Netflix increasing Bluray Charges - What will you do?

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johnnypark

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Just received this email from Netflix, as I'm sure many others have:

You are receiving this email because you added unlimited Blu-ray access to your account for $1 a month. The number of Blu-ray titles has increased significantly and will continue to do so. As we buy more, you are able to choose from a rapidly expanding selection of Blu-ray titles. And as you've probably heard, Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs.

As a result, the monthly charge for Blu-ray access is increasing for most plans and will now vary by plan. The charge for monthly Blu-ray access on your 2 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan will increase from $1 a month to $3 a month. The price of your 2 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan is not changing and remains at $13.99 a month.

The new charge for Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after April 27, 2009 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details.

If you wish to continue unlimited Blu-ray access for $3 a month, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-923-0898.

-The Netflix Team
Click to expand...

I can't decide if I'm going to drop it or not. Thoughts?

EDIT: Courtesy of Dmaul1114 and Gizmodo, here's a chart of the Bluray price increase:

[quote name='dmaul1114']Chart from Gizmondo that has the price per plan after increase:
netflix-blu-ray-price-increase.jpg
[/quote]

As Shrike has pointed out, it appears that it's $1 extra per the number of movies you have on your plan the original $1 base fee.
 
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[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah may just be bad luck. Or maybe they're just sloppier with very obscure titles? I've never heard of any of those you listed, so they may just not put much effort into stuff they know relatively few people will every watch?[/quote]

Haha, they're not that obscure (Smart People is the most recent movie starring Ellen Page of Juno fame, Dead Leaves is an anime by Production I.G, the same studio responsible for Evangelion and Ghost In the Shell).

Thing is, I would expect it to be more effort to make these 4:3 cropped versions (even if it didn't take much, given how poorly it was done), as the DVD releases are wide-screen only.
 
When I got the notice, I changed my membership from 2 BRs at a time to 1 BR at a time. I've only been watching about 1 movie a week anyway.
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA'] I think you've said that you don't buy movies anymore at least twice - we get the picture.
[/QUOTE]

And you don't rent but keep fucking posting about why you don't rent in a RENTAL THREAD, so stuff it hypocrite. :D

If you didn't have (or want) a Netflix account, you really had no reason to post here anyway since the thread is a poll and discussion asking Netflix members what they're going to do in response to the rate increase.

In short, don't complain about people repeatedly saying why they don't BUY when you're posting repeatedly in a RENTAL thread stating why you don't RENT. :D
 
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I'm on the 8.99 plan to allow streaming to the 360 and swallowed the first increase, but I'm not biting on the second. I don't use Neflix enough to justify $11/month. If I want to rent something that bad, I'll get a Blu-Ray from BB or Hollywood for the $6 or whatever it is for a rental.
 
If you're going to try and insult someone, try on some reading glasses. Then, show me where I don't currently have a 2-disc Netflix account.
 
Guess I missed that part.

And I wasn't insulting you, just saying not to bitch at me for saying I don't buy a few times when you've been talking repeatedly about how renting is a waste of money in a RENTING thread and how you can buy so many movies with the money you save by not renting in the future.

i.e. don't complain at someone for repeating themselves in making a point when you've been doing the same thing. For threads are by nature repetitive as people keep arguing the same points over and over and over and over...
 
I made a singular statement and was going to leave it there, but you and others disagreed and started a conversation. Would you rather I ignored you?
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']I made a singular statement and was going to leave it there, but you and others disagreed and started a conversation. Would you rather I ignored you?[/QUOTE]

Not at all. No problem with your posts other than bitching about me saying I don't buy repeatedly when you were repeating your argument as well. :D

We were having a discussion on buying vs. renting and which is more cost effective that was a good debate until that point.

But I still see no case on how buying is cheaper--it's not, at least for people who watch a lot of movies a year. And buying is also better for people like to own and collect movies even if they're stuff they won't watch more than once or twice. Which is fine.

But for people who watch a good bit, it's certainly cheaper to use a rental service and spend $1-2 per disc they watch. So that's why we had a debate, there is no objective argument that buying everything you want to watch is cheaper than renting unless you're just watching a few movies a year. You just can't average $1-2 a disc for DVDs or Blu Rays when buying them.

