Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Price change for access to Blu-ray movies
Hi, Jessie Teitz here, VP of Marketing. This message is for everyone who rents Blu-ray movies from Netflix. You might have heard that we've been talking about changing our prices for Blu-ray movies because they cost more than standard DVDs. To make up for this significant cost difference, we've decided to charge a little bit more for those who want to rent Blu-ray movies. On November 5th, we'll start charging an extra $1 a month for Blu-ray access. For our members on unlimited plans, $1 a month for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies is a great value. We have more than 800 Blu-ray titles, and growing, for you to enjoy as part of your Netflix subscription. We think you'll agree, a $1 increase in your monthly subscription is pretty modest for you to enjoy this compelling format. If you don't want to pay $1 more a month for access to Blu-ray movies, simply remove the Blu-ray access on your account and your monthly subscription cost will stay the same. I look forward to reading your comments. Thanks.
213 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1 – 200 of 213 Newer› Newest»This stinks. You should be giving us Blu-Ray at no extra charge at all, not looking for ways to milk us more than you already do.
I can't see how the cost difference is affecting the bottom line. I'm sure there are over 800 titles that cost significantly LESS than most Netflix movies too. I'm betting 10x that. Granted, those movies aren't rented as frequently, but I don't see Netflix charging 1$ LESS for those movies. (Online viewing isn't an option for us Mac users either, and until it is, that isn't a valid argument either)
I don't buy the "extra" cost option.
Amazon offers bluray movies from $13-$30 range.
How much extra is that costing you over new dvd releases?
So 800 movies on bluray... I don't have interest in even watching all of them, maybe 10 of the current offerin (maybe 30?) So you're going to punish me to use blueray?
Don't think so.
Cancelled the blueray option the moment it was announced and I'm not shopping for another service that doesn't feel like robbing me $1 a month for the 'privilage' of watching blueray, something I should have been already paying for (and was).
I am seriously thinking about leaving netflix over this. I understand Blu-ray costs more. I wouldn't mind the upcharge if I could get Blu-ray discs as fast as DVD. Everytime I add a Blu-ray to my query it says "Very Long Wait" or "Long Wait". Why would I want to pay more for the same unpredictible service. I don't think we should pay more if the service levels haven't changed at all. I used to get a movie, watch it and return it right away so I could get the next one. Now, with Blu-ray, I check to see how long I will have to wait. If it is a long time, which it always is, I'm not in a rush to send it back. Then I feel like netflix isn't worth it to me. Therefore why should I have to pay even more when Netflix is less of a value to me?
To add since blogger doesn't allow for edits:
Pardon the typo, I'm now looking at the competition, even though I've been a subscriber for 3 years.
Only reasons there should ever be a reasonable price increase on netflix: postal rate increases or minimum wage increases.
How much did you people pay for the Blu-Ray players? You're going to complain about $1 per month. I could see an issue if they were charging and extra $5 or $10, but a buck? Come on...you go ahead and go to Blockbuster...I hear they have a wait on everything....
If you have to own the latest and greatest, expect to pay for it.
I didn't buy a Blu-Ray player, per se but, own a PS3 which just happens to play Blu-Ray discs.
I don't have a problem with it, but if you'd like to discuss it, there's also a discussion going on at Get Satisfaction, a site netflix refuses to acknowledge exists:
http://getsatisfaction.com/netflix/topics/blu_ray_price_increase
A 20% increase for the $4.99 plan ($4.99 + $1 for blu-ray), which I have. Seems like a lot for 2 movies a month. Blockbuster Online is $3.99 for the same plan and that already includes blu-ray. No brainer for me to switch.
These complaints are pretty ridiculous. It's just $1.
I WOULD pay an extra dollar (or two) per month if the Roku streaming movies were higher quality. The Voodoo has increased to nearly blu-ray quality... hopefully you guys won't disappoint me there.
These comments will most likely not be read by those who make the decisions but we as patrons should be heard and vent. We pay our hard earned money every month to have the movies of our choice delivered to us in a timely fashion. I was an early subscriber to netflix due to my disgust with Blockbuster. Upon receiving the email regarding Bluray price hikes I was less than thrilled. I looked at my queue and dicovered that Most of the movies in my list were not available in Bluray and the 15 or so that were in Bluray had a Long or Very Long Wait on them this my friends is an unacceptable practice We demand to have services that we pay for to be provided not met with additional rate hikes. Perhaps Pay-Per-View is the next option seeing as DirecTV offers new releases in HD. If the movie is that great I will just Buy the damn thing and keep it. In this ecomomy it's business practices such as this that remind me that netflix after all is a LUXURY service that we can and maybe should LIVE WITHOUT.
