Netflix to break homes by eliminating profiles!

Yeah this is ridiculous. This is one of my wife and I's favorite features.

I set them an email saying if they do this i'm canceling my service.

I complained as well. Whoever reads this, if it upsets you, let them know. If they get enough feedback, they may change their direction.

I called - ranted to a netflix rep. He said HE and his wife use it, and he'll be upset too. Ha! Plus, I underscored the inherit security risk in having people share passwords for one account, which is what they will be forced to do now. (Not so much a big deal with spouses, but used to be a problem when us roommates shared an account.)

Does Blockbuster offer multiple profiles?

This is incredibly disappointing. I really don't see how eliminating this feature helps them "continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers." It certainly doesn't improve the Netflix website for me!

Gah. Do they think we're going to pay for two accounts now? I wish I could switch to Blockbuster without feeling slimy.

This is such an awesome feature for multi-person households. I can't believe only one percent of accounts use it!

Netflix,

The executive staff needs slapped around a bit for this decision. No possible explanation, whether technical, financial, or personal could justify this grave misstep.

Do not let BlockBuster regain traction over you!

I don't imagine that Blockbuster question was for real...not apples to apples eh?

The real solution. Fix it yourself.....

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/mar/7...
The Director, Marketing Modeling and Analytics will play a key role at Netflix by developing and refining predictive models, as well as mining data from throughout the business, which enable Netflix to grow as quickly as possible while also achieving EPS goals. Reporting to the VP, Marketing, the Director, Marketing Modeling and Analytics will partner with channel owners throughout the marketing team covering all aspects of new subscriber acquisition and new subscriber lifetime value.

Netflix is eliminating Profiles feature....

Reed Hastings...Stupid, Stupid Man...

Burn the brigade! Funny how much outrage there is over this. Michael, I'm with you--how will my boyfriend and I go manage? Plus, he's filled out my profile as "The Beautiful Olivia." What to do without the shameless flattery??

I don't care about anything but being able to share a service like netflix with my roomates easily. If blockbuster has profiles, then to blockbuster i will go.

I may have to switch to Blockbuster now. They don't do multiple profiles (at least not the last time I tried), but they are by my house, so I can turn over DVDs more often. More convenient, and with Profiles, there's nothing keeping me with Netflix. Horrible, horrible decision.

I hate the fact that netflix is removing the Profiles feature.

We are on the 4 movie plan, my wife has 2 movies (drama/comedy), i have 1 movie(action/anime), and my kids have 1 movie(kids). Additionally, suggestions are all relevant to the account. Now, we will all be lumped together. This will require a lot more micro-management of the queue, plus our ratings will not be relevant. I like anime/action movies, wife likes drama, and kids like kid animated movies. Might as well remove suggestions while they are at it as they won't help us anymore.

I sent Netflix this message, "I find it extremely disappointing that Netflix is removing Profiles under the guise of being able to provide a better experience to all customers. Profiles were a perfect solution for families who didnt want to allow everyone access to the primary account or deal with the hassle of managing a queue that contains selections for any number of people. The lack of Profiles makes ratings and recommendations effectively useless to those sharing an account. Ive always found Netflix to have an uncanny sense of their customers and what sets the service apart from all the others. This latest move to remove such a wonderful feature doesnt reinforce that view. The lack of Profiles in Instant Watching online and via the Roku Netflix Player now makes a lot more sense. In closing, Ive always been impressed by Netflix. Not so much now."

This is maddening. I echo what everyone else has said - this is particularly frustrating for families with kids. Giving them their own profile makes life so much simpler.

I am shocked that they didn't provide a remotely convincing explanation. Their message was basically "suck it up, we know what's best for you." Of course, maybe they do know what's best, but they haven't exactly bred confidence with this botched announcement.

I'm not a netflix user like all of you, so I might not have a place to complain, but...

As someone working to improve the Customer-Company dialog (I'm an employee of GetSatisfaction) it's maddening to read the reason why NetFlix is doing this. From their FAQ:

Why? While it may be disappointing to see this feature go away, this change will help us to continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers.