It's fine to prefer buying to renting--many do and that's totally legit. But saving money isn't a legit reason for preferring buying unless you're only watching a couple movies a month.

So hence the repetive arguments and you keep asserting that buying is cheaper and that's just not the case.
 
i'm pretty disappointed with this. mostly because my netflix account has multiple profiles but mine is the only one with blu-rays active and i don't watch that many BRs a month. i'll have to pay a lot more for blu-ray access than i should now. i'll probably drop the blu-ray option at this point but i'm still on the fence.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Not at all. No problem with your posts other than bitching about me saying I don't buy repeatedly when you were repeating your argument as well. :D

We were having a discussion on buying vs. renting and which is more cost effective that was a good debate until that point.

But I still see no case on how buying is cheaper--it's not, at least for people who watch a lot of movies a year. And buying is also better for people like to own and collect movies even if they're stuff they won't watch more than once or twice. Which is fine.

But for people who watch a good bit, it's certainly cheaper to use a rental service and spend $1-2 per disc they watch. So that's why we had a debate, there is no objective argument that buying everything you want to watch is cheaper than renting unless you're just watching a few movies a year. You just can't average $1-2 a disc for DVDs or Blu Rays when buying them.

It's fine to prefer buying to renting--many do and that's totally legit. But saving money isn't a legit reason for preferring buying unless you're only watching a couple movies a month.

So hence the repetive arguments and you keep asserting that buying is cheaper and that's just not the case.[/QUOTE]

You completely didn't read what I wrote, then.

I said, it's a smarter decision (for me, anyways) to take the money I save from not renting BDs - not dropping Netflix - than to pay the up charge for a slightly better viewing experience. I said I would take the money I save from the up charge and buy a couple of extra movies - not drop renting entirely and switch to only buying.

And no, I don't watch a lot of movies anymore. 50+ hours a week, three kids, new house...it's simply not important anymore.
 
Fair enough. You were just vague and made it sound like you were dropping renting all together rather than just BD access and that renting was cheaper than buying.

And I feel your pain on being busy, I work a ton but don't have the kids or new house to deal with, so you have it even worse. I usually get through 1-3 movies a week--probably should drop back down to 1 out at a time rather than 2 (bumped it up when I got a BR player and was watching more initially).
 
hm. I had the 3 out plan with the upgrade bluray for 1$, they didnt charge me the extra 3$? So dont I just pay 1$ for bluray before the upgrage. basically if you grandfather it you're ok?
 
Didn't originally jump on the +$1 per month until I could see if the extra money improved wait times. From what I can gather it did not improve Blu-ray wait times. So I'll wait and see again if $4 a month improves it before I put any money toward it.
 
I'm on the 1 out/unlimited plan so it's going up another dollar a month for me. Still, I'm getting 8 movies/month for $11 + tax which would only be 2 movies at the local video store. I don't care about new releases that much. I have plenty of BR movies in my queue. Guess I'll just suck it up and pay even though I'm not gaining anything with the price increase except the privilege to continue receiving BR movies.
I've never used Red Box; they don't have BR in them do they?

Edit: Just checked Blockbuster prices and it's $12/mo for a comparable plan I'm using now from Netflix. They say that don't charge extra for BR, yet it would still cost me a dollar more for the BB plan. Also, no streaming from BB. They lose.
 
[quote name='powercreep']Edit: Just checked Blockbuster prices and it's $12/mo for a comparable plan I'm using now from Netflix. They say that don't charge extra for BR, yet it would still cost me a dollar more for the BB plan. Also, no streaming from BB. They lose.[/quote]

That's for a plan with 2 in-store exchanges per month (how they're "free" when the plan costs more is beyond me). A comparable mail-only plan (which is closer to Netflix, since Netflix has no stores to exchange in) is $8.99/month. But yeah, no streaming.

For me, with my 3-at-a-time plan, it's now $20.99 for Netflix vs. $15.99 for a Blockbuster mail-only plan. I'm debating whether the streaming, as it currently exists, is really worth that.

See https://www.blockbuster.com/signup/y/plan and click on "See all available plans" for a list of all of their plan options. The mail-only plans are down at the bottom.
 
