Virgin Media Community

[ap0phi5]

I just happened to check my bill this month to find out that I've been paying for a Netflix addon through Virgin Media. This left us scratching our heads, how on earth this has happened, as my wife and I had never subscribed to this as we already have a Netflix account.

After some lengthy investigations, it turned out it all started during lockdown when we put a family embargo on our children from using our Netflix account several months ago. Unbeknownst to me, my sneaky 6 year old, to subvert our ban, somehow managed to use the VM remote to register his own personal new Netflix account. This then also billed the new subscription via my VM account, so it has taken until now before I realised. He also was able to access 18-rated films. 😮

I don't even know how to cancel it as I've been in contact with Netflix, and they have no details for the account.

Are you just able to do this with the remote, without any authentication or parental controls???

Is my expectation that VM might refund this too much?

[apcyberax]

you can contact VM to cancel it. They are unlikely to refund it

[ap0phi5]

I think the problem I will have is, what will stop them from reactivating it...?

[LittleMick73]

Hi the first thing is to change your pin number as a smart 6 year old as you have found out will know the default 1234, I'm sure, also polite but firm words from ourselves should do the trick.Regards Micky

[ap0phi5]

Thanks @LittleMick73. I think an additional problem here is that there doesn't seem to be a PIN number challenge when signing up for the subscription. Easier to give a 8-9 year old firm words and make him/her aware of consequences. A 6 year old seems to press any button he can, to get his Paw Patrol fix!

I've got things sorted hopefully now, but still a bit miffed that he has sneaked a Netflix account for several months before we got to know about it in the next bill.

[Katie_WT]

Hi there @ap0phi5   Welcome back to our Community - sorry to understand that your 6 year old managed to set up a brand new Netflix account via your set top box; that is quite the process!

When you set up a brand new Netflix account via the set top box, it will ask you to set up an email address and password. This email address then will receive a confirmation email in order to complete registration and verify that the email address is correct.  Once registered and verified, it will then ask if you'd like to pay by card/direct debit or if you would like to link to the Virgin Media account. If it is selected to add it to the Virgin Media Bill, this will go into your next bill to be produced. 

(When you join Netflix your subscription charges start from the day you join. We may create your Virgin Media bill for your services with us on a different day. Normally each Virgin Media bill will include one renewal fee for your Netflix subscription. However, when your Netflix subscription renewal date and Virgin Media bill date are very close together, you may occasionally see some changes to how the Netflix renewal fee shows on your Virgin Media bill. Sometimes we may prepare your Virgin Media bill before your next monthly Netflix subscription is up for renewal - in that case you may not see a Netflix subscription renewal fee on that bill. Where this happens, you may see Netflix subscription renewal fees for two months on your next Virgin Media bill instead of one month’s renewal fee)

We are not able to cancel the subscription - you would need to chat with Netflix directly about that I'm afraid. If you are unable to locate the log-in details and password from your son; you can contact Netflix directly who can assist you. We have a dedicated Netflix help page which can assist you and show you how to do this.  

Hope this helps. 

Cheers

[ap0phi5]

Hi @Katie_WT,

Are you sure about that a confirmation email is required? I emailed the address associated with the account and found out it does not actually exist (I emailed it and got a bounce back). My working assumption is that my 6 year old just typed in a bogus email address.

There is also no PIN challenge. So, anyone with the remote can create a Netflix subscription without the bill payers consent. I'm miffed at having to fork out £36 for what in my eyes is a software design fault.

Fortunately, I did finally manage to get Netflix to both suspended and terminate the account. My concern however is that one of the younger kids will just do the same at a later date. I would really appreciate it if VM built in some form of challenge there, eg a PIN.

[Katie_WT]

Hi there @ap0phi5

Yes - we have checked the process from this end for you to check and confirm and an email address is needed and also requires to be verified before the account can be used. 

Glad that you managed to contact Netflix for assistance with closing the account. 

Cheers