# I cancelled my subscription but they keep charging me

Canonical page: https://rantr.app/routes/es-subscription-charged-after-cancel

Official route for consumers in ES, from Rantr. Every step and right cites an official source. Rantr never acts for anyone or promises an outcome; the person decides and sends.

## Steps, in order

1. **Write to the company and keep proof**
   - Deadline: The consumer law, as amended with effect from 28 December 2025, sets a maximum of 15 days from your complaint for the company to answer.
   - Attach proof of your cancellation (receipt, email, screenshot) and ask for every charge after that date back. The law forbids charging for services not actually provided after you end the contract. Since 28 December 2025 the consumer law requires the ways a company offers for complaints to include at least the channel you signed up with, post, phone and one electronic means. Ask for the complaint's reference code and a written receipt.
   - Source: https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-20555#a21

2. **Stop future charges at your bank**
   - Revoke the direct debit order with a dated, signed document; it only affects a debit if the bank gets it before the end of the working day before that debit. If you pay by card, ask your bank how to block payments to that company.
   - Source: https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/menu-horizontal/productosservici/serviciospago/Adeudos_domiciliados.html

3. **Paid by direct debit? Ask your bank for a refund**
   - Deadline: Within eight weeks from the date the money left your account.
   - For a SEPA direct debit you authorised, the payments law gives you an unconditional right to a refund from your bank, and the bank cannot refuse it. The only exception is if your contract with the bank says so for a payment you consented to directly with your bank and, where applicable, were told about at least four weeks before. The bank must refund within ten working days of your request.
   - Source: https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2018-16036#ar-48

4. **Paid by card? Ask your bank to cancel the charge**
   - If a distance purchase or service was charged to your card number fraudulently or improperly, the consumer law lets you demand that the charge be cancelled immediately. If you did make the purchase and were not withdrawing from or ending the contract, you may have to compensate the company for that cancellation. The Banco de España says that when you ask your bank to return a card charge, the bank must handle your claim diligently with the card scheme (Visa, Mastercard...); the result is not guaranteed.
   - Source: https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-20555#a112

5. **No answer or no fix: go to a consumer office**
   - File a complaint with your town's consumer office (OMIC) or your region's consumer authority. If the company is based in another EU country, Iceland or Norway, the European Consumer Centre in Spain can help, provided you complained to the company in writing first and have not gone to court or consumer arbitration.
   - Where: https://cidoc.consumo.gob.es/directorio-mapas/oficinas-municipales-informacion-consumidor
   - Source: https://portal-cec.consumo.gob.es/es/consultas-y-reclamaciones/como-reclamar/centro-europeo-del-consumidor

6. **Consumer arbitration, if the company accepts it**
   - A Junta Arbitral de Consumo can decide the dispute for free, with a decision as binding as a court ruling. Both sides must agree to it: check whether the company is adhered to the system.
   - Where: https://www.dsca.gob.es/es/consumo/como-reclamar-conflicto-consumo/sistema-arbitral-consumo/organos/juntasArbitrales
   - Source: https://www.dsca.gob.es/es/consumo/como-reclamar-conflicto-consumo/sistema-arbitral-consumo

7. **Last resort: court**
   - Before suing you must have tried to negotiate, and you need written proof of that attempt: for example, proof that the company received your request to negotiate or your proposal. If it does not reply within 30 calendar days of receiving it, the attempt counts as ended without agreement.
   - Source: https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2025-76

## What the written complaint must include

To: The company's customer service (the channel you signed up with, or post, phone or email)
- Your name and the email, username or membership number
- The date and channel of your cancellation, and its reference code if any
- Each charge after that date: date and amount
- What you ask for: confirm the cancellation, stop charging, and refund those charges by the same payment method

Keep:
- The complaint's reference code and written receipt
- A copy of everything you sent, with the date
- Screenshots of the sign-up and cancellation pages and of your account
- Emails, confirmations and the terms you accepted
- Bank or card statements showing each charge

## Rights

- You can end a subscription the same way you signed up, with no penalty or disproportionate burden such as losing prepaid amounts or paying for services not actually provided. (https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-20555#a62)
- If a distance purchase or service is charged fraudulently or improperly using your card number, you can demand immediate cancellation of the charge; if you did make the purchase and were not withdrawing or terminating, you may have to compensate the company for that cancellation. (https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-20555#a112)
- For SEPA direct debits you authorised, you have an unconditional right to a refund from your bank within eight weeks of the debit, and the bank cannot refuse it, unless your contract with the bank excludes it for a payment you consented to directly with your bank and, where applicable, were told about at least four weeks before. The bank must refund within ten working days. (https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2018-16036#ar-48)
- Revoking a direct debit order must be done expressly, in a dated and signed document. (https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/menu-horizontal/productosservici/serviciospago/Adeudos_domiciliados.html)
- Since 28 December 2025 the consumer law says businesses must answer complaints as soon as possible and in any case within 15 days of receiving them. (https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-20555#a21)
- The customer-service law (Ley 10/2025) sets stricter limits only for companies in its scope, which for subscriptions means companies selling mainly to consumers that had 250 or more staff, more than 50 million euros of turnover or more than 43 million euros of balance sheet in the previous year: five days for complaints about billing or undue charges and 15 working days for others, unless sector rules set a different time. Those companies have 12 months from 28 December 2025, that is until 28 December 2026, to adapt their customer service to the law. (https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2025-26698)
- The Banco de España says that if you ask your bank to return a card payment you authorised, the bank's responsibility is limited to handling your claim diligently with the card scheme (Visa, Mastercard...). (https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/blog/has-pagado-algo-por-internet-y-no-te-ha-llegado-el-producto-que-esperabas--esto-te-interesa.html)
- Under the payments law, once you have consented to a payment initiated by the merchant (such as a card payment) you cannot revoke the payment order; after that it can only be revoked if agreed with your bank and with the merchant's consent. This does not affect your rights over unauthorised payments. (https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2018-16036#ar-52)
- In court claims of up to 2,000 euros you can act yourself, without a lawyer or a procurador. (https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2000-323#a31)