I Got Cucked By PIA

[jiyeon]

So I wanted to try out PIA, and they had a $2.91/pm deal, so I thought why not.

 

I got my PayPal receipt and apparently I paid the full bulk of it, this does not make any sense to me.

 

What are the chances I get a refund for this one?

 

[TheUncannyScrub]

Open a ticked, Its possible you paid for a 2 Year Service?

[jiyeon]

33 minutes ago, James Evens said:

Here: zero

 

Why not ask PIA?^^

You think I wouldn't have sent them an email?

 

 

31 minutes ago, TheUncannyScrub said:

Open a ticked, Its possible you paid for a 2 Year Service?

I did, and indeed I did. I was under the impression that paying for a 2-year service where it shows how much you're paying for a month would allow you to, you know, pay monthly? It's sneaky marketing.

 

[TheUncannyScrub]

 

1 minute ago, seoz said:

I did, and indeed I did. I was under the impression that paying for a 2-year service where it shows how much you're paying for a month would allow you to, you know, pay monthly? It's sneaky marketing.

 

Unfortunately, Thats not really sneaky marketing, I think you've just jumped the gun too fast without reading into it. Most online services show their cost like this, offering discounts if you pay for long periods in advance.

[imreloadin]

3 minutes ago, seoz said:

To me that says you're paying $69.95 for the two year subscription which equates out to $2.91 a month.

[TheUncannyScrub]

1 minute ago, imreloadin said:

To me that says you're paying $69.95 for the two year subscription which equates out to $2.91 a month.

Exactly what they said, I think you just interpreted it wrong.

[jiyeon]

1 minute ago, James Evens said:

Wait some days. If they don't react phone them. 

Keep in mind: Flaming don't help. Stay polite. Especially since it looks now like you had oversee that you are paying for two years upfront.

I'm trying to but my anxiety is hitting hard right now, my PayPal balance is £0.

 

It's 1am and I'd rather not be losing sleep over this.

[imreloadin]

1 minute ago, seoz said:

I'm trying to but my anxiety is hitting hard right now, my PayPal balance is £0.

 

It's 1am and I'd rather not be losing sleep over this.

Just breath and chill for a moment, most businesses don't have 24/7 support and if they do they still usually take a while to get back to you if you email them or open a ticket. They'll understand that there was a miscommunication in what the deal was and refund you your money.

[ARikozuM]

I had a similar issue when I needed to change my credit card and subscription plan and I received an e-mail back about 4 hours later. They gave me a refund for my mistake and told me to cancel the current sub before adding with the correct payment method and then the appropriate sub plan. Paypal will probably take their usual two days to unlock your refund, but the refund should show up within an hour of PIA's support ticket response.

[TheUncannyScrub]

30 minutes ago, seoz said:

I'm trying to but my anxiety is hitting hard right now, my PayPal balance is £0.

 

It's 1am and I'd rather not be losing sleep over this.

Nothing is going to happen tonight, relax, calm down, sort it with a fresh mind in the morning, I bet they will be accommodating and understand the misunderstanding.

[Rune]

Pretty clearly says two years. This is your fault unfortunately...doubt it'll be refunded.

[TheUncannyScrub]

2 minutes ago, Rune said:

Pretty clearly says two years. This is your fault unfortunately...doubt it'll be refunded.

They probably want a positive public relationship.. Plus its a genuine mistake. They might honour it.

[vanished]

That effective monthly price is only available when you subscribe for 2 years.  If they let people pay monthly, it would completely undermine their actual monthly rate which is vastly higher (shown below) because you could just buy one month and then cancel.  It's common for services to charge like this (more on a monthly basis than on a yearly basis).  Just take a look at Amazon Prime for one example.

 

Personally I feel the pricing structure is clear when you see the whole thing in context:

 

 

Additionally, I know they must have shown a page stating what they would charge you (the full $70) before you completed the transaction since that is legally required.  You must have been in quite a hurry to go through all of this without realizing what you were buying.  They do state they have a 7 day money back guarantee so I would expect you will be refunded though.  Try not to worry too much

[TetraSky]

A) You didn't get "cucked" by PIA, you've "cucked" yourself by misinterpreting what was written. Not to mention, the final price to pay should've been clearly written on the checkout window of PIA/Paypal.

B) They give you a 7 days window to get a refund. It is unlikely that they will refuse to refund you within that period.

Spoiler

REFUND POLICY
If you are less than 100% satisfied with the PrivateInternetAccess VPN service, we will gladly refund your payment if the refund is requested within seven (7) days from the date of the initial purchase (not including upgrades, manual or automatic renewals). Requests made later than the 7 day purchase date window will be denied. If you have initiated the refund process under this Section, and you fail to provide requested verification information related to your account from PrivateInternetAccess sent to your account e-mail address within seven (7) days from the date of the request sent by PrivateInternetAccess, you understand that you are forfeiting the entire refund request and that you are not eligible for a refund under this Section. You understand that if you purchase a new account within three months of being issued a refund on a previous account purchase, you will not be eligible for a refund on that new account, even if you request one during or after the seven (7) day period. This does not apply to instances of account subscription renewal payments or billing processor errors, only new purchases.

If you are any less than 100% satisfied, we will refund you within 7 days of your purchase.

In the event of a unauthorised chargeback, your account details will be blacklisted.

