NOW has been sending increase emails to subscribers to the streaming service in recent weeks, and at the same time we are receiving many emails notifying us of the increase also for users who have signed up for an offer that was supposed to be “forever”.
“Dear MayDay, with this email I intend to report a problem relating to the increase in the cost of my NOW subscription.
As you have already contested in the past, causing NOW itself to retrace its steps, I had signed up for an offer at €19.99/month “forever until cancelled”. However, I recently received an email from NOW informing me that starting from July 2024 the monthly price will go to €29.99, while maintaining a discount of €11.98/month.
I believe that this unilateral modification of the contractual conditions is not legitimate, as it violates the promise of an invariable price “forever” accepted by me at the time of signing the offer.
I would be grateful if you would take on my request and take appropriate action to enforce my consumer rights. I attach to this email a copy of the information received from NOW.
I look forward to your kind feedback and thank you in advance for your attention.” writes one of our readers, one of the many who wrote to us about the issue.
Indeed, last year NOW had also mistakenly raised prices for people who had signed up for a 19.99 euro subscription in 2021 that included everything and was advertised as “forever”. She had recognized that it was a problem and had returned.
This time we know that there is no error: in fact, it seems that NOW has decided to apply the terms of the contract to the letter, which the user has nevertheless accepted without discounts.
As you can read from the screen below, which dates back to the original offer, it is written that the user will pay 19.99 euros unless VAT changes, however, a few lines below, it is also written that the user to join to this offer accept the NOW terms of service.
In point 8 of the conditions there was this clause:
“Sky may periodically update prices and vary these General Conditions upon communication to the Customer or, if permitted by applicable law, through an information campaign on the nowtv.it website in the presence of justified reasons such as: legislative, regulatory changes, organizational, administrative, technical needs , variation of the contents offered, modification or modernization of the technical solutions for the provision of services, in the event of technological or IT developments, or in any case in the presence of events, of a particular or general nature, which are relevant with respect to the contractual services.”
In short, it seems that NOW had reserved (even if in the codicils of the general conditions, which no one ever reads) the possibility of apply the increase under certain conditions, and this time he exploited it.
One thing is certain: NOW has used the word “forever” in communication and this increase, although apparently foreseen by the General Conditions, is decidedly unsympathetic towards customers who have been subscribers continuously for at least three years.
Iliad, which has been promoting its “forever” rates for years, has a different approach to terms of service: “Iliad reserves the right to make changes to the Contract, including the economic conditions (with the express exclusion of those relating to offers explicitly applied “Forever”)”. In short, there are “forever” which mean forever; and “forever” meaning for a while. And it’s certainly not the first time this has happened.
