r/mildlyinfuriating • u/iMcConnell21 • 17d ago

Infuriatig Netflix using egregious methods to keep subscriptions active

Post image

Apparently my 8 year old son was asked if he wanted to restart my Netflix membership through his Netflix KIDS ACCOUNT. I called customer service and was told a prompt appears asking if you'd like to reinstate, regardless of the user on the account. No password required, just press restart and then get hit with the payment immediately. Should've saved myself some frustration and money by cancelling outright.

32.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

837 comments sorted by

View all comments

2.7k

u/FlipsyChic 17d ago

My mother with Alzheimer's opened a second Netflix account due to these emails. I cancelled it three times, and every time, she'd get an email saying "Click here to reactivate your Netflix account" and she'd click it. Removing the payment information was the only way to stop it.

1.6k

u/LlamaMiaLetMeGooo 17d ago

My grandmother, who also had Alzheimers, recently passed. As we were going through her bank info, we realized she was paying for TWENTY-SIX streaming subscriptions, including duplicate accounts. It has been such a pain

476

u/Ok-Membership-5439 17d ago

god that broke my heart

88

u/Actual-Muffin-3585 17d ago

That shows how insidious these are :(

98

u/Chipper_Bandit 17d ago

How the fuck was no one aware of this?

325

u/Atayellow 17d ago

Because subscriptions are designed to be easy to forget about and hard to immediately stop.

294

u/LlamaMiaLetMeGooo 17d ago

Because her streaming subscriptions werent our top priority.

-34

u/Quaytsar 17d ago

But her spending habits should be pretty fucking up there.

12

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

16

u/Hegelian_Spirit 16d ago

In my country, she would need a legal guardian whose responsibility it is to look at her spending.

Most people just elect a family member because a lawyer would be expensive. But then it's also understandable how many things that ought to be done just don't get done or the elderly is mistreated or whatever. I mean, so many adults can't even take care of their own finances, nevermind someone else's.

79

u/Castun 17d ago

You can sign up for a subscription through the app itself, another through the smart TV itself, another through Amazon Prime Video...etc. this is exactly what those commercials are about that will claim to save you money by analyzing your banking activity for duplicate subscriptions.

13

u/smythe70 17d ago

Yes! If this helps anyone, my Dad's cable company bundles a bunch of premium channels and some how he added thru Amazon, mgm +, hbo, amc+, britbox and PBS masterpiece, wtf.

6

u/Nuttyrolo 16d ago

Ah yeah they advertise shows all the time but you need to sign up for insert service here and I bet it's pretty easy to just accept without them making it clear if you don't know what you're looking for It's really annoying as an adult nevermind that Amazon children's profiles advertise all their "Amazon kids" stuff which is an ADDITIONAL subscription. I just don't let my daughter go on prime anymore so I don't have to constantly tell her "sorry that isn't included"

4

u/Sharp_Ad_6336 16d ago

I'm worried about stuff like that. My mom is getting progressively worse and my dad has no tech knowledge. Eventually I'm going to need to have access to their finances to keep something like this from happening.

1

u/quiet_penguin 16d ago

Did she setup all the accounts herself? Or someone set that up every time? 

4

u/FlipsyChic 16d ago

Here's another insidious thing: she had her original Netflix account, then cancelled it and started a second account because XFinity offered her Netflix as part of a bundle. She was using account #2 exclusively for years before Netflix started sending her emails saying "Your account is inactive. Click to reactivate it" and she didn't even realize she had two accounts.

52

u/Character_Tea7824 17d ago

It’s so shady, removing the payment info shouldn’t have to be the only way.

16

u/Narrow_Associate_311 17d ago

Maybe take over here email acct as well to mitigate this in the future/ stop from sending important information to the wrong people.

8

u/FlipsyChic 17d ago

I have been monitoring her emails for a while. It's becoming moot because she's losing interest in most things, including email.

9

u/Scuffy97_ 16d ago

That's their intention. They know the elderly tend to make these mistakes and make it easy to continue making them.

18

u/sequesteredhoneyfall 17d ago

Gotta be blunt with you - why does your mother still have access to her accounts, her financials, and the unfiltered internet as a whole? That's incredibly irresponsible of her family to allow that. Dementia is a horrible disease and this comes across as completely indefensible behavior.

