jaburg said:poison7FL said:jaburg said:Here is my reply to BlockBuster:

Why on earth would I willingly accept a reduction in benefits for the same monthly charge?
---SNIPPED---
If that benefit goes away - rest assured, so do I.
Regards,
HAHAHAHA, you are funny... THEY DON'T CARE about losing an $8/mo customer.... It cost them more than that to keep you.
I suppose you just lay there and take it when anyone tries to take advantage of you?
Not me. I have found more than a few times in my 46 years that if you just clearly explain what your position is, they often make concessions.

BTW, not to pick nits but I am/was a $9.99/month customer. Think they don't care?
When a few hundred thousand of us head back to NetFlix or bittorrent they will because it could cost them everything.

Don't presume to think that, I'd be just as pissed. However, I am telling you they don't care because they know that few hundred thousand will NOT be dropping their service, and the ones who do will either be back, take the increase, or change their plan. BB is not stupid. DO YOU REALLY think they are making ANY money on you at $7.99?? No, they aren't, so possibly losing you and a few hundred (Not hundred thousand), is not a great loss. It's simple economics, I don't see people posting on this board when JCpenney raises the price of a shirt, or Wal-Mart raises the price of a gallon of milk, the bottom line is that they have to make up some lost or losing revenue. Be realistic and either quit BB or quit complaining, Honestly, I'd probably quit, but, I know they wouldn't care. The bottom line is they are in business to make money, not lose money. And yes, I belong to BB $17.99/mo plan, maybe you should to..

QUIT, I dare you, then watch CNN money to see if they went out of business.

DeelHunter said:bravebiffy said:EDIT - With NetFlix's 3 at a time, you pay $15.99 a month PLUS 16 hrs of PC viewing (which comes to about 8-9 movies depending on the length of each movie). Better than BB, if you ask me.
Anyone know what resolution the NexFlix online delivery is at (DVDs are usually at 720x480)? Also, how is the quality -- comparable to DVDs?

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/netflix/hands-on-the-netflix-download-video-service-thumbs-up-229533.php

poison7FL said:Don't presume to think that, I'd be just as pissed. However, I am telling you they don't care because they know that few hundred thousand will NOT be dropping their service, and the ones who do will either be back, take the increase, or change their plan. BB is not stupid. DO YOU REALLY think they are making ANY money on you at $7.99?? No, they aren't, so possibly losing you and a few hundred (Not hundred thousand), is not a great loss. It's simple economics, I don't see people posting on this board when JCpenney raises the price of a shirt, or Wal-Mart raises the price of a gallon of milk, the bottom line is that they have to make up some lost or losing revenue. Be realistic and either quit BB or quit complaining, Honestly, I'd probably quit, but, I know they wouldn't care. The bottom line is they are in business to make money, not lose money. And yes, I belong to BB $17.99/mo plan, maybe you should to..
QUIT, I dare you, then watch CNN money to see if they went out of business.

As I said, $9.99 not $7.99. Please pay attention and READ the posts you are replying to.

If you think their net customer loss will only be in the hundreds, you are more than a bit naive.
BB has actually been in the "losing money" business for most of the DVD era - mostly because of the huge monthly rent payments on its brick & mortar stores, but also because their CEO has no vision.

John Antioco (BB CEO) has repeatedly made bad business decisions - turning down Warner's offer of a "rental window" and failing to snap up NetFlix for $50 million when he could are the two big ones that come to mind. The company was bought in 1994 by Viacom for more than $8 billion and last year was worth less than $1 billion.

Check Marketwatch and you will see that BB's market cap is now less than half that of NetFlix.

What's really funny is that with NetFlix's books looking as good as they do - BB could be a target for a takeover by them! However, I can't imagine them wanting an albatross that big around their neck.

If you use GameFly for game rentals make sure to take advantage of brightspot.tv which offers up to $10 credit per month to your GameFly account.

CPTfindAdeal said:For those who think major retailers won't willingly give up customers, think again-looks at the recent Sprint debacle posted here.

For those considering NetFlix, maybe you've had a more positive experience than me, but when *I* was with them, getting anything released in the past 30 days was next to impossible, regardless of your 'que'. To compare the freedom of going into a BB store on Tuesday and nearly guaranteeing a new release with the whole roll of the dice NetFlix strategy doesn't make any sense. While I understand the frustration of having a plan changed suddenly, I don't see a comparable competitor.
I currently have NetFlix so I just wanted to share my experience for anyone considering switching. I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area and I have no problem getting new releases. I am receiving Vacancy (the Kate Beckinsale and Owen Wilson movie) tomorrow, despite my queue saying it has a Short Wait. More often than not, when a movie is on Short Wait, I still receive it. This has happened several times. I rarely see any movie with a Long Wait, except for now with Wild Hogs.

