Netflix Bluray Rentals Fees Increase $1 Per Month

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blackhole82

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I know this isn't a deal but didn't know where else to put it. I just got an email from netflix saying they are going to start charging $1 a month extra for unlimited access to bluray rentals. Why is it now that they decide to start charging more for something that was one of the main reasons to even be one of their customers in the first place? Anyone else have an opinion about the price increase?
 
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I dont see a problem with it. I haven't yet, nor will I jump on the stupid bluray bandwagon. That aside, if you go and buy a bluray disc it runs a lot more to purchase, yes? So, if it costs them more, I dont see anything wrong with passing some of that extra expense along. At only a buck more a month, I can't really believe you are complaining about this. Go rent a couple from blockbuster and still tell me its unfair. I think Netflix is great, a fantastic deal, and really if you dont like it then go elsewhere.
 
Well, that sucks. I haven't recieved the email yet.

They issued a message several months back that they were going to raise the fees, but I haven't heard anything since then, so I thought they dropped it. But I guess not. I actually was annoyed enough by the proposed increase that I contacted customer service and complained.
 
I'm cool with this. When I had my PS3 I rented Bluray movies. If I still had it, I'd pay a buck more a month to continue getting them. Its a buck. If you complain, you should probably sell your PS3 or Bluray player and HDTV since you obviously need the money.
 
That's stupid IMO. I'll just stop renting Blu Rays since the PS3 is an upconvert DVD player anyways. Yeah, it's only a dollar, but it's the principle of the matter. If it was costing that much for them to have BluRays, they should have raised the price when they first introduced them. Personally I think Netflix just sees an opportunity to milk a little extra hoping people won't care.

[quote name='erectiontown']really, what's one dollar?[/QUOTE]

You're asking that question on a website for people who like things cheap :p

I just got the e-mail myself. Here it is for anyone who cares:
As you may know, Blu-ray movies are more expensive than standard definition movies. As a result, we're going to start charging $1 a month (plus applicable taxes), in addition to your monthly membership charge, for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies.

The additional charge for unlimited Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after November 5th, 2008 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details. If you wish to continue getting Blu-ray movies for $1 a month more, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account at the Netflix website.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-638-3549.

-The Netflix Team
Click to expand...
 
this may be for new customers and/or more recent customers. i think some older customers like me my get locked in. i'm still paying the cheaper rate from like 2 or 3 years ago. i guess $1 isn't much though..i'd pay it
 
[quote name='toesakki']I dont see a problem with it. I haven't yet, nor will I jump on the stupid bluray bandwagon. That aside, if you go and buy a bluray disc it runs a lot more to purchase, yes? So, if it costs them more, I dont see anything wrong with passing some of that extra expense along. At only a buck more a month, I can't really believe you are complaining about this. Go rent a couple from blockbuster and still tell me its unfair. I think Netflix is great, a fantastic deal, and really if you dont like it then go elsewhere.[/quote]

No a dollar is not that much. But what is to stop them from increasing the price even more in the future? I don't even know why you chose to chime in at all since you don't even have a bluray player. So I'm guessing you're an existing netflix customer? How would you feel if you were getting a service and then all of a sudden it goes up? The fact is blurays have been expensive since they came out and they are just now deciding to raise the price. The fantastic deal you were getting may be getting closer and closer to just being a mediocre deal as time goes on.
 
It's probably not so much that they're arbitrarily raising it now, it's that A) a ton more Blu-Rays are being released now, both current movies but even moreso older movies, especially now that HD-DVDs are dead, and B) the user base for PS3/BD players has only been increasing.

So, they have a larger BD customer base, requesting even more movies. It makes perfect sense, I'm surprised it's taken this long for them to charge more.
 
It sucks that they're raising the price now, but I think it was bound to happen. I'm sure that the more people they get using the Blu Ray service, the more Blu Rays they have to buy. Add that to the cost of Blu rays and it makes sense that they're going to have to start charging extra. And I think asking for an extra dollar is fair.

Now my question is will they raise the price for those who still have their account set under HD-DVD...
 
