Alternatives for angry Netflix customers
Ticked over the company's price increase? Here's what some of the other video services have to offer.
This post comes from Lynn Mucken of MSN Money.
One of the great disappointments in life is finding out that something you have grown to respect, perhaps even idolize, is after all just a business. Fans of baseball teams -- unless that team is the Yankees or Red Sox -- have their illusions shattered every July, when their favorite players are traded for "prospects."
But Netflix? How could it? Post continues after video.
The movie and TV-rerun rental company drove my-way-or-the-highway Blockbuster nearly out of existence with a business model that meshed convenience (mailed to your home), civility (keep it as long as you want; no late fees) and low prices ($8 -- a month!). And it won the hearts of millions.
On Tuesday, it broke them, when it announced what amounted to a 60% price increase for those who want to keep both the live streaming and mailed DVD services.
Businesses expect a bit of a backlash when they raise prices, but probably not 33,486 mostly angry comments on Facebook in less than 24 hours. Here's what a few irritated customers had to say:
What a ripoff!
Cable companies don't even raise prices by 60%!!!!! Canceling my subscription at the end of August!
Canceling . . . stupid idea, Netflix. You had a good thing going and you had to go and get greedy like everyone else. Tisk tisk, hello Redbox.
If even a portion of these folks actually drop their subscriptions -- half will, according to a poll by TheStreet -- there are plenty of opportunists waiting to swoop in and nibble away. Perhaps coincidentally, Google announced it soon will offer $2 movies for download or streaming to its Android 2.2 or higher smartphones.
As a public service, here is a quick glance at just a few of the bigger alternatives already in operation:
- YouTube movies. Streaming only. Movies are $3.99 for recent releases, the most recent of which were early-spring movies such as "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Sucker Punch" and "The Adjustment Bureau," and $2.99 for older movies like "Knocked Up." Some movies, such as "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Men In Black," are offered for free. You have a 24-hour viewing period but have 30 days in which to initiate it. Nice touches: trailers, Rotten Tomatoes reviews, movie synopses, and cast and crew listings.
- Amazon Instant Video. Streaming only $3.99 for most 48-hour rentals. Latest releases include "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Insidious" and "Arthur," all spring movies. If you join Amazon Prime ($79 a year after a month's free trial) you get a bunch of movies, mostly older releases like "The Right Stuff" and "Superman, The Movie" and classic TV shows such as "Gilligan's Island" for free. Nice touch: previews that are actual scenes from the movies.
- Blockbuster. Mail, in-store and streaming. Monthly mail and in-store subscriptions are $11.99 for one DVD, $16.99 for two and $19.99 for three. You are allowed up to five in-store exchanges. You can also get a seven-day rental by mail for $4.99. Streaming costs up to $3.99, with a 24-hour viewing period that must start within a month. Blockbuster advertises that it gets movies a month before other services, but this week's new releases were pretty much the same stuff that everyone else offered, although it had "Source Code" while YouTube and Amazon did not. Nice touches: trailers and clips, extensive cast lists and viewer reviews.
- iTunes/Apple TV. Streaming only. It will cost you $99 for the equipment. After that you pay $4.99 for HD movies and $3.99 for regular versions. It has weekly 99-cent specials. You have 30 days to initiate the rental, then 24 hours to watch (48 hours for TV shows). It had "Source Code." Nice touches: You can use the devise to access Netflix and YouTube; there are viewer reviews.
Hulu Plus. Streaming only. It's $7.99 a month, which can be a bargain if you are into older -- some slightly, some quite, but not much after 2008 -- movies and documentaries, as well as current TV shows. If you insist on time-shifting your TV habit, this is the place, offering all the episodes from the 2010-11 season of shows from "30 Rock" and "Hot in Cleveland" to game shows. It advertises more than "1,000 seasons." Nice touch: trailers of movies now in theaters.
- Time Warner on Demand. Streaming only. You have to buy the cable TV service, $33.33 a month for the first year. Then you rent the movies at $6.99 for HD (including some 3-D if you have the equipment) and $4.99 for regular versions. They also have a "$2.99 or less" selection that includes long-running hits from recent years since as "Sideways" and "Little Miss Sunshine." And some are even free, such as "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Since it is cable, you have access to pay-per-view sports and -- for a price usually -- tons of TV material, including HBO, Showtime, Starz and the big networks. Nice touches: trailers and extensive listings of movies by popularity, actors, some directors, genre and those in Spanish.
- Comcast Xfinity. Streaming only. You have to buy the cable TV service, at $29.99 a month for the first year, which includes six months of Showtime. Movie rentals are $6.99 for 3-D and $5.99 for HD down to $2.99 for such fare as "Alvin and the Chipmunks." There are some free offerings, such as "Jungle King." And, like Time Warner, there are the usual TV offerings, some free, some not so. Nice touches: trailers and a most-viewed list.
