Netflix Change...

[CigarNut]

My $11.99 Netflix plan (unlimited streaming, unlimited DVD/Blu Ray's one at a time) is changing. Starting in September it is going up to $17.98 -- $7.99 for DVD/Blu Ray one at a time, and $9.99 for streaming...

Guess I am going to drop the streaming for the time being... If they had a better/more current streaming selection I would keep it, but very limited titles makes it too expensive at this price...

[SvilleKid]

You get an e-mail about it? Just wondering if I need to check my (almost) dormant AOL email acct!

[hammondc]

The online browsing selection is GARBAGGIO! This will hurt them.

[hotreds]

I was miffed at getting this as well. For now, I'll keep both, but the streaming better improve- or my Roku better improve- or else I'll drop it.

[Starscream]

I like the streaming selection. Haven't heard about the price increase though. That sucks.:td


EDIT: I read an article saying that their facebook page is flooded with complaints, so maybe that will do something. A 60% increase is a joke.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/235627/netflix_users_protest_proposed_price_increases_wit h_social_media_firestorm.html

[markem]

I got the same thing. Looked at Blockbuster and they are no better. I like the streaming for shows. We are, for example, watching old episodes of Futurama while waiting on the DVD turnaround. Works for us.

The new price sucks. They obviously feel that they are in the driver's seat. The massive system-wide outage of streaming last week makes the timing look like they don't care one bit.

[elderboy02]

This sucks big time.. :td

[Zeuceone]

I dont see how they can increase the price. Anyone have experience with Hulu?

[SvilleKid]

In addition to the price increase that will drive me away, they keep monkeying with what is, and what is not available for streaming. One week, a movie is streaming, the next, it's not. Plus, too much older shows that ARE NOT streaming, but should be. A price increase would put their service out of my "need to have" category!

[hammondc]

In addition to the price increase that will drive me away, they keep monkeying with what is, and what is not available for streaming. One week, a movie is streaming, the next, it's not. Plus, too much older shows that ARE NOT streaming, but should be. A price increase would put their service out of my "need to have" category!

All of this.

[stumm729]

Almost a 200% change since last year. Terrible. I might drop the whole thing on principle.

[Ashcan Bill]

I got the email today. This is their second substantial price increase in less than a year. I'll dump the streaming part in a few weeks (once I finish watching the Battlestar Galactica series). The problem with their streaming service is there's nothing current on it. It's mainly older movies and productions, and even then it's pretty limited. Just not worth the added cost to me.

[Chainsaw13]

Got the email today too. Since I haven't streamed anything in months and barely watched the movies I have gotten, I may just drop it all together.

[jledou]

It will be interesting to see if the price increases are related to the bandwidth agreements or the content providers charging more.

[Ashcan Bill]

It will be interesting to see if the price increases are related to the bandwidth agreements or the content providers charging more.

A lot of these companies get caught up in painting an ever rosier picture to Wall Street in terms of growth and profit, and end up letting their accountants take over. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. :rolleyes:

[kelmac07]

NEWSFLASH: Greedy CEO runs company to the ground with decision.

First the offer a great service at a great price, put Blockbuster out of business, and run a HUGE membership drive, then raise the prices...:td :td :td

[Gargoyle]

I'll be dropping the streaming as well. Very limited availability and I get more options as part of my free on demand movies with my cable company.

[jledou]

BTW - I do the streaming only as it works great with the limited selection for my 6 year old and the price for it did not increase...yet.

[GreekGodX]

NEWSFLASH: Greedy CEO runs company to the ground with decision.

First the offer a great service at a great price, put Blockbuster out of business, and run a HUGE membership drive, then raise the prices...:td :td :td

They really don't have competition anymore.. Once Blockbuster started closing I had a feeling Netflix would raise their pricing.

However it is understandable considering just for them to expand their digital library they will pay a ton just for licensing.

[PeteSB75]

The email I got said the unlimited streaming was going up to 7.99 a month, with the 2 DVD/Bluray I have currently at 14.99. This does wind up being a $5 increase over what I am paying now. I've been a netflix customer since 2003 and I've no plans to change that now. Their customer service has always been helpful whenever I've had a problem and that is worth the price of entry for a product I use.

I think this is based more on the fact that they are being charged more for the digital streaming rights by the content providers. When they started streaming, they were the only game in town and could dictate prices. Now there are several more (Amazon, Hulu), with additional players getting into the business as well, and the studios feel they can get more money.

[Apoco]

However it is understandable considering just for them to expand their digital library they will pay a ton just for licensing.

