Netflix setting themselves up for an epic fail?
Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix sent out a letter to all Netflix subscribers announcing that he will be splitting up the company. Basically, Netflix will be for the online streaming service only, and a new separate company called Qwikster (wtf) will take over the DVD/Blu-ray rental side. That’s right, Qwikster will basically be what Netflix was before it added streaming, and started charging their customers more, after they lost multiple streaming accounts, in turn charging more for less. The one positive Hastings lists is that Qwikster will offer game rentals. Although, I’m not really sure that’s a positive because it’ll cost extra. If they keep this up customers will have to spend upwards of $30.00 a month to keep all of their services.
What really bothers me is the fact that I’m going to have to go to two separate sites and pay two separate bills. Evidently Mr. Hastings doesn’t know his audience as well as he thought, because that seems like nothing more than a huge pain in my ass. Also, from the way it sounds user reviews won’t be spread across both sites either. I have been a huge supporter of Netflix from the beginning, but this news sounds like the company I know and love is headed for an epic fail. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the matter and then goto Reed’s blog post and let him know how you feel in the comments there as well.
Donny Broussard
I enjoy the types of films that used to dominate late night television in the '80s, spending time with my family, filmmaking, photography, Rubik's Cubes, Diet Pepsi, building old Shogun Warriors model kits, Canon cameras, comic books, AOR, coconut ice cream, mac & cheese, cold pizza, popcorn, nachos, UL Football tailgating, film festivals, reading, Barry Manilow (don't ask), films with both Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase in them, Alf, Pac Man, 1979 Trans AMs, beer, Godzilla, Hooters (both the restaurant and ones girls like to keep hidden), and Bigfoot (he's real). I'm just saying.
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Thank you for alerting me to these changes. The irony is, his apology comes off completely insincere: It’s a month late, and he only seems to be addressing the price
issue, because he was about to tick us off AGAIN! By his own admission, customer concerns have had, and will have, no effect on his actions. Which defeats the purpose of an apology.
I think making such a huge change is FOOLISH for so many reasons: It’s too soon after the LAST gaffe, and their streaming service has taken a beating, and isn’t good enough to sustain loyalty. No one would be so upset if Netflix had been PREPARED to make this change. Analog tvs are no longer made, since 2007. VHS is gone ( hence the change of name from ‘Blockbuster Video’ to ‘Blockbuster Media’! ). If Netflix had beefed up their streaming, and it was doing well, and ready to stand on it’s own two feet, then I could see them announcing that they will be selling off the DVD portion of their company, because they believe that streaming is the way of the future.
If Netflix had decided to FULLY go in the direction of creating original content, and streaming that as well, then I would understand them saying that juggling 3 products was too much of a strain, and they would be outsourcing their DVD service. But none of that is the case. And I feel they are treating their customers as an afterthought, and running before they can walk. Pretending that they aren’t simply preparing to SELL OFF their DVD service and be rid of it is insulting our intelligence. And as another former-Netflix customer said on the blog thread, NONE of these changes benefit the public– Netflix gets all the benefits of change, and we get all the drawbacks.
I am happy and EAGER to turn my business over to Blockbuster, after having been with Netflix for the entirety of their 10 year run. The final straw was that I had to find out about these changes through a “Killer Film” post on Facebook; Netflix wasn’t even considerate enough to EMAIL me, as a customer, directly. They email me for everything ELSE! What arrogance and dismissal, to think that the whole fucking world reads their BLOG.
I received my email today. I worked for BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO for many years, and I can’t give them greedy bastards my money. What NETFLIX is doing is wrong,though.
I’m not switching to BLOCKBUSTER, but I am going to keep my eyes open for an alternative that allows me to manage my rental needs in one place for a reasonable price.
I agree with everything but your BLOCKBUSTER comment. I’m sure another service will pop up, and if not, then there’s always RED BOX.