Beware of Out-of-Subscription Pricing
June 03, 2022

Beware of Out-of-Subscription Pricing

Hollie Del Vecchio | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 2 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Thomson Reuters Westlaw

Beware of Westlaw's pricing mechanisms. I'm a solo practitioner with a limited subscription, and while I appreciate and use the Form Builder, I made the mistake (apparently) of downloading exactly two documents that were outside the scope of my subscription. They weren't even used once I opened them, and I was charged hundreds of dollars extra each month (because of course, with my luck, the two downloads fell into different billing cycles). Rather than billing me for just the documents, I was billed for an entire monthly subscription. As a small firm, a surprise $500 bill (instead of $200)—two months in a row—was quite a hit. Once I realized what had happened, I of course stopped even exploring documents outside the scope of my subscription but wanted to post this to hopefully prevent it from happening to someone else. I'm sure this pricing structure is laid out in fine print, but it was certainly never mentioned to me in the three intro sessions I had with the sales team before signing up.
  • Form Builder
  • Legal Research
  • Pricing for Small Firms
  • Positive: Form Builder is relatively affordable
  • Negative: Surprise Billing

Do you think Thomson Reuters Westlaw delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Thomson Reuters Westlaw's feature set?

Yes

Did Thomson Reuters Westlaw live up to sales and marketing promises?

No

Did implementation of Thomson Reuters Westlaw go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Thomson Reuters Westlaw again?

No

I find Westlaw's Form Builder to be helpful for simple documents and estate plans, but it doesn't handle complex situations very well. It's also missing some very common documents that I feel should be included, such as a Community Property Agreement for Washington state.