It's not every day the inherently volatile nature of business spills out into the public forum, but that's just what happened this week. Recently appointed Blockbuster President Michael Kelly unveiled a new deal on Thursday which he claims will answer "the cries of Netflix customers" frustrated with unpopular changes made to the service over the past few weeks - specifically, a rate increase for combined DVD rental and unlimited streaming.
Disgruntled Netflix subscribers who get on-board with either of Blockbuster's Total Access by-mail options by September 15th will be granted a 30-day free trial. The subsequent rate is $9.99/month for one rental at a time, and $14.99/month for two. Compared to Netflix's monthly price for a solely streaming or DVD by-mail package ($7.99), both options are actually more expensive. However, Netflix's instant streaming and DVD combo service now costs slightly more ($15.98) than Blockbuster's two-at-a-time deal.
Kelly ignored a price debate and instead played up the benefits of Total Access.
"Blockbuster Total Access is Netflix 'without the wait,'" said Kelly. "The combination of DVDs by mail and unlimited in-store exchanges provides more than 100 million people living near Blockbuster stores immediate convenience and unparalleled choice."
The service also covers video game rentals (something Netflix has yet to adopt) and new titles the day they're released.
"We find it shocking that anyone would raise rates as high as 60 percent," continued Kelly. "In contrast, Blockbuster has worked hard over the past few months to deliver value in entertainment to consumers in this economy and has even reduced in-store movie rentals to as low as 49 cents."
Blockbuster has indeed launched several new incentives in recent weeks to drive customers back into its dwindling number of stores. Following a Chapter 11 filing last year and rocky acquisition by Dish Network in April, the company has struggled to regain its former glory as online video and Redbox have supplanted once-popular brick-and-mortar stores.
Are you just angry enough to give the deal a shot, or will you be sticking with Netflix? Let us know in the comment section.
