Qwikster We Hardly ... Well Actually We Never Knew Ya

[RitaE]

Netflix abandons plan to split DVD and Streaming Websites

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/10/technology/netflix_qwikster/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

Wow does Netflix seem unsure of itself these days or what?

 

[nunzia]

hmm..again, just stunning to me how poorly big companies do on feeling out how their customers will react to changes and then are shocked when they respond exactly how regular people could have predicted. Don't they have market testing or anything anymore?? My part time job place is doing this kind of thing also..testing changes..since we are in direct competition with Netflix and RedBox...do not think their little experiemnt of handling rentals in the same way will work so well..

 

[SaraJayne]

Netflix abandons plan to split DVD and Streaming Websites

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/10/technology/netflix_qwikster/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

Wow does Netflix seem unsure of itself these days or what?

That lasted a whole 4 weeks? Five?

 

[maggiew]

I'm speechless.

Maybe we will get another "apology".

Maggie

 

[RitaE]

If he does issue another "apology," I hope that they actually consult somebody with some public relations expertise this time around because the last one was a train wreck.

I think this debacle is definitely going to be one for the "What Not To Do" chapters of the MBA textbooks. You sell a product that is 100% discretionary spending in an economy where the majority of your customers are already looking for ways to cut costs. Massively increasing your prices plus making your product less desirable from the customer's point of view is just NOT the way to go.

The PP is right. It is amazing that needed to be explained to them. A 7th grader could have told them what was wrong with their plan.

I wonder how many millions of dollars they wasted on this project before abandoning it?

 

[puffkin]

Hysterical!

I work for a large company and stuff like this happens daily. Stuff that is so obvious down in the trenches goes unnoticed by upper management and they just don't listen. I may be jaded, but all you can do is sit back and laugh.

 

[Tiger926]

I think it happens so often as there is such a high attitude of entitlement and narcissism at those corporate levels.

The higher ups really are in a different place then us regular folks, who actually use and pay for their products. Honestly, some of them just have such a grandiose attitude about their company and their products, that they just assume all customers will blindly follow along. It's pretty silly, since regular folks are pretty realistic, and we do speak with our wallets, in regards to these kinds of decisions.

It really shows a lack of understanding customer needs in a personal way...so many corporations struggle in this area. When I read and watch interviews with some of the CEOs of corporations, it's ridiculous how some of them really don't have any sense of understanding their customers at all.

We had Netflix for about 3 weeks - it was free, and we could hardly stand it, so we cancelled it. It was horrid here in Canada - old titles, froze the TV (a new plasma with a new Wii system), and hardly anything available in Canada.

The company itself looks very foolish and ridiculous since what happened, is exactly what many of us knew would happen. As mentioned above, Netflix is not a necessity, so why go down this road? Why change the product and charge double? Did they really think that was going to work? Our Canadian Netflix absolutely bites, so I don't think they were doing that here, but the product is not that great that you can charge double for it. Really? Was it that hard to see how this was going to end?

Tiger

 

[3boymthr]

I'm speechless.

Maybe we will get another "apology".

Maggie

Yup! Though I don't know if you'd exactly call it an apology. It's certainly a "Groveling and hoping to keep your business" e-mail. I'm planning on switching to Amazon and dropping Netflix as soon as I can scrape up $100 for a new Blu-Ray player.


"Dear XXXXXXX,

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.

While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.

We're constantly improving our streaming selection. We've recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we've added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.

We value you as a member, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get your movies & TV shows.

Respectfully,

The Netflix Team"

 

[KarenAylwood]

All of this makes me want to cancel just because they're idiots and it's not worth it to me to keep the service. I remember reading their plan thinking "for real? You want to up our price and make it more complicated? Someone's got to be joking here."

We have two DVDs out right now and just need to return them... another monthly fee we don't need! Redbox here we come

 

[PrincessMama605]

Wow, glad I cancelled my Netflix before all this drama.

I will just stick with Redbox.