I have no problem with an increase of a dollar. I do have a problem when opening an envelope is like flipping a coin. I'm getting really tired of the cracked disc issue and I'm getting tired of Netflix playing the "isolated incident" response card.
It's not isolated. It's widespread and widely reported. I had to send another disc back this week. Yet Netflix continues to just brush the issue aside.
Maybe this price increase is actually due to the delivery failure rate of Blu-Ray discs. Netflix must be going through a lot of catalog having to keep replacing damaged units.
If we are going to get a dollar increase then I want to see the service improve. Use that money to despatch Blu-Ray discs in light cardboard sleeves. Not the cheap paper sleeves that have resulted in at least 15 damages discs this year.
Maybe if the packaging was better, Netflix wouldn't continuously burn through copies of movies.
I don't have a problem with it, as yes, there is a noticeable price difference in the formats. Let's see... the new Indiana Jones movie comes out next week, and I'm fairly sure that that will be a big mover. Let's take a look at the prices on it:
DVD - $18.99
Blu-Ray - $26.95
Those prices come from Amazon, and while I'm sure Netflix doesn't pay retail, there's still going to be a price difference. Of course, Netflix isn't going to buy just one copy of the movie, so it adds up.
Let's do a little math. That's an $8 difference if you or I were to buy it, but let's say Netflix gets a huge discount and only faces a $1 price difference. Let's also assume that they buy 200 copies to meet the demand: that's an extra $200 compared to the DVD edition. Oh, and there's 800 different Blu-Ray titles with more coming out every week, so $200*800 movies=$160,000 to support this format. And you're going to gripe about a buck?
Also, by charging an extra buck, I'd assume that they would be able to buy extra copies of the movies in this format to cut down on the waits.
I joined netflix because there was no additional charge to get bluray movies. Now that there is hmm... It causes one to reevaluate the other options available. If there is going to be a price increase there should be more blurays available and not have them buried underneath genre. That is not even mentioning the wait times.
Also, to the anonymous above me who mentioned broken discs: I can't speak for everyone, but I've been a member since May 2004. In that time, I've received a grand total of three or four broken discs. If you're getting fifteen per year, you might want to have a talk with your local PO.
Why would you assume they would buy more copies? You can't assume you would be able to get a blu-ray disc faster than a month wait!
If the difference in price was such an issue you should've had this $1 increase when you started offering Blu-Ray, it would have been easier to accept.
And on more than one occasion I've had trouble even getting the Blu-Ray version from Netflix to begin with. They always seem to be out.
It's the little things that add up. Is $1 a big deal? No, not really. But it matters and I'm started to feel like I'm being nickel-ed and dimed by Netflix, I company I've been a huge supporter of for many, many years.
Should I expect an extra charge to watch movies on my Xbox 360 when that service launches later this year? If so, that'll be the last straw.
I guess I can cope with $1 if it was just $1. But I still can't watch stuff instantly on my Mac, or on Firefox. Blu-Ray availability has been scarce sometimes...it just adds up.
It would be one thing if it was only a dollar and I *could*actually*get*a*bluray*movie* from my queue...
As it is the top 4 movies in my queue are all Long Wait / Very Long Wait, and have been that way for over 6 weeks - and they're all blu-ray.
I haven't seen a blu-ray movie home in about 2 months.
So... $1/mo for something I want, but can't have is not acceptable.
Chad... You sound like you work for Netflix!
What a rip-off. I don't buy the argument at all. I'm going to look into switching providers.
Prior to the price upgrade, you were paying the same as everyone else but getting more (assuming you were getting Blu-Ray). So, why would they want to buy enough stock so that everyone could get their movies in this format with minimal wait? They're paying more per copy, you're paying the same per month as if you were getting it on DVD.
With 6 million members, let's say that 1% use Blu-Ray. That's 60,000 members, which equals $60,000 per month of extra income. I'm sure they'll pocket some of that, but I'm also sure that a good chunk of it will go to buying more titles on Blu-Ray (and more copies).
