Users threaten to quit Netflix

[Betallsports]

If you're a Netflix subscriber, you received a rude awakening today in your inbox when the company announced it would no longer be offering a combined DVD and streaming plan and would instead separate the services, for a minimum cost of about $16 a month if you still want both.


I've been with Netflix since 2000, but only recently downgraded from three DVDs a month to one and unlimited streaming. I got this today:

Your current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming) for $7.99 a month
Your price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). You don't need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.


These prices will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011.


These changes raised the ire of Netflix's fans on Facebook, almost 9,000 of whom stormed onto its page to voice their vehement disapproval. Many of them complained about Netflix's "greed" and said they were going to leave Netflix for Redbox. Other users suggested services like Crackle, Hulu Plus and even Blockbuster.


Here are some excerpts from the Facebook page:

• It takes a real genius to destroy a thriving company in a single day.....Congrats Netflix!!!!!
• Greedy CEO + a mediocre, slow, limited streaming service + waiting for DVDs in the mail = Many canceled Netflix users and Redbox's Best Day EVER!
• This is weeeeaaaaakkkkk!!!! I can't count on one hand how many people I've gotten to join Netflix. This isn't the time to go UP on prices! Let's see what Blockbuster has in stored!
• HORRIBLE IDEA. Let's all cancel our plans until they CHANGE IT BACK
• Well, I won't be recommending Netflix anymore. If all movies and shows were available no matter which option you chose, then we could choose one or the other. As it is, the customer is in a no-win situation, you have to choose "both" options in order to ensure that you will be able to watch ALL of the movies and series you want. We will be cancelling. Time to go check Hulu.

 

[Betallsports]

More than 4,300 have commented on the Netflix blog, and again, reaction seems to be against Netflix, for the most part.


We've reached to Redbox to see if they've gotten any boost from the Netflix move, and Netflix to see if they've received cancellations and if they have any intention to restore the plans in light of such a negative reaction. Subscribers also complained about not being able to reach customer service. We tried too, and weren't able to get through, due to technical problems on their end.


This is not the first time users have expressed their frustration and disappointment with Netflix. In January, we reported how Netflix removed the ability to add DVDs from the streaming sites on game consoles and boxes, and how Netflix played down the negativity.


But it's a much more crowded landscape for streaming video now, and there are thousands on Facebook, at least, that intend to act on their displeasure.
UPDATE: Redbox, which offers movies at $1 apiece for each night checked out, "now has more than 27,000 locations that are within a five minute drive of 60 percent of the U.S. population," shared with us comments from its public Facebook wall that seemed to confirm at least some possible migration from Facebook to Redbox. Here are some:

• I am renting 5 tonight just to show you my support and to rebel against Netflix!
• wowsah. i bet redbox gets a lot of new customers today.
• C'mon Redbox — you need to create a streaming option to supplement your DVD rental business — Netflix's decision today definitely leaves a gaping hole in the market now. Boo Netflix!

Redbox did not share any other information about any boost from the Netflix changes.
As of 10:47 p.m., Netflix had not responded to our queries.

 

[ThreeKings]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I am cancelling mine on the 26th I have been with netflix since 2004. I could watch 5 movies on Direct tv cinema a month for about the same price and direct tv has movies still in the theater.

Bye netflix.


We are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into two separate plans to better reflect the costs of each. Now our members have a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan, or both.

Your current $23.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs (including Blu-ray access) will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs (including Blu-ray), 3 out at-a-time (no streaming)
for $19.99 a month

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $27.98 a month ($7.99 + $19.99). You don't need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.

These prices will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011[/FONT]

 

[CoachCB]

3K, I have Direct TV also....tell me how their movie deal works. Thanks....

---

 

[ProPokerPlayer]

Why???????
52wk Range: 95.33 - 304.79

 

[AllenRocks]

Screw Netflix. Pirate Bay is where it's at.

 

[Buster]

not quitting here...but will probably drop the mailed dvd's..I have a system set up where i receive movies on wednesday and saturday...and when bullshit federal holidays close the mail it throws my system off...so i will now just use redbox for dvd's and still stream...hoarders,swamp people,andy griffith,roseanne,lost,the first 48,dick van dyke,gunsmoke,man vs wild etc is well worth paying 7.99 per month to watch with no commercials...not to mention many good movies...the documentaries on there are freaking awesome...i am disappointed though that another major company has let their users down by getting greedy...

 

[HPark1]

Why???????
52wk Range: 95.33 - 304.79

Stock price controlled by usual wall street suspects. Seems to be some kind of toy to them, they keep manipulating it higher defying reality at every turn. Stock is 90% owned by institutions and the retail money piles into shorting it. Keep squeezing the shorts as they push it to mind blowing levels. Trades at roughly a 70 pe right now.

imo not only is the stock price manipulated beyond belief but the company itself is more or less a scam. Their business model was never going to generate a penny in profits barring a wildly unrealistic rise in subscribers (talking 3-4x as many as they have now) after they committed hundreds of millions, actually into the billions, in content costs. They have been cooking the books pretty badly the past few quarters, getting worse every time, and when you analyze deeply their operating cash flow is virtually nil. They have almost 2 billion in "off" sheet balance obligations that should be hitting the books in the next couple years. Considering they have almost no cash its inconceivable to me they can meet these costs.

Recommend taking a look at shorting it or better buying some way out of the money leap put options. This is an Enron type disaster waiting to happen. Perhaps another pump here or there but this joke is almost up.

 

[snoop]

NFLX & LNKD is heavily manipulated by the hedgies.

Stay far far far away.

