Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Netflix Deflects Rage Over Price Increase

Posted by timothy on from the let-them-drink-cappuccino dept.

oxide7 writes "Netflix provoked an unprecedented outpouring of backlash across the Internet as the company unveiled plans to raise prices on its movie-rental services. The company said it would raise the Internet-plus-DVDs-in-the-mail plan from $9.99 per month to $15.98 per month late Tuesday sparking protests and rage across the subscriber base. Netflix brushed off the criticism however. 'We knew there would be some people who would be upset,' company spokesman Steve Swasey said. 'To most people, it's a latte or two,' he added."

4 of 722 comments (clear)

  1. No rage, just a lost customer. by Kenja · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Canceled as soon as they sent email with their new pricing scheme. Simply not worth that much money, especially with competition from Amazon and Google in the works.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:No rage, just a lost customer. by sneakyimp · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Mod parent up. This is definitely about the content providers wanting more money. The reason the Sony movies were removed is because they had hit a contractual cap and Netflix was unable to offer them anymore until a renegotiation followed. At the renegotiation, the content providers are all too aware of the soaring Netflix profits and stock price and are demanding more money. My actor friend in Hollywood (an armchair industry analyst) has been moaning for months about how the studios let Netflix get away with the content too cheaply.

      I'll be canceling my account too for a variety of reasons:
      1) The streaming selection has been awful lately. Like really awful.
      2) The site redesign really sucks. You have to hover over a movie to see the rating.
      3) The recommendations for me are ghastly. Maybe it's because my girlfriend has been watching too many movies.
      4) I've received scratched DVDs and had streaming movies drop repeatedly (despite my 10Mbps connection). I have yet to receive any compensation or even an apology for these service failures.
      5) No video rental on demand? WTF??
      6) Yes, the price increase.

    2. Re:No rage, just a lost customer. by shermo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What I hate is how movies appear and disappear and the movies I really want to watch are nearly impossible to find online.

      Of course there's always other options... It's always nice when the illegal option is both cheaper, more convenient and a better product.

      --
      Insanity: voting in the same two parties over and over again and expecting different results
  2. Re:The update does not make sense by Idbar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I said this somewhere else, but I think is worth mention here.

    I'm a netflix subscriber, and I sincerely don't care paying more for their services. What I think motivated the rage, was rolling out a price increase as a "feature". Instead of just saying they will be increasing the prices ("The $10 plan will be now $16, BUT you have the option of going only streaming or only DVDs for half the price"), they went "Hey! Great news, we are splitting the plans so everyone is happy! Your plan will no longer exist and you'll have to pay extra! BTW, Everyone must switch over in September".

    If there's one thing you don't want to do you your customers is making them look like idiots, and tell them to pay more with ultimatums. That was sort of 3 strikes on their single blog post.