Re:Netflix deserves to die (Score 1)

You didn't pay attention to my original post. I would have been happy to pay Netflix $14.99/month for their 2-out plan, if they would have given me that option. Yes, that's more expensive than Walmart, and I would have been happy to pay it.

And, you are absolutely right, there are other considerations than price when choosing products or services. A good example is flexibility. Netflix should offer their loyal customers with more flexible subscribtion plans BEFORE they offer them to new customers, not alienate their existing base by denying them access to these plans. This is a sure way to insult me and lose my business.

Since you make some good points about pricing and marketing, I'm sure you're already aware of the well known fact that consumers report only positive experiences to a few people, but negative ones to everyone. And also that word-of-mouth for services like Netflix is very important. Another fact, and I don't remember the research numbers at the moment, but losing existing customers cuts hugely into long-term profits for a firm. And therefore, it's a good metric of long-term durability of a company.

So Netflix loses both on price and flexibility here. What is left for them as a competitive advantage? Selection and delivery time. They do appear to have a better selection of titles, but right now it doesn't appear to be so great that the service is useless. About Netflix's current delivery times I can't say. But Walmart is no worse than Netflix was when I had it before. And I'm not going to stand for that kind of insult.