This says to me "We're doing this just cuz". That isn't an acceptable justification.

Boy, this doesn't sound like a really smart move to me. Let's see if we can get their attention and find out why they think this is a good move.

Arrrggghhhh!!! Stupid Netflix!!! I have over 400 movies in each queue, tons and tons of movie ratings, etc...

AH, so you mean separate queues. I have more than 500 movies in two queues, and one queue that I can't delete (they never added deleting queues). I wonder if the merger will give me over 500 movies?

Also, why is the OP talking about Netflix renting games? That's totally unrelated and should be a different thread

I echo everyone else's sentiment. My husband and I have separate profiles and is one of the best features Netflix has - or had - to offer. How infuriating to get that e-mail. I don't typically leave comments but I am hoping that there is a slim chance all this noise will make them reconsider.

For families with kids, multiple profiles is the only way to go. By doing this Netflix is turning its backs on family customers. What a terrible decision, and with no explanation whatsoever! "Improving service" by removing used features is a joke.

Netflix would have to reverse their decision for me to get satisfaction. But I would get some satisfaction from a better explanation than "While it may be disappointing to see Profiles go away, this change will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers." I feel like Netflix is treating me like an idiot--did they really think this explanation would help in any way?

This is why we did Netflix -- separate queue for the kid. I can't believe they are killing this feature. WHAT are they thinking?

So sad, was a great feature. And it's also sad that the reply-to email address they sent the message from bounces messages back.

My guess is that people were using the multiple queues to share a single Netflix account with friends, roommates, etc., and Netflix wants each of those people to pay for their own account.

eh: That may be the case, but can someone enlighten me about one thing? When people use this feature, all of these movies go to the same address, correct? I haven't used this feature so I am unsure, but if someone knows, please clue me in. Thanks!

I'm expecting some enterprising coder to hack together an unauthorized Netflix profile app that supports multiple queues for an account, and then rolls them all up into the official queue for fulfillment.

eric suesz: I've never done it (I share my account with only my wife), but I would imagine that it would be easy to share with roommates, nearby friends (you can give them movies when you see them), co-workers (you can give them their movies at work), etc.

Personally, I think this kind of thing only helps Netflix, as it gets people interested in Netflix who obviously aren't ready yet to pay for it. Eventually, they'll get their own account and Netflix will make a new customer.

Of course, I have no idea if this is the reason Netflix is getting rid of this feature. I haven't thought of a better reason yet, but I'm not nearly as smart as whoever came up with the idea for Netflix :)

eh: Well, your assumption was my initial assumption, too. I can't think of another reason off-hand. But, like you, I think that tightening things in this manner only serves to turn people off. What little they might gain from new accounts will undoubtedly by surpassed by people leaving. Thanks!

Profiles are THE main feature that separates Netflix from Blockbuster . I tried the Blockbuster service a while back and it was fine, but they didn't have profiles, so I didn't even consider it beyond the trial. I have profiles for myself, my wife and my kids. If I have to manage and sequence all those movies manually, I'm gonna go nuts. Forget it. If they don't stop this nonsense, I will quit and move to Blockbuster just to make a point.

_NOT_ how to retain customers guys. If you think you can get rid of features that are being used by even 0.1% of your customer base and not have that turn into a massive exodus, you haven't been paying attention to the way that competitive services works.

Profiles was pretty much your only differentiating feature. Way to go suddenly making yourself the under powered player in the marketplace.

I completely agree. I jumped on the profiles bandwagon as soon as I found out about it. I have a six-at-a-time plan with three profiles: one with 2, for movies (over 1100 rated; one for me, one for my wife), one with 1, for TV series (over 350 seasons rated, pretty sad, I know, but this way I can keep my ratings and recommendations separate), and one with 3 for my kids.

The one for my kids is the most important because it allows me to monitor their usage and restrict the movies they rent (up to rated G. Anything higher, and they need me to put in my password to add it to their queue for them). They can arrange their own queue without my having to get involved.

Also, each profile has a different addressee so that when we get a movie in the mail, my kids know when there's one for them.

