Is Netflix a Rip-off?

[bigdaddy]

I only rent one movie a time and a few times they were a little slow, but 80% of the time that's the post office.

I have never had a serious issue with them. A few discs messed up mid movie but most were fixed by cleaning them.

I spend $9 a month and get 4 movies, that's $2 a week when it would be $5 to rent a movie in a store. It's a great service and they don't screw with you like Blockbuster does with changing your plans every month.

And the only time they changed their polices is when they added free movies (postive of cost) and they lowers all the plans by a $1 or 10%.

[Top41]

Admiral James Kirk wrote:

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Early last year I signed up for the Blockbuster Online service. Why? Because it had unlimited in-store exchanges for both games and movies and the price was right.

A few months later they dropped the game exchanges but still kept the unlimited in-store movie exchanges. Then many months later they raised the price. It was just a few bucks but it chapped my ass a tad.

Then they raised the price again a few months later. Still annoyed but I rented movies every week so I kept it.

Then a couple months ago they raised the price again. That did it! I changed plans! Five in-store exchanges a month plus unlimited mail-in rentals.

Basically I'm now paying for this "service" what I was paying last year for a service that had infinately greater value. I'm finding myself resenting it greatly and am considering firing their asses and going with Netflix.

Any real value with Netflix or do they just buttfuck you like Blockbuster Online does?

Edited thread title because it's a PG-13 board...but I hear what you're saying. I did the trial subscription for Blockbuster but ultimately decided against it because it was too much a month. My roommate just started using Netflix and it seems okay so far. They mailed her first selection really quickly, and I think the cheapest plan is $4.99/month.

[bigdaddy]

Don't do the $5 Netflix plan, get the $9 one.

The $5 one you only get two movies total for the month, that's it. The $9 one you get get unlimited rentals one movie at a time (I'd say 4-7 movies a month), and you get to watch movies in their "Instant Watch" area if you can get it to work.

[TheArsenal]

Rip off? No. The opposite. I've been with them four or five years and had nothing but good service. On the occasions when I've gotten a disk too scratched to play (twice) or clean, I make note on the site and I've gotten a replacement copy within a single day.

[Temis the Vorta]

I've had Netflix for a while now and it's working just fine for me. I average about $1.50 per rental because I return DVDs quickly, so the price is right. I have noticed being waitlisted a lot for the big new releases, probably punishing me for returning things too quickly, but it doesn't matter in my case, since I also have a full slate of TV series on DVD, old movies, indie movies, documentaries, foreign movies, etc., so if I have to wait a while to see The Assasination of Jesse James, I can keep myself occupied with Deadwood. I don't care when I see things, so they can send them in whatever order they like.

Also, the "predicted ratings" system works well for me - I've learned the hard way that regardless of how much the critics drool over something, if the Netflix rating tells me I'll only like it three stars' worth, that's the way it will be, and I might as well just boot those suckers right off the list so that something I'll like better will move up. (Anything under 3.5 stars goes bye-bye except for very unusual circumstances.)

[Mordock]

Netflix is the only way to fly. I'm on the one-at-a-time unlimited plan, and I'm never out of movies to watch.

As a qualifier, I should mention that I don't get a lot of new releases, but that points up their real strength: catalog titles. Blockbuster has limited shelf space, and even that has to be prioritized towards new releases, but in my experience, Netflix can be counted on to have almost everything released in R1; if I get a sudden urge to watch, say, Ice Station Zebra, I can definitely have it in no more than three business days, rather than rolling the dice that a store in town might have it.

[Captain Craig]

I've had Netflix for 1.5 yrs and subscribe to the $9 plan. As noted it went down a buck but what wasn't said is they did that to compete with Blockbuster. As noted in the OP when Blockbuster started they made their price so nice that over 2 years Netflix saw something like a 40% drop in business I read somewhere.

Now that Blockbuster has you they raised their rates every few months and like a frog in warming water you don't notice till its too late.

My only issue has been that out of the countless movies I've seen in the 1.5 years I've had about 5-6 that were really scratched. How does that happen are people using them as drink coasters? Take it out of the sleeve, place it into your DVD player, watch movie, remove from DVD player and finally reinsert into return Netflix sleeve. How do people mess them up??

Netflix is best and at my $9 plan I average about 5-7 movies a month. Way better than the video store and apparently Blockbuster Online.

[Good Will Riker]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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Also, the "predicted ratings" system works well for me - I've learned the hard way that regardless of how much the critics drool over something, if the Netflix rating tells me I'll only like it three stars' worth, that's the way it will be, and I might as well just boot those suckers right off the list so that something I'll like better will move up. (Anything under 3.5 stars goes bye-bye except for very unusual circumstances.)

3.5 stars? You have high standards.

Most people consider 3 stars to be fair and good enough.

[Good Will Riker]

Captain Craig wrote:

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My only issue has been that out of the countless movies I've seen in the 1.5 years I've had about 5-6 that were really scratched. How does that happen are people using them as drink coasters? Take it out of the sleeve, place it into your DVD player, watch movie, remove from DVD player and finally reinsert into return Netflix sleeve. How do people mess them up??

Those red Netflix envelopes tend to get jammed in the mail slots at the US post office, or so I heard.

[OmahaStar]

Good Will Riker wrote:

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3.5 stars? You have high standards.

Most people consider 3 stars to be fair and good enough.

I understand where she's coming from. With about 250 titles in my queue right now, plus more coming out all the time, life is just too short to watch a bunch of ... well, crap. The system isn't always right, but it's right enough of the time to make a difference. Now, if you're someone with only 20 or so titles in your queue, it won't make much of a difference. *shrug*

[M'Sharak]

Admiral James Kirk wrote:

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Is Netflix a Rip-off?

Absolutely not.

The selection is outstanding, the monthly rate is very reasonable and the service has been nearly flawless. Aside from one disk which was received with a crack in it and two titles which didn't arrive on the date specified (all corrected promptly and with no hassle) I have no complaints about Netflix whatsoever.

Everything should be that good. :thumbsup:

[Good Will Riker]

[quote=OmahaStar;1404710][quote=Good Will Riker;1404701]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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I understand where she's coming from. With about 250 titles in my queue right now, plus more coming out all the time, life is just too short to watch a bunch of ... well, crap. The system isn't always right, but it's right enough of the time to make a difference. Now, if you're someone with only 20 or so titles in your queue, it won't make much of a difference. *shrug*

I am very selective of what I watch, myself. So, 20 sounds just about right.

I know my queue has always remained under 100 titles for that reason.

[Temis the Vorta]

I have 150+ DVDs in my queue and another 20 in the Saved section, so I can afford to be real picky.

[Spot's Meow]

Definitely not a ripoff. I've been on the 2-at-a-time unlimited plan for about 2 years now and I love it. The price actually went down a few months ago, and we got access to unlimited viewing of movies online. I haven't really had any problems. I've never had a wait for any movie, even new releases, but I don't try to get them the first day they're out, I usually wait a couple of weeks anyway.

Really there's no reason not to switch.

[cylkoth]

Captain Craig wrote:

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My only issue has been that out of the countless movies I've seen in the 1.5 years I've had about 5-6 that were really scratched. How does that happen are people using them as drink coasters? Take it out of the sleeve, place it into your DVD player, watch movie, remove from DVD player and finally reinsert into return Netflix sleeve. How do people mess them up??

This is especially true with anime titles. Seems anime fans could care less about how they handle discs. Yes, shipping thru the mail may cause some scratches, but the deeper ones, spots and outright cracks, doesn't appear to be as causal as one might expext.