Furious Netflix customers are threatening to cancel amid skyrocketing subscription costs to the streaming service.
Fans have taken their grievances online saying the Netflix library simply isn't good enough to justify the rates, which have risen for years and are set to be hiked again.
Netflix is increasing the price of subscriptions across the board and cutting out its cheapest ad-free option known as Basic, instead offering a “standard service with ads”, which will be the cheapest option available.
The company announced it was doing away with the Basic plan in January, starting with users in Canada and the UK.
The phase-out began last month, much to the dismay of users who claimed they were forced to choose between an ad-supported plan with limited access to content or shell out more money.
And now many customers are vowing to bow out of using the service for good.
Taking to Reddit, one fan wrote: “I am not going to pay for a service to see ads. Period. And Netflix’s catalog is not worth the 30% price hike. 30%?!
“Been a loyal customer for over 20 years.
“This is not soapboxing this is a complaint about the core service by a sad subscriber.”
The comment received lots of replies, which all agreed with the sentiment.
One replied: “Yep. I'm done. I've been a customer since they first mailed movies in 1998! I was living in San Francisco and heard about this new service,” while another replied: “Same! it was a really unique service and provided a really good value back then.”
Customers say they feel they are being taken for a ride by the subscription service, which has “forgotten where they came from”.
“I will be cancelling,” one wrote. “Will come back periodically one month at a time when some actually good new content drops. Corporate will walk back the decision if enough of us cancel.”
Another user in the US added: “I just cancelled today after ten years. I already thought $12/mo was a little steep for what I got but I didn’t care enough to change it
“But I’m not going up to what, $16/mo for the same service? And I’m not paying $7/mo for something with ads. There already wasn’t much on there, only thing I was looking forward to was arcane.”
In the UK, there are three packages available after the basic plan was scrapped. They are the Standard with Adverts for £4.99, a Standard package, which allows you to watch unlimited advert-free movies, TV shows and mobile games across two supported devices for £10.99, or Premium, which is the same as Standard but allows access for four devices for £17.99.
"Netflix has honestly gone downhill for me the last couple of years. Takes forever for the next seasons to come out and there hasn’t been much new that’s actually good."
Other users echoed the sentiment, with many claiming they'd cancelled their subscriptions months ago.
"Prices will continue to increase until people start leaving the platform en masse," another user declared.
Netflix is continuing to raise prices. Earlier this week, they went up for the second time in months for users in Nigeria, following a hike in April.
On its site Netflix justifies the price rises saying: “As we continue to add more TV shows and movies and introduce new product features, our plans and prices may change. We also may adjust plans and pricing to respond to local market changes, such as changes to local taxes or inflation.
“If your price is changing, Netflix will send you an email with details about the price change one month before the billing date on which your price will increase.
“The new plan prices apply to everyone once a price update is announced.”
