call MS i did it yesterday.

That is the issue here.

I called them lastnight and told them I wanted to cancel my subscription.

I went through the whole "Why do you want to cancel your account?" questions and then he said "Alright, we cancelled your subscription and your service ends on Dec 1st, 2008". Problem was that I signed up for it just lastnight. So I had to go through the whole thing again and explain how I just signed up and I thought it was unfair that I did not get an entire months worth for my $7.99.

Anyways, after that he apologized and said it will last until Jan 1st, 2009 and will not continue to charge me. I then go check my XBox.com account and where it used to say "Renews on Dec 30th, 2008" it now says "Renews on Jan 1st, 2009". Seems to me like I am still on a recurring payment, right after almost losing out on an entire month of LIVE.

You have to call them -- and then check the credit card bill to make sure they actually did what they were supposed to do.

When I canceled my XBL account (for my regular Xbox), they billed me an additional month. I was refunded -- but it was still a hassle.

Mike from Morgantown

if you buy cards, it will be pushed back, in account managment, there should be options for yearly/monthly. another option is to call your CC company to block the charge. ive never canceled one, so i cant help you there

From what I read in this thread if I block the charge won't MS just ban my silver account when my Gold expires?

This is incredibly unfair and bullshit. When someone calls to cancel and company should not lie, tell them they cancelled it and wait to see if the person is dumb enough to not check later on.

I really want to enjoy LIVE while I have it and make my decision at the end of the month on whether I should keep it or not, but these kind of tactics are pushing me away.

I guess I need to be inconvenienced and call for a 3rd time to get this damn thing cancelled.

Thanks for all the info everyone.

my brothers silver account was not banned, but they did make him pay for a month extra when he renewed gold.... that was 2 years ago

edit, really i dont know why anyone does monthly, it cost more, and 12 month+ cards can be found cheaper then even the year xbox renewal I think they actually have a card on file for me that expired 3 years ago, but i renew threw cards, and add points that way too.... 

been a live member since day 1 first game i played was mechassult, fallowed by ghost recon 

I thought when you signed up for 1 month, it is just that, only 1 month.

As I said earlier, people are not stupid. If they wanted more than 1 month after the initial month they would just buy the plans. This is a real BS tactic on MS part. Why not have the option to cancel on Xbox.com or with my 360?

It would be nice considering phone calls do not seem to get the job done, even after 2 calls.

I seem to remember that there is away to do it online if your tag is linked to your msn account ... 

3rd call just made, I swear they do not let you cancel your account. They asked if I wanted to upgrade, I said no. They then asked if I had a friend or relative who can take over the subscription instead of me canceling it. Are you fucking kidding me?

I was then sent over to the billing department. She ended up asking me the same exact shit, even though I already gave my answers to those questions.

To make a long story short, I asked if my account will say "Renews on" and she assured me it will not and that I will no longer have auto renewal on my account.

Alright, everything seemed to go right this time so I hop onto Xbox.com to double check.

Lo and behold, my account says "Renews on Jan 1st, 2009".

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!!!