response 196 of 342:

Feb 6 01:58 UTC 2006

Yeah. I have noticed a decline in other areas of netflix besides the
mailings. They seem to be getting in fewer copies of really popular
movies too. It is scary because I have had The 40 Year Old Virgin pretty
much at the top of my queue for more than two months and I still havent
gotten it yet. I am kind of planning to actually go to the video store
when something I actually want to see in a timely fashion comes out. I
never used to have to wait more than a week or two for anything. Oh
well, they are still a better deal for me than regularly going to the
video store. 

response 198 of 342:

Feb 6 02:34 UTC 2006

re #187

I came across it randomly yesterday night too. 

At first I thought it was the same dude from Queer Eye.

response 200 of 342:

Feb 6 17:22 UTC 2006

re #194
They are cowboys that take a job herding sheep.  One guy is a bullrider...the
other one is the bull!

YEE HAW!! KOO KOO! Giddyup! Hut!

"I wish I knew how to quit yew!" -Jack Twist

My favorite scene in the movie is the visit to Jack's parents' farm.

response 202 of 342:

Feb 6 18:18 UTC 2006

For the most part, netflix works for me too. Even though I might have a 
bunch of new releases at the top of my queue, I am generally not really 
in a terrible hurry to get them. I also like to watch a lot of older or 
obscure titles which often are not available at the video store. I have 
over 300 items in my queue so they always have something that I want to 
watch to send me. I like it because it not only saves me a trip to the 
video store to return movies but it saves the original trip too. I am 
lazy that way.

But every now and then a movie will come out that I want to watch 
sooner rather than later. It is funny because I had a real block about 
that. Like I had some unwritten rule with myself that if I had netflix, 
it meant that I couldnt go up to the video store. Weird I know. 

response 204 of 342:

Feb 6 18:36 UTC 2006

It's a normal psychological process; why buy milk when you have a cow at 
home?  I have a similar issue where I don't want to rent a film from NF
if it'll be on HBO soon where I can watch it in HD without using up a
rental slot.

Blockbuster has tried to capitalize on in-store synergy; I'm sure you saw
the Superbowl ad where they're offering an in-store rental per week with
their rental-by-mail plan.  But you have to print out a coupon, take it
to the store to rent one of their selections, return it, and in general
all the hassle people associate with BB.

response 206 of 342:

Feb 6 22:19 UTC 2006

resp:203 I return my movies through the mail room at work. And 
seriously, for most of my time with netflix, I have had a similar turn 
around. It is really only in the past couple of months or so that 
things have slowed down. It is weird. 

resp:204 Back when I still had HBO, I was the same way!!! Alas, I didnt 
watch the Super Bowl because there was a Cary Grant movie I had wanted 
to see on TV so I watched that instead. But it doesnt matter. I 
actually have an irrational dislike for Blockbuster and dont want to 
have anything to do with them. 

resp:205 I didnt even know they had netflix in the UK. 


Oh and by the way, if anyone wants to be one of my "netflix friends" 
let me know. 

response 208 of 342:

Feb 6 22:58 UTC 2006

That happened to me a couple times.  I would have been able to live with
that too, if it weren't for the other problem:

1. Look around for a few specific titles of interest.  Find they are all
   either not stocked at all or rented out
2. Browse until I find something that does interest me at all
3. Find it is only available in pan-and-scan format
4. Go home, disgusted

response 210 of 342:

Feb 6 23:50 UTC 2006

It is best to have titles which are in "medium demand" at the top of
your list, if you want prompt shipment.  Titles in high demand may
result in delays while they try to find the title, and there's an
increased risk that the one the find will be at a faraway distribution
center and take longer to reach you in the mail.

Titles in an excessively low demand, paradoxically enough, also have
this problem.  Netflix doesn't have infinite space at their minor
distribution centers, so titles that aren't renting much end up getting
sent back to their main ones (e.g. San Jose) for storage.  So if you're
renting a movie that is old and nobody really wants any more there's an
increased risk it will be shipping from far away and take a long time.

response 212 of 342:

Feb 7 00:10 UTC 2006

I think my hatred with Blockbuster started when I got hit with some late
fees when they had a 7p return time. But honestly, I am not totally
sure. All I know is that I get a bad feeling about the place. 

response 214 of 342:

Feb 7 11:09 UTC 2006

Yes, where else can you get movies like "Mulva Zombie Ass Kicker"?

response 216 of 342:

Feb 7 22:45 UTC 2006

is keith richards gonna play his daddy?

response 218 of 342:

Feb 11 00:33 UTC 2006

re #196
Friday, February 10, 2006; Posted: 6:46 p.m. EST (23:46 GMT) 
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Manuel Villanueva realizes he has been
getting a pretty good deal since he signed up for Netflix Inc.'s online DVD
rental service 2-1/2 years ago, but he still feels shortchanged.

That's because the $17.99 monthly fee that he pays to rent up to three DVDs
at a time would amount to an even bigger bargain if the company didn't
penalize him for returning his movies so quickly.

