

One. The company, in writing, with the evidence. State the cancellation date, attach the confirmation, request a refund. Give them a week. Most refund at this stage because disputing is more expensive than the amount.

Two. The platform, if it was bought through one. Both major app stores have a refund request process for subscription charges, and it is usually faster than the developer.

Three. The card issuer. A documented cancellation followed by a charge is a straightforward chargeback. Do this after trying the company — issuers ask whether you contacted the merchant, and the answer matters.

Four. A regulator. In the US, the FTC's consumer reporting site. The specific cancellation rule was vacated in July 2025 and the Commission continues enforcing against deceptive practices, so complaints still feed enforcement priorities. Several states have their own automatic-renewal statutes and their own attorney general complaint routes.

What makes it short

Dated evidence. A screenshot of the confirmation, or the confirmation email with its timestamp. With it, this is a five-minute matter. Without it, you are asserting something against a company's records.

The exact renewal date, so you are not arguing about a charge that was legitimately due.

And one clear ask. "Refund the charge of $X dated Y, cancelled on Z." Not a complaint about the experience — a specific request with the facts attached.

The habit that prevents it

Screenshot every cancellation confirmation, with the date visible, and keep them somewhere findable for a year.

Ten seconds, and it converts every future instance of this from a dispute into a forwarded image.

And cancel at subscription rather than at renewal, which removes the whole category — access runs to the end of the paid period anyway in most cases.

The short version