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Nov. 6, 2026

Know What You're Buying: Getting Stung by Podcast Subscriptions

Know What You're Buying: Getting Stung by Podcast Subscriptions
Podcast Consultant - Podcast Strategies and Tips To Grow Your Podcast
Know What You're Buying: Getting Stung by Podcast Subscriptions
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Who's Responsible for Your Subscriptions? (Hint: It's You)

When you spend money, you need to know exactly what you're buying. In this episode I look at a Reddit post where someone blasted Descript for "unauthorized" recurring charges. I explain why keeping track of your podcast subscriptions is your job and not the company's, and I share the tools I use to watch my money every day.

The Descript Refund Complaint on Reddit

A Reddit user warned people about Descript's recurring charges. He said he was billed for four months without getting a single email invoice, and Descript wouldn't refund him. Their policy only allows subscription refunds within 48 hours of the invoice date. He disputed the charges and blocked the merchant on his credit card.

The thing is, Descript's terms say in plain English that they don't email invoices. Invoices are only available inside your account. It's also a subscription, which means they bill you until you tell them to stop.

Why Companies Don't Always Send Billing Reminders

I've worked for Libsyn, and today I work with PodPage and run the School of Podcasting. All of them are subscription businesses. Reminder emails sound nice, but when companies send "you'll be charged in three days" emails, people complain about getting them. You can't win.

Your Money Is Your Responsibility

This is why I check my bank account once or twice a day. The internet has great people and not-so-great people on it. I had my PayPal account hacked once, so I take security seriously.

I also run my podcast like a business. At the end of every month I go through every dollar that came in and every expense that went out. Every so often I find something and think, "Why am I still paying for this?" Then I cancel it, because that's my job.

Read Before You Buy: Avoiding Surprise Subscriptions

Most subscriptions tell you they're subscriptions. Some don't make it obvious. I once bought vitamins, and the only place it mentioned I'd "subscribed" to monthly deliveries was the thank-you page. I canceled it right away. Slow down when you buy things, and don't play the victim when you skip the fine print.

Why AI Tools Have Stricter Refund Policies

To be fair to Descript, I understand their policy. Their tool has a lot of AI built in, and someone could burn through expensive resources in 48 hours and then ask for their money back. That's a losing deal for them. I'd still refund the customer, though. It's almost always cheaper than letting an unhappy customer leave and tell the world about it. Even so, the responsibility is still yours.

How to Track Your Podcast Expenses

  • Get a separate checking account for your podcast. My friend Ralph Estep Jr., The Content Creator's Accountant (and a School of Podcasting member), can help you set up an LLC or whatever business structure fits you.
  • SoFi: SOFI is Not technically a business account, but it works great and I earn interest.
  • Acorns: Acorns rounds up every purchase to the next dollar and invests the spare change. I've put away about $70 this year a quarter at a time without noticing.
  • Monarch Money: Monarch money connects to your bank and sorts your spending with rules and budgets. It's great for finding out how much you really spend on things like fast food, and for spotting subscriptions you forgot about.

Resources Mentioned


Want Help Running Your Podcast Like a Business?

At the School of Podcasting we cover everything from launching your show to running it like a company. Use the coupon code LISTENER on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly plan. You can also choose the new plan that comes with weekly meetings with me. Visit schoolofpodcasting.com.

I've been helping podcasters for two decades, and I want to be your podcast consultant.



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

Free Podcast Tips

00:00 - Untitled

00:00 - Understanding What You Purchased

00:38 - Getting Billed with No Notice

01:31 - Read the Policy

02:22 - It's in the Terms

02:39 - Companies Can't Win

03:17 - Check Your Bank Daily

04:22 - Slow Down and Read

05:32 - AI Changes the Terms

06:18 - A Refund is Cheaper

06:39 - The Content Creator's Accountant

07:02 - Have a Separate Checking Account

07:21 - SOFI Onlne Banking

07:32 - Acorn Online Banking

08:01 - Monarch Money Tracks Your Spending

08:36 - Join the School of Podcasting

David Jackson:

When you are spending money, it's a really

David Jackson:

good idea to understand exactly what your expectations are when

David Jackson:

you buy a product or service.

Mike Russell:

Welcome to your podcast consultant. Small

Mike Russell:

lessons with big value. With more than a decade of experience

Mike Russell:

and millions of downloads, this Hall of Fame podcaster is a

Mike Russell:

featured speaker, author, and mentor to 1000s. Now he wants to

Mike Russell:

work with you. He's your podcast consultant, Dave Jackson.

