[mistergreen]

I was a huge fan of Netflix but not so much these day. Let's play backseat CEO (this is the best kind since it's not your money to lose).

Background:
If you didn't know, Netflix during the summer unilaterally decided to up their pricing and split up there streaming and DVD services. This upset a lot of customers because a) they feel the price was too steep, b) they weren't given fair warning.

I understand the price increase because Hollywood got wise to streaming and were asking for billions of dollars from Netflix. The unilateral, unapologetic way they did it was off-putting. So the new plan came to pass and Netflix's stock fell, no surprise there. They made money this quarter but user confidence in the company fell, hence the fall in stocks.

So this morning I/we got an email from the CEO of netflix apologizing for the mess. To add more to the confusion, Netflix's service will split into TWO sites, one for DVD and one for streaming. If you have both services, you have to maintain your queue from both sites. UGHHHH. What a pain. So, I think this is a huge mistake. They've made bad decisions for the past year that has done nothing but cost them money and user confidence. Will this new plan make up for the problem? Is it going to make it worse?


I think there are good lessons here on how not to run a service business.

 

[kamikazi]

Last week I followed through with canceling our DVD subscription. We are going to run with streaming only for a while and hope they manage to improve it, even though they lost Starz.

As I read somewhere else....24 million paying $16 is much better income that 25 million paying $10. I understand alot of the price increase is due to greedy movie and broadcasting companies and $6.00 isn't much but budget and use wise for my family it made since to just go to streaming only. I do think splitting the service up is a bad idea though.

 

[ZID ZULANDER]

As soon as my wife watches the movies she has lined up I am cancelling my subscription. I will go with Hulu and Redbox or just want via direct tv movie. Cheaper in the long run cause we dont want alot of movies anyway just shows.

 

[audioaficionado]

Netflix vs. Blockbuster (Dish network)

Hopefully better competition will result in better service one way or the other.

I was watching the Hellsing anime series DVDs and had waited for months for them to become available from the DVD cue at Netflix. I finally got to see the first 3 of 4 and Netflix abruptly pulled them off and left me hanging

 

[MCHRKiller]

Many of the shows/movies I had in my instant Q are now DVD only, that alone was kind of a pain since with only 1 disk at a time it takes a fair amount of time to knock out a season of something. I was willing to pay the $16 per month for the way it was...but with the 2 sites deal I am not sure now. Maintaining 2 lists on 2 sites seems like more of a PITA than it may be worth.

 

[Coltonorr]

Cancelled Netflix last week...I can get everything I want on Hulu and if I want to pay 7.99
I can get hulu plus for cheaper than netflix.

 

[mistergreen]

Hulu has movies?

 

[plantbrain]

To Hades with them greedy dirty rats(sorry rats).
Canceled.

The CEO apologizes, but then really does not do anything other than the split and then attempts to rebrand the bad feeling.

Millions and billions...........but they want more. I do not feel that it is right/fair in any sense of the term. the consumers should drop services as there are MANY options available now.

Comparing it to say Blockbuster of the Video store was one thing, but now there's many other options, these fools are stupid. It'll create far more hate towards them and less of the market share.

The dumbest thing they could possibly do, this CEO did.

You want a monopoly or close to one......... that's how you make $, the old fashion way. Even basic business sense will tell you this. Classic CEO blunder, trying to milk people like the machines in the Matrix. You'd figure they saw what happened to Blockbuster and where better able to respond, nope, they just looked at 1/4 profits, and how can we squeeze more for my bonus this year.

This fool is as bad as the BP CEO but unlike that, this was NO ACCIDENT.
This is every competitor's Dream.

Now they stand to make millions of pissed off people from Netflix.
Yes, I... and every other pissed off customers will tell 100 friends about it too.

 

[NStarr]

I'm completely upset with Netflix, so I joined the 1,000,000+ people who cancelled in just the last week!

 

[UDGags]

I like how they renamed the dvd portion to qwikster and they don't even own the twitter account. It's some college kid who posts about drugs and women (very vulgar).

 

[jreich]

To Hades with them greedy dirty rats(sorry rats).
Canceled.

The CEO apologizes, but then really does not do anything other than the split and then attempts to rebrand the bad feeling.

Millions and billions...........but they want more. I do not feel that it is right/fair in any sense of the term. the consumers should drop services as there are MANY options available now.

