We’re updating how billing and subscriptions work inside VGM 

Over the coming weeks we’ll be switching customers from our manual invoicing process (BACS, GoCardless, PayPal, cheque etc) to a new automated billing platform powered by Stripe. 

This means: 

• Faster and more reliable billing 
• Easier access to invoices and receipts 
• Automated card and/or bank payments 
• The ability to update payment details yourself 
• Optional add-ons such as SMS and VRM top-ups billed automatically. 

All subscriptions will continue to renew on your existing anchor date, only once migrated you’ll receive an invoice and a receipt from Stripe. This means that if your subscription starts on the 1st of the month, on that day, you’ll receive an invoice that is due straight away, and your stored payment method will be charged. You’ll then receive an receipt. This won’t mean any change for most people.

How the migration works 

We’re rolling this out gradually, one group of branches at a time. 

When your branch is enabled: 

1. Your admin user will see a message when logging into VGM 
2. You’ll be asked to add a payment method 
3. Our team will recreate your existing subscription in Stripe 
4. We’ll review product and pricing to ensure it’s correct 
5. We’ll send you a preview of your subscription 
6. At the anchor/subscription date, it’ll switch across to Stripe for billing 

You don’t need to worry about setup; our team handles all of it. 

Will anything change in pricing? 

For any customers on our standard, advertised pricing, nothing will change in terms of cost. As part of this process, we’ll be standardising some plans and ensuring discounts are applied correctly. Some very old or very unusual pricing arrangements may need adjusting. We’ll always: 

• Contact you directly 
• Explain anything that’s changing 
• Give you a chance to review first 

There will be no sudden price changes. 

What you need to do now 

At this stage, nothing. 

When your garage is selected, you’ll see notices inside VGM like below. 

Why we’re doing this 

Until now we’ve had several different billing methods depending on the customer (BACS, GoCardless, manual invoices, PayPal etc). A lot of this involved a lot of manual work to correctly reconcile payments and invoice correctly.  

Using Stripe, we’ll be able to deliver: 

• Real-time billing 
• Automated receipts 
• Card payments 
• Top-ups 
• Billing history inside VGM 
• Preferential SMS & VRM credit pricing and automatic top up