What else stinks is that if I were to split into three separate accounts, it would cost me an additional $4 per month (9+14+17 vs 36). If I can manage with two accounts, I'd save $2 (17+17). I don't understand it either.

I really started my subscription for the TV series. The movies I could probably find on my own, but the late fees are a pain.

All in all, I don't know how I'll put the "improved" Netflix website to good use, if I continue to use it at all.

This majorly blows. My roommate introduced me to Netflix and sold me with the profile feature. She watches movies faster than I do and we have different tastes. I'm not going to pay for a separate account on principle. Screeeeeeeew that nonsense. I'm just going to start going to Blockbuster again (one block from my apt) or cut back and watch less movies. We're in a recession after all....

Profiles were a cool feature: they allowed you to share your DVD queue with multiple profiles, so I could have one more myself and one for my wife. But they also caused massive confusion. If one profile didn't have any DVDs in their queue, no DVDs would be sent. Also, it distributed ownership of the account across multiple people, and when you have a roommate that tends to lose things or let the dog get to them, that can cause problems. I think it was a good decision and handled really well by Netflix.

I just blogged about this, too, in the hope that we can help drive the point home even more. Blog post here: http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2008/...

In this conversation, I see that our satisfactometer mood rating is, well, almost entirely sad faces. It's clear to me that almost everyone thinks this is a bad move on the part of Netflix. So, I'll work to turn those frowns upside down, so to speak, and help get a response.

But, please, don't let that stop you from continuing to provide feedback. Bring it on. I'd love to hear even more examples of how you use the Profiles feature and how taking it away will affect you -- and your purchasing decisions.

But they also caused massive confusion. If one profile didn't have any DVDs in their queue, no DVDs would be sent

Easily solved in any number of ways, the easiest to implement being a checkbox that says "Let the other profiles on this account borrow my allotment if my queue is empty."

I agree that this really sucks. I can already feel the migraines coming on. i have an 8 at a time plan with 3 people on it. me (29) my brother (13) and my dad (50). why should i have to set up 3 separate netflix accounts when i am paying for these all myself. i would have to have pay more and have more charges to remember and i dont live anywhere near a blockbuster so that wouldnt be any easier for me. i emailed them with a complaint and also signed a petition. http://www.petitiononline.com/netflix...

pass this around and get everyone on board!

This apparently has gotten big on Digg.

Hacking Netflix has a response saying that this is a "final decision".

Netflix hasn't considered the people this makes angry, are the people going out of their way to recommend Netflix to others. If Netflix service is going to be like any other, I see no reason to keep recommending Netflix or defending their reputation in online forums. So Netflix might only be loosing the 2% of people that use this service - but how many OTHER customers have they just cost themselves by angering the people who most liked Netflix as a company?

When the bean counters take over customer service choices, your company is only worth the hill of beans they are counting. What a tragic loss of a company, this is obviously the tip of a larger iceburg that is going to make other equally consumer unfriendly choices.

I'll be killing my account if this goes through unless they offer some kind of cross-grade/migration option. Like hell I'm re-doing my thousands of ratings and hundred plus queue items because the feature is too time consuming to support: what about my time?

Here is my response to Netflix:

I can't believe this. First you take away the RTW page and now this. Do you guys have any concept of what makes good customer service? It's not taking away every good service you provide...it's adding new ones. Just like the RTW page removal, this is being done not to help out your customers but for your own selves. I just wish you guys would own up to it. I liked having separate profiles, since it allowed my wife to have her own list and I had my own. Now it will have to go back to how it was before where you have to hope you movies are shipped in the correct order in order to be fair. We all know how well that works.

I am thoroughly disgusted with Netflix right now. I was very unhappy about the RTW page but this is even worse. I am seriously considering quitting the service that I've belonged to since the beginning. I am now convinced that if you guys thought stealing candy from a baby would help your bottom line, you wouldn't hesitate. In fact, you would probably pop their balloon for good measure if they had one. Simply put, you guys are money grubbing scum who are doing everything they can to maximize their profits at the expense of their customers. This is one customer giving you the one finger salute.

also, what i dont get, is a few months ago they had a shipping problem and gave people that had movies supposed to be shipped that day a 5% refund. just to be nice, they didnt have to do it but i thought it was great, now they are turning on us in a big way. they said it only affected a few people but wanted to be fair, what about this?

