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Redbox Raises Its Prices To $1.20 Per Day
nixkuroi writes "Redbox, apparently not having noticed the backlash against Netflix, has decided to charge its customers 20% more per day. Though there will be a discounted grace period for the first day of rental until Nov. 30 2011, the full pricing increase will kick into effect on December 1."
Just like with Netflix, I understand there is a cost of doing business. The costs for these companies to pay for content is rising, and the means to deliver it is getting more expensive. I am willing to pay for it until it reaches a price I feel is too high, then I'm free to cancel. Why get angry?
It's a luxury item, if you can't afford it don't do it. That simple.
I don't see this as an inflation response, nor is it a fair comparison to Netflix. Redbox is a la carte. You subscribe to nothing. Use it a little, a lot, or not at all.
As they built out their system $1 was a simple price point, easy to advertise and a good entry point. Now they have a business model and usage metrics. $1.20 is a price point that they probably think is sustainable and will generate revenue and profit.
I like Redbox and probably use it 3-5 times a month. It's easy to grab something for the family and just as easy to return to about 10 different boxes within 2 miles of my home and shopping areas.
The entire business model of RedBox is based on giving away free promo codes and then charging fraudulent late fees one or two months later. So if you (or your friends) haven't used one of their free promo codes, just consider yourself and your friends lucky.
No.
Full price = 25$ per movie. I've had my card used to rent two movies and whoever rented them never returned them, so I was charged 50$. Got my credit card company and redbox on the same line, and their decision was that I had to pay it. I will never use redbox.
It's Redbox's fault you lost your credit card and didn't report it missing before it was used by someone else? If you want someone to blame for that little fuckup, you can start by pointing a thumb instead of a finger.
If his card was indeed lost or stolen and someone used it fraudulently, then yes, it is Redbox's fault for accepting it without verification. I understand that their business model doesn't allow for someone to personally check each card, but it's not my fault if their business model allows for easy fraud.
Though I suspect that's not what happened in this case, or the CC company would have just done a chargeback against Redbox. The law limits your liability to $50 for a lost/stolen card, but I've never had a card company enforce the $50 - and it's happened to me 3 times. (once because I lost my card, twice because an online merchant had a data breach)
The Netflix exodus wasn't just because of the price increase. People understand price increases. It was about the non-chalent contempt that they showed their customers by wording their email "don't you dare complain, the increase is less then the cost of that fancy coffee you're sucking on". The price increase was of course a big factor, but compared to renting at Blockbuster in the 90s, even with the increase Netflix is a steal. The Quickster thing was just icing, the cake was baked and burned.
It was the sort of dumbass move only someone with a job title that abbreviates to a three letter acronym could make. Speaking as the CEO of a small company, I'd say that the brass had their heads so far up their own asses that they honestly couldn't see what was going to happen. My advice: if you're the CEO, you owe it to the company to spend at least 3 hours a day doing customer service or tech support, so that you know what the people you are serving want. Even if you can't give it to them, you know what to shoot for. Otherwise, you can let a singe sentence slide (the latte thing in Netflix case) and ruin a business hundreds or thousands of people have worked tirelessly on.
Cool art gallery, if you're into that sort of thing.