Netflix Sucks

[septim]

I've really enjoyed being a member of Netflix, however these last few months have soured me on them completely. First of all I was noticeably throttled. I live very close to a shipping center and new titles would take a day to ship/send back. This was always the case. Then all of a sudden it was 3-4 days after I shipped them back. Now sometimes its a week. I mean c'mon...

Then they decide the raise the price on Blu Ray not once but twice, 3 years after Blu Ray launches with prices finally starting to come down. Obviously they are just trying to compensate for their streaming service which leads me to my next gripe.

Its been months since I've watched anything "instantly" on Netflix. The selection is pretty pathetic to begin with and even though I haven't checked in a long time I didn't find any pleasant additions waiting for me. I decide to watch Batman which of course is not available in HD ( I swear they have added about 2 HD titles in the history of the service ), and I get greeted with a message saying it will take 5 hours for your movie to start. I have a 18MBPS connection which I just tested at 16MBPS, which clearly isn't fast enough for an SD version of Batman.

What a joke. I went to cancel but it renewed yesterday . Now I gotta pay for a whole month of this POS.

[TheGreenDude]

The way to avoid getting throttled is to stick to the 1 at a time DVD and streaming service. $9/month is pretty cheap. Sure you will only get through 6 or 7 DVD movies a month, but that's almost as cheap as Red Box plus includes a much bigger library and the streaming capabilities. Anything worth watching in HD imo is worth buying the BD for.

[kowhite]

I find the best way to not get throttled, if you use higher number of disc services...is quit every once in awhile. I switched over to Blockbuster anyway...now, I'm not throttled (new customer to BB), I'm paying less for the same package, and get in store returns (which I'm finding has way more value than streaming, which I found I never used).

[septim]

Originally Posted by kowhite

I find the best way to not get throttled, if you use higher number of disc services...is quit every once in awhile. I switched over to Blockbuster anyway...now, I'm not throttled (new customer to BB), I'm paying less for the same package, and get in store returns (which I'm finding has way more value than streaming, which I found I never used).

Yeah I'll give BB a shot. It also helps that there is a store 30 seconds from my house.

I know what you mean about streaming. Its like being drowned in a sea of sub-mediocre movies. Way too much to choose from and not of it is very good.

[omillar]

I have been a loyal Netflix user for 5 +/- years and never had a problem. I am in the middle of a major house renovation and I seem to have packed my 2 DVD's. I mentioned this to a few friends and they all said "Tell them it got lost in the mail and they will send you replacements".

Not being one to lie I called and told them the truth. I asked that they send me the next 2 on my list and when I unpacked I'd send them everything back. They said no. The supervisor I spoke with Ashley (log in #87517) admitted that if I'd said they had never arrived that they would have sent replacements but because I had told the truth and the DVD's were in my possession I had to pay (either pay for the packed disks or up my monthly fee). I have a spotless record with Netflix; this is the first time I've ever called them with an issue.

Netflix's customer service is deficient and encourages lying. Please let me know what other options there are for this kind of service and if there aren't any someone please start one. I'll be your first customer.

[AV_Integrated]

I have nothing against Netflix, but the BB return to store policy, and the free rental coupon is phenomenal. It's about a 5 minute drive - maybe a bit more - from my home, but it really is great to get a Blu-ray movie right when I want to see it, and to be able to keep it as long as I want.

Not as nice as their old policy of the free rental, and they would immediately send your next title from your queue, but still I do like BB. Having not tried Netflix I have nothing bad to say about them at all, and I have considered switching, but likely won't as long as my local BB is still in business.

[Malanthius]

Not sure about your shipping issues. I've never had that problem and have been a customer for a couple of years. As far as your streaming? You've got a problem somewhere. I doubt it's netflix. Maybe your provider? I'm running a 12 Mbps version of Uverse and even my HD versions are literally instant! I never got into the Heros series and am catching up. The quality is quite good. Even better when I see the box sets at BB for 64 bucks! there is no waiting for it to start. A quick load bar that takes all of 5 or 10 secs and it's on! As far as the selection? Ya there are a bunch or turfs on there but there is also a ton of good stuff. My wife and kids love it. Oh back to your streaming problem? I see people running at only 3 megs and there isn't much of a wait for them. Not sure what is going on with your connection. Bummer!

[comixguru]

Originally Posted by kowhite

I find the best way to not get throttled, if you use higher number of disc services...is quit every once in awhile. I switched over to Blockbuster anyway...now, I'm not throttled (new customer to BB), I'm paying less for the same package, and get in store returns (which I'm finding has way more value than streaming, which I found I never used).

I definitely do this. I devour movies and TV shows on disc. I watched months of Netflix movies on the 4-out plan the day I received them and usually had them in the mail the next day. Over and over. I find it I switch off and on, 3-4 months per service, Netflix to BBO... they don't throttle me, and I can get 25+ discs a month (thus beating Redbox pricing).

[jcc]

I have been loyal to BBO, and am generally happy enough, although they have kept changing their service terms, usually for the worse. Doing and in-store exchange and having the replacement shipped immediately was nice, but the current policy of letting you keep the in-store movie as long as you want has some advantages. I like to pick up movies with 2-disc sets in-store, because they count as one.

One thing that really pissed me off once was that I had gotten the first couple of discs of Lost Season 4 on Blu-ray, and had the rest in my queue when they disappeared from the list. BB had decided to remove Lost Season 4 from circulation on Blu-ray. I had to watch the remainder of the season on DVD.

