Netflix has decided to increase my plan price by 60%

SSBrew - 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
FYI they have added subtitles to the streaming for a bunch of stuff.

Not everything, but way more than they used to have. We always use subtitles too and it was frustrating not having it.
 
Well its still a fraction of what Cable TV wants to charge me for the same content.
Honestly I didn't expect the $8.99 plan to last long...it seemed like an intro price that just wasn't called an intro price.

Hopefully with all of you gone I'll get even more stable HD streams on my Roku.

/cheers!
 
EdWort said:
Yeah, I agree, but it's the principle of such a large percentage increase.

I'll cancel in protest, but probably sign back up anyway later after they ask me back with a discount. :D

I enjoy access to old classics cause Hollywood is just turning out garbage today. No creativity and surely not worth the price of a ticket.
Click to expand...

Sneaky bastard ;)

Here is my take on it. I have been Netflix user for 5+ years and within the last year I downgraded from 3 BD at a time to 1 + included free streaming. In my opinion a lot of the BD content I wanted to get, especially some new titles took 2+ months to get. Last season of Lost on BD took me 3-4 months after it was out on BD. I went and lowered my service to 1 BD at a time and now there is a lot of content to watch on streaming. I dont mind the increase because I think Netflix made a mistake in the beginning of streaming. When they introduced streaming for free they made a mistake. They should have kept both services separate and charge accordingly. Netflix saw a huge spike in streaming traffic and it was offered dirt cheap when you got it without DVD plan. Netflix has to deal with upcoming studios contract renewal which is expected to cost a lot more and I hope its their goal to slowly kill the DVD / BD sections.

What Netflix is trying to do is this:

They will have all the people who dont stream (think of all the rural people in bumblefunk who cant even get DSL) switch to DVD only plan (no change for Netflix).

There will be people who will stream only (best option) and those will stream and DVD / BD. BD option is a few dollars per month extra and I think DVD will be dead within 5 years.

Netflix is crazy to give streaming + DVD for so low. They got themselves in this mess and now this is the only way out. I know that it sucks that prices went up but Netflix offers such much value to you for $10 now and will still be dirt cheap for $15. The amount of available, on demand content you get for $15 is more than $50+ cable package offers, minus all the commercials.
 
Netflix has something like 25+million users, I dont think a few thousand are really going to make a different, especially considering there big arguments are against the dvd portion of Netflix and it seems that netflix is pushing toward an all streaming service
 
Don't be surprised if you see Netflix starting to pay some kind of hefty taxes or fees to ISPs here soon too. They currently use a huge portion of the US bandwidth, and a lot of providers aren't happy about that.

Personally, we'll cancel our subscription at the end of the month, and send them an email when we do.
 
dwarven_stout said:
Don't be surprised if you see Netflix starting to pay some kind of hefty taxes or fees to ISPs here soon too. They currently use a huge portion of the US bandwidth, and a lot of providers aren't happy about that.

Personally, we'll cancel our subscription at the end of the month, and send them an email when we do.
Click to expand...

Why not ride it out through August since the rates don't go up until September?
 
I was a member since 1999. Back then, you had to return movies within 7 days. You could also tell them (online) that you'd sent the movie and they would send the next one. Honor system.

I just cancelled. They never had the Instant Watch movies I wanted to see.
 
It will be interesting to see if Netflix is able to secure better content for streaming as a result of this move. I find it hard to believe that people are satisfied with what's available for streaming on their service now. I think they do have a lot of content, but so much of it is cruft, and like I said before, it really pisses me off when I start watching one of the TV series on streaming and then find out the last 3 years are only on DVD.
 
I was considering canceling my account because I mostly watched documentaries and I've pretty much gone through all the ones I want to see. The price increase sealed the deal for me - I canceled this morning. I just wasn't using it enough to justify the cost.
 
weirdboy said:
It will be interesting to see if Netflix is able to secure better content for streaming as a result of this move. I find it hard to believe that people are satisfied with what's available for streaming on their service now. I think they do have a lot of content, but so much of it is cruft, and like I said before, it really pisses me off when I start watching one of the TV series on streaming and then find out the last 3 years are only on DVD.
Click to expand...

The only time I really experienced this is when I got into Dexter. Season 1 and 2 were on streaming and then I struggled to get seasons 3 and 4 via bluray because there were only a few episodes per disc and there was always some level of wait time. I would have been better off buying the box set used and then reselling when I was done.
 
