Netflix shoots itself in the foot... aka no more free streaming

[Awesome Possum]

Robert Maxwell wrote:

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Streaming is always the way to go, as long as it's not in a public park.

The trench coat and very loud copy the Human Centipede never goes over well.

[Sheep]

Even before this announcement I was going to switch to streaming only or 1 DVD at a time since I barely watch discs anymore. Hell, I had Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for over a year and never watched it. I find myself streaming TV shows I never watched the first time around more and more, but they've purged the show selection pretty significantly recently which doesn't bode well.

That said, I don't blame Netflix for the price increases at all.

http://www.ibtimes.com/art​icles/178...03;percent.htm

Pachter told CNN earlier this week that Netflix's content cost could grow from $180 million in 2010 to $1.98 billion in 2012.

A 10-fold increase in licensing fees? Leave it to the studios to fuck it all up. Guess they didn't learn anything from the music industry and are going to let their greed kill off a good thing. Good job, morons.

[Sheep]

Brolan wrote:

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Makes me wonder why studios don't do their own streaming? Cut out the middleman and get all the money for themselves.

Once Netflix fades away because of these insane fee increases, the studios will try doing their own streaming service, only it will be $50 a month. Per studio. More if you want HD video. With additional fees if you want to watch on multiple devices. Plus another fee if you want access to older seasons of TV shows.

[KB24]

I'm kind of tired of this topic after I spent part of the night complaining on their facebook page along with 20,000 others only to have my posts deleted.

This is just more disheartening to me than anything. My husband handles the account, but we have Instant Watch, 2 dvd queues now totaling 3 at a time with bl ray. Half of what's in my dvd queue is on wait, the other have saved or unavailable, and all the things I stream are is not available on discs.

I understand they need to restructure do to rising rights costs and all that, but they are a public company who isn't exactly bleeding red like everyone else in this economy. I think this is them being completely greedy. Recently our discs always arrive damaged, and when we send them back, they often never return. The streaming goes down all the time on each of our roku, bd players, ps3, android, and Wii.

I think Netflix is well aware that its services are incomplete or technically unable to keep up with the influx. They know customers now can't live without both dvds and streaming, as the two are incomplete without each other. No other video service right now compares, so Netflix figures it can get away with the price adjustments.

If people leave, more will come. It is a shame because positive word of mouth, quality catalogs, and glitch free designs seem like too much work against the ease of rising prices. I really can't believe they don't have any kind of trial marketing or research team that doesn't tell them these things. If they did a trial run of this, no one would have gone for it. They know that, so they aren't offering any kind of bundle plans in competition with it.

We've had the highest plans for 8 years, so in my mind discounts and reward programs should be given to people who have moved the most discs and watched the most streaming. They are completely abandoning loyal customers because they can. It's cruel, completely ridiculous, and unless someone smart at the top realizes we don't want the Metric System or New Coke, we're screwed.

What saddens me most is this is just another entity selling out in the trend. I don't know any cable channel that sticks to its theme programming model. Stores sell the wrong products, now Netflix is selling its soul. They have now become just like Borders and Barnes and Noble. They operate on an anti customer plan that is on borrowed time until the next big thing pulls the rug out.

Eh, we probably won't stop netflix. I hate comcast's business practices, but I still have it. I hate verizon, Walmart. I don't want to go live in the woods like Walden so I have to draw the line somewhere.

Pity.

[Peach Wookiee]

This sort of thing may damage them... what'll be telling to me is what my brother chooses to do.

[KB24]

Up to 25k complaints on the facebook page now, they keep deleting them, and now the cancel page on the website is apparently down.

Really, everything good they've promised they haven't delivered, and they've continued to remove all that has been good. They know they can, it's as simple as that. What they do today, however, will ruin them for future tomorrows. This is just like the box book stores.

[Skywalker]

They can ignore the complaints all they want, so long as they keep in mind that the "You'll pay what we tell you to pay, and you'll like it" model of business won't work for them for very long. Someone else will come along with a better deal and take their customers right out from under them.