I expected that "I work for Netflix!" deal. Nope, I have my gripes as well - I hate the "New Releases" page and I was bitching about that just like all of you. I just don't see a problem with this, and in fact, I think it's a good thing.
These complaints posted are just nonsensical.
I actually applaud Netflix for this reasonable change. I understand the significant cost of Blu-rays and $1 is more than fair.
Just one question, will availability increase as it is a bit low at the time.
Keep up the good work.
I will be canceling, you have just made Blockbuster more attractive.
when I can get "B" movies for 1$ less or watch them on my Mac, then I'll call it fair....
or...when someone actually posts numbers that affect the bottom line in a negative way. Offering blue-ray to BEGIN with has upped the bottom line, without raising the prices.....greedy much?
Show me the figures. Show me in numbers, how it's hurting the bottom line, and I'll buy it...
SHOW me why.
Who cares what the reason for the price mark up is? It's an additional service and Netflix should have the right to charge whatever they want for the service. For me, it's only $1 and not that big a deal. For you, maybe $12/year is a big deal.
It seems like alot of posts are trying to justify this increase. I don't think Blu-ray discs have increased in price since they came out. Usually price goes down over time. Why didn't netflix charge this when they offered the first Blu-ray disc? Sounds like the drug dealer mentality to me... the first hit is free.
Even if a Blu-Ray costs five dollars more at retail, or, let's say for the sake of argumant $10 more to license for rental per disc, Netflix surely saves money due to the Durabis coating (I have never received a BD with ANY scratches, whereas nearly every DVD I have received is in some state of disrepair, and 1 in 20 are cracked or unplayable); as well as the robust copy protection (BD-R media is prohibitively expensive, decoding programs are not widespread, storage space is a concern for pirates).
I call BS and price-gouging on Netflix. Which really isn't a big surprise considering their throttling practices. They're just trying to squeeze their consumers by pinching pennies in a segment which they think will pony up more dough.
I canceled my account over this and the mac streaming issue about 10 minutes ago. Unfortunately they didn't give a comment box for me to let them know why I'm canceling my account. I'd come back if Blu-rays were the same price.
When I looked at my queue and saw only 3 blu-ray titles I realized it wasn't worth it.
Considering that Blu-ray movies cost on average 30% more the standard dvd, I'm surprised the extra fee wasn't charged from the beginning. Now you have to listen to all the whining. For those who are thinking about transferring over to Blockbuster, they are planning to charge a premium soon too.
No thanks. I'll downgrade my plan to two at a time and use the extra $4 to get two blurays a month from my local video store where they don't charge more and are always in stock.
If that works out, maybe I'll cancel completely.
Here's the thing. I WOULD care if I actually watched Bluray movies. To be honest, I only had Bluray enabled to encourage you guys to get a good selection going.
But until Sony provides a preference to never contact the internet when I load a Bluray movie into my PS3 (instead of the two current default options of Always Ask to Contact and Contact Without Asking), I have told them I won't purchase or view any more Blurays. And I'm standing by that. There's not a huge enough difference in the quality to put up with the damn format going "Can I invade your privacy now? How about now? Now? Okay... now?"
You guys could possibly be getting that extra $1/mo if Sony had this feature. Have your buyers swing some of that Netflix weight at them and mention this? Not to mention, have them lower the price of Blurays! They should be like $2 more than a DVD max in a store if Sony really wants to make inroads in the market.
Thanks...
How about making it so when I rent a new blu ray it doesn't sit there for months on very long wait!!!! I seriously thinking of going to blockbuster.
I'm happy to pay an extra $1/month for this, but I do hope that the Blu-ray selection increases quickly. Right now, less than 10% of my queue is available on Blu-ray (and many of those are not immediately available to rent)--paying more for months in which I don't even get a Blu-ray disc seems a little sketchy.
But if the extra dollar is getting funneled into purchasing more Blu-ray discs, I can live with that, too.
A very small percentage of movies in my queue are Blu-ray. There are not enough Blu-ray movies that I want to watch for this to be worth it.
If the system instead billed me $0.50 or even $1 extra at the end of the month for each Blu-ray movie that I watched, that would be much better for me.
I will be removing Blu-ray access.
put the money towards better stock and shipping from a warehouse near me and I'll be fine with it. You have until Christmas to show improvement.
I see folks who don't see it as a big deal and I wonder if they have bluray.