Exactly. Am I happy that prices are raising? Nope - it hurts my bottom line.

But at the same time I can understand from a business standpoint why it is necessary. The price to expand their digital streaming service is ballooning quickly as companies realize there's a lot of money to be made from it.

I personally dumped the disc service and stuck with streaming. I like their back catalogue of TV shows.
Posted via Mobile Device

[mmblz]

My $11.99 Netflix plan (unlimited streaming, unlimited DVD/Blu Ray's one at a time) is changing. Starting in September it is going up to $17.98 -- $7.99 for DVD/Blu Ray one at a time, and $9.99 for streaming...

Guess I am going to drop the streaming for the time being... If they had a better/more current streaming selection I would keep it, but very limited titles makes it too expensive at this price...

Funny, I just the same email, and I'm thinking of dropping DVDs and keeping streaming since I've been finding so much streaming stuff recently. Sure, not a ton of new releases, but plenty of stuff from a year or two ago that I haven't seen yet. Lots of TV shows. Lots of stuff that isn't quite as mainstream like Documentaries. Relative to a year or two ago, the streaming selection has increased exponentially. I don't think I've watched an actual DVD for a month or so.

But yeah the sudden increase does suck.

[BeerAdvocate]

In addition to the price increase that will drive me away, they keep monkeying with what is, and what is not available for streaming. One week, a movie is streaming, the next, it's not. Plus, too much older shows that ARE NOT streaming, but should be. A price increase would put their service out of my "need to have" category!

I read an article on CNN yesterday about this.
The reason is Studio's, like Sony dictate that once a certain amount of people have downloaded a particular movie, then it must be removed.
Its in their contract with Netflix, and we are going to start seeing this more and more. Here is the article if you are interested:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm

[hscmit]

If the reason for the increase is the production companies holding their feet to the fire why dont tell their customers that? The email I received states that they are "lowering" cost by separating streaming (now 7.99) and dvd rental (now also 7.99) so 15.98 is now lower than 9.99. Thanks netflix

[MajorCaptSilly]

I'm hoping this change will increase their streaming options. I switched to streaming only and am returning the DVDs I've had for 6 months.


MCS

[AD720]

I dumped the DVDs a while ago...streaming only now and Red Box or On Demand for new releases.

[shilala]

I get one dvd at a time and streaming.
There's been tons of stuff online and in the newspaper about Netflix hogging ISP's resources, and everyone wanting to get a taste. My guess is that this move is to satiate some of that.
I use Netflix streaming constantly, and there's always a dvd here, so we definately get our money's worth. I can't imagine we'd stop using it. We have Time Warner and their lineup of On Demand stuff is lousy. If I had Comcast's On Demand I wouldn't even have Netflix.

[neoflex]

I got this yesterday too and am kind of pissed about the increase and will probably drop the streaming as their streaming selection leaves little to be desired. I am also contemplating dropping them altogether since Redbox for the amount of movies we watch is cheaper and just as convenient since my closest box is less than 2 miles away. I personally think it's a bad move for them especially since they don't offer anything new on their streaming portion. We only use the Streaming for our daughter but with Nick and Disney being Free on Demand even that has been getting used less.

[CigarNut]

My son works in their call center -- they were really busy yesterday :rolleyes:

[CigarNut]

Funny, I just the same email, and I'm thinking of dropping DVDs and keeping streaming since I've been finding so much streaming stuff recently. Sure, not a ton of new releases, but plenty of stuff from a year or two ago that I haven't seen yet. Lots of TV shows. Lots of stuff that isn't quite as mainstream like Documentaries. Relative to a year or two ago, the streaming selection has increased exponentially. I don't think I've watched an actual DVD for a month or so.

But yeah the sudden increase does suck.I really like the streaming but the shows we really want to see are not there (yet?). I also like the first-run DVDs so we can see stuff at home and not have to wait ages...

I am sure that they are trying to expand their catalog, but I have been waiting a long time...

I can use my Roku box to download from other sources -- may have to give Amazon a try...

[Tyler]

I agree that this is upsetting. Especially since they did a slight raise last year by a dollar I thought they would slowly up it that way instead of a giant leap for those of us with both DVD and streaming plans. Now, the price is lowered for unlimited DVDs with one out but the price before included streaming so it's not actually cheaper. I will probably have to end up canceling the DVD out and going to streaming only. Maybe that is what they want though. So they save money on mailing and have enough to pay the studios, etc.

[shilala]

I really like the streaming but the shows we really want to see are not there (yet?). I also like the first-run DVDs so we can see stuff at home and not have to wait ages...

