Netflix price increase angers customers

People have gone berserk about the Netflix.com price increase. In case you haven’t heard, Netflix pushed through a 60% price hike for the combo service of on-demand content streaming and DVDs in the mail.

The blogosphere has been outraged by the recent development. Even I agree Netflix did a good job of tearing the brand apart overnight by not understanding how to deal with the customer anger. Some nearly 80,000 negative comments later on their Facebook page, they’ve ruined their reputation.

For me, the (now standalone) streaming option at $8/month remains an outstanding option, though I admit selection is limited because the movie studios have been uncooperative on digital rights.

But my associate producer Joel primarily uses the DVD service and then just supplements it occasionally with online streaming. So he and many others like him are upset they’re now being asked to pay two subscription fees of $8/month each to enjoy both options when they used to come bundled together for one price.

The question for you is this: Are you streaming enough to make it worthwhile to pay two fees? Or are you better off looking for free programming from the networks online and doing the DVD-only option at $8/month? Or maybe supplementing the DVD-only option with RedBox.com and BlockbusterExpress.com, which offer movies at $1per night.

The point is you don’t have to be a Netflix captive. If you’re angry, fire them. That’s the beauty of the marketplace. Netflix has done nothing but cut prices through the years and this is first time I can recall them doing a significant increase in what they charge. So they’ve had no experience with making their fervent fans furious and they’ve had no idea how to handle that fallout. Not good business!