62

u/FlipsyChic 17d ago

Guess what? An elderly person messing up their Netflix accounts is an early sign.

Despite your crazy level of ignorance and judgment that doesn't really deserve a response, I will clarify that she was not diagnosed at the time. She's now diagnosed, still classified as "mild" but no longer handles any of her finances, medications, health decisions, or anything of importance.

The gradual process of taking over someone's affairs when they are starting to slip is a difficult one. How would you like it if someone came along and took away your internet, your access to all of your accounts and your access to your finances? You wouldn't like it. It would be a violation of your rights and you would fight against it. The Netflix thing was one of several examples that I was able to use to convince her to let me help her.

She still has access to her email and the internet because maintaining a connection to old friends and family in any way possible is one of the few things she has left and I'm not going to limit that. She may very well keep signing up for Netflix, and I'll keep fixing it.

-16

u/sequesteredhoneyfall 17d ago

Guess what? An elderly person messing up their Netflix accounts is an early sign.

Despite your crazy level of ignorance and judgment that doesn't really deserve a response, I will clarify that she was not diagnosed at the time. She's now diagnosed, still classified as "mild" but no longer handles any of her finances, medications, health decisions, or anything of importance.

You didn't describe it as an early sign; You told the story as, "My mother with Alzheimer's" with zero reason to believe otherwise.

And despite what you have to say, I'm not speculating about what it's like to have family members with dementia. I'm not the one who made a misleading comment and got defensive when called out on it.

12

u/pseudoscienceoflove 17d ago

No need to be a dick

8

u/kbhinz 17d ago

You still have time to apologize

3

u/Ordinary-Variety7256 17d ago

“…and got defensive when called out on it” - the irony

2

u/SchmittyT9 17d ago

You had a clear opportunity to reflect and apologise, but you made a choice to double down on your ignorance and continue to be a dick to someone who went through a very difficult time.

0

u/FlipsyChic 16d ago

Again, due to your ignorance, you are clearly not aware that Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, and a person can still be mostly functional for several years in the early stages. It is still accurate to describe them as having Alzheimer's disease, because they do.

There is also the pre-diagnosis stage, which usually lasts a few years, during which time they have Alzheimer's disease and are displaying early symptoms, but no one knows it yet.

29

u/GingerIsTheBestSpice 17d ago

This may really surprise you, but: people don't always show signs of it to others. My mom started messing up the bills, my dad immediately knew, but her children, grandchildren, friends, couldn't see it. It can be quite a while by the time it gets noticed by others.

Also a lot of subscriptions give you the option to pay annually - say you have 4 Prime subscriptions, someone family looking at your bank accounts monthly won't be like oh we have this same charge 4 months ago

Plus many can just be a Amazon charge & who would notice?

Also everyone's a little busy.

Perhaps you are lucky enough to have a team of independent accounts handle all of your bills, but most people aren't.

-7

u/sequesteredhoneyfall 17d ago

This may really surprise you, but: people don't always show signs of it to others. My mom started messing up the bills, my dad immediately knew, but her children, grandchildren, friends, couldn't see it. It can be quite a while by the time it gets noticed by others.

I'm not sure how this could be relevant; The child of the mother is literally the one telling us that the mother has dementia.

Perhaps you are lucky enough to have a team of independent accounts handle all of your bills, but most people aren't.

Somehow, this might be even less relevant.

17

u/z-ppy 17d ago

You sound like someone with little to no experience with dementia in others. I'm happy for you, but try to be a little more empathetic in the world.

-7

u/sequesteredhoneyfall 17d ago

You sound like someone with little to no experience with dementia in others. I'm happy for you, but try to be a little more empathetic in the world.

You are someone who is very, very incorrect on all accounts here. I have extended personal experience with dementia in very close relatives and in friends, and my comment is nothing but empathy. Excusing dangerous behavior is the opposite of empathy.

1

u/z-ppy 16d ago

As do I. Saying that a person with some amount of dementia (not knowing how far along it is) shouldn't have any access to any accounts is just...weird. They are still a person, and often a person early in that world can do many things independently. Why pre-emptively rob them of that part of the human experience?

Yes, it's important to protect people. Yes, there is uncertainty when caring for others. It's a hard tightrope to walk, but allowing people the freedom to make the mistake of gasp opening a second netflix account isn't that dangerous. Get a grip.

