Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Blockbuster is gone-Switched to Netflix

This is topic Blockbuster is gone-Switched to Netflix in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-20-2012, 04:28 PM:

I have been with Blockbuster for several years but after all their stores closed in my area, I cancelled my membership about two months ago and joined Netflix last week. The one month free trial membership they offered me allows me to receive one movie at a time and I must admit after receiving my first movie last week, I am very pleased with their service. I received my first movie last Thursday and watched it that night and mailed it back early the next day. Got an email from them on Saturday informing me they had received it and my 2nd movie was shipped and I could expect to receive it today. WOW! Once my trial is over, I will be able to receive three movies in either Blu-Ray or DVD at a time for about $10.00 a month.

When I was with Blockbuster, most of the movies I wanted to see were not immediately available. Some were 'Short Wait" but most were "Long Wait". Only a few were available right away. Among the 26 movies I now have in my Netflix Queue only two are listed as 'Short Wait" - the rest are available now.

The thing that made me once happy with Blockbuster was the opportunity to exchange a movie I got in the mail with a new movie on the day they were released. With this plan, I was able to watch about 24 movies a month for about $20.00. Compared to what I was getting at Blockbuster , I now realize I am getting a better deal with Netflix with their better service, movie availability and membership cost.

-Claude

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 08-20-2012, 05:12 PM:

When I was still getting discs via Netflix -- up until about a year ago -- they charged an additional $5/month for Bluray service -- but since most of the library is still DVD, it wasn't worth the extra charge (to me) so I downgraded to DVD-only and then ultimately I converted to streaming-only.

IIRC, the 3-at-a-time Bluray/DVD membership was about $25/monthly. Perhaps you're getting a promotional rate since you're a new customer, or maybe the rates are different in Hawaii. But I don't see how it could be $10/mo when streaming-only is around $8/mo.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-20-2012, 06:37 PM:

I can only go by what the Netflix sales representative told me. DVD only is $8.00 a month and BD is two dollars more.

-Claude

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 08-20-2012, 07:29 PM:

The price you were quoted sounds a lot like the one out a time and limited to only a couple movies a month total and unlimited streaming. I would double check that cause when I had the DVD's and Blu at 3 a month like Manny it was about $27 a month. I love the streaming side but found I wasn't watching enough dvds for it to be worth it.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-20-2012, 08:40 PM:

It now looks like I had misunderstood the sales person when I signed on to Netflix. The $10.00 fee including BluRay is only one disc at a time and three at a time is another $10.00 so you were all right. The 8.00 DVD plan also includes unlimited streaming but the $10.00 plan with BD does not include any streaming. I think I will just stay with the $10.00 plan for now but might go for the 3 at a time plan later.

THe current one disc at a time plan I have is unlimited.

-Claude

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 08-20-2012, 10:51 PM:

Hey Claude: I've been with Netflix for several years. We were on the 3 at a time plan with unlimited streaming. It was $21.95. But we cut back to 1 at a time w/unlimited streaming at $15.98 a month. The service is great. A couple of times I've received broken discs and they sent out another copy immediately. I have about 106 titles in my que.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-20-2012, 11:12 PM:

106?! I would be dead in the grave before I even got halfway through that many!

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 08-21-2012, 01:50 AM:

Well Mike, that's because you're very busy doing what I'd love to be doing. As it is it's just me, my recliner and my DVD player (and my lovely wife of course).

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-21-2012, 03:52 AM:

I just received and watched the 1967 Japanese film from Toho, NIHON NO ICHIBAN NAGAI HI (Japan's Longest Day) and watched it tonight. Although the DVD was released many years ago, the copy Netflix sent me today was brand new. it will be returned tomorrow and I am sure I will have another movie to watch from Netflix on Thursday night. if the schedule keeps up, I can look for forward to three movies a week and totaling up to 12 to 13 discs a month . That's not bad for $10.00 a month.

By the way, the Japanese film I saw tonight was about the day Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945. The title of the movie, JAPAN'S LONGEST DAY was about a group of military hot head officers trying to prevent Emperor Hirohito's recorded message from being broadcast and continuing the war.

-Claude

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 08-21-2012, 09:48 AM:

Claude I don't mean to burst your bubble but price is not correct for bluRay or 3 DVD's at a time. It may be an introductory price but we have 2 at a time and it is 21.95 a month for it and no bluray's.

The price increases over the last year is why Netflex lost 35% of the customers.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-21-2012, 11:56 AM:

I think Netflix is gun shy with a new member such as myself, Ron because they seem to be telling me only what I like to hear about about their membership rates. The first day I talked to them when I joined, they told me one at a time is about $8.00 and three is $10.00. When I taked to them yesterday, one at a time including Blu-Ray is $10.00 and three at a time is about $20.00. I will have to call them again and find out what is really going on.

