Problem renewing Microsoft 365 subscription

Topic

New Reply

About 11 months ago, I upgraded from Office 2010 (on my old PC) to Microsoft 365 Family (on a new PC). I purchased the subscription from a reputable national retailer (at a considerable discount to the standard Microsoft price). As per the instructions forwarded with my Product Key, I went to the Office.com website and entered the Product Key which was confirmed by the website, then downloaded the software and installed it – no problems. Has worked well for nearly a year. The software has been kept updated on the monthly channel, up to and including the February 2021 update.

A week or so ago, I started looking for discounted (and legal) subscriptions as the original subscription expires next month and settled on one offered (as it happens) by the same retailer from whom I purchased the original subscription last year. Now my understanding has been that during the period of a subscription, you can purchase an additional subscription of the same product (Family in my case), register the new Product Key, and MS will ADD 12 months to the END of the current subscription (end of April 2021 in my case). So for me, the expiry date should update to end of April 2022. In fact, I understand that you can do this multiple times up to a maximum subscription of five years.

So, I registered my new Product Key just purchased using the same email address as the original (and still current) subscription. The website responded with: “Product key confirmed: Microsoft 365 Family”. However, checking my expiry date (expecting it now to be end of April 2022), it still shows end of April 2021. I have refreshed the website, closed the URL and selected it anew from my Excel File|Accounts|Manage Account, and it is still set for April 2021. I have waited a few days in case it takes a while for the MS system to catch up, and also rebooted – all to no avail.

A couple of other points that might or might not be relevant:

1) I have Recurring Billing turned off. Tried to turn it on, but it wants my credit card details which I am not prepared to give as I don’t intend to renew via MS.

2) Pressing “Next” after the Product key confirmed message prompts me to enter another Product Key (or perhaps the same one again?). I did re-enter it once, but it made no difference.

3) I was also prompted to “Install” the software. But the software is already installed, updated and working very nicely thank you! So I don’t think I should need to “Install” again.

So, have I done something wrong? Does it think that I am adding a new user (with Family you can have up to 5 or 6 users on the same subscription)? How do I fix this so that the new expiry date (April 2022) is set?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,
LH.

Dell Precision 3630 w/32 GB RAM, 500 GB (C:), 1 TB (D:)
Window 10 Pro x64
Internet: FTTC (Fibre to the Kerb)

Reply | Quote

Replies

Problem solved!

Although the retailer sent me the new Product Key straight away, they did not register it for another five days, then waited a further two days before notifying me.

I had to re-enter the Product Key at office.com, but this time it updated my expiry date by a further 12 months.

A trap for the unwary. I will know better next time!

Dell Precision 3630 w/32 GB RAM, 500 GB (C:), 1 TB (D:)
Window 10 Pro x64
Internet: FTTC (Fibre to the Kerb)

1 user thanked author for this post.

b

Reply | Quote

As you eventually got a good deal, could you reveal the retailer and price?

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.1778 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

Reply | Quote

[LH]

@b:
When I said I got a good price, I was speaking relatively. Unfortunately I started searching too close to the expiry date – I probably could have got a better price if I had started monitoring earlier. I was searching amongst a number of local and reputable retailers. I picked a bad time as most were offering the standard MS price for Family. I only found two that were offering any discount at all – one of these was the place where I bought the original subscription last year, although the amount I paid last year was much better. I might have done better with an overseas retailer (such as Amazon), but I prefer to deal locally – much easier to handle in case of any disputes.

I don’t know where you are but I am in Australia. The retailer I chose is a chain of consumer electronics stores called Bing Lee. The price I paid for the renewal was $100 AUD before tax (GST). That would be about $76 USD at the current exchange rate. The Standard MS rate here is $117 AUD ($90 USD). Last year (at the same retailer) I paid $96 (AUD, still before GST) or about $73 USD at the current exchange rate.

Dell Precision 3630 w/32 GB RAM, 500 GB (C:), 1 TB (D:)
Window 10 Pro x64
Internet: FTTC (Fibre to the Kerb)

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by LH. Reason: Calculation error

1 user thanked author for this post.

b

Reply | Quote

On my last update, purchased from Amazon, I found out that sometimes you have to wait 24 hours or more for the expiration date to refresh after entering the new key. HTH 😎

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

1 user thanked author for this post.

LH

Reply | Quote