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NETFLIX frustration (transferred thread)

post #1 of 50
1/7/06 at 8:20am
Thread Starter 
Well, this got canned over in the movie forum, so I'll try it here, as per admin; I figured it'd be moved. I have skimmed thru a bunch of the Netflix threads here and have not seen this addressed directly (altho of course I may have missed it), so please forgive me.

Anyone else experiencing this?

I want to rent THE STING from Netflix. But they only have the old disc shown on the site. They do not have the new remastered widescreen disc shown on the site. Do I go ahead and rent it and see which they send me?

I want to rent NOTORIOUS. But they only have the old PD disc shown on the site. They do not have the new Criterion disc shown on the site. Do I go ahead and rent it and see which they send me?

Aside from this, of course, Netflix is all tops in my book, with great, responsive customer service and great fast turnaround times. I love Netflix. I should have bought stock. I wonder if I should call them up and ask them about this? Anyone else frustrated by this "special edition lag time" at Netflix?

MC

PS - New addition: I could add OFFICE SPACE and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD to this list. Neither new edition is listed at Netflix. I wonder what gives?
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post #2 of 50
1/8/06 at 6:42am
Micah,
This drives me crazy as well, as Netflix gets new specials editions for some things (like the about-to-be released special edition of The Wild Bunch) but not others. The really weird thing is that sometimes they will have the special edition bonus disc available but the first disc is the old edition (see The English Patient as an definite example, and possibly Starship Troopers and Pulp Fiction among others). I have emailed them to ask them about it, but the response claimed that they don't update to special editions if there is an edition already out (which is obviously false for some titles).

To directly answer your first question, I would bet you would get the old edition of The Sting and Notorious

And I wish you would call them about it and see what kind of answer you get (and post it here by all means).

Dana in MD
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post #3 of 50
1/8/06 at 7:54am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the confirmation, Dana... I didn't expect anyone to see this thread here. This forum is like where threads go to die.

Tomorrow afternoon, I might call them. They usually have great customer service, maybe they will help me.

I sort of feel like this is a non-issue to complain about, but then again SEs keep coming out and replacing older, inferior discs, it just doesn't make sense to not replace them.

More news as it happens. Watch this space.

MC
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post #4 of 50
1/8/06 at 3:19pm
From what I have seen, the SE's that Netflix does carry tend to be those that get re-released with extended footage/deleted scenes, etc. I have not seen The Sting, but was the original release widescreen but non-anamorphic?
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post #5 of 50
1/8/06 at 4:03pm
Thread Starter 
The original DVD of THE STING was one of the worst DVDs ever. Pan & Scam.

What's the point?

I'll call them tomorrow and put it to em.

MC
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post #6 of 50
1/11/06 at 8:23am
Thread Starter 
My email to Netflix this morning:


Hi Netflix! You are great! Thank you for such great service. BUT...

Why is it that I can *not* rent newer or updated versions of DVDs, such as THE STING, OFFICE SPACE, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD or the newer Criterion DVD of NOTORIOUS? Instead of the new, "Special Edition" discs, Netflix continues to list older, inferior, sometimes "public domain" discs for rent.

When do the new issues get rotated into the stock? Please respond soon, as I'd like to rent these discs! Thank you!

M Cohen


Maybe I'll get a nice response.

MC
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post #7 of 50
1/11/06 at 9:23am
Good letter.

Do my dishes, Netflix!
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post #8 of 50
1/11/06 at 11:41am
Thread Starter 
I got a nice e-form-letter back.

Huh.

MC
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post #9 of 50
2/1/06 at 5:03am
ARGH! Why is Netflix MESSING with me?!

I put BUBBLE in my queue way ahead of the game and as soon as it was released it came up listed as "available."

Then, ALL OF A FRIGGIN' SUDDEN, a few days ago it began showing up as "long wait."

And now... AND NOW... ALL OF A FRIGGIN' SUDDEN, just this morning it is being listed in my queue as "VERY long wait"!

WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! I got in EARLY on this!

What the EFFIN' EFF, Netflix?!

I don't especially care about the film itself. It's the PRINCINPLE of the thing! I got in EARLY, dammit! And they told me straight out, initially, and for about a WEEK too, that it was "available." ARGH!

[Tangent: And why doesn't Netflix carry more Boetticher Westerns?! DAMN!]
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post #10 of 50
2/2/06 at 3:39pm
Netflix is unbelievable.

I have been a member for a year now, and in the beginning they used to be very quick when I mailed a title back to the hub that was very close to my own home. I used to send a movie back on MONDAY morning and there'd be an email the next day, TUESDAY, telling me that they received it and were shipping the next title out immediately - and I'd have the new film on WEDNESDAY.

