During the ABCmouse sign-up process, customers will typically get to chose from several discount plan options for ABCmouse (annual vs. monthly subscriptions), in addition to subscription offers for related products (e.g., Assessment Center, Adventure Academy). Your choices during ABCmouse signup will determine the number and amount of charges you will see, in addition to when you will see them.
- Selecting an annual subscription offer will result in an immediate charge, even if you had originally clicked on a monthly subscription with a 30 day trial. The annual plan offers very significant discount compared to the monthly cost but it does not offer a trial.
- Selecting additional products such as the Assessment Center and/or Adventure Academy will result in multiple charges since each requires a separate subscription from ABCmouse.
This article provides additional details about the reasons you may see charges you did not expect (or did not expect yet) or multiple charges after you signed up for ABCmouse. Issues covered here include the ABCmouse plan type selected, the number of products selected, the timing of billing for different products (monthly vs. annual), credit or debit card issues, bank fees, and fraudulent charges.
Using ABCmouse Classic instead? Click here!
- Selecting Multiple Plans or Products
- Offers Related to Charges You May See
- Charges on a New Credit or Debit Card
- Overdraft Fees
- Fraudulent Charges
You Selected Multiple Plans or Products During Signup
The two most common reasons that subscribers see multiple charges or unexpected charges are because they either selected more than one plan (e.g., both monthly and annual) or more than one product (e.g., ABCmouse and Assessment Center) during the sign-up process for ABCmouse.
Here's how you may see the different types of multiple charges:
-
Discounted annual or semi-annual subscriptions: Only the monthly plan for ABCmouse comes with a free trail period. That is likely the first offer you saw when you signed up because the trial is an easy way for parents to get started and see whether their child will enjoy and benefit from ABCmouse. After seeing the monthly plan you may have seen a discounted annual and/or semi-annual subscription offer. For parents who know ABCmouse will work for their child, an annual subscription offers substantial cost savings, but annual and semi-annual subscriptions do not include a free trial, they bill immediately. That means that if you started the sign-up process by selecting a monthly subscription and then decided to click to take advantage of a discounted annual subscription offer, you will see the charge for the annual subscription on the day you signed up. If you had already selected the monthly plan with the free trial and then the annual plan, you'll see the annual plan charge immediately but it will not renew for 13 months (12 months after the trial period).
-
Add-on products and services, such as the Assessment Center: During signup, we also offer subscribers additional products and services that can enhance their learning experience. Some are one-time purchases and others are ongoing subscriptions. The most common add-on subscription is for our Assessment Center service. Assessment Center is an ongoing enhancement for ABCmouse, so you will see charges for both ABCmouse and Assessment Center throughout your membership (until you cancel), though the frequency of billing for each will depend on what you chose at sign-up. If you decide you no longer want to continue subscribing to the Assessment Center you can cancel that at any time and keep your ABCmouse subscription active.
- Additional products, such as Adventure Academy: Adventure Academy is our innovative, educational, massively multiplayer online game (MMO), designed for children ages 8–13 to build critical academic skills in math, language arts, science, and social studies. It provides a safe virtual world with thousands of interactive activities, including quests, games, and videos, often viewed as a follow-up to ABCmouse. A special bundle discount for new ABCmouse subscribers is offered at the end of the ABCmouse sign-up process, and both programs can be accessed with one set of credentials (email and password). They are, however, two different programs that are billed and managed separately, so if you add Adventure Academy during ABCmouse sign-up, you can expect an additional charge for it.
Review Your Membership Details
To avoid being billed for features or products you don’t need, we recommend taking your time to decide what you want to sign up for and paying attention to all offer details, which are included throughout the sign-up process. After you've set up your account and logged in to ABCmouse, we suggest reviewing your current selections carefully in the Manage Account section of the program. Click your child's Avatar icon in the upper-left, select Settings and then Manage My Account. Scroll to the bottom of the Manage Account page to see your Membership Details.
Offers Related to Charges You May See
Below are some specific examples of the types of offers that could have been presented to you when you signed up (offers shown below are subject to change at any time).
Returning Subscribers
Returning subscribers do not qualify for another free 1-month trial, as they would have received it when they originally became a member. Upon returning, they will be welcomed back at the regular price of $14.99 per month or $79.00 per year. However, they can reach out to our Customer Care Team to inquire about any discounted annual offers that may be available.
