Ping: Netflix subscribers

[SackAttack]

Any of you experienced this (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/10/netflix.penalty.ap/index.html) phenomenon?

Any particular thoughts or opinions about the practice?

[ISiddiqui]

I've heard this on a number of forum (especially Straight Dope Message Board). It's quite a common complaint.

[ShovelMonkey]

Agree with the main gripes of folks about false advertising as far as "unlimited" rentals. I've often considered signing up for netflix, but after reading this I've changed my mind.

They should institute varrying levels of payment based on how many movies you plan to rent a month.

3-5 movies = $10 / month
6-10 movies = 17 / month
11-20 movies = $25 / month

and so on.

[Terps]

I usually get them and send them back that same day. I get around 24 a month with the unlimited two at a time.

[sabotai]

I've been doing 5 a month for about a year (before that, it was 8 a month for about a year I think.). I've never had this happen for me. I'm usually very good at getting them, watching them and sending them back right away.

I watched about 3 seasons of Star Trek Voyager in about 2 weeks because they send them to me so fast. I've seen a lot of TV series thanks to them. As for "very long wait" DVDs, it's usually hit or miss with me. Sometimes I get them right away, sometimes I wait awhile.

So the short answer would be no, I'm sure I've gotten as many as 30 in one month.

Of course, that might be due to me paying to get 5 a month, maybe not.

[oliegirl]

We use blockbuster online, not netflix, but have never had any problems with delayed shipping or anything. Of course we (me) are awful about remembering to return movies - they usually sit around for 3-5 days after we watch them before they actually get into the mailbox. But overall we love the service, and the coupons we get as part of the plan which end up paying for the service each month in free rentals...

[cthomer5000]

I do get the odd delay here and there... it's pretty annoying. I watch a pretty heavy number of movies per month.

[Lathum]

I am a subscriber and it has happened to me. But overall, it is still worth it. The convenience of having movies in your mailbox and ordering just 5 or 6 movies in a month still makes it worth it. Plus they have a good selection that is easy to select through.

[Blade6119]

We use blockbuster online, not netflix, but have never had any problems with delayed shipping or anything. Of course we (me) are awful about remembering to return movies - they usually sit around for 3-5 days after we watch them before they actually get into the mailbox. But overall we love the service, and the coupons we get as part of the plan which end up paying for the service each month in free rentals...
My roomate and i have that, and we find we never get what we request...we have a nice long que up and we usually get movies we have at like 400...dissapointing

[IwasHere]

I love this.
Without acknowledging wrongdoing, the company agreed to provide a one-month rental upgrade and pay Chavez's attorneys $2.5 million.

So, he gets an extra DVD for 1 month and his lawyers get 2.5 million in cash.

[oliegirl]

My roomate and i have that, and we find we never get what we request...we have a nice long que up and we usually get movies we have at like 400...dissapointing


Huh. That's never happened to us...I keep up with our queue and we always get the movies in order, or at least the highest ranked available one if the first one isn't available...

[Kobeck]

I have been with NetFlix for over a year and the one thing I have noticed, I am on 3 at a time, is that I can get up to 3 delivered a week, but even they arrive on monday and I get them out tuesday, I will not get any more for a week. Even so It works out to about $2 per disc over the month and it is very convenient

[Terps]

I have been with NetFlix for over a year and the one thing I have noticed, I am on 3 at a time, is that I can get up to 3 delivered a week, but even they arrive on monday and I get them out tuesday, I will not get any more for a week. Even so It works out to about $2 per disc over the month and it is very convenient
That's odd. I used to be on four at a time and got 12 per week usually.

[IwasHere]

That's odd. I used to be on four at a time and got 12 per week usually.
That must of been before the slow-down.

They now hold your movie for 2 days.

So, even if you live next door their is still a 4 day turn around at netflix. And if you figure in the lost 2 days on the weekend you are looking at an average of 5 days per movie.

You mail your movie on Monday
NetFlix receives your movie on Tuesday.
NetFlix send your movie out on Wednesday
You receive your movie on Thursday.

Your next turn around would look like this.

You mail your movie on Friday
Nothing happens on Saturday
Nothing happens on Sunday
NetFlix receives your movie on Monday.
NetFlix send your movie out on Tuesday
You receive your movie on Wednesday.

