Unauthorized billing and subscription traps are among the most widespread forms of consumer fraud in the digital economy. The tactics are deliberately designed to be hard to spot: free trials that convert to paid subscriptions with the recurring charge buried in terms, pre-checked boxes that enroll you in services you didn't notice, charges that continue after cancellation, and monthly fees that are small enough that most people don't bother fighting them. Companies count on consumer inertia — and they profit enormously from it.
Federal law — including the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA), the FTC Act, and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) — along with state consumer protection statutes require clear disclosure of recurring charges before they begin. Charging a consumer without express informed consent is illegal. When companies fail to meet these standards, consumers can recover unauthorized charges, statutory damages, and in many cases attorney fees. A free case review identifies your options.
Free consultation. Flat-fee and legal plan options. Consumer billing attorneys in all 50 states.
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A free trial automatically converted to a paid subscription without clear upfront disclosure of the recurring charge
You were charged after canceling a subscription and the company refused to refund the unauthorized charge
A monthly or annual fee appeared on your statement for a service you don't recognize and never signed up for
An online checkout used a pre-checked box to enroll you in a recurring service without your active consent
Cancellation was designed to be deliberately difficult — buried phone numbers, no online cancellation, unanswered support
You were charged a different amount than what was disclosed when you signed up
Your bank or card company denied your dispute and the company continues to charge you
Trials that convert to paid subscriptions without clear disclosure of the billing amount, frequency, or cancellation deadline at the time of enrollment.
Enrollment through pre-checked boxes, forced bundles, or "negative option" terms where silence is treated as consent to recurring charges.
Company continues billing after you cancelled — or processes a final charge beyond the agreed cancellation date without clear prior disclosure.
Cancellation processes deliberately designed to fail — phone-only cancellation with unreachable numbers, online systems that loop, or "cancel" buttons that don't actually cancel.
Subscription price increased without adequate notice or without getting fresh consent as required by the original terms or applicable law.
Unauthorized charges placed on your phone bill, utility bill, or financial account by a third party — often small amounts designed to go unnoticed.
Mobile apps that charge beyond what was disclosed, enroll users in subscriptions through confusing UI, or continue billing after account deletion.
Card charged for amounts, services, or timeframes not authorized — including charges after a card was reported stolen or replaced.
Gyms, clubs, and membership services that use auto-renewal contracts with unclear cancellation requirements, excessive cancellation fees, or continued billing after valid cancellation.
Reviews the full charge history, enrollment terms, and cancellation records to identify every unauthorized charge and map applicable legal violations.
Sends legal demand to the company to immediately cease billing, advises on the most effective way to block recurring charges at the card/bank level.
Pursues full refund of unauthorized charges through demand letters, chargeback escalation, and civil action when companies refuse to return what they took.
Files regulatory complaints that create an official record, add enforcement pressure, and may trigger broader FTC action against systematic billing abusers.
Files suit under ROSCA, EFTA, state UDAP, or common law fraud when companies refuse to refund and the violations are clear. Many cases include attorney fee recovery.
When the same billing practice has affected many consumers, class action litigation may be available — maximizing individual recovery and forcing company-wide change.
Ongoing attorney access covering billing disputes plus all other personal and family legal matters. No retainer, no hourly fees for covered services.
Best for: Ongoing protection, families, multiple legal needs per year.
Demand letter to stop billing and recover charges, or chargeback escalation support — quoted upfront, no hourly billing.
Best for: Stopping charges, refund demand, defined scope.
For high-value billing fraud, class action cases, or litigation against companies that refuse to comply with legal demand.
Best for: Large amounts, class action, litigation.
Attorneys experienced in ROSCA, EFTA, FTC negative option rules, and state UDAP statutes governing subscription and recurring billing practices.
Legal plan members get ongoing attorney access with no retainer and no hourly billing for covered consumer billing dispute services.
Submit your details and a legal representative calls back within 10 minutes during business hours to review the billing situation.
State automatic renewal and negative option laws vary significantly. California, New York, and several other states have laws stronger than ROSCA that may provide additional remedies.
State UDAP statutes and ROSCA often provide statutory damages per violation regardless of actual charge amount — making legal action viable even for small monthly charges.
All case details stay protected. Attorney-client privilege applies from your first consultation regardless of which service model you choose.
Potentially yes. ROSCA and state automatic renewal laws often provide statutory damages per violation — separate from the actual charge amount. When you add up months of unauthorized charges, the total amount is often larger than it appears. A flat-fee demand letter is also a low-cost first step that frequently produces a full refund without litigation.
Not necessarily. The law requires that recurring charge disclosures be clear and conspicuous — not buried in terms, not in fine print that contradicts a headline offer. If the subscription terms were not clearly disclosed at the time you provided payment information, the enrollment may not constitute valid consent regardless of what you technically "agreed to." A case review assesses the actual disclosure against legal standards.
A bank chargeback stops one charge — it doesn't stop the underlying subscription. If the company continues billing after a chargeback, or after you cancelled, that's ongoing unauthorized billing. An attorney demand letter creates legal pressure to terminate the billing entirely, and continued charges after attorney notice strengthen your case for damages.
Deliberately obstructing cancellation is itself a legal violation under ROSCA and FTC regulations. Companies are required to provide a simple cancellation mechanism. An attorney can document the failed cancellation attempts, demand immediate cancellation in writing, and pursue ROSCA or UDAP claims for the period the obstruction prevented cancellation.
Statutes of limitation for billing claims vary by state and the specific law applied — typically 1–4 years from when you discovered or reasonably should have discovered the unauthorized charges. A case review will identify the applicable timeframe for your specific situation and state.
Potentially. If you used a service you were enrolled in without proper disclosure, the unauthorized nature of the enrollment may still entitle you to a partial or full refund — particularly if the enrollment method violated ROSCA or state automatic renewal law. The focus is on whether you gave valid informed consent, not just whether you derived any benefit from the service.