Ok so this year Netflix hit all of us with a big surprise and causing a whole lot of problems. They sideswiped us with the price, which is not to our benefit, then they hit us with the DVD rental Qwikster package. Netflix is splitting their up their brand in two pieces. One will their online streaming service, which will be known as Netflix. Their DVD rental portion will be re-branded as Qwikster. The prices will not change. Due to this change Netflix suffered a huge loss of subscribers to the tune of 600,000 which led to a drop in their stock price. One of the few good things about this new change is the addition of videogames.
The down side of this change is that customers will have two separate accounts if you using both streaming and DVD rental service. Your account information will be migrated over to the new Qwikster service. I am currently subscribed to both services but I rarely use my DVD service anymore. I may opt out of my DVD services. The thing that's holding is the ability to rent games from Qwikster. I've been waiting for Netflix to do this for years. They were the last company to jump on the videogame bandwagon. Gamefly was one of the first followed by Blockbuster then recently by Redbox.
We could all get mad Netflix and say that they tried to pull the wool over our eyes but I really don't think that was the case. I think they're thinking was that they were at a point where they could grow and expand. You can't necessarily fault a company for trying to grow. That's just what they're supposed to do. What we can fault them on is how they went about doing it which wasn't necessarily the best way. They were sort of telling their customers that this was the move that they were going to make and that there was nothing that we could do about it. Now that rubbed a lot of us the wrong way. Which is why Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO and co-founder, posted this video:
Now whether you believe his apology or not its not personal, its just business. They have a business to maintain, grow, and expand. Do they care about their customers? Sure they do. That's how they became as big as they are now. Believe it or not the customer is not always right. I worked 7 years in retail sales and I've seen customers try to pull some quick fast ones over companies. You can't hijack a service just because you want it a certain way. A company has a right to grow or expand period.
Now there have been a lot of customers that have left and many more that are threatening of leaving Netflix. I'm mean really? Why would you jump ship all of the sudden? Believe or not this is not the worst business news that I've heard. This is really drops in a bucket compared to other company announcements. Ok, now that you've dropped Netflix where will you go?
Thinking about joining Blockbuster's online service? Really? Last time I checked they were hanging on by a thread. They've fallen short due to the popularity of the Redbox service. They're online service rates are higher than what Netflix's rates are as well. You also have to individually pay for their online movie streams. Netflix's streams are a part of your subscription so there is no added charge. Ok, so you've changed your mind and decide Redbox might be a safer bet.
Sure their prices are cheaper but they don't have a streaming service like Netflix or Blockbuster. On top of that you have to go to a location like a grocery store or restaurant to make your selections. Gone is the ability to make your choices from the comfort of your home. Oh, may I also mention if you're late with Redbox they charge you a dollar a day until you return your movie or game selection. I don't know about you guys, call me lazy, but I don't always feel like leaving the house to pick up or drop off a movie. Doing that in the winter time would be extra annoying. Yeah, I've probably been spoiled by Netflix's streaming service but I find that way of renting movies is so yesterday.
So when you think about it Netflix is not all that bad. Are there other avenues for movies? There definitely are but like I said about Blockbuster you pay individually for each movie rental or full purchase. Examples of this practice are Vudu.com's HD streaming movie service, PlayStation Store movie selection, and YouTube's online streaming movie service. The only other viable option would be the Hulu Plus service at $7.99 per month. Anything else would be uncivilized. lol
My point is there are many, several different choices for people to choose from. What I like may not be what somebody else likes. Maybe you don't like Netflix because you don't like their selections so you choose Blockbuster. Or maybe you roll with Redbox because you believe you just can't afford Netflix or Blockbuster. So everyone's situation is different which allows them to choose what they choose. So at the end of the day don't knock Netflix's hustle. Sure their stock price dropped and they lost customers but this is only a temporary. It won't put them out of business.
Overtime they'll gradually regain those lost customers and then some. I see their stock price being actually higher than what it once was in the future. Going through this experience will only make them stronger as a company and will allow them to provide better services to their customers. Before you know it Netflix will be the same company that we all know and love.
