Posted on 12/20/2008 1:32:47 AM PST by Las Vegas Dave
Washington, D.C. (December 17, 2008) -- On October 30, I reported here that Netflix was painfully slow in sending new Blu-ray releases to its customers. Time and time again, Netflix tagged new Blu-ray titles with the dreaded "Long Wait" or "Very Long Wait" label, meaning it could take weeks before the title is mailed to you.
On November 20, I wrote an update saying that I had had enough. I was dropping Netflix and signing up with Blockbuster's online rental service. Considering that I paid $18 a month for my Netflix subscription, which allowed me to have three different discs out at the same time, I wrote that you would think that the company would work harder to get my Blu-ray choices to me in a timely fashion.
Particularly since Netflix recently began charging Blu-ray subscribers an extra $1 a month for the 'privilege' of renting high-def discs!
Well, guess what? News.com now reports that Netflix is not only aware of the backlog problem, but they are just fine with it.
Steve Swasey, Netflix's spokesman, told the web site that the company simply doesn't have enough Blu-ray discs to distribute. When asked why Netflix doesn't buy more Blu-ray copies -- perhaps with the $1 a month fee they are charging its 500,000 Blu-ray subscribers -- Swasey said the company believes that wouldn't be "efficient."
"There is an expense to that," Swasey told News.com. "These things cost money. We deploy money where we think it's going to be most efficient to keep subscribers and investors happy. It's always check and balances."
Swasey added that the studios have been slow to release enough Blu-ray discs for rental services such as Blockbuster and Netflix. But the Netflix spokesman said his company isn't necessarily interested in buying them when they are available because of the cost.
Swasey also confessed that frequent renters are penalized for watching so many films.
"What we're doing is giving new releases to the person who hasn't rented as much," he said. "We've been doing this for a couple of years and fully disclose this in our terms of agreement. If we have a shortage of titles we do what we think is equitable and give the title to the person who hasn't rented as much or who hasn't gotten as much enjoyment from the service."
Folks, as I wrote in my earlier commentaries, Netflix is ripping you off. If you're a Blu-ray subscriber, Netflix is just taking your extra $1 a month and using it for whatever it wants, be it the company's digital download program or perhaps CEO Reed Hastings' salary. Who knows? It's certainly not going for more Blu-ray discs.
(Note: When Hastings first revealed earlier this year that Netflix would charge more for Blu-ray rentals, he defended the increase by noting that Blu-ray discs cost more at retail -- and he opined that high-def owners are used to "paying more.")
I urge everyone to dump Netflix ASAP and sign up with Blockbuster's online service. Thus far, Blockbuster has been terrific, delivering almost every new release promptly.
So, Netflix, screw you!
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NOTE:
I have the Netflix $4.99/mth service for HDDVD and DVD rentals, I do expect to have a problem receiving HDDVD's until they are finally removed from Netflix's offerings.
LVD
I shouldn't bother with HD or Blu-Ray until I spring for a more expensive set, right?
So how happy is everyone with Blockbuster’s service? Comparable to Netflix? Better?
If the 34 in TV is a SONY XBR HDTV (like my bedrooom HD set), you may wish to go Blu-ray.
If you have a 480i tv, don’t waste your money on a Blu-ray, wait for the big HDTV set. (HDDVD players are no longer being made by Toshiba)
If you purchase a HDTV sometime down the road then you may wish to consider one, but a good upconverting player will give you very good picture on an HD set without the extra dollar$ for a Blu-ray disk.
I was very impressed with the picture quality produced by the up-convert player, I'll consider a blu-ray when they come down to $50.00
Thank you for the information. Indeed, mine is not an HD set, so I figured, why bother until I upgrade?
Right
So, I end up buying the pay-for-view from DirecTV.
If I can't get the movies I want to watch in a more timely fashion, I may just join the author in telling NexFlix what it can do with its movies.
Netflix is simply EXCELLENT. Their choices of movies, relevant information, and community are unrivaled.
The turn-around time and ease of movie acquisition by the subscriber are amazing.
Blockbuster is going to go out of business if they only get Netflix's high maintenance low profit customers. Netflix is probably thinking good riddance! Their variable customer service level algorithm works wonderfully.
If Netflix delivered on horseback I would still use them after years of Blockbuster’s abuse of their market position at the retail level.
If you have a Tivo, now they have added instant download too at no extra charge. That’s been a nice plus as well.
I’ve had Netflix for about 3 years and love it. No more cable TV bill. Who needs it when I can rent most any TV program I want. Now that they’ve also added the “instant” watch capability, I’ve got more than enough available material.
As other posters have noted, with a low-cost up-converting DVD player, the picture quality on an HD TV is outstanding. Do I really need Blu-Ray? Would I notice the difference? I’m not sure it’s worth the fuss.
There seem to be lots of pressures and counter-pressures to go around on BluRay.
I rented the Dark Knight on standard disk this week from Netflix. The quality of the displayed image from my Sony upconverting player was so bad (blocking and moires), I had to wonder if the disk was purposely degraded to help bluray sales.
BluRay, its called moving the target .........again.
hooray for Netflx for not chasing after another trend.....
I work in IT and its the same as software, updates just keep the software developers employed. Occasionally there are real
increases in software features, but not very often anymore.
Your not gonna see that big of a diff. going w/ BR. Just stick to the regular and forget the newest until the trend slows and its a lot more price friendly.
Once we got to Digital format, DVD (a big jump in quality),
the bluray was like.....jumping from windows95 to windows98.
Is that Mystic Connecticut in your photo?
I've used Blockbuster's mail service for several years now and am happy with it. I can't compare BB to Netflix as I've never used Netflix.
The nice thing about BB is you can take your movie back to a local BB store and swap it for another title if you don't want to wait for your next one in the mail. This also comes in handy if the DVD gets damaged in transit. I've had several arrive cracked and all I had to do was return it to a local BB store and swap it.
The only complaint I have with BB is they don't display all the new releases in a convenient manner on their website. They have the titles but you have to search sometimes. I go to Rotten Tomatoes and find all the new ones then go back to BB.
>>>>If Netflix delivered on horseback I would still use them after years of Blockbuster’s abuse of their market position at the retail level.<<<<<<
I’ve been with Netflix since about 2000 and have seen them go though some changes, mostly for the better but sometimes wierd.
They recently opened a newer and closer distribution point for Northern VA (for years it has been just up the road in Gaithersburg MD) and suddenly we had staggered deliveries over the next 5 or 6 days. I.E., for years I’d return five DVDs and receive my next 5 DVDs in the mail within 2 days. More recently it’s been return 5 and get 2 in 2 days, 2 more the next day, and the final 1 after 4 days.
So I’ve been trying Blockbuster again after many years. They’ve completely redeemed the company, and most particularly the abusive and out-of-control “late fees” which I’m certain were an essential component of the previous (and now dead) business model.
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