We just finished watching Maxed Out, the recent documentary about the viperous evils of the credit industry. We agree with the basic premise: Underinformed debtors are getting taking advantage of. And the stories are horrific, with three different people driven to suicide because of debt. The doc does a good job of outlining the links from debtor, to bank, to debt collector, to government representatives. It’s a nasty apparatus.
netflix
Fast Food Nation Movie Review: Read The Book
By 6.13.07
Catching up on our Netflix pile, we watched Fast Food Nation last night. This is our movie review: read the book.
Netflix Recommends Moses Movie For Lovers Of Death Wish 3
By 4.5.07
Speaking of God and marketing, here’s a movie recommendation Netflix made to Sam. Because he enjoyed Death Wish 3, Netflix thought he would enjoy The Bible Collection: Moses.
Free Netflix Rentals For Brooklyn Residents?
By 3.24.07
The Brooklyn Public Library may replace its DVD inventory with a Netflix subscription. According to the NY Post, talks are underway to offer free Netflix deliveries to any Brooklyn resident with a library card. The proposal makes sense when you consider the challenge of maintaining a DVD collection in fifty-eight branches.
“DVDs are very expensive to buy, and they’re also very expensive to move because they’re delicate,” Vitali said.
Blockbuster CEO Will Resign
By 3.20.07
The video-rental chain, which has struggled to compete with changing movie-viewing habits and upstart services such as Netflix, said Tuesday that Mr. Antioco, who has led the company since 1997, would step down by the end of the year. The agreement drew praise from activist investor Carl Icahn, who sits on Blockbuster’s board. In previous years, Mr. Icahn has sparred with Mr. Antioco about how to run the company and how much Mr. Antioco gets paid.
“Late Fee” Antioco will be collecting $5 million when he resigns. —MEGHANN MARCO
Netflix Keeps Your DVD If You Send It In By Mistake
By 3.16.07
I’m really sorry to hear that you have sent us in your game. I researched this issue and found out that our distribution centers aren’t set up to return customer discs of any kind so we’re not able to send your disc back. I understand this is frustrating for you and I am very sorry that we cannot mail your disc back to you.
Blockbuster Weighing Charge For Total Access
By 3.8.07
Blockbuster may soon levy a $4-$6 surcharge for Total Access. By allowing DVDs to be exchanged as free in-store rentals, Total Access dangles a potential workout before couch-potatoes who would otherwise return DVDs exclusively by mail. Blockbuster is quietly circulating a survey to gauge potential outrage to a price hike.
One of the ideas is to offer Mail-Only plans, which would allow members to receive and return DVDs only by mail, without the option to return them at a Blockbuster store and exchange them for free in-store DVDs.
Blockbuster Store Requires New Members to Sign Up For Online Service?
By 2.20.07
The guy at the counter told me that I had to show a driver’s license and major credit card (perfectly reasonable), pay a $10 dollar fee (a bit much, but acceptable) and sign up for their Netflix ripoff, Blockbuster Online. Wait, what? I told him that I didn’t want to sign up for Blockbuster Online, and he refused to let me start a membership without signing up. And of course I couldn’t rent movies without a membership, so I was forced to leave without my movies.
Enable Netflix Video-On-Demand
By 2.15.07
If you’re not one of the lucky people who has Netflix video-on-demand pushed to their account, you can click here to enable it.
iTunes + Netflix = Cancel Cable?
By 1.24.07
A blogger over at ZDNet realized that he could cancel part of his cable, order his shows on iTunes, watch movies on Netflix and save $300 a year.
Netflix On The Internet
By 1.17.07
The movie streams, so users will have to stay connected to the internet while watching. Netflix plans to roll out the service across these glorious United States of America portions at a time, to ensure its servers have enough capacity. —MEGHANN MARCO
Netflix Hides Its Customer Service Number
By 12.11.06
A few weeks back 60 minutes did a profile of Netflix and its owner, Reed Hastings, (who has to have the best corporate name since Warren Widicus.) Anyway, much like our readers, Reed could not find Netflix’s customer service number the Netflix website.
Free Blockbuster Rentals For Netflix Subscribers
By 12.6.06
Blockbuster will give you a free online rental for each Netflix envelope flap you bring into a store. You must have a Blockbuster membership to qualify. The promotions lasts until Dec. 21. It’s an effort to get Netflix subscribers to sign up for Blockbuster’s Total Access Online service.
Help A Consumerist: What Netflix Alternative?
By 7.20.06
It’s not always bitch bitch bitch here at the Consumerist, so we like to turn over a thread to readers looking for some practical consumer advice every once and a while. Maumita writes:
Netflix Still Boning Best Customers
By 2.13.06
We were a bit surprised by the renewed ruckus concerning Netflix throttling the turn around speed of heavy users, considering it’s been a well-worn topic on Netflix blogs for at least a couple of years. But thanks to a new article on CNN.com, the issue is back to upset a whole new set of customers.