 

[Betallsports]

Wouldn't mind Shorting NetFlix puff_>>

 

[CHOPTALK]

HP is right.
Netflix is not being greedy, they have just reached the point where content rights are getting to the point where the previous model will no longer work.

2 things

#1) the movie companies during a time of needed money took a deal from Netflix that they regret. Netflix basically got movie rights from the movie companies for a fraction of what they should have paid. The movie companies did not think Netflix would get so big so they fell for the lowball offer from Netflix.
Now that contract has run out Netflix is now having to deal with a real contents rights contract that is much more costly then the last one.

Another problem is Netflix got most of the money for the 1st contract from the public offering from the IPO.

If you do simple math you will see that Netflix is bound to fail unless they can sign up about 3 times as many people as they have now, or raise the prices much higher then even the new payment plan that you guys are cussing them over.

The only way NF can pay all these new content fees is to raise the price to about 50 a month and not lose any customers.

Netflix will be trading at less then a dollar in 5 years. I agree 100% with HP.

I never understood the business model even under the past agreement with low content fees.

 

[TheWolf]

sharp posts

 

[Betallsports]

Netflix responds to customers

Netflix continues to take a pummeling from subscribers who are so enraged by the company's unilateral decision to separate its DVD and streaming plans − and increase prices as a result − that they're threatening not only to cancel the service, but also showing up by the tens of thousands to blast it on Facebook.


Yesterday, we reported on the initial reaction to the changes, and by last night we'd seen more than 9,000 comments on the Netflix Facebook page, which has 1.5 million fans. (There are 23.6 million Netflix members in the U.S. and Canada.) By this morning, nearly 30,000 had registered the summer of their discontent with the rental service that used to ride high on the loyalty of customers who loved not having to pay late fees and receiving their discs in their mailbox. The red envelope was something of a little treat at the end of a long day.


But now, customers are seeing a different kind of red.


For many, Netflix's streaming selection, while growing and improving since it became a perk about four years ago, still can't get anywhere near its vast volume of DVDs. And because of that, folks supplemented their streaming plans with at least the one DVD out at any given time option, for about $10.


But with the announcement that the same service would cost almost $16 — about 60 percent more than what they're paying now — people snapped. In these tough economic times, this little bit of entertainment counted for a lot. And now, subscribers are demanding to be heard. We want to hear from you, too. Take our poll and let us know if you're going to follow through with threats to leave Netflix, or if you've decided against it.


We're wondering if people have followed through on cancelling, if Netflix will increase its instant selection to make up for those who will cut DVDs from their plans and if Netflix will cave to the torrent of negative reaction and restore its merged plans. We also want to know if Netflix deleted comments from its Facebook page, as some have indicated on the site. Some complained that they didn't even get the courtesy of an email and only found out through sites like ours, or on their Facebook.


We asked these questions and more, but we still haven't heard back from Netflix. We tried again this morning to contact them. We'll update when and if we hear from them.



UPDATE: Steve Swasey, vice president of corporate communications for Netflix, got back to us this afternoon and responded to our questions.

He said the timing of the price change was "appropriate" and that "$6 more is a remarkable value, a latte or two every month. For most folks it’s absorbable," adding Netflix was "sympathetic to those in terrible financial straits."


But, he said, the reaction was "expected." "We anticipated some folks were not going be happy with the change. It didn’t surprise us."


Swasey said, "30,000 or so is a sub set of 23 million subscribers. They're not speaking for the majority. But, their opinion is important and we value them."



(We hope Swasey has invested in a flak jacket.)


For Netflix, he said, the separation of the plans was a consumer-focused decision that "provides a simpler, easier Netflix experience. Some people don't want streaming, some only want DVDs." He also said Netflix would be devoting more resources to DVDs, while also adding that Netflix's future expansions, such as Latin America, would be streaming only.


Streaming titles numbered about 20,000 a year ago, he said, and while he wouldn't reveal how much they've added, he did say it was "more than you can watch in a lifetime."


No word on how many cancellations will come, or have come, out of this, but Swasey suggested the company would provide that information when it releases its next earnings report on July 25.


"We would like those members to stay with Netflix, but the reality is people will leave. We'll make it up over time and the service will continue to grow. I don't want to sugarcoat this. We do expect a certain amount of people to leave the service," Swasey said. Besides, "Netflix members already go to Redbox, order cable, go to theater and Amazon."


He said everyone should have received emails about the changes, so they are looking into what happened with that. As for customer service being down yesterday, he attributed that to the extremely high call volume that overwhelmed their 800 or so reps. And as to accusations of deleting Facebook or other online comments? He says that isn't happening.

 

[Betallsports]

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[snoop]

Google is in the best position to compete with Netflix, I'm quite surprised they're not jumping in yet.

Would love to have ONE STOP info, finance, media, entertainment...etc.

 

[barman]

I'm guessing the major whining is coming from people who sometime in just the past one to four years were routinely paying $5 per DVD from a local retail outlet.

 

[snoop]

I missed the good old days when I could watch Dick, Charles, and Bell for free.

My FTA receivers are sitting in the garage collecting dusts. It's quite depressing.

 

[KennyB]

I wouldn't mind paying for the instant service with them but the selection sucks. Many, many old movies are not on instant and then they switch the old movies on and off the instant. I can tell you I am dumping netflix.

 

[DeathEatsaCracker]

Google is in the best position to compete with Netflix, I'm quite surprised they're not jumping in yet.

Would love to have ONE STOP info, finance, media, entertainment...etc.

I'm a Google fanboy. I would love to see them get into this business.

 

[ParlaysStoleMyMoney]

Still think the pricing is very cheap. I have netflix on my PS3 and only do the streaming. Might need to getting some in the mail too.