Netflix news

[Melaine]

Have you seen the latest?

It just gets worse and worse!

http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/explanation-and-some-reflections.html

DH and I had decided to keep the dvd portion even after the ridiculous price hikes because there were a shows we still wanted to watch on DVD. Now, I can't imagine doing so, it's just not practical. Such a weird move!

[BabyBearsMom]

I don't understand what the issue is. It seems like they are just changing the name of their DVD service to Qwikster. What is the problem?

We cancelled Netflix after the price hikes. We just weren't using it enough for it to be worth it. Now we rent from Amazon if we want to watch streaming video.

[Trigglet]

Yeah, I got the email this morning and I'm just bewildered - Qwikster???!!! WTH? We still have the streaming part, but I'm seriously considering dumping that too because it seems like a company that doesn't have the first clue what it's doing. A shame really because they've been great until recently.

Oh, and don't they have any idea how valuable their Netflix red envelopes actually are as a brand? A case study in brand suicide. Nuts.

[momm]

I used to love Netflix. They are diluting the brand. Sad.

"Qwickster" sounds like someone's 16 year old kid made up the name.

[Globetrotter]

I know. That was odd.

However, are there any other services that have that variety of independent, offbeat films and British comedy? If so, i would consider!

[daniele_ut]

I think the CEO of Netflix may have lost his mind. We dropped the DVD portion of our membership after the price hike and this will have me looking more closely at Amazon streaming and Hulu Plus.

[KrisM]

I don't understand what the issue is. It seems like they are just changing the name of their DVD service to Qwikster. What is the problem?

We cancelled Netflix after the price hikes. We just weren't using it enough for it to be worth it. Now we rent from Amazon if we want to watch streaming video.

You'll get billed twice. You'll have to go to Netflix to put streaming into your queue and to Qwikster to order DVDs. I like browsing one site and having it go to 1 queue.

Well, you won't since you canceled :)

[KHF]

We dropped the DVD part of our Netflix subscription as well, and then just this month dumped it all together. It just wasn't worth it to us. I haven't really done anything to replace it, but will likely look to Redbox and Amazon.

Quikster is a ridiculous name. I think that CEO has definitely lost his mind.

[BabyBearsMom]

Oh, and don't they have any idea how valuable their Netflix red envelopes actually are as a brand? A case study in brand suicide. Nuts.

They had to change their envelopes no matter what. The USPS found that the shape of the envelope was too expensive for them to process so they were going to drastically increase the shipping price charged to Netflix unless they changed the envelope. http://www.techspot.com/news/28161-netflix-to-redesign-envelopes-after-usps-threat.html

[artvandalay]

We never cancelled our subscriptions. It's still the most convienent for us. It only went up a couple of dollars for us (everything goes up with inflation anyway) and by increasing the online streaming price, they will be able to offer more movies by streaming. Before they didn't have that much to offer on streaming.

Also love that they are going to start renting out Wii games, my boys will be happy.

At first I thought it is odd that they will have two separate names. Splitting up the services and naming the DVD service Quickster is interesting, but I think Netlfix always wanted their main goal to be streaming, hence the name NET flix, so now that they are split, I get the name change.

However, I don't know that I like the two different websites... that might be a pain. I guess we'll just have to try it out and see. I think this is all a positive move for the company after the backlash. It's good they apologized. However, as I said we do like the streaming (can't get more convenient than that!) so I'm looking forward to them getting more movies.

[KrisM]

They had to change their envelopes no matter what. The USPS found that the shape of the envelope was too expensive for them to process so they were going to drastically increase the shipping price charged to Netflix unless they changed the envelope. http://www.techspot.com/news/28161-netflix-to-redesign-envelopes-after-usps-threat.html

That article is nearly 4 years old. I can't imagine they are still waiting to change it now.

[Globetrotter]

I do not like the idea of two websites. That part bothers me the most! It will be a pain to keep track because many movies are available either way.

[BabyBearsMom]

That article is nearly 4 years old. I can't imagine they are still waiting to change it now.

I believe they had some sort of time line to change the envelopes. I was looking for that but couldn't find it. I thought it was 2012 for some reason, but can't find why.

[artvandalay]

I do not like the idea of two websites. That part bothers me the most! It will be a pain to keep track because many movies are available either way.

I agree.. I wish they could have just kept that the same. I imagine once they get more streaming movies we'll eventually cancel the DVD portion.... although I guess that depends on the game rental. I am curious of the details. I wonder if the game rental will be completely separate from DVD rental, that would probably work the best for us.