I also wonder how many movies on their queue are blueray if they do have it. I, for one, could go an entire month renting movies without ever seeing a title that had a blueray option.
I therefore shouldn't be punished because there was a chance I could receive a blueray disk.
Maybe if I rented more than 3 or so movies in a month on blueray I could see the justification, but for the option to just be sitting there? That's what I don't accept.
Hmmm... I must say i am really not stingy at all with money but if you want to say shipping cost is youre reason for increasing cost or something along those lines ... sure but this is kind of bull. I would much prefer to go to blockbuster where it may cost more but there is no blue ray option and if i want i can trade the online movies in for ones from the store. I never watch movies on my computer either so why would i ever use that. That's why i payed too much for an entertainment system ...
If I were Sony I would be very concerned about these price increases.
I would also be very pro-active in trying to commercialize the format on competing terms with the other formats (DVD).
Ever since the video rental here and at the store I do business with I STOPED renting them.
Even though I do have a Blue Ray reader (lucky I can play games on it at least ;o) ) I refuse to cash in for the slight increase in quality.
I already enjoy HD from broadcasts anyway.
In the world of business, everyone who removes thier blu-ray option is considered "collateral damage". I run a company myself and sometimes to increase the bottom line, we know we will lose some customers over a price increase. If you look at it from a strategic stand point, this is purely a "profit increasing" move. Otherwise Netflix would have charged the increase at the time the started offering Blu-ray. If it truly is due to the cost of the Blu-ray, then their executives are terrible at looking at future gross margins when they decided to introduce Blue-ray. Either way this is netflix's fault. Not the cost of Blu-ray. Oh, and by the way it's not the $1 that bothers me, it's the principle.
Extra $1, sure, I'll pay it for Blu-Ray.
Now how about knocking $1 off for us Mac users who can't use the "Watch Instantly" feature?
How's it fair to charge extra for blu-ray and not give a break for those who can't use watch instantly?
wow!! what a crappy way to nickel and dime your loyal customers of many years. I'm now shopping around for a new service. Sounds like just a "easy" way for netflix to make a few extra million a month with-out improving there service or time it take to get movies. shame on you!!
I just want to point out that this is poor implementation, and that should one receive a bluray in a given month then the $1 charge should apply. Just having access to rent blurays in general should not justify an overall price increase. There have been some months when I did not rent any blurays at all.
I'm just about done with Netflix. I'll be canceling the blu-ray option. I'm going to consider getting rid of Netflix all together,
I wonder if there will now also be a price hike if we choose to watch netflix on the xbox...
I also wonder how many poor people won't pay enough attention to their e-mail or this blog and get hit by this as a rude surprise.
What I think is funny is all of the WHINNING. Uh, listen up Miracle Ears...when you grow up and own your own company, you can charge whatever you would like as well!!! What a concept.
Another thing, you stupid shortbuses, is that this is America. Go somewhere else if you don't like it.
I'm just waiting for one of you babies to start a petition. Haha
What a joke.
Blockbuster charges 16.99 for their mail only 3 at a time plan - there does not appear to be a premium for blu-ray. Or you can choose the mail \ store plan for 19.99 whihc appears to be a great value if you have a blockbuster nearby.
I think I'll be switching before the month is over.
Good Grief there are a bunch of whiny people out there!
Look "YOU" chose to buy early into the Blu Ray tech, out of 90,000+ titles available at Netflix only 1094 are Blu Ray. Why should those of us happy to view the other 90,000+ standard DVD titles have to foot the bill to buy more expensive copies of BD disks?
The one thing that is an absolute fact, and a right...
If you don't like it then downgrade to SDVD and wait for BD to catch up, or simply quit and go to BB. Who BTW is shy on BD titles vs. NF by almost 400 titles!
Why? because they only provide "Censored" versions of movies that fit their moral standards.
Oh and for the Mac users whining about IW... Stop beating the dead horse will ya? Why should you get a discount for something that nobody is being charged anything for.
I dropped Blu-Ray access today because, being a careful shopper, I'm not used to paying more for high definition. Especially since less than 10 percent of the videos I watch are even available on an HD format.
I used to be a Netflix costumer, and I'm now with Blockbuster. The reason was the lack of recent releases on bluray. I had recent releases in my queue for two months and they are still tagged "very long wait". It's not so with Blockbuster, I still have half my queue on a long wait, but the other half will be sent. "The Happening" and "1408" are on there way. With Netflix, I might have got those in two months. I would have definately paid more to stay with Netflix, unfortunately I don't think it will increase their inventory to meet the bluray demand.
