Redbox Instant Shutting Down on Tuesday, October 7

Time to hang another head on the wall, Netflix; you've bested another one. The streaming service from Redbox and Verizon, Redbox Instant, is officially throwing in the towel. Those who subscribe to the service (starting at a $6 monthly fee to do so) received an email today informing them of the pending shutdown.

Additionally, Redbox Instant updated its website with brand-new 'goodbye' language.

'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 p.m. Pacific Time. Information on applicable refunds will be emailed to current customers and posted here on October 10,' reads the new message.

'In the meantime, you may continue to stream movies and use your Redbox kiosk credits until Tuesday, October 7 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. We apologize for any inconvenience and we thank you for the opportunity to entertain you.'

While it's hard to say just how long the shutdown was in the works, Gigaom notes that Redbox Instant's credit card troubles as of late—specifically, the result of credit card fraud—didn't much help the service. Not only have new customers been unable to sign up for the past three months, but existing customers have been unable to update their payment information on the service for the same amount of time.

In other words, anyone with an expiring credit card was simply booted off the service. There's no way that loyal Redbox Instant customers could switch their payments over to a new credit card and continue on as subscribers—not the most ideal of business plans.

It also hasn't helped that Redbox's own website hasn't linked to Redbox Instant within its comprehensive listings of movies. It seems as if noting that one's film is available on the Instant service, in addition to Blu-ray or DVD from a standard Redbox kiosk, would be a solid business practice as well. No dice.

Perhaps the final nail in the coffin came when Gigaom's Janko Roettgers specifically asked Verizon and Redbox a few days ago whether the service was shutting down—prompted by some Internet rumors that it was going to pull the plug on October 1. The 'no comment' response isn't exactly what one might expect to hear for such a simple question: Will your service continue to exist?