Other alternatives worth mentioning: GreenCine, CinemaNow and the Redbox kiosks at grocery stores.
More on MSN Money:
Redbox and Blockbuster kiosks will never replace Netflix. The kiosks have a pathetic selection to say the least, and only one copy of most new releases, rendering them virtually useless. I'll stick with Netflix, but for streaming only. The mail-order DVDs simply take too long to arrive, and I've lost interest in seeing the film by the time I finally do.
I think the new "Netflix" only has access to movies after they have been on screens, on tv, or on rentals. So basically, they have become the "cheapie rental flix", no new releses , period. Probably still better then any of the so called "premium" channels from any cable company who offer you their 24 hour scroll of their wonderful movies that show the same crap; day in, day out, day in, day out, day in, day out, day in,day out etc. etc. yawn, yawn and only 15 bucks a month, whoopeee.
Probably get all seven channels for about a $100 a month or so and not see a new movie but maybe 3-6 times a year.
Basic Cable works fine for earlier investment on Lifetime TivoDTs and TivoHDs.
And since live TV watching is long not the family habit because of Tivo, any network shows from any US channels is available within 1~24 hours if you know what I mean.
I'd rather use my saved money to buy more hard drives.
I like to keep things from download. Steaming is not cool enough.
Bluemoo-- I apologize if I was one that you were referring to as calling people cheap and telling them to get over it. I am not someone that would consider myself better than anyone. I am just having a hard time understanding why people are making such a big deal out of an increase in a "recreational activity" if you will, when it is literally a few dollars a month more. I, personally, felt that the streaming was ridiculous: no current, up-to-date movies and a pain in the **** to find anything in.... I am happy that I'll be paying a few dollars less to eleviate something that I don't use anyhow. The capability of streamlining movies was evidently a "test" to see how popular it would become. People took to it, fees incured for the company, so therefore, they need to increase their fees to prevent bankruptcy. You even mentioned yourself that you weren't going to cancel. It is still too good to be true! We are a busy family, but the inexpensiveness and convenience of Netflix is great!!
Blessings!
I don't like it any more than you do, but seriously, let's create a riot because our movie rentals are increasing A COUPLE DOLLARS PER MONTH!!! Get another hobby!!!
Then why wait till the end of August? Do it NOW! Heaven forbid you take advantage of a good deal while you can. Make a statment!!! Don't give them another dime tomorrow!
But I'm sure most people will be right back after they realize they can't find anything better! OK...go spend fuel finding a Redbox! Then when you're flick insnt there, groan and gripe and drive (more fuel) to another box! Oh, and be sure to have patience waiting in line while someone fiddle-farts around in front of you trying to decide which movie to get.
So burn fuel and waste time! I know what the better deal is! Will I get a "new" release right away? P
Probably not. But if it was that important to see, I would have seen it in the theater!
So go ahead and "thumbs down" it! Its right there v!
I think the price increase is outrageous considering the current state of the streaming content - not all movies are available for streaming, and not all content on streaming have a DVD.
There has been a lawsuit issued, 06/16/11 in Massachusetts (Case 3:11-cv-301168) by the National Association of the Deaf (nad.org), as Netflix Inc., is not abiding to the American Disabilities Act. Netflix has failed to provide equal access to its Watch Instantly service by refusing to make available closed captioned text for the deaf and hard of hearing with their streaming content. I for one would pay more if they provided closed-captions.
Technically, adding subtitles is not that hard considering they're usually available on most all current DVDs that have been released, although it has been noted that the rental discs that Netflix delivers to us may not be the original disc - most are missing the extras, but when closed-caption is listed on the description, they have that stream. I read in Netflix's forum that the developers working with Netflix's API have noted that they are interested in working with closed-caption, but there have been no response to the requests made 8-10 months ago. I remember reading last year that Netflix states that it cost too much as they have to have two streams to add closed-captions.
If they can't provide closed-caption due to the storage cost, maybe they can provide the captions in a text file with the time stamps - I have seen this done for other online content and even movies that did not include closed-caption. I guess we are in a waiting period for now as we wait for some response to their customers displeasure and the outcome of the lawsuit - how many of us will be dropping Netflix come September, I don't know?
"Its pretty easy to tell who is being paid by Netflix"? FYI...Netflix doesnt pay me...I don't subscribe right now cause I'm not working (not Netflix's fault). That being said, I live within my means meaning a "Budget"! However, when I do get back to working, I WILL start up again! I dont buy $5 cups of coffee, I don't buy premium fuel, I don't go to restaraunts to eat, and i don't give kids cell phones and say that I dont have money for school supplies!!!
Now you can budget your Netflix to suit your needs. Some people like DVD's, some dont and would rather streamline. Considering the convenience and selection they have, I wouldn't complain to much!
I have a post a couple of pages back describing the benefits. So if you can come up with a better deal, please enlighten me!
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