Honorable Abraham Lincoln once said, “We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot.” He probably wouldn’t have had time to say something so clever — or gone to as many plays — if Netflix was around in the 1860s; he’d be too busy watching Parks and Recreation for the fifth time. But Lincoln’s wise words ring true for one Netflix user, who’s suing the streaming service over increased subscription fees.
George Keritsis claims that years ago, he saw a Netflix ad offering a lifetime $7.99 monthly rate; he even called the company to make sure the deal was legitimate. It was. But in 2012, that $7.99 went up to $8.68 per month, and it recently rose again to $9.99/month. Now Keritsis has filed a class action lawsuit against Netflix. “For a period of time, Netflix solicited persons to subscribe to Netflix’s streaming service by guaranteeing that Netflix would not increase monthly subscription prices as long as the subscribers maintained the subscription service continuously,” the complaint reads, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “Netflix has broken its contract with these subscribers by unilaterally raising monthly subscription prices.”
Yeah, but offline video! Now you can watch House of Cards in the port-a-potty at Burning Man. No matter. Keritsis is still going after Netflix for “breach of contract,” not just for himself, but the “at least 22 million people” who “entered into an agreement with Netflix for a streaming plan at a subscription price that Netflix promised not to increase for as long as they continuously maintained their subscriptions.” Ironically, Netflix wouldn’t be in this legal mess if Keritsis hadn’t binge-watched every episode of Ally McBeal.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)