cicer

I use Netflix and love it (although I'm probably going to cancel again soon since I don't have time to watch movies, really) and recommend it highly. With this caveat: you'll get really great service (shipping speed, movie-queue priority, availability of DVDs) the first few months while you're a new customer. But if, like me, you become an older customer who's unprofitable--I had a period of time where I was watching & sending back so many Netflix movies a week that Netflix was no longer making money from me--then they will deliberately slow up your service and give you less priority than more profitable customers. It's in their TOS that they can/will do this. For instance, when I first started, I could drop a DVD in the Atlanta mail Monday and have it reported "returned" with another movie shipped out by Tuesday; now I'm lucky to have the movie marked "returned" within two or three days. I've had the Escaflowne movie at the top of my queue for weeks, usually marked as "Long wait", but even when it says "Available now" and I have an empty slot, I'll get the next more widely available movie in my queue, presumably because the Escaflowne movie went to a newer customer. I don't think it's something you'll have to worry about immediately, since the first couple of months Netflix will be concerned with wooing you as a new customer and therefore keeping you happy, but eventually the honeymoon will be over.

Overall the benefits of Netflix outway the cons for me (when I have time to watch movies I rent from it, that is), so I've mostly just resigned myself to never having as good of service as I did when I started using the service.

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Hacking Netflix
Wikipedia

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they will deliberately slow up your service and give you less priority than more profitable customers. It's in their TOS that they can/will do this.

YES. I'm definitely experiencing that, too. (I think I first read about that after the lawsuit thing, and it was kind of a revelation. "So /that's/ why my films are taking so long... I used to get them so quickly... *facepalm*) It kind of sours me on the Netflix experience. :/

But yeah, otherwise... I guess it's a pretty convenient service. ;)

*follows your cool links!*

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Huh. I'm glad to hear about this whole deliberate-slowing-down thing. That really sucks. I'll have to think about it.

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Ah...okay, that's seriously uncool and kind of damages my opinion of the site. *makes face* Still, I suppose I could just get the things I really want to see and then cancel after a couple months. Hm.

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From Netflix's Terms Of Use (edited for length, but the entire TOS is worth a read):

We reserve the right to allocate and ship DVDs among our subscribers in any manner that we, in our sole and absolute discretion, determine...As a result, we may not always send you the top choices from your queue, and we may not ship out your next DVD on the same day that we receive one from you. At present, our goal is to ship you the DVDs listed highest in your queue...

[...]In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service. As a result, those subscribers who receive the most movies may experience that (i) the shipment of their next available DVD occurs at least one business day following return of their previously viewed movie, (ii) delivery takes longer, as the shipments may not be processed from their local distribution center and (iii) they receive movies lower in their queue more often than our other subscribers. Other factors that may affect delivery times, include, but are not limited to, (i) the distance between the distribution center from which your DVD was shipped and your delivery address, (ii) the timing of your placement or adjustment of movies in your queue and (iii) circumstances impacting delivery by the U.S. Postal Service.

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Go me and my 6-8 movies a month! XD

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Huh. Thanks very much for pointing this out. I skimmed the TOS, but obviously didn't read closely enough, because I didn't notice that bit. If you don't mind me asking, about how many movies do you get each months? I'm kind of trying to figure out from what other people have said what the 'tipping point' is for the slowdown.

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lisa-bee.livejournal.com

My mom's been a customer for a little under a year now, and she watches a good six to ten movies a month, if not more. She lives in NYC, so that may affect the speed of her shipping, but she hasn't experienced any serious lag time. Me, on the other hand, I've seen some serious lag in the last month or so (it's about the fourth month I've had Netflix) but a lot of that is because I'm not so good at returning movies right away, I thought. Perhaps it's because they're slowing down my service, who knows. But I've had no problems yet with not getting the movie on top of my queue.

Overall, it's worth it for me. I watch a lot of documentaries and TV series via Netflix and it's great.

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we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service

AHA! This explains so much. I used to be on the 8-discs-at-a-time-plan ~~seriously, yes, I have no life~~ and I felt like I was totally being reamed considering how SLOW the service was.

Of course... I'm 3-discs-at-a-time now, and there's still a lag. :P Ah well. At least I'm not paying them quite so much anymore. ^^ *kicks Netflix*

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^^ I find their service is... pretty good. It is a convenient way to get some titles you otherwise have no access to (yeah, outside of purchasing to own).

Netflix's selection isn't perfect, and depending on where you live, they're not always terribly quick about delivery. (And the turnaround time can be hella slow around the holidays when, I guess, /everyone else/ is focusing on their Netflix rentals.) Sometimes discs arrive TOTALLY SHATTERED or horribly scratched, but you just send them right back and receive a replacement. Sometimes discs go missing in the mail, but as long as it's not a regular occurrence, they won't bill you--they just chalk it up to poor mail service, and get on with sending you your next film.

