Damage from YouTube paid subscription account sharing increases... Seoul City ‘Alert’

Continued service interruptions and refund delays after prepayment of long-term usage fees

“Avoid companies that only encourage bank transfers.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Yu Han-joo = There are a series of cases where people pay 6 months to 2 years worth of usage fees to account sharing service providers in advance to save on premium subscription fees for YouTube's paid service, but then suddenly become unable to use the service.

On the 12th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government issued a consumer damage advisory, saying that consumer damage consultations related to YouTube Premium account sharing subscription products, such as interruption of use, loss of contact with sellers, and delayed refunds, are rapidly increasing.

The city recommended that consumers should be wary of long-term service contracts with low prices and should stop doing business with account sharing companies that only encourage account transfers or bank transfers through open chat.

According to the city, from January this year to the beginning of this month, 2,323 cases of damage related to the YouTube account sharing service were received at the Seoul E-Commerce Center.

From January to September, less than 100 cases were received per month, but from October, the number increased significantly to 1,728 cases, accounting for 74.4% of all consultations.

Most affected consumers signed long-term service contracts ranging from 6 months to 2 years and paid fees in advance, but experienced service interruption before the end of the service period. Afterwards, they complained that they were unable to receive a refund for the remaining period of service fees due to lack of contact with the seller or delayed refund.

It was found that victimized consumers mainly made payments on sites connected through account sharing service advertisements posted on SNS and YouTube, or deposited cash into company accounts informed through KakaoTalk open chat.

90.1% of related damage consultations involved payment through bank transfer.

The city reported that account sharing companies provide services by adding the buyer's Google account to an overseas family plan or by bypassing subscription in countries with lower rates.

If this method violates YouTube's Terms of Use, use of the service may be suspended even if the contract period remains.

Some companies are promoting and informing that 'there are no problems with use as an official affiliate of Google (YouTube),' but the city emphasized that this is not true.

In particular, if card payment is not possible and payment is only possible by bank transfer, you should avoid the transaction at all costs.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government urged YouTube to expand the choice of official rate plans for domestic consumers.

Overseas, various countries offer family, student, and two-person rate plans, but in Korea, it is pointed out that the choice of rate plans that fit the user's household composition or usage conditions is limited.

YouTube's customer service center informs users that the family plan is not available in only five countries: Korea, Belarus, Iceland, Slovenia, and Venezuela.