How to WATCH what you’re spending on entertainment online
As yet another TV streaming service is launched...
LONG gone are the days when the BBC licence fee would cover all your entertainment needs. Now you have a whole host of online television and music options to choose from — allowing you to watch and listen on your mobile phone, tablet, smart television or computer.
But this new breed of streaming services, including Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime, automatically take a fee directly from your bank account every month and won’t stop unless you act.
Around 17 million Britons are signed up to such subscription services, according to Citizens Advice.
But the charity says two million customers have struggled to cancel payments, while users are thought to waste an average of £640 a year on unwanted subscriptions.
Launch of the new streaming service BritBox — offering classic shows from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five — has now added another option to an ever expanding list.
Many, if not all of these streaming services, offer users free trials before payment starts being taken regularly.
James Daley, founder of consumer campaign group Fairer Finance, says companies should not use these trials to ‘trap people’.
He says: ‘It’s reasonable that people will want to try before they buy — and most of us are probably grateful for the chance to get that for free, or at a discounted rate.
‘Where it starts to edge into bad practice is when companies make it hard to cancel — giving you a million ways to sign up, but forcing you to pick up the phone and wait in line or to write a letter to cancel.’
If you were to subscribe to all the popular streaming services, you would be paying close to £1,000 a year.
Here, Money Mail details what is now on offer, how much it really could be costing you, and how you can cancel a subscription you no longer need.