LinkedIn Question - Account charging, please stop.

May 9, 2021 2:24 PM

Old account with former email address keeps charging a LinkedIn account I cannot access or use. I'd love a refund for the $60ish dollars, and I'd like to stop it before it happens, again.

LinkedIn's online help forums are nebulous, and their customer service line cannot redirect to a human person. It's frustrating and it actually looks as though there are few ways to address the problem. I essentially created a new account to talk to someone, and all of the interim help seem to be other LinkedIn users(?). The charges are cycling thru Paypal. I would just like the old account to die, and a refund.

posted by firstdaffodils to Work & Money (6 answers total)

Did you try clicking the "can't access this email?" link on the password reset page? That should give you an alternate way to reclaim the original account, and then you would be able to cancel the account.

Alternately, you could contact PayPal and tell them you've been unable to contact the merchant (LinkedIn) who's been charging your account.
posted by mskyle at 2:37 PM on May 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Start by regaining access to your old account by following the instructions at "No Access to Email Address." After you've regained access to your old account, close your old account by following the instructions at "Close Your LinkedIn Account" (or click the "cancel the Premium access" link on that page if you want to keep your old LinkedIn account as a Basic account without the ongoing LinkedIn Premium charges). This will stop the recurring charges, but it won't get you a refund.
posted by RichardP at 3:12 PM on May 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you!(!) Is there anyone I can contact for a refund?
posted by firstdaffodils at 4:37 PM on May 9, 2021

Hey firstdaffodils, this happened to me once. I was charged an annual fee by LinkedIn for a Pro account I had forgotten about. This was about a year ago, maybe two. I remember going through all their help materials and finding messaging that said LinkedIn does no refunds ever, under any circumstances. (Which, WTF?) It might have been something I could have successfully pursued, but I just canceled the account going forward and swallowed the charge rather than trying to get the money back. Good luck to you whatever you decide to do.
posted by Susan PG at 3:29 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Susan PG is correct, LinkedIn has a " LinkedIn Consumer Refund Policy" page that says "LinkedIn Premium subscriptions ... are non-refundable." There is an "Account Review" button on that page to request a refund if you believe your situation warrants an exception — but the language on the page suggests that they'll likely only grant an exception if the laws in your jurisdiction require them to give you a refund. If you decide to request a refund you probably want to first regain access to your old account, temporarily keep your account and just cancel the Premium access, then use the "Account Review" button to try to get a refund, and after they've reviewed your account (and either given you a refund or rejected the refund request) you could then close your account.
posted by RichardP at 2:49 PM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

If the subscription is being processed through a PayPal account you still have access to, and you didn't set up the payment with a PayPal debit/credit card, you should be able to cut that off without needing to log in to your LinkedIn account at minimum.

You'll want to log into PayPal on the web, go to Settings (the gear icon near the Log Out button), then choose the Payments tab, then click "Manage automatic payments". Find LinkedIn on the list on the left hand side, then click the Cancel button next to the status line (which should read as Active, if they're able to draw funds from the account). This will invalidate the recurring payment in PayPal's system and should prevent LinkedIn from collecting the funds.
posted by Aleyn at 4:26 PM on May 11, 2021 [1 favorite]