In April of this year, I received an email from Netflix informing me that in June they would be raising their rates from $19.95 per month to $21.99 per month. In response, I fired off some hate mail and I’m sure I wasn’t the only customer to respond negatively to this news.
Today I received another email from Netflix notifying me that they are subsequently lowering their rates now to $17.99 per month. That’s great news, of course, but they still suck for lying to their customers. Because in the email they say:
Since our price increase in June, some of our members have expressed concerns about the new pricing. We've listened to this feedback and are pleased to inform you that we're lowering the price of your Netflix 3-at-a-time program from $21.99 per month to 17.99 per month.
What a load. The real reason they are lowering their prices is not all of the negative feedback they have been receiving since April, it’s the fact that Blockbuster announced about a month ago that they would begin offering the exact same service, the exact same package, at the original rate of $19.95 per month, and Netflix customers were switching in droves!
Blockbuster’s response to Netflix’s announcement? To lower their rate to $17.49. God bless the free market.
Howdy from Houston, TX,I’m agreeing with you that NETFLIX sucks.I made the mistake of upgrading my membership and was effectively punished for it by not receiving DVDs 2 weekends in a row. It may well be 3.Already I know I want to withdraw from NETFLIX membership, but I want to be sure they don’t rip me off further when I do. Here we are at just about mid month, and no DVDs.I’d just finished sending my third letter to NETFLIX about the mess when it occurred to me that if I was pissed with NETFLIX there must be others. Voila, I found your and other NETFLIX sucks sites.I think the results are in…NETFLIX SUCKS.Have a nice day.
I have been victomized by Netflix’s great two- week trial scam. It’s been over a month since the trial period began and to date I haven’t received one video. They are now charging my credit card a monthly fee. I have tried to cancel my account to no avail.Do any real people work for them?All responses to my complaints have been automated so far and ineffectual.
Netflix is a scam. They give you the impression that you can watch unlimited movies a month. However, as soon as they find out you are checking out 10+ movies a month they slow down sending you movies by 2 to 7 days. I asked Netflix why they did this. They claim that they wait for your next movie in the queue to become available for 2 days. This is bullshit…why have a queue…with 100+ ‘Available Now’ movies. Also, they will send you a survey only for a movie they know you recieved in a day after shipped. They must think the consumer is an idiot. Well…fool me once…:)) What IDIOTS!
We joined Netflix last September. Our subscription was working well for a while, then in the last four months we received 4 broken discs and at least 5 unplayable discs. And we were not even using the system as efficiently as we could have been, often letting discs sit around for a few days, or forgetting to mail back discs right after viewing them. In one case, we tried to see the SAME MOVIE THREE TIMES! In this case, the first disc was unplayable (about a third of the way through the movie), then the next two arrived broken! I just gave up the idea of seeing the movie via netflix altogether. The final straw was when a TV series disc we rented wouldn’t play the last episode. I tried to wash the disc to no avail. I did notice a scratch pattern in a specific region of the disc, so I sent it back, requesting a replacement and notifying netflix of the problem, both by writing on the disc envelope and using the online reporting system. Imagine my anger and frustration when the replacement disc sent was EXACTLY THE SAME DISC, WITH EXACTLY THE SAME SCRATCH PATTERN, IN A FRESH COVER! AND THIS HAPPENED JUST ONE WEEK AFTER I SENT A COMPLAINT TO NETFLIX DESCRIBING THE CHRONIC DIFFICULTIES WE WERE ENCOUNTERING. I received an automatic reply to my complaint saying a customer service representative would respond to my complaint, but that NEVER happened.
if you have run across the problem of being a high utilizing customer that watches and returns very quiickly. You are familiar with being punished… well here is the response i got back from Netflix… read and enjoy (or weep) TOTAL BULLSHIT that they do this.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.
In Houston too. I do get a fast turn around usually 2 days but I can’t get new releases. I get long waits listed in my que. My next door neighbor that I got to join and has only been a member for 2 months to my 2 years has no wait for the same movies. WHAT GIVES? I would go to blockbuster but I can’t stand waiting in line with the illegal mexican aliens here in houston. Life sux south of the border!!
jeff:What’s wrong with illegal aliens you racist BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? I hope they kick your ass one day down in Houston. I’m not illegal but come to Los Angeles and I’ll fuck you up in a heart beat. If you don’t like it, why don’t you move to a fucken redneck town where you probably belong?————————————-For everyone else:I hate Netflix too, they are full of it with their bad business practices. Moved to BlockBuster recently to check it out. Lets see.
here’s another one to add to the list: I’d recently begun renting from both Blockbuster & Neflix simultaneously. With Blockbuster being the better all-around deal, I cancelled Netflix, plopping their last DVD (disc 3 of a tv series) in the mail. Guess what? They claim they didn’t get it, and now they’re billing me $24 for it! Like I’d keep a fuckin’ DVD when it’s part of a set of four! This, along with not-so-fond memories of scrtached/broken/unplayable DVDs, wrong DVD in sleeve, slow-as-shit delivery, and nearly non-stop emails (how we doin? didja get the dvd, huh? huh? huh??) Little asswipes won’t even give out a customer service # to call and try to rectify the situation, just a bunch of email runaround…try to take MY hard-earned $$ out of my bank account? Don’t THINK so…fighting them all the way on this one
YOU GUYS ARE PATHETIC!
