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Netflix to raise "bundle" prices 60%

mzpro5

mzpro5

Well-Known Member
Famous
Well this really sucks. If you have streaming and one disc (like I do) you'll be paying an extra 60% come September. Guess Netflix is really trying hard to get out of the disc rental business.

Netflix raising prices as much as 60%

When they do this I am done renting discs from NF. Why pay 60% extra and you still have to wait a month for new releases?

I'll use local options for new releases. And I suspect that is what NF wants.

Here is the email I got this morning:

Dear Jeffrey,

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 $11.99 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), 1 out at-a-time (no streaming)
for $9.99 a month

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $17.98 a month ($7.99 + $9.99). 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.

You can easily change or cancel your unlimited streaming plan, unlimited DVD plan, or both, by going to the Plan Change page in Your Account.

We realize you have many choices for home entertainment, and we thank you for your business. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to call us at 1-888-357-1516.
 
I read about this yesterday. I find it amusing for us A/V enthusiasts for a couple of reasons.

We have gear that gives us the capability of watching blu-ray in HD surround for optimal quality.
Now, streaming is becoming the norm which does not compare in quality for video or audio.
So, we have to go "back" to renting blu-rays in a similar fashion as with DVD's a few years ago.
So, most people are buying 1080p tv's so they can watch "less than" 1080p video on them while streaming.

Just seems like we're taking a step forward to go back.

I don't really have the means to stream and, although I thought about it, I don't think I will stream anything. The quality is not excellent and I would feel like I've wasted money on my gear.

I've quit trying to keep "up" with technology...I just don't have the funds.
 
Jam, feel the same way about streaming and moving backwards. We don't have a great dsl speed, so picture and sound are marginal at best. I will be canceling Netflix at this point. The only movies I would like to stream, are movies that may not be out on bluray, or that have that nostalgic feel to them, and Netflix selection of 80's movies is not the best.
 
I use netflix streaming mainly for tv shows where quality is not an issue. I see streaming vs BD rental as paralleling mp3 vs CD/lossless - the former is more convenient and most people don't care about the quality of the latter.
 
I look at it as typical business. All the Blockbusters are going out of business in my area, so now netflix is cornering the market. They can charge whatever they want now...
 
Sucks that they raised their prices. But I don't think it is all there fault. I saw a headline and saw that the studios were pounding netflix. So this may be trickled down from the greedy bastards in the movie business.

Although, while I don't like the idea of the price increase, I think it is a fair price structure. If you think about what you are getting for the price. we use the instant watch all the time.
 
I have good speed and signal strength on my wireless system and the quality of streaming is very good. As someone mentioned all TV shows and many many movies look great for me. They are usually coming to my set as 720p.

There are a lot of movies I wouldn't consider streaming as their are greatly enhanced by the HD experience, particularly with sound. But there are also a huge number of movies that don't need the full HD treatment but can really be enjoyed via streaming at 720p.

I'm fortunate that we have a pretty decent independent disc rental place that carries a great BD selection at reasonable prices (they also buy and sell used books, do lottery and a number of other side ventures that keep them in business). I'll be utilizing them.

EDIT: and I'm not blaming them though it sucks for us - it is business. I really think they want to gradually get out of the physical disc business for good at some time, really cuts the overhead.

And another thought in these times of scarce jobs - how many people will loose their jobs as their disc rentals go down?
 
It's paying the cost, movie studios, postage, envelopes. They are losing money. I'll just stream, and if I can't wait I'll buy or rent hd from vudu.
 
I haven't heard they are loosing money, but they may not be at the roi they want to be at. Either way, I was already on the fence about keeping the account, and this will sway me to cancel my account. I wasn't using it that much, I just turned a movie in yesterday from February. For the money they want, I can add HBO and another channel, and get better picture and sound from Directv.

Anyone know what the billing cycle is? It use to be that if you dropped your subscription, they wouldn't cancel until the end of the billing cycle. Now, you are done when you cancel. Might as well keep it until the end of the cycle.
 
I'm sure than I am not alone because I gave up on Netflix for disc based rentals a long time ago. If I want the quality of a disc or a new release I'll pick it up at RedBox or buy it from Amazon.

It makes no sense for Netflix to operate two buisinesses at the same time. The streaming business model is entirely different than the physical disc rental business.
 
I'm a little miffed. It seems like they're jacking prices every few months, and I am beginning to wonder if I really want to maintain my level of service (streaming + 2 discs/time).

