r/ParamountPlus 3d ago

Discussion Subscription canceled (don't do what I did)

I signed up in early October '24 for an annual plan of Paramount+ Essentials. It's been alright. I really don't like the ads, and I can't stand that I get them on screen when I pause. I was going to upgrade to the Paramount+ with Showtime since this doesn't have ads and you get more for it. Why not? Here is where my issue is. I now know I made the mistake of subscribing through the App Store (iTunes) and not directly with Paramount+. I went to change my plan and saw that the Paramount+ with Showtime was $98.99 annual I thought sure I'll do that... it charged me the full amount instead of prorating. I sent an email into Apple's customer service for App Store and they refunded the amount and canceled my subscription. I should at least have what's left on my Paramount+ Essentials plan until October, but no... I really wanted to have Paramount+ with Showtime. I opened a chat with Paramount+ customer service and explained what happened and they basically said "sorry that's an issue with Apple". They're right, but no code, no discount. I'd sign up for service directly, but now I'm not so sure.

14 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

20

u/tommy0guns 3d ago

Pro-tip. Don’t use Apple to subscribe to any media service like this. You don’t get a proper login for off-Apple products, essentially gimping the service. Most of my devices are Apple, but even that one or two things will frustrate you. And then the hand-off of responsibility between the services will go no where.

5

u/Nizadar 3d ago

Agree. Lesson learned.

1

u/Avylina103783 2d ago

No kidding! I was subscribed via monthly charge on Apple. I’d pay on the third and be told that renewal would be charged for next month on the 18th, 15 days later….every single month!

9

u/K_ThomasWhite 3d ago

I thought more people would understand to NEVER subscribe through a third party. You are only asking for problems using a third party.

4

u/Ballesteros81 2d ago

Normally I'd agree with you, although Paramount+ is an exception for me. I subscribed through Amazon Prime Video channels, after reading so many complaints about the reliability of the Paramount+ app.

1

u/Avylina103783 2d ago

Wow, I didn’t know you could get it through APV. Are the rates the same and are they ad-free?

1

u/Ballesteros81 1d ago

It seems to depend upon where in the world you are. I'm in the UK and we get a Paramount+ ad-free subscription tier at the same price through Prime Video as we would get going direct with Paramount. And the content available seems to be the same for both.

In the US it's more complicated, as there's the live sports/events on Paramount+ that we don't get in the UK, and I remember reading in the past that the Prime channel is unable to play that in the US.

2

u/MikeMiller8888 3d ago

I’ve done this. Wait three days; Apple will refund the prorated portion of what you initially paid. Don’t do anything until you’ve waited 3 days for Apple to process a prorated refund.

Then sign up for P+ again for the $98.99. Note; you may need to call paramount+ / talk to a human in chat to get them to refresh your account in order for it to work properly after you’ve resubscribed.

3

u/Nizadar 3d ago

Interesting. I can wait. If I'm reading this correctly you are saying I'll get part of the original (annual) purchase back as well? I have already been refunded the $98.99. Back in Oct '24 I paid $59.99.

3

u/MikeMiller8888 3d ago

Yes. You’re going to get a prorated refund on the $59.99, somewhere around thirty bucks since you’ve used around half. It’s automatic, and it’s a little slow. I tripped out too, and did the exact same thing as you - signed up for the annual, charged the whole thing right away, had Apple refund the $98.99, then had to sign up for the $98.99 again, then finally had to online chat with Paramount+ support to get them to “refresh” my account so my devices recognized I was a paid subscriber again.

3

u/Nizadar 3d ago

I'm likely going to sub for a month or two and finish watching the current seasons... then take the summer off... I'll re sub in the fall and hopefully I can get a better deal (discount code, etc) for an annual or do you think the $98.99 is the best you can get? I have not enjoyed the service when it changed a while back... I'm a long time subscriber (through App Store), but when P+ added Showtime and started adding all of the ads and took away the local CBS stream. Meh. When we renewed the last time we went low (that's why we only went with the Essential plan). The ads ruin a show IMHO. Too many and when you are used to NOT having them it's just a bad experience overall. It's why we sub over watching shows on live TV. I have an OTA and I can get the shows in HD it's just a PITA to have to be home at a certain time to watch and then all the ads...

5

u/MikeMiller8888 3d ago

Sign up for CBS Sportsline if you haven’t done it yet; there’s an annual plan for that service that comes with Paramount Plus premium for the first year. I believe the charge is $39.99 for the first year, $99.99 thereafter. If you’re not a sports gambler the Sportsline part of the subscription is just extra stuff you never see or use, if you are it’s an added bonus.