This averages you receiving a new movie every 5 days.


Although, if I remember correctly, way back when, NetFlix used to receive and send movies on the same day a couple of years ago for me. Now I get that "Shipping on date" message in my Que. I don't know if this 1 day turn around was because I was on my trial period, or if something has changed in the last couple of years at Netflix.

Now days I always get the "Shipping on message" in my Que.

[IwasHere]

And, if you are like me you also need to add 1 day to get your movie to the Post Office. If I go to the Post Office and mail my movie NetFlix receives it the next day. However, if I put it in my mailbox it takes 2 days for NetFlix to receive it.

This means I average a new DVD every 6 days.

I am currently on the 5-Disc program and am very happy.

[IwasHere]

Now if you want to get in another NetFlix arguement can someone please explain there variable Tax B.S. I am paying every month. I have no idea how this is legal to base your tax amount on the DVDs you rent every month and not on the price you pay?

I bet NetFlix is keeping the extra tax money they are charging you for each dvd you rent. I don't have a problem paying a tax on my membership $.$$, but I don't understand the extra tax I have to pay for the number of DVDs I rent.


If my sales tax is 7.4% and my membership fee is $29.99 a month it seems that my total fee should be a fixed $32.21 per month. No mater how much I use it, or don't. That is the way every other monthly membership works, so why is NetFlix different?

[sabotai]

It's not different for me. I've paid $31.79 per month since I went up to 5 a month several months ago.

[Kobeck]

WOW TN has ridiculus taxes, but they don't do that to me.

I pay a highwayman's taxes in sales tax on the monthly rental fee, but not that other stuff.

[Blade6119]

It's not different for me. I've paid $31.79 per month since I went up to 5 a month several months ago.
31.79 for a mere 5 DVDs a month? That crazy high compared to blockblusters version of netflix

[sabotai]

31.79 for a mere 5 DVDs a month? That crazy high compared to blockblusters version of netflixMeant 5 out at one time.

[Blade6119]

Meant 5 out at one time.
Do you go through 5 quickly...with BB we have three out at a time for 17.99...works great for us when it all comes down to it

[sabotai]

Do you go through 5 quickly...with BB we have three out at a time for 17.99...works great for us when it all comes down to itI used to. I still do, mostly, but my WoW guild added a thrid night of raiding, so that's one less night to watch DVDs.

[st.cronin]

I use netflix, three at a time, have never had a complaint. It actually seems like they turn around our movies faster than the post office could allow. I think it's a great company.

[dubb93]

I actually canceled my account b/c of this. I started at the 3 at a time plan for several months, then the delays became to the point where I would watch my DVD's(usually TV series that took me 2 days to watch 1 DVD) and by the time I had send in my 3rd one I still had a 3 or 4 day wait to get the new one. When I started I never saw this.

I chalked it up to an increase in their demand and took out the 5 at a time plan to protect against this. I saw that I no longer experienced the waiting anymore. In fact, I was getting the DVD's as fast as old, but didn't dare go back down to 3 at a time and "cross them again." Then on months(like vaction time, etc.) where I was watching more than I did I would get stupid things, like disks from series I hadn't even started watching. For example:

I was watching Star Trek Voyager, in season 4 I think. Every DVD was listed as available. Then out of the blue instead of getting the next DVD on my list I got DVD's hundreds down in my queue. Like Dark Angle, Season 1: Disk 2. Babylon Five Season 1: Disk 1.

Just things out of the blue like that would halt what I was watching and send me things that just pissed me off. After this happened several times, always on months when I was watching things awful fast I finally cut the fat and went back to my local blockbuster.

[Bee]

I've seen an increase in the queue wait times of newly released movies, but I haven't seen an increase in it taking longer to get the movies thru the mail. In the past I would get new releases immediately, now I occasionally get a new release immediately but most of the time I'm getting put on the wait list for a couple weeks and they just send me something else on my list. It doesn't bother me too much since there are lots of movies on my want to see list and I don't really care if I see them when they first get released or 2 weeks later.

[Tekneek]

I don't think I have gone through this. It wouldn't be a problem as long as they put it on the website. Hiding it is bad mojo.

We often have 490-500 DVDs in the queue and would be pleased to receive any of them, so we never have our heart set on getting #1 next. We know we will eventually get it and that's fine.

