Customers fume over Netflix changes

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It has been a rough couple of months for Netflix. The company that virtually defined online movie rentals was swamped by an unprecedented wave of customer ire two months ago when it raised prices for both its DVD mailing and online streaming services.

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From a juggernaut to Chapter 11 in 2 years?
 
Yeah, for sure. I'd say darn near 100% considered leaving. I know I did. In the end, I stuck around, but all the contract changes burned off a lot of goodwill the company had built up. That is the obvious outcome when you keep screwing with the contracts and plans that people have already signed up for.
 
I subscribe to streaming Netflix. Works nice on my PS3 although selection isn't the greatest. But at least they have all the Kenny vs Spenny.
 
Yeah... Streaming Netflix is really nice.... For the movies and shows they have available. I run it on my Borgbox 360, and it works great. No complaints. A few months ago, you could order DVDs right from the X360 client for any shows you wanted that they didn't have in streaming. This was a great solution to the lack of content available for streaming.

Well, the latest update canned that, and it became less useful, but still not too bad. Now they drop the DVD mailing, altogether, but still really haven't added enough selection for streaming? It keeps getting harder and harder to justify keeping a service that jacks up prices while becoming less useful and more of a pain in the ass. I already have AT&T for that.

Anyhow, this Oatmeal comic about Netflix cracked me up.
 
ilwrath said:
Well, the latest update canned that, and it became less useful, but still not too bad. Now they drop the DVD mailing, altogether, but still really haven't added enough selection for streaming? It keeps getting harder and harder to justify keeping a service that jacks up prices while becoming less useful and more of a pain in the ass. I already have AT&T for that.
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My friend uses Netflix. First he was using his PS3 to access Netflix and he liked it overall but the navigation menus and searches were atrocious. A couple months back i convinced him to buy a WD TV Live Plus Media Player and he started using Netflix through this device. The navigation menus and searches were by far, heads and shoulders better than it was on the PS3 and he was thrilled. That lasted a couple of weeks before an update made the menus and searches identical to what he had on the PS3. Needless to say he was pissed.

I'll never understand the concept of sticking it to a customer just because you can.
 
Agreed, the netflix interface needs a complete overhaul. It almost looks like a badly designed java app.
 
We use Netflix. Mostly the streaming for the Xbox 360. The interface is better than the PC one. Though with the changes I don't know if we'll stay. For sure we'll be looking at Microsoft's TV Streaming coming this Nov/Dec.
 
I don't do NetFlix but it sounds like they suffer from the same kind of crap a lot of onlinery suffers from - unremitting featuritis and you get no say. Everybody's a beta tester and nothing is ever where you found it last week. Ther eis a myth out there that everyone wants constant change, and I don't believe that's true. Constant incremental improvement, maybe, but quite frankly I think that most people, once they've figured out how it works, want it to stay the same - and if you've come up with a better idea, that's fine but I want the option to disagree and keep the old way.
 
That's interesting you say that fluffy, the trend these days is to ramp up the releases. Firefox for example is now being released much more frequently. All cloud apps can change on you at a moments notice (although I've notice Google Docs does give you the option to use their "Classic" interface, I suspect it's only a matter of time before it disappears). Windows 8 should be radically different from 7 and Android 4 for the phones will be radically different then the current phone edition, 2.3.

Personally I'm not sure what I think of that. I tend to encourage change and for developers to make radical changes if they feel it's an improvement. You can't please everyone anyway and sometimes you completely miss the mark, but no risk no gain. Stagnation is worse, when you see the same bug in release after release. I really hate that. I think what we're experiencing are immature, pioneering markets. At such a stage rapid change can be a good thing.

As for Netflix, I think the implementation is worse then the design. The layout isn't horrible, it's that the scrolling and transitions aren't smooth and makes the experience jarring. You'd think a native app running on a PS3 would be slick, but it isn't. That's why I said it looks like a java app. And it probably is. It's core feature however works fine, never had an issue with streaming a movie and I tend to only watch HD movies. I'm impressed with that aspect of netflix.
 
I don't do NetFlix but it sounds like they suffer from the same kind of crap a lot of onlinery suffers from - unremitting featuritis and you get no say.
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Well, the only NetFlix client I've used to any length is the X360 client.

(Fair disclosure, I did try the TiVo client once... But only for a day. Egads! Talk about terrible! Couldn't search for a movie or show, couldn't manage your current queue, and "streaming" mostly involved stuttering and errors. My overall feeling was that I wanted to bludgeon the developer of that atrocity.)

But, honestly, the X360 client is great. It is slick, offers all the features, and feels very native. Perhaps too much so. It has the look and feel of the rest of the Xbox dashboard. Personally, I find navigating the Xbox dashboard fairly obtuse, but it is smooth and doesn't feel cheap, just kind of poorly organized and vaguely annoying. The Xbox NetFlix client suffered reverse featuritis. The latest mandatory update changed nothing other than removing the ability to order DVDs by mail. That sort of update pisses people off a lot more than randomly shuffling some menu items.

Firefox for example is now being released much more frequently.
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Personally, I hate this. Give me a stable platform and stick to it for a while. Please throw in the security updates as needed, but keep the overhauls scarce. Ironically, Firefox's new update schedule will likely be the force that drives me away from it.

I tend to encourage change and for developers to make radical changes if they feel it's an improvement. You can't please everyone anyway and sometimes you completely miss the mark, but no risk no gain. Stagnation is worse, when you see the same bug in release after release. I really hate that. I think what we're experiencing are immature, pioneering markets. At such a stage rapid change can be a good thing.
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Absolutely. I love progress. And you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. You can revise the heck out of an interface, and I'll give it an honest try. A lot of times the newer layout or idea really is better. Give me Office 2007/2010 over 2003, any day! Even if it isn't an improvement, I'll bear with it. I'm not really interested in having 50 completely different interface options out in the wild, with a newer version arriving every week. Do some research, come up with ONE GOOD interface, and stick to it for long enough that the majority of people will be using it.

Personally, I hate it when developers chicken out and give the option of letting people choose their interface. Invariably, the worst users (the ones I'm most likely to get stuck helping) always pick the worst interfaces to use. Maybe part of this is my own self-interest talking, but having a single current interface makes it easier for me to talk people through doing stuff, which I always end up having to do with both employees and family. :p
 
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