What a bunch of commie crybabies! Netflix is a BUISNESS and as such, needs to make a PROFIT. If you’re returning DVDs the same day you recieve them, (probably burning them too) you should not be suprised when they adjust the rate at which you recieve to ensure a profitable biz.
good tip, empty your rental que and make sure they recieve the last of the movies, then call and cancel.BTW illegals shouldn’t be in line at blockbuster. they shouldn’t be here at all, thats why they are called illegals
Netflix sucks, their shipping is very slow they said first class mail, but I don’t think it is first class mail, it came to my hand over 2 days and when I returned it it also 2days. This company is totally rip off. Someday, someone should sue Netflix and this company close for good. For you read this message, if you got free trial from Netflix, don’t even try to become a member. Trust me this company is totally rip off!
Wow, I read all of these comments and found more of the same on other sites before I decided to try Netflix. That was more than 6 months ago. I am still incredibly happy with my membership. I have never received something that was scratched or broken, and have never waited more than 3 days for a DVD.What I ended up doing was doing the one-out-at-a-time unlimited rentals from Blockbuster, and 2 out at a time from Netflix. I get new releases every Tuesday at Blockbuster and switch out all the time. I use Netflix to get all of the older and more obscure titles. I am fully happy with both places.Final thought…Don’t call somebody names and start throwing threats because they complain about illegal mexican aliens. Illegal aliens of any race or nationality should not be here. They should be back in Mexico eating bugs and pissing on themselves. Did that piss you off? Good. Have a good day inbred.
YES, THEY DEFINITELY SLOW DOWN FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS THAT WATCH A LOT. UNRELIABLE I WOULD SAY. I am an airline pilot, who tries to take DVDs on my trips. I always get them back the day after I leave on atrip because (and this answer, THE TRUTH, is hard to get out of them unless you prove to them they are lying with their first couple “standard replies”:In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we givepriority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through ourservice. As a result, those members who receive the most movies mayexperience next-day shipping and receive movies lower in their Queue moreoften than our other members. By prioritizing in this way, we help assurea balanced experience for all our members. Those that rent a lot ofmovies get a great value and those with lighter viewing habits are ableto count on our service to meet their limited needs.When we ship you another DVD we automatically and promptly send you ane-mail letting you know that it’s on the way and telling you theestimated arrival date.
I don’t mind Netflix increase the monthly fee. I just hate when Netflix LIES to me. It only takes a day for me to receive the DVDs and they know that. If they decide to DELAY my DVD, not only they will hold the DVD for at least 3 days, they LIE to me telling me it has alraedy been shipped. Don’t be fooled by the shipping date on the queue page. Just check the est.arrival column for accuracy. Some DVDs will show that they will arrive the next day while some will arrive 3 or 4 days later. That’s when I know they LIE to me.
I’m starting think NetFlix sucks too. I’ve only been a member for a month and a half. I signed up for 3 movies, and received 1, followed by 2 more several days later. This was no big deal.I don’t really rent movies I rent tv shows on dvd so if you get one that doesn’t work, or in my case, Disc 3 labelled as Disc 2, then Disc 3 again, it takes a while before you can get in the right cycle again.Pretty much the final straw was last week, when I sent back all 3 discs on Friday. They received the first on Monday, sent the next one out Tuesday, Supposedly received the next one Wednesday and are in the process of sending the next one out today, Thursday.Also the don’t have the last one yet. Keep in mind that I just sent all 3 discs on the same day in the same mailbox. What are the chances that the post office seperated them all that much? Especially since they’re shipped to a center only about 75 miles away.Right now I’m planning to reduce my disc total to a month, and when I’m done with the seasons of the series I’m watching Netflix is history.
You know, My husband and I both switched to blockbuster a while back because Netflix kept sending us broken and unplayable dvds. We figured, well blockbuster is cheaper anyway so we made the switch. The blockbuster coupons mean nothing to us and we never even print them out because the nearest blockbuster is about an hour away.OK, well blockbuster sucks just as much as Netflix. Several times we haven’t recieved our dvds but they were listing them as recieved. In other words, part of the envelope they mail them in was ripped off during the mailing process and they were sent back to Blockbuster. They are also terrible about sending dvds. They say that they send a dvd as soon as the post office tells them that one of the dvds as been mailed back, but they dont. We average about 3 dvds per week. Just like with netflix.
Bonny:3 dvd’s a week huh? At $14.99 a month? So a movie for about $1.35 and you are complaning? Where else are you going to get that kind of deal? No where, so take your 3 movies a week and be happy about it. Blockbuster online is by far better than Netflix. Most people live with Blockbusters on every corner so the two instore coupons are awsome. Netflix can not compete.
I have used Netflix since July of 2002. During that time I have also used Walmart, DVD Avenue, Blockbuster and Netflix.Using Netflix I have rented about 1110 DVD titles and spent $1375. In my opinion you can not beat Netflix, I have tried but then only to be disappointed with the other service, drop it and stay with Netflix.Here is why I can say “NetFlix” is the Best:1. I receive 99% of the DVDs the next after they ship them.2. I have received only 11 DVDs that were not playable.3. I have received no wrong DVD in the right sleeve. (Blockbuster 3 out of 62)4. They receive the DVDs that I send them in 3 days max.5. I can cycle 8 DVDs per week.6. There web page is top notch giving you great information on the movies.As for the negative side:1. I wish new releases would ship sooner2. I wish they would ship me DVDs the day they receive returned DVDs instead of the next day.3. I wish they would not skip over DVDs in my queue.4. Sometimes a DVD is marked WS and I get a Standard Screen Version. (Makes me mad!)But trust me; the other services were a lot worse than Netflix.I love to watch a good movie and since I discovered Netflix I have watched a bunch.That’s it for now,N. Flixter
I agree, Netflix used to send me a total of 6 DVD’s per week – 3 on a tuesday – 3 on Saturday and now it’s down to (oops) 3 per week! – they sent me a DVD that was unplayable to be replaced with the same one, it didn’t play either. I used to send 3 back the same day I received them so they sent an apology, they now send me me 1 and then 2 so I am down to 12 per month instead of 24! sorry, but Netflix advertises rent as many as you want? I’m swithching over to Blockbuster!