I am sure that they are trying to expand their catalog, but I have been waiting a long time...

I can use my Roku box to download from other sources -- may have to give Amazon a try...
We use Redbox for all the stuff we really want to see. I can even reserve the movies. There's two of those machines within just a couple miles, so it makes it really cheap, easy and convenient. Even if we forget to return it the next day it still only costs 2 bucks. Way cheaper than the $5.00 and $8.00 titles available on the tv. :tu

[SNKBYT]

In addition to the price increase that will drive me away, they keep monkeying with what is, and what is not available for streaming. One week, a movie is streaming, the next, it's not. Plus, too much older shows that ARE NOT streaming, but should be. A price increase would put their service out of my "need to have" category!

agreed, will be dropping before next billing cycle

anyone try RED BOX?

[neoflex]

agreed, will be dropping before next billing cycle

anyone try RED BOX?


Red Box is good and cheap. DVDs are 1.00 and Blu-Ray is 1.50. For the 3 or 4 movies we watch a month after some thought this morning I think I am really leaning toward just dropping Netflix completely unless they improve their streaming game by end of the month.

[Sawyer]

I am thinking about dropping them too. I was just billed so I am going to hold onto it for another couple weeks since they won't refund partial months. Maybe I will change my mind by then, but I have been using it less recently so I probably will still drop.

[pektel]

I use red box all the time. The girlfriend is constantly getting coupon codes for rentals, so we either pay nothing, or 53 cents. At 1 or 2 movies a week (one for us, one for the kid), well, you can see the savings...

[mariogolbee]

Will content be changing? If so, that may have an impact on price. I know that a friend of mine told me a year ago that Netflix was supposed to start having even new releases available for streaming right away. Also, there was supposed to be an agreement with Nintendo for streaming 3D movies to the new 3DS. I'm not sure if that means 3D will be available for streaming for everyone or not.

I'm actually happy with the new selection.

[Tyler]

I believe this price change doesn't start until September 1st. So we have one billing cycle in-between.

[markem]

The in-laws use Amazon Prime, which has streaming. They like it and use it a lot, but also use netflix, so I don't think that they have a sense of one over the other. Anyone here use the Amazon service as your only streaming source?

I need to price the multi-DVD service for netflix, since several things that we are watching have multiple episodes per DVD, that would be equivalent to the streaming service plus one DVD. If the multi DVD is a better price, we'll likely drop the streaming soon.

If anyone comes across any trade rags or other good source discussing the motivations for the new pricing model, I'd appreciate you posting a link here. I'll do the same. A 60% price increase in one shot is unbelievable to me, unless they think that they have a captive market.

[N2 GOLD]

I know RED-BOX is everywhere out here. They are the reason my Video store dropped the price of DVD from $2.50 to a $1 & BLU-RAY from $4 to $2.50 & I've been a member at this Video place since 1996 when it was all VHS & just a few DVD's. They also get all the new releases about two weeks before the release date which is SWEET IMO. :tu

I did the Netflix thing for awhile but did not like the fact that everything I wanted was always out. This was a few years ago things may have changed. I'm old skool & sticking to the Video place 2-mins from the house. -(P

[baddevildog82]

They are planning to really increase their streaming services and eventually cut out the shipping of DVD's and go to all streaming. It makes sense, but only if they can get new releases streaming. I am canceling my service. Not because of this change, just because we don't get our moneys worth because we aren't watching enough DVD's/Streamed programing.

[357]

The email I got said the unlimited streaming was going up to 7.99 a month, with the 2 DVD/Bluray I have currently at 14.99. This does wind up being a $5 increase over what I am paying now. I've been a netflix customer since 2003 and I've no plans to change that now. Their customer service has always been helpful whenever I've had a problem and that is worth the price of entry for a product I use.

I think this is based more on the fact that they are being charged more for the digital streaming rights by the content providers. When they started streaming, they were the only game in town and could dictate prices. Now there are several more (Amazon, Hulu), with additional players getting into the business as well, and the studios feel they can get more money.

From an IT guy, I understand that to allow streaming and expect good performance for thousands or millions of customers must cost a pretty penny.

From a customer, I don't want to pay more, but for me it's $5. I have 3 DVDs and streaming for $20. I believe it will be $25. Sucks, but not the end of the world.

[agctribefan]

I use the streaming almost every day. I don't like it when they just drop full things from the streaming though. I had almost finished the first season of Dexter, and then it was gone. All episodes, not just the first season. In the last two weeks they have really dropped the amount of stuff on the streaming. I really don't want to drop the service but I may be forced to drop it.

