Netflix Price Increase Marks a Good Time to Plan Your Exit

Exit Netflix Sign

Perhaps growing comfortable with their market share, Netflix has decided to dramatically increase prices. The new pricing structure will divide Netflix customers into two basic classes: those who stream video and those who receive DVDs in the mail. If you want to stream video and not receive DVDs in the mail, you will pay $7.99 per month. If you want to receive DVDs in the mail and not stream video, you will pay $7.99 per month. If you want to stream video and have one DVD out at-a-time, you will need to pay $15.98 per month for the privilege.

For some subscribers, this will amount to a 60% price increase. An increase of around $6.00 per month may sound manageable, but when considering that amounts to $72.00 per year, the cost becomes a significant issue. Also, consider that Netflix is a luxury expense. In how many areas of your life are you willing to accept a price increase of 60% on a luxury expense with no appreciable increase in service? For example, if you frequented a restaurant and it suddenly raised its prices 60% without improving the food or increasing the portions, how often would you return to that restaurant?

It appears Netflix is aggressively trying to discourage subscribers from renting physical DVDs. Netflix must really hate paying the costs of a DVD-by-mail business. Even though Netflix subscribers have become largely accustomed to being abused by Netflix, a price increase of 60% with no substantial increase in subscriber benefits seems a bit extreme and could be seen as almost a deliberate hostility toward DVD renters.

Assuming you've suffered some sort of dreadful head injury and you now wish to begin a new Netflix membership, you have no choice but to accept the price increases right away. If you are an existing Netflix subscriber, you have until around September to change your viewing habits or get hammered by the big increase.

You may have noticed that you can't spell "Netflix" without E, X, I, and T.  You may have also recognized it may be time to start looking for the way out.  Fortunately, subscribers have a few weeks to plan their exits from Netflix. If you are Netflix subscriber, and you wish to exit Netflix, you are advised to plan ahead. The biggest pitfalls to avoid when canceling your Netflix subscription are getting charged for extra months and getting charged for DVDs Netflix may claim were never returned or returned after the due date.  To minimize these possibilities, consult the cancellation procedure outlined at "Canceling Your Netflix Subscription."

If you put your Exit Netflix plan into place and properly end your Netflix subscription during the next several weeks, you can avoid the price hike and apply the money in your entertainment budget toward better values.

If you would like to help your fellow Netflix Underground readers by recommending some alternatives to Netflix and providing some other Exit Netflix tips, please click on comments below and post your suggestions.

Netflix Pride Flag

Introducing the Netflix Pride Flag. With millions of subscribers welcoming all kinds of abuse and paying for it, Netflix's customer base has become the largest organized fetish group in North America. A group this large, dedicated, and submissive deserves a symbol.

If you are one of the millions who pay Netflix for continued abuses like throttling, artificial new release delays, mysterious billing errors, dismissive customer service, unjustified fee increases, etc., please display this flag with pride, and let everyone know about your tougher-than-leather, undying love for Netflix. Because, sometimes, love hurts.

Netflix Undergrounder Uses Better Business Bureau to Deal with Netflix

Netflix Undergrounder, James Kelly, has chosen to enlist the help of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to resolve his frustrations with Netflix’s business practices. Click here to view his official complaint.

Most people realize that the power of the BBB is very limited; however, the BBB does provide an important service. Through the BBB, customers can get attention for their complaints. While a big company like Netflix may pay little attention to complaints directly from customers, even the biggest companies know that blowing off the BBB is unwise. BBB members agree to certain requirements and can face unpleasant consequences if they show a pattern of bad business practices.

Kelly may never receive significant monetary compensation for his troubles with Netflix, but he has done something important. By filing a BBB complaint, Kelly has created a permanent record of Netflix’s abuses, and he has forced Netflix to address the charges.

Netflix has to invest time and money to address complaints filed with the BBB. Every additional complaint filed with the BBB against Netflix means Netflix will have to spend more time and money addressing the complaint. At some point, Netflix may find that displeasing customers is more expensive and troublesome than making sure those customers are happy.

One complaint on its own is not much of a hassle for Netflix, but volumes of complaints could create a major problem for Netflix. If just a fraction of the disgruntled Netflix customers filed their grievances, Netflix might have to address a flood of complaints, and the BBB would have to start asking Netflix some questions about why the company angers so many customers.

If you have a complaint about your Netflix service and you think Netflix is not taking you seriously, you might consider enlisting the help of the BBB. At the very least, you will make Netflix pay attention to your concern.

Click here if you want to file a complaint against Netflix with the BBB.

Click here to find a lot of the information you will need from Netflix’s BBB profile.

Click here if you would like to use James Kelly’s complaint as a model for your own complaint.

Good luck with your BBB complaint, James. Hopefully, you will see some satisfying results for your efforts.