[dogmom]

They had to change their envelopes no matter what. The USPS found that the shape of the envelope was too expensive for them to process so they were going to drastically increase the shipping price charged to Netflix unless they changed the envelope. http://www.techspot.com/news/28161-netflix-to-redesign-envelopes-after-usps-threat.html


Ah, that makes sense. The price of media mail is RIDICULOUSLY cheap, which is mandated by congress. Which is why shippers like Amazon pick and choose which whey they send you the stuff you buy. The USPS only gets the stuff that is mandated to have low prices. Some decisions that were made back in the 70's about pricing structures, letting things like UPS compete, etc. really led the USPS to the point they are today where they can't break even. It's still cheaper for my to send a parcel USPS, and true if you are a small business, but anyone bigger is better for them to send UPS or the like, so the USPS gets small change. Netflix made out by the often one day, sometimes 2 day, shipping for nothing from the USPS by putting their distribution centers near USPS distribution centers.

We never really had DVD much, I find I would get one, it would sit there for 3 weeks because our mood changed, and it would return unwatched. The streaming stuff used to have more options, but now it just sucks for the most part and we've watched all the kids want to. Occasional a 2 year old movie comes on my husband and I want to watch, but now that Starz is going to leave that is all the movies I would watch.

[sarahsthreads]

We never cancelled our subscriptions. It's still the most convienent for us. It only went up a couple of dollars for us (everything goes up with inflation anyway) and by increasing the online streaming price, they will be able to offer more movies by streaming. Before they didn't have that much to offer on streaming.

Also love that they are going to start renting out Wii games, my boys will be happy.

At first I thought it is odd that they will have two separate names. Splitting up the services and naming the DVD service Quickster is interesting, but I think Netlfix always wanted their main goal to be streaming, hence the name NET flix, so now that they are split, I get the name change.

However, I don't know that I like the two different websites... that might be a pain. I guess we'll just have to try it out and see. I think this is all a positive move for the company after the backlash. It's good they apologized. However, as I said we do like the streaming (can't get more convenient than that!) so I'm looking forward to them getting more movies.

A big :yeahthat: to all of this. I didn't have an issue with the price going up - it hasn't changed in years, after all - but now I'm not so sure I'm going to be happy with having to maintain two different queues. If there weren't a bunch of things we like to watch on DVD that aren't available to stream, I'd consider dropping the DVD portion of things. (And "Qwikster"? Really? What a terrible name change!)

I think for now we're just going to keep things as they are and try it out, but I don't know how long we'll keep the DVD side of things. I may just start buying DVDs instead. I bet it's not that much more expensive in the long run...

Sarah :)

[sidmand]

DH sent me a link to that this morning. At first I thought it was great that they were acknowledging that how they went about things wasn't right but I came away from it thinking WTH?

I really liked that when I put movies in my queue if they were available for instant streaming it would automatically go in that queue too. I think separating this out into two different companies is ridiculous.

I'm one that didn't mind that their price was going up. They do offer a great deal and they were probably pricing themselves too cheaply to keep up. It was a big jump at once and they should have done it differently, but...I was grandfathered in to 4 movies/month and we did change to 2 movies/month with the streaming and the price wasn't much different than what we were paying. I do like that you can rent games now (DS will be thrilled) but I think that having two companies is going to be a PITA.

[ahisma]

Price increase = understandable.

Two websites = a pain.

Netflix PR team = a hot mess.

[lmwbasye]

Terrible decision, IMO. And I really hate how the guy talked about hard this was for him...almost as if he's a regular customer instead of making the decisions.

[larig]

Yeah, I got the email this morning and I'm just bewildered - Qwikster???!!! WTH? We still have the streaming part, but I'm seriously considering dumping that too because it seems like a company that doesn't have the first clue what it's doing. A shame really because they've been great until recently.

Oh, and don't they have any idea how valuable their Netflix red envelopes actually are as a brand? A case study in brand suicide. Nuts.

yeah, I'm with you. I think this is asinine.

they did say they were keeping the envelopes red.

[maestramommy]

I got a super apologetic email from them this morning and I'm totally confused. But I haven't streamed yet, and I still have a DVD from ages ago I haven't watched yet, so I'm basically under a rock. I should check my account to see what the charges are. :tongue5:

[larig]

A big :yeahthat: to all of this. I didn't have an issue with the price going up - it hasn't changed in years, after all - but now I'm not so sure I'm going to be happy with having to maintain two different queues. If there weren't a bunch of things we like to watch on DVD that aren't available to stream, I'd consider dropping the DVD portion of things. (And "Qwikster"? Really? What a terrible name change!)