The problem I face with Netflix as well is their throttling of service. I canceled with them a few months back because they throttled my service when I was renting the back seasons of Battlestar Galactica. I even put movies that were a year old in my queue and they were all long waits. I have them now but with the price increase of blu ray, I'll cancel and use Redbox or BB and not have to hold on to movies days after watching them in fear of being throttled again.
 
I think its ridiculous to charge more. Sure, Blu-Ray discs cost more than standard discs, but they also are 10x more durable. 5 copies of a film on BD should last as longer (if not longer) than 10 copies on DVD.

I'm dropping from 2-at-a-time unlimited to 1-at-a-time unlimited. Just got a Tivo HD XL, so I can stream to my tv for the couple of days between sending and receiving BDs in the mail.
 
Actually, from what I've gathered from complaints on forums. Netflix has had more problems with BR getting damaged. They tend to get small cracks on the edges from the post office sorting machines and then won't play. I've only had one myself--was the first one I got and it freaked me out as I thought my player was broken since it was the first disc I'd tried.


As for shipping speeds--I got Quantum of Solace shipped out today--one day shy of 2 weeks past release. It was on very long wait initially. So maybe the cancellations are speeding up things a bit. Still doesn't bother me much as I'm never renting new releases that I'm dying to see--just stuff like this that I want to see but reviews etc. kept from seeing in the theater. And no rush on those with 100+ titles in my queue.
 
I'm really on the fence with this one. I don't currently have the Blu-ray option yet, but was thinking of pulling the trigger because of a major recent TV upgrade. Now I'm not sure about adding the option because I feel I use the instant watch feature way more often than even getting DVDs in the mail. Keep in mind I'm super cheap & only have the 1 DVD at at tiome unlimited option. I'll probably just put it off longer now until I feel I really really want the blu ray option.
 
[quote name='Apostle22']The problem I face with Netflix as well is their throttling of service. I canceled with them a few months back because they throttled my service when I was renting the back seasons of Battlestar Galactica. I even put movies that were a year old in my queue and they were all long waits. I have them now but with the price increase of blu ray, I'll cancel and use Redbox or BB and not have to hold on to movies days after watching them in fear of being throttled again.[/quote]

I do this exact same thing. If it's a new movie I really want to see now, I go to Redbox. The whole throttling thing sucks but now with instant watch, I'm happy if they want to delay me a day or 2 on certain titles. This was one of the major reason I left Netflix the first time in 2005 but this was also before Redbox came to my area. If the instant watch becomes a added cost, then I probably would really consider dropping the service, which is really something I can see them doing. If only redbox would add more TV shows, I would consider dropping Netflix altogether but right now I'm happy.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Do you want some cheese with your whine?

Do you work for netflix? Do you know how much they pay per disc from the studios? No? Then you have no ground to stand on in regards to their costs. You simply don't know any of the facts here.

If you can't afford the extra $4 during this recession, then what are you doing renting movies anyway, and blu-rays none the less? You're complaining about them raising the price of a premium offering? Somehow everyone else should have to bear the brunt of the costs because you want to watch blu-rays? Get real. DVD's aren't going to "fall by the wayside" anytime soon, no matter how hard you want them to. Anyone with their "head in their ass" can see that.

Those "fucking corporate scumbags" are in this business to make money. They are already doing you a favor by catering to a niche market. Get over it or go elsewhere.[/quote]


What do you know? I know what shit costs, I'm an economist. I know what studios charge for distribution rights, I've worked in the movie industry and also have a degree in Film. I am currently working on securing financing for my first feature film. The studios are only charging a small premium to distribute their hi-def material that in no way translates to a 4 dollar upcharge per subscriber fee. Blu-Ray is not exactly a "Niche Market", it's not like this is 19 fucking 85 and they are sticking laser discs in cardboard boxes and shipping them out to people across the U.S. The cost isn't the issue, I gross over 6 figures annually. It's the principle of it. 4 extra bucks a month from thousands of subscribers is highway robbery. Get YOUR head out of YOUR ASS! Open your fucking eyes douchebag.
 
I don't understand how people complain about $4 a month for better quality versions of movies, but have no problem paying $5 a month to MS just to play online even though its free on the PC and PS3.
 
