I received an e-mail from the movie subscription service Netflix last week inviting me to send a gift subscription to my dad for Father's Day. I've subscribed to Netflix for about a year now and I've been very happy with the service, so I was tempted to take advantage of their offer...that is until I read the fine print. The terms of the gift subscription include the following:
Recipients will need a valid payment method to redeem the membership and Recipient authorizes Netflix to charge for any movie the Recipient fails to return, as provided in our Terms of Use. Also, upon the conclusion of the Gift Subscription period, Recipient authorizes Netflix to begin to bill the payment method for monthly subscription fees and applicable tax unless the Recipient cancels prior to the end of the Gift Subscription period. Although the subscription is cancelable at anytime, there is no refund or credit for partially used periods.
This means that my dad, upon receiving the "gift" would have to take out his credit card and enter his payment info in order to start his gift subscription. And, then later, if he did not remember to cancel his subscription exactly when it expired (he wouldn't), Netflix would charge him for another month and continue to do so until he canceled the subscription. Now, I know my dad well enough to know that this would not fly with him. He raised me well enough to know that you don't give someone a gift and then expect them to pay for it, and this is exactly what Netflix was asking me to do. So, I balked at this very generous offer and instead sent Netflix the following e-mail:
Dear Netflixers,
Thank you for gift subscription offer, I did consider sending one to my dad for Father's Day. I balked, however, when I read the fine print, which makes it clear that the recipient of the "gift" is the one charged for the service. I would like to encourage you to change your gift subscription policy so that the gift giver (the current subscriber) pays for any charges incurred and then at the end of the gift subscription the recipient receives an invitation to provide their payment info and continue with their subscription. This is much more sensible than asking people to give a "gift" and then expect the recipient to immediately provide payment information so they can be charged...that is no gift at all.
I'll let you know if I receive a reply from them. Netflix is a great service and shouldn't have to resort to these disreputable practices to gain new members, especially when they are risking the goodwill of existing members who recommend their service to friends and family.
