First, they got greedy and jacked up their rates 60 percent. (I don't give a flying fuck if "it's still a good deal." I budget according to what I can afford in a given month, over a year's time, and while I'm willing to shell out $120 in addition to cable, I am not prepared in the middle of the year to suddenly start shelling out $192 instead. Nope. You can introduce your rate hikes slowly like anyone else who wants to keep my business (other than gas stations - not much choice there).
Then, they insult their customer base with a promise to separate streaming and DVDs into two differently-named companies, like that's the big problem for the million-or-so people who dumped it when the price went up. Uh huh.
Now, they've said "oh, hey, wait, you dumb fucks said this 'Netflix' and 'Qwikster' crap confused you. Well, we'll keep it simple for your little brains and talk in condescending language, when the real problem is (a) we just don't want to go through the hassle of setting up a separate company with paperwork, et. al, and (b) nobody knows what the fuck Qwikster is, and we just figured that out, heh."
I'm definitely taking it down to streaming this month, and may jump ship for another service altogether soon. I do not trust in leadership like that.
I knew about the first two things but not the last. So it's all back to being just Netflix now and Qwikster is gone?? Wow. What the hell is in the Kool-Aid over there??
I'm definitely glad I gave up my membership a long time ago. And like you said, sure, "it's still a good deal" but not if you haven't the budget for it. Not everyone can afford their "great deals".
That extra $72 is the price of re-upping my SPJ membership, which I need more than DVDs. And I still haven't done THAT yet. Paying off the last of moving expenses and surgery bills, still.
I don't understand what the people at Netflix are thinking. When I saw the email this morning, I was expecting them to say that they were going to drop the bill again since they were canceling the second company, but no. And it doesn't even seem like they'll be doing the Video game feature either. (I'm not big on gaming, but another option would at least slightly justify the price jump)
I split the bill with my brother which is the only reason why I'm sticking around, but really they're not worth it since they've been purposely slowing us down on the DVD end. I wish there was another option, but every company trying to imitate Netflix is too new and I don't want to risk dumping money into a project that might fail.
I just don't have confidence anymore in a company where the guys at the top jump around that much in acrobatics to preserve their massive-percentage price hike. They fucked up and they know they fucked up, but instead of just admitting they fucked up and either (a) reversing the charges or (b) saccing up and quietly accepting the loss of some business, they're treating customers like they're the reason all this is happening, because we're a mass of confused, small-brained idiots who don't understand their decisions.
Ugh. It pisses me off so much. I'll be honest I didn't even know they were splitting up, it was the price hike I was paying attention to. I wouldn't care if I had to "omg maintain 2 separate bills!" if it was cheaper.
It's all a distraction. People didn't like the 60 percent price hike, so instead of addressing that (or just keeping shut up, which would have been the best course of all), someone's college freshman English student decided to throw all the big words they could into a couple of emails obliquely telling customers exactly how they're going to distract them from what's pissing them off, and not change it. LOL
I'm not bothered too much by the Netflix kerfluffle. Yeah, they're stupid for changing their minds and their business model. But it's their rope, they can hang themselves with it.
Somehow I doubt they will. They have seen the future and they know it is ONLINE. I laugh because one of the reasons people give for being pissed about the rate hikes is that the streaming content is not nearly as diverse as the DVD-by-mail. There was a time when not very much was available via DVD either, there certainly isn't yet enough selection on Blue-Ray to make an ardent movie buff swoon. It was the same with VHS and heaven forbid you bought a Beta back in the '80s.
So give them time, the streaming content will become well worth the wait. And will free up your living rooms because we'll no longer need 6 pieces of furniture just for our movie selections.
BTW, I am as cheap as them come. Netflix has a limited plan for $4.99/month. You get 2 movies by mail and 2 movies streamed online. As someone who works a lot that's very reasonable for me, especially when 1 DVD can be from a TV show set, which can contain 4 episodes. I sometimes forget to mail them back, so some months I don't even use 2 rentals. If I had unlimited I doubt I would be getting my money's worth for what, $18/month?
I'm thinking less from the user end on this one, than from the decision-making end. Some analysts have compared it to the New Coke debacle, but really, it isn't. Coca-Cola still had Old Coke to simply fall back on when they screwed up, plus, they'd been in business for almost 100 years already. Netflix is not so old and solid that they can afford to screw around with their one basic service like this, when they have no intention of backtracking on the dumb (like Coke did).
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-10-10 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-10 08:25 pm (UTC)Then, they insult their customer base with a promise to separate streaming and DVDs into two differently-named companies, like that's the big problem for the million-or-so people who dumped it when the price went up. Uh huh.
Now, they've said "oh, hey, wait, you dumb fucks said this 'Netflix' and 'Qwikster' crap confused you. Well, we'll keep it simple for your little brains and talk in condescending language, when the real problem is (a) we just don't want to go through the hassle of setting up a separate company with paperwork, et. al, and (b) nobody knows what the fuck Qwikster is, and we just figured that out, heh."
I'm definitely taking it down to streaming this month, and may jump ship for another service altogether soon. I do not trust in leadership like that.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-10 08:39 pm (UTC)I'm definitely glad I gave up my membership a long time ago. And like you said, sure, "it's still a good deal" but not if you haven't the budget for it. Not everyone can afford their "great deals".
no subject
Date: 2011-10-10 08:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-10 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-10 08:32 pm (UTC)I split the bill with my brother which is the only reason why I'm sticking around, but really they're not worth it since they've been purposely slowing us down on the DVD end. I wish there was another option, but every company trying to imitate Netflix is too new and I don't want to risk dumping money into a project that might fail.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-10 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-12 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-11 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-12 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-12 01:05 am (UTC)Somehow I doubt they will. They have seen the future and they know it is ONLINE. I laugh because one of the reasons people give for being pissed about the rate hikes is that the streaming content is not nearly as diverse as the DVD-by-mail. There was a time when not very much was available via DVD either, there certainly isn't yet enough selection on Blue-Ray to make an ardent movie buff swoon. It was the same with VHS and heaven forbid you bought a Beta back in the '80s.
So give them time, the streaming content will become well worth the wait. And will free up your living rooms because we'll no longer need 6 pieces of furniture just for our movie selections.
BTW, I am as cheap as them come. Netflix has a limited plan for $4.99/month. You get 2 movies by mail and 2 movies streamed online. As someone who works a lot that's very reasonable for me, especially when 1 DVD can be from a TV show set, which can contain 4 episodes. I sometimes forget to mail them back, so some months I don't even use 2 rentals. If I had unlimited I doubt I would be getting my money's worth for what, $18/month?
no subject
Date: 2011-10-12 09:45 pm (UTC)