I cancelled my subscription today. You might want to rethink your increase. Subscriber for 6-7 years. JPH
Blockbuster. Half the bluray movies that Netflix had a "very long wait" are available in my queue. I'm VERY happy!!!!!
I dont rent unless its blu-ray.
I dont watch TV unless its HD.
I dont go to theaters unless its IMAX.
Thanks Netflix, luv ya.
I seriously hope that this extra fee goes to buying more copies of blu ray movies. Right now, I seem to be perpetually waiting for them to returned. If you want to charge extra for HD movies, you better make damn sure that you have them in stock.
I can't believe you're going to raise the price ( even if it's just a dollar PLUS tax ) in times like this when so many people are looking at ways to cut cost. Netflix isn't a necessity, and I hope everyone did like I did and cancelled the Bluray option the second they learned about it. I joined Netflix BECAUSE you were the underdog, now you seem like all the other CORPORATE GREED HOUNDS.
I think it's perfectly reasonable to pay an extra dollar per month for Blu-ray discs. The thing that bothers me is that it seems to be an opt-out program.
Automatically raising my rate under the assumption that I want to be in a program is sneaky. It should be opt-in. The only reason I found out about this is because I came across this while searching for something else (an update on instant viewing for Macs, to be specific).
Automatic sign-up for a program that costs me more? Not cool.
Blu-Ray disengaged and I drop from 3 to 2 discs ... Blu-Ray is the future and DVD is the dinosaur, so essentially you plan to charge us more for the future, well you may ultimately lose a customer by raising your rates and I use Blu-Ray once or twice a month tops, I can get plenty of HD movies from my cable provider.
I won't be manipulated into higher rates to have up to date technology.
Canceling my subscription. The Blu-ray option was the only competitive advantage keeping me here.
The DRM-laden IE-only "watch-it-now" already didn't work w/ FF or my Mac, so it wasn't an option anyway. Now without equal-access to Blu-ray, I can save this $1 increase *and then some* by going somewhere else.
"If you don't want to pay $1 more a month for access to Blu-ray movies, simply remove the Blu-ray access on your account and your monthly subscription cost will stay the same."
What a joke Yeah right! Netflix is kidding themselves if they think that Blu-ray users are going to go back to watching DVDs.
I've already cancelled my account over this and am switch to BB.
Since you decided to raise my fee by a dollar, I have reduced my membership from 4 at a time to 2.
Netloss of around $9.00 for Netflix.
Should you decide to reverse the dollar increase, I may reconsider going back to four.
I encourage members not happy with the increase to drop their subscription back 1 or 2 to let them know we are not happy
At what point, as blu-ray disk prices drop, will this surcharge be dropped?
Great, I have rented 6 Blu-ray movies and have had trouble with 2. It's not my player, updated the firmware and tried them on a different player. Bad condition DVD for a $1 more. What a deal.
Sony has jacked the prices on Blu-Rays to pay for the re-tooling of all the old DVD lines and to make some money while they control all interests in the format. They control the market, they control the price, God bless a monopoly.
Netflix should take this argument to Sony and nickle and dime them over the issue...our rely on the fact we're so apathetic to cost increases we don't say anything. Needless to say I canceled my "Blu-Ray" option and lost five movies out of fifty or so. Then I realized how useless it was to me. I'll most likely cancel my Netflix account at the end of the month when it expires. I have paid Netflix since 2005, time to try Blockbuster.
I don't think that any extra cost should be added just to watch the bluray movies, it is unfair. If they are going to start nitpicking and charging for every little thing, I will cancel my membership
I totally disagree with the CHANGE in EXISTING terms. Especially since Blu-ray movies have been dropping in price. I have reduced my plan from 2 unlimited to 1 unlimited to maintain the amount we budgeted and still have Blu-ray. This for Netflix is a loss of $5 per month in revenue indefinitely for just 1 subscription. Poor decision to raise revenue.
My God—amazing! You have to charge an extra dollar for Blu-ray when you milk out of the members a hell of a lot more than that every month, and to top it off, on such an awful market??? What retard proposed this plan at this particular time for the company? Just when I've been thinking that maybe I'll bail out entirely from Netflix... this BS just makes it easier.
