Save NetFlix Profiles!

Yesterday NetFlix announced that it was going to be removing the Profiles feature of its subscription service. I think that this is a huge mistake! Profiles turned out to be the best feature of NetFlix when we switched from Blockbuster a year ago. With one account, we could have one queue for me, one for Jeannette and Melissa, and one for Eric. We all have different interests in movies, so using separate queues allowed each of us to have a movie that we would like. This also helped with the Recommendations, since it would suggest the right kinds of movies for each of us. If we were all using the same queue, the recommendations would only be able to show action/adventure/romantic comedy/science fiction movies from Disney!

I can't really understand what NetFlix hopes to gain by eliminating profiles. While it will reduce some of the complexity of multiple queues under a single account, its no different than managing subscribers and dependents for health insurance plans, or many other common scenarios. It won't reduce the number or frequency of movies being rented, which is where I would imagine their capital expenses are tied up.

It really seems like netFlix is trying to drive its customers to use several individual accounts that cost more per movie than the multiple-movies-per-month plans that are more cost effective for consumers.

Since we have already had so many issues with BlockBuster, I'm not sure that we would return to their online service. They still don't have a store that would be convenient for us, which is part of the reason we left them. Being able to return the online movie at the store in exchange for a free rental gave us a lot of flexibility.

I think that if NetFlix removes the Profiles, we are likely to cancel, and get movie channels or use the Pay-Per-View on DirecTV instead. We've also rented movies from the grocery store or checked them out from the library. Its not as convenient, but beats paying more to NetFlix to get back the functionality that we already have today...

There is an online petition to try to convince NetFlix to keep the Profile feature. If you are a NetFlix subscriber who uses the Profiles feature, please consider signing the petition to encourage them to reconsider.