Thinking of dropping Netflix

I'm considering dropping it right now.

As of an hour or so ago, Netflix stopped working on my PS3. Every time I bring it up, it says it's unable to load and that I should either try again or berkeley off.

I've been trying it on my computer, and now I can bring up my account info, but any time I try to watch something I get told to sign in, and it refuses to recognize my goddamn password.

I've changed it 3 times and it hasn't worked yet.

SVreX wrote: Nobody runs a business based on blockbusters.

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=aboutschmidt.htm

Wasn't exactly a blowout of a movie, hardly a "blockbuster".

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=sonofthemask.htm

One of the most terrible movies of all time, was only $20mil shy.

My point is, if there was no money, hollywood wouldn't be in the business. It's not often that they produce an absolute bomb of a movie that makes no money back. One blockbuster alone, can support $900,000,000 worth of mistakes. Major studios do not produce bombs that cost $30mil to make, and bring in under a million. Sure, you can probably come back at me with an example or two, but you make it sound like there isn't a blockbuster movie every month, which simply ISN'T true. And some movies (like pirate of the Caribbean) are thought to be money losing at first and end up becoming one of the biggest franchises in the world.

Apparently a poll of USA Today readers showed 74% of 6,000 respondents saying they were going to quit NetFlix.

Grizz wrote: I'm considering dropping it right now. As of an hour or so ago, Netflix stopped working on my PS3. Every time I bring it up, it says it's unable to load and that I should either try again or berkeley off. I've been trying it on my computer, and now I can bring up my account info, but any time I try to watch something I get told to sign in, and it refuses to recognize my goddamn password. I've changed it 3 times and it hasn't worked yet.

Something's pretty wonky on their end at the moment. I can stream to a computer fine (though I have heard of others including you who can't), but not to any consoles. And if I go to my account stuff on he web page and try to bring up a list of devices I have activated, the page bombs out.

CORRECTION: It was bombing out an hour ago, now it comes up but is blank.

E36 M3 happens. So I'm not at all pissed at them over it at this point. If it takes forever to fix, or becomes frequent, then I'll be pissed. But for now, it's just one of those things.

SVreX wrote: Apparently a poll of USA Today readers showed 74% of 6,000 respondents saying they were going to quit NetFlix.

I likely won't quit, but more money + less streaming options (so far) means I'll at least shop around. And if the amazon selection is sufficient will stream that way since I'd like the shipping benefits anyhow. $80/year = <$7 a month for streaming and I get the fast free shipping (or cheap really fast shipping) Do they do consoles (not necessary, just wondering)?

keethrax wrote: Something's pretty wonky on their end at the moment. I can stream to a computer fine (though I have heard of others including you who can't), but not to any consoles.

It's not the first time it has screwed up on the console for me. Dunno about the computer since I can't stand watching movies at this desk, but there have been plenty of times where I haven't been able to use it for a couple of hours or longer.

keethrax wrote: And if I go to my account stuff on he web page and try to bring up a list of devices I have activated, the page bombs out. CORRECTION: It was bombing out an hour ago, now it comes up but is blank.

I tried that, actually crashed my computer and forced a restart, so I haven't done it since.

keethrax wrote: E36 M3 happens. So I'm not at all pissed at them over it at this point. If it takes forever to fix, or becomes frequent, then I'll be pissed. But for now, it's just one of those things.

Yeah, I'm just annoyed because I'm tired and buzzed.

Grizz wrote: It's not the first time it has screwed up on the console for me. Dunno about the computer since I can't stand watching movies at this desk, but there have been plenty of times where I haven't been able to use it for a couple of hours or longer.

I agree vs at the desk. In my case, I just plonk a laptop by the TV and hook it up via an HDMI cable which is always plugged in to the receiver and just waiting for such stuff. Hell the wife uses it to play WoW on the big screen sometimes.

z31maniac wrote:

MrJoshua wrote: The world is full of "well heck, that's less than a 6 pack so of course I will do it" type of deals. Just because the increase is a small $ value doesn't mean it is insignificant. Netflix may still be a good deal compared to the competitors, but it is a worse deal than it used to be so of course it will tick people off.

Or we just the think the level of outrage being shown seems a touch over the top.

Show me the outrage in this thread.....

keethrax wrote:

DILYSI Dave wrote: 2. If it means the streaming content improves, I'm cool with that. We are notoriously bad about returning disks, so I'll probably just drop that part.

So far my list of "stuff that used to be on streaming but now isn't" is grown way faster than my "stuff that I can stream now that I couldn't before."

Yeah. If the price hike improves that, then win. If not, time for a Plan B.

I'm stationed overseas. Netflix won't allow me to stream to my home in Japan, so the DVDs have been my only option at about $6/month for 2 DVDs/month...there's no way I'm going to pay $16/month for a service I can't use. Looks like I'll be switching over to Blockbuster for $10/month.

