A Summit Entertainment charge on your card is almost always a Starz payment. Summit Entertainment is a Lionsgate subsidiary, and because Starz runs on Lionsgate’s billing infrastructure, the descriptor on your statement sometimes shows the studio’s name instead of “Starz.” The charge is typically $11.99 per month for a Starz subscription, but it can also be a movie rental, a purchase, or a free trial that converted to a paid plan.
What the Charge Actually Is
Lionsgate owns Summit Entertainment, the studio behind Twilight and John Wick, and lists it as a subsidiary. Payment processors sometimes label Starz transactions under the Summit Entertainment name, which is why the charge may not match the brand you remember signing up for.
The most common version is a recurring Starz subscription at $11.99 per month plus applicable tax.1STARZ. Sign Up for STARZ One-time charges in the same descriptor are usually digital movie rentals (around $3.99 to $5.99) or purchases ($14.99 to $19.99), depending on the title and resolution.
Free trials are a frequent source of surprise charges. Starz’s terms state that if you don’t cancel before midnight Eastern Time on the last day of a trial, your payment method is automatically charged the full subscription fee.2STARZ. Terms of Use Starz is not required to warn you the trial is ending, so the first paid charge often arrives without notice.
How to Pin Down the Source
Start with the amount and the date. A charge of $11.99 that lands on roughly the same day each month points to a recurring subscription. A one-time charge under $20 is more likely a rental or a purchase. Search your email inbox for “Starz,” “Lionsgate,” or “Summit” to surface the original receipt.
The descriptor itself tells you how you were billed. “SUMMIT ENT,” “LIONSGATE,” or “LGF” indicates a direct charge from the company. A descriptor containing “AMZN,” “APPLE,” or “GOOGLE” means the subscription runs through that platform, and you’ll need to manage it there. Amazon lists active channels under Manage Your Prime Video Channels. Apple shows them under your name in Settings, then Subscriptions. Google Play keeps them under Payments & Subscriptions.
How to Cancel
Cancel wherever you originally signed up. Starz cannot cancel a subscription that another company bills for.
Direct Starz Subscriptions
On a computer, sign in at STARZ.com, click the user icon in the upper right, and open Settings. Under Billing Plan & Information, select Cancel Subscription and submit.3STARZ. How Do I Cancel My STARZ Subscription In the mobile app, tap More, then Settings, then Account Management, then Cancel Subscription under My Subscription.
Subscriptions Through Apple, Google, or Amazon
On Apple, open Settings, tap your name, go to Subscriptions, find Starz, and cancel. On Android, open the Google Play app, tap your profile icon, and go to Payments & Subscriptions, then Subscriptions. On Amazon, go to Memberships & Subscriptions in your account, find the Starz channel, and select Cancel.
You should receive a confirmation email or on-screen notice showing the last date of access. Save it. If any charge posts after that date, the confirmation is your strongest evidence for a refund.
If You Didn’t Authorize the Charge
Try the merchant first. It’s faster, and it avoids a formal dispute on your account.
Contacting Starz
Starz does not publish a customer service phone number. You can reach them through a live chat widget on their website or a contact form that gets a response within 48 hours.4STARZ. STARZ Customer Care Contact Form Have the transaction date, amount, and any account email ready. If the charge went through Amazon, Apple, or Google, contact that platform instead, since it processed the payment.
Disputing With Your Bank or Card Issuer
If the merchant won’t resolve it, file a dispute with your bank or card issuer. The rules depend on whether the charge hit a debit card or a credit card, and the difference matters.
For debit cards, your liability depends on how quickly you report. Report an unauthorized charge within two business days of discovering it, and your maximum loss is $50. Report within 60 days of receiving the statement, and exposure rises to $500. After 60 days, you can be liable for the full amount of any transfers the bank shows would have been prevented by earlier notice.5eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.6 – Liability of Consumer for Unauthorized Transfers Check your statements and move quickly.
Once you file a debit card dispute, the bank has 10 business days to investigate. It can extend the investigation to 45 days only if it provisionally credits your account within those first 10 business days.6eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.11 – Procedures for Resolving Errors The provisional credit returns the money while the investigation continues, though the bank can reverse it if the merchant prevails.
For credit cards, the Fair Credit Billing Act applies. Send a written dispute to the card issuer’s billing inquiries address within 60 days of the statement date. The issuer must acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within two billing cycles, no more than 90 days total. Your maximum liability for unauthorized credit card charges is $50, and the issuer cannot report the disputed amount as delinquent while the investigation is open.7eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.13 – Billing Error Resolution Most issuers let you open disputes through their app or website, but the written notice is what protects your legal rights.
Protections for Auto-Renewing Subscriptions
The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act makes it illegal for an online business to charge you through a negative option feature, such as a free trial that converts to a paid subscription, unless it clearly discloses all material terms before collecting payment information, obtains your express informed consent to the recurring charge separately from any general terms of service, and provides a simple way to stop future charges.8U.S. Congress. Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act If the recurring charge was buried in fine print, cancellation was made unreasonably hard, or you never gave affirmative consent before being billed, those are potential violations you can report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.