Microsoft Office 365: Difference between revisions
Correcting grammar, improving readability. |
→Copilot up-sell (2024—): Added a screenshot of Microsoft's forced "upgrade" email and information about Microsoft misleading customers into thinking it was the same plan going up in price. |
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===Copilot up-sell ''(2024—)''=== | ===Copilot up-sell ''(2024—)''=== | ||
Microsoft has been accused of misleading customers from around October 2024 by suggesting they had to move to higher-priced Microsoft 365 personal and family plans that included Copilot | [[File:MS365Scam.png|thumb|Microsoft's email informing consumers their Microsoft 365 plan was increasing in price and getting AI "features".]] | ||
Microsoft has been accused of misleading customers from around October 2024 by suggesting they had to move to higher-priced Microsoft 365 personal and family plans that included Copilot<ref name="kumar">{{Cite web|last=Kumar|first=Sneha|date=2025-10-27|title=Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price hikes|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-takes-microsoft-court-says-it-misled-27-million-customers-2025-10-26/|website=Reuters|url-status=live|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/xlhzD|archive-date=2026-03-06|access-date=2026-03-06|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="video-explanation">{{Cite web|author=Atomic Shrimp|date=2025-01-25|title=Microsoft’s Sneaky Forced-Upsell to 365 Users; If You Don’t Need/Want Copilot, Don’t Pay for It|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss|website=[[YouTube]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://preservetube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss|archive-date=2025-01-25|access-date=2026-03-06|df=mdy-all}}</ref>. The upsell was phrased in a way that gave consumers the impression that they were staying on the same plan, but the price was increasing with no way to opt out of the new AI features. | |||
In January 2025, YouTuber Atomic Shrimp reported that Microsoft had enacted a "forced up-sell" of 365's new AI Copilot feature.<ref name="video-explanation" /> Users with basic accounts (now called "Classic"), such as Shrimp himself, had been informed their subscription fee was going up, but that they would enjoy new features as a result, including Copilot. In his efforts to disable Copilot, Shrimp subsequently discovered that Microsoft now offered "Classic" plans, identical to the old basic plans both in features and in subscription fee. The option to downgrade to Classic, however, was only clearly visible to enterprise users, not to personal users. In essence Microsoft upgraded users' plans without their consent and hid the option to downgrade. While Atomic Shrimp's video suggested contacting support to revert to the "Classic" plan, it is possible to downgrade a personal account through the website via the cancellation process. | In January 2025, YouTuber Atomic Shrimp reported that Microsoft had enacted a "forced up-sell" of 365's new AI Copilot feature.<ref name="video-explanation" /> Users with basic accounts (now called "Classic"), such as Shrimp himself, had been informed their subscription fee was going up, but that they would enjoy new features as a result, including Copilot. In his efforts to disable Copilot, Shrimp subsequently discovered that Microsoft now offered "Classic" plans, identical to the old basic plans both in features and in subscription fee. The option to downgrade to Classic, however, was only clearly visible to enterprise users, not to personal users. In essence Microsoft upgraded users' plans without their consent and hid the option to downgrade. While Atomic Shrimp's video suggested contacting support to revert to the "Classic" plan, it is possible to downgrade a personal account through the website via the cancellation process. | ||