Hi there. I stumbled upon this page after searching for “Netflix sucks,” to see if I wasn’t the only one who gets the shaft from Netflix on a regular basis. My two cents on Netflix: I’m on the 6-at-a-time program, for about $30 a month. I usually get 6 per week (if I’m Johnny-on-the-spot and return each movie immediately after watching it). I suppose that’s enough movies for me…but I still get annoyed when I’m obviously being jerked around by Netflix (i.e., when they take their sweet time sending out the next movie on my list, which happens regularly). I hated reading that email from the Netflix corporate weasel (reproduced in a previous post), which seems to be arguing that customers who watch a lot of movies have somehow forfeited their right to get what they paid for (that is, unlimited movies, 3, 4, 6, 8, whatever, at a time). This weasel is arguing that I should be happy that my “Netflix experience” is (say) 20% crappier because that means that some other lucky Netflix customer’s experience will be 20% better as a result! I’m treated like the ugly girl at the dance, but that’s okay, because someone else is getting great service…does this logic make the rest of you feel any better about the crappy service that you’re getting?My pet peeve with Netflix: when they say that they’re gonna send me a movie the next day, when it’s not at all clear to me why they can’t just send it to me today. I’ll often look in my account information on (say) Monday at 9 am and they’re claiming that they can’t ship the movie to me until Tuesday (which probably means I’ll get it on Thursday)? I can understand that the shipping center closest to me might not have a copy of everything I could possibly want, and so I would expect that this sort of thing would happen sometimes…but it happens ALL THE TIME. It burns me up that (a) they’d never admit that they’re deliberately slowing down the process to save themselves money, (b) they think of me as a bad customer simply because I watch a lot of movies (isn’t that the point of joining Netflix?!), and believe that I deserve to be punished for this. Also (c) I periodically get screwed on the new releases…it takes so long, sometimes, to get what I want that I just go to the local video store to get the more popular new releases…and as I’m driving there, I wonder why the hell I’m paying for the Netflix service when they’re not sending me the movies I want to see! And don’t get me started about the scratched-up, unplayable discs! If I got one of these each month, I wouldn’t complain, but it seems at least half of the discs I get are damaged in some way.
Sure Netflix sucks, big time. They are liars. But so is Blockbuster. Maybe even more so. Blockbuster started right out of the gate delaying my shipments. Even though they claim to ship on a Monday they do not actually ship until Tuesday or Wednrsday or later.I live just a few miles from Blockbuster’s shipping center and I have yet to receive a movie in less that 3 days. My postoffice confirms my statement. Blockbuster are liars also. They both suck! And both are liars. I hope they both go bankrupt.
netflix blows. The delivery time is about a week, a far cry from what there comercel says which is 1 day (my ass!!). One of the dvd didn’t come (lost by USPS or some scam their workers stealing dvds) and I had to pay $70. Used dvds don’t cost $70, at most you can buy used dvd at block buster for $25 which is alot since you can get a new one at best buy for that. When I told those looser that I never received the dvd, they told me it was my fault and it was going to be deducted my my credit card. Needless to say I canceled their crappy service.
i hate netflix so. freaking. much. they are such bastards. when i send out a dvd, even though they check it in as soon as they get it, they don’t ship it out until the next day. OR, they ship it out, and it’s slated to arrive THREE or FOUR days later. OR they don’t check it in for a couple of days, at their convenience. and then this brilliant display – i was renting a several-disc series on netflix, and watching them consecutively as i received them, and because of their delays in shipping, received discs 14 and 15 well before i got disc 13. i emailed them many questions about these problems, and all i got were bullcrap answers about their receiving/shipping dvds policy. once they realize you’re actually using their service consistently, they immediately try and thwart you to receiving as few dvds a month as they can get away with, as someone else mentioned above me. it PISSES ME OFF because a lot of the stuff i get from netflix i can’t get anywhere unless i want to buy it, and i don’t have that kind of money to throw around. i try and do what i can to piss netflix off, though. lately i’ve been watching the dvds that i receive immediately when the mail arrives, then dropping them off at the box for late service at the post office, so they go out the exact same day that i receive them. ha ha, netflix must hate me so much, well the feeling’s mutual, f***ers.
Neflix was founded on some faulty premises. You simply can’t make money doing what they do. They would have been better off to forget the whole thing. Their stock is down almost 40 per cent, and they have not made a single dime since they went public in 2000.
