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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 9:34 pm
I signed up for Netflix for the third time about six - eight months ago. Two at a time unlimited plan (unlimited - yeah, right) for $14.99 per month. For a number of months I've simply been getting one DVD per week. That's fine with me. I return a DVD in the mail on Saturday. Nearby Netflix distribution center gets it on Monday and sends the next one out. I get it Tuesday. That all works for me. But...now it's taking a day longer here and there. (For a few months I've been keeping detailed record of it all.) With Netflix' reputation of throttling I'm not sure what to think. I don't feel they can be trusted. Something else I noticed before my most recent DVD was sent. The top title in the queue went into the At Home section. Next to it, it said "Shipping Today". But if you click on that, it explains that Shipping Today doesn't necessarily mean shipping today. Could be anytime in the next couple days. Does Netflix need a dictionary? I did get a surprise yesterday though. E-mail from Netflix -- they're reducing my monthly charge by a dollar!! Has that happened to anyone else? What are your current experiences with Netflix?
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Chewpito
Member
01-04-2004
| Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 9:44 pm
I havent had any problems, Yet. Ive got the one at a time plan...and usually get two shows a week...My saterday night movie I return (directly at the post office)on Sunday and Ive been getting my next dvd on Wensday (watch it that night) ... I return it at the PO again the next day and get my next dvd on Saterday... two a week... Im pretty sure though that as soon as BB starts my dvd watching will go down the toilet as I will be watching my monitor 24/7... and my life will end as I know it...LOL. Thinking of buying one of those vibrate/massage thingy's for my computer chair... to ease the back pain associated with BB...
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 10:04 pm
I'll be able to really watch BB this year. I don't have / never have had cable or satellite (and don't want it). I'm in a condo. For the past few YEARS there's been a problem with the TV antenna on the roof. The condo board (sort of) checked it out. Worked on it a little. Said nothing more could be done. So for the past few YEARS, I'd turn on the TV and never know what kind of a picture I'd get -- sometimes if any picture (or sound) at all. Well, surprise surprise, the condo board recently discovered the problem. I can now turn on any station and have a really good picture -- with sound.
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Chewpito
Member
01-04-2004
| Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 10:24 pm
I have the cheapest cable for tv, get 7 stations. Its perfect for me cause I listen to the radio and am on the computer more.. will you be getting the live feeds. I am seriously a very active person but for some reason this dang show always snags me..hook,line and sinker and I cant stay away from it..the feeds are fun but my back problems go thru the roof with my constent sitting... 3 freaking months to be addicted to somthing that is sedentary is torture but fun... that makes no sence...lol.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 10:31 pm
Color, if you're on the two at a time unlimited and you're really only using one at a time (by sending one of the dvds back on Saturday) I don't think they'd throttle you. (Did you mean to say two at a time for the plan and that you just send one of the two back each week?) We were on the three at a time for years but switched to the two at a time in May. Mostly we send the two back on Monday and get replacements on Wednesday, but occasionally we rotate more quickly than that and so far we haven't been throttled. I just can't see why they'd throttle you if you're not really using your plan to its full limit. We also had the plan price go down from $14.99 to $13.99 this week. My experience with shipping is that when they begin to throttle you instead of putting a new title in the "At home" section they say (something like) "we intend to ship your next movie today", and occasionally that'll turn to "we intend ... tomorrow". If they actually name a title at the top and put "shipping today" it usually does ship that day, just occasionally (once in every 15 dvds maybe) it arrives two days later. I wonder if you're borderline with the mail delivery and they're getting more and more busy and ship later in the day, missing the postal deadline to get something shipped to you. I don't trust netflix either, and they have some of the worst customer care I've ever experienced, but I can't see even them throttling you if you're using one dvd on a two dvd plan.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 12:32 am
Doesn't Blockbuster have a similar thing to Netflix now, where one can do it completely online/by mail, and if ever they want to return one to the store right away in exchange for something else, they can do that too? I've seen that advertised, but I don't watch enough movies (no time) so I've never heavily researched it, or gotten the membership. But I remember thinking it was more advantageous to do the Blockbuster deal, because they had both the online AND in person options on the same membership.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 7:07 am
Kitt, you're right. I wouldn't think Netflix would throttle me at the price I'm paying (now $13.99) and the my usuage. I do put only one DVD in the mail on Saturdays. But because of Netflix' reputation, it's very hard for met to trust them. I think this "Shipping Today" thing is something new. Just this week, Monday they received the DVD I put in the mail on Saturday. Next DVD from my queue went into "At Home" section with "Shipping Today" next to it. It did not ship until Tuesday with notification of shipping then also. (I did get it Wednesday from the closest distribution center.) I recently told a friend that Netflix can control when they receive a returned DVD by not reporting it until they want to, but can't control when they ship the next. Formerly it had to be the same day a DVD was reported received. But now with this new "Shipping Today" thing, they don't have to. They now explain "Shipping Today" means anytime within about a two day period. Netflix needs a dictionary for definition of the word "today".
