Monday, July 25, 2011

Netflix and their new prices

Netflix is charging different prices for their services. Some folks are upset about this. Here's a link to the press release announcing the new plans.

The way I see it is that Netflix has a right to charge whatever they want and you have a right to choose whether to use their service. You can vote with your dollars. It doesn't matter how long you've been a "loyal" customer. You got what you paid for, or you would have quit.

You people who think it's "greedy" for companies to charge for their products and services certainly don't think it's greedy when the labor unions demand higher wages. You don't think it's greedy for the government to confiscate our money and our property to redistribute it to people who won't keep their pants zipped. Funny how you don't think it's greedy of you to keep your own money instead of giving it to Netflix.

18 comments:

  1. unsubscribe

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  2. Just as Netflix has a right to charge whatever they want, we have a right to complain if we think it is too high,

    "Funny how you don't think it's greedy of you to keep your own money instead of giving it to Netflix."

    This is one of the dumbest things I think I've ever read in my life.

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  3. It's "dumb" to use the word "greed" to describe a business decision. Netflix isn't being greedy if they raise prices to cover costs, and you're not being greedy if you quit Netflix in order to cut costs. I guess you're incapable of seeing in yourself the same thing you accuse Netflix of, which makes you a hypocrite.

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  4. Man, what a waste of a Blogspot name. There is never anything on this blog and when there is, it's this drivel. Unsubscribing right now.

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  5. Have to agree wit kewlfocus. Unsubscribing also.

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  6. Well, if Netflix can stand to lose a couple million subscribers, I guess I can afford to lose two.

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  7. I certainly don't think it's greedy of Netflix, but I do think it's surprising for a company that spent a million dollars encouraging innovation in their recommendation system to build their pricing scheme in a way that passes the most pain on to their most loyal customers, those who wish to maintain both disc- and streaming-based accounts. I understand that: a) postage is expensive and b) streaming deals are expensive and poised to get really, really expensive. But a customer with both types of service necessarily under-utilizes one when they're utilizing the other, and many companies, including the dreaded cable companies, offer bundling discounts for stuff like this.

    My wife and I reduced from 3 to 2 discs last year because we were under-utilizing that part of our plan. We really like the flexibility of 2 discs even though we watch discs far less than we stream. Now the price for 2+streaming is jumping back up (above?) what we were paying for 3+streaming. So we'll likely be reducing to 1+streaming, which is a reduction not just in quantity but flexibility of that product.

    I see nothing wrong with complaining when the effects of a price increase result (through consumers making their best informed choices) in an inferior product. The swipe at unions is a non sequitur at best, and the argument as a whole reminds me of the reaction by some online commenters to complaints about the MN Twins taking their games off of local broadcast tv: "why not get cable or go to a bar?" Because those choices aren't practical, and we don't have to like it.

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  8. I don't like them that much. I thin they are trying to screw us. This is why I like the new DVD releases 2011 that you can find at sites like http://www.filmcrave.com/dvd_new.php

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  9. Netflixfan, are you a loyal customer?

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  10. I am not a loyal customer, if by that you mean they owe me more than what I've paid for. I have found Netflix worth paying for for seven years. If I don't find it a good value, I'll quit, just like I quit Time-Warner cable seven years ago.

    Businesses reward loyalty when it costs more to find a new customer than to keep an old one. Netflix has achieved such market dominance that they can afford to lose customers. I say, lucky them.

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  11. Becky you are 100% dead on. good post

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  12. I could stomach the price hike much more if the news about Netflix losing all streaming Starz material didn't come right on the heels of the announced price hike. So now, not only is Netflix increasing the cost of their service to the tune of 60% depending on the service you subscribe to, it is also providing you with a greatly lessened library to stream from.

    Netflix has not raised prices in several years, so the price hike on its own doesn't really bother me. With the announcement about Starz content though, Netflix really needs to come out with something that can justify paying so much more while losing so much. Are they in negotiations with another company for streaming content? If not, then they may want to rethink their price hike.

    I doubt we have seen the end of people leaving Netflix. I will probably stay until we can no longer get Starz, but at that time if something has not changed I will probably be leaving, and I bet I won't be the only one.

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  13. I like your post. I think what you say is simple business. I don't mind paying the increase in price, but they better have a product to back it up. At this point, I am doubting they will be able to provide that with the news about Starz backing out of a renewal agreement. HBO and MAX both have online streaming tied to their subscriptions now. Google is looking at buying Hulu. I will be watching carefully at what Netflix does with this. I do believe the move to two websites is ridiculous and out of touch with what their clients want. The name Qwixter is beyond me. I certainly think that the board of directors should be scrutinizing this person's decisions.

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  14. I could stomach the price increase, and already have. I dropped from 2 discs down to one because I am also a TV fan, and the new TV season has started, but I still wanted to stream and watch DVD's.

    Now, I will have to make a decision, before the split happens. Having both was a killer service, but now that they are separate, and there is no integration between sites, I don't feel that the value is there for me anymore. I don't want to go to two sites to find out what to watch. This will likely mean the end of Streaming for me, as soon as I get through the que I have now. When I wanted to see a movie, I would look it up to see if it was available on streaming, if it was, I would watch it that way. They tout having 34,000 titles, but remember, each TV episode counts as a title. As it stands, 96% of the Netflix top 100 are not available to stream, so in what universe is streaming a substitute for DVD's? News for all of you, there are some titles on DVD that will NEVER stream, EVER. HBO is one example, and we are losing Starz next.

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  15. Here's an interesting detail. I recently told my mom to check her Netflix account to make sure what she was being charged for. She wrote back and asked, What is this streaming charge? She called Netflix and made sure that her subscription was changed to not include streaming video, but here's the catch: she uses the service to rent the occasional dvd, but isn't familiar with streaming, has never used it, doesn't know how to, and has no interest in doing so. Yet she was automatically charged for a service that she wasn't aware of.

    Netflix changed her subscription, of course, but even after she explained that she had never used streaming wasn't familiar with it, did they offer to refund her the month's charge? NO.

    That makes me wonder, how many millions of customers who still just use Netflix to rent dvd's, and don't use or have no interest in streaming video, were also charged for a service that they weren't aware of. And that's at what? $8 per customer? Per month? That's a lot of extra cash Netflix is raking in charging for a service that no one asked for, and I'm sure many don't even know about.

    Can anyone say Class Action?

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  16. Naturally, Netflix has offered an incomparable service from the time they started up to the most recent events when the company struggled to view the public opinion before making decisions. I have been a Netflix user/customer for over a year and a half and only have used the streaming part of my service. For the price I originally signed up for, the deal was great for unlimited movies every month. When Netflix announced the new pricing a larger part of me was disappointed because the price increase jumped so high at such a fast rate with little to no warning. After thinking, I do understand that costs to run the company and licensing costs that come from the streaming aspect. However, in the way the company handled the situation was just horrific and obviously did not reflect well on themselves and are still going to have to try to win back the angered customers they lost because of the poor decisions that were made. Hopefully they will come to their senses and begin to put their customers first once again.

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  17. Netflix is raising their prices again. The thing is that you don’t get as many benefits from Netflix that you could using the Blockbuster Movie Pass. New customers that sign up can get this free for 12 months. You get unlimited access to games, movies, and TV shows. This allows for streaming to a PC or TV. I use this as well, and I signed up at DISH Network where I work. Getting unlimited in-store returns with no late fees and no due dates is what does it for me. This gives me another 20+ channels to enjoy with my regular programming package. Get the best in home entertainment around with the DISH/Blockbuster Movie Pass combo.

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