How many times, in the last few years alone, have you thought about what to do at night and ended up happily snuggling under a blanket and watching something great on Netflix? The streaming giant has been a significant part of our lives, especially during the pandemic — which is why it’s unusual and surprising to hear people complaining about Netflix. But a recent announcement has some fans split. Netflix just announced a price increase that will affect all customers — and people are not happy about this.
Expect Additional Fees
Netflix released a statement this week announcing that it plans to test out a new method of profiting: it will allow primary Netflix account holders to pay an additional fee that will let friends and family use their account without paying for their own subscription. Of course, the streaming app knows very well that many Netflix account holders are already granting other people access to their account so that they can watch what they want without paying for it. This action goes against one of Netflix’s basic rules, that a customer’s account “may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.” So far, the test has been rolled out in South America and Centra America.
Instead of risking losing all of those subscription fees, Netflix wants to try out a method whereby the account holder can pay a small additional fee to cover up to two people who live outside of their home and want to share their Netflix account. In the meantime, Netflix plans on targeting anyone who is already sharing an account and not paying more and notifying them about the payment option. The user will then be promoted to log in a verification code if someone outside of the household signs in. The problem with this method is that the original account holder can always share the verification code and get around this rule.
Time will tell how Netflix’s additional fee test will work out and whether it will yield enough profit to make it worthwhile.
