flight attendant treated herself to Netflix after four and a half years on the job, then a hotel TV told her it ‘can’t stream Netflix with ads’

Netflix has become the subject of criticism after hundreds of thousands of viewers saw Janaye Milligan (smallgirlbigcurls) vent about the streaming platform on Instagram. In the post’s caption, Milligan wrote to Netflix, saying she finally signed up so she could watch shows while traveling as a flight attendant. “Now in order to be able to use my Netflix account on certain smart TVs I have to UPGRADE to a different TIER?!”

In her video, Milligan told her viewers that she signed up for the most basic tier as a treat for herself after four and a half years of working as a flight attendant. She claimed that when she tried to log in to her hotel’s smart TV, she got an error message that said, “This device can’t stream Netflix with ads. Try streaming on another device or purchase your own ad-free plan.”

In frustration, she asked, “Why am I going to pay to have the ad-free version when the whole purpose of Netflix originally was to not have ads?” She then took a look at the TV and saw that it was an LG smart TV, grumbling, “LG, screw you too, because what in the heck is this?”

Many of her viewers felt like Netflix is no longer what it used to be

One user suggested that Netflix seemed to be forgetting why people turned from Blockbuster to it in the first place. The user wrote, “They are becoming the exact thing that they were trying to avoid.”

Netflix’s pricing has drawn legal challenges before, including a Rome court ruling that found Netflix lost a court battle over seven years of price hikes in Italy. Netflix has said it will appeal that decision.

Some viewers did try to give Netflix the benefit of the doubt and suggested that the issue might be the hotel’s hardware. One user noted, “Either an older tv that can’t be updated to a newer version of the Netflix app, or they could have firewalls on the network that make it so the ads don’t work correctly.” According to Netflix’s help center, a small percentage of devices can’t support its ad-supported plan because the Netflix app or the device’s operating system can’t be updated to a version that supports ads.

One user suggested that instead of logging in, Milligan should cast Netflix from her phone. However, Netflix says subscribers on an ad-supported plan can’t use a TV as a display for content playing on a mobile device, through either casting or mirroring. Other viewers suggested bringing her own streaming device, like a Roku or an Apple TV box, to plug into hotel TVs while she travels.

Quite a few users expressed dissatisfaction with Netflix and other streaming platforms. One user admitted that they no longer have Netflix, claiming that “they’re for real playing in our face. Don’t regret it.” Another user claimed that Netflix is “trash” right now and suggested a different platform: “Tubi has a way better line up than Hulu and Netflix combined and it’s free.”

Milligan was very clear about her feelings about the platform. As she wrote in her caption, “you all have lost your d–n minds.”

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify Netflix’s or LG’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from Milligan’s Instagram post.