[quote name='TDAGARIM']It sucks that they're raising the price now, but I think it was bound to happen. I'm sure that the more people they get using the Blu Ray service, the more Blu Rays they have to buy. Add that to the cost of Blu rays and it makes sense that they're going to have to start charging extra. And I think asking for an extra dollar is fair.

Now my question is will they raise the price for those who still have their account set under HD-DVD...[/quote]

Yeah I didn't even think about the HD-DVD. I have mine set up for both. I think they're probably going to discontinue HD-DVD completely; it's just a matter of when.
 
[quote name='blackhole82']I know this isn't a deal but didn't know where else to put it. I just got an email from netflix saying they are going to start charging $1 a month extra for unlimited access to bluray rentals. Why is it now that they decide to start charging more for something that was one of the main reasons to even be one of their customers in the first place? Anyone else have an opinion about the price increase?[/quote]

First of all, there isn't going to be anybody that is exempt from this (as other speculation here suggests) because I'm still on the 4 at a time plan at the 3 at a time price (which means I've been a member probably longer than most everybody here) and I still get the dollar increase.

A few points:

#1) this isn't a surprise, they've talked about doing this for a while
#2) its still cheaper per month than it was before they lowered prices in response to Wal-Mart and Blockbuster competition (and Wal-Mart gave up long ago)

Nobody likes a price increase, but this is about as justifiable as they get.
 
[quote name='toesakki']I dont see a problem with it. I haven't yet, nor will I jump on the stupid bluray bandwagon. That aside, if you go and buy a bluray disc it runs a lot more to purchase, yes? So, if it costs them more, I dont see anything wrong with passing some of that extra expense along. At only a buck more a month, I can't really believe you are complaining about this. Go rent a couple from blockbuster and still tell me its unfair. I think Netflix is great, a fantastic deal, and really if you dont like it then go elsewhere.[/quote]

[quote name='GTZ_NSR']That's stupid IMO. I'll just stop renting Blu Rays since the PS3 is an upconvert DVD player anyways. Yeah, it's only a dollar, but it's the principle of the matter. If it was costing that much for them to have BluRays, they should have raised the price when they first introduced them. Personally I think Netflix just sees an opportunity to milk a little extra hoping people won't care.



You're asking that question on a website for people who like things cheap :p

I just got the e-mail myself. Here it is for anyone who cares:[/quote]

[quote name='blackhole82']No a dollar is not that much. But what is to stop them from increasing the price even more in the future? I don't even know why you chose to chime in at all since you don't even have a bluray player. So I'm guessing you're an existing netflix customer? How would you feel if you were getting a service and then all of a sudden it goes up? The fact is blurays have been expensive since they came out and they are just now deciding to raise the price. The fantastic deal you were getting may be getting closer and closer to just being a mediocre deal as time goes on.[/quote]

[quote name='blackhole82']Yeah I didn't even think about the HD-DVD. I have mine set up for both. I think they're probably going to discontinue HD-DVD completely; it's just a matter of when.[/quote]

Stupid BD bandwagon? HD is the wave of the future, not DVD. Once you start watching movies in HD you will never go back. No reason to. Great video and audio.

The reason why Netflix did not raise the price at first is because they wanted to see the customer demand first. Since the demand has gone a lot higher that is why they are now raising the price. If you do not want Blu-ray just rent DVD's. Not that big of a deal.

HD DVD will be discontinued from Netflix at the end of the year. They announced this several months ago.
 
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[quote name='bases1616']Stupid BD bandwagon? HD is the wave of the future, not DVD. Once you start watching movies in HD you will never go back. No reason to. Great video and audio.

The reason why Netflix did not raise the price at first is because they wanted to see the customer demand first. Since the demand has gone a lot higher that is why they are now raising the price. If you do not want Blu-ray just rent DVD's. Not that big of a deal.

HD DVD will be discontinued from Netflix at the end of the year. They announced this several months ago.[/quote]

So once everyone has bluray and DVD is considered obsolete are the prices going to stay the same or will they go down? Seems like when something is becoming more mainstream prices should go down not up. That's why it would have made sense for there to be an extra charge from the beginning and not instituted now when bluray is starting to pick up steam.
 
