I have a Netflix account and have for years. For the 2.5+ years I've been in the skids' life, I have shared my user name and PW with them so they could watch at their leisure on their computers, etc... I pay for it and it is not a shared household expense. It's never really been a problem other than it irks me that Netflix recommends shows for me that I'd hate based on skid usage. Oh and I have gotten pissy a few times when they've forgotten the password and interrupt our evening (usually really late) to text FDH and ask for it as if it is their god given right. Other than that, it's mostly fine.

My own son hasn't had the PW. He never really asked. He lives in apartment, has internet but no cable. I've offered it a few times and he never took me up on it. The other day I saw him and he said he wanted the PW so I gave it to him. He immediately ran to watch the entire Breaking Bad season as he's never watched it.

That night, I tried to watch something on it and got a message saying "There are two users currently logged into your account and you have reached the maximum".

So I told FDH to text his kids and find out who was on and ask them to get off. I knew my son was one of them. But since he hasn't been on it 24/7 like FDH's kids for the last 2+ years and JUST got it AND is my son and I pay for it, I was definitely not going to ask him to log off and I never will. In my mind, this is MY account and MY son gets precedence now.

FDH polled the kids and only one said they were on. FDH asked me if my son was on and I said "I assume so. He just got the PW the other day and he's watching a marathon these days". FDH was smart enough not to go there with me (I was fully prepared at that moment for a battle if he even HINTED that my son should log off). All I did say was "Perhaps it is time for BM to get her own Netflix account for her home".

So the one SD was on. I asked him if he told her to log off. He hadn't so he texted her again. 20 minutes go by and I still couldn't watch my show and she hadn't confirmed she logged off. Finally he called her (at my request) and she said she just closed out. Irritating.

Afterwards, I mentioned to him that I saw online (while trying to fix this issue) that there is a family plan where you can pay $4 more a month and have up to 4 users on at the same time. This funny conversation ensued (we were smiling the whole time):

FDH- Oh really? Only $4 more?! I'd be willing to pay that!

Me- Well, OK. How about you pay HALF of the full cost of the subscription?

FDH- OK. But wait, it's 11.99 total. Which one of us pays the 50 cents and which pays the 49? (he was basically teasing and giving me shit for drawing his attention to the fact that I've been carrying the whole thing-- like I am being stingy)

Me- Actually. You pay the 50 cents! In fact, let's look at this. You and your kids are 5 people. My son and I are two. Therefore, you should pay 5/7 of the bill. Plus I've been carrying it for almost three years on my own. And I pay for the Pandora. So let's see, add in the Pandora, carry the 1 and you owe me $8,000!!

It was quite funny and we were using humor to deal with a small issue that could've gotten sticky fast because it represents a lot more than just Netflix. But there was definitely a clear message from both of us. He obviously thought I was being petty somehow and I thought he should have been much more thankful that I've let his kids use it all the time without issue and was NOT going to get stuck with more than my fair share anymore, especially because the issue only came to light when MY OWN SON started using MY account.

I've seen a few posts on here over time complaining about Netflix issues with skids and other such things. It makes me laugh because it's really so funny how it isn't at all about Netflix. It's about having to share everything of ours with ungrateful people who don't even acknowledge that it is YOUR thing that is being shared nicely.