Connect+ unable to cancel

What happens when you click Handle and then Cancel in the subscriptions page? https://www.garmin.com/en-US/account/subscriptions/

I tried it now and got this page to verify I wanted to cancel. I didn't click Cancel Plan so I don't know if that really works, but it has worked when I cancelled my Tacx subscription and it is likely the same function being used.

You cannot cancel a subscription the same day you signed up

Thanks!

That would be in direct violation of EU regulations.

Out of curiosity. Which regulation dictates that you must be able to cancel a subscription right after you've started it? You have the right to cancel within 14 days. Here you get 30 days.

Daniel said:

You cannot cancel a subscription the same day you signed up

Why not? I'm not arguing this isn't true (for Connect+), I'm asking what the rationale is behind it. Why would the user be forced to wait a day to cancel?

The point of a cooling-off period (like 14 days or 30 days) is protect the consumer. How does it benefit the consumer to force them to wait any period of time before they cancel / ask for a refund?

e7andy said:

Which regulation dictates that you must be able to cancel a subscription right after you've started it? You have the right to cancel within 14 days. Here you get 30 days.

I am not a lawyer, but my common sense interpretation of "the right to cancel within 14 days" translates to "the right to cancel at any time within 14 days" not "the right to cancel at some specific period(s) within 14 days that are determined by the vendor".

So if someone tells me I have the right to cancel within 14 days, I would interpret that as including the right to cancel 1 second after I subscribe, 5 minutes after I subscribe, 1 hour after I subscribe, ... up to and including 14 days after I subscribe.

On the other hand, if someone said I had the "right to cancel between 1 day and 14 days after my purchase", then I would understand that as meaning I can't cancel for 24 hours after I sign up, but I can cancel for the next 13 days after that. Is there a regulation which specifies a time period like that?

I spent a long time reading EU consumer rights yesterday without finding anything about that you must explicitly be able to cancel right after you signed up.

My guess is that it was a technical issue that prevented the cancelation or maybe the subscription wasn't fully started. 

e7andy said:

My guess is that it was a technical issue that prevented the cancelation or maybe the subscription wasn't fully started. 

Yeah, that's fine. It's fairly clear that this wasn't done on purpose. EDIT: and even if it was, I guess no harm done as long as you can still eventually cancel.

e7andy said:

I spent a long time reading EU consumer rights yesterday without finding anything about that you must explicitly be able to cancel right after you signed up.

Again, the right to cancel within X days implies you should be able to cancel at any point within X days. "Immediately" or "on the same day" is clearly covered by "within 14 days". I really don't see how anyone can argue otherwise.  

So what I take issue with is this statement:

"Which regulation dictates that you must be able to cancel a subscription right after you've started it? You have the right to cancel within 14 days. Here you get 30 days."

As written, it seems to imply that the right to cancel within 14/30 days does not include the right to cancel immediately. (If this interpretation was in doubt, you doubled down with the above quoted statement.)

To me that is not logical, based on the meaning of the word "within". If I say "you are entitled to a refund within 14 days", I don't also need to explicitly say "this includes being entitled to a refund 10 days, 5 days, 1 day, 1 hour, or 1 minute after purchase", it's implied. All of those time periods are included within "14 days". 

I get that in the real world, the user apparently has to wait a little while before cancelling, and obviously that's not the end of the world. But let's imagine the following hypothetical situation:

- You walk into a Walmart and buy a toaster. According to store policy, you have the right to return unopened merchandise within 30 days

- Immediately after buying your toaster, you turn around and ask for a refund (for whatever reason)

- The store associate says, "sorry, due to technical issues, I can't give you your refund yet. You'll have to wait until tomorrow"

- You say: "store policy says I have the right to a refund within 30 days"

- The associate replies: "nobody said you have the right to an immediate refund on the same day"

Is the associate's statement reasonable or logical? Is it convenient that you have to come back the next day to get your refund?

Regardless of whether the store actually does have some technical issues preventing them from giving a refund right away, I think it's pretty clear that the store policy actually does entitle you to ask for a refund immediately. "Immediately" is covered by "within 30 days".

The fact that they can't do so would technically be in violation of their own policy.

I've never had an issue cancelling other kinds of subscriptions and/or free trials for things like Apple Music, on the same day or even immediately after signing up. So I'm not sure why there's this weird implication that it's normal when Garmin does it.

I'm not saying Garmin is being malicious or anything, but at the same time, there's also nothing "wrong" with a customer asking for a refund on the same day and/or immediately after signing up.

Again, turn it around and ask yourself if it would be normal to see a return policy that reads something like: "you are entitled to a refund at any time between 1 day and 14 days following purchase". Maybe it's just me, but I've never seen a policy like that. Again refund policies are meant to protect/benefit the consumer (and are often imposed by consumer protection laws). 

If you doubt that "within 14 days" also includes "on the same day" or even "immediately", how about this?

"you have to be 18 years or older to vote in the USA"

- Based on the above statement, it's clear that people younger than 18 years old cannot vote in the USA

- If I ask "can 15 year olds vote in the USA?" the answer is clearly no. (But nobody explicitly said 15 year olds can't vote tho)

- If I ask "can a 1 day old baby vote in the USA?" the answer is still no. (But nobody explicitly said anything about 1 day olds, either)

To be honest, it's the first time when I had to wait 24h to cancel subscription 

It is ridiculous that you had to wait. I sure that I am one of many users who immediately cancels a subscription on Apple or other platforms so that I don't get charged after the free trial. If I like the product I will go back in and subscribe but no one wants to forget and get charged for something they don't want. It is ridiculous that Garmin whether purposely or not prevented this.  I don't understand why so many folks make excuses for Garmin.