Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Netflix

Remember the whole Netflix price increase of a couple of months back?

Sure, you remember.

Well, okay, it wasn't actually so much a price increase as it was a cessation of a discounted bundle. Which made prices go up. Which is a price increase. So, yeah, it was a price increase.

Netflix was offering 1 DVD a month for $8 (actually, $7.99, but that might as well be $8; we'll round up to the dollar from here on out). As I was saying, 1 DVD a month for $8. They also had unlimited streaming for $8 a month.

And they still do.

Here's what changed: If you had a combined service -- 1 DVD a month plus unlimited streaming -- it was $10 a month. That's what went away. Everything is separate now. They stopped the combined package for a discounted rate. And, that ticked off a lot of people. Including me.

Now, it seems that there will be no more Netflix DVDs. Instead, they're changing the DVD service to Quikster. Netflix will remain streaming movies. Flicks. Or "flix" if you will. On the 'Net. Netflix will actually be Net flix.

About that whole mess where everybody got mad at Netflix? The founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings, wrote a blog post about it, apologizing, and explaining the separation of services into two different companies.

How's that going over? Not too good. At least, based on the thousands and thousands of comments left to his blog post.

How's business?
Netflix itself has estimated that its customer base is declining by about 1 million people during the current quarter, which ends Sept. 30.
I haven't seen this much blowback on screwing up business since ... New Coke. Or Obama.

How Netflix handles it will be interesting. Will they do like Coke did and bring back the Classic formula that made them a success?

Or will they give another speech.

I'm betting on the latter.

Now, the question is, which is out of work first, Netlfix or Obama?

And does this make Rick Perry Hulu?

2 comments:

  1. Basil, I got the e-mail yesterday, and my first thought was, "Leave bad enough alone."

    I wasn't ticked off when the bundled package price rose. It was still an excellent value. What it did for my family was cause us to begin to use the DVD by mail feature more...always keeping one or two in the queue. And, we've enjoyed that, even though we're paying a little more for it.

    But, from what I understand, I've got to now go to a separate site to access the DVDs by mail. I guess it's not a big deal, but WHY? It was working fine, and I would have bet that many folks who left would have eventually returned, and many millions more would sign up in the future.

    Because, it was still a good deal.

    I think Reed Hastings (who btw,I have dealt with in a minor business transaction...and is a helluva nice guy) should have just left bad enough alone.

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  2. Raising the price was a little understandable, but now having to go to another site to use the DVD option and have a separate bill that is just ridiculous. I went with Blockbuster through my provider/employer DISH Network. DISH is offering new customers Blockbuster Movie Pass for free up to 12 months starting Oct 1st. After the promotional period, Blockbuster Movie Pass starts at just $10 per month. The movie pass offers you streaming; which is all Netflix had going for them, and a DVD mail in option or in store exchange for movies, and games. You get Blu-ray DVDs and games at no extra charge and new releases 28 days before Netflix. Check out this link for the promotions through DISH http://bit.ly/px7BV9. With this price I am getting a way better deal then Netflix could ever offer, and I get more with it.

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