[wade moore]

I've had 3 at a time since June and NEVER had this problem.. While I may not watch quite as many as some folks, I do the TV thing and would watch a disc in usually two days, send it back, and have the new dvd two days later (one day to get to them, one day to get back to me)... so I have never had this problem or anything close to it.. and I've never not gotten the top item on my list...

[Jesse_Ewiak]

One way I've found to get movies back quicker is to line up the white movie thing so the UPC shows up in that little slot on the back side of the envelope. I've had times when it's showed up as 'IN' the same day I put the movies in the mailbox.

[jeff061]

I know next to nothing about NetFlix, but I'd imagine this depends heavily on the quality of your local NetFlix distribution center.

[Draft Dodger]

I have a friend in the same zip code, and often what is a wait for him is available for me. I don't really mind that discrepency (since I don't race through my movies, it's pretty rare to get something more than 2 or 3 deep in my queue), but I am annoyed with the slower turnaround Iwashere described above.

I also don't like their desceptive advertising. I had cancelled them for a while, and would get emails from time to time to come back for x-price, but I had to really dig on their site to find what deal that price corresponded to, and it often wasn't as good a deal as it sounded in the ad.

one thing they have improved is the ability to cancel your membership right on the site - I had to call the last time, and it was difficult to get a live rep to make it happen for me.

overall, I still like them, but I would really like to see them improve some of their shady practices

[stkelly52]

Am I the only one that would much rather have the all you can rent in-store option? I hated having to wait several days for my DVDs to make their way to me throught the mail. With Blockbusters 2 at a time instore option I was able to get 7 videos this past weekend.

[Terps]

I haven't experienced the slow turnaround yet. They received the movies today and sent my new ones out today (one was Saw 2, a new release that I just added a few days ago.)

[samifan24]

I just started a free trial with Netflix and am interested in learning how the whole process works. It seems that movies will typically take a day to get to me because I am very close to the nearest distribution center. I plan to keep track of when I receive/send out movies to get some idea as to the speed of the whole process.

[IwasHere]

I just started a free trial with Netflix and am interested in learning how the whole process works. It seems that movies will typically take a day to get to me because I am very close to the nearest distribution center. I plan to keep track of when I receive/send out movies to get some idea as to the speed of the whole process.
Enjoy your free Trial period as you will be put in the front of the line for everything.


I am on a 5-Disc program and now I never see same day shipping. In on Monday and out on Tuesday, never the same day? Or, in on Friday and then out 3 days later on Monday.

Anyone know if Blockbuster works on Saturday?

[Tekneek]

Am I the only one that would much rather have the all you can rent in-store option? I hated having to wait several days for my DVDs to make their way to me throught the mail. With Blockbusters 2 at a time instore option I was able to get 7 videos this past weekend.

There are approximately 2 video stores within a 5 mile range of my house. I can walk to my mailbox. I'd rather go with Netflix.

[IwasHere]

So you have never seen this?

What does Shipping mean?
A movie in Shipping status means we have chosen that movie to be the next one shipped to you. Generally, we ship all orders within 24 hours of their entering Shipping status. However, when a movie isn't available from your local shipping center, we reserve a copy from another shipping center and ship it to you the following day.

Please note that due to inventory issues a movie may occasionally be in Shipping status for up to 2 days. If this occurs, we will automatically cancel the shipment and add the movie back to your Rental Queue.


It sounds like they give themselves 3 days to get your movie shipped out, before they try to send you another selection.

[IwasHere]

I usually get them and send them back that same day. I get around 24 a month with the unlimited two at a time.

Personally I think you are full of Sh*t with this statement; But, you do realize that the unlimited 2 at time plan is the Worst plan NetFlix currently offers?

2 at a time for $14.99
3 at a time for $16.99 -->only $2 to go up to the next plan
4 at a time for $23.99
5 at a time for $29.99
6 at a time for $35.99
7 at a time for $41.99
7 at a time for $47.99

All the other plans cost you 7 or 6 dollars to add an extra disc, while going from 2 to 3 discs out at a time only cost you $2.00.


