Comments on: The Frugal Court #1: Netflix

By: snowbag

snowbag — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:54:06 +0000

I’ve been a Netflix member since 2003; I have a Blockbuster a half a mile away. Why? Never any late fees. I love the library, too; the branch is even closer than Blockbuster. But those overdue fees.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:25:41 +0000

@Scott – That sounds like an absolutely terrible experience, and I sure would be frustrated, too. I’m surprised that they wern’t able to help you more — I was genuinely impressed by their tech support when I called them (maybe my standard was low, but it was refreshing to have a real person pick up quickly and be willing to work with me). I’m not a huge fan of Netflix’s current only player, but it does work on my end.

At least some of the free sites like Hulu are offering more and more content for free these days.

By: Scott Sparks

Scott Sparks — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:08:52 +0000

They were great until they “UPGRADED” the program where I could watch movies instantly (which is the main reason I subscribed). The first year was perfect with the “OLD” program. I really enjoyed this service and probabley would have stayed a customer for life.

But instead, when I experienced problems with the “NEW” and so – called better virsion of their program; they told me I needed to go out and buy a new computer.

B.S. Even when I was on with the tech we went to other sites with videos that worked fine with my computer, that incidently is loaded with maximum memory capacity and a Athion processor that seems to handle everything but “NETFLEX” play instant movies.

I then asked if I could have the old version; that worked fine on my computer; the tech said I could not; and he didn’t know why they were letting people still operate it?? DAH, BECAUSE IT WORKS!!!

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT NETFLEX!

A once loyal suscriber.

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:05:43 +0000

@kelli — Yeah, I can see that using a Redbox at a McDonalds could lead to unfortunate consequences! Another commenter mentioned this effect earlier… I wonder how much of a benefit stores get from having a Redbox. And I agree — the no late fees rock.

@Alix – Sounds like Netflix is perfect for you! Its hard to beat having movies come straight to your mailbox.

By: Alix of Augusta

Alix of Augusta — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:50:00 +0000

Our household has a Netflix account and we love it. We live 25 miles from city center and 4 miles from a highway. It’s far more cost effective for retirees in a very rural area (no cable tv) to obtain movies this way as we watch at least one a day….either via mail or online. Unlike tv, we have a choice what we watch.

Bravo Netflix!

By: kelli

kelli — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:16:35 +0000

I love netflix. Our local Redbox is in McDonalds, which speaks even more to the impulse buy than the grocery store when you have two small children who want McNuggets REAL BAD.

Plus, I am very bad at getting movies back on time. I thought when a new video store opened up down the street that I might cancel Netflix- this place offers free kid movies all the time and new releases are very reasonably priced. I’ve been spoiled by Netflix though, and after paying $9 in late fees because I totally forgot those movies had to go BACK to the store, I think I’ll keep Netflix. Yes, it would be more frugal to not do movies at all, but this works best for us.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:41:25 +0000

@claudia — sounds like you made the right call. i have definitely come close to reaching that point. truth be told, I could probably keep myself happy simply catching up on The Daily Show, Colbert Report, The Office, 30 Rock,House, etc. on Hulu. I do think Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature might be worth it for many people, possibly myself, although I’m still trying to figure that out. Their new tie-ins are intriguing: the $99 player that streams to your television, the ability to play movies on TiVo, xBox, etc.

By: claudia

claudia — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:56:17 +0000

i subscribed to netflix for about a year and it just seemed to take me so long to watch them that i ended up with maybe 2 movies a month, definitely not financially wise. i found the sites like hulu and the nbc and abc sites and the other ones that actually show MOVIES that are really pretty current and it’s a much better way for me. i cancelled netflix about 2 months ago and honestly i don’t miss it at all. oh ya and yes i fell into that netflix guilt trip too. glad that’s over.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:05:19 +0000

@Charlie — That is a very interesting point with regards to Redbox, and I don’t doubt that plays significantly into the business model at play. I wonder just how large of a benefit these stores see from having a Redbox machine (who comes out ahead?)

Personally, I usually just drive up to the curb, hop out, return it, and get back in, but I’m sure there have been times where I’ve thought “why not pick this up while I’m here.”.

By: Charlie-paylessforfood.com

Charlie-paylessforfood.com — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:36:04 +0000

I love your discussion. I have used Netflix, the similar Blockbuster service, and the Redbox video rentals. With Netflix there are month’s where I hardly use it, BUT there are also months when I used it incessantly – during the winter, on vacation, etc. So the months I rarely use it make up for the months in which my usage is extremely heavy.

I also use the Redbox vending machines, even using the free coupon codes. But these have a “hidden cost”. When you rent a video from the machine you have to return it. Sounds obvious but this is exactly what the supermarkets want you to do.

Return visits to supermarkets mean impulse buys. In fact, studies indicate that over 40% of our grocery store purchases are impulse buys.

Finance experts will tell you that the way to reduce your grocery bills is to reduce the number of trips you make.

So in effect, those cheap Redbox videos act as a “loss leader” for the grocery store to draw you back into the store where you’ll make more impulse purchase.