Netflix is trying to make it easier for people to cancel their service with a new automated prompt that will ask subscribers if they want to continue paying after a lengthy period of inactivity.
If you signed up at least a year ago but haven’t watched anything, or you haven’t streamed something on the platform in the last two years, Netflix will ask you via email or app notification if you want to keep subscribing. If you don’t respond, it’ll automatically cancel your plan.
Only a few hundred thousand accounts (less than 0.5 percent of total Netflix users) meet these criteria, and Netflix has already accounted for them in its financial guidance. If you decide to cancel but later change your mind, all of your preferences, profiles and so on will be on your account just as you left them as long as you rejoin within 10 months.
“We’ve always thought it should be easy to sign up and to cancel,” Eddy Wu, director of product innovation, wrote in a new blog post. “So, as always, anyone who cancels their account and then rejoins within 10 months will still have their favorites, profiles, viewing preferences and account details just as they left them.”
This is a slightly unusual move from Netflix, as companies that adopt a subscription model rely on regular income from their members, including those who continue to pay every month without actually using the service. Ultimately, it might help Netflix earn some goodwill without damaging its bottom line too much.