My wife uses the in-demand video on our DTV more than we watch Netflix vids anyhow, so canceling will be a pleasure.
Netflix was a good concept but its time to go. Bye Netflix.
you cheep as moter fkrs.
oh yea, wouldn't it be nice if you supported mac. i keep waiting for things to get better with you guys. charging me more money does not make it bedder.
I don't own a Blu-Ray player.
I will say this: for the "option" to rent Blu-Ray, $1 is not fair.
If I rent 1 Blu-Ray a month and a lot of older movies on regular DVD, is that worth the increase? If Blu-Rays were as available as regular DVDs, $1 is fine. $1 for less avialability I can't agree with.
As many others have mentioned. For that extra dollar those waits had better reduce to nothing. It's a shame you couldn't wait a little long on this new "feature." Because, honestly, bragging that there are 800 Blu-Ray titles available isn't really that compelling an argument.
Time to switch to Blockbuster.
No additional fee for Blu-ray.
Maybe they'll actually ship out movies more quickly, also.
It's at least worth a free trial.
Why do people assume that the price of blu-ray discs is fixed?
The reason they cost 30% more is that the MPAA decided they would. They don't cost that much more to produce, and what real differences there are, are falling fast.
If Netflix won't stand up for its customers and fight to get the cost of these discs reduced then why should we support them?
Grow a pair Netflix and pass the pain back to the real thugs, the MPAA, not your customers.
I agree. Not all movies are available in the Blu-Ray format so $1 surcharge is inappropriate. Thats #1.
#2 The long wait for some Blu-Ray titles would also be intolerable with an extra charge.
I'm a Mac user so the NetFlix "on-demand" feature is useless for me. I have suggested Netflix support loyal Mac users but that suggestion fell on deaf ears.
What a stupid decision given the state of the economy.
I thought I was a loyal customer but I'm considering a switch. Hope corporate is listening...
As long as Blu-Ray discs have a higher price, I understand a slight premium. But since Netflix's inventory has such a small percentage of Blu-Ray movies (is it even 1%) how about adding the premium if the customer has a Blu-Ray any time during the month.
It's unacceptable to pay a premium if you have requested a premium service and you (Netflix) can not provide that premium service during that month. The implication that all movies should be in 1080p is implicit here.
One more thought. If NetFlix truly cares about customer service they would invest in greater Blu-Ray supplies before the rate increase. I've read several blogs that a price increase would allow the investment in greater copies of Blu-Ray discs. Come on, that is backwards thinking. NetFLix is a highly successful and profitable company, they should only ask for more money if all titles can be supplied in the format.
I'm going to monitor this very closely
Careful Netflix
First of all I wouldn't mind the price increase if Blu-Ray's were actually AVAILABLE!! Every time i add a Blu-Ray movie it is either a VERY LONG WAIT or LONG WAIT!!! If you're going to charge us more get more copies of the new movies so we don't have to wait forever
I think it is ridiculous to pay extra for bluray movies. The services are supposed to be a package deal. If they are going to nickel and dime, why not charge extra for instant watching. Why not charge extra for new releases like going to blockbuster does. Why not charge extra for movies that are the most popular. The reason people use netflix is to get the movies they want at a flat rate, not to be nickel and dimed. I hope this is not a new trend for netflix to have a subscription that does not include all there services.
Perhaps Netflix partnering with Microsoft's Xbox vs. Sony's PS3 has some part in this? Why doesn't NetFlix allow on-line viewing with the PS3 but they do with the xBox?
NF may be making a huge strategic mistake here.
I will not tolerate a BluRay disc tax.
I've been a Netflix user for just a few months and chose Blu-ray from the very beginning, so it seems strange that it just occurred to you that Blu-ray users should be charged more. It seems you should never have offered the plan for 4.99/month.
I think a whole whopping $12 extra a year is a small price to pay for an expanding format with far better picture and sound quality. If $12 is too much for you, maybe you shouldn't have Netflix at all. It's their service and they can charge whatever they want.
I enabled Blue-Ray access from August onwards and have been charged $1 extra since then. So why announce now when you have been charging me $1 extra already from August 2008?
Of course,I will pay the extra $1.00 ( it is nothing ).
But ,the regular DVD's are cheaper week after week.
To be fair, Why You Netflix ,don't give your customers a credit of al least $3.00 every month ?.
