Netflix Spins Off DVD-by-Mail Service Into Qwikster; Will Add Video Game Rentals

JL4601d ago

I never had a problem with the price increase either. I really think people made a mountain out of a molehill there. Technically it wasn't even a price increase. They just stopped giving you free streaming with your DVD plan. AND the DVD plans themselves went down a tad bit in price to compensate for this.

I think the split could definitely be beneficial. Again, this is something companies do all the time, though. The only difference here is instead of splitting into, let's say, Sony Pictures and Sony Music (with a similar name), they've just opted to use a completely different name.

Already you can see the split seems to help as the split in responsibility has allowed the DVD branch to now offer games. I just wonder how they'll do that. Will the "2 DVDs out per month" plan turn into a "2 Discs out per month" plan, where one could be a movie and the other a game? Or will they have separate plans for just games and ones for just movies?

Soldierone4600d ago

It's most likely there to combat the hell out of Blockbuster, which is two discs at a time. It has one que where its all the same.

However i would love the option to separate the two. Have two different lists, so if I have two discs I can get a game when I return a game and a movie when I return a movie.

ABizzel14601d ago

The problem was it was unethical to raise the price of a service, and force the consumers to either upgrade or cancel the service, without offering any incentive for the hike in price.

If they said were doing this to get all movies up for streaming, as soon as they're released for DVD, then more people would have been more understanding. But they said nothing, and just did it. That's bad business.

I'm interested in the gaming aspect of qwickster. If it's cheaper than gamefly, then I'll drop my gamefly down to 1 game per month, just to keep my discounts, and boost my qwickster account up to more games/movies out at one time.

Reply Agree 0 Disagree 1

JL4601d ago

Unethical? Price increases happen all the time. It's what happens over the course of time. Nothing they did was unethical. Nor should they have been obligated to give people more stuff due to this "inconvenience". That's the problem with kids these days....this false sense of entitlement.

Netflix is subject to the whims of Hollywood and the movie industry. Due to their growing popularity and the growing popularity of streaming, things got too expensive. Thus, they had to adjust prices.

And yes, they did say something. You talk as if suddenly everyone woke up and they were suddenly being charged more for their service for no reason. Netflix sent out releases and emails and made it very apparent well in advance that changes were occurring.

Soldierone4600d ago

I don't think they just say on it though. They made offers, they even succeeded in several multi million dollar offers. They split the company and added games, that alone is going to cost a couple thousand dollars and is something that has been asked for since the service began.

ABizzel14600d ago

@ _JL_

OK so _JL_ I see you're one of those ignorant people who argue for the sake of arguing.

When you're paying for a service it should not randomly increase under no circumstances, especially if they're doing nothing to increase the service you are paying for. Young or old, has nothing to do with this.

You, Netflix, and many other companies nowadays are ignorant when it comes to customer service. Your customer/consumer is what keeps your organization running. This was not a bag of chips, it was a subscription something you have a monthly standard fee for, and when you have a bill that increases for no reason then there is a reason to be upset.

The whole purpose of the hike in price was so that Netflix could make more money simple as that. They want two separate businesses Qwickster and Netflix so ultimately they can charge people $20 a month for renting DVD's through mail ($10), and streaming movies online ($10).

Once again the hike in price would be worth it if they made a huge amount of their library stream instantly, but the choices for streaming are horrible and movies randomly drop from the streaming service all together.

You also have reading comprehension problems as well like many people on n4g. I said,

"The problem was it was unethical to raise the price of a service, and force the consumers to either upgrade or cancel the service, without offering any incentive for the hike in price."

"WITHOUT OFFERING ANY INCENTIVE FOR THE HIKE IN PRICE."

"INCENTIVE FOR THE HIKE IN PRICE."

"INCENTIVE"

They made an awful business decision, simply because they were being greedy. You can't run a business making choices like that and expect customers to be OK with it. That's blind ignorance.

