Problems are growing for Netflix. If they didn’t have enough of the bad taste in their mouths that the ban on sharing accounts left in our country and in others, they are now beginning to eliminate the Basic rate, forcing the customer to consume ads or have to pay 12.99 euros/month as minimum.
Canada has once again been the pioneer country for one of Netflix’s measures. In the North American country, you can no longer subscribe or change to the Basic rate, there being a gap between the plan with ads and the Standard.
Netflix removes the cheapest rate without ads
On this occasion it has not been up to Spain to be pioneers in the application of a new Netflix measure, as happened with its infamous “new ways to share Netflix” (translation: ban on sharing account without paying more).
It has been in Canada where the streaming platform has scissored and has eliminated the possibility of subscribing or contracting the Basic rate without ads. If we look in the canada price list We will observe that only the following appear:
- Standard with Ads: C$5.99/month
- Standard: C$16.49/month (extra members can be added for C$7.99/month each)
- Premium: C$20.99/month (extra members can be added for C$7.99/month each)
For the moment, if we check the Spanish prices, the Basic rate still appears, although there are signs that it could disappear, such as the fact that the one with ads is no longer the Basic rate with ads, but the Standard with ads. The current Basic rate without ads (7.99 euros/month) also has a worse resolution than the Standard Plan with ads, which a few weeks ago raised its resolution to Full HD, while the cheapest one without ads does not go beyond HD resolution.
Canada is usually synonymous with a pioneering country in which Netflix applies new measures that it then exports to the rest of the world, so this seems to be a preview of what happens in Spain and other territories. In fact, the Canadian country was already one of those that, together with Spain, Portugal and New Zealand, began with the ban on sharing accounts in February 2023.
She was denounced for hiding this fee
The truth is that Netflix was already showing signs of not wanting you to subscribe to the Basic Plan without ads for 7.99 euros per month. Since the new policy on no free account sharing went into effect, the platform began to intentionally hide this fee.
In this way, when a user wants to register, a priori there are only three rates to choose from: Standard with ads (5.49 euros/month), Standard (12.99 euros/month) and Premium (17.99 euros). /month). However, there is an intermediate rate, the basic one without ads that is not shown unless the user clicks on “See all plans”. This has an intermediate cost of 7.99 euros.
For this reason, the OCU believes that Netflix has engaged in “unfair commercial practices” and has denounced the streaming platform. “OCU believes that these practices not only violate consumer rights, but are also intentionally designed to mislead users. In response to this situation, OCU and Altroconsumo (both Euroconsumers member organizations) have filed complaints for deceptive commercial practices with their respective national consumer protection authorities.
