Please Be Kind And Rewind: Verizon Ejects Redbox Instant On October 7th
Easy come, easy go, as they say. Such would be a fitting banner on Redbox Instant's website because in just two days, the service will disappear just as quickly as it arrived. News of Redbox Instant's impending closure has been making the rounds all over the web, and Verizon confirmed the validity of those reports with a goodbye message on its website.
"Thank you for being a part of Redbox Instant by Verizon. Please be aware that the service will be shut down on Tuesday, October 7, 2014, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time," Verizon said in a statement. "Information on applicable refunds will be emailed to current customers and posted here on October 10."
Verizon said that customers can continue to stream movies and use their Redbox kiosk credits up through the closing time on Tuesday, so if you've been looking for an excuse to host a movie marathon, this is it.
Why did Redbox Instant fail? While Verizon never released any subscriber data, the service was losing money. To make matters worse, Redbox Instant had to stop taking on new subscribers earlier this year when it was discovered that hackers were using the website to verify illegally obtained credit card numbers. In addition to turning away new subscribers, Redbox Instant wasn't allowing current users to update their payment information, so if your credit card expired, you were kicked to the curb. On top of all this, Redbox's website doesn't link to Redbox Instant, underscoring the weak efforts to promote the service.
That's bad business all around, and when you're going up against giants like Netflix and Amazon in the streaming space, those types of business decisions are a death knell.
"Thank you for being a part of Redbox Instant by Verizon. Please be aware that the service will be shut down on Tuesday, October 7, 2014, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time," Verizon said in a statement. "Information on applicable refunds will be emailed to current customers and posted here on October 10."
Verizon said that customers can continue to stream movies and use their Redbox kiosk credits up through the closing time on Tuesday, so if you've been looking for an excuse to host a movie marathon, this is it.
Why did Redbox Instant fail? While Verizon never released any subscriber data, the service was losing money. To make matters worse, Redbox Instant had to stop taking on new subscribers earlier this year when it was discovered that hackers were using the website to verify illegally obtained credit card numbers. In addition to turning away new subscribers, Redbox Instant wasn't allowing current users to update their payment information, so if your credit card expired, you were kicked to the curb. On top of all this, Redbox's website doesn't link to Redbox Instant, underscoring the weak efforts to promote the service.
That's bad business all around, and when you're going up against giants like Netflix and Amazon in the streaming space, those types of business decisions are a death knell.
