Saturday, January 21, 2012

Netflix Should Just Go Out of Business

Dear Netflix: 
         I signed up for your service when it was $7.99 for streaming AND you'd mail me one DVD at a time. What's not to like about that deal?
         I stayed with you, unlike 800,000 others, after you doubled the price to $7.99 for streaming and $7.99 for one DVD by mail at a time.[Clearly you hadn't read about the New Coke fiasco before starting Quikster.] 
         However, after a couple of months of watching pixilated and low res crap on my MacBookPro [in case you think I have a bad player], I realized that you didn't have any decent movies to watch on streaming video, besides the fact that you suck at streaming, so I dropped that service. 
         At the same time, for some reason, I decided to increase my DVD service with you to two at a time for $11.99 a month. What was I thinking? 
         Because, after checking my account, more than 50% of the DVDs I get mailed from you are too damaged to watch. Unless I don't mind skipping key scenes, or jumping three chapters at once. 
         And what's with telling me to play your piece of shit DVD on another player when it's damaged? Or clean it up myself? Seriously. It doesn't matter. Nothing's going to make those beat up disks you keep sending to my house suddenly work. 
         In addition, by the time you send me a replacement, up to a week has passed. This makes your $11.99 two-fer mail service a lot more expensive than it's worth. 
         Plus, for some reason Netflix users also are blocked from watching any of the "Bonus Features" unless we are willing to go out and buy the DVD. Seriously, who came up with that little marketing ploy? Like I'm going to buy the DVD of a movie I have chosen to rent, just for the Bonus Features. If I won't pay to see a movie in the theaters, why should I pay through the nose to buy the DVD to see the Bonus Features? Don't get me wrong. I own lots of flicks. And I love the Bonus Features, but not enough to pay full retail, which is more than double the cost of going to a movie theater. Just so I can watch the extras a total of one damn time. 
         So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to cancel you as of February. Sorry, but my public library is way cheaper than you are, plus their DVDs don't get shipped to me unplayable, damaged from abuse, or smashed in the mail. And I can watch the bonus features anytime I want. 
         Do you understand the concept of service? Or do you think we won't notice that you're just trying to sock away the money? 
         Here's something you have yet to grasp -- if there is a problem with a DVD, my library, unlike you, will fix it, so the next person, i.e., me, doesn't get a damaged disk. In fact, they have invested in a machine that fixes DVDs so they are like new. Which begs the question -- are you just too cheap to invest in keeping your inventory in good shape? 
        Also, at my library, which is less than a mile away, I can get an entire season of say, MAD MEN, all at once, not one disk at a time like your "service." In fact, this month, every single TV series is FREE. That's four to six disks. Usually the whole series costs a buck a week. And you can renew it for another week for another buck. Except on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when you can get not one, but TWO series for a buck. If I want, I can rent up to ten complete seasons or movies at a time. For $10. Or, if you do the math, only $5 on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. $11.99 for only 6-8 DVDs without bonus features is starting to sound extravagant.  
         I'm sure there was a time when you offered a decent product for a fair price. Unfortunately, it's becoming obvious that your time has passed. 
         In the end, it probably wasn't such a good idea to double your prices, when it turns out the quality of your product is only half as good as it should be. Or ever was.
         
        Buh-bye.

1 comment:

Donna. W said...

And there are other alternatives.