[quote name='actripxl']I don't understand how people complain about $4 a month for better quality versions of movies, but have no problem paying $5 a month to MS just to play online even though its free on the PC and PS3.[/QUOTE]

Well to be fair this is a gaming site, so many (probably most) here are much more into gaming than movies, and thus willing to pay more for gaming.
 
[quote name='Moffman82']What do you know? I know what shit costs, I'm an economist. I know what studios charge for distribution rights, I've worked in the movie industry and also have a degree in Film. I am currently working on securing financing for my first feature film. The studios are only charging a small premium to distribute their hi-def material that in no way translates to a 4 dollar upcharge per subscriber fee. Blu-Ray is not exactly a "Niche Market", it's not like this is 19 fucking 85 and they are sticking laser discs in cardboard boxes and shipping them out to people across the U.S. The cost isn't the issue, I gross over 6 figures annually. It's the principle of it. 4 extra bucks a month from thousands of subscribers is highway robbery. Get YOUR head out of YOUR ASS! Open your fucking eyes douchebag.[/quote]

rofl
 
[quote name='blackhole82']There's still a long wait for me for Role Models on blu-ray :/[/quote]

Don't worry - i'm sending mine back tomorrow
 
I'll wait and see if the extra money goes to me getting new Blu Ray releases faster. Eagle Eye on Blu Ray was on my list at #1 for about 2 months before I received it (I go through about 10-15movies a month).

If it stays the same 'eternaly long wait' status on all blu rays i'll be cancelling blu and going back to regular dvds. If i start getting new releases then I think the price is still fine considering that I go through so many movies per month.
 
Where do you live that you get long waits on blu-ray? I'm in NJ and every blu-ray [17] I have in my query is available now. I don't remember seeing a wait on any blu-rays in a couple of months and I always get my first choices.

They also just shipped three new movies that came out this week (Doubt, Earth Stood Still, and Final Destination) this morning.
 
I actually received "the day the earth stood still", "bedtime stories", and "yes man" yesterday, as it was shipped monday. Suprised me because they didn't actually get released till yesterday.
 
I live in the DC area about 20 miles from the local distribution center. A lot of my new release Blu Rays had been taking a month or so to get. When I first added BR access in November I was getting the right away.

So maybe they give preference to new Blu Ray members. I also had a few new releases that I kept for 2 weeks to a month when I was traveling a lot earlier this year, so maybe they throttle people who get new releases and keep them for a long time since it makes the waits longer for other people? Who knows.

It seems to be getting a bit better, as noted I had about a 2 week wait for Quantum of Solace to ship out (which should have came yesterday but didn't, hopefully will be here today). Also, some new releaes I just added (Doubt, Let the Right One In, Rachel Getting Married) are all listed as available now, so maybe they're finally ordering more BR copies of new releases.
 
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I just removed my Blu-Ray access for my 2 disc account. My wife does most of the movie watching and thought that the premium wasn't worth it.
 
[quote name='rsigley']Where do you live that you get long waits on blu-ray? I'm in NJ and every blu-ray [17] I have in my query is available now. I don't remember seeing a wait on any blu-rays in a couple of months and I always get my first choices.

They also just shipped three new movies that came out this week (Doubt, Earth Stood Still, and Final Destination) this morning.[/quote]

I've been falling behind on my queue for awhile, because I've been mainly using the streaming. But for the longest time, I had long, long waits on all the really, really big BD releases. Month-long wait for Iron Man. Month-long wait for Halloween.

Looking at my queue now, I have zero titles with any wait time, but I really don't have any newer titles on there. The test will come in the next few weeks, because I have some bigger-name releases, like The Wrestler and The Spirit.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']

So maybe they give preference to new Blu Ray members. [/quote]


There was a class action lawsuit against them for this on the DVD side. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it is still happening.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']I live in the DC area about 20 miles from the local distribution center. A lot of my new release Blu Rays had been taking a month or so to get. When I first added BR access in November I was getting the right away.

So maybe they give preference to new Blu Ray members. I also had a few new releases that I kept for 2 weeks to a month when I was traveling a lot earlier this year, so maybe they throttle people who get new releases and keep them for a long time since it makes the waits longer for other people? Who knows.

