Well, this is awkward. A bunch of users who are purchasing the Chromecast with Google TV Netflix bundle are somehow receiving an extra six months of subscription time with the streaming service. First noticed by Artem Russakovskii, the founder of Android Police, checking the “Activity” tab of his Google Home app, he stumbled upon a code to claim the extra service time after having already done so through email.
The bundle comes with six months of Netflix in addition to a Chromecast with Google TV, Google’s new streaming dongle, and it costs $84.99 USD. Traditionally, the device costs just $49.99 USD, but with the service bundled it, you’re getting access to the popular on-demand movies and TV show platform. A ton of people went ahead and got this for themselves or their loved ones for Christmas, and while it’s being exploited by everyone who tried to take advantage of the bug, the bundle on the Google Store now shows that it’s no longer accessible.
Clearly, Google has taken notice already, as the exploit was discovered over 8 hours ago, and it’s unclear whether or not Netflix will revoke the extra 6 months when it becomes privy to the situation as well. As of right now, users are seeing their claimed subscription time double up on their Netflix account, so nothing has been done about it yet.
Anyone who did purchase the bundle before it became off-limits (it will likely be accessible again once the bug is resolved), have until March 1, 2022, to claim and process their initial and rightful 6 months, so that should give them plenty of time to settle down after the holidays and to get their heads around the new year. Let me know in the comments if you can still double dip on Netflix through email and the Google Home app. I wonder if the company will let anyone who was able to do this keep their bonus since it was a fluke on their part or on Google’s. It would be pretty awkward to just take it away after the fact, but they do have every right to do so, legally.
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