Netflix doesn't have a lot of competitors, does it? ^^; Though I think Blockbuster's now finally offering the same service? (I used to get some great foreign, anime and rare/indie films through the company GreenCine, which was FABULOUS... if you didn't count the incredibly long waiting list for some films, and the slow mailing time (they're located in San Francisco, I live in Texas). If I had infinite money and patience, I'd still be a customer, because it really is a great company and site.)

But feel free to ask me any questions you have about Netflix... I've been a member for a couple of years now. :)

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Thank for sharing your opinions. I've heard about people getting DVDs that were damaged, which kind of worries me. Also, have you experienced the thing other people have mentioned, with having the service really slow down after a few months? That kind of troubles me, because I really don't want to be spending a set amount of money each month if the turnover time is sluggish.

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I think you have to work out what you're paying per disc, even with the slowdown. If you end up watching 2 movies per week, at 8 movies a month, and pay $17, that's a bit over $2/movie. Can you get a better deal than that renting locally? (substitute your own numbers - that's pretty close to what I average, and it's more like $3/disc plus a lousy selection around here.)

There's also a number of different plans - you can go for the cheapest and get 1 movie at a time, all the way up to 8 movies at a time.

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Yeah, even with the big slowdown I've experienced, it's still cheaper and more convenient for me to rent from Netflix, especially since I get a lot of anime that isn't available for "physical location" rental nearby. Netflix is a better idea for customers of my type than for the person who's going to rent The Mummy Returns and keep it for a month.

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Yup. I can get all sorts of anime and foreign films here that I can't get in town. The only place I know of that rents a decent selection of anime is way over in Dallas. Five minutes away from my previous apartment, 45 away from my current one - I didn't bother with Netflix until I moved.

I still occasionally go to Blockbuster if I'm in the mood for a movie immediately - it fulfills my ... blockbuster needs. And their new "no late fee ~~except that we'll charge a restocking fee and charge the movie to your credit card after ten days~~" policy has helped.

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Good point. I'd probably only be wanting about 4-5 movies a month. If I did the cheapest plan, that would only be about $2-2.50 per movie, which is a decent price. The rentals at my local place are between $3-4 for new movies, and about $1 for older movies. Still, since the titles I want I can't really find anywhere else, it would almost definitely be worth it.

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hee--*points up to response to

octopedingenue's comment*--yep, totally. They do slow down, and you notice it, because discs once arrived so promptly. :P But at the beginning, it's great. Quick turn-around time, fairly decent selection.

Overall I find it's still worth it, if only to score some anime/films you can't rent locally. ;)

sorry for the double post; hakkai meant to giggle!

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That's the main bit, yes. If I want to see these anime titles, I really only have the option of buying them or using Netflix. So it might be worth it, especially because I can, theoretically, just cancel in a couple months once I see all the things I want to see.

Hee! That's a cute icon of Hakkai!

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Thanks!

They do have a decent anime selection--that's hard for me to get locally, too. (And I agree--no late fines: SO. NICE.)

Hot-off-the-press NEW anime is harder to get... usually they tell me there is a "wait" (I see now that's because I'm a longtime customer, and no longer have priority). But Netflix is a great resource for working your way through older, complete series. (*g*, Netflix's selection of hentai, yaoi, and older/"classic" anime is anemic/nonexistent; places like GreenCine have a better selection.)

Oh. And if you have trouble getting the Tokyo Babylon OVA, I apologize in advance. I keep renting it, and they keep sending it to me broken on the first try. ^^; Dude, their stock must be getting low by now. XD

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There are several online DVD rental places that serve exclusively anime, but I haven't used them myself and don't know anyone else that has so I can't recommend any specifically myself.

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ymfaery

Blockbuster is offering this service too now, but I don't know how good it is. I was considering it the last time I was at the local Blockbuster though, since the selection ~~sucks~~ really varies from store to store.

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The main reason I'd be doing the Netflix thing is for the selection, yeah. I could always go to the local video store for new releases and classics and stuff, but if I want anime or obscure films or television series on DVD, I'm out of luck. Hm. I'll see if Bloackbuster is an option, though.

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I like Netflix because of the selection. I don't watch as much as

octopedingenue, so I haven't noticed any real slowdown in what I'm getting, and I like that if I don't feel like watching a movie for a while and hang on to it for a month, I don't have to pay late fees. :D

Anyway, the selection is the best thing about it - around here, Blockbuster is my only other choice, and it, bascially, suscks rocks.

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