I was charged for Audible without clear notice. Can I get it back?
What to do about an Audible charge you say was not clearly disclosed or consented to, what ROSCA requires before a subscription charge, and how to get the money back.
Regulator
the FTC
Key legislation
Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA, 15 U.S.C. § 8403)
Dispute path
Letter first, deadline tracked. If they go quiet, escalation to the FTC is prepped and ready.
Before a business can charge you for an online subscription or convert a free trial into a paid one, federal law requires it to clearly disclose the price, how often you will be billed, and how to cancel — and to get your express informed consent to the charge itself. If that disclosure was never shown, or was buried where you would not reasonably see it, the charge may not have been validly authorized under the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act.
This is a different complaint from "I forgot to cancel." The question is what you were actually shown before the card was charged: was the price and billing frequency clear, was there a conspicuous way to decline, and did you take an affirmative action that counts as consent. A checkout or trial-signup flow that skips any of that is the compliance failure, not an oversight on your part.
Pull up exactly what was presented to you at signup, if you still have access to it or a screenshot. Dispute the charge with your card issuer, describing the missing disclosure or consent, and file a complaint with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov — this is precisely the conduct ROSCA complaints exist to catch. If cancelling itself also turned out to require more effort than signing up did, that is a second, independent ROSCA problem worth raising in the same complaint.
Frequently asked questions
What has to be disclosed before I am charged?
The price, the billing frequency, and how to cancel — clearly, before you hand over payment details — plus your express informed consent to the charge. A buried or fine-print disclosure does not satisfy this.
Is this different from a regular refund request?
Yes. A refund request is about the product. This is about whether the charge was validly authorized in the first place — if the disclosure or consent was missing, the charge itself is the problem.
What should I do first?
Find what was actually shown to you before the charge (a screenshot, if you have one), then dispute the charge with your card issuer describing exactly what disclosure was missing.
Where do I report it?
reportfraud.ftc.gov is built for exactly this. Your state attorney general's consumer protection office can also take the complaint.
What if cancelling is also difficult?
Raise that too — ROSCA separately requires a "simple mechanism" to stop recurring charges (not, as of the Eighth Circuit's July 2025 vacatur of the FTC's Click-to-Cancel rule, a mechanism that has to match how easy signup was). A missing-consent charge and a needlessly hard cancellation flow are two distinct violations that can both apply to the same subscription.
What if Audible just ignores my letter?
Silence is not a dead end — it starts a clock. Audible is expected to respond to a formal complaint within 30 days. Build your letter with us and we track that deadline for you: a countdown check-in two weeks in, and if they miss the deadline, your escalation to your state attorney general’s consumer protection office, and the FTC arrives pre-filled and ready to lodge. Escalating is free.
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screwtheman.com is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The content on this page is for general information on consumer rights, legislation, and dispute pathways. For complex legal matters, consult a qualified lawyer or the relevant regulator.