I think for now we're just going to keep things as they are and try it out, but I don't know how long we'll keep the DVD side of things. I may just start buying DVDs instead. I bet it's not that much more expensive in the long run...

Sarah :)

we use our library a whole lot. I'm amazed what they have available.

[Mommy_Mea]

The name Qwikster is just ridiculous. And the two separate website thing just makes me wary. I will see how they function together (if at all), but right now I don't see Netflix (Qwikster :shake:) succeeding.

We still have both streaming and DVDs, but we are dropping to 1 at a time. We use both extensively, and in the place of cable...

[sweetsue98]

I got a super apologetic email from them this morning and I'm totally confused. But I haven't streamed yet, and I still have a DVD from ages ago I haven't watched yet, so I'm basically under a rock. I should check my account to see what the charges are. :tongue5:

16.95 for streaming and 1 DVD out at a time

[sweetsue98]

I cancelled my netflix today. The price was not worth it for us.

[fortato]

It's not like they changed anything except a name. Um, are we supposed to be doing cartwheels and throwing a parade for this email?

I love Redbox.

[Multimama]

So does anybody have any suggestions for a Netflix alternative? I'm thinking about Amazon streaming since you can get it free with prime right now, but last time I looked into it they weren't very friendly to macintosh. Maybe that has changed?

[TxCat]

I think the email could have been more successful if he concretely explained/described how the new business model and price increases were working towards improving selection and accessibility. I mean, we're all assuming that's the case, but it seems like their streaming inventory is still limited and they are trying to dismantle the DVD side without shoring up the streaming video side first.

Has anyone tried the rentals from iTunes? How does that compare to Amazon?

[elektra]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/netflix
A cartoon on the topic. ;)

[crl]

So does anybody have any suggestions for a Netflix alternative? I'm thinking about Amazon streaming since you can get it free with prime right now, but last time I looked into it they weren't very friendly to macintosh. Maybe that has changed?

I'd love to hear more about this option. My free prime will be expiring soon and if we could use Amazon streaming as a Netlix replacement that might make my decision about whether to pay for Prime easier. We are all Mac these days though.

Catherine

[elbenn]

So does anybody have any suggestions for a Netflix alternative? I'm thinking about Amazon streaming since you can get it free with prime right now, but last time I looked into it they weren't very friendly to macintosh. Maybe that has changed?

The Amazon free streaming with prime only works if you pay for prime, not if you got it free with Amazon Mom.

[fivi2]

Put me in the supremely annoyed camp. We do three at a time plus streaming. Both of my queues are ridiculously long. I have always been a huge fan, but this, this might run me off.

I do not want to manage two queues. I do not want to cross reference to see what I have on each queue and search for every movie on two different websites since it will no longer flip from one queue to the other as it becomes available. I do not want to remember two login ids and two passwords. I do not want to deal with two services and most likely duplicate "fees" of some sort.

I am not happy.

and the name is dumb.

[Multimama]

Has anyone tried the rentals from iTunes? How does that compare to Amazon?

I used to rent from iTunes quite a lot, but it is significantly more expensive than Netflix if you are a regular user and you actually have to wait for the thing to download and have enough space on your hard drive for it since it is not streaming. (I mean, you can watch while it is downloading, but if your connection isn't fast enough that may not work and sometimes it will stop downloading without you noticing.) I find it's only worth it if I want to buy and own the thing I am watching.

[kellij]

I am so glad that you posted this!!! Thank you so much! Somehow I missed the price increase and it really ticks me off that it was done automatically without having to approve it!

I'm canceling the dvd mailing right now!

[sntm]

Price increase = understandable.

Two websites = a pain.

Netflix PR team = a hot mess.

Word.

And word again since the board won't let me post something under 7 letters.

[kijip]

I am sure that Qwikster will be sold off unceremoniously at some point in the not too distant future. They are trying to buffer their Netflix stock from further stock price woes. Their stock fell more than 20% over the price hike. I don't think this strategy will work at all but that is what they are trying.

