|
Netfix-regret
For those contemplating switching to Netflix I did and I'm regreting it.
Netflix ships my three on Monday. I get them on Wednesday morn and back in the mail the same day for the last pickup at 8pm. Netflix does not receive them until the next Monday and ships the next three. The result is I only get three per week, at least with BB I would frequently get six. In my last shipment my local center didn't have the next movie in the queue so they sent it from a Florida location on Monday and I didnt receive it until Saturday. I will most likely cancel at the end on my 30 days. |
I had the exact opposite experience. For me, BlockBuster was getting me 3 per week if I got lucky while Netflix usually gets me 6 per week. Not only that, over 75% of the titles I had in queue with BlockBuster were short or long wait while at Netflix the same titles and more are all ready now. I switched to BB and now have come back to Netflix.
|
Originally Posted by spawndude
Netflix ships my three on Monday. I get them on Wednesday morn and back in the mail the same day for the last pickup at 8pm.
|
Originally Posted by joeblow69
You watch 3 movies every wednesday?
|
Originally Posted by Pistol Pete
He probably rips them to watch later.
"I don't like netflix, because I can only illegally copy 3 of their movies a week, while with BB, I can copy 6!" -ohbfrank- |
Originally Posted by joeblow69
You watch 3 movies every wednesday?
Why is that so hard to believe? Netflix thinks you can... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...er/netflix.jpg |
99% of the time I watch all 3 Netflix DVDs the night I get them and I have them back in the box before dawn. I'm a night person so I have all damn night to enjoy them. I sure as fuck ain't no damn DVD ripper. :)
But I have to say that some folks are going to have better luck with Blockbuster and other better luck with Netflix. I'm fairly happy with my Netflix service and if I ever start to get ticked off at them I just recall how awful my time with Blockbuster when I tried them for a period of time. With a Netflix shipping center I've had most of my movies only take 1 day to get to me or back to them with the exception of the recent Stargate SG-1 DVDs. These suckers have been coming from all over the country since I'm sure they don't carry as many copies as they would most movies. I can live with the wait if it saves me from buying 8 40.00+ seasons of the show. |
Okay, now I had to do this, it's totally off topic and very inappropriate....
I think he's more concerned with using that wine to his advantage rather than seeing the 3 movies. |
Originally Posted by joeblow69
That's what I figured.
"I don't like netflix, because I can only illegally copy 3 of their movies a week, while with BB, I can copy 6!" -ohbfrank- joeblow69, you poor pitiful thing you've shown your ignorance by assuming something you know nothing about. I rent one movie and two documentaries from Nova, Nature, or National Geographic that are at most 60 minutes each. Local rental stores carry very few documentaries. Very easy to watch 3-4 hours of entertainment in a 10 hour period. |
Originally Posted by joeblow69
You watch 3 movies every wednesday?
|
Originally Posted by spawndude
joeblow69, you poor pitiful thing you've shown your ignorance by assuming something you know nothing about.
I rent one movie and two documentaries from Nova, Nature, or National Geographic that are at most 60 minutes each. Local rental stores carry very few documentaries. Very easy to watch 3-4 hours of entertainment in a 10 hour period. |
Well, my blockbuster online account has all of a sudden froze.....they were pretty good about sending stuff out the next day after I mailed something back....Well, its been 4-5 days since I mailed 2 dvds in and they havent shipped me anything.
My current dvd list still has a movie that I sent back on Saturday. Bastards. |
I always have Blockbuster send me new movies 3 days after they send them
|
Now I'm even more steamed!
Found out today from a friend who lives a few blocks away sent his 3 back AFTER I did and has already received 3 more. My next set is scheduled for Monday!!! the 20th!!! I'm so PO'd at Netfu*k |
I also receive 3 movies every Wednesday. I watch all three DVDs Wednesday evening, I return them Thursday morning, and I don't receive my next DVDs until the following Wednesday.
