I received an e-mail from Netflix today informing me of yet another price increase, due to the fact that I rent Blu-ray movies. I was paying $11.99 for 2-discs-at-a-time and 4 rentals per month. And this did include the Watch Now online viewing. But over the past few months, Netflix removed the Watch Now from this plan, created a $1 fee to rent Blu-ray movies, and then changed it to a $2 fee monthly fee to rent Blu-ray movies.
So two price increases (from $11.99 to $13.99/month) and one feature removal (no online steaming.) Is this enough to get me to leave Netflix? No. I've been a customer for almost 10 years. But it did get me to switch to a cheaper plan ($11.99 for 1-disc-at-a-time, unlimited discs, and unlimited online steaming.) It has also made me more likely to cancel in the future, when other, more convenient options emerge.
Automatic online delivery of true HD movies for a flat monthly fee is my ultimate goal. Netflix and Vudu are converging on this target from two different directions but neither is there yet, and probably won't be for quite some time. So I'll continue to wait and be ready to switch to who ever offers the best viewing experience for the lowest cost.
Yeah, I got the notice about the Blu-Ray increase.
I had the 4 at a time plan with Blu-Ray for $1, so the total I was paying was $25.99. I got the notice that my price for Blu-Ray was going to increase to $5/month!!
A 500% increase?
I took Blu-Ray off my account. Screw it.
–Pete
I find my netflix use waning. The streaming got a lot of use for a while but hunting for new worthy content through the paltry 12,000 titles was always a chore. So netflix cancellation may be in the near future. Hulu seems like a nice free replacement. I find I buy blu-ray for reference material if the movie is worthy and I've been renting through appletv/ps3/local video store when I need a current title.
I think I'm going to try redbox out as well.
This new rss feed may help me use instantplay more:
http://www.netflix.com/NewWatchInstantlyRSS
Now if only there was a "HD" option…