Netflix & The End
As this site barrels toward it’s inevitable fiery death, I wanted to thank all of my readers who have stuck with me so far.
I’m not going to stop writing, I’m just sort of moving around. You can still see my blogs on MySpace: www.myspace.com/adamczar (you’ll need to add me as a friend first, but feel free), and any entertainment related blogs will probably be seen cropping up on PopCritics.com, whose co-owner, Mike, graciously invited me to post articles.
Sooner or later this web address will redirect to my Tumblr.
Anyway, I got an email today from Netflix saying that I can pass on one month free to a friend. And if they sign up for a month, I get five free bonus rentals. I’d really recommend Netflix (the only time I left them was when Blockbuster was offering free movie rentals upon return, but once they stopped that I went back). So if you want one month free (that’s two weeks more than you’d get on your own), let me know and I can make dat a-happon. First come, first serve. I will edit this if/when somebody takes me up on it, so if you’re reading this you can still have one month free. Seriously, I don’t even have to know you.
Sad to see your site go, but I can’t wait to see what you have to write about over on Pop Critics
I am a member of Blockbuster Online already or I’d join Netflix for ya
Mike Olbinski’s last blog post..American Idol 2008 - Top 5 Performance (4/29/08) Recaps
You know, that free rental upon return was not universal. I have no idea how they chose what areas and which accounts, but I have it and my Dad does and they changed his account to only 5 trade-ins per month. If he wanted to keep unlimited trade-ins he had to opt for a more expensive package (like five bucks more.) Meanwhile, my package has remained the same since the day I signed up (and I’ve been with them since the beginning): $20 a month, unlimited trade-ins, and I get a free rental coupon for a game or movie each month PLUS my regular Gold membership benefits. If you can get it in on a good trade-in program you really do get more bang for your buck than Netflix. We use BBO for TV series and trade them in for the new releases. It’s great.
Anyway, why are you leaving?
I meant to say that the restriction on trade-ins or stopping trade in altogether was not a universal thing. What I read when they decided to stop it in some areas was that people who live in areas where there aren’t any BBVs, or very few, were complaining that they were now paying a higher monthly fee in order to take advantage of store trade-ins. So, they cut that in some areas and offered packages at different costs so people could take advantage if they wanted.
Now with my Dad, who lives 30 minutes from me and is surrounded by stores wasn’t given a choice. They told him flat out if he wanted to keep unlimited trade-ins he had to pay more.
I didn’t know that, I thought it was universal. One day I got an email that basically said “To better serve your needs…” blah, blah, blah, “We’re ending the free trade in program for your plan. However, as a courtesy to you, we’ll continue to offer the free rental coupon you get once a month.” Then, if I upgraded at any time, I had better be sure it was to the right plan that had what I wanted. Problem was, it was like 5 dollars more. And in addition, they DID take away my once-a-month free movie/game coupon, which I used for a video game since those are hella expensive. Anyway, I called customer service and told them I didn’t get my coupons anymore and they said they had technicians working on the issue… for three months. I assumed it was a ploy to get me frustrated so I just upgraded my account. Instead, I canceled it and went to Netflix because of their ‘watch instantly’ feature.
I’ve been back and forth with Netflix and BBO since 2004. I’ve been more satisfied with Netflix in terms of customer respect and service, but everybody has a different story.
Anyway, long story!