So, if you are not just making these thing up, you must be P.T. Barnums best friend. And, I will give you 1 Canadian quarter for 3 US dimes. :)

[Masked]

I have the two at a time plan and am happy with it. I watch as many DVD's a month as I want, so spending $2 more would be a waste for me. I probably go through anywhere from 6-10 disks a month and always have a very fast turn around (mail out on Monday, new disk here on Wed).

[Draft Dodger]

not that it's a huge deal, but the 3 at a time plan is actually $3 more. $17.99.

[IwasHere]

not that it's a huge deal, but the 3 at a time plan is actually $3 more. $17.99.
Where are you getting your info?




Membership Plans
We offer a wide range of plans to suit your movie watching needs. We encourage you to try out different plans and find the one that fits you best!

8 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $47.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 8 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $47.99.

7 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $41.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 7 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $41.99.

6 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $35.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 6 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $35.99.
You are currently on this plan:
5 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $29.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 5 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $29.99.

4 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $23.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 4 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $23.99.

3-at-a-time(Unlimited) for $16.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 3 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $16.99.

2 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $14.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 2 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $14.99.

2 at-a-time (4 a month) for $11.99
Up to 4 rentals a month - up to 2 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $11.99. Learn More.

1 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $9.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 1 movie out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $9.99.


This info can be found by going to your account under the change membership page.

[Draft Dodger]

well, this is VERY interesting...why the fuck would they have different rates?

8 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $47.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 8 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $47.99.

7 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $41.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 7 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $41.99.

6 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $35.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 6 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $35.99.

5 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $29.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 5 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $29.99.

4 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $23.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 4 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $23.99.

3 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $17.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 3 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $17.99.
You are currently on this plan:
2 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $14.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 2 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $14.99.

2 at-a-time (4 a month) for $11.99
Up to 4 rentals a month - up to 2 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $11.99. Learn More.

1 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $9.99
Unlimited rentals - up to 1 movie out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $9.99.

[sabotai]

well, this is VERY interesting...why the fuck would they have different rates?$16.99 a month for 3 at a time for me as well. That's weird...

[Draft Dodger]

well, I'm sending those mofos an email. that doesn't make sense to me at all.

[Masked]

$17.99 for me as well.

[IwasHere]

WOW, everything else looks to be exactly the same.

Are you in a variable tax rate state? If you look up in this thread will you will see me complaining about have to pay extra taxes on the amount of DVDs I rent each monthand not just a flat tax. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.


I just saw that the new tax rate did not start untill the first of the year. My bill increased $1.35

[Draft Dodger]

WOW, everything else looks to be exactly the same.

Are you in a variable tax rate state? If you look up in this thread will you will see me complaining about have to pay extra taxes on the amount of DVDs I rent each monthand not just a flat tax. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

I'm in a NO tax state.

[Masked]

I'm in a NO tax state.I'm in a tax everything state.

But the tax is reflected in what I am actually charged each month ~$16. And why would all the other rates be the same?

[Terps]

Personally I think you are full of Sh*t with this statement; Oh well... Fact is Monday they received my movies that were sent back on Saturday, Tuesday I received the next 2 in my queue, Wednesday, they received those 2, and 2 more are gonna be coming to me today.

It's been that way ever since I joined NetFlix. I have no problem with the 2 at a time plan with that kind of turnaround, especially since I take them to the post office the same day I get them.

[IwasHere]

It's been that way ever since I joined NetFlix. I have no problem with the 2 at a time plan with that kind of turnaround, especially since I take them to the post office the same day I get them.
The post office would cut a day off my turn around time alone, but that would kill the ease of use feature for me.

You are able to get more DVDs with your 2 Disc program than I am getting with my 5 disc program in a month. That just sucks.

Do you ever see a "shipping on date" in your Que? Not that the Disc has shipped, but that the Disc will be ship out tomorrow. I see this almost everytime and that costs me another day right there.

Maybe the NetFlix center in Denver just plain sucks.

[Terps]

I've seen that on occasion, but never really looked into why. I used to be on four at a time and could get anywhere from 10-12 a week, so that's why I cut down to the two at a time plan.

My post office is also only a couple blocks away too, so that helps.

[Bee]

I'm at $17.99 a month as well for 3 at a time. That's weird that the deal is different for some of you.

[miked]

My brother complained of this practice. He said when he was getting 2-3 new ones per week they were all shipped within a day. He's now up to about 15 a month and he says they take 2-3 days now and he gets emails saying they aren't available at closer shipping locations...