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 9:49 am
I think they can say anything misleading as long as there's small print somewhere. That's how they resolved the initial lawsuit over the throttling, they didn't change their claims, they just put in a disclaimer to say that they reserve the right to blah blah blah. I wonder if the Blockbuster service (that as Eeyore points out, does offer a lot more) has taken many customers from Netflix. That might be why they cut the cost of the plan. (Although you can bet Blockbusters has similar schemes of its own.)
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 10:57 am
I've heard negative about Blockbuster's service too. Heard the web site isn't good. Also recently heard talk of their throttling too. Draw for Blockbuster is that you can return DVDs to a store and get immediate DVD credit on your plan. But that's 'bout the biggest thing I'm avoiding -- the trip to the B&M store. It's a big nuisance to me.
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 11:03 am
I've used Blockbuster for a couple of years and have never had any problem. Turnaround are almost instant as they have a shipping facility right here in Dallas. I've just recently starting using the Instant Access at our local store and have noticed that turnaround is slower going that route.
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 1:21 pm
I loathe blockbuster due to their cencorship and refusal to carry certain titles, but the question was about netflix... I have been a netflix member for years and years. I don't think they'd be throttling you on your plan if you're doing 1 movie a week. I'd tend to blame the post office. I know I have found my magazines which used to always come on Friday now sometimes don't show up until Monday! I think that's the post office's fault. Netflix has provided great service for me. At one point they had a bit of trouble with timeliness, but that was short lived.
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Merrysea
Member
08-13-2004
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 1:32 pm
I've had Netflix for three or four years and have never had a problem, although the post office is often slow with a lot of my mail. And I've noticed that there are now a lot more movies available for download. I haven't tried that yet, but now that there is a greater selection, I probably will.
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Chewpito
Member
01-04-2004
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 2:17 pm
Ive never had bad service eather.. the only time that my service is a little slow is on holidays or somthing when the postoffice is closed one day... that will mess up my schedule..other than that..they are prompt..
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Reiki
Moderator
08-12-2000
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 2:36 pm
I tried watching a movie online at Netflix last night. I had to wait about 30 minutes for it to load before I could watch it and I have cable modem access. Not sure how often I would do this with the speed I have now. I am on a 3 movie a week plan. I rarely have enough time to watch all 3 movies a week, but I find that his rotation works best for me. A few times I have had to wait an extra day to get my movies, but I think that is more the post offices fault than Netflix.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 2:53 pm
I think this "Shipping Today" thing is new. The next time a movie goes into your "At Home" section, look at what's next to it. It should now be "Shipping Today" which is a link. Click on it. Brings up a pop-up which explains that "Shipping Today" does not necessarily mean today. It might or it might be tomorrow (or the next?). They give a reason for it, but I don't buy it.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Friday, June 29, 2007 - 3:47 pm
Are you sure that's new? Doesn't it always say "Shipping today" for a while once they've put the movie into your At Home section? I'm pretty sure it always has with me. They usually put the new movie name up into the top section mid-morning with "shipping today", and then only at about 4 or 5pm it changed to the actual shipped date. I think the "shipping today" is their equivalent of having the shipment in the pipeline.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Tuesday, July 03, 2007 - 12:00 pm
I sent a movie back yesterday, so I was watching what happened. For me, the "shipping today" status thing is the same, but I think you're right and the wording has changed in the pop up box, it used to say it would ship today but now it says it might not. They also say something about if you have to wait two days the movie will go back to the queue (and presumably they'll send the next one instead?). Probably so many complaints they had to create another one of their disclaimers!
