Taxi Rides, Netflix Password Crackdown, and MoviePass
There were two shuttle bus times to take wedding guests from the reception to the hotels- one at 10:45pm and the “last call” time at 11:30pm. Patty and I waited at the country club doors and were surprised when only one other couple got on the 10:45 bus.
The driver dropped off the other couple at Hotel A and headed to Hotel B. 5 minutes from our hotel, he got a call.
“I’m sorry. I have to go back and pick up everyone else- then take you home.”
Following the rules can be painful for customers and hurt company revenue- I’ll get to Netflix and MoviePass in a minute.
Patty and I protested, but the driver insisted that he had to go back. We asked him to drop us off at a nearby QuikTrip and he headed back to the reception.
We couldn’t get on the Uber or Lyft apps, so we asked the cashier if we could call a cab.
“Cabs in this area of Chicago can only run people to and from the airport.”
We were stuck?
The cashier pointed out a taxi at a gas pump. Thankfully, the driver offered to take us to the hotel- even though it wasn’t allowed. “I don’t want to leave you stranded.”
We gave him big tip, and he was on this way.
Paying for services
Now, that illegal ride didn’t make or break Chicago’s taxi business (or the related Uber and Lyft business), but you can multiply our situation by a thousand (or five thousand), and see that it would start to have an impact. There’s a general understanding that customers will pay for the products and services they purchase.
What if customers don’t pay?
Well, business lose revenue- or even go out of business.
Which brings up to Netflix.
Netflix password crackdown
“More than 100 million people around the world watch Netflix content using borrowed passwords.”
Wow.
That stat is from the Wall Street Journal, which also reports:
Netflix’s “long-awaited crackdown on password sharing in the U.S. delivered a windfall of new subscribers in its earliest days, according to new data from streaming analytics company Antenna.
The streaming giant amassed more new subscriptions in the U.S. between May 25 and May 28, shortly after Netflix notified users in the U.S. and more than 100 countries and territories of the limits, than in any other four-day period since Antenna began compiling such data in 2019.”
It makes total sense.
Netflix spends billions on new content, and they can’t be expected to keep putting out new content if millions of customers aren’t paying for the product.
The Netflix situation differs from a company that creates a business model that simply isn’t profitable.
The bargain offered by Movie Pass
Remember MoviePass?
It’s making a comeback- and I hoped they’ve changed the business model.
We used MoviePass several years ago. For a monthly fee, you could see up to one movie a day. My whole family joined and saw lots of movies. If fact, too many people took advantage of the offer- and MoviePass lost money.
The lesson
There’s a difference between customers not paying for a product or service, and buyers taking advantage of an unprofitable business model.