My membership with Blockbuster was three at a time for $29.00 including Blu-Ray's but this also included in store exchange at no extra charge for each disc. For some reason, the rate dropped to $19.00 a few months before I cancelled my membership. Like I had said in my earlier post, I had to cancell because all their stores in my area had shut down but until they did, I was very satisfied with my BB membership.

-Claude

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 08-21-2012, 03:56 PM:

I don't know what to tell you we have had them forever we pay one thing for our on-line watching and a different for the DVD's. I am not happy with the new improved higher prices I can tell you.

I will say this for Dish they haven't much changed prices in 10+ years. The only thing I hate is the introductory stuff for free the old loyal customers don't get.

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 08-22-2012, 07:24 PM:

Claude,

You are being told the same as what I'm seeing as options on my account that I've had for many years.

Unlimited Streaming with no discs: $7.99

Unlimited DVDs (no streaming)
Exchange DVDs as often as you want

1 DVD out at-a-time

$7.99 a month $9.99 a month with Blu-ray

2 DVDs out at-a-time

$11.99 a month $14.99 a month with Blu-ray

3 DVDs out at-a-time

$15.99 a month $19.99 a month with Blu-ray

Unlimited Streaming + DVDs

Watch instantly as often as you want on your PC, Mac, or TV
Exchange DVDs as often as you want

Unlimited Streaming + 1 DVD out at-a-time
$15.98 a month $17.98 a month with Blu-ray

Unlimited Streaming + 2 DVDs out at-a-time
$19.98 a month $22.98 a month with Blu-ray

Unlimited Streaming + 3 DVDs out at-a-time
$23.98 a month $27.98 a month with Blu-ray

Limited Plans

1 DVD out at-a-time (limit 2 rentals a month)
$4.99 a month $5.99 a month with Blu-ray

(There are plans for more discs at a time, but I cut it off at 3 at a time.)

I've been quite happy with Netflix, even though I think the choices they made last year about this time were about the most bone-headed things they could have done to their business.

Each time they've raised their rates, I've decreased my service to adjust. When they increased the 3-at-a-time price, I went to 2-at-a-time. When they started charging for streaming, I dropped streaming. I get my streaming from Amazon included with Amazon Prime, so I don't miss the streaming from Netflix at all.

Even with all the price hikes that they did, and the jerking around that was done last year, Netflix is still an incredible resource at a pretty good price. It beats buying everything!

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 08-22-2012, 07:38 PM:

If cable/sat companies can have a reasonable PPV cost for their movies, they could put DVD rentals out of business. The only disc I wish to rent is Blu Ray. DVD just looks too low res for me on big screen TVs . Otherwise, I would rather stream or watch HD cable than rent a DVD. Those Blu Ray idiots might have sabotaged their own format with unreasonable fees for mastering in BluRay limiting the movies that show up in Blu Ray.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-22-2012, 08:44 PM:

We have an Amazon Prime account at my day job, and it comes with a lot (thousands) of videos which are free for unlimited streaming through "compatible devices." It works through my Panasonic BR player -- HD picture looks great and it's glitch-free, even with our 3mb DSL connection.

As you might expect, the latest and biggest hits aren't available from the free selection, but a lot of surprisingly-good titles are there. Lately I've watched This Is Spinal Tap, Caddyshack, Top Gun, the UK version of The Office, a Mitch Hedberg special from Comedy Central, and the original version of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. For more popular titles, rentals are available for $1.99 (for 48 hours) and a ton of titles are available to buy for $5.99. You can download the ones you rent or buy to a Tivo or similar devices.

This is probably the future of home video...I'm sure the day's coming when physical media will be seen as a weird artifact.

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 08-27-2012, 09:54 AM:

I almost never get DVD's from Netflix, as there are so many movies that I want to see that are available on Blu-ray, it's worth waiting for the others to be released on Blu-ray in the future.

Netflix makes it easy to see what format it's available on, so I add the discs I want to my queue, and those that are DVD-only now are down on the list. When the Blu-ray is released, the status changes and then I can choose to re-order the queue if I wish.

Life is too short to watch movies in poor quality. [Smile]

If I am looking to watch something with compromised quality, I'll stream it or watch it on cable/satellite. I certainly wouldn't buy something on DVD if I didn't have to, and most of the times, I never have to. Same goes for poor quality transfers to Blu-ray. There's no sense in paying good money for bad transfers.