[Mr B]

That just BLOWS. We just dumped Blockbuster because the $20 / mo we were paying does not include any streaming. We were going to go to the $10 Netflix.
Screwed either way!!

[BigCat]

I'll drop the streaming content until they announce that it is being beefed up. It is a nice backup feature, but the interface isn't user friendly - I have to sift through a bunch of crap to find something worth watching - and the titles are too limited. DVDs will do for now.

[markem]

Yahoo News has this article.

http://news.yahoo.com/netflix-raises-rates-irks-subscribers-040622824.html

Looks like Netflix is staying quiet on their reasons. I like the whopping $0.53 increase in share price. :lr

[Chainsaw13]

I cancelled my streaming service last night and am thinking about dropping it all together. Just need to send back the DVD's I currently have at home. Looking through my queue, there's nothing on there I HAVE to see. If there is, I can always go to a Redbox. Like a commentor posted on the yahoo article, if the streaming was in good quality video and 5.1 sound, I would think of staying with that. But I didn't spend good money on a TV/home theater setup to watch standard def, 2 channel sound broadcasts.

[jsnake]

We canceled ours a little while back. The streaming selection sucks unless you like movies from the 70's and 80's. We were still using Redbox to get new releases. At first it was great but once you watch all the current new releases available you are stuck waiting for more. Not sorry we left already.

[CigarNut]

Color me surprised. According to my son (work's in Netflix's call center) most of the people calling in about this are not angry -- just asking for instructions regarding how to change their service to make sure that the continue to get both DVD's and streaming...

[MrsSledn]

The streaming online has been $7.99 since early this year when they changed their services. I canceled the DVD portion of the service and just kept my streaming, then, because they upped the amount.

[coffeemonkey]

Someone asked about Hulu. I think it sucks. It is chocked full of ads and many of the shows I want to watch (Justified, Southland) either aren't available or are only available watching via the web, I can't stream it through my xbox. I don't want to sit in front of the computer, I want to sit on my couch.

Right now there isn't one service that does all movies and TV shows well. Netflix has been the best option among poor options, in my opinion if you get both DVD's and streaming. Now that they've raised their prices I'll reevaluate whether they are still the best option.

At the end of the day consumers want content on demand on their schedule. The movie/TV rights holders don't want to give that to us because it harms their current revenue model (ads). So, until the rights holders start treating their customers well, we will be stuck with a few options, none of them that good.

[Sawyer]

I just changed my subscription to streaming only from 3 DVDs/streaming. I will go with Redbox for any new releases that I just can't wait to hit the movie channels.

[LasciviousXXX]

Just an FYI for all those using Redbox for new releases. There is a program called Vudu (http://www.vudu.com/) which streams brand-spankin' new releases they day the hit shelves, redboxes, etc. However the clincher is that they stream in full 1080p and 5.1 surround sound :tu Its a good $2 more than Redbox but its worth it for me to start streaming instantly and not have to worry about returning it late etc.

I use it often :xxx

[Sawyer]

Thanks Týr. Two bucks is still way cheaper than Comcast charges for on demand new releases.

[CigarNut]

Just an FYI for all those using Redbox for new releases. There is a program called Vudu (http://www.vudu.com/) which streams brand-spankin' new releases they day the hit shelves, redboxes, etc. However the clincher is that they stream in full 1080p and 5.1 surround sound :tu Its a good $2 more than Redbox but its worth it for me to start streaming instantly and not have to worry about returning it late etc.

I use it often :xxxThis could be really cool -- I will have to check and see if it works with my Roku box...

[markem]

Some interesting information on the back story

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/07/15/how-the-movie-studios-caused-netflixs-problems/

[CigarNut]

Some interesting information on the back story

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/07/15/how-the-movie-studios-caused-netflixs-problems/Now things are making sense! Thanks for the update Mark.

[dave]

Figured a big bump in price would be coming, but I didn't expect 100%. However, I expected it to be caused by those owning the highways that are or will be getting choked. I'm sure that Netflix will continue to raise the rates on my rental vehicle and Cox will continue to raise the cost of the gas and tolls. At some point I'll cry uncle - but not quite yet.

[CigarNut]

One can hope that with the increase in price Netflix will be able to procure more content for streaming...

[neoflex]

Just an FYI for all those using Redbox for new releases. There is a program called Vudu (http://www.vudu.com/) which streams brand-spankin' new releases they day the hit shelves, redboxes, etc. However the clincher is that they stream in full 1080p and 5.1 surround sound :tu Its a good $2 more than Redbox but its worth it for me to start streaming instantly and not have to worry about returning it late etc.