But this week has been pathetic. Just like I used to, I sent back a title on MONDAY, going to the same very nearby hub location, and here we are THURSDAY and there is still no email that they've received it! What a lie. What a bunch of crooks. This has been going on for some time now...
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post #11 of 50
2/2/06 at 3:50pm
In Canada we have Zip.ca, and it's excellent. When a special edition of something is released, they usually get it even though they already have the old edition. If they don't get it, we just need to send an e-mail, and they add the new edition to their catalogue asap.
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post #12 of 50
2/2/06 at 7:17pm
Joe,
Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble. It's working great for me (I'm in Maryland), as it usually takes one day to get to them and they ship a new one the same day or the next day. Given what I've heard from others, it sounds like it may be that some distribution centers (and the local post office) are having problems.

Dana in MD
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post #13 of 50
2/2/06 at 9:44pm
Dana,

Please don't use the post office as a scapegoat to try and explain away Netflix's game playing schemes with customers DVDs. I have friends and relatives that work for the post office and they personally placed my DVDs in Netflix's P.O. Box. Yet Netflix took days before it appeared in my quene as returned. Then they showed my next DVDs as shipping the following day as opposed to the same day that they indicated having recieved them. That why I'm a former Netflix customer happily spending my money with Blockbuster.com
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post #14 of 50
2/3/06 at 2:17pm
Correct, Reginald. It's so obvious that it's Netflix playing their games, especially when so many of us used to get great service from them, even though the post office hasn't changed. It's always been the same story for everyone -- first we join, we get terrific service for a while, we rave about the great deal and recommend it to others, and eventually we get throttled as Netflix intentionally delays our movies.

By the way -- today, FRIDAY, I finally got the email from Netflix saying they received the movie I mailed back to them at 7:30 am way back on this past MONDAY. This was a very nearby hub which always used to process my returns the very next day (TUESDAY) back when I was still a new baby member.
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post #15 of 50
2/3/06 at 4:51pm
Quote:
It's so obvious that it's Netflix playing their games, especially when so many of us used to get great service from them, even though the post office hasn't changed


Why don't you drop them then? If the service (or lack thereof) bothers you so much, email them and cancel. Let them know why. I don't think anyone is holding a gun to your head to use them.
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post #16 of 50
2/4/06 at 3:11am
Quote:
Why don't you drop them then? If the service (or lack thereof) bothers you so much, email them and cancel. Let them know why. I don't think anyone is holding a gun to your head to use them.

Because as long as I receive at least 5 or more discs per month, I'm getting at least my money's worth or perhaps a little more. It's just that they stifle their heavy-renting customers to the point where I will only get 10 films per month instead of the old 20 or more that they used to allow me, so it's still something of a value. But that doesn't mean they're not snakes, and there is nothing wrong whatsoever in voicing our opinions on their con games.

I love the old "nobody's holding a gun to your head" reaction any time a person exercises his right to air a negative opinion about something. I will continue to do so, and as for my "letting them know", you can bet your life I get on the phone regularly to tell them what I think of their tricks. While it may not speed up their throttling scheme, it sure gives me pleasure and ties them up for several minutes.
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post #17 of 50
2/4/06 at 8:20am
They do throttle but it seems only certain areas are getting really bad service. I'm on the 8-out plan and I managed to get more than 35 titles for January, the most ever for me I think.

Dana in MD
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post #18 of 50
2/4/06 at 11:22am
Dana,

You would get 8 a week or 32 per month even if they did throttle, so that's not such a great deal. IMO
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post #19 of 50
2/4/06 at 12:11pm
I think the reason a lot of us are angry is because Netflix says one thing, then does another. They are still advertising "Rent all the movies you want". This is certainly false advertisement. They lost the court case, but are still doing it. That is why I am mad at them.

As for dropping them, I have no other choice right now because I like to rent TV on DVD. The last time I checked, Netflix had a larger selection.
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post #20 of 50
2/4/06 at 3:57pm
Ha Ha Ha....!

I have to laugh because today (SATURDAY) I received only 1 movie from Netflix even though they said by email that I'd be getting 2 for Saturday!

This may not seem strange to most, but for me it is, since it always used to be that whenever they said a movie was going to arrive on a certain day, it always used to, without fail. And even better - in the beginning they used to promise it later and it always came AHEAD of schedule!
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post #21 of 50
2/5/06 at 11:39am
As a Netflix member for about five of the past seven years, I will admit they are not perfect...but why do you assume that Netflix is to blame when they ship two movies at the dame time and they don't arrive together? When I lived in Denver, I did much "snail mailing" with my family in WI. There were MANY times that it would take FIVE DAYS using first class mail for something to get from Milwaukee to Denver and vice versa. If I mailed out Christmas cards on a Monday, my friend in Philly would have it on Wed., yet my family would get their's on Thursday or Friday. Why do so many assume that the US Postal Service shares no blame in these delivery times?
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post #22 of 50
2/5/06 at 12:43pm
I understand your point, Eric. But all the same, it's tough to ignore the fact that each and every delivery was right on the money as to when Netflix said they would all arrive for many months, up till fairly recently. It's easy to pick on the post office, but I can't help thinking it's ironic that so many customers experience the same problem at the same general time in their membership, and that Netflix got it so perfect in the first stages of our membership.