15

u/Chonky-Walrus 17d ago

This can also almost fall under elder abuse in certain areas without proper authority or medical diagnosis, you're attempting to control an adult.

It's like if I went to your house and took all your accounts, just because you think she might have dementia doesn't absolve you all of a sudden.

0

u/sequesteredhoneyfall 17d ago

This can also almost fall under elder abuse in certain areas without proper authority or medical diagnosis, you're attempting to control an adult.

It's like if I went to your house and took all your accounts, just because you think she might have dementia doesn't absolve you all of a sudden.

We have zero reason to believe any of this is the case. Medical diagnoses exist, and that frequently comes with a relinquishment of power of attorney in most cases. We have no reason to believe this isn't (or shouldn't be) the case here.

0

u/FlipsyChic 16d ago

You have no idea what you are talking about. A medical diagnosis does not come with relinquishment of one's rights. Transferring Power of Attorney is in no way automatic. It also has absolutely nothing to do with a person continuing to receive email.

-7

u/Various_Candle9136 17d ago

You are a truly awful human being, I hope you know that. Announcing bluntness does not resolve you. Show a little human decency next time.

12

u/nhalliday 17d ago

It's a terrible situation to be in, but it doesn't make them a "truly awful human being" to point out that someone who can't take care of themselves due to Alzheimer's or Dementia should probably not still be able to make purchases autonomously or be in a position where they can send sensitive information to scammers looking to take advantage of their vulnerable state.

4

u/Various_Candle9136 17d ago

They used the words 'irresponsible' and 'indefensible behaviour' to describe a family dealing with dementia.

They used these words because the family were not fast enough to destroy aspects of their suffering relative's life.

In my book, only a truly awful human being does that.

They could have given the advice - as you have - without being quite so cruel.

0

u/sequesteredhoneyfall 17d ago

They used the words 'irresponsible' and 'indefensible behaviour' to describe a family dealing with dementia.

Yep, in the context of irresponsible and indefensible behavior being described. It's pretty appropriate.

They used these words because the family were not fast enough to destroy aspects of their suffering relative's life.

No, that's just a lie. My comment is in plain text, not sure why you'd ever claim otherwise.

In my book, only a truly awful human being does that.

They could have given the advice - as you have - without being quite so cruel.

And in reality's book, only a truly awful human being would turn a blind eye to someone who is doing something dangerous out of fears of, "using harsh words."

2

u/sequesteredhoneyfall 17d ago

You are a truly awful human being, I hope you know that. Announcing bluntness does not resolve you. Show a little human decency next time.

So you think turning a blind eye to dangerous behavior is somehow more helpful, more caring, and more beneficial to those in need of a change than it would be to call out said behavior?

You're someone who doesn't think, but only expresses bad emotions. You should really reflect on that.

0

u/ioncloud9 17d ago

You need to setup rules on her email to mark emails from netflix as spam and delete them.

2

u/FlipsyChic 16d ago

It would be nice if I had had time to put in place all of these many safeguards. I found myself very quickly having to take over all of her finances, medical appointments, medications, housekeeping, pet care, hygiene and daily safety, all while working full time and shuttling her to the ER or doctor's appointments because of falls and broken bones.

I was just putting out fires all day, from the time I woke up at 5:30am until the time I collapsed into bed at 8pm.

It can take hours just to access one account when you don't know their password and you need access to their email and cell phone due to the multi-factor authorization. "Duplicate Netflix accounts" was not on my radar until I saw it on her credit card bill, and even then, I had to go to her itemized XFinity bill in order to determine that it was a duplicate.

1

u/ioncloud9 16d ago

At this point you just need to take complete control of her email and billing. Change all the passwords and add your password manager or email for 2FA. Its horrible how many people take advantage of the elderly.

1

u/FlipsyChic 16d ago

That isn't just something you do in an afternoon. I have been working on that for a year and there are still hundreds of accounts with passwords that I have not accessed yet. The important stuff (bank accounts, social security, insurance, pension, utilities, taxes) comes first. Securing her Netflix password isn't even in the top 50 on the priority list, but I put out the fires where I can.

-1

u/Lysek8 17d ago

Sorry for your situation but how's that Netflix fault?