I use it often :xxx

Does it work with Roku? If it does I may have to look at going that route since the BluRay only Streams Netflix and Pandora.

[forgop]

Closed my Netflix account today. Streaming options leave a lot to be desired and I've had the same DVD for at least 3 months now. Just not using it...too busy with school.

[Starscream]

Some interesting information on the back story

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/07/15/how-the-movie-studios-caused-netflixs-problems/

I've heard about this, Mark, but I'm not sure I buy it 100% It sounds like the same line the cable companies throw out each year about the rising cost of cable.

Still, there's some truth to it. The distributors such as Paramount, Sony, and the other big names are greedy (see theater prices these days) and the ISPs are aggravated with Netflix as well.

[Tyler]

I've heard about this, Mark, but I'm not sure I buy it 100% It sounds like the same line the cable companies throw out each year about the rising cost of cable.

Still, there's some truth to it. The distributors such as Paramount, Sony, and the other big names are greedy (see theater prices these days) and the ISPs are aggravated with Netflix as well.

I agree with you and theater prices around here are insane. The closest theater to me charges $11 for a single showing. :td I can imagine it is the same thing with Netflix. As the distributors see how well Netflix is doing they start wanting a bigger and bigger piece of the pie.

[neoflex]

I've heard about this, Mark, but I'm not sure I buy it 100% It sounds like the same line the cable companies throw out each year about the rising cost of cable.

Still, there's some truth to it. The distributors such as Paramount, Sony, and the other big names are greedy (see theater prices these days) and the ISPs are aggravated with Netflix as well.

I have a tough time believing that is the case too simply because of the lackluster selection offered on streaming. The movie companies should be excited that people are willing to watch a lot of the old and outdated movies. If Netflix made new releases available at the same time as the DVDs I would be happy to keep them but that just has not been the case.

[bcasey03]

dropped em as soon as I got the email. Seems bad business to raise prices on existing members.

[irratebass]

Think I will keep the streaming and discontinue the "to my door." Really sucks though, have been a customer for over 6 years or so.

[WittyUserName]

I dropped them when I deployed. I could not figure out for the life of my how to change my address to an APO. Turns out all you have to to is call. Oh well.....who wants to wait 10 days between movies anyways.

[Apoco]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/19/netflix-spins-dvd-by-mail-service-off-into-qwikster-says-its/

Netflix is splitting streaming and DVD into 2 separate companies. I think it will al be OK in the end...but as a stock holder this makes me nervous.
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[replicant_argent]

http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/explanation-and-some-reflections.html?lnktrk=EMP&g=44A659AFA41300463A4C413F79DCF8B10AC0315E&lkid=netflixBlog
A hollow "apology" and what appears to be a lovely piece of misdirection that would work at an 8-year olds magic show.

[elderboy02]

http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/explanation-and-some-reflections.html?lnktrk=EMP&g=44A659AFA41300463A4C413F79DCF8B10AC0315E&lkid=netflixBlog
A hollow "apology" and what appears to be a lovely piece of misdirection that would work at an 8-year olds magic show.

Yeah, I got that e-mail. If they are so sorry, they should lower their prices :td

[irratebass]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/19/netflix-spins-dvd-by-mail-service-off-into-qwikster-says-its/

Netflix is splitting streaming and DVD into 2 separate companies. I think it will al be OK in the end...but as a stock holder this makes me nervous.
Posted via Mobile Device


This is crap, i'm done with em as soon as I finish the sopranos and boston legal heh.

[Ashcan Bill]

Funny they suddenly send out an "I'm sorry" email this morning. I'm sure the fact their stock has dropped close to 50% has nothing to do with it. :rolleyes:

[Mikess]

Don't use them enough as it is, this gave me a reason to cancel the subscription this morning.

I do find it funny that they changed the name of the disc rental and used netflix for the streaming.

[skullnrose]

They probably changed the name of the DVD rental because of all the existing devices used for streaming already stating Netflix ready and such. I dropped the DVD section of my plan and am about to drop the Streaming as well. I have a Amazon prime account and find nearly all the streaming content I'm looking for in Amazons free streaming content. A price increase without the service really changing for the better is never a good thing for the consumer.l

[irratebass]

They probably changed the name of the DVD rental because of all the existing devices used for streaming already stating Netflix ready and such. I dropped the DVD section of my plan and am about to drop the Streaming as well. I have a Amazon prime account and find nearly all the streaming content I'm looking for in Amazons free streaming content. A price increase without the service really changing for the better is never a good thing for the consumer.l

Tell me more about this Amazon prime thing. Pm if you want

[shilala]

I dropped the dvd shipping option, and I'm also ready to drop the streaming option. I use streaming a lot, so it's a tougher choice.
We're looking at changing from cable to directv, and if we make that move, we'll definately drop Netflix.
I got the email as well. I thought it was too little too late. It just put an exclamation point on how poorly they handled everything.