[Draft Dodger]

perhaps not surprisingly, I haven't heard back from Netflix about the difference in pricing.

[Draft Dodger]

I don't know why this burns me so much...

Hi David,

Thank you for contacting Netflix.com customer support!

We appreciate your inquiry regarding the price of the Netflix plans. The amount you are referring to is a special offer that your friend received for their geographical area. Unfortunately, we are unable to extend this offer to all of our customers. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

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

Thanks,
Steve H,
Netflix Customer Service .

[IwasHere]

Does anyone know if these online DVD clubs count toward Weekly DVD rentals? If I am looking at a site that ranks DVD rentals do they include the number of time NeyFlix shipped out a DVD in a week?

Just curious.

[Easy Mac]

They've throttled the hell out of me lately. I just now got Wedding Crashers, even though its been at the top of my queue for as long as its been out. The first 13 movies are either a short/long/very long wait. They're also doing the taking 3 days to ship a movie thing. If Blockbuster was even remotely reliable (they often skipped about 30 spots down my queue over available movies) I would switch again.

[samifan24]

They've throttled the hell out of me lately. I just now got Wedding Crashers, even though its been at the top of my queue for as long as its been out. The first 13 movies are either a short/long/very long wait. They're also doing the taking 3 days to ship a movie thing. If Blockbuster was even remotely reliable (they often skipped about 30 spots down my queue over available movies) I would switch again.

Easy, which plan are you on and how long does it typically take for you to receive movies? Is three days typically way too long regardless of the plan you're on?

I followed someone's directions earlier in the thread and mailed the movie back from the post office two days ago. It was going to a PO Box in Hartford marked "Nearest Facility" (I live about 15 miles outside of Hartford) and the Netflix website still doesn't say that they've even received that movie yet. Is that normal?

[Easy Mac]

I am on the 3 for 17.99 plan. When they send them, I get them the next day, the problem is getting them to send the movies quickly and sending the ones I want. Normally, when I send them back, they either get them the next day or the day after, depends on where and when I send them (if at work and they're in the mail bin first thing, they'll get them the next day). I live about 120 miles from the nearest distro center, and its a 1 day turn around both ways.

[oliegirl]

I understand all of you being upset, but isn't it possible that more and more people are signing up and as a result the movies aren't in stock and b/c of the increased customers, it's taking longer to get the movies out? I am not saying it's ok - but isn't it a possibility? Seems that if this is the case they should issue some kind of letter to their subscribers saying what is going on and how they plan to fix it.

Like I said before, we've never had problems with Blockbuster - but we also don't watch as many movies as some of you so if it takes an extra day or two for the movie to get here, I don't notice it.

[panerd]

My situation is a whole lot different than most of you. I am a teacher so I really use these plans during the summer and during winter break. Netflix was far faster during my trial period, but wasn't that bad afterwards. I did switch to Blockbuster Online just to get the free month and try something different and my trial period even sucked ass. I had like 8 new releases on long/short waits and the turnaround was easily 3/4 days. They also didn't have near the television selection that Netflix had. The Shield and the Wire were two examples of movies that I couldn't get.

I also used to use the local Blockbuster store's $25 a month plan but the no late fees has made that about worthless. I went with a friend to rent a movie last weekend and they were out of almost every new release on a Thurday! (Including such 'new releases' as Wedding Crashers and the 40-year old virgin)

[IwasHere]

I understand all of you being upset, but isn't it possible that more and more people are signing up and as a result the movies aren't in stock and b/c of the increased customers, it's taking longer to get the movies out? I am not saying it's ok - but isn't it a possibility? Seems that if this is the case they should issue some kind of letter to their subscribers saying what is going on and how they plan to fix it.

I agree 100% with this.

I for one am starting to see the dreaded Very, Long Wait on major block buster movies. I don't remember seeing the Very Long Wait on anything but independent movies when I first started. Because the movie is listed as a very long wait that means that I am going to have to wait for over 160 days to see a major release is just not right.

I can see if it is some small time movie, but expecting people to wait half a year to see the 40 year old version is insane. Funny, someone was complaing about not being able to pick the movie up on a Thursday, try not being able to pick up the movie until sometime after Memorial Day.

[panerd]

I agree 100% with this.

