Hints on forcing Netflix to give you what you want.

During the free two-week trial, apparently the honeymoon period, Netflix was prompt and gave us exactly what we wanted.

Now the thrill is gone. Just about every new release is deemed "very long wait."

Einsteins that we are (ha!), we culled the que to include only three movies, only one being the "very long wait" Pride and Prejudice, and Netflix called our bluff and is only sending us two movies instead of the three.

Anybody else have better success?

There are two movies in my queue of 50, which are mostly new movies, that are marked long wait.

http://slashdot.org/articles/06/02/11/0754230.shtml

It happened to me till i couldn't rent anything new, and even old stuff took awhile to ship. I've since dumped Netflix.

this:

"...It seems that not everyone is as enamored with the DVD mail rental service as I am. In 2004 Frank Chavez, a Netflix customer, filed a complaint against the movie company, alleging it used a formula to slow down DVD mail deliveries to people who rented the most movies. The practice is referred to as "throttling" and it means people who receive the fewest DVDs get the fastest shipping. Heavy renters have to wait longer for their DVDs and for popular new releases.

At first Netflix denied the allegation, but in January 2005 the company admitted to this 'fairness algorithm' when they changed its terms of use to include the practice of throttling.

Angry customers are claiming the policy is unfair because individuals are receiving unequal treatment. Others feel that they are being punished for promptly mailing back their DVDs and that the advertised "unlimited rentals" should mean exactly that."

"Fairness algorithm?" Fuck them.

It sometimes takes me a week to get a movie, even though I'm not a frequent renter and they have distro in my town. I'm quitting at the end of this billing cycle.

he's a game design student and they have an excellent selection of that.

Oh well.

I reported that I never received it and now, everytime I order another movie they send me a nag email asking if I received the dvd and on precisely WHICH day it arrived.

They are treading the raggedy edge with me. I may dump 'em.

They sent me the wrong dvd once and, after a few emails back and forth, they ended up giving me a bonus rental which I just used to get Walk the Line (which had a short wait but it came yesterday).

But then, I don't rent movies like a maniac. I'm on the 2-at-a-time plan and, while I definitely get my money's worth (especially considering the convenience and selection), I don't expect them to go wild sending me dvds if I'm on a cheaper plan. If I were on the 5-at-a-time plan I would expect to be getting the next dvd within two days.

But other than that, it's been smooth sailing for me. I get another movie two days after I mail the old one, like clockwork :shrug:

we've never had a problem with Netflix.

and the service immediately improved, though we suspect this will be temporary.

I'm curious to know if that will improve service for us too.

The one damaged movie I received was promptly replaced and I've always had a quick turnover - and I watch movies nearly every night because we don't get good tv reception. But I don't tend to order new releases, giving them some time because I know everyone is ordering them. :shrug:

you rent during the month. Those who rent and return quickly are treated differently than those who keep movies for longer. People who keep movies longer are favored by Netflix, because shipping doesn't eat up their profit margin.

So customers who keep movies longer are placed high up on the waiting list for movies, often finding movies available, and those who frequently rent/return are placed low on the waiting list, with "prefered" customers being bumped above them.

I know it sucks, but that's how it is. I'm one of the customers who keeps movies for a week or so, and I've never had to wait for a new release. (Indeed, Walk the Line, Weatherman, and Domino came from Netflix in today. We rented Wallace and Grommit and The Holy Grail from Blockbuster, too, so that we could have a moviefest weekend.)

We've never had a problem, but then we not only are slow to return some movies, we rent some pretty obsure ones. I'm into foreign stuff,especially middle-eastern flicks, and my husband is into music documentaries. We do have a few new releases in our queue, but they aren't our main fare.

I've been throttled from the start and have had movies sent from far away cities, including one two time zones away. I'm trying to find an email to complain to but they don't list one. If nothing changes after a threatening note I'm going to dump them.
I made my decision to pay their price based on how many movies I believed I could get in a month. If they're going to screw me with throttling then it isn't the deal I thought it was. Its very dishonest of them.