[Skywalker]

For those who may not have received an email apology and want to know the scope of what is happening with Netflix:

Blog (http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/explanation-and-some-reflections.html?lnktrk=EMP&g=F94321DB98C6E5EF73095C622D8019B00AC0315E&lkid=netflixBlog)

Doesn't sound like the old prices will be restored (kind of ambiguous)... "we’re done with that!"

[irratebass]

Wow that feeback on that blog is awesome! People just blasting them (as well as they should be)

[357]

I'm pretty bummed about the whole thing. I use both the DVD and streaming. If all the content I wanted was available for streaming that's all I'd use. I've chatted with a few of our Canadian inmates who said they never had the DVD option, AND, they can stream stuff we can't since the DVD's are not available to them.

I'm sure they've witheld some streaming content from US audiences for bandwidth/performance reasonses.

Also, I know that they are being sued by the big boys (RIAA I believe) for breaching their distribution agreements. Streaming and DVD in the same pool caused for a lot of legal gray area. I think this is the primary motivation behind the switch. It sucks for us end users of course.

[dave]

I'm pretty bummed about the whole thing. I use both the DVD and streaming. If all the content I wanted was available for streaming that's all I'd use....


Same here. Was going to just tuff it out, pay the extra and evaluate the value a little later. But, the email was BS -- the separation of billing sucks, and the separation of queue sites really blows big chunks. That's the last straw for me. The bundled price was attractive in the past, and the bundled interface was enough to keep it around a bit. No more.

[SvilleKid]

Same here. Was going to just tuff it out, pay the extra and evaluate the value a little later. But, the email was BS -- the separation of billing sucks, and the separation of queue sites really blows big chunks. That's the last straw for me. The bundled price was attractive in the past, and the bundled interface was enough to keep it around a bit. No more.

Already shot themselves in the left testicle. Now they have put a round thru their right one. I'm guessing now they have their gun pointing at that appendage in-between, just waiting to pull the trigger!

Two sites, no cross coordination? Netflix is setting it up so they can easily sell off the dvd side at a later (sooner??) date. They promise more, better future content, but they haven't delivered in the past, so that just sounded like "blah, blah, blah" to me!

Thanks for the blog site! I didn't get the e-mail, so I guess I'm not really that important to them after all!!

Sorry, rant over!

[mkarnold1]

I lost about $2000 in netflix stocks over the last couple weeks... Guess I should have unloaded it when it was up. If I hadn't been paying attention to school and my kids I may have read that story earlier and realized how stupid that idea is...

[mkarnold1]

I still realized a 330% profit, but still...

[mithrilG60]

Already shot themselves in the left testicle. Now they have put a round thru their right one. I'm guessing now they have their gun pointing at that appendage in-between, just waiting to pull the trigger!

Two sites, no cross coordination? Netflix is setting it up so they can easily sell off the dvd side at a later (sooner??) date.

The amount of streaming content Netflix currently offers may weak, and you guys down south have about 1000 fold more streaming content than we do in Canada, but they correct in one thing: physical media like DVD is a dying medium for mass content distribution. I personally see splitting the business off now while the investment in the DVD side is at it's highest (DVD?? seriously? standard def?) makes a lot of sense so that it doesn't drag down the bottom line of the streaming business once it starts to die.

That said, I'm neither a Netflix shareholder or subscriber so my opinion is just that of a mildly interested outsider observer.

[bvilchez]

Received an e-mail from them yesterday stating that they know that I left but wanted to inform me that Qwikster will not be and that the price change had to happen. REALLY!?!?
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[ktblunden]

I got the email as a current subscriber. I've only had streaming only, so none of this has affected me at all, but I have to laugh my ass off at the arrogance this company has displayed. The CEO sent out an email to all subscribers basically saying, "This is what's happening, deal with it. Also, now it's two companies." Now they send out an email basically saying, "So from the flood of people quitting we see that you may be upset. Forget about the whole second company thing. We're still gonna charge you extra, though."

I'll take a serious look at Blockbuster's service as soon as it's available on the PS3 like Netflix is.