For what it's worth, last night my wife and I settled in to watch the DVD we got. There was something not right about it - very scratched, and even more strange was that it felt very fragile when I took it out of its envelope, as though it could crack any moment. It didn't crack, but the film froze up completely around the 1-hour point, and there was nothing I could do to watch anything further, no matter what I tried. So I sealed it back into its envelope half-watched, and will just send it back and take the hit.

Now, this is something rare with me and Netflix, and I'm even willing to let it go because it could have happened with just about any rental company -- but I just thought I'd mention it as the cherry on top.
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post #23 of 50
2/5/06 at 2:26pm
EricSchulz,

How do you explain this.....

I have friends and relatives that work for the post office and they personally placed my DVDs in Netflix's P.O. Box. Yet Netflix took days before it appeared in my quene as returned. Then they showed my next DVDs as shipping the following day as opposed to the same day that they indicated having recieved them.

Edited to explain...

I live in Chicago and the DVDs were addressed to Netflix's Chicago P.O.Box. In the past they would show DVDs recieved the next day and show my next DVDs shipping to me the same day.
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post #24 of 50
2/9/06 at 11:13pm
More food for thought......

http://dvd-rent-test.dreamhost.com/
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post #25 of 50
2/10/06 at 3:57am
Hmm. So, what if I cancel my Netflix membership every two or three months, and just keep renewing it under a different email address etc., would that make me a consistently "new" member with ongoing special first-come shipping privileges?

I mean, should a movie like THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN really be a "very long wait"?!
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post #26 of 50
2/10/06 at 5:35am
Quote:
More food for thought......

Wow. That was very interesting. Thanks for the link, Reginald.

Well, since I last wrote I had a more normal experience of sending back a disc to my very nearby hub and it was checked in the next day and then I received a new movie quickly... however .... here it is a new week, and already it's back to the slow maple syrup method of service. I sent back a disc to the same nearby hub on Monday... here it is Friday and I have yet to receive a confirmation that they've received it.

EDITED TO ADD: Okay - they've just sent me the email. So it took from Monday to Friday where it's usually the very next day. Now all I need is a confirmation that a new disc is shipping today too and will arrive tomorrow -- like they used to.
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post #27 of 50
2/10/06 at 6:16pm
Quote:
More food for thought......


It was interesting. Like someone in here said earlier. As long as I get more than 5 movies a month it's worth it.
There's an Article on CNN today about it.

I have nothing but good experience with them and have recommended the service to a lot of poeple. I think they just try to make everybody happy. Even the one that's Long wait I usually get it couple weeks later. They give me a chance to watch a lot of movies that I was afraid to rent from local video stores because it might turned out sucked. If I don't like it I just take it out after 5 to 10 minutes and return it the next day. They also have a very good catalogue on foreign movies which I love.
I'm pretty sure in the future when Broadband is at the speed where large data transmitting is lightning fast they might even come up with something like DVR where the movie get downloaded at night or when you're not using the device and we'll all have the new releases the same day.
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post #28 of 50
2/17/06 at 8:45am
What's this all about?

>>On the heels of reports that Netflix delays shipping DVDs to its most frequent users in order to reduce the number of DVDs they can receive each month, the online rental company said Wednesday that it is testing a new $5.99-per-month subscription plan that would limit the number of discs that can be rented to three. A spokesman for the company declined to reveal details of the test.<<
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post #29 of 50
2/17/06 at 1:14pm
MichaelBA,
I'm guessing that Netflix is simply testing an alternative to their 4-a-month plan. I guess some people rent so little but don't have easy enough access to a local Blockbuster that it might appeal to them

Dana
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post #30 of 50
2/18/06 at 10:29pm
The throttling is getting more and more annoying to me too. I've paid them for 5-6 years now and been through ups and downs, but in general could get 6 movies a week, sometimes 7 since there is a warehouse in my town. But for the last 5 months or so it has dropped to 4.

If I get new releases, instead of shipping them on Monday like they used to, or even Tuesday, they often don't ship until Wednesday, meaning there's no way I can turn it around that week. I tried to combat that by no longer putting new releases at the top if I have slots free on Monday so they'll go ahead and ship something immediately. But now they have begun sending me at least one movie a week from LA or some long-distance hub so it takes longer for me to get, and longer for them to check in when I send it back.

I only got 3 movies this week on the 4 movie plan. I guess it is still a good deal, like others I'm as much frustrated by their cavalier attitude about the whole thing. May end up checking out Greencine eventually.
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