‘Gray Charges’ May Charge Your Credit Card. Here’s How To Fight

My partner and I jumped on Apple Music the day it launched in 2015. We usually don’t spend money on streaming services, but Apple offered a three-month free trial that we we can’t let it go.

The free period was a way to attract subscribers who would eventually start paying. Nine years later, my family is still one of the faithful subscription-payers. After those three free months, the price started at $14.99 for our family subscription. It has risen over the years to $17.99. There’s no way Apple would have hooked us up with a $20-a-month music subscription in 2015, but inertia keeps us paying.

This type of free trial and incremental subscription fees is another example of “blue fees,” a term credit card experts use to describe unexpected — but not fraudulent — charges. – the fees that appear on our bills every month. Here’s how to spot blue fees and prevent them from running up your credit card bills.

How much are gray fees?

Gray charges are charges that you legally agreed to, even if you didn’t realize you did. They range from the likes of free trials to paid subscriptions, services that go up in price, renewing services and services that are difficult to cancel.

You often see the fines after they hit your credit card or bank account, which can be an unpleasant experience. If you don’t keep a close eye on your finances, you might not notice them until after you’ve been paying for years.

“When something is advertised as free, it often indicates the possibility of hidden fees associated with registration,” said Uziel Gomez, financial planner and founder of Primeros Financial. “Watch out for automatic updates, price increases, hidden fees for premium content, cancellation fees, transaction fees and shipping costs.”

Potential sources of gray charges

• Free trials that convert to paid subscriptions.
• Paid subscriptions that go up in price.
• Paid subscriptions and auto-renewing software services.
• A one-time purchase that includes an unannounced subscription.
• Subscription services that are difficult to cancel.
• Services with low introductory rates that automatically increase over time.
• Freemium apps or software that require paid upgrades for certain features.
• Processing and handling fees are hidden until the point of purchase.
• Subscriptions you no longer use but forgot to cancel.
• A false opt-in fee, which requires you to leave the service instead of joining it.
• Free trials that automatically set you up for premium services.
• Make payments again if you have mistakenly subscribed to the service more than once.

Other credit card articles:

How to get gray charges on your credit cards

If you haven’t considered blue fees before, now is a good time to review your business to see what you’ve been doing wrong.

1. Review your financial statements

Check your current credit card and bank activity online or in their various applications. Check out deals you didn’t expect or vendors you don’t know. Then check if these offers are recurring — you can filter the business search by seller name.

Subscription management tools like Rocket Money, Hiatus, Bobby and Trim offer to find and help you cancel recurring payments. Also search for app subscriptions on your iPhone or Android phone.

If you use multiple credit cards, keep an eye out for similar rates. You may have forgotten that you have already registered a service with a different card. Or maybe you and your partner subscribe to Hulu with separate accounts.

2. Research unknown traders

Once you know the charges, search your email to see if you signed up for something you forgot or visit the company’s website to find out if you have an account.

If you don’t know the vendor’s name, search the web to see if it produces anything familiar. Companies often do business under a different name than their corporate name.

“I signed up for ESPN Plus for my husband, and the bill showed up as ‘Disney’ on my credit card,” said financial services professional Gerri Detweiler. “I don’t subscribe to Disney Plus, so I canceled it, and now my husband can’t access his ESPN Plus.”

Doing a quick search can help you avoid accidentally canceling a reservation you wanted to keep, or starting a dispute that costs the small business owner a large fee.

3. Save, delete or dispute charges

Once you know where the charge is coming from, decide what to do about it.

• If you want to reserve a service, plan for recurring expenses as well as bills and other expenses, so you’re not surprised the next time it comes up.
• If you no longer want the service, delete it, so you won’t be charged in the future. You may be able to do this online, or you may have to call the company. Search for “delete [service]” to get contact information. If you cancel your subscription online, you can be guided through a series of steps designed to encourage you to stay subscribed. Tips on the page carefully If you’re already feeling discouraged, don’t worry – some budget apps will cancel unused subscriptions for you.
• If you believe the charge is fraudulent, because you have never done business with the seller, start a dispute with your bank or credit card company. You can usually do this through the company’s app or website, or you can call customer service for help.

How to reduce gray charges

Because white charges aren’t fraudulent, you can’t just counter them and change the charge. Try these steps to reduce the cost of gray charges on your credit card:

• Contact small businesses to request a refund. Instead of starting a rebate that can cost a small business owner a lot of money, contact the business directly. By appealing to a real customer-invested person in their business, you can get a refund for your surprise fees or service extension.
• Cancel or downgrade unnecessary subscriptions. Your needs may be different than when you signed up, or you may have automatically upgraded to more services than you need. See if you can downgrade to a free or low-level subscription if you don’t want to cancel the service entirely.
• Ask for the lowest price. Large companies, such as insurance or cable providers, often offer discounts to retain customers. Don’t be afraid to contact your suppliers to let them know you are considering canceling and ask directly for a lower price.

How to spot gray charges before they happen

Gray charges are often difficult to reverse because you have ticked the box required to agree to the charge. Your best defense against these charges is to anticipate them.

1. Be slow when signing up

It’s easy to miss details, especially when you’re signing up for a service or buying a product on your phone. Take the time to read good writing. The actual cost of the product or service is often clearly listed but is less or less expensive than the “free” companies want you to focus on. Read all the articles on the registration page, and keep an eye on the stars for more information.

Be careful when signing up for services such as phone and cable services. Companies often offer a reduced monthly rate for six to 12 months, so make sure you know when you can expect your monthly expenses to increase.

Pro Tips:

“To avoid surprises, consider checking the website thoroughly before applying, check the FAQ page and search for comments from other users to find any problems that may arise.” – Uziel Gomez, financial planner and founder of Primeros Financial.

2. Do not enter your credit card information

If a “free” service requires you to enter credit card information, take that as a sign that you will eventually pay for it. To avoid surprise fees later, avoid entering credit card information when signing up for anything unless you plan to pay for it. Or consider using a physical card that offers a “one-time use only” option.

3. Set reminders for when tests end

If the free trial requires you to enter credit card information, be aware immediately when the free or discounted trial ends. Trials are usually seven or 30 days, but you can get one of Apple Music’s subscriptions that last three months — plenty of time to forget you ever signed up.

Use your calendar, phone reminders or paper planner to remind yourself a day or two before the free trial ends and the paid subscription begins.

Do the same for quarterly or annual subscriptions that you pay in advance. Those fees are often very high, and the time between fees makes it easy to forget they’re coming. Set a reminder a few days before your next bill so you can see whether to save, cancel or downgrade the service.

4. Read your emails

Most popular services notify you before charging your card. You will likely receive emails before the free trial ends, before the annual fee is due, before the price increases and after the fee expires.

Emails from brands can seem overwhelming, especially if you have a lot of ads in your inbox. They may contain important information. (If you are overwhelmed by junk marketing emails, find the unsubscribe link below before deleting them. That will remove you from the ad list without removing you from notifications about your purchases or ak counter.)

Another option to stay on top of notifications is to sign up for a separate email account that you use just for subscriptions.

Set a reminder to check your email at least once a month, so you’ll see alerts about price changes or updates before they happen.