Courteney Morris of London, Ont., was shocked when she saw a $21 Netflix charge added to her March TV bill, despite already being a Netflix subscriber via the streaming service’s website. She quickly discovered that her 9-year-old daughter had accidentally subscribed to Netflix through their Rogers TV box using the voice remote.
Morris said her daughter simply spoke “Netflix” into the remote, which triggered the subscription sign-up. The cost was automatically billed to the family’s Rogers account. After hours of phone calls with Rogers and Netflix, Morris realized the subscription had been charged monthly since July 2024.
Morris’ experience highlights the increasing ease of making payments through smart devices. “It has become trivially easy to make payments through devices that in years past, we might not have used to make payments,” said technology analyst Carmi Levy. With the integration of payment methods into TVs, smartwatches, and speakers, unauthorized purchases can happen unintentionally.
Rogers informed Morris that they had sent nine billing emails since July, but she had not noticed the charges due to her practice of pre-paying for services. The company explained that they assume the account holder is responsible for purchases and advised setting up parental controls. However, Morris argues that there should be more verification during the purchase process to prevent such mistakes.
Morris is now calling for improved systems that require verification, such as two-factor authentication, before completing a purchase on a TV. While Levy acknowledges the role of telecom companies, he stresses that consumers must take responsibility for monitoring their purchases.
Rogers offered Morris a $60 credit for three months of charges, but the cancellation of the Netflix subscription will only take effect in May.
Source: Swifteradio.com
