"We could do a better job..." Ka-Ching!

Still condescending. Still patronizing. Still a 50% price increase. Subscription stays cancelled.

>> ^Boise_Lib:

"We could do a better job..." Ka-Ching!


As cynical as I am generally about corporations and greed, Netflix has been pretty awesome for a pretty long time, and while I am still miffed about the price increase, I have to confess that it still seems like a good deal to me.

I believe them when they say they're going to keep improving the services, and I suspect over time they'll soothe people's anger over the price increase debacle.

If anything though, I think the streaming service is in much bigger danger than the disc-by-mail thing. Streaming has a shitload of the old-guard scared, and they've certainly got the muscle to quash Netflix if it really starts to cut into their bottom lines.

Disc-by-mail on the other hand doesn't pose a threat to anyone's existing business model (now that Blockbuster is gone, anyways), so it'll persist until the coming war over the future of TV gets wrapped up.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

How is this patronizing? I thought it was pretty direct and plain speaking.>> ^direpickle:

Still condescending. Still patronizing. Still a 50% price increase. Subscription stays cancelled.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

*promote as this is pretty big news for the online video world.

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Sunday, September 18th, 2011 10:48pm PDT - promote requested by dag.

Meh to subscriptions. What about on demand payments for those rarely watch movies, series, etc.?

I like how they talk directly to the customer.

BUT....

They should of had a beer or something, two big fat cigars and a champagne bottle, it was kind of boring.

How about "innovating" by NOT having shitty selection?

Blockbuster in Canada was supposed to hold out a bit longer but has now died almost completely. Just walked into the nearest location on Friday night and it was in store closing clearance sale mode.. meaning pay only 20% premium versus normal retail buying your videos here, as opposed to the normal 40% premium. Although you could get some great deals on some discs... I bought No Country for Old Men for $8. There were once 5 blockbusters in my city, now down to two.

As someone who loves to rent blu-rays on impulse I find this troubling. Does Netflix Canada offer blu-ray? Last time I checked (admittedly could have been 2+ years ago) they did not (and at that time I don't think we even had Netflix... it was zip.ca or something like that).

I'm still in. Anyway, I wonder how it feels to be the CEO of an offshoot where the featured service is based on a dying medium? Clearly Netflix wants to focus on its streaming service because that's the future.

The problem is with being two different websites, when a DVD becomes available for streaming, it most likely won't automatically show up on my streaming que. And the loss of the CBS programming (Dexter) and the upcoming loss of Starz, makes their selection on instant shrink greatly. Add to this the deals they were forced into by the movie studios, where DVDs are delayed weeks from release before being available for rent, and then you get the "rental" version that has the menu options for special features but they lead to a screen saying "buy the DVD for the full features"... All in all Netflix is becoming less and less a good deal. The DVD end may still be worth it, but unless they find a way to pick up streaming...

I guess pissing off half of their customers wasn't enough, now they have to go and piss off the rest by splitting into two separate sites making it an inconvenience to use both. Two different sites, two different logins, and no connection between them. I liked how when a DVD in your queue became available for streaming that it automatically showed up in the streaming queue. Now that's not going to happen, and ratings from one site don't carry over to the other. I was OK with the price increase, but I'm not OK with this. Goodbye Netflix.

I guess they're trying to get back to their roots by shipping a couple of thousand DVD's a day.

I am constantly amazed at what customers expect/want from these guys. The price increase was inevitable. They did a great job of competing with Blockbuster and Hollywood Video and keeping up with the vastly changing streaming market. When the companies that owned these shows and movies realized that streaming was becoming more popular, they renegotiated their contracts with streaming services. There would be no way Netflix could provide their service for the same low price. And, for all the complaining, when I did just a little bit of reading, the reasoning made sense to me. Yes, it costs you more, but that doesn't mean they are taking advantage of their customers.

I'm not sure about this new development, but it makes sense on the surface. I'm interested to see how integrating these two, now separate, services will work. Still, this company has a track record of listening to their customers and this apology, along with the similar email I received this morning, is evidence that they are the kind of company I'd continue to give my business to. Years of dealing with Blockbuster puts this in perspective.

Qwikster? I don't get the need to change names or split up the company.

Netflix/quickster whatever they are going down. I've set a calendar even to check back on this comment in a year. They do not appreciate the value of the brand they have built then messed with. Once it is gone there is no going back 10 others are waiting to replace it.

I like companies and brands who are brave enough to talk to consumers in an open way, rather than marketing controlled brand persona.

Each month I pay these guys less than the tip I leave when I go out to dinner, and they bring me any movie I want as often as my whims dictate. That's a really amazing deal. So, why am I so mad at them? Oh right. The word "Qwickster"... Might as well be Ka-ka-poo-poo-pee-pee-ster.

Unclear to me why so much hatred. Seems that if they're losing money due to a poorly-conceived pricing structure and increasing licensing costs, they have the choice of A) changing their pricing structure (a.k.a. raising prices and losing lots of customers) or B) continually losing profits until they have to shut down.

Don't get me wrong. I dropped their DVD service as a result of the price increase and am not happy about it, but their adjustment seems less about greed and more about staying in business and continuing to mold the future of home-based entertainment.