Netflix Not a “NEW” DVD Rental Company…
I’ve been a Netflix user almost from the very start. My account is about six or seven years old now (with some brief pauses in service) and I’m here to tell you that I’m about done with it all.
For some time, it’s been my understanding with Netflix that if I want to get a new release movie on DVD or Blu-Ray, I need to strategically send the current disc I have back to the warehouse to coincide with the date of the new release. Usually if I send the movie in on a Saturday, they’ll get it by Monday and send me the new movie that is scheduled to release the next day on Tuesday. However, for well over 2 months now I have habitually been sending old, unwatched titles they’ve sent me back on these days (just like I always used to) only to get a movie that was number 5 or 6 down on my Que instead of the new release I wanted. What happens then is this newer release then immediately becomes “VERY LONG WAIT” status and it can take over 60 days for me to finally be able to watch it.
Well, this happened to yet again today. I sent in the unwatched DVD I got last week this past Saturday so I could get the new release of “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” on Blu-Ray (which I pay an extra $3 a month for!), only to be sent “Slumdog Millionaire” instead. Fed up and noticeably angry, I called Netlflix customer service and spoke to a “Jeff”. I regaled him with my ongoing problems with his company and this whole “never getting a new release” fiasco. He then proceeded to tell me that “Netlfix is not a “new” release company. We could stock and order more new releases, but then we’d have to up our prices.” I was flabbergasted. He then went on to tell me that he himself actually will got to physical rental stores to acquire newer releases when he wants to see them rather than depend on HIS OWN COMPANY to provide them to him! What do you say to that? I unbelievably repeated his own words back to him and then hung up.
There you go, straight from the Jacka–’s mouth. Netflix is NOT a “new” DVD release company. If you like to see new movies, take your business elsewhere.
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It’s amazing how much Netflix has allowed their core business to decline. It seems like they are putting a lot more energy into the streaming stuff, and forgetting that discs in the mail will be their primary business model for at least the next 5-10 years.
You could try, “cheating” the system like I used to with Gamefly. Remove every movie from your Queue except the one you want, and they have no choice but to send it to you. It’s annoying, as I like to keep things in my Queue so I don’t forget things I want to watch/play, and it’s ultimately why I canceled Gamefly, but it does work.
Don’t you remenber my Pineaple Express problem? I tried putting only that movie in my queue and I didn’t get a move for an entire month, and as soon as my billing cycle rolled over, litterly the next day, it went from very long way to shipped status. I got the same answer when I called them too. it’s all dependent on how many you rent per month, if you keep it below a certain number, you will get your new releases, however, if you are a heavy renter, you will only get old stuff, and new releases will show up as very long wait. Trust me, this is how it works, it’s completely based on the number you rent per month. I just got transformers the same week it came out because week keep our number of movie rentals around 4 per month, we are on the unlimited 1 at a time plan.
Also, I can’t believe you give them an extra $3 a month for that horse shit! I refused to pay extra for the same movie, that only looks slightly better than my upscaled dvd’s expecially when they pull this queue manipulation BS!
I’m on the one-at-a-time plan, too. I only get 4-5 movies a month and I pay extra for the blu-rays. I have also tried the “only have 1 DVD on your Que” trick and all it did was keep the movie on “Very Long Wait” status for over a week. We finally gave in and added another movie so we could actually watch something. If there was any competition from anyone else (and I’m thinking of Blockbuster!), I’d try them. As it is, these people abuse their monopoly hold over the general public. It makes me sick and I honestly don’t know if I can in good conscience continue my account with them.
The problem (for you) with the one DVD at a time trick is you don’t watch movies and send them right back, Netflix counts that against you. Brian is completely right, you get about 4 rentals a month per disc you pay for, anything above that and Netflix couldn’t care less about you.
It isn’t right, and it isn’t the service that Netflix advertises, but it’s the way it works.