An Open Letter to Netflix: Don’t Confuse Familiarity With Loyalty

Dear Netflix,

You’ve been around long enough to feel like part of the furniture. For many South Africans, you were the first streaming service that made sense, the one that changed how evenings looked and weekends felt. You became a habit before you became a brand, and for a long time, that worked in your favour.

But familiarity is a fragile thing. When it’s taken for granted, it quietly turns into frustration.

And lately, that frustration has been growing.

We’re Noticing the Repeats

Let’s start with the most obvious thing. The catalogue feels tired. Not empty, not useless, just… recycled. Shows resurface with new thumbnails. Old content is relabelled, reshuffled, and quietly presented as something fresh. What once felt expansive now feels like the same room rearranged over and over.

South Africans are not passive viewers. We notice patterns. We notice when “new” doesn’t actually mean new. And when we’re paying month after month, we start asking whether the value is still matching the cost.

This isn’t about demanding endless content. It’s about honesty in how what already exists is presented.

We Understand the Streaming Game Has Changed

You are no longer the only option, and that’s not an insult. It’s just the reality of the market now. People rotate platforms. They subscribe for a season, cancel, try something else, and come back when something genuinely new appears.

This behaviour isn’t disloyal. It’s practical.

South Africans, in particular, are careful with recurring expenses. We constantly reassess what’s worth keeping and what can wait. Streaming services fall into that category naturally.

Which is why any resistance to that flexibility feels unsettling.

Making It Hard to Leave Is Not a Strategy

There is something deeply uncomfortable about a service that makes subscribing easy but leaving difficult. Whether it’s unclear processes, subtle friction, or the feeling that cancellation is being quietly discouraged, the result is the same.

It creates distrust.

South Africans do not like feeling trapped by service providers. We have a long history with contracts that promised freedom and delivered obligation. So when a modern digital platform starts behaving in a way that feels restrictive, alarm bells ring.

If people stay because it’s hard to leave, they’re not loyal. They’re resentful.

Resentment Is Expensive

A resentful customer still pays, but they don’t engage. They don’t recommend. They don’t defend your brand. They quietly look for alternatives and speak about their frustration in private conversations that carry far more weight than public complaints.

Netflix used to be something people spoke about with excitement. Lately, the tone has shifted. It’s less “you have to watch this” and more “there’s nothing new, but I’m still subscribed.”

That’s not the kind of loyalty you want.

We Don’t Need Everything to Be Perfect

South Africans are reasonable subscribers. We understand licensing issues. We understand production delays. We understand that not every month can be packed with must-watch content.

What we don’t understand is being treated as though we won’t notice when effort dips, prices rise, and flexibility shrinks.

Transparency goes a long way here. A quiet month explained honestly is far better than a loud month built on recycled promises.

Alternatives Are No Longer a Threat, They’re Normal

Competition used to feel theoretical. Now it’s practical. Other platforms are offering fresh content, local relevance, clearer subscription models, and, importantly, the freedom to come and go without resistance.

South Africans are pragmatic. If another service makes more sense for a few months, we’ll switch. Not out of spite, but out of logic.

Trying to prevent that behaviour instead of adapting to it suggests a misunderstanding of how modern consumers think.

Kindness Shouldn’t Be Mistaken for Complacency

South Africans are patient. We don’t cancel at the first sign of disappointment. We give platforms time to improve. We wait. We hope.

But patience is not endless.

When people start feeling ignored, underestimated, or quietly cornered, they don’t explode. They disengage. And disengagement is far harder to reverse than a loud complaint.

By the time frustration turns into action, the emotional decision has already been made.

Trust Is Built in the Exit Experience

How a company handles cancellation says more about its values than how it handles sign-ups. Making it easy to leave tells customers you trust your own value enough to let them decide freely.

South Africans respect that kind of confidence.

When leaving is smooth, people are far more likely to return. When leaving feels like a battle, they don’t come back out of principle.

You’re Still a Brand We Want to Like

This isn’t a dismissal. Netflix still holds a lot of goodwill here. There is history, habit, and genuine appreciation for what you once represented and can still be.

But goodwill is not permanent. It needs to be maintained with effort, honesty, and respect for how people actually use your service.

Don’t rely on inertia. Don’t lean on difficulty. Don’t assume familiarity will carry you forever.

This Is Feedback, Not a Threat

South Africans don’t issue ultimatums. We observe, we decide, and we move accordingly.

We want streaming services that respect our autonomy, our intelligence, and our right to choose freely. We want to feel that our monthly payment still makes sense, not just financially, but emotionally.

Because when a service stops feeling worth it, no amount of familiarity can save it.

And once we leave, we don’t usually announce it.

We just don’t come back.