David Jackson:

Dave Ramsey Is a financial and guru. You know the

David Jackson:

lottery is just the stupid tax, and there are times when I see

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things and I'm like, really? Because everybody wants to play

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the victim card. So here on Reddit, somebody said, "Beware

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of Descript reoccurring charges with no invoices emailed and no

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refund." And he says, "For months of unauthorized

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reoccurring billing without receiving a single email

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invoice. That means for months he hasn't looked at his checking

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account or his bank account. I only found out when I got a

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monthly summary from Stripe, their payment processor. I tried

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to resolve with Descript, but it's outside of their policy to

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not scam customers. According to our refund policy, this is from

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apparently Descript. Subscription refunds are only

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available for requests made within two days of the invoice

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date, which means for two days you didn't check your bank, and

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he says he he told the Descript people you never sent a single

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invoice in four months, and the Descript person said I

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understand how frustrating it is not to receive invoices for your

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charges. However, our refund policy is based on the invoice

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date, and subscription refunds are only available for requests

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made within 48 hours of the date. You can find more details

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here at our refund policy. And so this person is like, "Well, I

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disputed it and blocked the merchant account at my credit

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card. Be aware and dispute if they try to screw you too, if he

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actually looked at their you know terms, it says in plain

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English, invoices are not emailed at this time. Descript

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does not send invoices via email; they're only available

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through your account. And I'm positive that if you look at

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their billing page, that it says when you sign up, we're going to

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bill you until you say not to. That's my favorite. I've worked

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for Libsyn. I've worked for. I work now at PodPage. I work at

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the School of Podcasting. All of these are subscriptions, and

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while it would be nice in some cases if you got reminded, I'm

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here to tell you, if your company reminds people that

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you're going to get charged in three days, people will

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complain. Why do you keep reminding me? And so, my point

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is this a podcasting tip? Well, kind of. What you

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need to do, and I do this every single day. Why? Because it's

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the internet, and there are great people on the internet,

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and there are not so great people on the internet. I had my

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PayPal account hacked once, and so I change my passwords on a

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regular basis, yada yada yada. But in the end, your money is

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your responsibility. So once a day, if not twice a day, I go

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into my bank and look and see. At the end of the month, because

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I run my podcast like a business. I look at any money I

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made, and I look at every expense I paid for. And there

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are times when I'm like, "Why am I still paying for this? I'm not

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using it." And then I cancel it because it's my responsibility,

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not the company's responsibility. It's yours, and

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you knew that when you bought it, and if you didn't when you

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bought it, you should slow down when you buy stuff because we

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all love to play the victim. Oh, woe is me! This big company is,

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you know, yada yada yada. No, no, no. It's it's not. They're

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not out to get you. They sold you a product and service you

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didn't understand what you were buying, and maybe they could do

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a better job of explaining it. But almost everything I buy that

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is a subscription, it says it's a subscription, and there are

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look. I realize there are some. I bought some vitamins once. And

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on the thank you page, so nowhere, nowhere when I'm buying

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it does it say you're you're this is going to be a

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subscription, but on the thank you page it said thank you so

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much, you know you've saved X amount of percentage because

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you've subscribed to getting these vitamins every month, and

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I went. No, I didn't. And I immediately went into that

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account and canceled my subscription. It's your

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responsibility, so don't take it out on these companies. And for

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the record, I get it because Descript has a lot of AI built

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into their tool.

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I understand why they're not going to just refund it because

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normally when I taught customer service, it's less expensive to

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refund the customer than it is to let that customer go on

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Reddit and blast it that you're screwing people. But with AI,

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somebody could come in for 48 hours and just use all sorts of

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resources, and then want to refund, and then that means you

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spent all this money on that customer, and then they take

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their money back. That's a losing proposition. I get that.

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I still would refund it. It's much cheaper in almost every

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case that I know of, to take that one customer that's not

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happy because they're leaving, and make their leaving a bad

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experience. With that said, it's still your responsibility. So I

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highly recommend two things, and if you need more information on

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how to run your your podcast like a business. Go check out my

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buddy Ralph Eastep Jr., the content creator's accountant.

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He's also a member of the School of Podcasting, one of the

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awesome people in the School of Podcasting community, and he can

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get you set up as an LLC or however you want to set up your

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business, and he will tell you have a separate checking account

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for your podcast. It's really easy then to see. Okay, I got X

here is:

amount of money in, and I had oh look at all that money out, and

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that's when you go. I think it's time to cancel the whatever

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we're not using but paying for account. I use SoFi. That's not

here is:

really a business account, but man, it works great, and I earn

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interest on that. I'll put some other banks there. I know I love

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if you just want a separate, if you want any checking account. I

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use Acorns, and they have a great feature where if I buy

here is:

something and it's $8.75, they take the additional 25 cents,

here is:

they round it up and put it in an investment account, and that

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thing earns like 12%. And I, in like the I don't know six months

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of this year, I've probably put in like $70 a quarter at a time.

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It's pretty cool, and if you want to see where your money is

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going, which is really good and also times shocking when you go.

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I spent how much at McDonald's? Check out Monarch Money. I'll

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have links to these in the show notes. Monarch, you just tie it

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to your bank, and then you can actually set up rules. So I know

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that let's say I do buy something at McDonald's. It

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automatically flags it as fast food, and I've got a budget for

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it. It's a really cool tool to help take control of your money,

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so that you're not blaming companies for charging you,

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because you'll be able to see that. So, if you need help, not

here is:

only with your podcast but running it as a company, we

here is:

cover all things like that at the School of Podcasting. Go

here is:

over to schoolofpodcasting.com. Use the coupon code Listener

here is:

when you sign up on either a monthly, quarterly, or yearly

here is:

subscription. And don't forget, we have the new plan where you

here is:

get weekly meetings with me if that's what you want. Check it

here is:

again, schoolofpodcasting.com. I'm Dave Jackson. I've been

here is:

helping podcasters for two decades, and I can't wait to see

here is:

what we're going to do together because I want to be your

here is:

podcast consultant.

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