As a hobby, I am an independent journalist and have published, so to speak, some earth-shattering articles in several Pulitzer prize winning newspapers like The New Times, The Alligator and many other college newspapers. Well, so you won’t hear of me on Time or USA Today, but it certainly is a fun pass-time.Regarding the so-called unsaid, secret, policy of Netflix to hold the delivery of DVDs by at least 2 to 3 days (on the average) from receiving the movies — It is very true. The smoking gun has not been found. I have not infiltrated Netflix headquarters in my best stealth black ninja outfit and copied the secret memo which defines this policy. However, simple research has certainly cast doubt on their efficiency and customer minded public policy.As many Netflix members have noticed, the number of movies they are getting month by month is slowly dwindling. There is no doubt in my mind that this is due to the fact that Netflix centers “hold” onto movies received for two to sometimes four days before sending customers the typical “We just received your Netflix Movies” email. My full article will have more details, but here is what I found:I tested the Netflix system in two different large cities (Orlando and Miami). One account was a 3-ut account and the other was a 5-out account. With both accounts, Netflix did a wonderful job with mailing all movies selected on the day the service started and all movies arrived next mailing day (“Fantastic Company,” I thought). As soon as the movies were received, they were opened and placed in the envelope and mailed on the same day (never watched them). The “first batch” sent back were stuffed in one of the provided red Netflix envelopes with the “nearest shipping facility” on the label. It took four and five mailing days until Netflix acknowledged receipt of the movies and the next set of movies were mailed … hmmm, mysterious?Surprisingly, the movies they mailed were received next day. Once again, on the day they were received, I opened and individually mailed each movie within their respective red Netflix envelope (obviously, testing the service). Once again, it took four mailing days for Netflix to acknowledge recipt of the movies via email. Starting to see a pattern?It is at this point when I called a friendly Netflix representative who cordially delegated blame to the post office — “We cannot guarantee delivery times from the post office … As soon as we receive the DVDs they are processed so we can ship out your next movies on queue.” When I asked him to explain why it takes only one mailing day for me to receive movies while it takes 4 to 5 mailing days for them to receive them, the representative explained how postal returns may be different for my area.Of course, I talked to my local postmaster and he said 90% of the time that Netflix Center would receive mail by next day … 9.9% of the time the following day. It would be extremely rare for multiple shipments to conveniently arrive “late.”As before, my third batch of movies was received ONE mailing day after Netflix’s email notice. To further test the service, with my third batch on both accounts, I sent them in my own pre-labeled First Class envelope with Delivery Confirmation. The envelope was clearly marked wit the note (DVD MOVIE RETURNS) and my account identification — within the envelope were all the movies with sleeves and return envelopes. Delivery confirmation showed that the return was received NEXT MAILING Day to the Netflix Facility. Yet, this time it took Netflix three and four (respectively) business days to acknowledge that they “just received” the movies even though the evidence clearly shows they had the movies in their possession many days earlier.I then called a supervisor regarding the “evidence” at hand. It seems as though this is a recurring problem and they are well trained. His consistent reply passed blame on the fact I used a “non-Netflix” envelope to ship the return. He detailed how the non-Netflix return envelope may “confuse” the shipping facility and they would have to send it to a different department within that center. When asked why it would take them three extra days to “open” and process this extremely confusing manilla envelope that clearly had movies enclosed, he once again blamed the envelope. “you must use the envelopes provided by Netflix to expect fastest turnaround.” Of course, I did on the previous two attempts and got similar results. However, since we cannot TRACK their envelopes, they can always fall back on the “post office” blame game.I then told him I was writing an article and detailed how I was testing their service. He neither denied nor confirmed my theory of a secret, nonpublic policy of Netflix to hold movies before acknowledging receipt.I revealed my next step for the fourth batch and asked. “Since customers have no way of tracking delivery of our movies and Netflix apparently deems it so important to use the Netflix envelopes provided, what if I attached a Delivery Confirmation label to each return Netflix Envelope with my next returns so we can track them. A surprisingly inane comment followed, “No, that extra label would cause the envelopes to be sent to a different department and would once again delay the process.” Boy, they have an answer for everything :-).In other words, anything we, as customers, can do to get to the bottom of the delays will become ineffective. Netflix claimed that the delay will be “investigated” but how can they truly investigate it if they are not willing to accept delivery confirmation of the returns. It was obvious that they would always chose alternate reasons, blame other factors, instead of revealing the obvious … Netflix holds movies for several days after receiving them then sends unsuspecting customers an email claiming “they just received their movies.”Why would Netflix do this? Simple … profits. If Netflix did what they claim to do, ship-out movies within the same or the following business day of the day they actually receive the returned movies, they would be out of business or would have to charge customers 50% more (effectively putting them out of business). Two major factors play part to this. In order to sustain the same movie availability, they would have to increase their inventory at each facility by 30 to 50%. Imagine every average customer receives 8 to 9 movies per month. If they actually processed and shipped out the next movies on queue when movies are received, customers would receive an additional 6 to 8 movies per month. This means they would have to increase their inventory on hand (a huge investment). Also, even at their Bulk mail rates of 30-some cents per mailing, they would be mailing 30 to 50% more movies per month without their “secret hold policy” — Crippling the company’s overall profitability.So, why doesn’t Netflix just admit to their policy. I believe most customers would understand a 2-3 day processing policy as long as they were told the truth before signing up. This would give every customer the opportunity to decide if Netflix is truly a service they want. Maybe the muscle of the Blockbuster/Wal-Mart behemoth has something to do with it. They could afford to lose a little money to monopolize this market.As a side not, I tested Blockbuster Online as well. Although their shipments TO me sometimes took two mailing days from the date they emailed the notice (as opposed to Netflix’s standard one mailing day), Blockbuster performed as it should and acknowledged receipt of movies one to two mailing days after I mailed the movies back. Overall, they were more efficient and performed their service as promised.It’s a shame, because I have been vehemently opposed to the “Cockbuster” franchise ever since college. But, in this case, Netflix certainly smells funny.*Complete Article publishing September, 2005
all i wanto say is NETFLIX IS A RIP OFF COMPANY. They are a piece of $$#$#$$$##$, money $#$#$#$. They don’t work on saturday? i wish i do too. They can limit the # of dvds you can watch and it took them 2 days to receive my return when the center is only 10 minutes from my house. And there is no way to contact them online ? is there even a phone number?well i just want to say ##$#$#$#$#$#$#T$%#$%# to NETFLIX. I promise to spread the news about you to all the people to know, so you will either change your service to lose customers.they said that they have 3 millions now, well let see how long that will last
Cockbuster. Nice. I’ll have to use that one.