I've been using Netflix since 2002. My wife and I have been using "Profiles" since 2005. Last year, we got the kids (ages 8, 10, and 12) each their own profile. We felt it would help them learn about the internet and movies by going to the Netflix site rating movies and writing reviews. Now, all their hard work is going to vanish, since their ratings and reviews will be erased :( . How do you explain that to a kid, other than the evil corporation doesn't care about its customers?!?

I have over 7,000 movies rated, and about 300 reviews. My Netflix rank runs 110 to 120. Needless to say, it's not my Profile going away. But as the wife has gotten used to rating movies (she's over 1,000 now) how am I going to tell her that it was all for nothing?

I just simply don't understand it. I'm at a loss. If only 5% of Netflix' customers use this feature, they are taking a chance that a large portion of them will go to Blockbuster, where their Total Access plan (exchanging mailed DVDs in their retail stores) really helps with the shipping times. Late fees are a thing of the past, so Netflix features like profiles really help the company stand out.

It's only been about eight hours since Netflix' e-mail was sent out and already generated this response. I can't wait to see the news in the morning. Newspapers, Good Morning America, etc. will all pick up on this. Anybody remember when 60 Minutes did an article on Netflix and they revealed Netflix didn't have a telephone number on their website? Now, it's next to impossible to e-mail 'em. They seem like they PREFER to call them: 1 (888) 638-3549 or (888) NET-FLIX . So, this response should help fix SOMEthing because it definitely needs fixed!

So unbelievably frustrating.

Walt D in LV
http://www.thecinemaniacs.com

Seriously considering canceling (or at the absolute least, majorly downgrading) my Netflix account. I live in a household that has completely different tastes in movies, and barring some incredibly dedicated queue management it's going to be basically impossible to make sure everyone stays happy.

For a company that's known for their customer service, this seems rather disappointing.

While not the end of the world, this will certainly be a big inconvenience. I'll consider switching to Blockbuster if this isn't reversed.

It's ridiculous to me that the company would eliminate this feature without having a new system ready to launch. Operating our three-disc rental for three people out of one queue just requires too much effort--particularly knowing there was another system in place that made it operate perfectly.

Man I feel ripped off and betrayed. There's gotta be an alternative to Netflix and Blockbuster out there. My girlfriend and I LOVE the separate profiles. What the hell people.

Profile-separated queues, ratings, and suggestions is what made Netflix worthwhile for my family, and prompted us to go with a larger plan.

Removing profiles removes our loyalty; we're pursuing alternatives.

+1 in disappointment that Netflix is abandoning one of their best features

I just left a long post on Netflix's blog about how disappointing this is. Having 2 separate queues is part of what really made Netflix great. I think I may be shopping around come the end of August if they don't do something to fix this. Bye Netflix, we'll miss you... but not if this is what the future holds for Netflix users. :(

This is dumb. I pay for a 4 disc plan divided into a 2 disc queue for me and a 2 disc queue for my wife. We have wildly different tastes, and now we're going to be forced to share the same rating history and suggestions unless we pay $2 more a month? Either a $23.99 4 disc plan or two $13.99 two disc plans.

this is going to kill recommendations for one account with two people with very different tastes in movies (like my husband and me). it renders so much of their application useless. if *i* can't even trust my ratings, how can anyone else? it seems like any complaint against the complications having profiles brings can easily be solved by a user choosing not to have one.

i want to know what is coming from netflix that is so stellar that it was worth killing profiles for.

I find the feature useful in that I normally have a lower level account, with a couple inactive queues, and occasionally bump up to higher service levels for a while when I have time to watch more. I have considered canceling several times, but these queues being there ready for when I want has been one of the big reasons keeping me from doing so.

This feature is incredibly useful for my family and I'm very upset they're turning it off. I hope they reconsider.

As a 7 year Netflix customer, the introduction of Profiles was the best thing that ever happened to the service. It fixed every problem that my wife & I had with the service.