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Wednesday, July 04, 2007 - 6:51 am
Yes, Kitt, that's what I was talking about. "Today" is not necessarily today. This past weekend's return and shipment to me all went on schedule.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 6:51 pm
Quick question -- Netflix just had a big article in the NY Times about their "no e-mail, all 'real people' customer service/phone service." The article was blunt in comparing numbers that Netflix is/has been losing to Blockbuster, but they said the company is using this personal customer service to help change that situation. Soooo -- here's my question ('bout time, isn't it!), have any of you noticed better customer service since netflix went to no e-mail and only real people service? Have you seen fewer problems in receiving your movies on time?
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 7:33 pm
i get emails from them every time they ship a DVD to me and every time they receive mine back. i also get emails asking me to verify the date i actually received certain DVD's. they also respond to any email questions i have in less than 24 hours via email. and, i've not had bad service from them. so, i'm not certain what 'real person customer service' the article may be talking about. wish i could be of better help.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 8:37 pm
Hmmm -- the article said that e-mail customer service (initiated by the customer) wasn't available any more. I'll see if I can find the link. Here it is: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/business/16netflix.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 10:46 pm
I've only emailed them a couple of times about problems, the last over a year ago, possibly two. Then they were AWFUL. They took five days to reply, sent a stock letter that did not answer my question, then took another three days to answer my email saying that they did not answer my question. Fortunately week to week I don't usually have much problem with them, so I haven't spoken to their customer service for ages. If I'd had to deal with the email very often I would have definitely left them... so if they've gone to real people it has to be an improvement!
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, August 17, 2007 - 6:34 am
WOW! Teach, I printed but haven't read the article yet. Would seem to be a HUGE change and HUGE improvement in their business strategy. I still have Netflix and am satisfied. Only two problems in the past. Envelope and disk titles didn't match and a cracked DVD. Both were corrected satisfactorily. IIRC, I did fix both problems via e-mail, but I do remember calling about the envelope/disk mix-up. Had to wait a while to get a live person on the phone. I saw this on July 24 on an IMDB news page: NETFLIX SHARES PLUNGE Only hours after reporting a 50-percent increase in net income for its second-quarter compared to the same period last year, online DVD renter Netflix issued a profit forecast Monday indicating that it expects profits to fall during the rest of the year following its decision to reduce subscription rates and upgrade customer service to compete more effectively against Blockbuster. Shares plunged 12 percent Monday, closing at $17.27. They continued falling today (Tuesday) after an analyst at Jackson Securities reiterated his "hold" rating on the company and reduced its target price to $16 from $21. At mid-morning trading, the stock was selling for $16.49.
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Friday, August 17, 2007 - 6:50 am
This disturbs me to hear Netflix is struggling. I hope they can get the issues solved. I do think it is frustrating when a company only has email customer service, so the live person should be a big help. If Blockbuster were the only game in town, there would be a wealth of movie titles that would suddenly be unavailable due to their censorship practices and I think that would be tragic. I have not had issues with NEtflix and am very happy with them.
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Friday, August 17, 2007 - 6:52 am
i see this started in July. i just emailed them on June 4th and again on August 8th & they responded via email both times. they were also personal with some canned material mixed in. so, i'm not sure which customer contacts are being referred to the telephone. ETA they have just recently dropped their price too. and, i got that notice via email. i like Netflix. they have a much bigger selection of the stuff i want to watch over Blockbuster.
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