What should you know about subscriptions?

These days, just about everything can be purchased as a subscription. Video and music streaming services are popular, and meal delivery services provide pre-measured ingredients and easy recipes on a subscription basis. Nowadays, you can even sign up for regular shipments of home cleaning products and home décor to spruce up your home.

What should you know about a subscription service before you sign up? The Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston and South Texas offers the following tips to help you get the most out of subscription services while watching your budget:

Do plenty of research. Take time to research a company before you sign up for a subscription or trial. Find the company on social media and review their account. Check BBBHouston.org to see the company’s business rating and look online for consumer reviews. Do an online search of the company including the words “scam” or “complaint” to reveal any red flags you should be aware of.

Investigate free trials. Free trials can be a good way to get to know a company and try out a product, but make sure you understand how they work. Before you sign up, find out how long the trial period lasts, what exactly you are agreeing to, and how and when to cancel if you decide not to subscribe. If any of this information is confusing or unavailable, take your business elsewhere.

Understand how autorenewal works. Autorenewals are a convenient way to keep your subscription current if you decide you like the service. On the expiration date, the company charges your credit or debit card, and the subscription renews for another period. Keep in mind that companies must send you a renewal notice, which is a brief reminder that your subscription is about to renew, ahead of time. Always check your bank and credit card statements to make sure the cost is what you expected. If you notice a price jump, it could be that you were signed up for a promotional period that ended.

Know how to stop a subscription. There are three ways you can stop automatic payments from your bank account according to consumerfinance.gov: Contact the company to revoke payment authorization, call and write your bank or credit union informing them you’ve revoked payment authorization, and/or give your bank a “stop payment order.” Usually, contacting the company to revoke authorization is sufficient to cancel a subscription, but monitor your bank state ments closely anyway. If you still see unwanted charges, you may need to take further action.

Cancel unwanted subscriptions early. Don’t wait until the last minute if you want to cancel. You can usually cancel early and still enjoy the remaining time left on your subscription for that billing period. Periodically review your active subscriptions.

You could lose track of what subscription services you are paying for. Periodically, review your subscriptions to make sure you are still using them. If you signed up for multiple subscriptions, a subscription management app can help you to keep track of them. Watch out for scams.

Scammers may offer you free trials or deals on subscriptions that seem too good to be true, hoping you will sign up and hand over your credit card number. Don’t believe deals that seem too good. In addition, if you get a “renewal notice” that asks you for your credit card information, think twice before you reply. The message could be a scam. Renewal notices are reminders from a company that already has your payment information. Always contact the company directly to verify suspicious messages.

The Better Business Bureau is a nonprofit for honest business behavior. Visit www.bbbhouston.org or call 713-868-9500. Leah Napoliello

is senior director of Investigative Services with the BBB of Greater Houston and South Texas. Send questions to Leah Napoliello, Better Business Bureau, 1333 West

Loop South, Suite 1200, Houston, TX 77027, or e-mail lnapoliello@bbbhou.org with mailing address and phone number.