Tuesday, March 31, 2009

It Isn't Quite IOSYBWGFYO, But Netflix Is Doing Some Irritating Crap

I enjoy Netflix, really I do, but they're pulling some irritating crap with their Blu-ray Disc policy.

First, they tacked a $1 fee onto their regular monthly account for the privilege of renting BDs. Okay, irritating, but not a deal breaker. Today, however, I received a notice from them than they are quadrupling that fee to $4, for people, like me, who are on their three-rentals-a-month deal.

Add $4 to the regular fee of $16.99 a month and you get a monthly bill of $20.99. But another way to look at it is that they are charging 24% more (!) for Blu-ray.

I just have to ask: Are the wholesale prices of BDs truly 24% higher than DVDs, Mr. Netflix? Are they rilly "substantially more expensive," as you put it?

Somehow I seriously doubt it.

Ah well, at least they don't use the phrase "in order to serve you better" in their demand for more money. But they come close. Here's what they said:

-- Netflix's mildly IOSYBWGFYO notice --

You are receiving this email because you added unlimited Blu-ray access to your account for $1 a month. The number of Blu-ray titles has increased significantly and will continue to do so. As we buy more, you are able to choose from a rapidly expanding selection of Blu-ray titles. And as you've probably heard, Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs.

As a result, the monthly charge for Blu-ray access is increasing for most plans and will now vary by plan. The charge for monthly Blu-ray access on your 3 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan will increase from $1 a month to $4 a month. The price of your 3 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan is not changing and remains at $16.99 a month.

The new charge for Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after April 27, 2009 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details.

If you wish to continue unlimited Blu-ray access for $4 a month, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-923-0898.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

New Crap from the IOSYBWGFYO File

The IOSYBWGFYO ("In Order to Serve You Better, We're Going to Fuck You Over") File provides what appears to be an unending supply of crap. The latest IOSYBWGFYO offender to arrive in my email inbox is Kodak Gallery, which sent me this little note today:
So that you are aware, we have modified our Terms of Service*: To more effectively serve our Gallery members, we have adjusted our photo-storage policy to align with storage usage.

To store photos at the Gallery, members with photo storage of 2 gigabytes (GB) or less must make annual minimum purchases totaling at least $4.99.** Failure to meet this requirement may result in your photos being deleted from the Gallery.

** If your storage exceeds 2GB, our new Storage Policy requires that you spend $19.99 annually to continue storage of your photos.
Any further comment is superfluous, I reckon. Its craposity is self-evident. But I will note that what I most hate about such notices is that they claim that the reason for this crap is to serve you better. Why can't they be honest about the reason behind the change, which, in this case, is obviously to make more money?

Perhaps it's time to start the IOSYBWGFYO Blog to track this crap.

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