I would like to drop to a fixed number of discs per month, but they're ditching that option. I don't want to give up streaming, but their content on the feature movie side is pretty thin. If I could rely on a local disc rental business I'd drop the disc option in a heartbeat, but there just isn't much left- Blockbuster, Redbox, and that's it. We could maybe get more done via DirecTV's PPV options (we only watch 2-3 movies/month, tops), but the selection there is also limited and you don't get the lossless audio that you get with Blu-Ray (I think most video quality with streaming is fine, but the audio isn't the full experience). Heck, for what they're charging I could buy a disc a month, if not more than that.

Before I make any solid decisions, I'm going to double check what other options are available, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Netflix lose a bunch of customers over this change- they'll make more from the remaining ones while cutting costs of servicing as many people, but running off customers is a piss-poor business model.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure I can justify $25/mo for 2-disc BD rental plus streaming. If I watched more movies, maybe... unfortunately the blockbuster near me closed, but I think maybe there's a redbox nearby, will have to check it out. I will probably keep the streaming for tv shows since it's still cheaper than cable (and I don't care about watching it "live"), but may well drop the discs.
 
PaulyT said:
Yeah, I'm not sure I can justify $25/mo for 2-disc BD rental plus streaming.
Click to expand...

Especially if that $25 is on top of a paid TV subscription.

Regarding the cost of the Netflix disc rentals.... The math is pretty easy. Unless RedBox is scarce in your area (they are EVERYWHERE here) they are a far better value.
 
I haven't reactivated my account in a couple of months, so for a streaming only account I don't know what I would look at in fees. if it's the same, I may come back but if it's going up I won't bother.

I agree about the CD/MP3 analogy. For me, while I prefer better quality, I'm fine with less than HD quality if the picture is good enough. I'm more a music than movie fan anyways. The way I see it, if it's something I would own, I'm going to buy it on Bluray or DVD anyway and not fool with Netflix. For the occasional rental, I'll just stick with Dish's pay-per-view if Netflix is going up.


I do hate it for you streaming+disc renters. 60% is pretty freaking high.
 
For Netflix, there's a way out of pricing mess



"Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings may feel a little shell-shocked by the testy reaction. Hastings and his staff have enjoyed nearly unprecedented customer loyalty and popularity as the Web's most popular movie-rental service. Hastings is the guy who championed consumers against Hollywood and helped take a digital baseball bat to the much-loathed late fees from Blockbuster and traditional video-rental services. He is the guy who mailed movies to users' front door when they used to have to drive to rent. Netflix is regularly at the top of consumer-satisfaction polls. Would we have a term like cord-cutting without Netflix?And that's why the backlash has been so extreme. Many of the company's 23 million subscribers are outraged over the money issue and they're just plain disappointed in the way Netflix is behaving. Dumping a 60-percent price increase on customers and casually announcing the move in a blog post without warning isn't what Netflix is supposed to be about. There's no doubt that Netflix's brand is suffering. Good will and trust is being drained, and quickly. "
 
Take it with a grain of salt, but the were talking about this on the Bob and Tom show this morning, and supposedly, what the studios charge for movies is going up about 10 times over what they have to pay now. They also said that one major studio was looking to not support Netflix. Imagine paying more, but not getting any movies from one major studio.

There was a number on the email that I got that I will probably call to cancel my account. I won't be rude or demeaning, but I will let them know why I am no longer using their service.
 
I know there are a few guys here who use amazon prime, which gets you some free streaming videos, what do you guys think of their selection and quality? For $75 a year, it might be worth it, if the selection is good.
 
Selection... fair
Qaulity... very good

I don't consider the $75 a year as part of the cost because I was already paying that for free prime shipping (and would continue to do so). But if you arent already a member than think about it this way...

A year of Amazon prime is about 70% the price of a year long Netflix's streaming only plan. But after having used both... I'd say that Netflix's selection and interface is worth the 30% premium.
 
Consumers are much more likely to absorb small incremental price increases rather than tolerate one large price increase. Netflix seen this coming for a year or more, and should have done a better job of preparing their customer base.

I'm of the opinion Netflix streaming selection is poor, and come September will cancel my subscription.

Rope
 
I only use Netflix's streaming service so maybe I am numb to it because gave-up on NF disc rentals a long time ago... but I don't understand the outrage I'm hearing from others around the net over the price increase for the disc plans.
 
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