I would like to report what happened to me regarding the automatic renewal of my SwissPass Half Fare Travelcard.

I had initially started the purchase process online, but I later went to an SBB counter, where I completed the procedure with the assistance of a staff member. On that occasion, I specifically asked what would happen when the travelcard expired, also because I knew that I would not be remaining in Switzerland permanently. The staff member told me that the travelcard would deactivate upon expiry and that I would not have to do anything.

In addition, there is another aspect that I consider particularly serious: I did not receive any email informing me of the upcoming renewal of the travelcard, nor any reminder regarding the deadline by which I had to cancel it.

I therefore received neither a renewal notice nor a notice reminding me that, if I did not cancel by a certain date, the travelcard would be automatically renewed for another year.

In the meantime, I have permanently left Switzerland and I no longer live in the country, I do not use Swiss public transport, and I have no need for the travelcard.

When I became aware of the renewal, I immediately took action to request its cancellation. However, I was informed that the cancellation deadline had already passed and that I would still be required to pay CHF 170 for a new year of a travelcard that I will not use.

I explained to SBB both that I had not received any email notice regarding the renewal and the cancellation deadline, and that I had relied on the information provided to me at the counter.

I was also told that, according to their system, the purchase appears to have been made online, presumably because I had initially started the procedure on the website, without taking into account the fact that the process was subsequently completed at the counter with the assistance of their staff.

I find it particularly problematic that a customer can end up being required to pay for an automatic renewal when, on the one hand, they were informed by staff that no action was required to terminate the travelcard and, on the other hand, they did not receive any reminder email concerning either the renewal or the cancellation deadline.

I am therefore reporting my experience so that it can be assessed and, if possible, so that the proper handling of these automatic renewals and the related communications to customers can be reviewed, especially in cases where failure to meet the cancellation deadline results both from information provided directly by staff and from the failure to receive renewal and cancellation notices.