Gasspasser

So I called their customer service line and when I spoke to this lady I told her "Before I cancel my service with you guys I just wanted to see if you could explain why my service was so bad suddenly." She was real cool about it and said a lot of excuses that I shot down one after another. She didnt blame it on the postal service which I was suprised about.

So she was like, you have been a customer of ours for over a year, we want to keep you. We will go ahead and give you 2 free months of service and hopefully your service will improve enough to keep you with us.

So we will see what happens. Hopefully it goes back to normal.

Tarantino

On the other side of things, I've had netflix for a long time now (well over a year) and my netflix service is fantastic. I just upgraded to the five at a time plan and it's a two /three day turnaround...when they say it's been shipped, it's at my house the next day.

= J

madara

Mine was so bad this last two week it took them 9 days to begin to send out titles I had available in my quene. Even after 3 emails the reluctant CS gave me a week credit.

Manzana

Netflix has become terrible the last few weeks for me too. At best I can get 3 movies per week and this week it looks like I'll only get 1. They go in the mail on Monday, Netflix about 25 miles away claims to receive them on Wednesday, then they claim to ship them on Thursday, and then they arrive on Friday, Saturday or Monday.

We always mail all 3 together at the post office and Netflix is determined to split them up so that they arrive on different days requiring multiple trips to the post office. Every time I resync them after a few weeks they do the same thing by splitting them up. It's just another way of throttling people, in my opinion.

Rival11

I've had netflix for a while and have experienced most of the problems everyone else has.

I'm on the cheapest plan ($9.99 a month) and one time I waited a week and half for a movie. I almost cancelled my account unitl I read a little tip here in the forum.

Someone mentioned that if you make sure the barcode on the sleeve is visible in the envelope, you will receive your movies faster. Well believe it or not, this is true. My movies are coming in fast now, I send one back, I get a notification a day later that they received it, they send the next one out that same day and I get it the next day.

I haven't had any problems since I started doing this (it's been a month now) maybe it was the answer maybe it wasn't but I'm going to stick to it.

PJsig08

I've had some problems with turnaround. Used to get my 3 movies every 2-3 days, now it's more like every 5-6 days. What's the deal?

I definitely send back the movies they send me within a day, so are they purposely slowing down my shipments? Also, what's an email or number for me to call to get ahold of them? If I'm gonna get crappy service, I at least want a 2 month credit or something...

Boot

My service has sucked badly since August. Netflix opened a distribution center in Little Rock (about 75 miles away) around that time, and suddenly it takes four days for them to receive movies rather than the two days when my discs were going to Houston.

By the way, I always make sure that the barcode shows through the envelope. Hasn't made a shit difference for me.

I've talked to CS, and...big surprise...they had no answer except that maybe the post office I send them out from is slow.

The only saving grace is that they usually get here in a day, sometimes two, so as long as I keep having new discs by the weekend I'll stick with Netflix, but I'm always waiting to jump ship if another service can prove they are faster.

Manzana

I know this is a bit late, but I experienced the same thing with Blockbuster on Clueless Whatever Edition.

I'm noticing similar problems with new re-release SEs. Ones like Alien vs. Predator (2 disc) and Oklahoma (2 disc) still show "Coming Soon" even though they have already been released. On rare occasion these 2 disc entries will convert into the first disc of the set if they someday get it in stock, but most of them seem stuck in the "Coming Soon" state. Of the 3 Fox musical re-issues (Oklahoma, State Fair, and Sound of Music) released on the same day, Blockbuster appears to have gotten State Fair, might be getting Oklahoma, and will not get Sound of Music. Of course things can change daily making it difficult to keep up with.

I consider these things signs that Blockbuster may be in the process of slowing or stopping renting re-release Special Editions altogether. To me Blockbuster's main advantage was that they got many of these re-releases, but if they stop getting them then they will basically have the same catalog of rental titles as Netflix. So much for people who want to rent re-releases or obscure titles.

Manzana

By the way, Netflix shipped me a popular new release title that should be available at my nearby location from a location in another state thereby wasting several day's transit time each way.

Is there anything I can do about this?

I remember reading that somebody put the DVD shipped from the distant location in an envelope for the nearby location along with a second DVD, but I don't remember hearing if that worked or if Netflix will forward the discs along which would take even longer.. Does anyone know?

I just think it's ridiculous to ship new releases from distant locations when I'd rather have them move to the next title in my queue that's available locally. However, Netflix didn't have the foresight to allow customers to choose that option, and it seems unlikely they will add it.