Why cancel now if you still get the present plan until September?

Anyway, I would be happy to drop the DVDs and go streaming only, but the streaming experience is so underwhelming. Only about a quarter of the films in my DVD queue are available to stream, and most of those are toward the bottom of my queue. The picture quality is sometimes sucky, because most don't stream in HD. Most don't have subtitles, and special features are nonexistent (although on DVDs they have gotten more and more sparse over the past few years, too). Movies and shows come and go randomly instead of being permanently available. Finally, ISPs are getting more and more stingy over data usage.

Unlike most people, I'll probably go to a DVD-only plan over this until their streaming portfolio and quality increase.
 
I'm going to cancel now because:
1) the streaming selection sucks and the streaming sucks
2) the website redesign sucks
3) we only watch 3-4 DVDs a month, so Redbox is a cheaper option
4) so that when I send them an email, I can be one more of thousands piling on
 
I'm actually doing the opposite of a lot of you guys. If I keep anything, it will be the DVD side. I personally think Netflix streaming is terrible. Their catalog is pathetic. I mean I suppose I could watch 12 seasons of some obscure BBC show that went off the air 10 years ago, but occasionally I have the audacity to search for something more recent and relevant.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of streaming. If netflix had the same catalog in streaming video that they do in DVD, I'd have dumped the DVD's long ago.
 
JJL said:
Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of streaming. If netflix had the same catalog in streaming video that they do in DVD, I'd have dumped the DVD's long ago.
Click to expand...

If Netflix could stream everything they have in the DVD catalogue, they'd be charging a helluva lot more than $8 a month! Certainly the demand would be there, but they'd also be paying a lot more in fees to the content owners.

I'm more than happy with streaming, but a lot come down to expectations. I don't go looking for a specific title to stream, I sit down and look for something (among the limited offerings) that looks interesting. I've watched a ton of movies, some excellent, some terrible, that I never would have watched otherwise. I mean, ****, it's not like I'm going to go LOOKING for documentaries about polka musicians who run Ponzi schemes.

For $8 a month, it's not going to replace your $100/month cable.

I still think/hope that Netflix ultimately evolves into a tiered service. Keep a very basic service at about the current price point, but offer an "enhanced" service that includes more recent offerings and a better overall selection.
 
my price is the same.

The unlimited Streaming is a STEAL at $7.99.

Drop the disk.

The streaming is so awesome, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.
 
It is all how you approch the streaming...of course if you go in looking for specific titles you will be disappointed. I like just browsing the streaming library with nothing particular in mind. More times than not I end up being blown away by a movie I never would have even heard of otherwise. (or get to see some hot foreign chick or independant accress nude...either way I am happy)

If there is a DVD title I want to see that bad, then I will either buy it or go other avenues I shall not openly discuss (which I don't feel bad about now that movie tickets are $15-20) :)
 
I don't get the hate. They entered into contracts with the studios a long time ago and based their price plans accordingly.

Now the studios are seeing how much Netflix is making and JACKING up their prices (also because there are competitors coming into the fold and they want THEIR money too!

So Netflix HAS to raise prices in order to stay in business. The DVD portion is less profitable, obviously, so it would only make sense that they would rather provide the streaming service.

IMO the streaming is great. We are currently enjoying Dr. Who series, both the newer ones and the old ones. We get hooked on series that we may have missed when it was new and they usually have them. Sometimes we have to use DVD because they are not always available streaming.

We rarely order DVDs anymore.

For new movies, I'll just rent a BlueRay in town or buy it if it's a favorite or must-have.
 
Germelli1 said:
It is all how you approch the streaming... More times than not I end up being blown away by a movie I never would have even heard of otherwise. :)
Click to expand...

EXACTLY.

From KICK ASS to JESUS CHRIST VAMPIRE HUNTER, I am so much more happy to see something unusual than the latest piece of crap hollywood has produced.

I no longer go to the theater because of how often I am disapointed, and how much I LOVE netflix streaming.
 