In reply to mpolans:

you do realize you can drop the streaming, and pay for discs only right?

failboat wrote: In reply to mpolans: you do realize you can drop the streaming, and pay for discs only right?

I can for now, but my understanding is that with the new plan, I must have the streaming plan in order to get DVDs. Am I wrong?

In reply to mpolans:

Yes, you are wrong. You can choose either option or both options.

We'll just drop the DVD portion, we'd previously dropped from 3 disc to 1 disc.

I switched to streaming only months ago. I'm more than satisfied with the pace of new additions to instant watch. I still think Netflix is the best money I spend every month.

PubBurgers wrote: I switched to streaming only months ago. I'm more than satisfied with the pace of new additions to instant watch. I still think Netflix is the best money I spend every month.

It's not the pace of additions that's the problem for me, it's the pace of subtractions.

stopped working on both the xbox and wii last night... happens on occasion...

right now the wife and I are debating on what way to go... think we'll dump the dvd's... we'd been considering dropping the disc option all together... and likely will.

I think we're going to try the free month at blockbuster... we tried them a few years back and loved the fact we could run into the local store...

we'll try it out for a month and see how it goes I suppose... the fact they rent out games is a nice perk... and a lot cheaper then gamefly...

I read something in wired a month or so ago about the fact that most people put movies they aspire to watch on their DVD queues, but don't always tend to watch them. This is because the movie you get in the mail is not timed in any meaningful way to what you might actually want to watch.

Until earlier this year, we had a really excellent independent video store less than 2 blocks from my house. I could walk there with my dog, they gave out free beer on Tuesday nights, and I could browse for something that fit my mood.

Now I get DVDs from Netflix. We had one come in that we sent back because we knew we wouldn't watch it anytime soon. I sat on 3:10 to Yuma for 3 days before I got around to watching it because my fiancee didn't want to see it. Had that been on streaming, I can think of a half dozen times in the past month when I could have watched it.

I'm probably going to drop discs, keep streaming, and add Hulu Plus. The two services seem to complement one another pretty well. I'll likely also look into Amazon, as I've been highly satisfied with every transaction I've made with them.

There are a lot of great statements here though about the short sightedness of the movie and TV industries right now. They should worry a bit less about how to control their product like they used to and worry more about keeping people watching. We as tv & movie watchers are fickle and easily distracted. If something better comes along, we'll drop movies like newspapers.

One thing I like about netflix is the ease of browing through the offerings and the more, off the beaten path stuff they have. I just signed up for BB last night (30 day free trial). I've barely looked at it but I can't seem to find the free streaming stuff. Tons of stuff to buy or rent, but where's the free stuff?
I'm not sure if I'll swtich or not, but $15 for streaming and 2 discs at a time at home is the same I'm paying for Netflix now, but I can take them to teh store for exchanges. We'll see.

I dropped the disc I was getting and went to streaming only for now. Amazon has a few things that are decent, but not enough to replace Netflix streaming IMO. Unfortunately I haven't seen too much improvement in Netflix streaming recently either.

I'll go to Redbox a few times a month for now. If I run out of stuff to watch, I'll get back on a disc plan from Netflix. It's not like you have to make this decision now and stick to it forever.

Not sure if everyone knows this or not, if you sign up on redbox's website, you can view the contents of your local machines and reserve a movie for 24 hrs so you can pick it up.

beats being "that guy" scrolling through the movies for 10 minutes trying to decide what you want to watch with a line of people behind you.

Thanks failboat, nice to know.
So, I have had very little time to poke around on BB on demand player. Are there any movies that you can stream or d'load that are free? I only see movies to rent or buy? If d'loading or streaming are extra, there is no deal here.

The problem is every time I go to the store to pick up or return one, I have to stand in line behind three of "that guy". I would use it a lot more if they just had a return slot on the side I could drop it in without using the screen, but I understand that they want to make me wait in line so that I am tempted to rent another movie to justify my time spent in line. F that. Increasingly, my response to the numerous hassles that have been introduced regarding movie viewing has been to not watch movies anymore. I'm dropping the DVD from my netflix account when the price changes, and the streaming might not be long after if it doesn't expand significantly.

I just had an idea that makes way too much sense ever to be adopted. Redbox should have a "phone pickup" station on the side of the box. While Mr. Indecisive is scrolling through the list for the 18th time, I can press a button, hold my phone up to a scanner for the box to read a qr code to identify me, and then it spits out the DVD that I have already reserved and paid for online.

Josh wrote: The problem is every time I go to the store to pick up or return one, I have to stand in line behind three of "that guy".

+1000, that is a huge issue, it seemed to happen to me every single time. I wish they would advertise the online rental reservation much more prominently on their machines.