What are you thinking, guys?

In addition to all of these forums, everyone should go write a suggestion here: http://www.netflix.com/Suggest?type=2...

Netflix seems to have something against its customers' efficient use of its services.

Because they gave me access to a ton of movies that Blockbuster had no interest in providing, I plan to stick with Netflix through thick and thin, but I'd really like to see an actual reason for the elimination of profiles.

I love Netflix even though Blockbuster has an advantage in that you can return directly to the store. Netflix customer service and features such as the queue set it apart.

Up until RIGHT NOW, Netflix has always been forward-thinking. Looking to make the service better and more valuable by ADDING features that make customers like me happy.

This is the first time they are looking to take something away.
Have we hit the peak Netflix? Is this where everything turns and you move to a thoughtless company of cost-saving measures and "incentives" for the customers to spend more while getting no additional value?

Please, let it not be so...

I would even be willing to start another account if it would enable my husband to keep all his reviews and ratings that he has accumulated over the last three years, but Netflix says it's "impossible" to transfer the data over. To me impossible = too much effort.

yeah it really doesnt give me an incentive to start again anytime soon cause my account has been removed. I think netflix are being cheap bastards by pruning the database. So all of my movies that ive reviewed are most likely gone. all of my recommendations will have to start over again. This is a very stupid move on their part.

Guys, I think the most "in their face" we can get is commenting on this on their own blog on Netflix.com. Of course we should do 3rd party petitions, submit suggestions, comment here and elsewhere on it, but let's put our opinions on their own site. If they don't look anywhere else, you'd think they would look at their own blog. As of this writing, 309 people have already commented over there.

http://blog.netflix.com/2008/06/profi...

I'm in the same boat as everyone here.

Now I have to figure out what we're going to do. Constantly manipulating our queue to keep the family happy doesn't sound like much fun.

Josh: I think that angry Netflix customers should make their voice heard in as many places as possible, and not only in one "official" space. They could decide to simply delete or censor posts on their blog if they want to, but they can't control what is said about them in 1,000 places.

I called to complain and sent them an e-mail complaint as well. My wife goes through DVDs far more quickly than I do. The only reason I didn't switch to Blockbuster a while back was because I couldn't have my own little one DVD profile. I hope all of the complaints force them to make a change to this policy before September 1.

For shame, Netflix, for shame.

This is crazy - now the 6 regulars on the Netflix community are complaining about all the people who came out in droves to voice their opposition to this decision.

What Netflix community? Where is this complaining going on?

Its located here http://community.netflix.com/

But it looks like we might have made it crash. Mwahhh-hah-hah-hah!

they need to reverse this decision or find a better solution.

If you take away the primary differentiating factor between you company and others you are likely to see a decline in revenue. Hello? Marketing 101, here. I'll get rid of Netflix on principle alone. Sad, sad day when such a good company goes so wrong.

I will cancel my account if this is not changed. I refuse to share an account with my wife and daughter. They can go to the movie store right across the street and I don't have to deal with it. The only reason I had a 3-movie plan was because of ability to split. I don't understand what benefit Netflix gains by removing functionality.

I have read elsewhere that people are skeptical that folks will really leave Netflix over this issue of profiles removed.

What I think such people fail to realize is when Netflix cancels profiles and removes the sub-profile information (the queues, the ratings, the friends), they have removed those persons' accounts except for the main account holder.

So in effect, they are removing thousands of people from their service if the queue users were those who share profiles with family members, roommates, etc. Those who have separate profiles for genres aren't so affected (and removed from the system), but I would bet they number far fewer than those of us who have multiple profiles for boyfriends, wives, kids, etc.

Why should my BF rejoin netflix and pay another fee to "restore" his thousand ratings, hundreds of reviews, and his 400 movie queue?

Why should I as the main account holder continue paying for my account when Netflix has handled this situation so badly. What next? Will they remove another feature I have come to like (for example, the ability to save movies to a queue that are not yet released)?

It is unconscionable that they could remove the data from other profiles without providing a way for such data to be transferred to another account if people so wanted.

It makes no sense, is ill advised, and makes me feel like Netflix is giving us the finger.

