Dear Mr. Hastings (A Letter to the CEO of Netflix)

Dear Mr. Hastings,

I received your letter in my email last night and I read it thoroughly.  I feel that it is important that someone explain to you that the reason you lost so many customers isn’t just the price hike.  I know that the price isn’t my only reason, it was the final reason.

Reason #1 – Streaming.  I loved the streaming service.  But the only stuff you offer is older movies and TV shows.  I can go on Hulu, costs the same as your new price, and watch shows that were just on TV last night.  Why would I choose your streaming over Hulu’s streaming?  It only makes sense that if the price is the same, but they offer newer material, that I (and millions of others) would choose Hulu Plus.

Reason #2 – Movies in mail, now called Qwikster.  Most new releases aren’t available until they’ve been out for a month.  And after that month you have to wait weeks, sometimes months to get a new release.  I sent your customer service an email once complaining about this and they gave me a fabulous answer.  I had an 8 DVD’s at a time subscription; they told me that people with smaller subscriptions would receive them first.  That was their response.  Well, when I quit your service I had one DVD at a time.  I still wasn’t getting new releases until they’d been out for months.  Why shouldn’t I just go to a Redbox or Blockbuster?

Reason #3 – You raised the prices last year.

So, here is what I am trying to tell you Mr. Hastings.  You can’t increase prices without offering more for our money.  You doubled my price.  I was paying $7.99/month and you raised it to $17.99/month.  Why would I pay that much so that I can wait months for a new release and only watch old movies and shows on streaming?

If you want your customers back here is what you need to do. 

Streaming needs to offer either new releases or new TV shows.  Your competitor Hulu Plus is offering new shows on streaming for the same price you do.  Granted, if you want to watch the new shows it has to be online and not on a device.  And now there is this nifty thing called an Orb BR.  With the Orb BR you can watch your Hulu Plus new shows on your PS3 or Xbox 360.

You need to carry more of your new releases to ensure that people aren’t waiting forever to see a new movie.  Also, what is up with this deal that cable has with new releases?  Why can’t you get them now?  For the price you want me to pay I can go to Redbox and get 7 movies in one month.  All new releases.  That’s a lot.

So, Mr. Hastings, in conclusion I want to tell you that I was a Netflix customer off and on since it began.  Yes, I’ve left a few times, when times were tough, but for the most part I have been a customer for over 9 years.  I have always felt that your customer service sucks, but I ignored that, because after all, I rarely had to deal with them.  If you improve the service that you are offering then I will consider coming back again, but never for the price that you are charging now.  I am now a HuluPlus and Redbox customer.

Yours Once Very Loyal Customer

Dorothy Siefer

For those that aren’t Mr. Hastings and you haven’t read the letter yet, you can read it here.