Netflix is going to stop taking your money if you’ve been inactive for a year

It’s hard to imagine anyone having a Netflix subscription and not making use of it. With so much new content constantly rolling out on the streaming service, there is almost always something exciting to watch. If you’re a bit of a scrooge, like me, you will make sure you at least watch something if you’re paying for it, or otherwise just cancel straight away. Yet it appears there are accounts out there with active subscriptions that simply never get watched.

And even though this could easily be banked as free money for Netflix, it appears they are going to do the noble thing and have announced that it will start checking with inactive customers to see if they want to continue using their subscription (via CNBC). Customers who receive this message will then be able to cancel outright or continue with their subscriptions, though if no response is received by Netflix, they will cancel these accounts after a period of time.

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.

Why anyone would subscribe to a streaming service for a year (Imagine throwing R2028 away) and not actually use their account is beyond me. According to Netflix, these customers make up a very small percentage of those subscribed – less than half of one percent. Considering how many subscribers the company claims to have though, that can still add up to an incredibly high number. Perhaps if they are feeling in a generous mood, they can choose to sponsor some of us Netflix accounts too.