To the poster “Steve producer” on August 2, 2005 10:37 PM.Before you “publish” your complete article you should check with an Accountant to correct your mistakes. Netflix does not pay for shipping and it would not hurt their profit no matter how many movies they shipped. Postage is a business expense and therefore a deductible liability.Whenever a corporation such as Netflix talks about the cost of doing business such as postage costs you are being fed a line of BS.If you want to be taken seriously as a journalist do a little research so you won’t be seen as just another writer without the facts.And to “Videoguy on July 29, 2005 12:33 PM”who says Netflix hasn’t made a dime since they started, I would ask you to check out the salaries of their management and especially the CEO. Also all the employees that are paid. Plenty of people are making money from Netflix. When the CEO can make a million or more a year who cares what the stock price is. Money is being made big time.
Netflix sucks!!! I wrote to them about their “Throttling policy” and I got zero response from them. “Netflix Rank in #1 Customer Satisfaction” … my A$$!!!I sent 3 DVD’s back on Friday, and according to my queue, I won’t receive them until Thurs? That’s ONE FREAKING WEEK! I live next to a post office and the nearest Netflix distribution center is only 30min away! They sent me their promotion email last month (whole month free for your friends and family)… well,in their dream, I will promote them. Although I live in Eastcoast, I am switching to GreenCine.
Netflix sucks! I signed up for the 1 at a time unlimited plan – it’s only $10, and I don’t need more than that at a time. So, I’m excited because I live in Dayton, OH and that is the nearest facility. Rock on, right?So I get my first movie the day after I sign up (teriffic) I sent it back the next day, they get it the day after and send me another one. I’m thinking “This is great – 2 movies a week.” Then they caught on to me. I’ve been a member a month plus the free trial. I’ve already had 9, which is a lot considering I only get 1 at a time. So, I mail one back FROM Dayton TO Dayton (same city) and it takes them 3 days to get it. OK, I’m annoyed, but stuff happens, you know. They ship and I get it the next day. I return that one FROM Dayton TO Dayton (still same city) it it takes 5 days to get it. I don’t think so. So I report it missing. After the 4th day. I figure that if I could walk it there in less than a day, they should at least get it in two days. I think they got it, they are just sitting on it. I would cancel but they already charged the card for this month, so I might as well finish it out. But I’m still mad about it.
Hasn’t anyone reported this to the FTC? If they email you back a reply that claims that they ARE throttling your service, won’t the FTC listen? There are the lawsuits??
Netflix can kiss my ass! I have nine movies in my que and all of them have been in wait sate for over a week now.
I agree with you the way you view the issue. I remember Jack London once said everything positive has a negative side; everything negative has positive side. It is also interesting to see different viewpoints & learn useful things in the discussion.
People; do not get fooled by Netflix customer satisfaction rate. Their shipping method disgusting. I usually need to wait at least 5 days to receive and 5 days to ship back DVD’s because rental movies shipped OUT OF STATE where you living. I live in California and on return envelope addressees I often seen Texas and even Maryland. It is just right across the country. Why on earth I need to pay almost 20 bucks to rent DVD from out of state? Contacted them numeral times and received nothing but sorry a.. explanations. Cancelled account after all. Do not waste you time and money with this company. Bunch or rippers and unconsidered morons.
I started the 3 dvds at a time plan with Netflix a few months ago. In the trial period and first month service was good. They will ship movies on my queue as soon as my returns are in, and since I live only 30 miles from one of it’s distribution center it only takes 1 day for the dvds to arrive.But after about a month Netflix has used various tactics to slow down the shipment. I live in CA and I’ve got movies shipped from New Jersey (which took 5 days). They would delay shipping for a day or 2 even after my returns have arrived. One time I returned the 3 dvds but didn’t receive any email acknowledgment for 4 days. I called to ask why and was told they could be lost in the mail. But the next day I was told the disks have arrived.I don’t mind if Netflix says in it’s ads that for the 3 out plan you bascially will only get 3 moives per week. But to say unlimited to get you to sign up and then use various tricks to slow down the shipment is plain dishonest. I’m telling all my friends not to try Netflix. NOT RECOMMENDED.
to: Qapla on August 21, 2005 03:05 AMJust because an exec makes alot of money, that doesn’t necessarily mean the company is making a profit. Take some business classes.
Same rotton experience here. Netflix stinks on ice.T’hell with themBall-Buster wants to put a hold on your credit card until movie is returned, so t’hell with them as well. BE SURE TO CAREFULLY READ THE TOS BEFORE YOU GO WITH BALL-BUSTERI’ll be using PPV off directtv and burning withmy beloved ILO RW04, which hacks Macrovision.Pick one up if you can. It’s a LITE-on and I’vemade 400 copies with it with ony 2 coasters.
