Surfshark class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Arvin Garcia filed a class action lawsuit against Surfshark B.V.
- Why: Garcia claims Surfshark illegally charged him for an automatic subscription renewal for its VPN services.
- Where: The Surfshark class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
Another class action lawsuit claims Surfshark illegally charged consumers in California for automatically renewing subscriptions, this time for its virtual private network (VPN) services.
Plaintiff Arvin Garcia argues in the Surfshark class action lawsuit that the company failed to make clear to consumers that they were being signed up for automatic charges.
Garcia claims he purchased a 24-month subscription to Surfshark’s VPN services in May 2020 and believed he was making a one-time purchase due to the company’s “deficient disclosures.”
“Unbeknownst to him and without his consent, Surfshark enrolled him in an automatically renewing plan,” the Surfshark class action states.
Garcia claims Surfshark automatically charged him $59.76 for yearly renewals in May 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Surfshark allegedly charged consumer for auto-renewal without clear consent
Garcia claims Surfshark violated California’s Automatic Renewal Law, which requires companies who sign consumers up for automatically renewing purchases to provide “clear and conspicuous” disclosures about the autorenewal plan and obtain “affirmative consent” to enroll consumers.
“Surfshark does not provide the required clear and conspicuous disclosures or obtain affirmative consent,” the Surfshark class action states.
Garcia wants to represent a class of all consumers in California who enrolled in a Surfshark plan through its website and were charged for at least one automatically recurring payment during the statute of limitations.
He is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of restitution and damages for himself and all class members.
In 2024, Surfshark faced similar accusations alleging it deceptively enrolled consumers in an auto-renewal payment plan for its products and services.
Have you been charged for an automatic subscription renewal by Surfshark? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Jonas B. Jacobson and Simon Franzini of Dovel & Luner LLP.
The Surfshark class action lawsuit is Garcia v. Surfshark B.V., Case No. 2:25-cv-06537, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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3 thoughts onSurfshark faces another class action over auto-renewing subscriptions
I was auto billed on 7/1/23. on the same day I told them to refund my money and cancel. They replied, but they never did refund or cancel. On 7/1/24. They again debited my PayPal. I again reached out on the very same day and went through the same frustrating process. I thought it was over. but they still did not refund me. The exact same thing happened on 7/1/25. again, I did the exact same thing. I thought the problem was solved, even though I did not get a refund. As I was looking through my PayPal activity recently, I noticed that they were still listed as an automatic deduction. I got PayPal on the phone and had them cancel that. So the subscription is finally canceled. I again went through a frustrating. Email exchange with them and they are telling me that they cannot do anything because it is beyond the 30 day refund period. All they do is reply with very warm and fuzzy emails, but I never get anywhere. They owe me two refunds for $60 apiece and the last one was approximately $80. So a total of $200. It’s a total scam.
Surfshark did the same thing to me in fall of 2025. I had a two year deal and that was it. Nothing about automatic (or deliberate covert) renewal. Worse, after they “renewed” me and I complained, they told me that they would refund the $79, and then told me a few weeks later that they *had* refunded it, but no refund appeared. Meanwhile, they were telling Paypal that the “renewal” was legitimate to try to get Paypal to deny my claim. So Surfshark’s business model is just total sleaze.
I bought a one-off bundle for a month last year (Oct 2024). The bundle was called “Surfshark VPN — 1 month”, not a monthly bundle. I used it for about two weeks.
Since it was for one month only, I thought my plan was ended. But I just realised that my card was being charged ever since, and at a rate of >£16 per month, for 12 months!!!!
It came as a big shock to me. I was having some health issues, and didn’t realise it in time.
They never sent me any emails or warning or bills for the renewal, but charged my credit card like a clandestine operation.
I reached out to their customer service and they declined to give my money back. I need help, thank you!