Latest news with #lifetimeSubscription
Digital Trends
14-05-2025
- Business
- Digital Trends
No, a lifetime VPN subscription doesn't mean ‘your' lifetime
Folks who signed up for al lifetime subscription with VPN provider VPNSecure have been discovering the true definition of 'lifetime' when it comes to such deals. And it's not the one they'd hoped to hear. After new owners took over the company, these particular customers recently had their lifetime subscriptions canceled. The new operator of VPNSecure told them that it didn't know about the lifetime deals when they acquired the business, adding that it was unable to honor them. Recommended Videos 'To continue providing a secure and high-quality experience for all users, Lifetime Deal accounts have now been deactivated as of April 28th, 2025,' the company told customers in an email seen by Ars Technica. It added: 'This was not a decision made lightly — but one made with the future of VPNSecure and all its users in mind.' The same email said: 'Unfortunately, the previous owner did not disclose that thousands of Lifetime Deals (LTDs) had been sold through platforms like StackSocial. We discovered this only months later — when a large portion of our resources were strained by these LTD accounts and high support volume from users, who through part of the database, provided no sustaining income to help us improve and maintain the service.' VPNSecure is attempting to placate impacted users with discounted deals starting at $1.87 a month, $19 for a year, or $55 for three years, compared to the usual rates of $10, $80, and $108, respectively. A company representative has claimed that the new team was unable to access the customer database until 'months' after it took ownership, with the takeover giving them 'the tech, the brand, and the infrastructure/technology — but none of the company, contracts, payments, or obligations from the previous owners.' In a more recent message sent to customers on May 11, the company said: 'We did our due diligence — including reviewing the past 6-12 months of financials. But nowhere in the listing, profit and loss statements, or communication was there any mention of Lifetime Deals … We kept those accounts running for 2 extra years, entirely at our own cost — even though we never received a single cent from those subscriptions.' The ongoing and rather sorry saga is a lesson for anyone considering a lifetime subscription with any service. The advice is to check the small print, as 'lifetime' is most likely to mean a set period, or the lifespan of the company or offered service. In theory, it's possible your 'lifetime' subscription could be canceled the day after you sign it — if you were particularly unlucky. What it doesn't mean is your lifetime, though if you croak before the company does, then you could argue that the subscription fulfilled its end of the bargain. Though actually you wouldn't be able to because you'd be dead. Looking for a new VPN provider? Digital Trends recently assessed two for speed and value.
CNET
13-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
VPNSecure Customers Discover Their Lifetime Subscriptions Were Canceled
Lifetime means lifetime. Except when it doesn't. That has been the dilemma of some VPNSecure customers, whose lifetime subscriptions were canceled by the new owners of the VPN provider -- without the customers being told in advance that the subscriptions would end. A Reddit user posted a copy of a message they said they received from VPNSecure's new owners. In that message, the company tells customers that they did not know about the lifetime deals when they purchased the company in May 2023. A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, encrypts your internet traffic and masks your IP address, which can make your physical location detectable. A VPN enables the user to keep their online activity private and trick apps and websites into thinking you're in a different state or even country. For an in-depth look at VPNs, check out CNET's article "Everything You Need to Know About VPNs and How They Work." In its email to customers, VPNSecure outlined the situation regarding the lifetime deals. The email said that the owners bought "the technology, domain, and customer database-but not the liabilities. Unfortunately, the previous owner did not disclose that thousands of Lifetime Deals (LTDs) had been sold through platforms like StackSocial." According to the email, the company deactivated accounts that had been dormant for six months or more, then later canceled all the lifetime deals as of April 28. In the email, VPNSecure said that its "resources were strained by these LTD accounts" that "provide no sustaining income to help us improve and maintain the service." A representative for VPNSecure did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Customers are not happy Several miffed customers weighed in with angry comments on Trustpilot. "I had bought a 'lifetime' subscription a few years ago," one person wrote. "Horrible new owners come in and cancel everything claiming ignorance. Either they're idiots or they're scammers — not sure which is worse." In response to customer reactions, VPNSecure is offering discounted new subscriptions to users whose lifetime deals were canceled. They can pay $1.87 for a month (instead of $9.95), $19 for one year (instead of $79.92), or $55 for three years (instead of $107.64). The deals are available until May 31, according to the email that was posted on Reddit.