As a follow-up to an earlier complaint I made…I just signed up for Blockbuster’s trial membership on Nov. 1st, after reaching a sort of “last straw” moment with Netflix. In the past week I’ve received 6 movies from Blockbuster…1 from Netflix! (And in both cases I’m on an “unlimited 3-at-a-time” program…in both cases, I’ve got a queue stacked with “available now” movies…in both cases, I return the movies immediately after I watch them, since the post office is only a block away from my house.)To compare the two services briefly:1) Blockbuster sent me one wrong DVD, which Netflix has never done in the past 2 years I’ve been using their service.2) Blockbuster doesn’t have a lot of movies that Netflix has.3) Blockbuster’s search engine seems a bit more blockheaded than Netflix’s (lots of obviously undesired results mixed in with the desired ones).4) With Blockbuster, I’ve got a “short wait” ahead of me for a number of titles that show up as “long wait” on my Netflix queue. (I assume this is a result of an unspoken “keep the new customers happy” rule which both Blockbuster and Netflix follow).5) I’ve got those two free movie coupons from Blockbuster.6) Again: 6 movies from Blockbuster in one week, 1 from Netflix.Of course, I’m aware that this honeymoon won’t last forever, and that someday I’ll be on Blockbuster’s “unprofitable customer” list and they’ll start treating me like the ugly girl at the dance…but at the very least, the comparison says something about what we should expect from these services (i.e., it’s not impossible by any means for them to send you that many movies in a week…). I’m also wary of Blockbuster in general (I can’t count the number of times I’ve been charged for overdue movies that I returned on time), and feel like I’m dancing with the devil by subscribing to their service…but still, so far, I’m 100% satisfied with Blockbuster (as happy as I was with Netflix back in our honeymoon period…sigh…)p.s.After reading a comment above, I just looked at a current Netflix envelope and found that the DVD is going to Portland, Oregon…and I live in upstate NY! I’ve got some old Netflix envelopes that go to Rochester, NY…WTF?!
So today I got an email from Netflix claiming that I sent them an empty envelope: white sleeve with no DVD in it. Now I ask you, which of these theories sounds more plausible to you? (a) I’m a complete moron who walked to the post office holding an empty envelope, without noticing that there was nothing in it except a slip of paper, or (b) Netflix lost the disc I returned. Keep in mind, before you answer, that about 5 times in the past couple of months, I’ve reported lost discs to Netflix that they eventually found.Anyway, it amazes me how the service just gets worse and worse. I’m going to cancel in a couple of days, and try to get my movie fix satisfied some other way.
I am not subcribe to netflix or Blockbuster. I started teaing the commentary and I was expecting to find a lot of complain about broken dvd. I was surprised to find very little of those complains.i see the envelops that netflix and blockbuster use and I wonder if they get broken a lot?
I think Netflix should change its name to Nyetflix! No movies for 5 days and I live only an hr’s drive from one of it’s distribution centers. I’m cancelling next month. Started a monthly plan with my local video store, Hollywood Video, so far so good, $15 a month unlimited.
I’ve been a member of Netflix since they started and have had a great membership until they lowered their price to compete with Blockbuster. I used to get 17 to 21 movies a month but now I’m lucky to get 10 and these aren’t even new releases and half are either broken or so scratched they won’t play. I’ve tried to complain but my words have fallen on deaf ears so I’m just going to subscribe to blockbuster and Netflix can kiss my sack.
net flix may be a business but it is a sleezy low life greedy lying business. we go to the post office with the same zip code as our local distribution center but they usually take a week to 5 days to register the return, then a few more days to ship our movies! i do shipping for a living and know this is just greedy actions by a greedy company i suggest y’all try blockbuster first.
The only complaint I have at this time, is that the weh site for me is very difficult to find and get on when I want to check my subscription and add more movies.For further comment, there are going to be things to complain about in any business.
Where do I start. I have been a Netflix subscriber since 2000. I live in CT and back then they were shipping cross country. It was excellent I would get 6 movies a week. Amazing.I cancelled in June 2005 because of the price increase and I was just not watching that many movies. I just restarted about a month ago and I don’t need to say anymore than I concur with the majority of the statements re: Netflix. What the F%$# happened? I mistakenly boosted up to 8 movies and it got worse. It was taking 4 days to process my returns?? I sent an email and I got the same yaddy yaddy ya that everyone else has gotten. I dropped back down to 3 at a time and started up BB and will do side by side comparisons. I am so close to giving Netflix the Finger.
I read all over about the terrible service from Netflix…I went into “my account” to view all of my activity since joining (just about a year ago…mid-Jan 2005). I’ve spent $210.76 for 123 films so far (I’ve been billed the full $19.16 for Dec. but of course will be getting more this month, but I’m not counting them). I usually get 3 films a week to watch on the weekend (not really time to watch during the week). I watch them on Fri/Sat night, then put them in the mail Monday. I get the next 3 almost always on Wed, but sometimes Thu. Sometimes I go a week without turnover for vacations, other plans (expecially in the summer), but that’s my typical use. I’ve never had a “broken” disc…once, they did send me the wrong movie in the right envelope, but that was fixed pretty quick. Overall, I’m very satisfied. I live in a pretty rural area of the upper-midwest and the nearest rental place is about 40 miles away. Averaging 1.78 per rental, with no driving or late fees seems pretty good to me. Also, it’s great just clicking on stuff into the queue…I’ve watched films I never would of thought to look at in a video rental store.
I agree with most of you that Netflix is terrible. The blockbuster thing isnt too much better. I have had the best luck with Gameznflix.com. They send the fastest by far. Video games usually come the very next day. Movies a day or two usually. Cheaper too! Good stuff I tell ya! F@#$ Netflix!
