Stop Whining About Netflix

Give Up Coffee - The Anti-Social MediaLast week Netflix raised its prices on its plans to have unlimited streaming and one DVD out at a time from $10 a month to $16 a month.

And then the internet went ballistic.

Trust me, I don’t like having the price raised on a service I use daily either. The only TV I watch is Netflix. I’m too cheap to pay $50 a month for cable or satellite service when I barely watch anything to begin with.

Still, it pisses me off to hear people bitch and whine so much about $16 a month for unlimited TV shows and movies with no commercials. If I were to get the basic cable plan for my area, that would cost me $50 a month. And in the $50 a month, I have to watch on a schedule , I have no HD, and I have to sit through commercials, most of which bear no relevance to me.

Even if I went and paid for Hulu Plus, the next best streaming service, in the $8 I’m paying a month I’m also paying for commercials. Granted, they only show one or two commercials per episode, so it’s not terrible, but it’s more than Netflix.

In either case, I get it. Streaming video to millions of people and sending them DVDs costs money. People don’t like their prices raised. But if $16 is too much for you to afford for unlimited content with no commercials, then why don’t you stop whining and take whatever you can afford somewhere else. And once you’re there, don’t start tweeting about how much better it is, because we all know you’re lying to yourself publicly just to get attention.

And if any of this is really that much of an issue for you - get a TV antenna and get over yourself.  I’ve got better things to do than read your petty complaints about how cheap you are.

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15 Responses to “Stop Whining About Netflix”

  1. Giulia July 18, 2011 at 9:38 am #

    haha great post! I agree with you. No one likes to pay more for the same services, but Netflix does offer a great service that no one else offers for that price.

    • Jay July 19, 2011 at 11:40 am #

      I don’t like paying nearly $4 for a gallon of gas, but even taking my money elsewhere doesn’t seem to change that.

  2. Jeff July 18, 2011 at 11:04 am #

    It’s not so much the price increase, as how they went about it, the amount, and the failure to offer any sort of package, or discount to long-time customers. It may be only a “couple bucks” but it is still a 60% price increase. Imagine if any other service did such a drastic increase overnight, how would you feel?

    You can use Amazon Prime, Redbox, Blockbuster, Zediva, Vudu, Hulu Plus, etc. all for cheaper now. Maybe for the guy who watches a streaming movie literally everyday (and don’t like new releases??) it is still a value. But for the “average” person who watches say 2 movies a week (and normally all new releases), they just priced themselves out of the market. Why wait 2ish days for a DVD that is a month old, when I can get it from other sources for $1-$3, instantly, and well before it is available on Netflix?

    • Lance Haun July 18, 2011 at 1:00 pm #

      So you’re saying you stuck with a service that was worse than the alternatives simply because it was $10/mo instead of $16/mo? And that the difference between those two price points ($6)is what’s going to actually spur you to use those alternatives?

      All of this discussion about the “principle” of the decision (60%, the way it was communicated, or packages) is nonsense. People make purchasing decisions like this all of the time without the consternation and entitlement displayed this week.

      Have fun with Redbox and Blockbuster boxes (especially if you want anything older than 18 mos). Zediva blows without real set top box compatibility and Vudu is more expensive than renting at a video store ($5 for HD rentals? That almost gets you the entire one month price increase). We like Hulu Plus along side Netflix because we can watch current season shows and that brings our total entertainment bill to $24 a month. If Amazon comes to PS3, we might try it for streaming but it won’t replace DVD’s.

      • Jay July 19, 2011 at 11:59 am #

        Does Amazon stream to any devices? I use a Wii for everything, and I’ve yet to see anything but Netflix.

    • Jay July 19, 2011 at 11:53 am #

      Jeff - I’m an Amazon prime member, and I can safely say that it sucks.

      I love new releases, but I recognize that if I’m only paying $8, I get what I pay for. If I was paying more, I’d expect to have full HD, puppies, and greater selection.

      You also have to consider this is a business. Distributors realize how many Netflix subscribers there are and how many stream video. They recognize how much potential money there is to be made there.

  3. Morgan July 18, 2011 at 12:54 pm #

    Jeff just took the words out of my mouth!

    They increased it by 50%! That’s not just a dollar here and there, that’s a huge increase. Netflix’s offerings have also been lagging by not streaming or even offering new releases for weeks (or even months) after they’ve been released. So what justified their rate increase? It’s not like they’re offering quicker releases along with the price increase.

    I use Redbox, Hulu and Amazon far more than I do Netflix now-a-days. Sure, I get a few commercials with Hulu Plus, but they beat cable and Netflix by far, simply by offering more shows.

    But you are right, though, I will stop bitching, cancel my membership and focus on the places that actually offer more value for my buck. :)

    • Jay July 19, 2011 at 11:59 am #

      Saying 50% is irrelevant to the actual numbers. I can increase the price of my services by 50%, but if they only cost $2 to begin with, an increase to $3 isn’t that dramatic.

      I use Amazon, but as I said above, it sucks. The layout is terrible, and the selection, while having a few good items, isn’t that impressive for me overall.

      And yeah, the commercials on Hulu are 1000 times better than cable.

  4. Claude July 19, 2011 at 8:10 pm #

    I don’t like price increases but, they’re still cheaper than cable and satellite. I’d like it if they offered better choices on their streaming though.

    • Jay July 20, 2011 at 6:47 am #

      That means we’d either need to 1. Pay more or 2. Put up with commercials. Distributers want money for their shows.

  5. Gini Dietrich July 24, 2011 at 10:31 am #

    A-freaking-men! Netflix should have done a better job about communicating its changes to its customers, but when it comes down to it, you’re 100% correct.

  6. Steve Davidson July 24, 2011 at 6:10 pm #

    Think Netflix is out of line? What about the $4.99 cable companies want to charge per movie…… glad we have a choice!

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