Blockbuster was even worse. It took me a week to receive them, another week for Blockbuster to credit me for those returns, and yet another week for me to receive my next selections. I always return my DVDs the next morning after receiving them. |
Evidently my problem is quite common and even has a name "Throttling"!!!
http://www.hackingnetflix.com/netfli...ling_revi.html and http://www.makeyougohmm.com/?p=2076 |
Originally Posted by spawndude
Evidently my problem is quite common and even has a name "Throttling"!!!
http://www.hackingnetflix.com/netfli...ling_revi.html and http://www.makeyougohmm.com/?p=2076 http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=288162 |
Also, http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=399535
Yeah, they throttle me, and it does suck because my service was flawless for six months and I know how good it can be. That said, I'm not getting it as bad a as you. I usually get four discs a week, and they will ship the same day when they receive stuff on Friday and usually Thurs. It's at the beginning of the week where they sit on my discs an extra day before shipping that's the issue. Where are you located? I'm curious how geography fits into all this. These days I get slightly more than half my movies back in the mail the day after I get them. Most of the rest are in the mail one day after that (I may not have had time, or I wanted to watch the commentary - that kind of thing.). I still find them a good value at close to four movies a week and I manage to get most new releases I want as well. The throttling is frustrating, though. I'm with you on that. |
Ha, got three DVD's today!!!
My closest distribution center is Coppel, Tx. The three were one each from San Jose, Ft. Lauderdale, Tacoma Those three places are about as far away from me as you can physically get in the contiental US. |
Originally Posted by SkullOrchard
I also receive 3 movies every Wednesday. I watch all three DVDs Wednesday evening, I return them Thursday morning, and I don't receive my next DVDs until the following Wednesday.
Blockbuster was even worse. It took me a week to receive them, another week for Blockbuster to credit me for those returns, and yet another week for me to receive my next selections. I always return my DVDs the next morning after receiving them. |
SkullOrchard, I feel your pain.
I would cancel now but I still have about a week left. I will cancel a day before it ends. I honestly believe that Netflix is the kind of company that would slow down my rental even more if they knew I was gonna cancel. |
Netflix ain't too good any more, but what's better out there?
|
Originally Posted by natevines
Netflix ain't too good any more, but what's better out there?
|
Originally Posted by natevines
Netflix ain't too good any more, but what's better out there?
|
Netflix has gotten better for me. Now I mail out DVD's the next day I get an email saying they recieved them 2 days later I get new DVD's. I at least 6 a week. That's pretty good. It used to be 3 at week if I was lucky.
|
Guess it all depends on where you live. I can send discs in and they are checked in the following day - the next discs in my queue are generaly shipped out the same day the returns are checked in and I receive them in 1 to 3 days.
I have been with Netflix for a number of years now and have yet to notice them throttle my account - starting about 4 months ago my discs started showing up much faster then previously. |
I've been with Netflix for about a year-and-a-half now and have had pretty good service for the most part although I have a experienced some slow periods. Still, I usually get two day turnaround each way: two days to Netflix, new movies sent, two days back. This way, I get three movies a week, but I figure it's the best I can do since I live a state away from the nearest distribution center.
I think, though, that I'm being throttled now. This summer, I switched to the 5-out plan since I had the summer off. So far so good, but Monday, I sent three movies back, all at the same time from the same place. They recieved one Wednesday and sent out a new one. Then, they "received" one today and aren't shipping another one until tomorrow. They "haven't even received" the third one yet. I sent them the following email: I have heard a lot on message boards concerning Netflix's unadvertised practice of throttling customers' dvds, and I believe I'm finally seeing that first-hand. I've been a customer of Netflix for a year-and-a-half now, and I've always been happy with the service except for a few minor problems here and there. This summer, as I did last summer, I upped my rental agreement to 5-out since I'm a teacher and have summers off. This week, I sent back three dvds on the same day at the same time from the same mailbox in the same post office. One was posted as received yesterday and a new one was shipped. One was posted as received today (Thursday), and a new one says it's shipping tomorrow. The third has not been posted. How is it that three dvds shipped from the same box in the same post office on the same day at the same time each arrives to you on different days? And why is my replacement movie being held until tomorrow? This smacks of throttling to me, and I don't appreciate it at all. I would like a response on this issue, and I'd prefer a response other than "it's the post office's fault." I could understand if one dvd arrived later than the others, but all three being split up? That's seems highly unlikely. |
It originally took some digging before I found the email address to send in a complaint.