However, I don't go through that many movies a month (3-6) so for the high volume users I can't say I've experienced any throttling. I used to go through more movies per month but nothing excessive

I had BB online when they first started and I couldn't get any movie, regardless of how new or old. The in-store coupons were not enough to offset that so I went to NetFlix and haven't looked back.

CPTfindAdeal said:Good to hear things have improved with NF, especially after the whole throttling scandal. My experience was a few years ago, it sounds much better now. Btw, LUKE Wilson co stars in Vacancy, not Owen Wilson-though I think I might've enjoyed it more if it had been the latter! Rented it last Tuesday. -)
Haha good call on the Luke/Owen Wilson part.

no unlimited store exchanges means that there will actually be movies on the shelf for people to rent? When I was TA customer, everyone was with blockbuster online. At my local store, if you didn't check out new releases by Wed. (ones with 6-8 copies), they were gone.

Thanks for the phone number Tincom, I emailed, but I'll also be calling tomorrow. As for poison7FL, I very much hope you are wrong about the numbers of customers lost. And I highly doubt they will all be the $9.99 customers. I am a $17.99 customer (though with tax it is $19/mo) and they will be loosing my business. It was nice to be able to go and get a movie the day it came out, but I'd rather stand on principle than settle for convenience. Add to that, there is so little worth renting these days and the dismal instore selection offered by Blockbuster and it really isn't that big of a loss. It was the game coupons that kept me on. They go, so do I.

jaburg said:poison7FL said:Don't presume to think that, I'd be just as pissed. However, I am telling you they don't care because they know that few hundred thousand will NOT be dropping their service, and the ones who do will either be back, take the increase, or change their plan. BB is not stupid. DO YOU REALLY think they are making ANY money on you at $7.99?? No, they aren't, so possibly losing you and a few hundred (Not hundred thousand), is not a great loss. It's simple economics, I don't see people posting on this board when JCpenney raises the price of a shirt, or Wal-Mart raises the price of a gallon of milk, the bottom line is that they have to make up some lost or losing revenue. Be realistic and either quit BB or quit complaining, Honestly, I'd probably quit, but, I know they wouldn't care. The bottom line is they are in business to make money, not lose money. And yes, I belong to BB $17.99/mo plan, maybe you should to..
QUIT, I dare you, then watch CNN money to see if they went out of business.

As I said, $9.99 not $7.99. Please pay attention and READ the posts you are replying to.

If you think their net customer loss will only be in the hundreds, you are more than a bit naive.
BB has actually been in the "losing money" business for most of the DVD era - mostly because of the huge monthly rent payments on its brick & mortar stores, but also because their CEO has no vision.

John Antioco (BB CEO) has repeatedly made bad business decisions - turning down Warner's offer of a "rental window" and failing to snap up NetFlix for $50 million when he could are the two big ones that come to mind. The company was bought in 1994 by Viacom for more than $8 billion and last year was worth less than $1 billion.

Check Marketwatch and you will see that BB's market cap is now less than half that of NetFlix.

What's really funny is that with NetFlix's books looking as good as they do - BB could be a target for a takeover by them! However, I can't imagine them wanting an albatross that big around their neck.

Ohhhhhh, you are the big $10/mo spender that's keeping them in business, I was wonder who that was, my bad....Seriously, you are funny. Quit BlockBuster, I dare you, if they close I will eat my words.

PaulNEPats said:Just for the record, Antioco isn't the CEO anymore. The former 7-11 CEO has taken the reigns, and has already made improvements. The past plans Blockbuster Online were offering were simply unprofitable. Not to mention, most TA customers were simply snatching up the majority of the new releases on Tuesdays, leaving nothing for the pay as you go customers to rent. This is great news for my store, mainly because we're a Franchisee. We shouldn't have taken part in this in the first place. Most of you must have known this was coming. The 17.99 plan is still a fine deal- you get 3 out at a time, and an additional 5 for free in-store during the course of the month. Nobody was complaining before total access when it was just the 3 out at a time, and the 2 free rental coupons a month/Q]


Your last line is great. I was like everyone else on this thread, a little po'd thinking they are going way too far taking away many things. However, the reasons I was not happy still make me think I will drop BB and go back to NetFlix to see if their long waits are a thing of the past.

Reasons why the 17.99 for 3 is not as good as it used to be...
1. Loss of Game Rental
2. Wait times are as bad as NetFlix back in 05 when I switched to BB

I'll be canceling tomorrow 1 day ahead of my monthly contract and will soon find out if NetFlix and their online video streaming is any good.