[...]

Due to limitations with 3rd party payment processors, certain accounts cannot be refunded by PrivateInternetAccess directly. Accounts purchased through the Apple Store, Giftcards or 3rd party deal sites, can only be refunded by the payment processor.

C) Worst case, issue a chargeback and be blacklisted.

[TempestCatto]

You pay the full amount up front. It's clever marketing showing you the monthly breakdown so the bill is easier to swallow. It can also help you budget your spending on other things. So if the monthly price is $2.91 a person can stop buying their morning cup of coffee for a period of time to equal the same amount as that whole bill. So in a very technical way, not buying coffee has just bought you the service. Also, seeing lower numbers makes people wanna buy it even more. Just like the gas prices (at least in the US). When the sign shows $2.54 ⁹/₁₀  it really means that the price is $2.55, as that extra ⁹/₁₀ of a cent actually rounds out the number. It's just marketing. People see what they want (the smaller number) then are inclined to make the purchase. Every VPN does this exact thing. I can tell you Nord does it, as does Amazon Prime. So you didn't get cucked, that's just how it all works.

 

Having said that, I know exactly what you're going through with the anxiety. If you have breathing exercises, do them. Occupy your mind with something like a fun session of recklessness in GTA or something similar. If you're anything like me, you have a "trigger" song or set of sounds that work almost right away to help calm you down. So give those a listen (again, if you have them). Personally, I love classical music, throwing that on I like to imagine myself playing one of the instruments (like cello or harpsichord). That's about all the advice I can give over the 'net. Hope you feel better

[Drak3]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Just take a look at Amazon Prime for one example.

Or Xbox Live gold and PS+

[Tech_Dreamer]

2 hours ago, seoz said:

You think I wouldn't have sent them an email?

I did, and indeed I did. I was under the impression that paying for a 2-year service where it shows how much you're paying for a month would allow you to, you know, pay monthly? It's sneaky marketing.

 

i think it says what it says & you "assumed" it  withdrew each month like a partly subscription as you signed up , but it's a bulk deal , but like you said the do frame it this way  as a weird marketing tactic , Anyways you do your best to contact those that are with the service & let them know exactly what you expected from the shown deal  & try to cancel out the trade,  they'll either gain a good consumer relation or loose a consumer depending on how they'll respond to this mix-up.  pls update on stuff soon

[Syntaxvgm]

4 hours ago, seoz said:

You think I wouldn't have sent them an email?

 

 

I did, and indeed I did. I was under the impression that paying for a 2-year service where it shows how much you're paying for a month would allow you to, you know, pay monthly? It's sneaky marketing.

 

I don't like that style, but believe me it's a normal tactic and about 75% of the software as a service stuff (mostly B2B) that I've dealt with for my job does that style to advertise the savings of long term plans. 

 

I pay for them by the year, but to be honest I've been a long time customer and I'm completely satisfied with them. I basically only use pia and VPNs I manually set up (openvpn) 

 

You can still ask for a refund still, and they may still give it. 

[Teddy07]

Aside from that. Paypal also shows you the amount you are about to pay. You have to confirm it before you buy. It is entirely your fault. 

[jiyeon]

14 hours ago, Rune said:

Pretty clearly says two years. This is your fault unfortunately...doubt it'll be refunded.

All is well.

 

[jiyeon]

There's apparently four of you following my thread so I'll go ahead and apologise for my rash speech last night. Anxiety isn't a joke and having that amount of money yanked from me after my haste decision to purchase PIA clearly didn't do me justice.

[Chett_Manly]

I think that showing what it would cost per month LARGE IN THE CENTER, and then what it will cost for 2 Years, _{small at the bottom,}  when they are selling it 2 years at a time and not monthly is being deceitful, yet that deceit probably shouldn't work past the check out phase as you confirm the order. 

 

Anyway glad the OP got his refund. 

[jiyeon]

Just now, Chett_Manly said:

I think that showing what it would cost per month LARGELY IN THE CENTER, and then what it will cost for 2 Years, _{small at the bottom,}  when they are selling it 2 years at a time and not monthly is being deceitful, yet that deceit probably shouldn't work past the check out phase as you confirm the order. 

The first bit yes, the second part was my own faulty judgement, since as I was checking out on PayPal, I saw 'biyearly service' and thought "That's kind of odd" but pulled the trigger anyway and shot myself in the foot.

 

1 minute ago, Chett_Manly said:

Anyway glad the OP got his refund. 

Her by the way, I'm glad it was all resolved in the end.

[imreloadin]

2 minutes ago, Chett_Manly said:

Anyway glad the OP got his refund.

his...

his...

HIS!!!

[XR6]

1 hour ago, seoz said:

There's apparently four of you following my thread so I'll go ahead and apologise for my rash speech last night. Anxiety isn't a joke and having that amount of money yanked from me after my haste decision to purchase PIA clearly didn't do me justice.

It's fine. I've got anxiety myself.

Same sort of thing happened to me too, I had some money stolen from my bank account in the middle of the night (luckily my bank called me not long afterwards and got it resolved), but having to deal with those types of situations at that time really stressed me out and put me into panic mode.

So yeah, I know how it is. It's a really horrible feeling, especially at night.

 

Although in the end you got your refund and you learned from your mistakes. I don't think there could've been a better outcome to that.