Comments on: Netflix to hike up monthly Blu-ray fee by up to $8

Video rental site raises prices on renting Blu-ray Discs by up to $8 a month, for a total of $9 a month for its heavy users. The change is going into effect next month.

[ofmyony]

Just give me streaming new releases and they can keep their Dvd's and Blurays. I want convenience.

The Netflix Bluray issue is terrible for consumers but Netflix doesn't care about Bluray. They know the Watch Now feature is what people want. If you are the few who really want Bluray then get ready to be raked over the coals because Netflix doesn't care.

Give me new release streaming. As soon as they offer a Watch Now only option I will go with that but they need all the new releases included.

[bwvla]

The "watch now" quality is horrible, especially on the nice 1080p tv's people have shelled out for the digital conversion. I could care less about streaming and have used it exactly once for a truly disappointing and underwhelming experience of an overcompressed artifact filled picture with basic 2 channel sound.

[repete66211]

"The people" don't want Watch it Now, Netflix wants Watch it Now. I wonder why.

[bwvla]

I dropped down to 1 disk at a time lowering my demand and hopefully send a signal that raising rates in the middle of a recession is unacceptable. There seems to be many others with this same plan, perhaps Netfix's executives will learn that happy customers and not price increases are the quickest way to a bonus in this economy.

[Donniebrasco]

I have a 3 out plan right now with Blu-Ray and I don't think its going to be worth it to pay the higher cost to continue with Blu-Ray. There simply aren't enough Blu-Ray movies available in a reasonable amount of time on there. Granted, this rise in cost might be the way for Netflix to fix that problem, but in the mean time I am either going to switch to 2 out with BD or just drop BD until the library grows. If I really like a movie and think it would be awesome on BD, I will just buy it. I have yet to try the Watch Now feature, I need to get around to buying a DVI to HDMI to make it worthwhile. I don't think the S-Video out on my laptop would do a very good job.

I've seen some repetition of the fact that someone has recieved busted BD discs from Netflix. I've had about 40 of them mailed to me so far and none have been defective. Maybe your mail man is a bit rough with the discs.

[Adam Jackson]

I have the 3 DVD's at a time plan and recently got a Blu-ray player. So, I added the Blu-ray access for $1 a month to try it out. I have never received a Blu-ray movie from them because we have been customers for quite a while. I was willing to pay $12 a year for the occasional Blu-ray movie, but am not willing to pay $48 for the same...seeya Blu-ray access!

[GerryDaMan]

What Netflix may not realize is that there is significant competition out there. I called Netflix to ask if they'd consider waiving the fee, as Blockbuster is now a better deal. They said no, even when I asked the CSR to cancel my account so I could move to Blockbuster. She didn't blink an eye.

People, vote with your wallets! It's now less expensive for me to get a better deal with Blockbuster, including the ability to use their stores a few times a month with no additional fee.

Wow, Netflix turned an extremely happy customer into one of their competitor's customers overnight. Simply amazing to me.

[repete66211]

The public is so fickle. Yes, Netflix is raping you, move to Blockbuster!

Because Blockbuster has always had good rates, no fees, a great selection, etc. The only reason they look appealing now is because they copied...NETFLIX. Restore Blockbuster's monopoly and it'll be right back to being milked for every penny you have.

[ryanprun]

Pricing 101:

You do not price something based on how much it costs for you to produce or provide a serve.
You price something based on what a person will PAY for it. I believe most people will be willing to pay an extra couple of dollars. They will not be happy with it... but they will pay it.

This is called a smart business decision.

[rdaugherty4kids]

This is the last straw for us. We already are unhappy with the ridiculous wait on most Blu-ray discs. Now they want us to pay more to not get the movies we want? We'll be leaving Netflix now, thanks.

[moviegeek65]

This move by Netflix is rediculous during a recession,I accepted the $1 increase but I will NOT accept a $4 increase.I would rather watch a new release DVD than wait 6-8 weeks for a Blu-ray,I dropped Blu-ray access and I suggest others do also.

[Spoonio101]

next they will start charging for streaming content...time to get rid of it and head towards my good ol Red Box and use the money i save each month from dumbflix to buy my blu-rays for $15

[James_D_Lee]

THE MATH IS ALL WRONG!