[quote name='wildnuts02']this may be for new customers and/or more recent customers. i think some older customers like me my get locked in. i'm still paying the cheaper rate from like 2 or 3 years ago. i guess $1 isn't much though..i'd pay it[/quote]
I've been with Netflix 3 or 4 years and got the same email today.
$1 isn't a big deal, IMHO.

As far as HDDVDs, most of those are no longer available to choose.

[quote name='blackhole82']So once everyone has bluray and DVD is considered obsolete are the prices going to stay the same or will they go down? Seems like when something is becoming more mainstream prices should go down not up. That's why it would have made sense for there to be an extra charge from the beginning and not instituted now when bluray is starting to pick up steam.[/quote]

Read JohnnyPark's above post at #9. He explains it very well.
 
[quote name='Vader582']I've been with Netflix 3 or 4 years and got the same email today.
$1 isn't a big deal, IMHO. [/quote]

oh interesting. i haven't received the email but i guess i should expect it soon. oh well, it's definitely worth it for me.
 
[quote name='erectiontown']really, what's one dollar?[/QUOTE]

Honestly, nothing. I am not going to go and cancel my subscription or anything. But, it is still slightly annoying and it opens everyone up to price increases. For instance, digital downloads - if subscriber numbers go up because of the Xbox partnership maybe that will stress their servers and they will increase prices for that, and so on and so forth.

If anything, I'm surprised they haven't raised prices due to postage rates going up.
 
it's going up for all subscribers, but it's only a buck... I was worried it would be up to $5

my only beef with it is, they didn't tack on a buck extra if you rented Criterion or TV shows in the past... you know?
 
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I think when I signed back up for Netflix about a month or two ago I was paying $2 extra per month. So this is actually a $1 drop for me.
 
Blockbuster Online is still the same price. I've been impressed lately with the availability of their new releases on Blu-Ray. Actually got Iron Man on Blu-Ray and didn't put it my Queue until last Friday.

That's the biggest thing I couldn't stand with Netflix - if you didn't have your queue lined up just right to have it open on Tuesday, you'd miss out on the new releases on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and would have to wait 2 months to get them back in stock. I'm not schilling for blockbuster online, but being able to return in store and not having to wait 2 days for Netflix to get it and send another one out was a big perk too.
 
I have no problem with the extra buck if it means that the queue lines for blu-rays will be shorter. It seems all major new releases go to "very long wait" very quickly as it is now. A lot of times I'll just switch back to DVD so I can get the movie quicker....
 
At first I was like "Those b****s" then I though, f**k it it's a dollar. I spend more on that in soda everyday.
 
It sucked when I got this email (I'm not only cheap but broke) but I guess if this means they'll be using this money toward more BRs it's fine. I hate having to wait forever to get a movie because it's BR.
 
I guess I'll wait to sign back up with Netflix until they start carrying more copies of BDs. I mean, if I can only rent 2-3 BDs a month because of the long ass wait, it's not worth it to me. But the whole "$1 more for BDs" ain't a big deal to me.
 
I'm never happy about a price increase, but in this case, it only takes me back to what I was originally paying for my Netflix account (1 movie at a time, no limit to the number of movies per month). With the money I've sunk into my HDTVs at home, and especially my HT audio equipment, I'd be crazy not to have the best PQ and AQ available right now, and that's Blu-ray, hands down.
 
[quote name='Captain_Insano16']I have no problem with the extra buck if it means that the queue lines for blu-rays will be shorter. It seems all major new releases go to "very long wait" very quickly as it is now. A lot of times I'll just switch back to DVD so I can get the movie quicker....[/quote]

I hesitate to bring this up, but somewhere in the system they keep track of how good of a customer you are. I imagine it punishes people who rent too much, increase Netflix' churn percentage, or who they have a lot of lost discs from or who haven't been members that long. I never have any trouble with getting anything in my queue, new or old, unless its a totally discontinued title. I can count on one hand the times I've gotten anything besides what's at the top of my queue in 8-9 years (uninterrupted) membership.

