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Why is Netflix Punishing Customers who want DVDs?
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 5:06AM Netflix, a subscription based DVD rental service that has been popular for many years (and probably one of the the reasons why Blockbuster retail stores are having such a hard time making money these days) has recently made changes that appear to alienate the company's most loyal customers.
In an attempt to influence customers who rent DVDs from them to move away from physical discs and embrace the company's instant video streaming service to watch movies, Netflix has not only removed the option for customers to add DVDs to their queue using streaming devices but the company has also changed their rental plans to favor a "Watch Instantly" service more than their DVD rental service.
Customer who still want to rent DVDs from Netflix will have to pay nearly twice as much as they did before the company decided to make a move over to streaming movies. Netflix isn't even the least bit concerned about their customer's interests. Instead, they want their customers to either get on this instant streaming bandwagon, or end up paying a higher price (Under Netflix's current movie rental plan, 1 DVDs out at a time costs $9.99 per month and 2 DVDs are priced at $14.99 and then it goes up from there while the instant streaming plan only costs $7.99 per month) to rent DVDs.
The company's actions show that Netflix does not care about their customers needs. They appear to only be concerned with riding the tide and making business decisions that are in the company's best interests. Netflix can still operate as a modern company and still be popular in their market without trying to abandon DVDs altogether, so why don't they even take that into consideration?
Trying to force customers to adapt to an instant streaming service may help Netflix make the transformation that they desire but will definitely cause many of their current customers to either stop renting movies altogether or move to one of many Netflix competitors including Blockbuster, iTunes, Amazon and Redbox.
Current Netflix customers have expressed their reaction to the new changes by simply professing "If they cancel DVDs in the mail, I'm canceling my service..." and hey, if a lot of customers feel this way, then Netflix may not be getting a lot of business within the next two years.....or at least they won't be getting them from the average person who is not a tech geek or get their entertainment exclusively through new gadgets and streaming devices.
After FCC just approved the Comcast merger with NBC Universal, now movie fans have to put up with this?!! Netflix used to be a fun and convenient way to be able to rent movies that people may have missed in theaters but now, just like Comcast, it seems that Netflix is only concerned with being in a position to make as much money as they can, even if it means ignoring the needs and interests of their customers.
Why should Netflix expect customers to use their instant streaming service exclusively and abandon DVDs when a large portion of their movie titles aren't even available to stream instantly?
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Reader Comments (1)
This is garbage. I happen to love my physical media and don't enjoy watching anything in less than HD definition. Their streaming is not true HD. And now that the cable companies are raising rates and are thinking of capping high bandwidth users then this whole streaming media requirement can become a real hassle.