I'll probably keep the stream for $8 a month, my wife likes crappy horror movies and there is a decent amount of kid programming on there. If the streaming works for you, great! Personally, I'm not the type to just sit down and start searching for something. When I have time to watch a movie I want to watch something on my "must see" list. If I have to start flipping around and scrolling through lists to find something interesting, I'll just go do something else. I have chores and errands and two kids, along with trying to reserve a little time for hobbies and myself. The second I have to go putting effort into what should be a relaxing hour or two then I just move on to something else, maybe catch up on the reading I never seem to have time for anymore. So, the streaming will stay for now as long as the rest of the family is using it and we'll get new releases through Redbox or similar services.
 
Shooter said:
I'll probably keep the stream for $8 a month, my wife likes crappy horror movies and there is a decent amount of kid programming on there. If the streaming works for you, great! Personally, I'm not the type to just sit down and start searching for something. When I have time to watch a movie I want to watch something on my "must see" list. If I have to start flipping around and scrolling through lists to find something interesting, I'll just go do something else. I have chores and errands and two kids, along with trying to reserve a little time for hobbies and myself. The second I have to go putting effort into what should be a relaxing hour or two then I just move on to something else, maybe catch up on the reading I never seem to have time for anymore. So, the streaming will stay for now as long as the rest of the family is using it and we'll get new releases through Redbox or similar services.
Click to expand...

Understandable! Most time when I stream it is to put on while I study/analyze data from research lab/etc. Sometimes I prefer music and sometimes streaming movies. I make sure and rate the movies afterward and the Netflix recommendations are usually decent. When I sit down to enjoy a movie it is usually one from that list or I will go to a genre>subgenre that I am in the rood for, sort by rating and try one out.

Plus instant just got a few Quniton Tarantino movies, so its quality just exploded in my mind :)
 
Germelli1 said:
Understandable! Most time when I stream it is to put on while I study/analyze data from research lab/etc. Sometimes I prefer music and sometimes streaming movies. I make sure and rate the movies afterward and the Netflix recommendations are usually decent. When I sit down to enjoy a movie it is usually one from that list or I will go to a genre>subgenre that I am in the rood for, sort by rating and try one out.

Plus instant just got a few Quniton Tarantino movies, so its quality just exploded in my mind :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I do need to rate more of what I watch. I have also found a couple of random gems on Netflix. So, it's not like there isn't some interesting stuff on there I haven't heard about, but I usually have a film or two in my head before going on the service and if I can't find them I turn it off and go do something else. Like I said, my wife watches a lot of just awful/campy horror films while working out and the kids use it. So, the stream stays for now and the DVDs are going goodbye.
 
We have dropped cable in favor of Netflix and Roku programming and honestly, I see no reason to go back even after consideration of the price plan change.

Is it irritating? Sure.

Unexpected? No.

The streaming service is whgat I expect it to be and is no better or worse than similar options. And frankly, since the switch I am less connected to TV as are the rest of my family. Opting instead for activities more physical.

But, for childrens and series programming, Netflix streaming gets a BIG win from me at $7.99 Unlimited to multiple devices. And now, with the promise of Ro-Connect and some tweaks my 3 Roku boxes are delivering on their promises too. To be able to rip a DVD to a HDD and have it where my 5 year old and wife can just browse for a title and play it is a nice convienience.
 
Pivzavod said:
Sneaky bastard ;)

What Netflix is trying to do is this:

They will have all the people who dont stream (think of all the rural people in bumblefunk who cant even get DSL) switch to DVD only plan (no change for Netflix).

.
Click to expand...


That'd be me. Streaming SUCKS monkey anatomy for us. We actually DO have DSL, but are so far from the node that it takes about 10 min to stream 15 min of a show. Not worth it.

But, we also are 10 miles from a cell phone signal and practically have a party line for a phone, too. Honestly, I can often hear other folks dialing/talking when I'm on our land line. Isn't it 2011? Or did I take a wrong turn somewhere?

I suppose I should just be thanking my lucky stars that I don't have to use beta...

Reporting from Bumblefunk,

Bedlam

:)
 
Germelli1 said:
Watch "Student Services" if you have not already :cool:
Click to expand...

We did. There's a lot of stuff that ends up getting vetoed by the_Wife once it turns violent/non-consensual, that was one. "9 Songs" is probably the best late-night flick, along with "Room In Rome" and "Exterminating Angels."

There's a bunch of really, really weird Japanese nudie flicks out there, too, stuff that's not subtitled or dubbed or anything.
 
the_bird said:
We did. There's a lot of stuff that ends up getting vetoed by the_Wife once it turns violent/non-consensual, that was one. "9 Songs" is probably the best late-night flick, along with "Room In Rome" and "Exterminating Angels."

