Xbox Live Gold

[Vampyr]

So, just a heads up to other people with Gold out there.

A couple of years ago when they announced the price was going up, Microsoft had some sales where you could get like 2 years at 50% off or something like that, so I invested.

My subscription was due to run out on December 8th last year, and I had an expired credit card on file with them. I knew the credit card was expired, and they sent me some warnings saying they wouldn't be able to auto renew unless I changed it. I had decided I didn't want Gold any more (since I think it's kind of a scam, especially after this ordeal), so I never updated my payment information.

This is where I made a mistake - I should have removed all payment info and turned off auto renew.

You see, Xbox Live is not like every other autorenewing subscription service in the world. They do not just charge your card every year/month and then renew your subscription. They renew your subscription regardless of if they have a way to charge you, then tack a -$60 balance onto your account, which you are required to pay in order to use your account online, at all, Gold or Silver status.

So now my account is in limbo where I can log into it and play games and such, but I can't do anything that requires going online, like downloading new games, updating achievements, etc, unless I pay them $60.

I actually called support and the guy confirmed this. I spent about 30 minutes telling them how ridiculous it was, and eventually the guy admitted that if I didn't do anything long enough the system would assume I wasn't going to pay and let me switch to silver, but he didn't know how long that was.

So I recommend turning auto renew off, even if you plan to renew. It's much safer just in case you change your mind and your payment option you have on file has expired (because they'll try to charge it whether it's expired or not.)