Stupid. That's all I can say

I just received Netflix's e-mail announcing that Profiles are going away, and I cannot be any more disappointed. Profiles is one of my favorite features, and one of the main differentiators why I chose Netflix over the competition. If this feature goes away, I will seriously consider dropping Netflix, as the service utility for me would drop way down. Netflix, please reconsider this decision, as you will have a very upset customer otherwise.

NetFlix is dropping the DVD rentals anyway. They want to focus on the online viewing. No shipping that way. Even if they lose half thier clients they still make money

Profiles are what makes netfilx a useful service. With out them there is no reason for my wife and i to keep our 4 at a time plan. Eliminating profiles will not help consumers in any way, but instead will hinder your abilty to get movies you want. First they hide new release movies and refuse to show anything newer then 3 or 4 weeks. Now they make it impossible for more then one person to enjoy the service. I would have to update my que on a daily basis, because it would become a conast task of ensuring that 2 movies are always at the top as long as 2 for my wife. What happens if none of the movies i want are avilable. I get no movies and she gets 4. Oh wait, i guess i could always watch the 5 and 6 slot, but then who get what there, and then if those 2 are not avilable then i get 7 or 8, its worthless. I checked blockbuster out as soon as i heard this news. Yeah, there plans are more, and only 3 at a time. But they offer in store service too, that means i would always be assured a movie i want to watch. Netfilx will be losing our business on 9/1. I refuse to stay with a company that is saying screw you to the customer. The profile system is what makes netfilx better then BB at the present moment, but once its gone there sevice is worthless. There settop box is a joke, let me spend 100 on a box that only plays your movies, and has no new releases.

This sucks. The funny thing is that 1) I had been planning to upgrade to more discs per month and 2) I would've paid for it if they'd let me export my queue, ratings, etc. to a new account. Why the hell would I want to get a new account now when I'll have to start all over with my hundreds of ratings? They're erasing all of those hours I spent rating things to get better recommendations. Why should I bother rating anything anymore? Now my recommendations will be jumbled with two other people with distinctly different tastes. Nor do we want each other's rental history! What happens when one of us sends a disc to Netflix earlier or the disc one of us sends later arrives first, making the next selection go out before it was supposed to? One person in our three queue household could wind up with all of their movies with the other two get none! It just ruins everything.

If Blockbuster's selection wasn't lousier than Netflix, I'd've jumped ship this minute. Right now I'm looking at GreenCine, GamesZnFlix, and TigerCinema to see if one of them would like my service instead. Way to bone your customers, Netflix!

I'm just adding my voice as my vote against this idiotic and ill-explained move.

I use this feature regularly and it encourages me to review and rate. Don't guess I'll be doing that any more, assuming the service is worthwhile when the wife and I have our various interests intermingled and passwords are being shared.

Genius. (Not really)

As I posted on the Netflix Community website...

I've been member of Netflix since April 2001 and for years I have been an enthusiastic supporter of the company recommending it to everyone I know and even buying gift subscriptions for family members. But now, I no longer have positive feelings about the company and feel as if they trying their best to push me out the door.

Two decisions the company has made in the last six months -- elimination of HD DVD and now the elimination of Profiles -- have really rubbed me the wrong way and reduced the value and worth of the Netflix service to me. Netflix's moves may just speed my transition to getting movies through other methods -- downloads (not through Netflix), etc.

I, like many of you, split my subscription with my wife so that we can maintain separate lists for our different interests. I'm certainly not going to pay for a second subscription, particularly since I feel my current subscription is becoming less and less useful.

Gone from Netflix since January 08....

- HD DVDs....

- Profiles....

- And, me very soon!

If you are worried about loosing your ratings, I recommend using this tool to back them up:
http://tenhanna.com/greasemonkey/

I just used it to back up the ratings on three profiles of mine and it worked great. It will create tab-delimited text that you can save locally.

In a perfect world, this output could then be used to import into some other rental service. I have already contacted Intelliflix (http://www.intelliflix.com/) customer service to see if they would be interested in providing this service. If so, I'm going to try them out as their service looks very promising and has the separate user profiles under one account and ability to restrict profiles by movie rating. It would probably help if more people contacted them as well.

