So you paid for a $60/year Xbox Live Gold membership just to watch Netflix, ESPN or Hulu Plus, and now Microsoft is making those apps (and others) available to everyone, without a paid membership. And now you’re stuck paying for something that new users get for free?
Nope, turns out that’s not the case. As reported by Neowin, an Xbox Live FAQ outlines a new refund policy that will kick in when the apps come out from behind the paywall in June.
Once the Xbox One and Xbox 360 system updates become available in June, Xbox Live Gold members who purchased a paid membership before that day can cancel and receive a pro-rata refund of any unused remaining days between the date of cancellation and the date their paid Gold membership ends. Cancellation and pro-rata refund requests must be made by August 31, 2014 and require six to eight weeks for processing. Free or trial Gold memberships are not eligible for a refund. To request your pro-rata refund, please click http://support.xbox.com/contact-us after the system updates become available in June.
The decision to offer refunds could help the company avoid a backlash from longtime Xbox Live Gold users. Microsoft’s move to make Netflix and Hulu Plus available as part of its free plan was essentially forced by the widespread availability of those apps on other devices. Users also have to pay separately for those services.