Netflix claims the Blu-ray premium is justified solely by the additional cost of Blu-ray discs. This is absurd! 15% of my queue is available on Blu-ray, but Neflix wants to add 30% to my monthly fee (I'm a long time customer and have a 4 discs for $16.99 plan). If a Blu-ray disc does cost Netflix 30% more (highly dubious), then I should pay 15% of 30% to cover the company's additional cost on the Blu-ray titles I want to see. That would be less than 75 cents per month.

Furthermore, does the company's printing and shipping and storage costs go up by 30% because a disc is Blu-ray rather than standard DVD?! Are all of Netflix's warehouse employees who handle Blu-ray discs receiving 30% salary increases? Have Netflix's insurance costs gone up 30% since it started renting Blu-ray discs?

When every title in my queue is available in Blu-ray (and all non-management staff receive 15% raises!), perhaps I'll be willing to pay 10% more. Until then, I'm going to think about cancelling my Netflix membership and giving up what I thought was good deal to see what other online services offer.

[lizardo_manson]

I thought blu-ray disc price in the market was decreasing because i have seen so many good offers at physical stores like Walmart and online retailers and normal stores get some kind of discount because they buy large stocks of items?

I smell they will keep hiking the prices.

[Lakshmi Naarayanan R]

I don't mind paying $2 or $3 more per month if I can get blu-ray access faster. However, what bugged me the most (and made me discontinue blu-ray access) was the unreliable shipping practices for Blu-Ray. Almost 80% of the blu-ray disks I got were cracked. ( I ordered 6 movies and 4 of them were cracked). I got a couple of "free" rentals, but doesn't change the fact that when I do get a blu-ray (which by itself happens once in a "blu"-moon :D ) it is cracked, pissing me off.

I have called their customer service so many times and told them to look at other rentals like Game Fly, who use a cardboard protective sleeve apart from the paper sleeve for shipping expensive Blu-Ray PS3 games. I have never got a cracked game from GameFly. These Netflix guys don't bother to implement that or any other method to reliably get me the blu-ray movies.

I feel kinda bad for them too, maybe because of red-tape, these potentially cost-saving methods never reach the person who makes the decisions. Each cracked blu-ray disk => almost $20 for recent movies.

Wish they learn soon.

[skunkpuddle]

I sit at home, walk to my mailbox and get movies. I then put them in the mailbox, and two days later I have new movies. I wish it was cheaper as well, but seriously it is still a spectacular deal. Last month I watched 12 movies for 17.99 and never had to leave my yard. If I had only watched 3 movies it still would have been worth it. My only complaint is they do not have the definitive collection of Twilight Zone.

[sweaty_taco]

I am either going to drop to the 2 at a time (currently 3) blu-ray enabled or go to BB and their plan (most likely 2 at a time).
Having the ability to go to a store and exchange for a new movie, instead of waiting week or even months via Netflix (long wait) might eventually sway me to join the dark side.

[repete66211]

I've been a Netflix customer for four and a half years. I would guess the broken'scratched disc failure rate is about 1%. My top movie has been skipped no more than three times. I have had to wait more than one day for a movie less than that.

During the four and a half years the rate has dropped TWICE. The Blu-ray cost went up $1/month last year. That is perfectly reasonable. The current rate hike should have been the same, especially since retail Blu-ray prices are dropping. I fear this is a business decision based on the perceived momentum of Blu-ray. As in, "We can afford to raise prices since Blu-ray is catching on." I hope not. Netflix is one of the only companies that still has my loyalty.

One thing I will never do is start back up with Blockbuster.

[green2u]

Hmmm...Blockbuster Online doesn't charge extra for blu-ray rentals. Let's see how quickly it takes for Blockbuster to start marketing that perk.

[gary85739]

Streaming seems more like to be the future than physical discs of any kind.

They'll get it work'n & prices will diminish.

NetFlix is a good idea, I LIKE getting DVD's by mail and I'll like it even better when ALL videos are streamed!

[Inconnux]

Just another nail in the coffin of a format that very few people want/need.

[robertsteele]

If you don't agree with the increase in charges, then cancel your subscription. I canceled before Christmas, and have not regretted it since. My cable provider is increasing HD Pay Per View and with the increase in streaming quality, Netflix has a going out of business strategy. As times get leaner and tougher, to charge Customers more for the same is not going to do anything for Netflix shareholder value at all. It is short sited and sad to see them hurt themselves this way.