Rich Fiscus
17 Aug 2007 22:11
In an unusual move for an internet based company, online video rental firm Netflix is no longer taking customer service requests via email. Instead, all support issues will be handled by phone in the future.
“We want to make the best movie experience better,” spokesman Steve Swasey said. “We find that people are more appreciative of talking to a live person 24 hours a day.”
The shift comes as the company battles Blockbuster for online subscribers and loyalty. In July, Netflix reported its first quarterly loss in subscribers.
Swasey said there’s not a material difference in cost of moving from e-mail to phone support.
“The very best e-mail program is still not as good as a live person on the phone,” he said.
Netflix also continues to test different price points on plans, apparently sending an e-mail to select subscribers of the three-movies-out plan today dropping the price by $1 to $15.99. The retailer just cut the price of that plan by $1 in July.
Source: Video Business