@Soldierone

I completely agree with you that adding games to the rental service was probably a reason for the price increase. It's true a lot of gamers wanted that from Netflix, but at the same time a lot of people were fine with just getting movies. I for one wanted the games, but I feel they could have easily integrated games into Netflix or simply made Qwickster a stand alone game rental service. That way it wouldn't have affected consumers who only wanted movies.

It was a bad business decision no matter they spin it. They felt they would lose a few customers, but didn't realize just how much of an impact it would make. The streaming options on Netflix are poor and there shouldn't be a charge for the service in it's current condition. That's why it should have stayed the why it was.

StarWarsFan4601d ago

I don't understand what all the drama is about.

JL4601d ago

People just like to complain. It's stupid. This is practically a non-issue. My only problem (and it's not even that big a problem) is that I now have to manage two accounts instead of one. Maybe down the line they can set up better integration between the two. But, again, it's virtually a non-issue. Surely not enough to get me to cancel my Netflix (and now Qwikster) account(s).

The only other problem I have with it is the name. Of course this is looking at it from a business standpoint on their behalf. It seems changing the name loses them that namesake for the new "branch/division". It's become such a powerful name, that I'd think they'd want to keep it in some way (kinda like how you have Blockbuster and Blockbuster Express).

But again, these are non-issues (especially the second one as far as consumers are involved) and certainly not worth everyone getting their panties up in a bunch.

Soldierone4600d ago

people were paying 7 dollars a month. They could watch all these movies online, and get new movies in the mail. The postage for sending several movies out to one person is going to spend at least 6 of that 7 dollars....then server fee's, movie licenses, new lincenses....where is the money coming from for all of this?

People are throwing a fit about the price hike, then turning around and demanding they keep Starz, even after Starz openly admitted they wanted like 100 million dollars for that to happen.

The guy had to apologize for making an effort to keep himself in business. The fact is no matter what he does right now, he is going to get drilled by these complainers. All I have to say is make up you mind. Keep the service or dont, and be quiet. You want more, you need to put more on your end to get it. Its a business.

As for this I actually cancelled my DVD subscription because I couldn't afford it, the same reason I couldn't keep Blockbuster. However since netflix is super FAST at delivering things and keeping things in stock I might get this. I hated Gamefly with a passion because not only did the que suck balls, but when their processing time was literally days.....I remember waiting literally two weeks for them to process a game, send it out, and for me to get it.

Robotronfiend4600d ago

I'm most interested in hearing the price to add games and the inventory of games. Blockbuster Online's game selection used to be good, but has been steadily declining the past 6 months. I've not used Gamefly but I recently cancelled my blockbuster sub and moved to Netflix.

Netflix is faster (for me) than blockbuster and the disc selection is far better with far fewer wait times.

Without games I'd probably cancel the disc by mail and go Redbox isntead, but with games - you've got my interest netflix... or qwickster, whatever.

JL4600d ago

I've halfway considered cancelling my disc subscription to Netflix and just keeping the streaming, then using Redbox for picking up movies. Though, Redbox doesn't have the selection that Netflix does, especially when it comes to older movies (which I often get as well).

But the addition of games now definitely has me convinced not to cancel that. And I, too, am curious how exactly that will be handled.

Robotronfiend4600d ago

I figure by the time they sort everything out and announce the pricing/plans I'll have plowed through most of my disc based queue for older titles.

I figure i'll keep a game about a week and then swap out for a new one (my avg from blockbuster). If I want to keep playing the game longer, I'll just buy it. So, if it's about $10/month (1-disc) that'll be about 2.50 for a weeklong game rental, I can do that.

Lets hope the stock/supplies are enough. No reason games like Vanquish or Fist of the Noth Star should be on a very long wait (like blockbuster).

alycakes4595d ago

Wow...I can't believe how much conflict this subject can cause. Just reading all your arguements has worn me out. I think I'll take a nap.