-
Why You May See Multiple Charges: If you re-subscribe on the $14.99/month plan and choose to upgrade to an annual plan or another special offer during your resubscription or later on, you will see the monthly charge of $14.99 first, followed by the charge for the annual plan (e.g., $45.00). The annual subscription will be billed immediately, but your subscription will be extended to cover 13 months in total before your next billing cycle occurs.
This may result in two charges within a short time frame, but rest assured that after the initial payments, your subscription will continue with just the annual plan charges each year moving forward, without any additional monthly charges.
$45 Annual Plan Upgrade
-
New Members: This special annual subscription offer provides a significant discount, saving over 70% compared to the monthly price. The annual subscription fee is billed immediately, even if you are on a free trial. But the plan will not begin until after your trial, meaning it will renew for the first time in 13 months from sign-up (12 months + 1 free month), then every 12 months thereafter.
-
Returning Subscribers - Why You May See Multiple Charges: Choosing the annual plan upgrade after initially clicking to sign up for a monthly play may result in two charges (monthly and annual) appearing on your first statement after sign-up. But the one month charge will only appear on that first bill; after your initial payments, your ABCmouse subscription will continue with the annual plan only, without any additional monthly charges.
Assessment Center: Add-On Monthly or Annual Subscriptions
-
Depending on your ABCmouse plan, annual and monthly subscriptions to our Assessment Center are offered during sign-up or from the ABCmouse app (next to Settings). If added, these optional subscriptions are billed at $3.95/month or $39.99/year unless canceled through your ABCmouse Settings. The Assessment Center helps measure and track your child's progress in key subjects.
Why You May See Multiple Charges: If you sign up for ABCmouse on a $14.99/month plan and then choose to add the Assessment Center for an additional fee, you will see two charges: the $14.99 monthly subscription charge and an additional charge for the Assessment Center (e.g., $3.95 per month).In this case, you may see both charges appear on your account around the same time each month, leading to what may seem like a double billing. However, the Assessment Center is an add-on that enhances your child’s learning experience and is billed separately from the main subscription. This means both charges are correct and will continue monthly as long as both services are active.
If you chose the Assessment Center as an annual subscription at the same time you signed up for an annual ABCmouse subscription, you may see both ABCmouse and Assessment Center charges around the same time each year. However, if you started ABCmouse on a 30-day trial, your annual ABCmouse subscription would have started a a month after your Assessment Center subscription, so once a year you will see a charge for Assessment Center and then ABCmouse the following month.
Adventure Academy Add-On
- For families with children aged 8–13, add Adventure Academy, the world’s first educational multiplayer learning program, and save 80% off the monthly price! Normally $12.99 per month, this special offer is available to new ABCmouse members at $29.99/year, until canceled.
Charges on a New Credit or Debit Card
If you get a new credit or debit card with a new number and other card details, the card change does not typically cancel your subscriptions you started with your previous card. This includes ABCmouse. Credit card companies and payment services generally permit recurring payments to continue—and processes send subscription vendors like Age of Learning your new card information—even if you have not updated your payment information. They provide this practice as a courtesy to their customers to avoid service interruptions with any automated or recurring payments.
Please contact your card issuer directly to request that they discontinue this practice concerning any automated subscriptions you have.
Overdraft Fees
Age of Learning does not charge or recommend that any bank charge an overdraft fee for ABCmouse or any of our subscription services.
If you see an overdraft fee or charge, it came from your bank, not us, and we have no control over that. Some banks charge overdraft fees when there are insufficient funds in your account to cover a transaction. This may bring the account to a negative balance.
If a recurring ABCmouse payment occurs on a date when your account doesn’t have sufficient funds, your bank may cover the payment and charge you for it.
We only have control over charges for our services, such as ABCmouse and any add-ons you have subscribed to with us. For this reason, your bank is the only one able to reverse any overdraft fees. For more information about overdraft fees, please contact your bank or financial institution.
Fraudulent Charges
If you believe your billing information has been involved in fraudulent activity, please chat with the customer care team and request the account in question be cancelled per your claim.
We also strongly recommend you contact your bank or card provider immediately if you suspect an unauthorized debit or charge. If someone unauthorized is charging items to your account, you should cancel the card and have it replaced before more transactions come through. Age of Learning is not able to determine fraud on our end.
Your bank or card provider will assist you with initiating an electronic claims investigation, refunding any erroneous charges, and securing your information to prevent any further intrusion.