JDoors Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 (edited) Last Christmas I received a gift subscription to NetFlix. I loved it! No more trips to the video store, no more trying to schedule when to watch movies, no more returning unwatched movies, a thousand-fold increase in the number and types of DVDs available, hyperlinks on their site lead to finding hundreds of great movies I've missed or didn't know about, by rating movies I've seen their software recommends other movies I might like, by linking to friends and family they can make recommendations of movies I might like, there's a lot to like. However, lately I've been wondering, as have my friends and family, how NetFlix decides who gets what movies, and when. I only JUST got Serenity and it's been out for some time now, while my Niece got the movie weeks ago. Seems others have noticed the discrepancy too, there's been a class-action lawsuit filed against them. They advertise "Unlimited Rentals" and claim delivery in as little as one day, but they made changes in their policies that limit the movies you might get and how often they send them out. AFTER the lawsuit was filed they changed the wording in their "terms of service" to reflect the changes (also after I joined, there was no notification to customers of the changes). I have been a NetFlix advocate but now have to add so many 'caveats' it's no longer worth my time to recommend the service. "How many movies do you watch per month?" "What's more important, getting the latest movies or having a large selection?" "If you watch a lot of movies do you mind going to the video store to get a new release, even though that adds to your cost?" Blech! I no longer have an opinion on NetFlix.Article: NetFlix "Throttles" movies to frequent renters to save postage.------ Researched it on the web (web searched for NETFLIX THROTTLE); lots of complaints about this, been going on for some time (though I'm just learning about it), also a lot of 'apologists' defending the policy (likley people who haven't had their rentals 'throttled,' or who don't watch many movies, or who don't rent many new releases, or NetFlix plants!). Edited February 13, 2006 by JDoors Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bearskin Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 yea, I read that on digg.com...that's why I droped their service. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Naming is hard Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 pfft, you cant really get mad at them when a movie like Serenity isn't at your doorstep the next day.I myself have never had a problem getting the movies i want,Even New Releases.If you really want a movie that badly, and there is a wait time,Just take all over movies out of your Queue.A trick thats been goin on around the net. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted February 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 (edited) Yeah, that seems to be the consensus of those unaffected by throttling, "Who cares?" Really helpful to those of us who are affected. The rest of this is a rant and since you're unaffected and don't care, I recommend you skip it. I got Serenity last week, not a day, or two (or a week, or a couple of weeks, or a month) after the DVD release date so yes, I believe I have reason to be unhappy with that. Exaggerating that I can't expect a new release the next day left me dumbfounded. Taking movies out of the queue to FORCE them to send a particular DVD is unworkable (there are a lot of movies in my queue and nowhere to move them to, nor any easy way to move them if they had some place to put them, I'd have to write them all down or store the names somewhere, somehow, then manually delete them, then wait for the movie I wanted, then reinstate them one-by-one). That should not be necessary (I didn't sign up for a service that requires I FORCE them to send me the movies in my queue). THEY came up with a model for online rentals via the USPS. THEY stated "unlimited" rentals for a set fee (not, "Whatever number of movies we WANT to send you"). THEY stated they'd send the next "available" movie (not, "It's available but we refuse to send it to YOU"). THEY stated this would occur "usually" within one day (not, "We'll delay sending it out because it works out better for us"). They also secretly changed that model without the informed consent of their current customers (and denied those changes when confronted about them, and had to settle a class action lawsuit as a result of the changes, which, like all class action lawsuits, wound up enriching the lawyers while being a sucky deal for the consumers). As I believe I stated, I am staying with them but changing my expectations. There are literally hundreds of movies I'd like to see, eventually, so whatever they send me is fine. However I won't expect unlimited movies each month ('cause they lied), I won't expect to receive recent movies in a timely fashion ('cause they lied), I won't expect to receive movies of any vintage quickly ('cause they lied). It's a different service than I signed up for but it works for me, just not the way I expected from their advertisements & promotional material. I'm pro-business so I am fine with them adjusting their business model to make whatever profit they wish, but they shouldn't have made significant changes to a continually renewing contract without informing their customers. Credit card companies used to do that & they had to pass a law to FORCE them to inform customers of changes and give them the option to close the account. Wait! There's more! ( Like anybody's gonna read this far!) The CEO's attitude that their past customer service ratings were high so what they're doing must be OK is arrogant: "Yeah, we snuck one past 'em and they haven't noticed yet, MORONS!" The secrecy, the denials, the refusal to admit some customers will no longer get the service they signed up for, does not make them look good to say the least.------Highlighted answer to post below. Edited February 15, 2006 by JDoors Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Naming is hard Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 just a small thought, but if seeing the movie is that importent to you, im sure you can afford $20 to buy it, which would also help more then renting it.I can see not wanting to buy a movie when you have somthing like netflix, but if your willing to wait months then wait months >_> if you complain buy it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sethook Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 Yeah, that seems to be the consensus of those unaffected by throttling, "Who cares?" Really helpful to those of us who are affected. The rest of this is a rant and since you're unaffected and don't care, I recommend you skip it. I got Serenity last week, not a day, or two (or a week, or a couple of weeks, or a month) after the DVD release date so yes, I believe I have reason to be unhappy with that. Exaggerating that I can't expect a new release the next day left me dumbfounded. Taking movies out of the queue to FORCE them to send a particular DVD is unworkable (there are a lot of movies in my queue and nowhere to move them to, nor any easy way to move them if they had some place to put them, I'd have to write them all down or store the names somewhere, somehow, then manually delete them, then wait for the movie I wanted, then reinstate them one-by-one). That should not be necessary (I didn't sign up for a service that requires I FORCE them to send me the movies in my queue). THEY came up with a model for online