A-aron

As of right now, EVERY movie in my queue is on long wait. Granted, I have two at the top of my queue that release Tuesday, but everything else has been long wait for weeks.

Am I just SOL? I can't see paying a monthly fee if nothing is going to ship out.

BenboC

Well, I shipped one movie back on last Tuesday and two more back last Wednesday, and none of them have even been checked a full week later. I know there were one or two postal days off, but this is pretty bad. They almost always check in next day, though of course they give me the old throttle delay of my next shipment.

onebyone

In the last 2 or so months, my netflix service has become not very cost effective for me. December has been very bad, with them taking a week or more to process returned DVDs. It is getting ridiculous. I wish there was a better option. It's like they aren't trying anymore.

kitkat

Damn! How many movies do you have in your queue? Out of 278 in mine I have seven short waits and only two very long waits. One more that had been a short wait is shipping out today (so they say).

tonyc3742

There's an interesting writeup about the Netflix throttling cases from Randy Cassingham's 'True Stella Awards'
www.StellaAwards.com

mrpayroll

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...?track=tothtml

February 11, 2006

Netflix Settlement Gets Poor Reviews
By Claire Hoffman, Times Staff Writer


Hell hath no fury like a movie junkie scorned.

That's what Netflix discovered when its most devoted "heavy users" found that the movie rental service had an undisclosed policy during shortages of shipping films faster to those customers who rent the least.

In a class-action lawsuit filed against the nation's largest online DVD rental company in September 2004, the company was accused of false advertising for its claims of "unlimited rentals" and "one-day deliveries."

When it agreed to a settlement due to be finalized this month, Netflix denied any wrongdoing but conceded that it had a policy that sometimes allocated movies more quickly to those who rented less frequently.

That policy — called "throttling" by some critics — has unleashed a backlash as a vocal group of disgruntled users have attacked the terms of the settlement agreement, which would give Netflix customers the choice of one month of free rentals or an upgrade in their service plan. Critics say that instead of punishing Netflix, the agreement helps the company promote its service.

Just last month, the Federal Trade Commission joined several consumer groups in filing amicus briefs in the suit, decrying the settlement as potentially costly to customers.

Steve Swasey, a spokesman for the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company, denied critics' claims that the practice is meant to save Netflix shipping costs by coddling customers who don't fully make use of their subscriptions. The most popular plan is $17.99 a month to rent three movies at a time, with no late fees.

Swasey said, "100%-guaranteed customer exhilaration is very difficult for any high-volume consumer company.

"Netflix made the decision that if we had a shortage of DVDs that we would give them to lighter users. We are giving it to folks who have less alternatives for viewing."

Netflix began acknowledging the policy in an online posting of its terms of use after the suit was filed. But even before the company's explication of its shipping system, film nerds everywhere had scrambled to figure out why they weren't getting prompt delivery of their movies.

For Mike Muegel, "Sweet Home Alabama" was the movie that made him start to feel the hurt.

Muegel, a freelance software engineer in Dallas, loves watching movies through Netflix. Such was his passion that for a while he watched about 20 movies a month. But in early 2003, he requested the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy and was told he would have a "very long wait."

Sensing trouble, Muegel set up test accounts in the names of his mom and his wife and plugged in the same movie. Suddenly, recalled Muegel, "Bingo … 'Sweet Home Alabama' was mine."

Muegel then spent 50 hours building a software program that analyzed the activities of test accounts. He published his findings on his website http://www.dvd-rent-test.dreamhost.com . Yet even after discovering what he calls the "fishy" company policy, Muegel says he still loves the rental service.

"I don't want them to go out of business," he said. He just wants to be treated fairly, Muegel said.

That same desire led Frank Chavez to become the lead plaintiff in the class-action suit, he said. Chavez, a San Francisco accountant, believed that he wasn't getting his movies — usually about 10 a month — fast enough. "Netflix wasn't providing what it promised," said Adam Gutride, Chavez's lawyer. "People in general want there to be truth in advertising. They want to know that they are going to get what they are promised."

Netflix prides itself on outstanding customer service, and 87% of new members join after a personal recommendation.

But the FTC says the proposed settlement could cost customers money if they opt to upgrade their service plans. Carol J. Jennings, an attorney in the enforcement division for the Bureau of Consumer Protection for the FTC, said because such upgrades would be free for only one month and then charged at full price, Netflix users could unwittingly pay more.