I for one am starting to see the dreaded Very, Long Wait on major block buster movies. I don't remember seeing the Very Long Wait on anything but independent movies when I first started. Because the movie is listed as a very long wait that means that I am going to have to wait for over 160 days to see a major release is just not right.

I can see if it is some small time movie, but expecting people to wait half a year to see the 40 year old version is insane. Funny, someone was complaing about not being able to pick the movie up on a Thursday, try not being able to pick up the movie until sometime after Memorial Day.

What are you talking about? Is this just a hypothetical? I watched the 40-year old virgin through Netflix like a week after it was released and I just checked my queue and it is available right now. So if you are serious your distribution center must suck. If you are just bring hypothetical then you are exaggerating quite a bit. I have never seen very long wait on a new movie.

[IwasHere]

I am serious. I currently have 3 movies that say very long wait. And, out of 89 movies in my Que, 14 are showing some type of wait

I can't wait till summer to see them. :)

40 year old Virgin says Very Long Wait.
Flight Plan says Very Long Wait.
Doom says Very Long Wait.

[Jesse_Ewiak]

Hmm...your distribrution center must suck or something. I just checked on all three and they're all available 'Now.'

[IwasHere]

LOL, this is the second time in this thread I have been told I must have a bad distribution center.

First their was the fact that I always have to wait an extra day on my movies to be shipped out, and now people are telling me that my center doesn't have enough supply.

Netflix out of Denver, I hate you.

Ha, but I do have the discounted $16.99 package going for me though. Unfortunately my current plan is 5 at a time, so I am not even saving money there. :(

[SackAttack]

I understand all of you being upset, but isn't it possible that more and more people are signing up and as a result the movies aren't in stock and b/c of the increased customers, it's taking longer to get the movies out?

Go read the Terms of Service, og.

They explicitly lay out their practices to you there. They couch it in terms like "we may" and "we reserve the right to" and so forth, but it has nothing to do with "more and more people signing up," because a business like this will scale its costs with its potential income. They would either increase staff, or look for areas to cut costs to compensate.

As new people join, they need to cater to those folks so as to keep them as subscribers. Throttling the people who are the most frequent renters are the easiest way to scale back costs, because they're less profitable to begin with.

[Bee]

All of this was in the original article, so I'm not sure why people are saying it's more people signing up or that it's a "bad" distribution center. Like SackAttack said, it's in the terms of service about throttling and the wait list has been tested a ton of times by using multiple accounts and the availability of movies is obviously skewed against heavy users. Not everyone is throttled, new subscribers and light users are fine, so if you fall in that category, of course you're not going to see what others are talking about.

[panerd]

All of this was in the original article, so I'm not sure why people are saying it's more people signing up or that it's a "bad" distribution center. Like SackAttack said, it's in the terms of service about throttling and the wait list has been tested a ton of times by using multiple accounts and the availability of movies is obviously skewed against heavy users. Not everyone is throttled, new subscribers and light users are fine, so if you fall in that category, of course you're not going to see what others are talking about.


I highly doubt making people wait 6 months to see new releases is part of their terms of service. I have experianced quite a different quality in service and availability from my trial run, to my first several months, to now. It went from instant everything, to some waits and delays, to at least 1-2 day delays. But I find it hard to beleive (no, strike that impossible to beleive) that part of their policy is making this guy in Denver wait 6 months for movies. We are missing part of the story here.

[IwasHere]

Hey, if anyone is shipping out of the Denver center could you check these 3 movies for me. It would be interesting if Netflix was actually showing different wait times for customers using the same distribution center.


40 year old Virgin says Very Long Wait.
Flight Plan says Very Long Wait.
Doom says Very Long Wait.


What really sucks about this; after reading this thread, I now believe I am being penalized because I am spending more money to be on a 5 Disc program. Why would someone that is on a cheaper 2 Disc program get to go ahead of me?

[samifan24]

What really sucks about this; after reading this thread, I now believe I am being penalized because I am spending more money to be on a 5 Disc program. Why would someone that is on a cheaper 2 Disc program get to go ahead of me?

It sounds like you're experiencing the throttling phenomenon and are essentially being penalized because you are renting a higher volume of discs per month than someone on the the two at a time plan.