So don't expect any special treatment unless you pass the other secret tests. . .granted I haven't rented that many HD-DVDs or BluRays yet but I don't think that $1 is going to fund any changes in their queue algorithm. . .
 
Got the e-mail too, screw that, i don't care if it's a $1 or more, i'm canceling as soon as the movies on my queue are shipped. Netflix is great, but with the monthly fees, i think i can buy few BDs with them. Goodbye Netflix, i doubt i'll miss you.
 
$1 is a reasonable price increase. Hundreds of movies are being released on Blu-Ray now so I can see where Netflix might have to make up for that cost. That's a very small amount of money over the course of one month and the potential dozens of movies that you can rent.
 
[quote name='Serpentor']Got the e-mail too, screw that, i don't care if it's a $1 or more, i'm canceling as soon as the movies on my queue are shipped. Netflix is great, but with the monthly fees, i think i can buy few BDs with them. Goodbye Netflix, i doubt i'll miss you.[/quote]

for a $12 a year increase? LOL

that's hilarious that's all it takes... have you stopped buying eggs too?
 
is this news to you guys? Well, consider you grandfathered so-and-sos lucky. I signed up for Netflix two months ago and the instantly demanded an extra $1 for Blu-Ray rentals... just sayin'.

They've stated several times they were going to do this - and they've already been doing it to me for two months. It'd piss me off more, except the prices of Blus have been fucking abysmal since the death of HDDVD. If something doesn't change around Xmas, I'm may abandon the platform altogether. Got 1080p, HDMI, all that - and can't justify paying twice the price for nowhere near twice the quality of standard DVD.
 
[quote name='GTZ_NSR']I'll just stop renting Blu Rays since the PS3 is an upconvert DVD player anyways.[/QUOTE]

I do hope you realize that upscaled DVD's are not anywhere close to being Blu-Ray's... it can't even be compared.
 
[quote name='DestroVega']for a $12 a year increase? LOL

that's hilarious that's all it takes... have you stopped buying eggs too?[/quote]

Well, to be fair, i was going to cancel before the $1 increase anyway, so the news just make it easier for me.

Folks, my cancellation has nothing to do with Netflix service, just that it's something i don't need right now.

And as for eggs, yeah, i can buy less and i don't get charged monthly if i decided no eggs this month or next.

I did same for my Dish services, downgraded to the bare bone (saved $30 a month). Now w/o Netflix, that's another $13 saving a month. What's next? My land line, with cellphones, i don't see why i need the land line at all... So, it's not a $12 a year thing.
 
[quote name='UjnHunter']I do hope you realize that upscaled DVD's are not anywhere close to being Blu-Ray's... it can't even be compared.[/quote]

True, can't argue with that. HOWEVER, the library of BD is no where near that of DVD. I joined Netflix for BD exclusively of course. In the beginning, all good, because a lot of BDs in my queue. After few months, with new BD releases being LONG WAIT, my BD queue is getting shorter and shorter (i'm actually getting BDs in my own collection, because the BDs were either borrowed by friends or some collector edition sealed). On top of that problem, the movies i want to see (recommended by words of mouth) almost never on BD (at least not yet).

What i'm saying, Netflix is great, but the volume of BDs on hand is nowhere near that of DVDs, so the LONG WAIT status really pisses you off (try Baby Mama). It took me a while to get Mist (well, the wait was worth it though). But that's my point, for DVDs, you pratically don't have to wait at all. I doubt the $1 increase will speed up your queue... More like the $1 increase is keeping your BD queue alive.
 
[quote name='Serpentor']
What i'm saying, Netflix is great, but the volume of BDs on hand is nowhere near that of DVDs, so the LONG WAIT status really pisses you off .[/QUOTE]

I think this is the most important point and mostly overlooked. They are charging you more for something you are less likely to get.
 