Wierd thing happens with me. Netflix says that a DVD is shipped and the estimated arrival date is the next day, but I do not get the DVD for over a week. I have about 1 month membership so far at 3 at a time plan, but I average 2 DVDs a week even though I send them back promptly and they are marked “shipped” and are always expected to ship the next Day.So far, only the first 5 titles came on the expected arrival date. I got the 4th and 5th when expected, but the 6th took over 1 week. Then I started getting 1 DVD a day from monday till thurs.Then the next week I got 2 DVDs on Wed (Friday of the week before). I sent them back same day and they received them the next day (December 27th). They were shipped out on December 27th with the expected arrival date of December 28th and have yet to receive anything (January 3). Also, there is 1 movie that I should have gotten December 23rd that I have still not received, so it is now marked as “lost” and am supposed to get the next one on Wednesday (tomorrow), but I think I will get it in 2 weeks.Oh, and so far, I have only rented 1 new release and the rest have been classics, TV Series, or foreign.
I tried netflix for about 2 months. During this time I was able to get about 12 DVDs. The nearest dist. center is about 150 mi away (not a problem for USPS when I send anything else off, 1 day delivery is typical) During this time, 3 DVDs were broken, 1 scratched beyond recognition, and another had to be declared as not recieved twice before I finally got a copy. I understand that 5hit happens, but come on! If I pay for a service, I expect that it should work as advertised at least a majority of the time. But if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. My advice? Get HBO, Cinemax, etc, and a good DVR or DVD recorder. Did that 6 mths ago and very pleased.
people, people,peopleget a grip. we live in the most corrupt society on the face of the planet.our government steals us blind and american business does too.if your looking for honesty, principals, or morality,your looking in the wrong country.
It’s funny…we all stumbled across this site after typing “netflix sucks”. Anyway, I was fine with them for the first month or so, but I watch the movies the day I receive them, then send them back. I started noticing instead of them getting the movies the next day, it would be two days…then three…sometimes a week after I mailed them they would check them back in. Then if they got a movie back on Monday, they wouldn’t ship another one until Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m trying Blockbuster right now, in tandem with Netflix…I do like the 1 free in store rental per week, too.All in all…I loved Netflix…for about a month. After that, it just went downhill.
Netflix SUCKS!!!! I had put my account on hold because I did not have as much time to watch the movies but I wasn’t ready to cancel my membership. I returned my last two DVD’s that I had and received confirmation that they were received. Come to find out, Netflix charged me $42.40 for the DVD’s. When I tried to check out their websit to find a number to contact the customer service department I found that they do not post it. I wonder why. I was able to find a phone number only to talk to idiots who each told me a different a story about when I would receive my money back. It’s been over 2 weeks and do you think I’ve seen my moeny??? Nope.
i was on netflix for almost 2 years before i switched to blockbuster netflix wouldnt let me get my new releases anymore because i was a “heavy renter” there should be something we can do about it just because someone returns the movies faster then others shouldnt mean we dont deserve the new releases plus they were sending me less as well
I was a Netflix customer when the service first became available, but cancelled the service due to extremely long wait times. I never suspected that Netflix purposely DELAYED the shipment of disks because I used the service more than other subscribers. Egads, if it ain’t illegal it sure is slimey.
Just to add a little fuel to this fire, I thought I’d include this story http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/10/netflix.renters.ap/ on CNN today.
If you have a Family Video store near you try it. They take competitors coupons. Once I had a Gold C book with a ton of video coupons in it. I used them at Family Video and got half off of ALL DVD’s all year long! Even new releases!
If you guys will complain about Netflix then you will complain about ANYTHING. Even just 5 movies a month on the 17.00 plan is cheaper than Cockbuster, and you dont even have to pay for gas. You want to talk scam? Try NetZeroor 10-10-220–now there’s a scam!
joined netflix for about two months and they have started really delaying my movies. i have the 3 out at a time i have 2 movies for two weeks at home has taken them 1 week to ship the other i live down the street from the post office. i have a mail box outside that collects until 5pm each day. the sad thing is i love movies so much it wouldn’t have bothered me if they had just said 17.99 month only 9 a month whatever i understand they need to make a profit but don’t lie to me about being unlimited and jerk me around. they need to make a profit but i also need it to be a worth while deal and 3 movies a month for 20.00(after tax) is not worth it. no blockbuster i am going to hollywood video unlimited starting at 14.99 to 29.99 go into the store and pick up no more waiting.
Yeah, I have been a member for 2 months now and I only am renting 1 DVD at a time. I watch the DVD as soon as I get them then put it in the post office box. It takes just 3 days to say that they recieved it and then I don’t recieve the other one until 3 days later. This is with 1 DVD too. Also, I got an email saying thanks for returning a disk but that disk was the one I wanted and they never sent it out to me. They gave me a free voucher but still was pretty pissed.
Netflix toll free customer service # is 888-638-3549.The more you rent from them, and the more money you pay them; their service retracts accordingly.After being punished by LONG delays for paying more per month in a fruitless attempt to actually received the movies we request, I searched their website for a phone number I could call and did not find one. This was necessary because their emails are not answered.Let them know if you aren’t happy, I did. We received a discount on our next two billing cycles. Then I plan to drop down to a minimal rental level in order to get preferred status.Again… their toll free customer service # is 888-638-3549.
NETFLIX IS THE SHAME OF FREE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES and they only care about not you, but their raw interest. Such a xxx capitalist is only going to trick you right after you become a member. I have the membership for 3 dvd per each unlimited rental, and since the last 2 weeks, they started trick on me that they are not receiving the DVD’s I sent it back!Every time, whenever I receive the DVD’s I returned it at the same day and I know it only took 2-3 days (mostly 2 days); however, This NETFLIX INSOLENT WANKERS keep those DVD on the list, so make me not to receive DVD no more than a week. because I have to wait more than 6 days to report the problem, and I have to report the problem every time manually, They can save their mailing fee and DVD rental processes. This problem happened to me already 4 time strait row, so I am going to talk with my lawyer for this matter. They gave me the unlimited access and trick me to be 4 dvd for month. Netflix is nothing better than The capitalist Corp. Enron and NETFLIX IS RIGHT TO BE FUNISHED BY THE LAW!!!
