A man shared in a viral TikTok how Netflix charged his Visa card despite deactivating and shredding it, sparking discussion.
TikTok user Joey (@freshcoralblast) starts the video by asking his 819,000 followers, “Did you guys know that Netflix has a deal with the company Visa?” According to Joey, if you buy a Netflix subscription with a Visa card then “deactivate,” “shred,” and “get rid of every semblance of that card on the internet forever,” Netflix can still charge it.
The content creator says he learned this the hard way when he was talking to customer service for an hour, going “back and forth” between his bank and Netflix due to being charged with a card he had “shredded, deactivated, and unlinked” from his account four months ago.
@freshcoralblast ♬ original sound – Joey
The Daily Dot reached out to Joey via TikTok comment, direct message, Twitter direct message, and Netflix via email regarding the video. The video garnered over 343,000 views as of Sunday, with many viewers providing an explanation as to why this occurred.
“This is very common, companies that deal with subscriptions can do this. It’s called Visa Account Updater. Other cards have similar,” one viewer said.
“It’s not just Netflix. Most subscriptions can do this. That’s why you need to cancel your account with the subscription not just your card,” another explained.
“Most subscriptions are a two way street, now. The banks tell them ‘Hey they have a new card’ so your subscription doesn’t lapse without you wanting to,” a third elaborated.
Some listed different companies that do this as well.
“Microsoft does this as well. I have a coworker who’s card info was stolen and used to buy Game Pass and he still gets charged for it every month,” one user wrote.
“Lyft does too. I still use a credit card that I had replaced 2 years ago on lyft,” a second commented.
“Not just Netflix. my cc card was stolen, they issued a new card # but hulu and tmobile kept coming through on the new #,” a third stated.
Others shared their experiences with Netflix charging on expired cards.
“Yes. Figured it out when my old debit card was still being charged for the Netflix I wasn’t using,” one person shared.
“I only figured this out because my card got stolen and I got a new one with a new number and everything but still got charged for 3 months,” a second noted.
“It took Netflix 2 years to ask me for a new card. in that time I went through at least 3 cards due to skimming/fraud,” a third said.
According to Netflix’s website, the reason why a customer is being charged on an expired card is that banks “automatically update credit or debit card numbers when a new card is issued.” According to the streaming giant, this update “allows your card to continue to be charged, even if it’s expired.”
Netflix’s website states customers can remove or update payment information at any time from their Account page.
For a complete cancellation, they state customers can, “Go to netflix.com/cancelplan. Select Finish Cancellation. Your account will close at the end of your current billing cycle, and you won’t be charged again.”