Netflix typically sends about 13 movies a month to Villanueva's home in
Warren, Michigan -- down from the 18 to 22 DVDs he once received before the
company's automated system identified him as a heavy renter and began delaying
his shipments to protect its profits.

The same Netflix formula also shoves Villanueva to the back of the line for
the most-wanted DVDs, so the service can send those popular flicks to new
subscribers and infrequent renters.

The little-known practice, called "throttling" by critics, means Netflix
customers who pay the same price for the same service are often treated
differently, depending on their rental patterns.

"I wouldn't have a problem with it if they didn't advertise 'unlimited
rentals,' " Villanueva said. "The fact is that they go out of their way to
make sure you don't go over whatever secret limit they have set up for your
account."

Changing the rules
Los Gatos, California-based Netflix didn't publicly acknowledge it
differentiates among customers until revising its "terms of use" in January
2005 -- four months after a San Francisco subscriber filed a class-action
lawsuit alleging that the company had deceptively promised one-day delivery
of most DVDs.

"In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give
priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service,"
Netflix's revised policy now reads. The statement specifically warns that
heavy renters are more likely to encounter shipping delays and less likely
to immediately be sent their top choices.

Few customers have complained about this "fairness algorithm," according to
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

"We have unbelievably high customer satisfaction ratings," Hastings said
during a recent interview. "Most of our customers feel like Netflix is an
incredible value."

The service's rapid growth supports him. Netflix added nearly 1.6 million
customers last year, giving it 4.2 million subscribers through December.
During the final three months of 2005, just 4 percent of its customers
canceled the service, the lowest rate in the company's six-year history.

After collecting consumer opinions about the Web's 40 largest retailers last
year, Ann Arbor, Michigan, research firm ForeSeeResults rated Netflix as "the
cream of the crop in customer satisfaction."

Once considered a passing fancy, Netflix has changed the way many households
rent movies and has spawned several copycats, including a mail service from
Blockbuster Inc.

Netflix's most popular rental plan lets subscribers check out up to three DVDs
at a time for $17.99 a month. After watching a movie, customers return the
DVD in a postage-paid envelope. Netflix then sends out the next available DVD
on the customer's online wish list.

Customers catch on
Because everyone pays a flat fee, Netflix makes more money from customers who
watch only four or five DVDs a month. Customers who quickly return their
movies to get more erode the company's profit margin, because each DVD sent
out and returned costs 78 cents in postage alone.

Although Netflix consistently promoted its service as the DVD equivalent of
an all-you-can eat smorgasbord, some heavy renters began to suspect they were
being treated differently two or three years ago.

To prove the point, one customer even set up a Web site --
www.dvd-rent-test.dreamhost.com -- to show that the service listed different
wait times for DVDs requested by subscribers living in the same household.

Netflix's throttling techniques also have prompted incensed customers to share
their outrage in online forums such as www.hackingnetflix.com.

"Netflix isn't well within its rights to throttle users," complained a
customer identified as "annoyed" in a posting on the site. "They say unlimited
rentals. They are liars."

Hastings said the company has no specified limit on rentals, but "`unlimited'
doesn't mean you should expect to get 10,000 a month."

Netflix says most subscribers check out two to 11 DVDs a month.

Growing risk
Management has acknowledged to analysts that it risks losing money on a
relatively small percentage of frequent renters. And that risk has increased
since Netflix reduced the price of its most popular subscription plan by $4
a month in 2004 and the U.S. Postal Service recently raised first-class
mailing costs by 2 cents.

Netflix's approach has paid off, so far. The company has been profitable in
each of the past three years, a trend its management expects to continue in
2006 with projected earnings of at least $29 million on revenue of $960
million. Netflix's stock price has more than tripled since its 2002 initial
public offering.

A September 2004 lawsuit cast a spotlight on the throttling issue. The
complaint, filed by Frank Chavez on behalf of all Netflix subscribers before
Jan. 15, 2005, said the company had developed a sophisticated formula to slow
DVD deliveries to frequent renters and ensure quicker shipments of the most
popular movies to its infrequent -- and most profitable -- renters to keep
them happy.

Netflix denied the allegations, but eventually revised its terms of use to
acknowledge its different treatment of frequent renters.

Without acknowledging wrongdoing, the company agreed to provide a one-month
rental upgrade and pay Chavez's attorneys $2.5 million. But the settlement
sparked protests that prompted the two sides to reconsider. A hearing on a
revised settlement proposal is scheduled for Feb. 22 in San Francisco Superior
Court.

Netflix subscribers such as Nathaniel Irons didn't believe the company was
purposely delaying some DVD shipments until he read the revised terms of use.

Irons, 28, of Seattle, has no plans to cancel his service because he figures
he is still getting a good value from the eight movies he typically receives
each month.

"My own personal experience has not been bad," he said, "but (the throttling)
is certainly annoying when it happens."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/10/netflix.penalty.ap

response 220 of 342:

Feb 11 06:43 UTC 2006

I was just starting to notice that the hubby and I were having some
longer wait times- and then a week or so later I see this. We must be in
that category now. Though that may change since we've lowered the 'out
at one time' amount and are taking longer to return movies...