If a customer asks to cancel their subscription via email, here's why you should always direct them to self-cancel instead

That was a close call, Davis.

I always redirect them to self-cancellation (it's just one click, then an optional exit survey if they're willing to chime in), because people do change their minds and also, like you showed, people make mistakes.

Also for anything financial, I always re-authenticate them for security reasons, hence the requirement to cancel from the admin panel.

Self-cancels are good but I feel like it needs to be coupled with a cancellation flow that helps you get feedback from people who actually end up canceling. If you're interested in implementing a customizable cancellation flow on your website with no coding then check out Churnfree.com. Cheers!