Do subscriptions make sense when you may not always get the product? Should we ban?

Every time I get an ad in the mail for Netflix I recall all the people I know who signed up. They got DVD fever for a while, stayed on the treadmill a couple of months, and then went for months without getting anything.
Same with people with gym memberships.
And if you sign up for the email or web interface on your cell phone.

Big for a month or two and then they just keep picking your pocket* for doing abslutely zero*

Why do these schemes exist? I would never buy into one.

Why call it a scheme? They’re offering a service. If you’re paying and not using it the fault is all yours. The company involved is in no way responsible for YOUR inaction.

Indeed.

I thought from the subject that this thread would be referring to cases where you didn’t get the product because of fraud, or because of some circumstances out of your control and the company’s (like if your magazines/DVDs get lost in the mail). But this is really a case of when you may not always want the product.

I subscribe to Netflix, and sometimes I’ll go two months without watching or returning the DVDs. It isn’t Netflix’s fault that I’m not getting as much value out of my subscription as I could be. If everyone always used their service to the full extent possible, they’d have to raise the subscription prices. As long as I watch one DVD a week on average, it’s still cheaper than going to the video store.

It’s not a scheme, it’s the most convenient consumer model available, and functionally, it’s no different that your phone, gas, electric, or water bill. Would you rather have to resubscribe to your phone service every month? Or would you prefer the company continue to bill you regularly until you tell them to stop? A gym membership is no different, except that it’s easier to stop going to the gym than, say, using electricity. If you stop going to the gym for several months, but keep paying the membership, you’re not being victimized by the gym. You’re being a dumbass. And I say this as someone who has not turned on his TV in two months, but keeps paying for cable.