Can Autostraddle Charge Me Without My Authorization?

Nope! We absolutely, definitively, unilaterally are unable to do that. It’s physically impossible. Your credit card info lies with the payment processor (either PayPal or Stripe) where it is secured according to their individual policies and we do not have access to it, nor do we have the ability to initiate any charges. If you sign up for a recurring subscription (either a monthly or annual A+ membership), then that is your authorization of the charge. The only powers we have are the ability to cancel your membership for you, or to issue refunds. We can’t even upgrade or downgrade your membership on your behalf because that changes the amount you’re being charged. If you do accidentally purchase a membership or get a recurring charge that you weren’t expecting, please do submit a help ticket here (be sure to select A+ account issue!!!) and we’ll be happy to help you, typically within a week! (Nico is the only one who handles the help tickets, so it’s not always speedy if they’re out of the office, or it’s a weekend, for example.) All A+ memberships are voluntary donations to Autostraddle and you can absolutely cancel anytime. If you want to cancel or pause the membership yourself, you can do so at this link.