I'm a little pissed as they will charge you $1 extra for ACESS to BD movies. Not all movies I watch are new releases and/or avaialble on BD. I probably only get 2 BD a month from netflix. I'm just going to bump up all my BD until Nov 5th and take out BD, I don't really need to see Beerfest on BD anyway. I'll just add BD back on for the month I want to watch all BD. Either way I'm just glad they didn't bump up the regular subscription price (which I'm betting will be around new years).

If half my Queue was BD I wouldn't care for a buck, but for 70 BD out of 430 movies (15%) in my queue I have plenty of regular DVDs to watch before I need to pay the extra buck.
 
I've noticed alot of hating on Blockbuster recently on the CAG boards and I am really interested as to why?
Not in the sense that I am totally for Blockbuster (I really hated them when they first came out and charged $5 for a 48-hour rental - which they still do), but I am really interested in why people are against it now, as their policies seem great to me at this point in time.
I have Blockbuster.com. It's $19.99 a month, which gives me 3-at-a-time DVDs (unlimited amount per month), as well as unlimited in-store exchanges for those DVDs, and a free game rental every month (which I admit I wish I had more of).
I can trade in each of my Blockbuster.com envelopes (again, 3-at-a-time, unlimited per month) at Blockbuster for a free DVD or Blu-Ray rental.
Also, the Blockbuster I go to has a "seven day grace period" which I guess most Blockbusters don't have. It means that if you rented Iron Man this week on Tuesday, and it's due Thursday, you don't start getting charged a late fee until the following Thursday.
I think the entire system is really great, and at $20 a month, is a complete steal. I get a free game rental, unlimited DVD's to my house, and unlimited blu-rays and DVD's in-store. Plus when I get a DVD, as soon as I bring it to a Blockbuster it's checked back in, and I usually get three new DVD's in the mail two days later.
Do people think this is unfair or too costly?
 
Not only did Netflix drop their price a couple of months ago, but they continue to value-add with the Watch Instantly section which has tons of new(er) releases and will enhance their offering this fall with the New Xbox Experience. It's a miracle they haven't raised prices because of all those things. The Bluray hike is a non-issue, and they did mention it months ago.
 
[quote name='troy2007']Not only did Netflix drop their price a couple of months ago, but they continue to value-add with the Watch Instantly section which has tons of new(er) releases and will enhance their offering this fall with the New Xbox Experience. It's a miracle they haven't raised prices because of all those things. The Bluray hike is a non-issue, and they did mention it months ago.[/quote]

But does it seem possible that they may start charging extra for watch instantly? This bluray increase may just be a sign of more increases to come. Usually a company offers you really good value and deals to get you as a customer and the value tapers off after a while once you've become "one of the fold" so to speak. I am still relatively happy with netflix at this point and still see it as a good value for now.
 
6 months back if you ask me this is would say

NETFLIX RULES


Today i will say

Netflix sucks

I got a code off ebay what turn out the seller disputed the charges so they closed my account down (they said i had to open up a new account to use this code for some freaking reason)

So last sunday i go back to open up my old account i had back in 07

Nothing ships monday

So i call them and told MY ACCOUNT IS ON HOLD DUE TO CREDIT CARD FRAUD. i told them this is BS cause i told them what happen about the code and they go OOOO NOw we see this in our files

we give you 20% off your next bill and Movies will ship by weds


TUESDAY NOTHING SHIPS
WEDS NOTHING SHIPS

Call them back up weds .... Your account is on HOLD Cause you had 3 accounts to this address (this account i turned back on . AN account my room mate had long ago and the account with the bad code)

I go What the fuck

Me :::i was told monday this is all cleared.

Worker::: nothing was done monday

me: Then why the hell was i lied to monday saying movies will ship weds

worker: O we will listen to those tapes

on hold 25 #$$#$#$# Mins.

Worker: O it seems your account was active on monday but we decided to put another hold on it today cause you had 3 memberships to this one address and its Fishy.

Please allow 3 to 5 days to hear back from us CLICK


Mind you that my credit card has BEEN CHARGED 18.18 SINCE SUNDAY. Thats right the bastards have my money and not sending a thing out.