The price hike for people using the streaming + the 1 at a time DVD service (which was one of their most popular plans once they added in streaming) was 60%. That is huge. They would have been beteer off with a gradual step up in prices that would have encouraged people to keep both services rather than separating the costs. Say $12 instead of $10. They lost more than a million people outright over this and then they lost revenue from several million more accounts who axed one or the other part of their service. They had been getting $10 from me but when the price hike was announced to be $8 for each service, I like so many others picked the part that I was using the most (in my case streaming) and they started getting $8 from me instead. The price structure hurt them coming and going.

They could be not long for this world frankly. Which given the popularity they previously enjoyed and the fact that they were first on the scene with streaming and they are still one of the cheapest games in town, is rather baffling. The CEO is not making the right choices here. I assume that he will be fired at some point if this does not all work out.

[JElaineB]

DH loves Netflix streaming or I'd ditch them completely today. I already cancelled the DVD service last week so today's announcement doesn't really affect me but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I also just found out that Instant Queue items that are not currently available have now been removed from view (according to Netflix blog entry from 9/17) but you total amount allowed in your queue is still 500 titles, thus effectively reducing the size limit of your queue, which includes available + saved/not currently available titles. When Starz Play goes away in Feb we'll definitely need to reevaluate and see what else is out there.

[Pinky]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/netflix
A cartoon on the topic. ;)

LOL. This is hilarious!!:rotflmao:

[JoyNChrist]

I am sure that Qwikster will be sold off unceremoniously at some point in the not too distant future. They are trying to buffer their Netflix stock from further stock price woes. Their stock fell more than 20% over the price hike. I don't think this strategy will work at all but that is what they are trying.

The price hike for people using the streaming + the 1 at a time DVD service (which was one of their most popular plans once they added in streaming) was 60%. That is huge. They would have been beteer off with a gradual step up in prices that would have encouraged people to keep both services rather than separating the costs. Say $12 instead of $10. They lost more than a million people outright over this and then they lost revenue from several million more accounts who axed one or the other part of their service. They had been getting $10 from me but when the price hike was announced to be $8 for each service, I like so many others picked the part that I was using the most (in my case streaming) and they started getting $8 from me instead. The price structure hurt them coming and going.

They could be not long for this world frankly. Which given the popularity they previously enjoyed and the fact that they were first on the scene with streaming and they are still one of the cheapest games in town, is rather baffling. The CEO is not making the right choices here. I assume that he will be fired at some point if this does not all work out.

:yeahthat: to everything you said.

Theyre just getting $8 from me now, and if another company comes out with a good DVD + streaming option, Netflix will likely lose my business altogether. And I've been a member for years and buy several memberships every year as engagement/graduation/wedding gifts.

[happymom]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/netflix
A cartoon on the topic. ;)

:rotflmao:

[TwinFoxes]

We never cancelled our subscriptions. It's still the most convienent for us. It only went up a couple of dollars for us (everything goes up with inflation anyway) and by increasing the online streaming price, they will be able to offer more movies by streaming. Before they didn't have that much to offer on streaming.



I don't think this is true at all. Studios are shying away from deals with Netflix. All of Sony's movies disappeared a couple of months ago, and Starz is going away too, which includes Disney films. When the Starz news came out Netflix made some vague "oh we have other options" statements, but unless they reach a deal with Starz or there's some other big announcement, streaming choices will become fewer. I'm hoping for more choices, because I like the service. But...


When Starz Play goes away in Feb we'll definitely need to reevaluate and see what else is out there.

:yeahthat:

I had two DVDs plus streaming. The price hike, which actually was $2 for me did make me reevaluate my viewing. I realized I have had the same two movies for months. Now I'm realizing we really only stream Blues Clues regularly. Doesn't seem worth the $8. A complete bungle by the company. I think this will be studied in business schools.

BTW, to multimama, we amazon stream to our Mac with no issues at all.

[maestramommy]

16.95 for streaming and 1 DVD out at a time


Aaack! Are you serious? I was paying something like $5/month for 2 DVDS a month!

[Multimama]

BTW, to multimama, we amazon stream to our Mac with no issues at all.

Thanks! Good to know. I think you used to have to download some kind of program that was Windows-only. Glad they made that change.

[TwinFoxes]

Here's an interesting article from yesterday's Cnet. Seems a lot of people agree that spinning off Qwikster (dumbest name ever) was not a good thing:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20108402-261/who-stole-netflixs-mojo/?tag=topStories

[flygirl555]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/netflix
A cartoon on the topic. ;)

Too funny! Thanks for sharing! 