[mariogolbee]

I got that email. I changed from blu-ray and streaming to just streaming. I'd quit altogether, but I can stream Netflix on my Mac, laptop, iPod touch, 360, blu-ray player, and 3DS. I can't do all of that with Blockbuster, Amazon Prime, or Hulu. Netflix has enough Star Trek alone to keep me busy for the next year. For the price of one season of Trek I can get them all for a year streaming on a boatload of devices. Why would I change services now?

[mithrilG60]

I got that email. I changed from blu-ray and streaming to just streaming. I'd quit altogether, but I can stream Netflix on my Mac, laptop, iPod touch, 360, blu-ray player, and 3DS. I can't do all of that with Blockbuster, Amazon Prime, or Hulu. Netflix has enough Star Trek alone to keep me busy for the next year. For the price of one season of Trek I can get them all for a year streaming on a boatload of devices. Why would I change services now?

This is exactly what they're banking on, and they are quite correct that physical media is a dying business model compared to streaming content. The physical media side of their business (DVD & BluRay) will probably be killed off entirely within a year or two due to lack of profitability. Personally I can't imagine why you'd ever want the hassles of dealing with DVD's and BluRay's anyway. It's so much easier and more convenient to just stream and/or download everything. Hell, I bought my BluRay player over 2 years ago now and still have yet to put a disc (DVD or BluRay) in it. In fact I'm not even sure if it works :r The next time I take apart the entertainment console it's just getting pulled out and sold full stop.

[ktblunden]

This is exactly what they're banking on, and they are quite correct that physical media is a dying business model compared to streaming content. The physical media side of their business (DVD & BluRay) will probably be killed off entirely within a year or two due to lack of profitability. Personally I can't imagine why you'd ever want the hassles of dealing with DVD's and BluRay's anyway. It's so much easier and more convenient to just stream and/or download everything. Hell, I bought my BluRay player over 2 years ago now and still have yet to put a disc (DVD or BluRay) in it. In fact I'm not even sure if it works :r The next time I take apart the entertainment console it's just getting pulled out and sold full stop.

I will be a lot more satisfied with Instant if they expand their library. 75% of the stuff I want to watch and search for is DVD only. I deal with what they have currently, and since they jacked up the price on the DVD service I won't be adding that any time soon, but I've seen titles drop off my Instant Queue as they become no longer available and haven't seen a lot of new stuff added.

[forgop]

Local video store I drove by this afternoon had their sign say "cancel netflix and get $5 in free rentals". Very much of this will kill netflix.

[replicant_argent]

Local video store I drove by this afternoon had their sign say "cancel netflix and get $5 in free rentals". Very much of this will kill netflix.

Yeah, if all 56 local independent video stores across the nation put pressure on amazon, itunes, hulu, vudu, blockbuster, and netflix, they will cause a sting like sandpaper on a callous.

[MajorCaptSilly]

yeah, if all 56 local independent video stores across the nation put pressure on amazon, itunes, hulu, vudu, blockbuster, and netflix, they will cause a sting like sandpaper on a callous.

57

mcs

[replicant_argent]

57

mcs

I didn't count the one that only carries the foreign films involving whipped cream and shaved llamas. Too specialized.

[357]

I will be a lot more satisfied with Instant if they expand their library. 75% of the stuff I want to watch and search for is DVD only. I deal with what they have currently, and since they jacked up the price on the DVD service I won't be adding that any time soon, but I've seen titles drop off my Instant Queue as they become no longer available and haven't seen a lot of new stuff added.

This is key. Bandwidth and distribution costs are why more content isn't available for streaming. It sucks because I think most of us would drop the mail service if streaming content had half of what is available via DVD/BR.

[Resipsa]

57

mcs

58 if you're counting the one my Aunt Enis just started out of her living room. She finally got the settlement check from Uncle Myron being maimed in that exploding tube of Preparation H incident.:banger

[Apoco]

This is key. Bandwidth and distribution costs are why more content isn't available for streaming. It sucks because I think most of us would drop the mail service if streaming content had half of what is available via DVD/BR.

More importantly - licensing fees. Starz wouldn't accept the insane dollar amounts (~$200 million for a single year IIRC) for Netflix to obtain the right to stream content. They can't afford everything and/or the entities aren't willing to sell the rights to Netflix.
Posted via Mobile Device

[357]

More importantly - licensing fees. Starz wouldn't accept the insane dollar amounts (~$200 million for a single year IIRC) for Netflix to obtain the right to stream content. They can't afford everything and/or the entities aren't willing to sell the rights to Netflix.
Posted via Mobile Device

That's what I meant by distribution costs, aka paying the movie distributors for the right to offer it via streaming.

