Netflix! DamnYou!

[EvilMonkey]

What was your issue with BB?

Besides all of the above? 20+ years of screwing me (and everyone else) over and over again just because they had a monopoly (more or less) for movie rentals.

Plus, the first time I joined the disc-by-mail program, I had 3 discs by mail, unlimited exchanges (that did NOT count against my online rentals: in other words, I took it to the store, got an exchange, and another shipped from my online queue at the same time), 3 coupons/month for a free movie, and I could exchange for video games.

That lasted about 3 weeks before they took all of it away. Exchanges now count against your online rental (they won't ship a new movie until you return the exchange), couldn't exchange for games, no more coupons, etc. Combine my frustration with that and then their delayed shipping times (and insistence on acknowledging a return and then waiting one or two days before shipping another) and I left.

Tried them again a couple times as Netflix raised prices, added the BD charge, and more recently (earlier this year) with the 28 day delay and BB supposedly getting some more catalog releases and the experience was the same.

All-in-all, I ended up with significantly less discs (I get about 18-20 disc from Netflix every month, and I was getting 12-14 from BB (even with in-store exchanges). And on the days I don't have a disc from Netflix, I can stream something.

Maybe it'll improve now that BB as a corporation is dead and owned by Dish, but I'm not holding my breath.

All in all, Netflix has been wonderful to me. I watch about 20-25 movies a month between discs and streaming. I've never had a delay in shipping, if they have to ship from a non-local center (which is rare) they send a free bonus disc, in the rare cases I've had a complaint (such as a damaged disc), I've always just called and got a bonus disc or something taken off my bill. The streaming rocks IMO (PS3 so I'm getting 1080p/5.1 on some content and I've never had an issue with the amount of content. I frequently refer to a thread at AVS that lists many of the good movies people find (link)

Of course, I can see where people are disappointed with the streaming if they are expecting every movie ever to be on there (including new releases) for a measely $8/month....and I think NF's advertising regarding it is a bit misleading in that regard. And of course not everyone has an ISP capable of delivering the highest quality or the best device (I shudder when I think of people using Wii's to stream it, for example....ugh).

However, I think it's more designed for you to browse for movies to watch, and most people think they should have a movie in mind then look to see if it's available (like someone will say to themselves "I feel like watching Ghostbusters" then they look and it's not available). Whereas if you use threads like the one I link to above to find the movies that are worth watching, it's well-worthwhile. Yeah, there's a lot of crap on there, that's to be sure, but there are plenty of good movies too, and if I haven't seen it, it's new to me.

My two cents (and my $4 which will be going to Netflix shortly to keep my 3 discs-at-a-time + streaming)

 

[tcat007]

If they would drop the DVD by mail, and move ALL those DVD's to streaming, I'd be happy to pay the $16... but I can never find anything (anymore) streaming I haven't seen. If I search Rotten Tomatoes for current stuff, then search in DVD's at NF, I'll find new titles to add. Happy to get at least 2 per week in the mail. They'll be losing $2 from me mid August.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

Besides all of the above? 20+ years of screwing me (and everyone else) over and over again just because they had a monopoly (more or less) for movie rentals.

Plus, the first time I joined the disc-by-mail program, I had 3 discs by mail, unlimited exchanges (that did NOT count against my online rentals: in other words, I took it to the store, got an exchange, and another shipped from my online queue at the same time), 3 coupons/month for a free movie, and I could exchange for video games.

That lasted about 3 weeks before they took all of it away. Exchanges now count against your online rental (they won't ship a new movie until you return the exchange), couldn't exchange for games, no more coupons, etc. Combine my frustration with that and then their delayed shipping times (and insistence on acknowledging a return and then waiting one or two days before shipping another) and I left.

Tried them again a couple times as Netflix raised prices, added the BD charge, and more recently (earlier this year) with the 28 day delay and some more catalog releases and the experience was the same.

Maybe it'll improve now that BB as a corporation is dead and owned by Dish, but I'm not holding my breath.

All in all, Netflix has been wonderful to me. I watch about 20-25 movies a month between discs and streaming. I've never had a delay in shipping, if they have to ship from a non-local center (which is rare) they send a free bonus disc, in the rare cases I've had a complaint (such as a damaged disc), I've always just called and got a bonus disc or something taken off my bill. The streaming rocks IMO (PS3 so I'm getting 1080p/5.1 on some content and I've never had an issue with content. I frequently refer to a thread at AVS that lists many of the good movies people find (link)

Of course, I can see where people are disappointed with the streaming if they are expecting every movie ever to be on there (including new releases) for a measely $8/month....and I think NF's advertising regarding it is a bit misleading in that regard.

However, I think it's more designed for you to browse for movies to watch, and most people think they should have a movie in mind then look to see if it's available (like someone will say to themselves "I feel like watching Ghostbusters" then they look and it's not available). Whereas if you use threads like the one I link to above to find the movies that are worth watching, it's well-worthwhile. Yeah, there's a lot of crap on there, that's to be sure, but there are plenty of good movies too, and if I haven't seen it, it's new to me.

My two cents.

Hmm. Well I'll give it a try and if I have the same experiences as you mention I'll go back to netflix or ditch DVD's all together and go to redbox. We'll see what happens.

 

[EvilMonkey]

Hmm. Well I'll give it a try and if I have the same experiences as you mention I'll go back to netflix or ditch DVD's all together and go to redbox. We'll see what happens.

