Netflix turns to phone customer service
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Cuts e-mail support, citing consumer preference
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 8/16/2007
AUG. 16 | Going a different direction than most companies in the Internet era, Netflix has stopped taking customer service questions and complaints via e-mail, preferring to handle all customer support issues by phone.
“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.
Last year, the company opened a call center in Portland, Ore., and hired 200 customer service reps to begin handling customer calls 24 hours a day. Until this month, the company offered both the option of e-mailing customer service or calling a toll-free number.
Swasey said the company has found that as its membership has grown, the audience has broadened and become more mainstream. More of those mainstream users prefer calling customer service to typing an e-mail, he said.
Swasey said there’s not a material difference in cost of moving from e-mail to phone support.
Not everyone is pleased. Some commenters on blogs that first noted that the online retailer had cut e-mail customer service support, have complained that they’d like to have the option to e-mail problems.
Swasey said the majority of members prefer phone support and the immediate response of talking to a person.
“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.
