So right after I signed up at the beginning of this year, they switched from HBOMax to "Max." I paid for a year in advance, and of course when I signed up there was nothing about them switching to a new brand. All of a sudden it was full of trash reality shows and ID Discovery true crime. I have no idea what possessed them to do that.
Then once it switched over I stopped being able to stream any new HBO shows on mobile and customer service won't refund me any amount. Not that I can even communicate with them effectively. It's all "chat" with AI or people who have no idea what I'm saying. Half the shows still won't play on mobile for me.
TL;DR I paid for a year of HBO. They changed their selection a few months in. I lost mobile access to a bunch of their shows. And now I'm losing even more features before the year is up. That's quite literally not what I paid for.
How exactly is any of that legal? Genuine question. What about the Federal Trade Commission? Isn't there fucking anybody regulating these corporations in the US?
Ask them for a refund, in writing, document everything, and if they refuse, take it to your state's AG office. Obviously I can't speak for every state, but mine has slapped around whirlpool when they refused to fix a defective fridge, dell when they refused to replace a monitor with dead pixels, etc. I've never had a bad experience. It's amazing how a letter from your local AG's office will suddenly make companies be less shitty to you.
How exactly is any of that legal? Genuine question. What about the Federal Trade Commission? Isn’t there fucking anybody regulating these corporations in the US?
There are government websites you can report this to, though I do not know what effect that will have.
IANAL, but my understanding is that if you paid for a year for a certain set of services they have to give you those services for the whole year, or refund you your money.
If you paid for a service you were not rendered, presumably with a credit card, and attempted remediation with the company, hopefully in writing or recorded in some form, you can do a charge back with your credit card.
I had purchased a year in advance last fall and when it switched over, it only didn't play on m9bile for me for a week, then I was able to stream on mobile regularly. However, with their changes, I chose not to renew my subscription. Their quality is degrading quite a bit, it was no longer worth it.