12 ms·

Netflix impressed me recently with how easy they made it for me to cancel my subscription. It means I will have no hesitation to re-subscribe in future, should

Netflix impressed me recently with how easy they made it for me to cancel my subscription. It means I will have no hesitation to re-subscribe in future, should I feel the urge. I just wonder how long it will last. It sometimes feels like all the big successful consumer companies become accountancy-driven scumbags sooner or later. Fingers crossed Netflix can buck the trend and stay a nice company to deal with.

skohan 6y ago
I would think this might be triggered by a decline in revenue. When Netflix can't continue to grow organically into new markets and the share price starts to suffer, they might resort to less friendly tactics for increasing the revenue per customer.
- hrktb 6y ago
  It might also come from detecting recurring patterns and trying to facilitate them. Before the simplified version, we already used to only register to Netflix during long vacations, binge watch whatever we wanted (typically Black Mirror and Sherlock) and cancel the rest of the year. Now that it’s way easier, there’s less friction in reenabling the account when there’s a series we want to watch and set the subscripting to cancel again at the end of the month.
_squared_ 6y ago
Netflix joined the Motion Picture Association not so long ago. I'd recon they are well into the transition from startup mentality to dominant bureaucracy-driven business mentality.
- jedberg 6y ago
  I think they joined the MPAA so they could influence it towards their more liberal views on how content should be released. If anything I think it will mean other companies relax their rules.
koheripbal 6y ago
It's easy to be noble when you're making more profit than God. The real test is how they behave when competition heats up.
- devmunchies 6y ago
  a premium experience is their best defense against the competition, and they know this.
dkdk8283 6y ago
I wish more companies followed this pattern. In order to cancel my gym membership I had to write a letter. They didn’t respond to my first one, so I had to send a second via certified mail and then it was done. Sirius is also pretty scummy about cancelling, although they keep luring me in.
devmunchies 6y ago
I recently interview with netflix and talked with the director that manages the subscribe/cancel flows. He said it's an absolute priority to keep the cancel experience as easy as possible. He even talked down an idea to add an extra content or modals before the cancel experience. I was impressed.
asdf123wtf 6y ago
A lot of print publications will require a phone call or email to cancel even though you can manage all other aspects of your account digitally. It's a great way to ensure I'll never return as a customer. On the other hand, the "pause subscription" feature that many services are implementing pretty much guarantees that I'll resubscribe (even if just for a little while) in the future - because inevitably, they'll have something exclusive that I want to watch.

skohan 6y ago

I would think this might be triggered by a decline in revenue. When Netflix can't continue to grow organically into new markets and the share price starts to suffer, they might resort to less friendly tactics for increasing the revenue per customer.

hrktb 6y ago
It might also come from detecting recurring patterns and trying to facilitate them. Before the simplified version, we already used to only register to Netflix during long vacations, binge watch whatever we wanted (typically Black Mirror and Sherlock) and cancel the rest of the year. Now that it’s way easier, there’s less friction in reenabling the account when there’s a series we want to watch and set the subscripting to cancel again at the end of the month.

_squared_ 6y ago

Netflix joined the Motion Picture Association not so long ago. I'd recon they are well into the transition from startup mentality to dominant bureaucracy-driven business mentality.

jedberg 6y ago
I think they joined the MPAA so they could influence it towards their more liberal views on how content should be released. If anything I think it will mean other companies relax their rules.

koheripbal 6y ago

It's easy to be noble when you're making more profit than God. The real test is how they behave when competition heats up.

devmunchies 6y ago
a premium experience is their best defense against the competition, and they know this.

dkdk8283 6y ago

I wish more companies followed this pattern. In order to cancel my gym membership I had to write a letter. They didn’t respond to my first one, so I had to send a second via certified mail and then it was done. Sirius is also pretty scummy about cancelling, although they keep luring me in.

devmunchies 6y ago

I recently interview with netflix and talked with the director that manages the subscribe/cancel flows. He said it's an absolute priority to keep the cancel experience as easy as possible. He even talked down an idea to add an extra content or modals before the cancel experience. I was impressed.

asdf123wtf 6y ago

A lot of print publications will require a phone call or email to cancel even though you can manage all other aspects of your account digitally. It's a great way to ensure I'll never return as a customer. On the other hand, the "pause subscription" feature that many services are implementing pretty much guarantees that I'll resubscribe (even if just for a little while) in the future - because inevitably, they'll have something exclusive that I want to watch.