Netflix getting worse

[Deku Scrub]

Lately, Netflix has been really dodgy for me.
When I first signed up, it took one day for them to receive discs back, and one day for them to arrive. Now, it's all over the map, sometimes taking 2+ days to receive discs. And sometimes they won't send me a disc in my queue for no reason. It's in stock, ready to ship, but they'll make me wait an extra day.

Anyone else experiencing this?

[lordsmurf]

They're out to get you. It's a big conspiracy. It involves aliens and magic corn.

[Faustus]

Actually my friend agrees but for different reasons.

Mind you each netflix distro point may be different but lately he gets stuff he took out of queue weeks ago, the wrong movies in the slip cases, AND his ship times from the point they say they got the disk back has gone up 2 days. Mind you we live in the same metro area as the netflix center.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I have recently noticed ALL of the same problems.
I live in one of their "major distro" cities, but it has started taking 3 or 4 days to get a disc from the time they shipped it.
Often, the first 8 or 10 discs in my queue will show as available, but they send me stuff from waaaay down the list
You can tell where the disc was shipped from by looking at the envelope, even tho I live in Denver, I've noticed that a lot of my discs are coming from the San Jose distro site lately....
what sucks is that a lot of times (tho not always), when a disc comes to me from San Jose, the return address is also San Jose -- thereby taking that much longer for them to get it back when I'm done in addition to it taking longer to get to me in the first place

[Solarjetman]

I am not a member of Netflix, but have you considered they may not have the title you want at the local distro center? Maybe they are shipping a copy they have instead of making you wait.

[samijubal]

They all send discs faster in the beginning, then slow down. I cancelled BB because they got too slow. They offered me $1 less per month for 3 months, so I figured now that they know I'll cancel if they get too slow maybe they'll ship them like they used to, they have been fine since going back.

[lumis]

netflix might not be as good as they were during the trial, but thats lightyears better than blockbuster during their trial.

blockbuster is absolutely horrid.. all the movies i want to see have waits, movies take forever to get here & back to them.. pure trash..

i'm gonna signup with netflix again on monday.. they might take 2 days to get here & back, but most of the movies i want to see are in stock and it doesnt take a week to get there and back.

[Supreme2k]

Thanks to everybody for helping with the "non-disclosure" part.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

NF & BB are pretty obvious...
i can't for the life of me figure out what GNF & WM stand for tho.
I guess it doesn't really matter since they were the worst of the bunch.
it was nice of you to post the info!

[Guest]

wal mart

[Xylob the Destroyer]

didn't even know they did movie rentals
of course, what he said about their selection makes sense now -- Wal-Mart is a VERY family oriented "clean-cut", "wholesome" type of company
They are very particular about what movies they sell, I'm sure they're just as particular about which ones they'll rent too.

[drjtech]

GNF = GameznFlix

For more bad reviews of GameznFlix see:
http://www.dvdrr.com/reviews/GameznFlix.html

-drj

[BJ_M]

Sensormatic and Checkpoint are two point-of-sale security systems. The names refer to the little metal tags that are inserted into DVD packaging to set off an alarm if you go through the sensors at the store entrance without having the tags deactivated during checkout. The tags are placed in the packages at the replication plant so that it doesn't have to be done at the store. This is called source tagging .

Though I dont know why you would wantto rent a dvd with this unless you want to set off alarms in stores .

[Rookie64]

didn't even know they did movie rentals
of course, what he said about their selection makes sense now -- Wal-Mart is a VERY family oriented "clean-cut", "wholesome" type of company
They are very particular about what movies they sell, I'm sure they're just as particular about which ones they'll rent too.

Maybe in their stores, but that's not the case online - they carry I Spit On Your Grave and John Waters' Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble - all are a little too much for even Netflix to handle.

Blockbuster is more selective about such content.
They offered Showgirls when it was first released but quickly pulled it from their inventory.


You'll find a wide variety of B-movies at Blockbuster and Wal-mart.

Both carry most Anchor Bay titles - Netflix only carries a few.

Netflix offers a lot but not everything.

They've only recently started to add more variety and harder to find titles...which is to help compete with Blockbuster and other online rental outlets.

Notice Neflix also changed their site layout to match Blockbuster's.


Netflix and Blockbuster both have their share of good and bad points - neither is perfect, and I can't say one is overall better than the other from my own experiences.

I like Blockbuster's service a little more and some of their hard to find selections as well as choice of alternate editions of certain titles.

Netflix was getting worse as far as service goes, but they seem to be picking back up some.


GameznFlix isn't in the same league.

[lumis]

netflix = most of the movies you want are available and get here in a day or two & back in a day or two.

blockbuster = most of the movies you want have waits, it can take a week to get your movies, and about as long for them to recieve them.


i really dont care if blockbuster has movies that netflix doesnt, whats the point if you'll have to constantly wait for them?

in my opinion netflix is way ahead of blockbuster.

[drjtech]

Maybe in their stores, but that's not the case online - they carry I Spit On Your Grave and John Waters' Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble - all are a little too much for even Netflix to handle.

Netflix has I Spit On Your Grave

-drj

[Rookie64]

Netflix has I Spit On Your Grave

-drj

For a long time, they didn't carry it



But I see they are adding a lot more to their inventory in recent weeks.

[BJ_M]

they should open in canada --

[Xylob the Destroyer]

you can't do NetFlix in Canada??
that sux....

[spiderman2k1]

I'm starting to get sick of netflix. Before I was getting six movies a week not only three. And something BB has some thing Netflix has. So i might witch then go back if BB sucks.

[shoozleboy]

I hope you guys realize that Netfix "throttles" your shipments when you start getting too many movies too quickly. Do a search, it's all over many message boards.