Why we have to wait weeks to watch a Blu-ray movie ? It is no fair either from Netflix.
I love Netflix , but at the same time ,the must fulfill the customers expectations.
I have no problem with this price increase AT ALL. I think blu-ray is a better product and am happy to pay $1 more for it. if you don't like it, go BACK to the DVD option and save the money. The extra revenue will allow Netflix to accumulate more titles on the better format.
Why does everyone always have a problem with a company trying to offer a better service and make a better profit at the same time. This isn't a 'reduction' of service, this is the realization that Netflix was losing a lot of money on the blu-ray product. Accordingly, the charge helps them to maintain the service instead of cancelling it.
Guess I better put my whopping 26 Blu-ray titles at the top of my queue, watch then fast, and cancel the Blu-ray option before the price increase kicks in.
I can understand the rationale, but feel it should ONLY be applied when I ACTUALLY get a Blu-ray disc.
I'm actually cancelling my subscription to Netflix, and just going back to HD channels on TV (HBO, etc) with Tivo. Admittedly i was on the fence for a while about continuing my subscription, but this pushed me over the edge. The $1 by itself not so much, but I've gotten tired of being nickelled and dimed every where I turn. You boys are big enough now(Netflix), start having some conversations with the studios, if BluRay is going to succeed, its has to be the same price as DVD. And your smug assertion "We think you'll agree", actually, for various reasons posted by other bloggers and my own, no, I don't agree, nor understand quite frankly. If you have to change your overall subscription price, fine, or discontinue BluRay, also fine, but these add on are driving me nuts.
But specifically going after the BluRay renters, ie early adopters, ie hard core, ie your biggest supporters who built Netflix by word of mouth......do yo see where I'm going? Thanks for rewarding those who are the ones that ultimately are pushing the technology forward that you are benefitting from.
As I wrote at the beginning, good luck to you, I'm parting ways as of today (account already cancelled).
One extra dollar is not much a month, that is true...and that is why they raised it....they are betting people won't care. truth is, they are taking advantage! 800 titles...c'mon....that's nothing.
We should deactivate the Blue Ray Disc option and see what they do with them then!!
Let's come together on this... I already deactivated mine!
I agree with a lot of the comments. This is a bit confusing. The prices of DVDs are going down also. Shouldn't this help balance out the additional cost? Didn't DVDs cost more before Blu-Rays were out? I get the business point of view and I can appreciate that there would be a small added cost when buying, but after the purchase it's sunk cost. I can even appreciate the capitalism of it all, but it still feels a little strange.
I blogged about this more on my LJ at http://dark--soul.livejournal.com/12210.html
OK Jessie (VP of Marketing) question for you... were you guys under the influence when the idea of Blue Ray Disc price hike came about??
I only say this..because you only need to know basic math and consumer behavior to realize that, this is a BAD idea.
Let me explain to you, what you just did....
First, you pissed off a LOT of people off.... result threefold...
1) A small percentage of your customers will cancel their subscription for feeling cheated. based on all your plans...I would say that this is at least an average of $15 dollars less a month of income coming in.
2) A small - yet bigger percentage will only be pissed off enough to downgrade their plan. From this we could easily calculate about $5 less a month in revenue.
3) A big chunk of your customers will just deactivate the functionality overall.. thus no extra revenue for you.
That leaves, the rest of your subscribers that would willingly be cheated on a extra dollar, for a service that thus far, let's be honest....it sucks! and this is not me just talking, read the blog on what other people think about your Blue Ray option....
So....let's gather up all the points above and do a little math here shall we?
Eventhough Netflix will lose revenue of about $20 a month on a small percentage of ex-subscriber and current subcribers and no revenue at all on another percentage of customer. You have to now pray that for every scenario 1 and 2 that happens, you have 20 customer that will pay up the extra dollar...and this is just to break even!!! hmmmmmm.....was it Jose Cuervo you were drinking? I heard it leaves a mean hang over!!
On my current queue I have 134 movies. Out of 134, 13 are available in Blu Ray and the great majority of the 13 were not my favorite choices. If more movies were available in Blu Ray I would not have a problem with this extra charge, but for 13 out of 134? How often will I even get a Blu Ray? -- but I will still have to pay for the option. Doesn't make sense to me. Why don't they just charge you when you actually use a Blu Ray?