I am thinking about adding Netflix one at a time now, mainly because I have a Samsung player that streams Netflix. It also streams Blockbuster rentals, but you have to pay for those, so I don't think I will be using that feature. I recetnly visted my brother in California, who has Verizon fiber to the house, with up to 20Mbs, and Netflix streaming was pretty good, but even then it would sometimes do its calculation and say he had insufficient bandwidth and send the movie low bitrate (which looks really crappy). I have Comcast and my band width varies from nearly 10Mbs to usually closer to 1 Mbs. I suspect streaming will be worse for me, and may not want to do it a lot.

[HD Goofnut]

For the part I have been pleased with Netflix and their offerings. I joined in June 2008 when I purchased my first BD player, which was the 40 GB PS3. Until the April 2009 price increase I had trouble getting new releases on their respective release weeks. Starting in April when I drop a movie in the mail on Saturday I get the new release for Tuesday shipped to me on Monday and I receive it on Tuesday. My only major beef is with catalog BD titles. For instance, I have had The Postman in my queue for nearly 2 months and it has said Short Wait the entire time.

[Malanthius]

Originally Posted by jcc

I have been loyal to BBO, and am generally happy enough, although they have kept changing their service terms, usually for the worse. Doing and in-store exchange and having the replacement shipped immediately was nice, but the current policy of letting you keep the in-store movie as long as you want has some advantages. I like to pick up movies with 2-disc sets in-store, because they count as one.

One thing that really pissed me off once was that I had gotten the first couple of discs of Lost Season 4 on Blu-ray, and had the rest in my queue when they disappeared from the list. BB had decided to remove Lost Season 4 from circulation on Blu-ray. I had to watch the remainder of the season on DVD.

I am thinking about adding Netflix one at a time now, mainly because I have a Samsung player that streams Netflix. It also streams Blockbuster rentals, but you have to pay for those, so I don't think I will be using that feature. I recetnly visted my brother in California, who has Verizon fiber to the house, with up to 20Mbs, and Netflix streaming was pretty good, but even then it would sometimes do its calculation and say he had insufficient bandwidth and send the movie low bitrate (which looks really crappy). I have Comcast and my band width varies from nearly 10Mbs to usually closer to 1 Mbs. I suspect streaming will be worse for me, and may not want to do it a lot.

Wow I have a friend in the verizon area running that same speed and he doesnt have those problems. I'm only at 12mbps and my video is great! Like I said I have customers running at 3mbps and it works great for them. Something has to be up with these connections for problems like this. Very strange!

[kowhite]

I have a reason to hate netflix...they blacklisted me from their service for too many lost discs. Granted, that in of itself wouldn't make me hate them, but the circumstances that led to the blacklisting indicated a complete lack of thought on the matter on their part.

So I reached the limit. Another disc though, was still missing. I called and said...if there is ANY problem with me reporting this missing, I won't do it and I'll replace the disc myself since I understand the issue with lost discs, and I understand the number I had missing was a lot (I was on a high number program, and I think somebody stole the whole lot from my outgoing mail). I was told there shouldn't be any problem doing this, so I reported the disc missing. I had already switched how I mailed them back, so the discs missing thing wasn't going to happen anymore (I'm pretty sure this was theft in my building).

Then I was banned. I said I'd replace that disc, but no, they said I'd have to replace eight discs now to get back in. Then another said it was four, of course another said 5. Can't even get a straight answer. So screw them, I'm sticking with blockbuster. While I understand their perspective on lost discs, the way they handled this was so confusing, and that I was told I should be fine reporting it missing only to be outright banned from the service for doing just that was just enough to make me say...I hate netflix.

Ok, hate is a strong word, but it's the internet. And they didn't even credit me for the half month service they cut me off from.

[comixguru]

Originally Posted by kowhite

I have a reason to hate netflix...they blacklisted me from their service for too many lost discs.

You didn't live somewhere serviced by the Western Massachusetts post office this guy worked at... did you? He must have been near a service center to score that many discs.

Mailman Pleads Guilty to Stealing 30,000 Netflix DVDs
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A former postal service employee has pleaded guilty to stealing more than 30,000 DVDs that moved through a western Massachusetts post office.

Myles Weathers, formerly of Springfield, took DVDs that were mailed by Netflix to customers for a year beginning in January 2007.

Federal prosecutors say the movie rental company alerted Springfield post office officials that a suspiciously high number of DVDs were disappearing. As many as 100 movies a week were disappearing.

Weathers was arrested in February 2008 after investigators filmed him taking DVDs from packages and slipping them into his backpack.

He faces 10 months to 16 months in prison and restitution costs of about $38,000 at his Dec. 23 sentencing.

Weathers' attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

I wonder if he can still get Netflix?

[jcc]

Originally Posted by Malanthius

Wow I have a friend in the verizon area running that same speed and he doesnt have those problems. I'm only at 12mbps and my video is great! Like I said I have customers running at 3mbps and it works great for them. Something has to be up with these connections for problems like this. Very strange!

i assume the problem was not caused by the verizon connection, but something on Netflix end. Do you think, as Netflix streaming becomes more popular, that their servers start to overload? This was in Southern California durng prime time on a weekend. Even then, if you stop the movie and restart it again from the beginning, it will usually play at full bitrate, but my brother says that it is fairly common (maybe 10-20% of the time) that movies start in low bitrate.

[Malanthius]

Originally Posted by jcc

i assume the problem was not caused by the verizon connection, but something on Netflix end. Do you think, as Netflix streaming becomes more popular, that their servers start to overload? This was in Southern California durng prime time on a weekend. Even then, if you stop the movie and restart it again from the beginning, it will usually play at full bitrate, but my brother says that it is fairly common (maybe 10-20% of the time) that movies start in low bitrate.

I'm not sure about their network. I'm just saying that I have none of these problems. I watch 2 or 3 episodes of heros a night. My wife and kids watch it all the time. No problems yet. If it was their servers I would think I would have run into these problems by now. Have you tried watching Hulu on a pc with this connection? Any problems there?