Notify Your Credit Card Company About Netflix Membership Cancellation

Even if you take great care to properly close your Netflix account, it is possible that Netflix may still try to hit you with additional charges after your subscription has ended. Netflix could make claims of an improperly closed account, missing DVDs, missed deadlines, etc. If this happens, you have the right to dispute the bogus charges with your credit card company, and, if you are a customer in good standing, there is a decent chance your credit card company could side with you.

You do not have to wait for a problem to occur to take action, however. If you are concerned that Netflix could hit you with bogus credit card charges after you close your Netflix account, you might consider being proactive and contacting your credit card company before you close your Netflix account. You can notify your credit card company of the date you plan to close your Netflix account and the date after which Netflix should not be billing your card. You could still get hit with additional charges, but you may then have a stronger case if you need to dispute any suspicious charges from Netflix.

Charges for "Missing" DVDs After Canceling Netflix

Too many people are making a costly mistake when canceling their Netflix subscriptions, and since there may be many Netflix membership cancellations between now and September, this is a very important special reminder to help save you from a nasty surprise after canceling your Netflix membership. If you read only one thing on this site between now and September, read this:

Absolutely, clear your Netflix queue of all DVDs and make sure all of your Netflix DVD returns have been acknowledged by Netflix before closing your Netflix account. If you do not take this precaution, Netflix may charge you for DVDs they claim are "missing."

Numerous former Netflix members have reported that Netflix charged their credit cards for missing DVDs after they properly closed their accounts and returned all of Netflix's DVDs. Unfortunately, Netflix is always in control of any evidence when this happens, so there is no way to prove the fraud.

Once you close that Netflix account, barring signature confirmation, you have no way to prove Netflix received all of the DVDs you returned to them. Netflix may claim you did not return your DVDs, and they may stick you with a charge of $20, $40, $60, etc. on your credit card. If Netflix does this to you, you may have little recourse. You will have to dispute the charge with your credit card company. If your credit card company does not side with you, you will be responsible for the additional charges from Netflix.

So, clear your Netflix queue, and return all of the DVDs well before your cancellation date. If all DVDs have not cleared your account, report them as missing before closing your account. If you really want to be safe, you might consider sending your DVDs back with signature confirmation. Yes, signature confirmation is a pain, but so is paying for DVDs you already returned. If you can produce proof of delivery, you will have a much better case if you need to dispute Netflix's charges with your credit card company.

Netflix Price Increase Marks a Good Time to Plan Your Exit

Exit Netflix Sign

Perhaps growing comfortable with their market share, Netflix has decided to dramatically increase prices. The new pricing structure will divide Netflix customers into two basic classes: those who stream video and those who receive DVDs in the mail. If you want to stream video and not receive DVDs in the mail, you will pay $7.99 per month. If you want to receive DVDs in the mail and not stream video, you will pay $7.99 per month. If you want to stream video and have one DVD out at-a-time, you will need to pay $15.98 per month for the privilege.

For some subscribers, this will amount to a 60% price increase. An increase of around $6.00 per month may sound manageable, but when considering that amounts to $72.00 per year, the cost becomes a significant issue. Also, consider that Netflix is a luxury expense. In how many areas of your life are you willing to accept a price increase of 60% on a luxury expense with no appreciable increase in service? For example, if you frequented a restaurant and it suddenly raised its prices 60% without improving the food or increasing the portions, how often would you return to that restaurant?

It appears Netflix is aggressively trying to discourage subscribers from renting physical DVDs. Netflix must really hate paying the costs of a DVD-by-mail business. Even though Netflix subscribers have become largely accustomed to being abused by Netflix, a price increase of 60% with no substantial increase in subscriber benefits seems a bit extreme and could be seen as almost a deliberate hostility toward DVD renters.

Assuming you've suffered some sort of dreadful head injury and you now wish to begin a new Netflix membership, you have no choice but to accept the price increases right away. If you are an existing Netflix subscriber, you have until around September to change your viewing habits or get hammered by the big increase.

You may have noticed that you can't spell "Netflix" without E, X, I, and T.  You may have also recognized it may be time to start looking for the way out.  Fortunately, subscribers have a few weeks to plan their exits from Netflix. If you are Netflix subscriber, and you wish to exit Netflix, you are advised to plan ahead. The biggest pitfalls to avoid when canceling your Netflix subscription are getting charged for extra months and getting charged for DVDs Netflix may claim were never returned or returned after the due date.  To minimize these possibilities, consult the cancellation procedure outlined at "Canceling Your Netflix Subscription."

If you put your Exit Netflix plan into place and properly end your Netflix subscription during the next several weeks, you can avoid the price hike and apply the money in your entertainment budget toward better values.

If you would like to help your fellow Netflix Underground readers by recommending some alternatives to Netflix and providing some other Exit Netflix tips, please click on comments below and post your suggestions.