Comparing it to say Blockbuster of the Video store was one thing, but now there's many other options, these fools are stupid. It'll create far more hate towards them and less of the market share.

The dumbest thing they could possibly do, this CEO did.

You want a monopoly or close to one......... that's how you make $, the old fashion way. Even basic business sense will tell you this. Classic CEO blunder, trying to milk people like the machines in the Matrix. You'd figure they saw what happened to Blockbuster and where better able to respond, nope, they just looked at 1/4 profits, and how can we squeeze more for my bonus this year.

This fool is as bad as the BP CEO but unlike that, this was NO ACCIDENT.
This is every competitor's Dream.

Now they stand to make millions of pissed off people from Netflix.
Yes, I... and every other pissed off customers will tell 100 friends about it too.

WOW this sounds like the comcast story, do business at whatever the cost is as long as the suites and ties get there bonus, even if it meens pissing off 75% of your customers. i worked for comcast last year, they kept saying ooo were hurting for business sell sell sell, and when i read the reports they were making money hand over fist. makes me sick. brian roberts was rated one of the top 50 highest paid exects in the world. i hate that this world is controled by greed. greedy corporate execs, and greedy government. ::end rant::

 

[chrisnif]

I won't carry the DVDs and pay twice. I pay for streaming because with Roku and streaming I only have to carry HBO on my directv subscription.

 

[dodohead]

I dont have a tv..

TV -OR- fish tanks with lights on.... TV lost

 

[MoeBetta]

I cancelled the second I got the e-mail about the split.

There's no way I'll ever resubscribe.

They dun goofed.

 

[mistergreen]

Ouch, this is pretty representative with people I've talked to.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to make money but the way netflix is doing it is the opposite of their goal... This has got to be the biggest blunder in some time.

I would love to be in the board room to listen when this hits the fan. I wish I owned their stock so I can go.

 

[plantbrain]

WOW this sounds like the comcast story, do business at whatever the cost is as long as the suites and ties get there bonus, even if it meens pissing off 75% of your customers. i worked for comcast last year, they kept saying ooo were hurting for business sell sell sell, and when i read the reports they were making money hand over fist. makes me sick. brian roberts was rated one of the top 50 highest paid exects in the world. i hate that this world is controled by greed. greedy corporate execs, and greedy government. ::end rant::

Unlike Comcast, I have a choice with these turkeys. If I was large shareholder, I'd want this CEO's head on a pike.

they just gut these companies, then start somethign else ande leave the stakeholders holdign the bag, then they give them a raise at the new corporation.

It's called rewarding bad behavior.

 

[plantbrain]

Ouch, this is pretty representative with people I've talked to.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to make money but the way netflix is doing it is the opposite of their goal... This has got to be the biggest blunder in some time.

I would love to be in the board room to listen when this hits the fan. I wish I owned their stock so I can go.

http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:NFLX

I expect it to drop farther.

Look at the 5year trend, did real well this last 2 years, then all that work, toast.

All because they got greedy.

Old saying down on the farm: "pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered."

 

[jflng]

I was a happy customer for 6 or 7 years, and let them go August 31. We have apparently mutually agreed that we don't need each other's business. They don't want the money I originally agreed to pay them, and I don't feel like paying more. I have better ways to waste my money and time.

Now I'll just sit back and watch them further self-destruct with nonsense like Qwikster.

 

[mgamer20o0]

i been following this for some time.

b) they weren't given fair warning.

they gave a month for people to make up their minds. yet they been talking for a long time before that. i think this has been their plan for a few years now if you really look at it.

rebranding the dvd side is a stupid idea.

they have to split up dvd and streaming. all those deals they signed are coming up and the companies are demanding millions more. people want more and more streaming they have to pay up. personally i think they should have gave a discount if you order both dvd and streaming. though it seems they were hoping they just ditch the dvd and keep with the streaming.

Starz originally signed a 5-year, $30-million-a-year contract in 2008

Netflix reportedly offered Starz more than $300 million a year to keep the content available, but Starz said it was not enough

not all of this is netflix fault they are held hostage to the studios. they sure could have handled the problem better.

 

[wendyjo]

I have a question - wouldn't this be considered a vendor review, which aren't allowed on this site? Or is that only for fish supply vendors? Just curious as I just read another thread explaining why we cannot review vendors on this site and read all about the old law suit.