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Email template to cancel a subscription and request a refund

A subscription renewed and you did not want it to. Maybe a free trial rolled into a paid plan, maybe an annual renewal hit your card months after you stopped using the service, or maybe you tried to cancel and the website did not go through. You want two things: the subscription cancelled so it never charges again, and the most recent charge refunded. Companies grant these refunds more often than people expect, especially when the request comes within a few days of the charge and the account shows no use. Email is the right channel because it dates your request, and because the refund decision is usually made by a support person who needs the details written down in front of them.

Before you send

  • The email address on the account and, if you have it, an account or order number. Without them the support team cannot find you.
  • The date and amount of the charge, exactly as it shows on your statement, and the last four digits of the card.
  • Whether you used the service after the charge. "I have not logged in since March" is a strong fact; check before you claim it.
  • What went wrong, plainly: no renewal reminder, a trial that converted, a cancellation that did not take. If you tried to cancel earlier, find any confirmation email or screenshot.
  • The company's refund policy, found in its terms or help pages. If it promises refunds within a set number of days, quote it.
Subject Cancel my subscription and refund the [date] charge, account [email on the account] 
Hi [company name] support,

Please cancel my [plan name] subscription, effective immediately, and refund the charge of [amount] made on [date] to my card ending in [last four digits]. The account is under [email on the account] and the account number is [account or order number, or delete this part].

[What went wrong: no renewal reminder, a trial that converted, or a cancellation attempt on a specific date that did not go through.] I have not used the service since [date], which your records should show.

[If their refund policy promises refunds within a set number of days, quote it here and note that this request is inside that window; otherwise delete this sentence.] Please confirm by reply that the subscription is cancelled, no further charges will be made, and the refund has been issued.

Thank you,
[Your name]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • A good answer confirms the cancellation and the refund in one reply, and the money appears on your card within five to ten business days. Keep the confirmation.
  • A common first reply offers a credit or a partial refund instead of cash. If you want the money back, say so once, politely, and repeat that you have not used the service.
  • If they refuse or go silent for more than a week, you can dispute the charge with your bank or card company. Card issuers usually accept disputes within sixty days of the statement date, so do not wait too long.
  • Whatever happens with the refund, make sure the cancellation actually stuck. Log in and check that the plan shows as cancelled, or you may be writing this email again next year.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Cancel a subscription and get the last charge refunded 
Hi StandIn,

Please cancel a subscription for me and get the most recent charge refunded.

The company and plan: [name and plan].
Account: [email on the account, and account or order number if I have one].
The charge: [amount, date, last four digits of the card].
What happened: [trial converted / no renewal notice / a cancellation attempt that didn't take, with the date].
Last time I used it: [date, or "never"].
Anything I've already sent them: [a summary, or "nothing yet"].

Contact their support, make the case for a full refund, decline a credit if that's all they offer at first, and confirm in writing that the plan is cancelled and no further charges will be made. Tell me if it comes to a point where I should dispute the charge with my card company instead.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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