It seems to be getting a bit better, as noted I had about a 2 week wait for Quantum of Solace to ship out (which should have came yesterday but didn't, hopefully will be here today). Also, some new releaes I just added (Doubt, Let the Right One In, Rachel Getting Married) are all listed as available now, so maybe they're finally ordering more BR copies of new releases.[/quote]

I've had my account much longer than that. I just time it right.
 
[quote name='ilivas']I've had my account much longer than that. I just time it right.[/QUOTE]

Fair enough. I just add stuff when I think about it as I don't really care about waiting a while.

I'm still a big theater goer, so anything I was really wanting to see I've already seen in the theater. So disc new releases are generally just stuff I didn't want to see bad enough to warrant a theater trip.

But it does seem to be getting better since I added a few new releases today and they're all showing available now, where as in the past when I'd do that a day or two after release they'd show up as long wait.
 
it is worth it if they get more copies of the movies, so we don't have wait three months to watch a movie after it is released. i will keep the plan i have only because i love to watch blu-rays.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Fair enough. I just add stuff when I think about it as I don't really care about waiting a while.

I'm still a big theater goer, so anything I was really wanting to see I've already seen in the theater. So disc new releases are generally just stuff I didn't want to see bad enough to warrant a theater trip.

But it does seem to be getting better since I added a few new releases today and they're all showing available now, where as in the past when I'd do that a day or two after release they'd show up as long wait.[/quote]

If the movie isn't at your house on either the day of, or day after the release date, you're not going to get it for months. Yeah, movies that I don't ship on time, are always long waits.
 
I read an article that stated that Netflix's method of operation is that they do give priority to certain customers. If you are the type of person that is on a 3 Movie Plan and you get them in the mail watch them right away and send all three back the next day, Netflix basically flags your account and starts sending you movies later and later. Now you would think that with the money they are getting from your membership they would be buying more copies of movies so that they can send them out to people without long delays. But they don't and now they want to charge you $4 extra for Blu-ray movies.

Just because you utilize your membership more efficiently, should you be treated different under the same membership?

Myself I am not very efficient when it comes to sending movies back. Partly because I have my family which I share movies with and also that sometimes I'm just not in the mood to watch them at the moment, but I don't want to send them back. I've had Prince Caspian for AWHILE.

I will probably be canceling my account. One because of the bad economy, Two I'd kind of like my PS3 in my room, and Three using your power as a consumer in a capitalist society you are able to tell these companies that you won't put up with their crap. What I don't understand is that if the economy is bad and they are using that as an excuse to raise prices, how do they plan on making money off of people in a worse situation with less money? I guess they figure some people won't even bother to cancel, which they are probably right.

I may end up going to blockbuster though, they seem to be the lesser of two evils.
 
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Lately, it seems like I am getting less "long waits" on newer releases, so that's good. Also, it looks like Netflix wants to bring the streaming to more gaming platforms.
 
Yep, I'm getting new releases now. The Spirit is shipping today, and all the stuff that's came out recently is listed available now in my queue.

So they're either buying more discs now, or the added fees cut back BR subscribers a lot, or a combination of the two.
 
I have been very impressed with my experience with Netflix and bluray. I send a movie back they register they got it next day and have always shipped the next item on my list the same day. It also has always arrived the next day after shipment . That being said I usually have movies 1-2 weeks at a time on a 3 movie plan. I will continue my blu-ray subscription because i do appreciate the quality.


Edit: Also just returned 3 movies yesterday. Three more just shipped today. I have had my subscription since NXE
 
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Canceled my Blu ray service, im sorry, its just too much. It should be built in to the cost of their service, i mean, over the whole subscription base, dvds and blurays, you can't tell me it's costing THAT much more for them to buy the Blurays.
 
I was a bit pissed about this, then I check Blockbuster's pricing and it's the same as the raised prices for Netflix. Seems Netflix probably noticed this too and decided to "price match" BB. Bastards. Netflix is one of the few companies out there that has seen growth and profits the past year and they decide to celebrate by RAISING their fees? I would cancel if it weren't the best option for mail video. BB is set to offer game rentals to everyone via mail in the summer, so perhaps I'll jump on that when it happens.
 
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