Boycott to RLC following most recent access and watch policy changes

[costa049]

22 minutes ago, Freddie57 said:

Free previewing has always had limitations been like that since day one when RLC began.  

They seem to have removed the paywall for not signed in access. And yes, there has always been both continuous and daily playback limitations, but by limiting both the number of cams and the amount of time you can watch, users don’t get a meaningful preview. Meanwhile, when competitors allow continuous free viewing (or at least more generous previews), it makes RLC’s setup feel overly restrictive in comparison, which can drive potential subscribers elsewhere. 

[switch]

yes no more paywall for who don't have an rlc account and they can see the free cams also,

day after day we are back to normal, they realize it was not a good idea,

just need to reintroduce the 7 days deal also now

[costa049]

7 hours ago, switch said:

yes no more paywall for who don't have an rlc account and they can see the free cams also,

day after day we are back to normal, they realize it was not a good idea,

just need to reintroduce the 7 days deal also now

And remove these stupid playback time limitations

[Boing]

This is the letter I am about to send to RLC support.

Dear RLC,
How do you expect me to sign up again if I can't see what you're offering?
Currently there are only 2 free cams in Barcelona (both in the kitchen of B4) and 2 free cams in the other apartments. All 4 with completely empty rooms.
How can I see what you offer me if all the other cams are completely obscured and I can't even see the slightly obscured previews as it was until some time ago?
How can I understand what you offer if the replay previews are so grainy that I can't distinguish a human being from a coat rack?
Dear RLC, how can I renew my subscription if you can't support the user traffic in the evening and at night? How is it possible that starting in the afternoon the cams struggle to load or the streaming is continuously interrupted and the "Motion detection" no longer works? How is it possible, considering how much the Premium subscription costs, that I can only watch the Replay correctly for 2/3 hours in the morning and then in the other hours it continues to block every 5 seconds and sometimes for 15/20 consecutive seconds?
How is it possible that you apply these prices with the server problems that you continue to have? And please do not reply to me insinuating that the problems are with my line because I can watch streaming films and football matches in High Definition on other sites that cost much less than you!
Have a good day and see you again when you solve the technical problems and give me the opportunity to preview what I am going to buy.
Best regards
Boing

[costa049]

It’s interesting to see that monthly visits drastically dropped to around 4 million in February, and around the same time, RLC loosened the restrictions. They’ve removed the paywall, reduced the blur on previews and now they've added a few permanent free cameras with some rotating free cams. We don’t know for sure if these changes were prompted by the traffic decline, but the timing seems more than coincidental and shows a signal of how bad their latest decisions have been. Either way, it’s a notable step back toward the free-access model people have been asking for. It's good that they’ve taken steps to remove the paywall, bring back some free cams and reduce the blur, as well as the standard membership plan, but I hope they continue moving toward genuine transparency. Ideally, they’ll maintain (or even expand) these permanently free cameras like in the old days and get rid of shitty rotating free cams and the shitty playback time limitations, so new and returning users can get a real sense of what’s on offer before subscribing. With luck, these changes will boost user engagement and encourage RLC to keep refining its model in a way that benefits everyone.

[thinga69]

1 hour ago, costa049 said:

It’s interesting to see that monthly visits drastically dropped to around 4 million in February, and around the same time, RLC loosened the restrictions. They’ve removed the paywall, reduced the blur on previews and now they've added a few permanent free cameras with some rotating free cams. We don’t know for sure if these changes were prompted by the traffic decline, but the timing seems more than coincidental and shows a signal of how bad their latest decisions have been. Either way, it’s a notable step back toward the free-access model people have been asking for. It's good that they’ve taken steps to remove the paywall, bring back some free cams and reduce the blur, as well as the standard membership plan, but I hope they continue moving toward genuine transparency. Ideally, they’ll maintain (or even expand) these permanently free cameras like in the old days and get rid of shitty rotating free cams and the shitty playback time limitations, so new and returning users can get a real sense of what’s on offer before subscribing. With luck, these changes will boost user engagement and encourage RLC to keep refining its model in a way that benefits everyone.

They are doing this for 11 years, I guess they know that, when they cut or reduce the free cameras people stop coming to the site or come less frequently.

[costa049]

43 minutes ago, thinga69 said:

They are doing this for 11 years, I guess they know that, when they cut or reduce the free cameras people stop coming to the site or come less frequently.

Yes, but they have never gone so far as since mid-2020 with constant free rotating cams and apartments, and especially this year with these last stronger unprecedented limitations. And monthly visits have never dropped so drastically like this.

[dougiestyle4u]

2 hours ago, costa049 said:

Yes, but they have never gone so far as since mid-2020 with constant free rotating cams and apartments, and especially this year with these last stronger unprecedented limitations. And monthly visits have never dropped so drastically like this.

I am a believer that new managers stepped in and try to apply their own ideas and changes to improve RLC but they have been tried many times before and failed. So-called new thinking sometimes is nothing new but only to themselves. Free cams (whichever way RLC decides to do them) works as a great advertisement of their site. Sampling first or seeing what RLC is all about is the #1 incentive for re-subscribing members or potential new members. Talking about a visual cam site does nothing compared to the visual observations of the "real life voyeur cams". Simple.

In places I have or still work, I see new managers try things that never worked in the past or move away from doing things that were successful, effective and productive. RLC was very successful with amazing growth in their business from infancy when they allowed posting of apartment/tenant images. From my observations about people, very few are able to think outside the box, able to positively and effectively improve a company, change with the times, be a forwarded minded thinker, correct what is not working while continuously study and improve things that do work well and many, if not all, managers fail to use employees and customers ideas to help the business. Going through motions or same old same old doesn't cut it. Sadly, RLC has become stagnant but they only have themselves to blame. RLC, VHTV and Camarads are all floundering because they have become complacent due to their own managerial deficiencies.

[costa049]

To clarify about VAT charges, which has raised some controversy amongst us: VAT is a government-imposed consumption tax. Service providers are responsible for collecting the VAT from customers and then remitting it to the government, they don't keep it as revenue. It is generally applied based on where the service is consumed or provided, not where the company is headquartered. This means that if you’re delivering a digital service to customers in a particular jurisdiction, the VAT rate and rules of that jurisdiction apply, even if your business is based elsewhere. 

For instance, within the EU, digital services supplied to non-business customers (B2C) are taxed according to the VAT rate of the customer’s country, regardless of where the service provider is located. Similarly, for B2B transactions, if the customer is in another country, a reverse charge mechanism usually applies, shifting the VAT obligation to the customer. This approach is designed to ensure that the tax is paid in the jurisdiction where the consumption takes place, aligning tax revenues with the economic activity occurring in that area.

And there have been significant changes in recent years in the EU. The EU has moved to modernize its VAT system, most notably by expanding the VAT Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) into the One Stop Shop (OSS) from July 2021. This change streamlines reporting for cross-border digital services, ensuring VAT is charged based on the destination principle (i.e. where the service is consumed) rather than where the provider is headquartered.

So here is why RLC has added VAT to their prices, which is not their decision.

[costa049]

And they have increased the blur in both previews of popular cameras and popular scenes from the past 24 hours again.