
After a Twitch streamer receives a permanent ban from the streaming platform, subscribed users may want to know how to cancel their subscriptions.
Live streaming has quickly risen the ranks in online entertainment. Even platforms that aren’t focused on streaming such as TikTok and YouTube have live streaming ecosystems in place. Unfortunately, live streaming has also been the center of much controversy. The nature of live streams means controversial events cannot simply be edited out, as audiences immediately clip them. The past few years have seen Twitch permanently ban individuals they deemed overly problematic.
Unfortunately for subscribers of those banned accounts, their subscriptions may at times remain active. Despite Twitch’s official stance that existing subscriptions will “not renew” once a creator has been banned, some users have anecdotally reported otherwise. As a result, permabanned streamers have informed fans that they may still be getting charged.
Affected users may want to know how to cancel these errant subscriptions on Twitch.
Users must manually cancel their subscription on Twitch to prevent unwanted charges after a streamer’s permanent ban. When a streamer one subscribes to is permanently banned, it’s crucial to cancel the subscription immediately. Otherwise, users may find themselves paying into a content creator who isn’t even active on the platform.
When a streamer is permanently banned, check if they are still visible on the Subscriptions Management page. If they are, select the cog on the upper right of their name, and click Don’t Renew Subscription. There will be a second page asking for a reason for the unsub. Users will then have to click Don’t Renew Subscription a second time to confirm the choice.
If successful, users should see a “Sub End Date” on the subscription. Otherwise, users may need to contact Twitch staff directly. If Twitch staff fails to resolve the issue, users may have to delete their payment information on the Wallet page.
This ensures that no charges are made to their card, and users can then manually resubscribe to streamers who haven’t been banned afterwards.
Multiple users reported recurring subscriptions despite their subscribed streamers being banned for varying amounts of time. xJappa and Tempest are among the streamers who have reported renewed subs from subscribers, despite those streamers being banned on Twitch. They also claim to receive money from Twitch for these subscriptions unless users manually cancel them.
Some users reported that they did not receive refunds for these auto-renewed subscriptions. Twitch notably unbanned xJappa after the incident was widely publicized by other media outlets. Most of those with recurring subscriptions were under “indefinite bans” as opposed to permanent bans.
That meant they were still technically part of Twitch, as the platform doesn’t outright remove them. Many users criticized these practices, as it meant Twitch still profited off of streamers they had banned. Not only that, some reports claim that ensuing refunds were rejected due by Twitch. This is despite the contradiction of Twitch claiming that it automatically cancels subs upon a streamer’s ban.
As of this writing, multiple users are reportedly still experiencing the phenomenon and documenting the issue across social media.
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