That's still dirt cheap, even if their stated reasons for raising rates are bogus (why blame debit card fees just after a law went into effect limiting these fees?)
That said, if they keep doing this I'll just stick to HULU. Now that HULU's signed a deal with the Criterion Collection I've got all the German Expressionist, French New Wave and five-hour black&white Samurai flicks I can handle! Cabinet of Dr. Caligari here I come!!!
With Netflix still reeling from its recent price-increase fiasco, a la carte DVD renter Redbox has decided it’s the perfect time to slip in its own price hike on daily rentals.
The company’s kiosks have famously rented discs out for $1 per night (more for Blu-ray DVD and game rentals), but now customers will be charged $1.20 starting on Halloween. (More trick than treat, obviously.) Redbox is blaming “rising operating expenses,” including increased debit card fees, for the price boost, despite its parent company Coinstar seeing a 90-percent increase in profits for its third quarter.
To ease its customers’ pain, the company says that it will transition into the new fee, continuing to charge a dollar for the first night of online rentals for the next month, with additional nights costing $1.20. You also won’t be charged the new fee for additional nights if you rented a DVD before October 31. More info here.
Redbox may be a little sneaky trying to drop this fee increase in while one of its main competitors is suffering a PR disaster for raising rates, but that’s also a good way to avoid some of that same heat.