It's pretty simple for them to have the software that runs their distro centers to analyze your shipping history and realize that you are getting 6 or 7 movies a week on a 3 or 5 out plan. They slow you down then in order to keep their profit on your montlhy membership ... if they are sending you 25 movies a month and paying for shipping both ways, you are guarenteed to be 'throttled'. (slowed down, not speeded up!)

I haven't been around here in a while, but I'm pretty sure this topic was beat to death on here previously.....

Oh, and I love lordsmurf's answer - they are out to get you!! :P

[lordsmurf]

Do a search, it's all over many message boards.

Paranoid people online with zero facts to base it on.

Messages boards online also claim aliens are abducting us, Elvis lives, and that the world will end tomorrow.

Rabble babble.

[BJ_M]

aliens ARE abducting us!

[shoozleboy]

http://www.hackingnetflix.com/netflix/2005/02/index.html

about 2/3rds the way down. I too have received a similar response to my email to them regarding the 'throttling'. (although this response below is not to me). I personally know a good friend who works at one of their 'centers' near me here in PA. Say and think what you want, but it's not BS:

Netflix Customer Support on Throttling
Like Raven at A Netflix Odyssey, I'm sick of this topic, but after reading this e-mail I thought it was worth sharing. Take a close look at the last paragraph.

Hi Alan,
Thanks for your inquiry.

We appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your feedback and comments. I sincerely apologize for the difficulties you've experienced and have forwarded your feedback to the appropriate department. Please be assured that we are continually striving to improve our service.

I have provided below some details of how we ship and process DVDs so that you can understand how our service works at this time:

We receive rental returns Monday through Friday, except holidays. We process nearly 100% of returns the same day we receive them. When we check-in a return, an e-mail is automatically and promptly sent to you to let you know that we have received your DVD.

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. Often, on the same day that we receive a DVD from you, we will ship the next available DVD from your Queue. In certain instances, your next available DVD will not ship until the next business day following our receipt of your returned movie. This can occur, for example, when your top choices are not available to you from your closest distribution center or the number of shipments to be processed by the distribution center on that day has been exceeded. When this happens, your DVD will ship on the next business day and may come from an alternate distribution center.

In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service. As a result, those members who receive the most movies may experience next-day shipping and receive movies lower in their Queue more often than our other members. By prioritizing in this way, we help assure a balanced experience for all our members. Those that rent a lot of movies get a great value and those with lighter viewing habits are able to count on our service to meet their limited needs.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks,
[name withheld]
Netflix Customer Service .


I personally think this is a fair way of handling movie allocation when you have more than 2.5 milllion subscribers, but I'm not a heavy renter. What do you think?

Thanks to Alan for sending this in.

February 10, 2005

That's all I'm going to say on it.

[smearbrick1]

http://www.hackingnetflix.com/netflix/2005/02/index.html

about 2/3rds the way down. I too have received a similar response to my email to them regarding the 'throttling'. (although this response below is not to me). I personally know a good friend who works at one of their 'centers' near me here in PA. Say and think what you want, but it's not BS:

Netflix Customer Support on Throttling
Like Raven at A Netflix Odyssey, I'm sick of this topic, but after reading this e-mail I thought it was worth sharing. Take a close look at the last paragraph.

Hi Alan,
Thanks for your inquiry.

We appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your feedback and comments. I sincerely apologize for the difficulties you've experienced and have forwarded your feedback to the appropriate department. Please be assured that we are continually striving to improve our service.

I have provided below some details of how we ship and process DVDs so that you can understand how our service works at this time:

We receive rental returns Monday through Friday, except holidays. We process nearly 100% of returns the same day we receive them. When we check-in a return, an e-mail is automatically and promptly sent to you to let you know that we have received your DVD.

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. Often, on the same day that we receive a DVD from you, we will ship the next available DVD from your Queue. In certain instances, your next available DVD will not ship until the next business day following our receipt of your returned movie. This can occur, for example, when your top choices are not available to you from your closest distribution center or the number of shipments to be processed by the distribution center on that day has been exceeded. When this happens, your DVD will ship on the next business day and may come from an alternate distribution center.

In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service. As a result, those members who receive the most movies may experience next-day shipping and receive movies lower in their Queue more often than our other members. By prioritizing in this way, we help assure a balanced experience for all our members. Those that rent a lot of movies get a great value and those with lighter viewing habits are able to count on our service to meet their limited needs.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks,
[name withheld]
Netflix Customer Service .


I personally think this is a fair way of handling movie allocation when you have more than 2.5 milllion subscribers, but I'm not a heavy renter. What do you think?

Thanks to Alan for sending this in.

February 10, 2005

That's all I'm going to say on it.

If this email is legit, I totally agree with this policy. It's really amazing how they laid the whole "throttling" thing out in such simple terms. Based on what I've read on message boards concerning "throttling" you would have sworn they were having secret meetings about specific members, tapping phone lines, hacking personal computers, and putting wireless cameras in your shower.

I have never had any issues with Netflix. I've been a member since they started.

Freakin' whackos.

[shoozleboy]

If this email is legit, I totally agree with this policy. It's really amazing how they laid the whole "throttling" thing out in such simple terms. Based on what I've read on message boards concerning "throttling" you would have sworn they were having secret meetings about specific members, tapping phone lines, hacking personal computers, and putting wireless cameras in your shower.

I have never had any issues with Netflix. I've been a member since they started.

Freakin' whackos.

I agree. They had to do what was going to keep them in business. There are quite a few people out there who take it too seriously, I mean, it's a rental company.... Why in the world would they want to zero in on a certain individual?? They have bigger concerns than the individual renter. I've been more than pleased with the service I have been getting since joining last October. My wife and girls love picking out movies and kids shows.