Apple has dropped a sales target that asked some US Apple Store employees to sign up 40% of device buyers for a subscription. MacRumors has confirmed the change. It came days after Louis Rossmann published videos alleging that some staff started auto-renewing trials for customers without informed consent.
If you bought anything at an Apple Store this fall, your Apple Account subscriptions are worth a two-minute check. The steps are further down.
What Apple changed at its US stores
Until early last week, at least some US stores tracked a metric called the services attach rate for each retail employee. The target was 40%. That meant four out of every 10 customers buying a device should also sign up for at least one subscription.
Apple told MacRumors the metric is less relevant during the holiday season, when many customers buy products as gifts. MacRumors says it cannot tell whether the timing reflects the holidays, the videos or both.
Later that week, Apple sent retail staff an internal memo about respecting customer privacy and obtaining consent. The memo covered subscription trials, Connect and Personalize, Apple Upgrade sign-ups and Genius Bar work authorizations. It went out ahead of the first holiday shopping weekend.
What the allegations say
The claims come from tipsters and customers who contacted Rossmann, as summarized by MacRumors and Notebookcheck. They center on Connect and Personalize, a QR code flow offered at US Apple Stores.
After a customer scans the code, the employee’s company device shows the customer’s Apple devices, current subscriptions and available offers. Each offer appears with Agree and Decline buttons on the employee’s device. The default payment method on the customer’s Apple Account is automatically available for any sign-up.
Tipsters allege that some employees rushed the process and were told to present trials as gifts. In some cases, employees allegedly tapped Agree themselves. Services named in the claims include Apple One, Apple Music, Apple Fitness+ and Apple Creator Studio.
Notebookcheck described two customer accounts. One buyer, identified as N4, bought a Mac mini in September and was told about a complimentary three-month Apple Creator Studio trial. N4 says they were never explicitly asked to subscribe. They later found a $12.99 monthly charge scheduled to start after the trial, with a confirmation email sent 13 seconds after the purchase receipt.
Another buyer, N34, says they declined offers while buying an iPhone 18 Pro. They later found active Fitness+, Arcade and News+ trials and cancelled them before being charged. One account also alleged that a store offered a $100 Apple gift card to the employee who activated the most subscriptions.
These claims remain unproven. Rossmann has acknowledged that some purported internal documents shown in his videos were recreated to protect anonymous sources. Other employees say they follow proper consent procedures. Notebookcheck notes that the evidence so far does not establish that Apple’s corporate management told staff to skip consent.
Even so, the setup itself is the problem. A per-employee subscription target, paired with an Agree button on the employee’s own device, rewards speed over consent. Apple’s stated reason for dropping the target is the holiday season, which says nothing about consent.
How to check your Apple Account for subscription trials
Apple emails customers when a new trial is activated, so search your inbox for trial confirmations first. Then review the Subscriptions list on your iPhone or iPad:
- Open Settings and tap your name.
- Tap Subscriptions.
- Tap the subscription you want to review.
- Tap Cancel Subscription. You might need to scroll down to find the button.
If there is no Cancel button, or you see an expiration message in red, the subscription is already cancelled. Apple’s full instructions are on its Cancel a subscription from Apple support page.
If you were already charged for a trial you never agreed to, go to reportaproblem.apple.com and choose Request a refund. It also helps to scan your card or bank statement for Apple charges you don’t recognize.
Don’t assume a device return cleans things up. In N4’s reported case, returning the Mac mini left the subscription in place, so cancel any trials separately. If you’re sending back a gift, Apple’s holiday return window runs through January 8.
Some apps may also show you an offer before you cancel. Here’s how those retention offers work on iPhone.
Source: MacRumors, Louis Rossmann’s videos (1, 2, 3) via MacRumors, Notebookcheck, Apple Support
