Some time back I signed up for a three month "membership" at an
old-time radio site.  This was my first brush with PayPal.  The site
had a PayPal box and I just clicked it instead of initiating the sale
directly from my account.  This proved to be a mistake.

I had intended to sign up for a three month membership, period.  As the
end of the membership drew near, I did not renew and figured that was
the end of it.  Imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from
PayPal that they had put through a "Subscription Name: Quarterly
Subscription - $18.00 per quarter recurring"!!

They had apparently sent off my money without my permission.  I thought
it must be a mistake and wrote PayPal asking them to back out the
charge, as I had not authorized it.  They sent back some helpful
information, including how to cancel a "subscription", but they said
it was up to the old-time radio man to refund my money, which he did.

Beware of using a seller's PayPal icon for any sort of "membership" or
"subscription" unless you wish to possibly be setting yourself up for
automatic renewals.  Otherwise initiate the payment from your own
account.

In the event you check your PayPal account and find that you have
unwittingly set up "subscription" items, and you wish to cancel them,
below is a copy of the mail from PayPal which tells how to do it by
the numbers.

Tom Lear
San Francisco, CA

 - - - [email from PayPal: ]

In reviewing your account, I see that your subscription is still
active.  To cancel the subscription from your account, please follow
the directions below.  If you had contacted the seller to cancel the
subscription in the past, you will need to contact them again as it has
not been done by them.  If you had made the request to them before the
last payment was withdrawn, please contact them about a refund of that
payment to you.

Canceling a Subscription cancels all future scheduled payments for that
Subscription.  If you would like to cancel a Subscription, please
follow the instructions below.

1.  Log into your account at https://www.paypal.com by entering your
email address and password in the Member Login box.

2.  Click on the "History" tab near the top of the page.

3.  Choose the "Subscriptions" field from the "Show" drop-down menu.

4.  Choose "Past Year" from the "Within" drop-down menu.

5.  Press the "Submit" button.

6.  View the details of a specific transaction by clicking on the
"Active" link in the "Status" column.

7.  At the bottom of this page, select the "Cancel Subscription"
button.

8.  On the confirmation page, select the "Cancel Subscription" button
again.

Please note:

 *  The scheduled payment will need to be canceled at least one day
prior to the scheduled date of the next payment.

 *  Canceling a Subscription on the day of a scheduled payment will
not guarantee that the payment will not be sent.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us
again.

Sincerely,
Ted
PayPal Customer Service