No where on the site says you can only have 1 membership per household. 1 FREE MEMBERSHIP YES BUT NOTHING ABOUT 1 paying membership.

Is nothing is done by next weds or if they dont allow the account to reopen i will bring one hell of a lawsuit on them. I have a 2nd meeting next week with a lawyer (contacted one over the phone tue.)and they said i had grounds to file a suit against them)


Well my rant about netflix is over. LOL wanted to get that off my chest
 
[quote name='slidecage']6 months back if you ask me this is would say

NETFLIX RULES


Today i will say

Netflix sucks

I got a code off ebay what turn out the seller disputed the charges so they closed my account down (they said i had to open up a new account to use this code for some freaking reason)

So last sunday i go back to open up my old account i had back in 07

Nothing ships monday

So i call them and told MY ACCOUNT IS ON HOLD DUE TO CREDIT CARD FRAUD. i told them this is BS cause i told them what happen about the code and they go OOOO NOw we see this in our files

we give you 20% off your next bill and Movies will ship by weds


TUESDAY NOTHING SHIPS
WEDS NOTHING SHIPS

Call them back up weds .... Your account is on HOLD Cause you had 3 accounts to this address (this account i turned back on . AN account my room mate had long ago and the account with the bad code)

I go What the fuck

Me :::i was told monday this is all cleared.

Worker::: nothing was done monday

me: Then why the hell was i lied to monday saying movies will ship weds

worker: O we will listen to those tapes

on hold 25 #$$#$#$# Mins.

Worker: O it seems your account was active on monday but we decided to put another hold on it today cause you had 3 memberships to this one address and its Fishy.

Please allow 3 to 5 days to hear back from us CLICK


Mind you that my credit card has BEEN CHARGED 18.18 SINCE SUNDAY. Thats right the bastards have my money and not sending a thing out.

No where on the site says you can only have 1 membership per household. 1 FREE MEMBERSHIP YES BUT NOTHING ABOUT 1 paying membership.

Is nothing is done by next weds or if they dont allow the account to reopen i will bring one hell of a lawsuit on them. I have a 2nd meeting next week with a lawyer (contacted one over the phone tue.)and they said i had grounds to file a suit against them)


Well my rant about netflix is over. LOL wanted to get that off my chest[/quote]

an $18 lawsuit? just dispute the charge with the CC dude.
 
Slidecage, sorry to hear that...

When comes to putting membership on hold or cancellations, BBV on-line beats Netflix. Netflix is quite mean when comes to cancellation, all items must be returned within seven days, blah blah. It kinda discourage you to cancel in a way.

$1 increase is really nothing to rant about, it's still a bargain for those want to rent BDs. The increase only goes to those with BD in the perference, i.e. BD format before DVD. BUT i wonder what if you manually set the format to BD from DVD in the DVD perference, hmmm, doing so, do you sneakyly avoided the $1 increase?
 
[quote name='Serpentor']$1 increase is really nothing to rant about, it's still a bargain for those want to rent BDs. The increase only goes to those with BD in the perference, i.e. BD format before DVD. BUT i wonder what if you manually set the format to BD from DVD in the DVD perference, hmmm, doing so, do you sneakyly avoided the $1 increase?[/quote]

You lost me. If you don't turn on BluRays, I don't think you get the choice to have it shipped that way. Suffice to say, if there is a workaround, Netflix will catch it soon enough. I don't think their IT dept. are dummies as they have about the best consumer web site in existence.

Now Gamesnflix, they couldn't even probably implement the new charge without crashing their whole system.

And to those saying, well, what are they going to increase next? Yeah, again, read my posts and you'll see that they've changed prices in the past because of competition. Because everybody else sucks compared to them, plan on more increases. But I hope they do piss off enough people over $1 and quit, then they might hold off on more increases.

As far as Blockbuster goes, unless you drive by a BB on the way to work everyday, that's the only way its worth it. Not everybody has a BB in the same county, much less around the corner.
 
They are expecting losses or weakened subscriptions due to the economy. Also the dollar is worth much less than it was 8 years ago when the service started, $18 is a steal.
 
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