I have recently discovered a NEW scam from Netflix. They take episodic DVD’s (example NY PD Blue season 3) and have them to rent on single sided discs making 8 rentals for the season, yet if I buy it in a store they are double sided making it 4 discs !!!! This should be 4 rentals-4 discs! This coupled with throttling …
Hmm, this is all interesting. Me and my buddy had just recently joined Netflix because all Ive heard about them was good rumors and that they are way better than Blockbuster.So far we have had no problems with them here in Houston, tx. We signed up for the 3-at-a-time deal and so far its great. Id receive my copies on Monday, watch them, and usually ship them back on Wednesday, receiving another three that Friday.The only recent mini and I mean minor problem in my opinion, is that the last load they sent only had 2 movies in the mailbox. I figured since they arrived on a Saturday, maybe the third one is still coming in the mail. I contacted Netflix via phone, and they picked up in less than 10 seconds. Was curtious, and friendly. They said they have sent another copy of the movie I didnt receive and they said it should arrive today. So I will wait and see if the third movie will arrive today (Monday), but other than that, Im still being charged the same price as I began with. No emails saying the price will go up or nothing.I believe in any distribution business guys and gals, there is always going to be mistakes and cost differencials. Some areas of the states will be fine and have no problems with delivery and cost with Netflix, while other states or areas will. Its impossible for a company to be perfect first of all. Everyone is going to run into problems one way or another, because you have to think…… Netflix probably has WELL over 500,000 if not more customers that they have to see to it that they get their copies of movies in the mail at a prompt time. Lets say KING KONG was already out on dvd; Do you honestly think you will receive a copy in the next day? lol. Netflix only has a certain number of new releases and moves in their stock per distribution center. That is why they SKIP your queue, because they might have a large number of people that are trying to rent that very same movie as well. So what they do is go down the next movie in your queue and see if they have that movie in their stock to send to you. REMEMBER – YOUR NOT THE ONLY PERSON IN HOUSTON, TX THAT IS RENTING FROM THESE GUYS, and need I remind the population count in Houston, alone??? The distribution center in all the major cities in the US is just like you walking into Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. There is only so many of the same copy on the shelf. If you have over 500 people that want the same movie in the same week, well then whoever queue’d up that movie first will get dibs on it, while the other 499 people will have to wait. Thats just the way it is, guys. Tough shit.THINK ABOUT IT. If everyone wanted KING KONG or EAON FLUX on dvd, Netflix would probably need over 300 copies of the same movie out of the large stock of movies they have just to have a 100% garantee that the movie is in stock for you. Thats ridiculous. No company is going to do that. You just will have to wait in line like everyone else.Wouldnt it be nice to go to a football game and get a hotdog and a drink without waiting in line? Wouldnt it be nice to go to the movies and not have to wait in line to get tickets? Wouldnt it be nice to not have to wait for your food to get cooked at a restaurant? That everything is provided to you right away? LOL ROFL, PHAT CHANCE.Shoot, in these days, I WISH I could run an online store for the whole USA that would have garanteed stock of movies for every 3 million people in this freakin country. Id have to buy over 9 million movies to buy just to keep everything IN STOCK. You do the math people. Im sorry, but no freakin online distributer is going to do that.In my eyes, there is obviously certain areas in states that Netflix has trouble with. Its common sense. Theres always going to be mistakes. If you quit using Netflix and go with Blockbuster or JOES online movie service for all I care, they will give you trouble just like Netflix has.What you have to figure is the cost difference, what source has the most movies in stock, time response difference, etc, because in the end if you really think about it, it should all come out the same.I dont know. I guess Im just one of the lucky ones that doesnt seem to have any major trouble with these guys.I love Netflix and as long as Im giving good customer service and fast response, Netflix will continue to receive my dollar.
Just wait until you start having problems you’ll think different. And unless you rent I think five or less in 3 out at a time. You are going to have problems. I have even held my movies back to get them sooner and it’s not working. There were 218 complaints to the B&B last year so it’s not just us!! That is a lot of complaints for any company. And I understand that I may have to wait for movies to be available and not so many copies. I live in a major city not Houston and I used to get my movies 1 to 2 days. Then because I must have hit the magic number cut off. They started coming in later and later. So you can’t tell me that it is volume when it was fine for two months. And also a fun thing they started doing was putting my nearest shipping facility in another state. You can’t tell me that is not on purpose!!!!! They were hoping I wouldn’t notice. But because of sites like this one I did. I mail bills and packages out of state all the time that get there faster. I can understand late shipping sometimes not always. Besides like I said before it also has to be a good deal for me. Or really whats the point! I love Hollywood video I can see anything I want whenever I want! The plan including new movies is higher but it’s worth it. I get my moneys worth I also hear good things about Greencine
Oh Yeah by the way its not when you put a movie in a queue. It goes to whoever gets the least amount of movies a month. Read the terms of use it could mean a long time. So you could have had a movie in your queue for months and it doesn’t matter. Then imagine if your getting more movies than the 499 people you were talking about. And anyone else who hardly rents who decides at the last minute they want that movie. Your waiting in your hotdog line and they’re taking people who haven’t had hotdogs that day or any other day first and you have to wait. Is that really how life usually works? I don’t know where you live! Anywhere I go at a check out or anywhere if I am there first I get served first. Wouldn’t it piss you off if doctors offices to restraunts worked that way?
Keep up the good writing