If you are going to try the above referenced tool, I would do it ASAP as it is possible that Netflix could make some site update that would render it useless.

Good luck!

It really makes no sense that they are removing this useful feature with the claim that they are making things better. The excuse (it's confusing) is just silly -- it's clearly not confusing to the people who use it. If it really is confusing, make it less confusing. Like many others posting here, I will be reducing or getting rid of my NetFlix account as a direct result of this change. And I've been quite happy. It's a shame.

I wrote a blog post about it too: NetFlix is a Service, Not a Web Site
(http://www.thisuser.com/2008/06/netfl...)

Really, I just have thing to say about this move by Netflix, "Boo!"

how are we going to actually "solve" this problem?

aside from signing the online petitions and posting on community.netflix.com...any other ideas?

I don't see a solution. Profiles cost them money and they did not offer a higher price to keep them, meaning they don't need the business. The other rentals don't offer them either. So either you get each person in your house their own subcription (parents would have to input it for their underage children), go back to the video stores, make seperate files for each of your users and then add movies to the prime account manually, or just stop watching DVDs.

I have heard two DVD rental services bandied about as alternatives to Netflix users who are irritated:

Dvd Avenue: http://www.dvdavenue.com/user/homeNew...

Green Cine: http://www.greencine.com/main

My BF is really angry that he will be "deleted" by netflix so he is ready for us to bolt to another service. Since he will "never have existed" on netflix after September 1, he sees no reason to stay loyal to netflix.

It's been 4 days and he is pretty entrenched in this position. I think Netflix likely lost two customers here. If I stay, I'm going down to 1 at a time.

David Pogue at NYT has published something about this:

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/

I am extremely dissatisfied with this decision to remove account profiles. My wife and I have very different tastes in movies and the profile feature has allowed us to manage this. Up until now I have considered Netflix an innovative service that provides what customers need, but now I have to reconsider my loyalty to a company that takes away useful features with no good explanation.

I don't understand how it's in the customer's best interest to remove a feature that's obviously very useful because it's "cumbersome" without a better feature in its place. Eliminating profiles is like destroying the work of your customers without giving them the ability to save that work. Netflix stores a ton of information about each of its customers, from reviews to ratings, so why are they so quick to delete some of it?

Netflix, you need a better solution than "we've decided to terminate the profiles feature." That's just not good customer service.

I, too, would mourn the loss of profiles. It means that I would lose the 1 of 3 netflix that my husband has graciously allotted me. It means that I would never see movies of my preference. I wouldn't get my own netflix account. And by losing my profile, you'd actually have to work harder b/c my husband watches a much greater number of movies than I do.

Summary: Do you still need a 2, 3, or 4 at a time subscription?

With a 3 person profile for my family it made sense for a 3 at a time subscription. Without profiles I expect to go to no more than a 2 at a time program, which means less convenience for me and less revenue for Netflix.

If enough subscribers reevaluate their subscriptions to a lower number based on the announced profile removal and let Netflix know that's the reason, perhaps their business logic will change.

I am afraid we are all going to be shopping for a new rental home. This new clip says it all http://www.dmnews.com/Netflix-release...

There are very few companies I actually like. Netflix just removed themselves from that list.

If this is true, we are good to go! Good job everyone!

They were pretty adamant that the decision was made and they weren't going to listen to complaints, but they did listen after all. Bravo to both the people who complained and Netflix for listening.

Netflix Listened: http://www.thisuser.com/2008/06/netfl...

Bravo! Couldn't have done it without the bloggers...

Give the bloggers a hand, Netflix Listened: http://www.searchmarked.com/netflix/w...

Yay! The crowd screamed and Netflix responded. Excellent.

I called it: Netflix wasn't ever serious about removing them, but now they look like they listen to users (otherwise why give such an odd VERY far away date like 1 September?). Victory truly for Netflix, to convince users they matter :)

I am so happy N-flix came to their senses. Thanks GetSatisfaction. Every dog has his day, and i just had mine!

Thank you Netflix!!