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Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

bbc.com

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Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#91

Post by ponker »

aspenmayer wrote: post #84
goodside wrote: post #55

Years ago, I heard of a dating site doing the opposite of this. They normally sent periodic digests and newsletters to their users to try to increase engagement, but if a user went a certain number of months without logging into their account, but still allowed monthly fees to be charged, they were labeled as a “sleeping giant” in the database. Once in this state, they would not be contacted by the site for any reaso…

There’s a growing app industry to combat these dark patterns, an industry with its own costs and benefits. I believe iOS and Android also are incorporating dashboards and tools to manage subscriptions made via Apple Pay and Google Pay respectively. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z43qx9/how-to-cancel-recu...

This is why I always pay with Apple or Amex... these guys make lots of money from their customers and are always ready to tell some seedy vendor to get fucked.

Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#92

Post by ponker »

smabie wrote: post #48
spiralganglion wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do this at my company, and it is purely for altruistic reasons. If people aren't happily making good use of my service, I don't want their money. That's the entire calculus. Netflix is vastly bigger, granted, so who knows what machinations are afoot for them. But it is certainly believable to me that a company could choose to do something explicitly anti-greedy.

Really the only valid reason to do this is that the goodwill will help them make more money in the future. Strictly losing money with no upside in the future is in violation of the "duty of loyalty" that all corporate officers have toward shareholders.

Thanks for putting “duty of loyalty” in scare quotes because it is about as real as the “boogeyman.”

Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#93

Post by ponker »

raiyu wrote: post #12

I always wonder when a company does this if it is completely altruistic or if something else is going on behind the scenes. Maybe notifying customers gets them to reactivate, maybe if they resubscribe later they can charge more, maybe it’s better for financial reporting and projecting subscriber counts. On the other hand it could just be a rare moment of a company doing right by the customer.

Pure altruism can be a great business and life strategy. How does someone feel when they realize they’ve spend thousands of dollars on a Netflix account they don’t use? It’s not in Netflix’s interest to have people out there hating Netflix.

Ever see a person who was just really great to everyone and the world seems to have rewarded them for it? That doesn’t always happen but sometimes it does.

Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#94

Post by raverbashing »

thiscatis wrote: post #30
zerd wrote: post #28

Imagine if gyms did this with memberships. They'd lose a fortune.

Because it's against their business model. They want you to subscribe and not come.

Because not alienating customers is bad for business apparently

No wonder "no contract" chains are growing in some countries.

Less BS for the consumer, even if they have to "pay more" (i.e. the actual cost of the service).

(But yeah in the case where you actually want to pay for a gym membership and not go, those seem optimized for it)

Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#95

Post by Tempest1981 »

londons_explore wrote: post #20
29athrowaway wrote: post #9

What happens with your subscriptions when you die?

A few scummy companies put huuuge termination fees in the case of a customer's death. In one case it was equivalent to 100 years service for a phone setup my grandfather had! In most cases I bet they get paid - usually whoever is overseeing a loved ones estate really doesn't want to be going to court etc.

So if his setup was $10/mo, the termination fee was $12,000?

Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#97

Post by gregjw »

ganstyles wrote: post #77
goodside wrote: post #55

Years ago, I heard of a dating site doing the opposite of this. They normally sent periodic digests and newsletters to their users to try to increase engagement, but if a user went a certain number of months without logging into their account, but still allowed monthly fees to be charged, they were labeled as a “sleeping giant” in the database. Once in this state, they would not be contacted by the site for any reaso…

The Economist did this to me. $5/mo and then auto renewed at something like $250/yr. All my credit cards are just auto pay full balance every month, and I don't check them as often as I should. Noticed the charge last month, found out they had been charging me for years for their digital subscription.

Had a similar experience with The Economist, it's also impossible to cancel your subscription online, you have to call them.

Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#98

Post by kbyatnal »

goodside wrote: post #55

Years ago, I heard of a dating site doing the opposite of this. They normally sent periodic digests and newsletters to their users to try to increase engagement, but if a user went a certain number of months without logging into their account, but still allowed monthly fees to be charged, they were labeled as a “sleeping giant” in the database. Once in this state, they would not be contacted by the site for any reaso…

This is why privacy.com is great. Whenever I sign up for a subscription, I create a virtual card and after paying for the first month, I "pause" the card (ie. decline all additional charges). When I get the notification that my payment failed and I'm actually getting value out of the subscription, I log in and change the status to "active" again.

Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#99

Post by rconti »

gregjw wrote: post #97
ganstyles wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Economist did this to me. $5/mo and then auto renewed at something like $250/yr. All my credit cards are just auto pay full balance every month, and I don't check them as often as I should. Noticed the charge last month, found out they had been charging me for years for their digital subscription.

Had a similar experience with The Economist, it's also impossible to cancel your subscription online, you have to call them.

My economist sub renewed at a cheaper/more reasonable rate (I think the common $130/yr that's at least better than newsstand) but I just think their subscription services are in the utter dark ages. Changing anything (Updating an expired credit card, change of address, etc) is painful.

Re: Netflix stops charging customers who never watch

#100

Post by em-bee »

smabie wrote: post #48
spiralganglion wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do this at my company, and it is purely for altruistic reasons. If people aren't happily making good use of my service, I don't want their money. That's the entire calculus. Netflix is vastly bigger, granted, so who knows what machinations are afoot for them. But it is certainly believable to me that a company could choose to do something explicitly anti-greedy.

Really the only valid reason to do this is that the goodwill will help them make more money in the future. Strictly losing money with no upside in the future is in violation of the "duty of loyalty" that all corporate officers have toward shareholders.

there is no duty to shareholders to maximise profits.

see the references in this post:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16171149

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