“In hindsight, we could have been clearer about the availability of a non-AI-enabled offering with subscribers, not just to those who opted to cancel their subscription,” Microsoft said in a statement.
“In our email to subscribers [on Thursday], we expressed our regret for not being clearer about our subscription options, shared details about lower-priced alternatives that come without AI and offered a refund to eligible subscribers who wish to switch.”
Microsoft said the episode “fell short of our standards”. “We will learn from this and improve,” the company said.
However, this masthead has been contacted by multiple affected customers who received the offer from Microsoft on Thursday, reporting an error.
Those pushed onto the more expensive Microsoft 365 Family plan that included Copilot AI said that when they click the link to downgrade to the “Family Classic” plan they had previously been on and trigger the retrospective refund, they are not offered it as an option. Instead, the customers say they can only downgrade to a Personal Classic plan designed for a single user rather than a family licence.
“One would have hoped that Microsoft would have checked this before sending out the mass email, but here we are,” one aggrieved customer said.
“An epic fail by Microsoft,” said another customer.
On Thursday afternoon, a Microsoft spokesperson said, “some subscribers eligible for the refund received an incorrect link”. They apologised and said the matter was being rectified.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Also on Thursday, ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said while she welcomed Microsoft’s apology and refund offer, it had not come out of a settlement with the watchdog over its legal case.
“We continue to seek penalties, injunctions, declarations, effective consumer redress and costs in court,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
The maximum penalty under consumer law is the greatest of $50 million; three times the total benefits that were obtained by the breach; or 30 per cent of the corporation’s adjusted turnover during the breach period.
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