Netflix giving customers the shaft

[MightyGiants]

Netflix is shafting all those customers that rent movies and stream movies.  They are raising the price from 9 to 16 dollars a month


http://blog.netflix.com/2011/07/netflix-introduces-new-plans-and.html

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[EdS]

Well, then they will go out of business.  And for good reason.

[MightyGiants]

Well, then they will go out of business.  And for good reason.

They seem to want to go out of the DVD rental business and go streaming only.   Interesting thing is that their streaming library isn't permanent, they regularly remove offerings


http://www.hackingnetflix.com/

[Jim143]

I will continue to pay it.  I dont use the streaming that much but my son watches up to 2 movies per day via streaming on his laptop.  I like having the bluray disc (you can't get bluray quality via streaming) and with blockbuster gone, there is no where for me to get my hands on the disc (I dont trust the vending machines).  We average 1 1/2 - 2 movies per week.  $15.99 is not a bad price for this amount of movie watching, especially since theaters are at minimum $7.50 (Matinee) per person.  Also, our schedule does not permit us to go to the theaters.  We traditionally go to a theater when a movie we absolutely have to see as soon as it comes out - but those are rare (less than 2 a year).

Yes, they raised their price 60%+, but for me, personally, it is still worth it.

[MightyGiants]

I will continue to pay it.  I dont use the streaming that much but my son watches up to 2 movies per day via streaming on his laptop.  I like having the bluray disc (you can't get bluray quality via streaming) and with blockbuster gone, there is no where for me to get my hands on the disc (I dont trust the vending machines).  We average 1 1/2 - 2 movies per week.  $15.99 is not a bad price for this amount of movie watching, especially since theaters are at minimum $7.50 (Matinee) per person.  Also, our schedule does not permit us to go to the theaters.  We traditionally go to a theater when a movie we absolutely have to see as soon as it comes out - but those are rare (less than 2 a year).

Yes, they raised their price 60%+, but for me, personally, it is still worth it.

Jim,


Have you looked at Blockbuster rental?  For renting DVDs you get movies much quicker without the long waits associated with Netflix.

[weeze]

whats hbo cost per month ? and then you only get what they show. how much is too much? 16$ a month? jeeze thats the price of my sirius subscription. thats less then most beer drinkers pay for a case of beer.  i spend more then that a month on coffee. i spend more then that a month on water, soda, lawnmower gas, criminy. 16$...............wow
 

[Sect122Mike]

whats hbo cost per month ? and then you only get what they show. how much is too much? 16$ a month? jeeze thats the price of my sirius subscription. thats less then most beer drinkers pay for a case of beer.  i spend more then that a month on coffee. i spend more then that a month on water, soda, lawnmower gas, criminy. 16$...............wow

If I could get HBO stand alone, I would pay it in a heartbeat. Its the rest of cable TV that I would dump.  I would love to buy a package directly from the NFL for football and HBO directly from HBO, then get netflocks and hulu+. that and a good old antenna would serve me fine and cut my TV bill by like 75%. 

[babywhales]

Yea I got my email so I am getting rid of it.  This is the second such price change in 6 months.  Let them find their break even points, that is the racket, I am not payig though. 
 
Ill get the on demand from DTV.

[MightyGiants]

I can appreciate what Weeze is saying, but what pisses me off is that Netflix is making it like they are doing us a favor while jacking up the price in a big way.  As the saying goes don't urinate on my head and tell me it's raining. 

[Jim143]

Rich

I don't have long waits for NetFlix.  They must have a distribution center some where in Jacksonville.  I put a movie in the mail on Monday Morning for return.  The next one on my Cue will be here today.  A two day turn around is pretty quick for me.

As for Blockbuster, no, I haven't looked at that.  My son had it for a short period and was not happy.  They kept sending him the same one over and over again - to the point where at one time he had 4 copies of the same movie at the house at the same time.  I have not had an issue with NetFlix like that.  In fact, I had one movie from NetFlix that skipped and froze in sections.  I went on-line to file the "complaint" and I had a replacement in my hands the next day.

For what I am getting, I don't think the new price is that excessive.  I could get it via On Demand from DTV like Chris said he would do, but that is now $4.99 - $5.99 per movie.  You "rent" 3 movies that way and you have paid for the netflx subscription without the ability to stream on-line.  I haven't yet, but I could pay the on-demand if I don't want to wait for NetFlix to get it in their queue.

As for Weeze's comment on the cost of a case of beer - I don't drink.  I don't have many vices, so this is one I am OK with.  Now, if I drop down to one movie a month and don't stream anymore, then the cost for value will no longer be there and I would reevaluate it then and probably cancel.

[weeze]

i just checked and netflix has a 2. something percent increase with a bullish rating so somebody is voting with some serious money.

[babywhales]

Hey Jim (or anyone else),
 
I know you had to pay for the new releases on D TV but don't they have a large library of non new releases for no charge? 
 
 
I do not have access to it as of yet so I am unaware of the movies that can be accessed on DTV and would apprecaite any inforamtion before I make any moves.
 
 
I have had net flix for 6 months.  I have a consistant 2 day turn around on movies.  I have had scratched and broken movies sent on several occasions.  One time they resent the same broken movie I returned.  OVerall I do like the service though.  However, this is the 2nd price restructuring I have dealt with.  The price has doubled since I originally signed up. 
 

[Jim143]

Chris

Yes, DTV does have a decent On Demand section, but most of them are older movies (10 - 20 years). . .  Disclaimer - I could be off a little on the time frame.  I haven't looked at the On Demand (except for certain Discovery Channel Shows) in a long time.

[chiller99]

Maybe its just in the South but we have rental boxes,big red box,,throw in your debit card grab a movie for a buck.I just wish netflix would add more inventory to their streaming library,but its a sign of the times,blu ray seems to be bombing and dvds may go the way of the cassette.

[Derach]

Maybe its just in the South but we have rental boxes,big red box,,throw in your debit card grab a movie for a buck.I just wish netflix would add more inventory to their streaming library,but its a sign of the times,blu ray seems to be bombing and dvds may go the way of the cassette.

We have those boxes here in Mass ... they are a great deal.  Works out to a buck .06 w/ tax for brand new releases.


 We have an apple TV box that connects to the Itunes rental library (pretty good, extensive, and reasonably priced).  That box was about a hundred bucks.  BUT it allows us to stream netflix, UTube and other online content ridiculously fast directly to our HDTV.  I pay the $8/ month netflix stream only service and we watch hundreds of movies (or parts of them) per month + a few on demand new releases and are happy both with the service and the price.  If the stream price were to exceed $12-15/month without major increases in inventory, I would probably drop netflix.  Unless they included their new releases ... then I'd probably keep it.