Netflix will soon start cancelling subscriptions on inactive accounts.
The company says it aims to stop customers paying for a service they don’t use and will contact inactive account holders and see whether they want to remain subscribed. If Netflix doesn’t hear back, they will automatically cancel the membership.
In a blog post on the site, Eddy Wu, from Netflix innovation, wrote about the new system.
The blog says, “You know that sinking feeling when you realise you signed up for something but haven’t used it in ages? At Netflix, the last thing we want is people paying for something they’re not using.”
“So we’re asking everyone who has not watched anything on Netflix for a year since they joined to confirm they want to keep their membership. And we’ll do the same for anyone who has stopped watching for more than two years.”
“Members will start seeing these emails or in-app notifications this week. If they don’t confirm that they want to keep subscribing, we’ll automatically cancel their subscription. If anyone changes their mind later, it’s really easy to restart Netflix.”
The blog also says that those who leave then decide to rejoin within the next 10 months all of their preferences and watch lists will still be stored and can be accessed again.
The new system applies only to accounts that have not been used in a year or more.