Key Points
- A law firm filed a class-action lawsuit against NordVPN for its auto-renewal and cancellation practices.
- The lawsuit claims that NordVPN employs deceptive “dark patterns” to make it difficult for customers to cancel their subscriptions.
- The lawsuit is seeking up to $100 million in compensation for affected customers.
- NordVPN claims its policies are clear and that it has even refunded two customers before they initiated legal action.
A U.S. law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against NordVPN, one of the biggest names in the VPN world. The lawsuit alleges that the company employs “deceptive and illegal” auto-renewal practices to entrap customers into paying for subscriptions they no longer wish to use. It also claims NordVPN uses “dark patterns”—tricky design choices—to make it difficult for people to cancel.
The law firm Wittels McInturff Palikovic argues that these practices have cost customers tens of millions of dollars. They are seeking up to $100 million in compensation. The lawsuit also highlights an issue with NordVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee, claiming the company doesn’t inform customers that they must actively request a refund after canceling to receive a refund.
NordVPN responded, stating that its auto-renewal practices are “clear and straightforward.” A spokesperson said the company sends reminders for long-term subscriptions and often issues refunds even after the 30-day guarantee has expired.
In a key part of their defense, NordVPN pointed out that two of the customers who filed the lawsuit had already received refunds before they decided to sue.
The class-action lawsuit is still ongoing, and the law firm is encouraging other NordVPN customers who feel they were wrongly charged to come forward. While the firm has investigated similar practices at other VPN companies, such as ExpressVPN and Proton VPN, it has not filed lawsuits against them, making the action against NordVPN particularly significant.
