In a series of YouTube videos shared over the past two weeks, Louis Rossman, an electronics technician and consumer rights advocate, exposed a controversy in which Apple Store employees allegedly signed up customers for automatically renewing subscription trials for Apple One and other services without their informed consent.
Here’s how the process works at Apple Stores in the US:
- A customer visits an Apple Store.
- A store employee asks if the customer would like to scan a QR code for a personalized shopping experience (“Connect and Personalize”).
- If the customer agrees, the employee can view some of the customer’s information on the company-issued device, including what Apple devices the customer owns, what Apple services they are subscribed to, and what Apple subscription offers are available to them based on their recent purchases.
- The employee can proceed to show the customer the available subscription offers, presented with the “Accept” and “Decline” buttons on the employee’s device. The default payment method associated with the customer’s Apple Account is automatically available for subscription signups, as long as it has not expired.
The problem is that some employees would activate these tests without adequately explaining to customers that they would be automatically charged later, according to whistleblowers who contacted Rossman. For example, some employees were allegedly rushed through the process or even told to treat the evidence as “gifts.”
As recently as early last week, Apple was tracking a metric known as its “service attachment rate,” with a target of 40% for each retail employee, at least in some U.S. stores. In other words, employees were encouraged to convince at least four out of 10 customers assisted with the purchase of a device to sign up for at least one subscription.
In some cases, employees even pressed the “I accept” button without receiving the customer’s informed consent, apparently in an effort to ensure their “service connection rate” was as high as possible.
Apple sends emails to customers when a new trial has been activated on their accounts, but unaware customers may not pay attention or realize that the email refers to a subscription that will automatically renew later.
Metric removed, reminder issued
MacRumors confirmed that Apple removed the employee services parameter early last week, just days after Rossman’s videos were published. However, the official explanation we were given for removing the parameter is that it is less relevant during the holiday season, when customers often purchase Apple products as gifts for others.
Over the course of the week, Apple issued an internal memo to retail employees reminding them of the importance of respecting customer privacy and obtaining consent, including when offering subscription trials and using the “Connect and Personalize” system, but also for things like Apple update signups and Genius Bar work permissions.
The note was issued ahead of the first weekend of Apple’s holiday shopping season, which began Friday. During the holidays, Apple hires additional employees to help handle the influx of customers, so the reminder was timely for the new staff.
We can’t say for sure whether these actions were timed exclusively during the holiday shopping season or were also influenced by Rossman’s videos. Regardless, the actions appropriately address some of the concerns highlighted by Rossman.
How to check your subscriptions
On an iPhone, open the Settings app and tap your name at the top of the screen. Next, tap “Subscriptions” and you’ll see a list of all active subscriptions on your Apple account, including trials. You can tap any individual subscription and tap the “Cancel Subscription” or “Cancel All Services” button to cancel.
If you would like to dispute a transaction with Apple, go to reportaproblem.apple.com, select the “Request a Refund” option and follow the steps.
As always, please check your credit card or bank statements regularly to ensure that you have not been charged for any subscriptions unexpectedly.