I won’t mind paying $1 extra, provided Netflix adds more Blue-Ray titles and there is no waiting period.
dumb dumb dumb dumb.. the resounding statement by the commenters here on the official blog of netflix are that this is a bad idea...
Marketing sure didn't do a good job of making the customers feel good about spending an extra dollar. Isn't that part of the job?
Just cancelled my netflix account!
this totally stinks. i used to think you were cool, netflix.
Don't bait and switch your customers. Most of them don't even read your stupid blog, nor will they see one line in an email and realize you're going to automatically opt them in for an extra $1/month that they don't need. Stop kidding yourselves. Blu-ray won't pass DVD in market penetration until at least 2012 and you're going to be ripping a lot of people off.
I recently upgraded to Blu-Ray and was fully expecting to pay more for my subscription. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was included as part of my existing subscription.
However, the catalog of available Blu-Ray movies is very limited and so most of our movies will likely continue to be standard DVDs anyway.
I'm not opposed to paying the extra $1.00, but based on the limited catalog of Blu-Ray, I would prefer that Netflix leave the price alone.
Increasing the price of my subscription by $1 for Blue-ray access is aggravating. I had Netflix and cancelled my subscription. After several solicitations from your company both by mail and email to rejoin, I reluctantly did. That you are now arbitrarily changing my billing rate because your company just now notices that Blue-ray discs cost more is quite a lame excuse. Who is advising you? I strongly suggest you rethink your business strategy as I rethink the cancellation (again) of my account.
I'm very disappointed with your company.
By the way, In regards to "Watch Instantly," when is your company going to catch up with most of the rest of the world and become compatible with Apple computers.
Bottom line, if the queue for Blu-ray movies doesn't change for the better, NO MORE NETFLIX for me. I have been a member since 2001 and the LONG WAIT queue is becoming untolerable.So, netflix I hope you are spending that extra dollar for extra copies, instead on your lame "instant" and download service. Why I want to go back to sub-dvd quality, (VHS was better)
I have been a netflix customer since 2003.
Today I called "Susie" and told her I wanted to cancel my account. She did not ask why.
At the end of the call, she said well we will keep your data on file for up to 2 years if you decide to come back.
I said, well, if netflix ever decides to repeal their blu-ray surcharge I will.
Susie said ... that wont be happening.
Icing on the cake to saying so long to netflix.
You guys punting on my $20/mo over $1/mo ... good business decision.
Also great timing on pinching consumers for more money!
If you make Blue-Ray disks not "Very long wait" I am willing to pay. I will give you 1-2 months after the price hike before I leave. I hope for your sake, there is a difference.
vote with your dollar people ... if you dont like the decision, drop that netflix revenue line. If enough folks don't put up with this nonsense, all the folks saying what a great deal it is will benefit from our steadfastness and they will be rewarded. When/if we ever come back to netflix... WE'LL BE WELCOMED AS HEROES! WITH HONOR!
As others have said, for every one of us that cancels over this ... Netflix has to have 20 existing and/or new subs opt in for this surcharge ... and that is to break even.
Calling to cancel or threatening to cancel will get you no where ... their customer service folks are powerless to offer you any compensation. JUST CANCEL!
I don't buy the story about the increased cost of the Blu-ray disc. It's true they often cost more, but that just means it will take a little longer for Netflix to make their money back on the disc. Once it's paid for, all rentals on the disc show an increased profit margin. Bad move by Netflix, especially considering the current economic climate. A year ago, no big deal. Today, every dollar counts.
I have to agree with most of the posters in that even with a price difference in blu ray vs. standard, the service does not support it. I have already turned off blu-ray as well.
I just hope they don't start charging xbox users extra for that service on top of their already high xbl subscription rates.
I have been with Netflix since 1999 - yes, one of the originals. I have never, yes - not once, received a cracked disc. I have in the past received a few that have been scratched and has some playability issues but can't even remember the last time that happened.... griping about a buck a month? Seriously? Skip the Snickers bar in the vending machine at work tomorrow and you have your extra buck... give me a break. With the increase in postage, packaging and everything else that has increased in relation to running a business lately you ought to be glad that a dollar increase is all you are seeing. If you are that hard up, then stick to watching movies on TNT and TBS - until the cost of your cable goes up.... Me, I am more concerned about the 40% my 401k has dropped this year than the buck a month Netflix is increasing in order to provide me with Blu Rays.... Don't sweat the small stuff people.