renewal

  • 16 July 2016
  • 7 replies
  • 303 views

why do i continue to get a renewal message when i already renewed my contract

7 replies

Userlevel 7
Hi fdrod49
 
Welcome to the Community Forums.
 
Would you be able to advise as to whether your renewal was a 'real' renewal, i.e., no NEW keycode was issued and had to be activated or if it was a 'pseduo' renewal, i.e, a NEW keycode was provided and you have had to activate that.
 
Many thanks, Baldrick
I am having a similar issue, and am interested in whatever response you get.
Userlevel 7
Hi RoaringAardvark
 
Welcome to the Community Foriums.
 
No worries...But same questions to you...;) Was you renewal a 'real' one or a 'pseudo' one, as per the definition of these in my previous post?
 
Regards, Baldrikc
Thanks for your response.  I can't speak for the OP, but in my case, I haven't received a keycode.  Has happened three times now - once in June (confirmation page printed on 06/17/2016, 7:23 PM), once yesterday, after I'd forgotten the June transaction (confirmation page printed 07/15/2016, 8:35 AM).  Then had a third notification today that I simply cancelled out of.
Both the June & July transaction confirmations are via Geek Squad/Best Buy, both are for Webroot SecureAnywheere IS for 3 PC's or Mac, term - 1 year.  Both say that I will be billed on 07/18/16, and that the new expiration date is 07/17/17.  Both show a total payment of $53.49.  There are no keycodes, serial numbers, or other identifying material on either confirmation page.  Both pages contain the following, along with the last 4 digits of my CC number:  <<begin quote>>Please note:  This charge will appear on your credit card statement as "GEEKSQUAD RENEW" and "800-433-5778".  Your memberships are now set to automatically renew on their expiration dates(Geek Squad Protection Plans excluded).  A billing reminder will be sentt least 30 days prior to charging the credit card on file  Geek Squad protection plans may be renewed at our discretion. Please note that some terms and conditions in the Renewal Plan may be different from your current plans' terms and conditions.<<end quote>>
Since I can't find any evidence of an expiration date embedded in any of the actual Webroot screens (it just says that the subscription is "active"), I can't tell if either or both of these transactions have actually occurred, although the confirmation pages do seem to say that they'll update on the expiration date (tomorrow).  I just don't know whether I'll be updated for 1 year or 2, and whether I'll be charged once or twice.
Userlevel 7
Hi RoaringAardvark
 
Thanks for the additional detail. THat looks just like the way that Best Buy works in terms of renewals. 
 
Best Buy does NOT bill in 'real time'.  Best Buy does all Subscription Services (AV and Tech Support) billing in a single large daily batch.  That means when you provide your credit card information online, your card has NOT been billed yet. It will be billed as follows, as far as I understand it:
 
If your subscription is NOT overdue to be renewed, your credit card will NOT be billed until the actual renewal due date, e.g., if your subscription is due to renew on Nov 1, today your software will show you have 10 days remaining.  On October 31, it will show that you have 0 days remaining (In Best Buy Billing system logic, 0 days = less than 24 hours).  Your card would be billed overnight Oct 31-Nov 1, with the charge usually finalizing between midnight and 1 AM, with the renewal data being sent to Webroot over the next couple of hours.
 
If your subscription is already past due for renewal, your credit card will be charged over the next 24 to 48 hours.  While the credit card batching is final around midnight, the pre-authorizing of the cards begins much earlier in the afternoon.
Roughly speaking if you provided your credit card before 12 noon, your credit card will be billed that night.  If you provided your credit card after 12 noon, your credit card might not be billed until the next day, depending on when the daily batch was "closed" to begin the pre-auth cycle.
 
Regarding that email you received... if it appears to be a receipt, it isn't actually.  It is more of an 'Account Statement".  This is the source of a large number of customer complaints, comments and confusion.  Read over it all very carefully, and you will find wording that indicates what day your subscription is due to be billed.  Really they need to change those emails to have something like "This is NOT a receipt: this is an Account Statement.  Please read all detail below:
 
 
Even though the subscription is expired, if it was DUE to renew on October 6 (Not September 6....), you are actually still protected.  Webroot may say it is expired, but Best Buy does provide a 30 day functional grace period for you to renew.  At the Webroot back end side, the software, if it was due to renew on Oct 6, is actually in a semi-cancelled state that allows it to keep you protected until November 6.
 
If October 6 was the end of that 30 days, and it really was due to renew on September 6, than while you can still renew at this time your computer is NOT protected until the renewal bills.
 
I hope this helps clarify, but if not let me know! Or alternatively please contact the Geek Squad (Agent Chat or on 1.800.GEEKSQUAD) to get them to confirm the position.
 
In terms of the expiration date have you tried checking your online console (HERE)? Once logged in click on your email address (in top righthand corner of any page) and select 'Manage keycodes'...if you have the option then that should open a further page which should display details of your subscription...including the number of days of the subscription and the expiry date.
 
Regards, Baldrick
Thanks again for the quick response.  Didn't have an online console set up, but did that and found that the keycode shown has an expiry date of 7/18/2016, which is consistent with the confirmation pages' billing date.  I'll just have to check back then, to see what actually has happened in terms of a possible double billing, which I would think would be outside of the scope of this forum.
Sorry for all the extra stuff, because I'm not sure if any of it actually answered the OP's question, which was why did we get extra notifications after we renewed (in my case, twice).  But, it did help me understand my situation.
Thanks again.
 
Userlevel 7
No worries, RoaringAardvark
 
Happy to help. :D
 
Actually, I think that it does help explain the "why did we get extra notifications after we renewed"...as a Best Buy customer you have provided your card details, etc., but, as I said in my previous post, even though that happens the actually taking of the payment from your account does not happen UNTIL the actual date of expiry; in your case 18/07/16 (Monday)...and so the details of the payment will notbe transmitted to Webroot until the evening of 18/07/16...therefore as far as the Webroot Cloud is concerned you have not actually paid, and so it continues to issue the expiry messages. Given the above they should stop as of 19/07/16.
 
Hope that clarifies further? ;)
 
Regards, Baldrick

Reply