[Bee]

I highly doubt making people wait 6 months to see new releases is part of their terms of service. I have experianced quite a different quality in service and availability from my trial run, to my first several months, to now. It went from instant everything, to some waits and delays, to at least 1-2 day delays. But I find it hard to beleive (no, strike that impossible to beleive) that part of their policy is making this guy in Denver wait 6 months for movies. We are missing part of the story here.

You're talking two different things. One is the practice of throttling and the other is a specific case. I don't know the specifics of the Denver case, but as I said throttling and the way they allocate movies is in their terms of service. Here are some quotes from the terms of service:

We reserve the right to allocate and ship DVDs among our subscribers in any manner that we, in our sole and absolute discretion, determine.

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 subscribers who receive the most movies may experience that (i) the shipment of their next available DVD occurs at least one business day following return of their previously viewed movie, (ii) delivery takes longer, as the shipments may not be processed from their local distribution center and (iii) they receive movies lower in their queue more often than our other subscribers.

[sabotai]

Not everyone is throttled, new subscribers and light users are fine, so if you fall in that category, of course you're not going to see what others are talking about.I don't have this happen to me and I'm not a new subscriber or a light user.

[SackAttack]

We reserve the right to allocate and ship DVDs among our subscribers in any manner that we, in our sole and absolute discretion, determine.

In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service.

Quoted for emphasis.

[Bee]

I don't have this happen to me and I'm not a new subscriber or a light user.

Do you want congratulations?

[sabotai]

Do you want congratulations?It'd be nice every once in awhile....

[Bee]

It'd be nice every once in awhile....

:D

[IwasHere]

Monday 12:20 PM and I have this in my Que.

5 We expect to ship your next available movie by Tuesday.

WTF....They will not even tell what movie they are going to hopefully ship out tomorrow.

[Easy Mac]

The last 5 movies I've had sent to me have been opened already. The last movie was completely outside the envelope sitting in my mailbox. I called USPS, and they said their people don't open mail... so it was obviously Netflix being sloppy, and the USPS just happened to match the movies up exactly :rolleyes:

[wade moore]

More interesting Netflix news:

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/05/0210213


Netflix Suing Blockbuster for Patent Infringement



Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday April 05, @07:59AM
from the there-can-be-only-one dept.
http://images.slashdot.org/topics/topicpatents.gif (http://yro.slashdot.org/search.pl?tid=155) http://images.slashdot.org/topics/topicdoj.gif (http://yro.slashdot.org/search.pl?tid=123)
grouchomarxist writes "Netflix is suing Blockbuster for Patent Infringement (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060404/netflix_blockbuster.html). From the article: 'Netflix holds two U.S. patents for its business methodology, which calls for subscribers to pay a monthly fee to select and rent DVDs from the company's Web site and to maintain a list of titles telling Netflix in which order to ship the films, according to the patents, which were included as exhibits in the lawsuit. The first patent, granted in 2003, covers the method by which Netflix customers select and receive a certain number of movies at a time, and return them for more titles. The second patent, issued on Tuesday, "covers a method for subscription-based online rental that allows subscribers to keep the DVDs they rent for as long as they wish without incurring any late fees, to obtain new DVDs without incurring additional charges and to prioritize and reprioritize their own personal dynamic queue -- of DVDs to be rented," the lawsuit said.'"

[vex]

Canceled Netflix a couple days ago. Sure is nice not having to wait on the turn around.

[JeeberD]

I'm so mad at my fiancee' right now, she ordered two exercise DVDs (WTF?) from Netflix and they've been gathering dust for a month now. Talk about getting the most out of our $20 a month... :rolleyes:

[SackAttack]

wade, I've read where some legal eagles expect this challenge to fade because Blockbuster read Netflix's silence as consent. How long has Blockbuster Online been around? Two years?

I don't know if that'd be grounds to vacate Netflix's case, but those are the rumblings I hear.

[wade moore]

wade, I've read where some legal eagles expect this challenge to fade because Blockbuster read Netflix's silence as consent. How long has Blockbuster Online been around? Two years?

I don't know if that'd be grounds to vacate Netflix's case, but those are the rumblings I hear.

It's probably a good point. If they had this patent, I don't particularly understand why they didn't challenge this immediately. It's not like they (if they were smart) could think that Blockbuster was not a threat.