WIRED
13-05-2025
- Business
- WIRED
A VPN Company Canceled All Lifetime Subscriptions, Claiming It Didn't Know About Them
Photo-Illustration:The new owners of VPN provider VPNSecure have drawn ire after canceling lifetime subscriptions. The owners told customers that they didn't know about the lifetime subscriptions when they bought VPNSecure, and they cannot honor the purchases. In March, complaints started appearing online about lifetime subscriptions to VPNSecure no longer working. The first public response Ars Technica found came on April 28, when lifetime subscription holders reported receiving an email from the VPN provider saying: 'To continue providing a secure and high-quality experience for all users, Lifetime Deal accounts have now been deactivated as of April 28th, 2025.' A copy of the email from 'The VPN Secure Team' and posted on Reddit notes that VPNSecure had previously deactivated accounts with lifetime subscriptions that it said hadn't been used in 'over 6 months.' The message noted that VPNSecure was acquired in 2023, 'including the technology, domain, and customer database—but not the liabilities.' The email continues: Unfortunately, the previous owner did not disclose that thousands of Lifetime Deals (LTDs) had been sold through platforms like StackSocial. We discovered this only months later—when a large portion of our resources were strained by these LTD accounts and high support volume from users, who through part of the database, provided no sustaining income to help us improve and maintain the service. VPNSecure is offering affected users discounted new subscriptions for either $1.87 for a month (instead of $9.95), $19 for a year (instead of $79.92), or $55 for three years (instead of $107.64). The deals are available until May 31, per the email. This week, users reported receiving a follow-up email from VPNSecure providing more details about why it made its bold and sudden move. Screenshots of the email shared on Reddit say that the acquisition by InfiniteQuant Ltd. (which is a different company than InfiniteQuant Capital Ltd., an InfiniteQuant Capital rep told Ars via email) was 'an asset only deal.' A VPNSecure representative claimed on the reviews site Trustpilot that the current owners 'did not gain access to the customer database until months' after the acquisition. According to VPNSecure's owners, their acquisition netted them 'the tech, the brand, and the infrastructure/technology—but none of the company, contracts, payments, or obligations from the previous owners.' The current owners said they didn't sue the seller because 'a corporate lawsuit would've cost more than the entire purchase of the business.' VPNSecure also apologized to any customers who felt caught off guard by the changes, noted their backlash, and thanked those who purchased new subscriptions. The email's authors claimed that they could have chosen to shut down VPNSecure after learning about the lifetime subscriptions but 'chose the hard path.' They also emphasized they 'never will' sell lifetime subscriptions. Unaware of Lifetime Subscriptions Customers have been incredulous about VPNSecure's owners not knowing about the purchased lifetime subscriptions before buying the company. The firm's email to customers this week said the current owners reviewed six to 12 months of VPNSecure's prior 'financials' before making the purchase, but the listing, profit and loss statements, and communications never mentioned lifetime deals. The email included a link to a VPNSecure sales listing dated April 2023 that shows an 'estimated valuation' of $282,090–$344,770 and doesn't mention lifetime subscriptions. Ars looked at the VPNSecure website's history using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and didn't find mention of lifetime subscriptions. Lifetime subscriptions to the service were apparently offered only through third parties, like these listings on StackSocial and Wccftech, that no longer link to purchasable subscriptions. VPNSecure's email this week claimed that lifetime subscriptions were sold 'between 2015 and 2017'; however, Ars found ads on ZDNET pushing $40 lifetime subscriptions in 2021 and $28 lifetime subscriptions in 2022. Customer Backlash Since March, there have been 20 pages' worth of one-star reviews on Trustpilot complaining about lifetime subscribers losing access to their VPN. One Trustpilot user wrote on April 30: When the service stopped working, I logged a ticket. A couple days later, I got that infamous email informing me my subscription had (already) been canceled. The comms should have been sent earlier (before the service was interrupted), and written with more clarity and empathy. VPNSecure is responding to the complaints on Trustpilot and has acknowledged that it could have communicated better with customers. "We acknowledge that notifying users after the deactivation was a poor experience, and we take full responsibility for that,' a company rep wrote on April 30. People have also been complaining on Reddit. One user, for example, wrote that the new owners "said they did their due diligence, but a simple Google Search would have shown lifetime deal offers from the past." VPNSecure Ownership VPNSecure's website lists its owner as InfiniteQuant Ltd. in the Bahamas; however, its terms of service names the company 'HOLDXB Trading FZCO trading as VPN Secure, IFZA Business Park, Dubai - UAE.' According to the Wayback Machine, the terms of service page moved from naming an Australian firm, 'Boost Network Pty Ltd trading as VPN Secure' to HOLDXB until 2024. VPNSecure's email to customers this month noted that the team is 'in the Bahamas' and 'not [in] one [of the] five eyes countries anymore.' Ars has reached out to the VPNSecure support team for more information but didn't hear back in time for publication. There isn't much information or contact details for InfiniteQuant Ltd., HOLDXB Trading FZCO, or Boost Network Pty Ltd. online. Limited Lifetime Subscriptions VPNSecure's ordeal is a reminder that so-called lifetime subscriptions often last shorter than advertised. Per comments online, VPNSecure's lifetime subscriptions lasted up to 20 years. Lifetime subscriptions, as well as lifetime warranties, can also get abruptly voided if a company goes out of business, and as we've seen with VPNSecure, new owners could also jeopardize 'lifetime' offerings. Users can also see capabilities reduced or altered in the course of a "lifetime." VPNSecure could have potentially mitigated backlash by giving users more advanced warning of the changes and a longer opportunity to select a new subscription before deactivating their accounts. We can't confirm if InfiniteQuant Ltd. knew about the lifetime subscriptions before making its purchase. However, the firm claims to have known about the subscriptions a few months after taking ownership, so it had ample time to warn customers before abruptly deactivating 'dormant' accounts and killing the subscriptions of thousands of customers. This story originally appeared on Ars Technica.