"They became automatically enrolled unless they did something affirmative to end it," Jennings said. "We concluded it could end up causing more harm than benefit."

Netflix maintains that only a "vocal minority" has been affected by the delivery policy, and it pointed to its performance as proof. For 2006, the company predicts profit of $29 million on revenue of $960 million. More than 4.2 million customers had subscribed by the end of last year, Swasey said. Netflix's churn, or number of customers who cancel each month, is at the lowest level ever — about 4%.

Joe McClellan, a graduate student studying Buddhism at Rice University, says there's no way he's canceling even though as a heavy Netflix user he has experienced long delays.

Rice says he uses Netflix to rent the "crazy experimental super-violent" Japanese movies he loves — usually 12 to 15 of them a month. Sometimes he waits for weeks for a particular title. But he doesn't mind, he says.

"I'm not picky because I still have 500 movies in my queue," McClellan said.


Haven't read this thread at all, but this seems to be the perfect place to put this news story!

Chris

Boot

Really? So they're delusional as well as full of shit.

Daytripper

Same here. Ever single new release in my queue is either in "long wait" or "very long wait" status. Including "Cinderella Man". Which has been out HOW long now!? It was in my queue several weeks before it was released. This is ridiculous. I've been a Netflix member for years. But if they don't improve, and fast, I'm gone. I wrote them telling them how I feel. Should be interesting how they respond.

Brent_MN

I've never ever in the past few years had discs shipped from other locations....but recently, I've had 'available now' items sent from three different dist. centers. LAME. I double them up when I return them, so they go to my closest place. Sheisters.

Vipper II

The past couple of cycles I've gone through, it's taken 2-3 days for Netflix to receive my movies, when it used to take just one; they're still going to the same location, too. I'm not sure if it's the USPS, or if Netflix is holding them before reporting them as returned, or what, but it's getting a little frustrating.

MikeDeN2K

I cancelled yesterday. They were waiting an extra day to ship movies, and then shipping them from across the country, so tack on another three days there.

Plus, new releases were never available, especially after the release day, on which most of this wait-a-day throttling occurred. They offered me two months at half price but I turned it down.

Got a blockbuster account, cancelled it immediately, then got offers to get it for cheaper, so I got three months of the unlimited 2-out plan for $12.99 per month. Not only do they tend to always have new releases in the first week, but they give you a coupon to get a rental in-store every week, so even if they don't have a new release available, I can go in the store to get it.

Their one main drawback is selection, they have a poor selection of rare, foriegn, and controversial films. So I got a 1-out plan with Greencine to make up for that. Even though I'm on the east coast and will have to do a little waiting, it's still a good way to fill in the gaps for rare films.

Josh H

I just signed up, hopefully I won't have these problems.

I'm not as picky as some though, if I can get through 3 movies per week I'll be happy as I really don't have time for more than that with my grad student schedule and some weeks don't have time for even that many.

Still much cheaper than going to the video store and much more convenient, and I'm way behind on movies so I'll at least do it for a couple of months to get caught up.

JStoneRail

I was being throttled big time. But, I couldn't alter my behavior. I kept turning the DVDs around and then waiting and waiting for the next DVD. Then NY Times published their article on Netflix. Suddenly in the last two weeks Gaithersburg, MD has been processing all the DVDs in one day and I have been receiving them the next day. After months of waiting, I received three discs of Battlestar Gallactica 2.0 all in one week!

After all the bad publicity, I am hoping Netflix waits a while before they start throttling again.

Vipper II

I'm sending mine back to the Gaithersburg location, too; however, as I stated above, it seems to be taking an extra day for them to receive it lately, when it used to just take them one day. Granted, when they do get them, my next DVDs are processed very quickly. I just can't figure out why all of a sudden it's taking them the extra time to get them, when I've changed nothing about my mailing habits.

kitkat

I haven't been throttled for four straight weeks now. I don't know why, or how long it will last, but I'm enjoying it.

BTW, where are you? I think it's useful in these threads when people indicate where they are located because we've already established that PO service can vary by region (ie: in some areas envelopes will go to the "Nearest Netflix Shipping Facility" and in some areas they go to the addresss printed on the label), and it would be interesting to know if different Distribution Centers were better or worse than others.

edit - nevermind - I just saw that I missed that you're in Gaithersburg, MD.

BigDan

I haven't been throttled here in Dallas for about four weeks, also.