I hear complaints about this all the time in the Zoom Community and other sites where Zoom customers hang out:
Zoom renewed my licenses without my permission and without advance notice!
Unfortunately, once those annual renewal charges hit your account, it’s almost impossible to get Zoom to reverse them. Read carefully to avoid major headaches!
Review Your Licenses Regularly!
You must review your annual licenses before your annual renewal date!
And I highly recommend reviewing them quarterly.
Go to https://zoom.us/billing/plan to review them. Look carefully at which ones renew annually and which ones are renewed monthly.
This is especially important if you have big-ticket items like Zoom Events! A 1,000 attendee Annual License (referred to in the Zoom marketing and support documents as “Zoom Events Unlimited”) is $9,490! That’s a significant chunk of change if it gets renewed and you were hoping it would just go away. It won’t — not without your action in advance of your anniversary date!
Cancel Your Plans Early!
Don’t try to cancel your unwanted plans the day before your anniversary — you won’t be successful. Here’s what you’ll find waiting for you when you get to that point:
You can only cancel annual plans by contacting your Account Manager! I highly recommend doing this at least a month in advance, especially if you are not on an Enterprise-level account. Zoom is a $4B a year corporation with millions of users, and Enterprise-level accounts naturally have an advantage over us Pro and Business accounts. If you wait and have issues getting someone at Zoom to respond, you might find yourself in a time-pinch.
Canceling annual plans early is good… these plans will not go away until your annual renewal date… read on!
Be Informed!
The best way to avoid the auto-renewal trap is to remember know the rules, and to understand that Zoom has the upper hand in all of this.
First of all, read this Zoom Support article on Upgrading Your Account and Add-Ons.
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207597883-Upgrading-your-account-and-add-ons
What you’ll note that the word “cancel” is nowhere in this document (as of May 29, 2023). Further, the word “removing” is only used twice, with this warning:
Adding Licenses
Be aware that when you add an annual license, the full cost is not charged to your account immediately (unless you add the license on the date of your annual license anniversary). The cost is pro-rated for the time remaining until your next annual license anniversary.
Removing/Canceling Licenses
Taking any action to remove/cancel an annual license leaves the license in place until your annual license anniversary date, at which time the license should indeed be removed from your account.
Watch and Learn!
Yesterday I threw together a video of me reviewing my own Zoom licenses — annual and otherwise. Watching me go through it might help you understand what you need to look for.
Buyer Beware!
This warning is appropriate at all times, but especially when dealing with Zoom.
Based on my extensive participation in the Zoom Community, I’ve learned a lot from my fellow Zoom customers:
- Zoom does not send you a notice of your upcoming annual renewal date. You are responsible for knowing this!
- The “Cancel Plan” link is greyed out on annual plans on your Billing -> Current Plans listing. You have no choice but to successfully contact someone at Zoom to cancel your plan.
- Unless you have direct access to an Account Executive, it’s almost impossible to get guidance and assistance from anyone on your licensing needs. You can get answers to some questions, but when you just want to understand the process, the licenses, and the rules of the game, you have to “know someone.”
- Once a charge hits your account, it’s virtually impossible to have it reversed.
Bottom line: Know your annual license anniversary date, review your licenses quarterly, and cancel unwanted licenses early so you don’t forget. Forgetting will cost you.