Netflix Raises Fees for Blu-Ray...AGAIN!!!

[Zookster]

Anyone else get this notice from Netflix? I wonder how much other plans are going up (if at all). Please post your rate increase so we can compare what plans are going up and by how much.


"You are receiving this email because you added unlimited Blu-ray access to your account for $1 a month. The number of Blu-ray titles has increased significantly and will continue to do so. As we buy more, you are able to choose from a rapidly expanding selection of Blu-ray titles. And as you've probably heard, Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs.

As a result, the monthly charge for Blu-ray access is increasing for most plans and will now vary by plan. The charge for monthly Blu-ray access on your 1 DVD at-a-time (Unlimited) plan will increase from $1 a month to $2 a month. The price of your 1 DVD at-a-time (Unlimited) plan is not changing and remains at $8.99 a month.

"The new charge for Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after April 27, 2009 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details...."

 

[teamerickson]

Another Netflix Price Increase!

Just got this email.

Dear Stephen,

You are receiving this email because you added unlimited Blu-ray access to your account for $1 a month. The number of Blu-ray titles has increased significantly and will continue to do so. As we buy more, you are able to choose from a rapidly expanding selection of Blu-ray titles. And as you've probably heard, Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs.

As a result, the monthly charge for Blu-ray access is increasing for most plans and will now vary by plan. The charge for monthly Blu-ray access on your 3 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan will increase from $1 a month to $4 a month. The price of your 3 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan is not changing and remains at $16.99 a month.

The new charge for Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after April 27, 2009 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details.

If you wish to continue unlimited Blu-ray access for $4 a month, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-923-0898.

-The Netflix Team

Wow! Another $3. That seems pretty steep to me.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I'm sure this'll be merged with the other thread, but here's a more official announcement about it:

Netflix raising rates for Blu-ray subscribers by around 20 percent

 

[SatinKzo]

Chart on hackingnetflix.com shows the blu-ray price increase is directly related to the amount of discs you can have out at any 1 time

 

[dangue]

I got the email saying that my Blu-Ray option was going from $1 to $7 a month (for 6 discs out at a time). I just looked at the available plans on their site and it looks like it's directly related to the number of discs you have out at a time. Basically $1 for each of the number of discs you can have out at one time added to the $1 old base price.

This price increase is ridiculous. Going from 1 to 7 is a huge jump. Time to re-evaluate and maybe call in to voice my dismay.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Even MORE reason for me to downgrade from 3 to 2 movies out at a time.

 

[Broken77]

Yeah, It's $3 for my 2 at a time plan. I wouldn't have a problem with it if every Bluray wasn't listed as a long wait! If you call in to ask about bluray they just tell you that unless it's an action movie it isn't worth it to watch on bluray and to switch it over to DVD. I actually had a netfilx rep tell me that about a few comedys on my list.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am thinking of canceling my Netflix membership over this.

Can someone tell me how Blockbusters service compaires to this?

 

[darrencp22]

Wow, got the email as well. But i'm only on the 1 out of at a time plan. To think that some are getting a $6 hike is insane. I'd love for those people to jumps hip and maybe teach Netflix a little lesson here.

 

[capman]

i just got the e-mail as well and they are gonna charge me $4/mo more for 3 out at a time. They are saying that blu ray cost substantially more than dvd's. Hmm, I guess they aren't shopping at amazon They also buy in bulk, so they gotta be getting a substantially good discount no? Anyways I might just go down to 1 out or 2 out.

 

[darrencp22]

Someone want to be a Guinea pig? Try cancelling and see if you get a deal.

 

[Examiner45]

I just got the email that my 3 at a time plan is going up by $3. Does this mean that they're actually going to buy enough Blu-rays where I don't have to always see short wait or long wait on my queue? I've been thinking about cancelling because I'm tired of waiting so long for what I want to watch.

 

[teamerickson]

This is all Sony's fault!

 

[dangue]

Someone want to be a Guinea pig? Try cancelling and see if you get a deal.

I may just try blockbuster. But I'm not doing anything until right before the rate increase on April 27th. Also, just the thought of recreating my Movie Quene makes me shudder. And there's also the Roku Box that I own that will be pretty much useless without some sort of Unlimited Netflix account. I'll most likely just drop the number of movies I have out at any one time and do more online streaming.

The cost difference is close enough to subscribing to a premium movie channel packaged that I might go that route as well.

 

[ChrisK114]

I just cancelled and to my surprise, they did not have an option forreason for quitting that applies to the raising the fees for blu-ray. They didn't even have a place you could type in a reason. Guess they want to be in denial that they will lose customers because of this.

 

[dangue]

I just got the email that my 3 at a time plan is going up by $3. Does this mean that they're actually going to buy enough Blu-rays where I don't have to always see short wait or long wait on my queue? I've been thinking about cancelling because I'm tired of waiting so long for what I want to watch.

Maybe I've been fortunate, but I really haven't had too many long wait or short wait problems with BD movies. The one exception that comes to mind is Vicky Christina Barcelona which has been #1 in my quene for 2-3 weeks now.

But that's one movie, and I've gotten plenty of others in the meantime so I haven't thought much of it. Is this not typical of the service everyone is getting for BD movies?

 

[capman]

Also to add to the folks that say that they have long or short waits, mine all say available now for blu ray, even for new releases. It might have something to do with I usually keep them for 1-2 weeks.

I might do blockbuster again when they start renting games online, but since my stores closed it just wasn't a good enough deal and MUCH longer waits with blockbuster vs. netflix when I subscribed last year.

 

[cummingsje]

I am thinking of canceling my Netflix membership over this.

Can someone tell me how Blockbusters service compaires to this?

I just cancelled my Blockbuster membership because of similar issues. I have had them for over 3 years and over that period of time they diminished my services (and increased my monthly cost) 3 times. It was a very good deal at the beginning because you had unlimited free exchanges in-store to complement your mail-in service. Then they changed it to 3 exchanges per month (in-store) and they just recently changed it to you can exchange them in-store but they won't mail out the next batch until you return those. Needless to say it was enough for me. I consider myself to be extremely forgiving but given the circumstances I probably won't deal with Blocbuster in the future.

 

[Neutron]

I was actually looking into their $99 box to stream movies over the Internet. I don't think I'll be doing that now.

Anyone else comment on Blockbuster's service?

 

[pacman]

OK, first, this forum is awesome, I was reading this post about the Netflix increase thinking "I haven't heard about any price incres..." when I get an email from Netflix about it!!

Now this figures though. I just put my Blockbuster account on hold this morning because I am trying Netflix! I liked Blockbuster when I started with them, but over the last year they have gotten rid of the things that made them a better deal (IMHO) than Netflix. First the in store rentals were great. I used to be able to return discs to the store and get unlimited free rentals (one for every disc I returned) - better yet, as soon as the clerk at the store scanned my disc, the system would process the next disc in my queue (I would end up having 6 discs at a time - 3 from the local store (due in 5 days), and 3 from the service via the mail). Not so anymore. First they limited how many I could get each month in the store (went to 5 a month, still not bad), but then last month they changed the system and now do not send the next disc in my queue until I return the store disc. They have also raised their prices so they were actually $2 more per month than Netflix with blu-ray. The other problem with Blockbuster was that their latest (most popular) discs were almost always "long wait" items. When I started my trial with Netflix two weeks ago, I put the same discs on the list there that were on my Blockbuster list and found that 95% of the discs that showed as "long wait" at Blockbuster were "now" listed on Netflix. So it seems that Netflix has more new movies available. Shipping time was the same between both services.

Now I have to see if Netflix is worth the extra $2...nothing is ever easy anymore...