PDFSmart Misleading Trial & Premature Subscription Charges – Beware
I signed up for a “Limited Access, 1 Week” pass with pdfsmart on 6 August for £1.00, clearly expecting this to be a one‑week access product. On 13 August, which was Day 7 of this trial, my bank account was charged £49.99 for a renewal that I did not knowingly consent to. On the checkout screen, the option to purchase “Limited Access, 1 Week” for £1.00 is presented prominently, while the fact that this enrolls the user into a recurring £49.99 per month subscription is only mentioned in tiny, low‑contrast text at the bottom of the page. In my view, this constitutes a misleading “dark pattern” design, because the core financial term — the automatic renewal at £49.99 — is not made prominent or transparent as required under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. In addition, the wording on the checkout page states that charges occur “after 7 days”. In normal calculation, the signup date is excluded when counting days of a trial, so “after 7 days” from 6 August should mean a charge no earlier than 14 August. Charging me on 13 August, which was Day 7, effectively cut my trial short and in my opinion breached the conditions that pdfsmart themselves set out. The same page also advertises a “7 days refund guarantee”. I requested a refund on Day 7, yet customer support refused to refund the £49.99, despite this express promise on their own payment page. Support has so far flatly refused both to refund the premature charge and to honour the advertised guarantee. I have already provided my bank with screenshots of the checkout page, emails, and transaction logs to initiate a chargeback dispute, and I have reported these practices to Citizens Advice, Trading Standards and the CMA for further review. I request a full refund of the £49.99 taken on 13 August and the cancellation of any ongoing subscription linked to my account. I also expect pdfsmart to correct their checkout interface and refund policy communication so that future customers are not misled by unclear and non‑prominent renewal terms.