There's a bunch of really, really weird Japanese nudie flicks out there, too, stuff that's not subtitled or dubbed or anything.
Click to expand...

Tell us more..
 
I would gladly pay the $15.98 a month for streaming only if I could stream their entire catalog. For me, the DVD is a bit of a hassle. I haven't decided what I want to do yet. SWMBO wants to drop streaming, I would rather drop the DVD. Our daughter watches plenty of kids shows on streaming so just for that the $7.99 would be a decent deal. I would prefer to go a different route altogether for movies.
 
_JP_ said:
I had Netflix years ago and once I saw Hulu, I switch instantly and never looked back.

HULU (www.hulu.com) is free (~90 sec ads during the commercial breaks) and is streamed in 480P.

For something comparable to Netflix (more selection, less advertising), their service is $7/mo and is streamed in HD, and is then available on your phone, Ipad, etc.
Click to expand...

No way, Hulu sucks ass compared to Netlix.

Okay, not really...

But to me the commercials get very annoying very quickly... and they are super repetitive and several popular shows (Simpsons, Community for example) are web only so you can't watch them on something like an Xbox or PS3... what is that sh*t??

I would gladly pay in the $10-$15 a month range for Hulu+ if they axed the commercials at least.

And in other news... freaking screw the movie/ tv production studios etc. They are the ones to blame for stupid streaming stipulations, licensing absurdity and restrictions. They're the ones that are going to increase Netflix' licensing fees by somthing stupid like 300%... They're the ones to blame for pushing so hard to see that the Redbox and Netflix models fail.

...and it just pushes me to pirate/torrent sh*t even more

ok so it's a bit of a touchy subject for me... okay time for an afternoon beer.
 
mr_goodwrench said:
I would gladly pay the $15.98 a month for streaming only if I could stream their entire catalog. For me, the DVD is a bit of a hassle. I haven't decided what I want to do yet. SWMBO wants to drop streaming, I would rather drop the DVD. Our daughter watches plenty of kids shows on streaming so just for that the $7.99 would be a decent deal. I would prefer to go a different route altogether for movies.
Click to expand...

+1.

And another +1 on the kids shows... life saver.
 
mr_goodwrench said:
I would gladly pay the $15.98 a month for streaming only if I could stream their entire catalog. For me, the DVD is a bit of a hassle. I haven't decided what I want to do yet. SWMBO wants to drop streaming, I would rather drop the DVD.
Click to expand...

We're in the exact same boat. With Netflix now holding back new releases a minimum of 30 days anyway, I'd rather punt DVDs and just watch the 1 or 2 worthy new releases each month on PPV.

Of course, that's EXACTLY what Netflix wants us all to do. They want out of the DVD business ASAFP and this pricing is the 1st step towards that goal. Bring up a private / incognito browser session and go to Netflix's homepage. Not even a hint about DVD rental.
 
There's too many damn kids shows on Netflix. I wish you could filter them out when searching alphabetically.
 
jkarp said:
We're in the exact same boat. With Netflix now holding back new releases a minimum of 30 days anyway, I'd rather punt DVDs and just watch the 1 or 2 worthy new releases each month on PPV.

Of course, that's EXACTLY what Netflix wants us all to do. They want out of the DVD business ASAFP and this pricing is the 1st step towards that goal. Bring up a private / incognito browser session and go to Netflix's homepage. Not even a hint about DVD rental.
Click to expand...

I heard it was 60+ days. Only 30 days?
 
What Netflix should just do is increase membership fee, buy some damn servers, and go full streaming access.

Until then, Megavideo FTW.
 

Similar threads

T
North Carolina Homebrew Equipment Cleanout
Replies
24
Views
6K
ThatEthanolGuy
T
IndyBlueprints
Allen's Single Tier Brew Stand R.I.M.S. System
Replies
5
Views
3K
IndyBlueprints
IndyBlueprints
TasunkaWitko
Three Tags, Three Deer
Replies
2
Views
773
casualbrewer
C
J
  • Article
Budget HERMS System - Part Two
Replies
11
Views
3K
jrcrilly
jrcrilly
S
  • Article
Adventures in Home Malting
Replies
8
Views
5K
petr
petr
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top