If you are a displaced Blockbuster customer and you are looking for a new home, you probably came across Netflix Underground while looking for information about Netflix. If you are considering singing up with Netflix, make sure to do plenty of research before you give them your credit card or bank information. If you browse through the years of articles on this site, you will find Netflix has a sketchy reputation built around more than a decade of sleazy corporate behavior. Make a list of everything you hated about Blockbuster Online and multiply that by three.
Yes, Blockbuster was a profoundly lousy company with many sleazy tactics, but many of their tricks in the DVD-by-mail business were pioneered by Netflix long before Blockbuster Online even mailed their first DVD. If you are a Blockbuster refugee and you are considering giving Netflix a try, do yourself a favor and first browse this site or do some Internet searches with the following terms.
Netflix throttling
Netflix lawsuit
Netflix credit card charges
Netflix missing DVD charge
Netflix cancellation problem
Netflix delay
Netflix tactics
Netflix staging media event
Netflix price increase
Netflix shipping
What you will find will not be pretty, but at least you will be armed with some knowledge before making a decision that could lead to a lot unnecessary aggravation.
Showing posts with label Blockbuster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blockbuster. Show all posts
10/11/2011
Qwikster? What Qwikster?
Netflix has done another 180. Customers got angry about all of the ridiculous changes at Netflix, and now Netflix is trying to un-ring the bell on the stupidest move the company has made in years.
Qwikster was ridiculed as a stupid name, but now the name seems sort of fitting, because the fledgling company did not last very long. The Qwikster spin-off (Netflix's answer to New Coke) proved so profoundly unpopular with consumers, Netflix scrapped the new company, which was really just Netflix in disguise. For now, Netflix plans to keep its DVD-by-mail and streaming services under one name and one Web site.
It is interesting to see how quickly Netflix will backtrack when the company realizes customers have become unacceptably angry. Also note Netflix did not kill Qwikster until well after the consumer backlash got out of control. The Qwikster name was already showing up in advertisements. It was practically a done deal. This mistake had to cost Netflix a lot of money, and it has cost the company a huge amount of credibility. The stakes were pretty high on this Qwikster launch. If the subscribers had not revolted so harshly, there is no doubt they would have gotten stuck with Qwikster.
If you were hoping Netflix is going to take back the 60% rate hike and two separate plans for DVD-by-mail and streaming, keep hoping. The higher fees and service split are here to stay. Although, past behavior indicates that Netflix will reverse its course if enough subscribers cancel.
Netflix has truly failed on this split of DVD-by-mail and streaming. What was once a beacon of innovation (for some) in the business world now looks like a sad, reactive, desperate, and pathetic company. With this whole service-split debacle, Netflix sort of came off looking like, well, Blockbuster a few years ago. Way to go, Netflix. Start imitating the company you once humiliated.
Qwikster was ridiculed as a stupid name, but now the name seems sort of fitting, because the fledgling company did not last very long. The Qwikster spin-off (Netflix's answer to New Coke) proved so profoundly unpopular with consumers, Netflix scrapped the new company, which was really just Netflix in disguise. For now, Netflix plans to keep its DVD-by-mail and streaming services under one name and one Web site.
It is interesting to see how quickly Netflix will backtrack when the company realizes customers have become unacceptably angry. Also note Netflix did not kill Qwikster until well after the consumer backlash got out of control. The Qwikster name was already showing up in advertisements. It was practically a done deal. This mistake had to cost Netflix a lot of money, and it has cost the company a huge amount of credibility. The stakes were pretty high on this Qwikster launch. If the subscribers had not revolted so harshly, there is no doubt they would have gotten stuck with Qwikster.
If you were hoping Netflix is going to take back the 60% rate hike and two separate plans for DVD-by-mail and streaming, keep hoping. The higher fees and service split are here to stay. Although, past behavior indicates that Netflix will reverse its course if enough subscribers cancel.
Netflix has truly failed on this split of DVD-by-mail and streaming. What was once a beacon of innovation (for some) in the business world now looks like a sad, reactive, desperate, and pathetic company. With this whole service-split debacle, Netflix sort of came off looking like, well, Blockbuster a few years ago. Way to go, Netflix. Start imitating the company you once humiliated.
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