Throttling Suspicions for Netflix Streaming Content

The latest controversy surrounding Netflix is about the throttling of streaming content over the Internet. Some Netflix subscribers have strong suspicions that Netflix is limiting their ability to view streaming content by forcing unusually long data buffer times that can force a viewer to wait for many minutes or hours before viewing a movie or show. Netflix and their defenders say some Internet service providers must be limiting their users’ data downloads through these buffer delays.

Regardless of who is causing these buffer delays, they are a problem, because they can greatly limit a Netflix subscriber’s ability to view streaming content. The real problem here is we do not know the true cause or culprit. We cannot trust the ISPs, because they are sometimes unscrupulous companies who hide behind technology and defend themselves with nonsensical industry lingo. We absolutely cannot trust Netflix, because, a few years ago, they were caught throttling subscribers through the mail and would not admit it until lawyers got involved.

Both the ISPs and Netflix have the ability to throttle customers and both could benefit by throttling. Since neither side can be trusted, throttled Netflix subscribers are in the dark. As of now, it appears that some Netflix subscribers who access streaming content might be getting throttled over the Internet. The question is: If this throttling is intentional, who is doing the throttling?

Click below to read Riyad Kalla’s article on The "Break It Down" Blog about streaming content throttling at Netflix.
"Netflix Throttling Instant Video Streaming Performance for Viewers"

Canceling Your Netflix Subscription

The two happiest days of your Netflix membership are the day you begin your subscription and the day you end your subscription. There is an ugly and unexpected twist to this, however. A surprising number of former Netflix subscribers have reported that after they canceled their memberships, Netflix denied receiving their final DVD returns.

When Netflix denies receiving a returned DVD from a customer who has recently canceled, Netflix charges the former customer’s credit card for that DVD. This practice exposes the former customer to dozens of dollars in additional charges after their subscription has ended. Unfortunately, the former customer is left holding the bag and has the burden of proving that the “missing” DVDs were actually returned.

If you want to cancel your Netflix subscription and minimize your exposure to additional charges, consider following the steps below.

1. Determine your billing date by viewing your account information on Netflix’s Web site. Since Netflix cancellations are immediate and Netflix does not give refunds for partial months, you should plan to cancel shortly before your next billing date.
2. Several days before you cancel your Netflix subscription, delete every DVD from your queue. This should prevent Netflix from shipping more DVDs to you.
3. Send all of your DVDs back to Netflix. (Consider taking the extra precaution of sending these DVDs certified mail. Include a brief letter detailing the exact contents of the envelope. Keep copies of all documentation.)
4. As Netflix notifies you of receipt of returned DVDs, save the notification emails in case you need them later for proof.
5. The day you intend to cancel your subscription, check your account to see which DVDs have not been checked in by Netflix. Report any outstanding DVDs as lost. This should completely clear your queue.
6. Send an email to Netflix informing them that you are canceling your membership. This will create more of a paper trail. (Note: Do not tell Netflix that you are canceling because you were not getting enough DVDs. Netflix loves when heavy users cancel.)
7. Cancel your subscription using the Netflix Web site. Make sure to follow the on-screen instructions carefully.
8. Sit back in your chair, grin, and enjoy a beverage of your choice as you celebrate the end of the dysfunctional relationship you had with that company.

The main drawback to this cancellation procedure is that you will loose about a week’s worth of DVD rentals. Unfortunately, if you want to minimize the chances of getting hit with extra charges from Netflix after you cancel, you have very few options.

After you have canceled, carefully check your credit card statements. If Netflix still charges your credit card for missing DVDs (or any other unjustified charges), immediately contact Netflix via email to dispute the problem. If Netflix does not fully credit the unjustified charges to your credit card, contact your credit card company and dispute the charges. In many circumstances, your credit card company will reverse the charges.

Netflix Contact Information

Update: 5/3/2016

Even though this particular post had not been updated for many years, it got tons of traffic and still continues to do so.  It seems a lot of people really, really, really want to contact Netflix.  Here is some updated information.

You can call Netflix on the phone and speak loving words to them at the following Netflix customer service phone numbers:

(866) 579-7172
(800) 585-7265

You can also stop by and give them warm hugs at their corporate headquarters:

Netflix, Inc.
100 Winchester Circle
Los Gatos, CA  95032
USA

For those of you who prefer to send your love via email, good luck with that. When valid email addresses get discovered and posted on this site, Netflix soon shuts them down. If you want to try your luck, you can always make educated guesses.  For example, Netflix’s leaders are listed at http://ir.netflix.com/management.cfm. Using those names, you might be able to come up with a valid email address, like johndoe@netflix.com, john.doe@netflix.com, etc.  Emailing a company that clearly does not want to be emailed is very likely to be a big waste of your time.  It is just way too easy to filter, block, or delete emails.

Of course, you could always send snail-mail to one of the illustrious leaders at their corporate headquarters. These days people are so surprised by paper correspondence, a person might actually take the time to read an actual letter.

Note: Most of the contacts you will find in the comments section were shut down by 5/3/2016.  If you have any helpful new Netflix contact information, please post it here.