An Auckland Netflix customer says he is furious with the streaming giant after they refused him a refund despite being repeatedly charged twice in the same month and is warning other users to check their bank statements.
Mark told the Herald his wife was going over the couple's Visa statements for the month of May when she first noticed two Netflix charges for the one month.
Both charges were for $18.49, with a rogue payment appearing on May 22 from Netflix New Zealand and the other, the usual monthly one, on May 30 from Netflix Los Gatos.
After contacting Netflix about the problem, Mark said he was credited back the $18.49 and told it wouldn't happen again.
But when looking over their Visa statement yesterday for the month of June, two charges to Netflix appeared yet again.
In addition to the monthly charge from Netflix Los Gatos for $18.49 on June 30, a second charge from Netflix.com Amsterdam for 550 Philippine Peso (NZ$16.23) also appeared on June 26.
Mark told the Herald he contacted Netflix today about the second incident, but this time was told by a customer service representative that they couldn't refund him as the rogue payment was outside the period of being able to do so.
"Last time this happened they said it wouldn't happen again, but it has and it now means we don't trust Netflix and their payment systems. The extra payment was listed on the statement as being a charge from Netflix even though it was from a different region and in a different currency.
"It's left a sour taste in our mouths. We like Netflix but are now considering canning it as it is no longer safe to pay the subscription by credit card," Mark said.
Mark said Netflix users should check their statements regularly.
"If people are paying Netflix by credit card they need to check their statements regularly because somehow double-up charges are occurring or people are able to hack into your account and use your credit card number. Whether they are using it to pay for their own Netflix accounts or just skimming money, we don't know and Netflix is not forthcoming in giving out any information about what is happening," Mark said.
Netflix has not responded to the Herald's request for comment.