Once I found it Netflix did promptly respond, but as you mentioned they will have a lame excuse, usually blamming the post office. |
Well...surprise!...no response from Netflix today, and the third disc still has not been posted as being received.
|
Hope I'm not just talking to myself here, but Netflix finally responded. Their response was exactly what I expected:
Dear Mike, Thank you for contacting Netflix.com customer support! We apologize for any inconvenience. I would like to inform you that we do not have control over the USPS delivering system. Movies are sent by first class mail and usually arrive or return within about one business day following shipment. We will send you an e-mail letting you know when we have shipped your DVD and when you can expect it to arrive. We do not ship on weekends or holidays. Our goal is to ship you the DVDs listed highest in your queue. We try to ship you DVDs from the distribution center closest to you so that you get movies quickly. In certain instances, your top choice may not be available to you from your closest distribution center, which can sometimes cause a small delay. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. Thanks, Therisa, Netflix Customer Service . Thank you for the form letter response. It's exactly what I expected. I didn't really expect you to address throttling at all since it's something I'm sure you are trained to ignore as if it didn't exist. Problem is it does, and your customers are aware of it. As a matter of fact, Netflix is getting quite the reputation for this sneaky business practice. Peruse some dvd boards sometime and you'll know what I mean. You advertise unlimited dvds and then install practices that limit customers' dvds all the while pointing your fingers at the USPS. I've been a Netflix customer for 1.5 years. I will stay with Netflix for now and monitor the situation. If I feel I'm being throttled again, I will move over to Blockbuster and try their service. I also understand Amazon is coming out with a similar service. I don't mean this as a threat since I'm sure you could care less what I do. What is one customer in the grand scheme of things? However, I do think you should seriously reconsider this practice of yours. People are talking, and the more competition that opens up, the more likely you are to lose some serious business. This one unsatisfied customer leads to two to three to a hundred to a thousand and so on. Thanks again for the form letter. Cheers. I know this is an exercise in futility on my part, but this practice is just not right. If they want to put limits on the amount of dvds you can get each week or each month, then they should be up front about it. I don't expect another response from them, but we'll see if the "USPS" is going to suddenly and repeatedly slow down on shipments for me. |
For a time, Netflix was admitting in their emails that they had limited resources available for serving their customers and would, therefore, prioritize based on number of rentals.
Which means that they had more customers than they could service. But that explanation didn't seem to jibe with the consistency of the throttling. I mean, it's one thing to have a day here or there where they have to ship out 1,500 discs but only have the capacity to ship out 1,400 (just to throw some round numbers out there as a very low example). But what are the chances, really, that they would consistently have such days week after week after week? What gets me is that there hasn't been any class action lawsuits related to this practice. This seems worse to me than the "no late fee" controversy that led to a settlement (or just as bad or worse than any number of other class actions lawsuits to which I've been party). |
Originally Posted by BigDan
For a time, Netflix was admitting in their emails that they had limited resources available for serving their customers and would, therefore, prioritize based on number of rentals.
Which means that they had more customers than they could service. But that explanation didn't seem to jibe with the consistency of the throttling. I mean, it's one thing to have a day here or there where they have to ship out 1,500 discs but only have the capacity to ship out 1,400 (just to throw some round numbers out there as a very low example). But what are the chances, really, that they would consistently have such days week after week after week? What gets me is that there hasn't been any class action lawsuits related to this practice. This seems worse to me than the "no late fee" controversy that led to a settlement (or just as bad or worse than any number of other class actions lawsuits to which I've been party). I wonder if it's because it would be really hard to prove. All they have to say is exactly what they're saying now: We have no control over the USPS. |
Originally Posted by Boot
I wonder if it's because it would be really hard to prove. All they have to say is exactly what they're saying now: We have no control over the USPS.
I mean, they don't ship anything the day they receive a returned disc from me. They get a return and check it in, and instead of shipping a replacement out that day (which is what they did originally), they hold the replacement shipment until at least the next day, sometimes longer. That can't be blamed on the Post Office and is a very common form of throttling. I've gotten settlements based on flimsier evidence. |
WOW, Amazingly Fast!!!!!!! Way to go Netflix
I sent back 1 disk Friday afternoon, another Saturday morning. Monday they both showed up as being received!!!!!!!!! . . . . . . . . Oh yeah, I cancelled Friday night. |
|
|
I suppose another problem with a class action lawsuit would be proving damages. Unlike a late fee situation (where a specific $$ amount is spelled out) you woudl only be able to operate out of theory. "Well, technically they could send me a movie every day, divided by my monthly fee. But I'm only getting X number of movies, divided by my monthly fee."
Welcome to one of the reasons that video stores will not actually die. Using the Post Office as your middle man is just begging for problems anyway. I won't even mail my bills anymore. |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:11 AM. |
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.