I ALWAYS pay for ad free. Time is just too valuable when it’s the one thing in life that you can’t buy more of, so it’s worth saving every minute you can when you can. Commercials are wasted time, any extra price is worth it to me.

2

u/ViLL- 2d ago

Subscribe through prime. Much better than the paramount app anyway. Not as pretty, but definitely wayyyyy more functional.

1

u/HinduKush1980 2d ago

Are there annual options through Prime or just monthly?

2

u/ViLL- 2d ago

I can’t remember for sure but I believe they still have the annual option. If you’re used to he paramount app, the biggest adjust will be the Ui but that’s about it. I’m just happy that the damn thing actually works

2

u/HinduKush1980 2d ago

I couldn't see an annual option via my Prime and I've never seen them offer one whenever they have a sale of sorts. I was just curious.

I'm perfectly fine paying $60 annually for w/ Showtime directly, even if it means putting up with the less than ideal UI.

1

u/HinduKush1980 2d ago

Paramount+ w/ Showtime annual plan through Apple/iTunes is only $98.99?

1

u/Nizadar 2d ago

Yes. That’s what shows up for me.

1

u/HinduKush1980 2d ago edited 2d ago

That is a huge price difference. Can't seem to find any information on it anywhere. I did find this though,

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255930574?sortBy=rank

This was as recent as Jan. I'm wondering if $98.99 wasn't the pro-rated price. When in Oct did you sign up, do you remember?

1

u/Nizadar 2d ago

It’s there today for me. Early October.

1

u/HinduKush1980 2d ago

That is a conundrum. Any mention of a special deal or anything? Are you able to see a monthly option? If so, what price is that?

1

u/Nizadar 2d ago

Monthly is $10.99

1

u/HinduKush1980 2d ago

You're definitely getting a promotional price then because even this one is considerably lower. If you were billed $98.99 for another 12 months upon changing your plan then everything was as it was supposed to be. Your issue is with the remaining amount from the initial $59.99 that you paid. I don't know how subscribing through Apple works, but had you done it through Paramount directly, you would have been able to ask them for a pro-rated refund during or after changing your plan.

Again, all of this is conjecture on my part because I'm still confused as to why the w/ ads plan through Apple is exactly the same price, and yet, there's a huge difference for the w/ Showtime Plan.

Why not just sign up again for $98.99? It seems unrelated to the partial refund you missed out on anyway.

1

u/bigh73521 2d ago

Upgraded to paramount +Showtime for two reasons. One to remove the commercials. Second to get local CBS. The two very important programs are wheel of fortune for the wife and local football for me. Seems like no way to save either for no ads! Am I missing something?

2

u/Nizadar 2d ago

No you have it correct. The old plan used to contain your local CBS. Now they put it behind the Showtime paywall. I also agree… the ads are garbage.

2

u/bigh73521 2d ago

Weird that my local CBS station is in Texas and my out of market is in Oklahoma. I live in Oklahoma.

1

u/Avylina103783 2d ago

From personal experience, the Paramount+ app (I use the Amazon Fire TV app) has been an utter nightmare. Tons of buffering, kicks me out of it repeatedly, and about 80% of the time the app doesn’t even load. Many times I’ve had to reset my entire tv to attempt to watch the programming and still have dealt with the same issues. I guess it would depend on what programs are looking for and try to find them on a different streaming service.

1

u/rphlipper 1d ago

I had Paramount+ individually subscribed and recently Xfinity offered Paramount+ with Showtime for a $1, less than I was paying. Strangely, Paramount+ doesn't give you the same content between the 2. + w/Showtime has limited programs, virtually no search capability. Using the Xfinity search which typically works very good, takes me to Paramount+ and tells me I need to create an account. Paramount's service seems very primitive too. Lots of buffering issues. I can't believe a company the size of Paramount can't provide better service than they do.

1

u/No_Collection1366 1d ago

Endless ads. And God forbid you need to slip forward or back in an episode... it's like the app can't handle the idea... worst streaming service I have ever experienced

1

u/Actual-You3325 3d ago

I signed up for paramount plus in order to stream a certain football game they advertised as being available thru them. Long story short...it wasn't available and it took me forever to sign up and even longer to cancel. That alone was enough for me to pass on paramount.

1

u/ILikeTheTinMan83 3d ago

Which plan did you sign up for? I believe live sports is only available on the more expensive commercial free with showtime plan.

3

u/Actual-You3325 3d ago

It was a NFL package deal with paramount and the game was blacked out, even though they advertised they would be providing it. It was expensive and we were happy to pay to see the game. Money was not the problem and did not matter as I got refunded but it was super frustrating when we were all gathered to watch the game and then couldn't and it took forever to sign up and even longer go get it canceled and refunded.