Netflix is doing consumers a favor by implementing a system that flags inactive accounts for possible cancellation.
A CNBC report explains that Netflix is going to cancel inactive accounts if their owners don’t respond to a special email or in-app notification. The streaming giant is making this unusual move to help “save people some hard earned cash.”
Netflix director of product innovation Eddy Wu detailed the move in a blog post on Thursday, saying that members who haven’t watching anything on their accounts for over one year should start to see these emails and notifications this week. Subscriptions will be automatically cancelled if members don’t reply.
“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,” he wrote. “And we’ll do the same for anyone who has stopped watching for more than two years.”
According to Netflix, a few hundred thousand people fit this criteria, which accounts for under half a percent of its overall userbase. After a year without using Netflix, users will start getting emails or app notifications asking if they want to keep subscribing to the service. If they don’t respond, the subscription will be canceled.
Inactive members whose accounts get cancelled will still be able to recover their favorites, profiles, viewing preferences, and account details if they reopen their account within 10 months. The company hopes this move will turn some of these inactive accounts into active viewers.
“In the meantime, we hope this new approach saves people some hard earned cash,” Wu said.
