Rakuten VikiReviews of viki.com

There is no way to reach customer service the site states they don’t offer telephone customer service because they can better serve you via the internet. This is BS. Emailing from the app is almost impossible sometimes it takes almost a month for a reply when you email directly from your personal email. They don’t actually core t any of the issues you might have. I pay 10 dollars a month not much less than I pay for Netflix or prime I also have drama fever and Hulu but, this is the only subscription I have issues with. And customer servic is absolutely no help.

This has turned into my worst nightmare. I have done everything I can to get contact from these people. I have sent several messages through the help center, I have even tried calling a phone number that was listed in the withdrawels that they have been illegally taking out of my account. I am not a member I have not been for about a year now. After noticing that they continued to take out money from my account for a year, I went on their sight to confirm they had actually suspended my service. They did but continued to take money out. Beware! I even went on to their face book and tried that way. No success. Now I have to cancel my credit card.

The basic Viki Pass offering provides good entertainment value, but BE WARNED. Rakuten Viki has significant problems with its Viki Pass Plus access to Kocowa programming. If you encounter these problems, expect NO technical support. AND: Rakuten Viki WILL NOT refund your money. The problem: Kocowa programming stops streaming cleanly. The video stream is interrupted by successive stops as the system attempts to load the next bit into the buffer -- or something of the sort. The result is effectively impossible to watch. Rakuten Viki acknowledges this problem and has indicated that it has affected some other users. Rakuten Viki technical staff are apparently incapable of addressing this problem, which they claim is related to the DRM in the Kocowa content they merely relay. Rakuten Viki has indicated that there have been other -- difficulties... -- with the Kocowa product. It also appears Kocowa technical support is incapable of correcting the problem (attributed to their product by Rakuten Viki customer support staff), and blames the Windows operating environment; this is technobabble twaddle, as the programming is not touching the OS in any appreciable way. This problem does not affect non-Kocowa Rakuten Viki content. Since Rakuten Viki is unable to deliver the content, I have asked for my "Pass Plus" fee, beyond the basic Viki Pass fee, be refunded. Rakuten Viki has refused to do so. When asked to cancel my subscription altogether, and refund my money, Rakuten Viki has refused to do so. [After much back and forth, to the brink of Sending Nasty Snailmail, Viki arranged to cancel my PassPlus, and credit the difference to a plain Viki Pass account. It is a resolution of sorts. One could only wish the company had not dragged on making this better.]

Subtitling is a big problem. I cannot keep paying $10 per MO. Not close to Drama Fever.

I joined. I paid to be able to see with out ads. But a week later I couldn’t see anything. They had switched companies. I also dislike the fact that if you are not able to finish the episodes ( you have to go back to work ) the show doesn’t resume from where you left off. Also subs aren’t there upon release. So I canceled

I use to really like VIKI, I also didn't mind paying the ad-free subscription nor were the number of ads on the free subscription weren't that bad, however, they changed so I stopped paying the fee and now there are 4 ads like every 5 minutes. It's ridiculous. Personally, I think you might as well go to other free sites that have them pop-up ads.

It's gotten worse. I am a standard customer and the amount of content available to me has been reduced. Shows that were previously available are now locked. Also the subs are really not accurate, for those of you who rely on it. I've had to fix the translation for my friends several times. The site should hire people rather than use volunteers. They're charging more and giving substandard service.

The things I like: They have a great selection of dramas from various Asian countries. It's fun to be able to comment on the drama. That they have apps for different devices. The things I don't like: That they use only volunteers to sub, so shows take longer than most free sites. I find myself paying for the membership of Viki, but I often watch the shows on free sites just because they are released faster and the sub quality is the same. Which makes me wonder why I am paying for a service if it isn't superior. There really isn't any excuse not to pay subbers as Rakuten (who now owns Viki) operates Japan's biggest Internet bank and third-largest credit card company. It also offers e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications services to over 1 billion members around the world, and operates in 29 countries and regions. It is often referred to as "the Amazon of Japan". While it sucks the Kocowa service has been released so has increased the cost to access some shows, I know that is not Viki's fault. However, I really think Viki needs to understand that most consumers do not want to pay for the higher membership if that doesn't also come with faster subs. While I understood their platform before and the innovation behind it, now that Viki has been bought by Rakuten, Inc for $200 million dollars, and it has the new higher subscription service that costs the same as my Netlix each month, it doesn't make sense that they don't at least have paid subbers for the Kocowa shows and more popular shows. I think at a certain point the consumer thinks it's ridiculous to pay $10 for a service and the show not be translated upon release. While that wasn't the original aim of Viki, and subs are not in what Viki promises to its members, just saying they are going to face criticism for it because let's get real if the shows weren't subbed at all the amount of paid members would be very low.