[Kestra]

Wow, that Facebook page is full of hate. I'd be interested to see the stats on how many people had each type of account yesterday, and compare it to those same stats for today. I also wonder what effect this will have on the USPS.

[Sheep]

KB24 wrote:

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Up to 25k complaints on the facebook page now, they keep deleting them, and now the cancel page on the website is apparently down.

Really, everything good they've promised they haven't delivered, and they've continued to remove all that has been good. They know they can, it's as simple as that. What they do today, however, will ruin them for future tomorrows. This is just like the box book stores.

Skywalker wrote:

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They can ignore the complaints all they want, so long as they keep in mind that the "You'll pay what we tell you to pay, and you'll like it" model of business won't work for them for very long. Someone else will come along with a better deal and take their customers right out from under them.

You guys don't seem to get it--Netflix is increasing fees due to what it costs them to license the movies and shows they offer, not because they want more of your hard earned money while not offering any additional benefits or services in return.

If Netflix goes under, it's going to take a VERY rich company to take up the slack since they too will have to pay what the studios are asking for. There's not a startup in the world that will be able to build what Netflix has for a cheaper price or with a better selection if the licensing fees are increasing ten fold into multiple BILLIONS of dollars.

[J. Allen]

What hurts Netflix is it's customer experience image. When it comes to corporate decisions, customers are completely ignored and told they just don't understand. It makes something that's already unpopular into a knock down drag out between corporate and customers, like the recent UI change for example. On the Facebook page, Netflix has also been deleting negative comments, so once more, they're just stumbling over themselves to piss people off.

[Skywalker]

Sheep wrote:

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You guys don't seem to get it--Netflix is increasing fees due to what it costs them to license the movies and shows they offer, not because they want more of your hard earned money while not offering any additional benefits or services in return.

I get why they had to do it. As I said earlier, I'm already on the streaming-only plan, so this price change doesn't affect (did I use that right? I always forget ) me, yet. I was commenting more on the part J. Allen mentioned, the part about them deleting negative comments and such.

[Sheep]

Skywalker wrote:

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I get why they had to do it. As I said earlier, I'm already on the streaming-only plan, so this price change doesn't affect (did I use that right? I always forget ) me, yet. I was commenting more on the part J. Allen mentioned, the part about them deleting negative comments and such.

Gotcha. My point was more with the second part of your post. It will be anything but easy for another company to come along and replace Netflix since they'll have to deal with the greedy studios to get anything on their service. Unless you're a company on the scale of Apple or Google you don't have billions of dollars to be investing in a product like this.

[SPCTRE]

For a second there I read "Neelix shoots itself in the foot" and I was all like: "I really don't like Neelix as well, but 'itself'? That's kinda harsh."

[J. Allen]

Sheep wrote:

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Gotcha. My point was more with the second part of your post. It will be anything but easy for another company to come along and replace Netflix since they'll have to deal with the greedy studios to get anything on their service. Unless you're a company on the scale of Apple or Google you don't have billions of dollars to be investing in a product like this.

Redbox is pushing for their own streaming service by next year. They're small, but who knows? Now, one of the bigger boys, Dish Network, has purchased Blockbuster and they fully plan on pushing their own streaming service. I'm a Dish Network subscriber, so this could be a serious win/win for me.

I like Netflix, and I have for years. It's just that instead of sitting down with people and going over the details on why they're doing what they're doing, they throw out some corporate doublespeak and ignore people. I understand why they have to raise prices; they are getting gouged by studios seeking to make more money. The problem is that unless you start digging all over the place, you're not going to find that tidbit coming from corporate to the customer.

They've had this problem for some time now. They need to fix it. Perception is reality. If customers perceive Netflix ignoring them, then customers will ignore Netflix with their wallets.

[KB24]

I get that they are increasing because of the rising fees and studio costs and all that. But the stock was up, expansion and clientele was growing. Twice as many people at the old rates would make the same money as half as many people on the new rates. Netflix has the power to make the studios play ball but instead they are joining the screw the little man. I liked them much better when they were small or underground, like vampires, Christian Bale, Gerard Butler. Bigger is not always better.