I've just completed a free trial with netflix. I would have signed up for a subscription, were it not for their refusal to take my money by direct debit. Instead, they insist on a continuous payment authority (CPA) against a credit or debit card. These arrangements offer less consumer protection than DDs as the business can vary the amount or timing of the payment without prior notice.
When I phoned their helpline to ask if there was a way to set up a direct debit, as their website didn't appear to support it, I was assured that yes they did, I just needed to give them the debit card number. After a few minutes of insisting that I would only supply a sort code and account number, and only after he read me the direct debit guarantee script, he finally admitted that he couldn't set up a DD and was trying to set up a CPA. I thanked him for his time and informed him I would not be subscribing until they accepted a payment method with better consumer protection.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
