Netflix has just pulled the rug from under some of its customers’ feet with a new change to its billing. The streaming giant has quietly revoked users’ ability to pay for their monthly subscription with Apple Pay or iTunes, and the change has inconvenienced some users who claim that they were not properly notified that it was going to take place at all and are now facing duplicate billing charges.
In 2018, Netflix stopped allowing users to subscribe to its streaming service via the Apple’s App Store, but users who were already subscribed that way were always allowed to continue to pay for their subscription plans via Apple Pay or iTunes.
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On Netflix’s current website, a new addition states that Apple-billed customers in “select countries” may be instructed to add a new payment method, or they risk losing their subscription. Netflix has confirmed with TheStreet that users on its Basic subscription plan will be affected by the change. Even though the company did not indicate which “select countries” would be affected by the change, the change is detailed on the company’s U.S. website.
The move has already managed to irk some of Netflix’s subscribers as some claim that they have been charged twice for their monthly subscriptions since the change took place and even forced one user to face the company’s most recent price hike where its Basic plan increased from $9.99 to $11.99 a month in October last year.
Netflix stopped working with Apple Pay and didn’t inform me. Now I’m locked out of my $9.99 a month price I had paid for years and I had to get charged $31 until I get a refund through Apple. 🙃🫠 Love this!
— 𝑀𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓃 (@meganNwalsh) February 25, 2024
@AppleSupport just ordered Netflix thru Apple subscriptions yesterday. First time in years.
Netflix deleted my account and the subscription I paid for won’t work. Netflix demands I register and pay again via their site.
Will I get a refund or was I fucked for $17?
— ✪ oakie ✪ (@JetCityNinja) February 25, 2024
I was charged twice when I had to update payment method. Once with Apple and once with Paypal.
— Michael Fallon (@mjfallons) February 27, 2024
The recent change from Netflix will put more money in the company’s pocket as it will help it avoid Apple’s in-app fees. When users use Apple payment methods to pay for their Netflix subscription, Apple collects 15% to 30% in commission.
Netflix has recently been doubling down on expanding its revenue in recent months. In May last year, it started charging users for sharing passwords with users outside of their households. By July, it retired its Basic subscription plan for “new or rejoining members” only, and in October, it hiked its prices for all of its subscription plans.
Last month, in its fourth-quarter earnings report for 2023, Netflix warned that it was kicking users in Canada and in the U.K. off of its retired Basic plan by the second quarter of this year, and hinted that the change will soon expand to other countries.
“The ads plan now accounts for 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in our ads markets and we’re looking to retire our Basic plan in some of our ads countries, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 and taking it from there,” said Netflix in its fourth-quarter earnings report.
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