[Starz26]

If you do cancel, make sure it is the last day of your billing cycle. No refunds and no partial credit and cancellation is immediate.

I was billed and then I realized I forgot to cancel, so the next day I logged on and canceled. I had 1d of the billing cycle and then no longer had access and not refund. If I signed back up for the month they were going to charge me again.

I finally got a refund when I asked for a copy of my agreement, not what is online, but what was when I signed up, and the address for a summons. They could not provide the agreement and gave me a refund...

My fault for not reading fine print, but shady on their part to just keep money without providing the service paid for.

[Blak Smyth]

What ever happened with this? Did you all drop Netflix?
I am thinking about getting rid of cable and just getting Netflix but not sure if they would have enough content to satisfy my needs.

[hotreds]

I've kept both for the time being. Nice to be able to sit down and watch something streaming. My queue is 150 titles long!

[mkarnold1]

I still have streaming. Watching Ancient Aliens right now...

[LasciviousXXX]

I ended up dropping after being a Netflix user since late '04. It was a sad day.....

For me, streaming was really nice but the reason I loved Netflix in the first place was the amount of foreign and hard to find titles that they had on hand. I'm a big fan of very esoteric Japanese films and surprisingly they had them all. The charges for both physical and streaming plans was ridiculous IMO.

[McSmokey]

I kept the streaming canceled the mail portion

[CigarNut]

I have both instant and DVD, 3 DVDs; I had instant and one DVD before. I had to upgrade to 3 DVDs in order to have more than one simultaneous instant stream so my son, who is in college could also use the streaming.

[Starscream]

I still have streaming but don't watch it much anymore. I dropped the DVD service, but like Tyr said, I liked it b/c there was a lot of hard to find stuff that Netflix has available.

[dave]

When they backed off on separating the sites I decided to stick around a while. Still reevaluate periodically. Now doing some hard thinking about switching to Amazon Prime - I'm assuming that zon will get their streaming library competitive - like the ebook rental and cheap shipping.....still undecided

[LasciviousXXX]

I have an Amazon Prime account Dave (it came with my .edu email address). Its pretty decent but IMO nowhere near as robust as Netflix was. Obviously Netflix has the jump on them by several years but we shall see where it goes.

[Starscream]

I have both instant and DVD, 3 DVDs; I had instant and one DVD before. I had to upgrade to 3 DVDs in order to have more than one simultaneous instant stream so my son, who is in college could also use the streaming.

I don't receive the DVD service anymore, and I can get two or more streams at the same time here. I'm only paying the basic rate. You might want to look into that, something doesn't sound right to make you pay for the three DVD plan.

[mkarnold1]

We just have the basic streaming package and can use both the xbox and wii to stream at the same time as well.

[Hem]

Dropped the 1 at a time plus free streaming after they got cute and tried to charge for both. Now we have 2 at a time and make them pay dearly for it. We make it so it's about the same price as Redbox, we watch a lot of movies lol (plus we get to watch old movies like Godfather, Casablanca, ect)

[macsauce13]

I use streaming for 7.99/month. Love it.

[CigarNut]

I don't receive the DVD service anymore, and I can get two or more streams at the same time here. I'm only paying the basic rate. You might want to look into that, something doesn't sound right to make you pay for the three DVD plan.
I want to get at least one DVD so I can see some of the new stuff. On the DVD+Streaming plans you cannot have multiple simultaneous streams until you are on at least 3 DVDs. I found this out the hard way... The difference in price for me is the cost of umlimited streaming.

Overall this is cheaper for me because my son is sharing the service with me and either way I would end up paying for his service while he is in college... :rolleyes:

[Starscream]

I want to get at least one DVD so I can see some of the new stuff. On the DVD+Streaming plans you cannot have multiple simultaneous streams until you are on at least 3 DVDs. I found this out the hard way... The difference in price for me is the cost of umlimited streaming.

Overall this is cheaper for me because my son is sharing the service with me and either way I would end up paying for his service while he is in college... :rolleyes:
Is this something new? I used to get multiple streams even when I had the DVDs in my plan.
I know it's only a few dollars more a month, but I would be upset about that. You can get unlimited streaming for $7.99 a month, but if you upgrade to one DVD a month, they take part of the streaming service away? That's a rip-off, imho.

[CigarNut]

Is this something new? I used to get multiple streams even when I had the DVDs in my plan.
I know it's only a few dollars more a month, but I would be upset about that. You can get unlimited streaming for $7.99 a month, but if you upgrade to one DVD a month, they take part of the streaming service away? That's a rip-off, imho.This started when they split the DVD from the Streaming...