Trying to switch from Essentials & get the Family Plan.

[rpratten]

I currently have Essentials and want to "upgrade, change, switch, or whatever you want to call it" to Family Plan.  The normal plan change procedure is not working.  I have been working directly with Support, but to no avail, yet.  Has anyone switched to Family Plan from Essentials and how did you do it?  If you learned of a reason why it might not be working for me, please share?  Thanks.

[Megan]

Hey there, @rpratten, let's see what we can find together about this! 

Keep in mind that Dropbox Family is considered a downgrade to the Dropbox Essentials plan that you have at this time. 

Therefore, you could need to cancel your Dropbox subscription, allow it to expire and have your account downgraded to Dropbox Basic and then you can upgrade to Dropbox Family.
 

Did you upgrade recently to the Essentials plan? 

Thanks a bunch! 

[rpratten]

Megan,

Thanks for the quick reply.  Here are my details:

* Pre-2017, I believe I had access to Dropbox with my Company;  sarted with an individual account with Professional in 3/2018; switched to Essentials in 12/2023; 

* I retired in 2017 and wanted reliable cloud storage for independent consultant work and personal use.  The past several years (and to the future) it has been all personal use.

* Need a plan that allows my wife unlimited and easy access to her own cloud storage (personal use) and the ability for us to share.  Your Family Plan is an option, although the limit on file transfer size and the monthly cost for only two users is high.

How does the cancellation of Essentials, the downgrade to Basic, and then the upgrade to Family work?  What happens to my files and what is the time frame from start to finish?

Let me know if I should contact your Sales Department to discuss pricing options.

Bob

[Megan]

Hey @rpratten, thanks for all the added details! 

Please be aware that if your account is ever downgraded, Dropbox will not delete any of your files. 

You will cancel your existing plan now, and then wait for the renewal date of the subscription. Since the plan will be cancelled, the account will then downgrade to the Basic, free plan.

You should then be able to upgrade to the Family plan.

If you wish to do this immediately you can definitely contact our Support -or even refer to your existing ticket number- and ask the agent working on your case if that'd be possible.

I'm here if you have any questions! 

[rpratten]

Megan,

You say, "You will cancel your existing plan now, and then wait for the renewal date of the subscription".  So, I need to wait until the renewal date of the Essentials Plan before I can upgrade from Basic to Family?  If true, then I have to wait until March 2025?  Seems an odd way to go about it.  Thanks.

[Rich]

---

@rpratten wrote:

So, I need to wait until the renewal date of the Essentials Plan before I can upgrade from Basic to Family?

---

Yes.

You're not cancelling your Essentials benefits. You're cancelling the automatic renewal that would take place at the end of your current billing cycle. When you cancel you'll retain all account benefits until then, and at that point your account would be downgraded to Basic.

Basically, you can cancel now, but you'll still be on Essentials until March 2025. If you want to switch to the Family plan you'd have to wait until then, or reply to the agent in your support ticket and ask if there's a way for them to do it.

[rpratten]

Thanks Rich.  I sent a message to my Support agent asking just that.  I will keep the Community Board aware of the solution just in case this issue pops up for someone else.