rentals via the USPS. THEY stated "unlimited" rentals for a set fee (not, "Whatever number of movies we WANT to send you"). THEY stated they'd send the next "available" movie (not, "It's available but we refuse to send it to YOU"). THEY stated this would occur "usually" within one day (not, "We'll delay sending it out because it works out better for us"). They also secretly changed that model without the informed consent of their current customers (and denied those changes when confronted about them, and had to settle a class action lawsuit as a result of the changes, which, like all class action lawsuits, wound up enriching the lawyers while being a sucky deal for the consumers). As I believe I stated, I am staying with them but changing my expectations. There are literally hundreds of movies I'd like to see, eventually, so whatever they send me is fine. However I won't expect unlimited movies each month ('cause they lied), I won't expect to receive recent movies in a timely fashion ('cause they lied), I won't expect to receive movies of any vintage quickly ('cause they lied). It's a different service than I signed up for but it works for me, just not the way I expected from their advertisements & promotional material. I'm pro-business so I am fine with them adjusting their business model to make whatever profit they wish, but they shouldn't have made significant changes to a continually renewing contract without informing their customers. Credit card companies used to do that & they had to pass a law to FORCE them to inform customers of changes and give them the option to close the account. Wait! There's more! ( Like anybody's gonna read this far!) The CEO's attitude that their past customer service ratings were high so what they're doing must be OK is arrogant: "Yeah, we snuck one past 'em and they haven't noticed yet, MORONS!" The secrecy, the denials, the refusal to admit some customers will no longer get the service they signed up for, does not make them look good to say the least.Have you sent in your cancellation notice yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted February 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 I know that was lengthy but I already answered your question in there somewhere. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted February 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 just a small thought, but if seeing the movie is that importent to you, im sure you can afford $20 to buy it, which would also help more then renting it.I can see not wanting to buy a movie when you have somthing like netflix, but if your willing to wait months then wait months >_> if you complain buy it. Well, it was a question of their business practices, not whether or not I get to see a particular movie (I was using examples of their service to illustrate changes in their policy). Let's see, I estimate I rented twelve movies a month at the video store before NetFlix and get about the same number from NetFlix (more than enough to put me on their "throttle" list). That'd be $240 a month if I bought them. Um, no, that won't work for me but thanks for the idea. When I see a movie I like I do buy it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian_Holiday Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Well, if I am not being throttled I soon will be. What is our option? I tried blockbuster, and they were actually slower. They were shipping from NY, and I am close to DC. Also, for those of you who really want new releases, someone pointed out that if you shorten your queue to 3, you get things faster. The person surmised that Netflix would put you higher on the priority for new movies to avoid loosing a customer who was paying for a service and wasn't getting any benefit. Apparently it worked... BH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubba Bob Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 (edited) but if your willing to wait months then wait months >_> if you complain buy it.Huh? Where did you get that figure? More like an extra day or two.I use Netflix, but never rent more than 8 a month. (2 at a time service plan) I really wish Netflix had service on saturdays.Taking movies out of the queue to FORCE them to send a particular DVD is unworkable (there are a lot of movies in my queue and nowhere to move them to, nor any easy way to move them if they had some place to put them, I'd have to write them all down or store the names somewhere, somehow, then manually delete them, then wait for the movie I wanted, then reinstate them one-by-one). That should not be necessary (I didn't sign up for a service that requires I FORCE them to send me the movies in my queue).If I understand what your saying correctly, just click the "Move to Top of Queue" button. Edited February 16, 2006 by Bubba Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dragon Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 not to start a new rant here, or any flaming.But did you buy chance think about the number of people that also rented that movie? also with the unlimited rental time, the longer someone holds on to a movie they got from the service, eventually ends up making someone wait a little longer for the same movie. After all it's not like they have 2 million copies of the same movie.I used to use blockbuster, delivery time was great, but then again where they were sending it from is only 1 1/2 hours away from me. I ended my contract with them because of financial reasons, once our finances are back in order, we plan on setting it up again. in the mean time, I'm content going to the video store and renting a movie if I want to see it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted February 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 Not really sure what point you're making about others renting that movie. According to news reports they send the newest movies to the newest customers first to keep them happy, and to people who rent fewer movies to save money on postage. So they give older customers a lower level of service than they've come to expect (having been tricked during their trial membership) and send the latest DVD's to people who will hang onto them for days or weeks at a time (keeping them unavailable to others for days or weeks at a time). I dunno, it just sounds like typical American Management thinking, which I'm not particularly fond of. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deaf_girl Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 I cancelled. And signed up with Blockbuster. The rates are the same and you get one free instore rental each week. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted February 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 I'm not sure if you'd know this or not (my friend was a BB customer and didn't know this), are the mailed movies censored like the ones in the stores? For example, he rented an "R" rated movie, we watched it at his house, I loved it. The next day I rented it at a mom'n'pop store by my house, watched it again, and it was incredible how much was left out of the BB movie. BB is or was like Wal-Mart is or was (either may have changed their policies and since I'm not a customer of either I wouldn't know), they buy censored versions of various media products. So, do you know if you're getting the censored versions? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dragon Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 I never got the censored versions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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