No hurt in trying. You might luck out and there will be a distribution center near you so you won't have 2 day shipping (if you're that lucky) and I know some other people have had better experiences (although the delayed shipping out of discs seem to be a pretty common problem). Also, maybe all your stores around you won't close.

Regardless, I'm sure as a "new" customer, you'll be treated great for awhile, as is typically the case at both Netflix and Blockbuster to "reel you in" then once you're a "loyal" customer, you start taking backseat to the new customers that are on trial.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

No hurt in trying. You might luck out and there will be a distribution center near you so you won't have 2 day shipping (if you're that lucky) and I know some other people have had better experiences (although the delayed shipping out of discs seem to be a pretty common problem). Also, maybe all your stores around you won't close.

Regardless, I'm sure as a "new" customer, you'll be treated great for awhile, as is typically the case at both Netflix and Blockbuster to "reel you in" then once you're a "loyal" customer, you start taking backseat to the new customers that are on trial.

I haven't had any problems with Netflix and I've had them for 1-2 years now. Only had one DVD not play correctly and they took care of it promptly. So if I do get any hassles from Blockbuster I will definitely go back to Netflix if I decide to keep a subscription based DVD rental.

 

[Issemann]

OK, I've been a member since Jan 09 and I've seen 102 movies since. That puts me at 3.4 movies a month. My monthly costs are currently $11.99 ($12.83 incl tax) which puts me at around $3.77 per movie.

On Sept 1st, my cost will go up to $17.98 / mth ($19.24 incl tax). Assuming my movie consumption stays the same, I'll be looking at around $5.66 per movie. Of course, I'm not counting the movies I've streamed, but honestly, the selection sucks so much they're not even worth mentioning!

I might ditch Netflix all together and rent from Amazon/Blockbuster/FiOS On Demand.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

The only thing I didn't like about blockbuster was downloading the program for it.

 

[EvilMonkey]

OK, I've been a member since Jan 09 and I've seen 102 movies since. That puts me at 3.4 movies a month. My monthly costs are currently $11.99 ($12.83 incl tax) which puts me at around $3.77 per movie.

On Sept 1st, my cost will go up to $17.98 / mth ($19.24 incl tax). Assuming my movie consumption stays the same, I'll be looking at around $5.66 per movie. Of course, I'm not counting the movies I've streamed, but honestly, the selection sucks so much they're not even worth mentioning!

I might ditch Netflix all together and rent from Amazon/Blockbuster/FiOS On Demand.

Ouch. My average cost is 70 cents right now (including my discs and streaming). It's a little over $2 if I only count discs. I'll note I'm on the 3-at-a-time plan.

I've been slacking on streaming this month since I started playing a videogame at night instead that's sucking all my "TV" time.

Obviously if you're only watching 3.4 movies a month, you're probably not a good Netflix customer ("good" in that you're actually using the system in the correct way to get your money's worth).

If you don't like the streaming, you should drop that and save some money. I use it constantly though. I'd argue against the "selection sucks" since there are plenty of great movies on there. I've mentioned it before, but you might want to check out this thread at AVS that lists a whole bunch of quality movies.

Of course, at a measely 3 movies a month, you'd be better off with Redbox. I am a movie-a-holic though and watch enough to get my money's worth (even at the $4 increase I'll be paying come September).

 

[BlackHawkA4]

So, I just switched my Neftlix plan to only have streaming; and, went to get Blockbuster like planned. To my surprise:

"Goodbye Netflix". 30 day free trial. 9.99 a month. And unlimited in store exchanges. I wonder how long that's going to last. Either way I was going to give it a try so it's nice to have.

the first game I wanted to rent they didn't have, at all, so we'll see what happens if I end up keeping them. They had everything else I could think of off the top of my head though.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

So I'm already thinking about cancelling Blockbuster, lol. And I haven't even gotten my first disk.

If I'm not mistaken: If a disk is received on Saturday. Your Disk ships sunday for monday with netflix?

Blockbuster: Didn't ship till today. And estimated arrival is the 20th. If that's the case I'm cancelling right away.

 

[EvilMonkey]

So I'm already thinking about cancelling Blockbuster, lol. And I haven't even gotten my first disk.

If I'm not mistaken: If a disk is received on Saturday. Your Disk ships sunday for monday with netflix?

Blockbuster: Didn't ship till today. And estimated arrival is the 20th. If that's the case I'm cancelling right away.

There's no mail on Sunday, so no, Netflix doesn't ship on Sunday. Mail back on Saturday, they ship on Monday: I typically have the new release(s) for the week ship on Monday. Most people seem to mistakenly ship their movies back on Monday, assuming that Netflix will ship the new release Tuesday, ....but they're waiting too late....you have to ship back on Saturday and they'll mail the new release Monday so you'll have it in your grubby little hands on Tuesday. I would say that works for me about 90% of the time when I want a new release, so it's not foolproof, but it works pretty often and I typically don't end up with something I really want to see stuck in a Very Long Wait status for weeks. Of course, that's assuming I plan ahead an mail back on Saturday (which sometimes requires me to hold onto discs for a day or two longer than I would normally). Really depends on if I'm really dying to see a new release so much that I feel like delaying putting a disc back in the mail. Of course, I fill in my gaps with streaming movies, so it's not a big deal to me.

I don't believe BB works Saturday though, unlike Netflix (so Netflix will receive/ship on Saturday, but I don't think BB does....I could be mistaken).

And yeah....BB, at least when I have tried them, is at least a 2 day shipping (sometimes 3). Really depends on where you are at I guess, but they don't seem to have nearly the shipping centers that Netflix seems to, since Netflix shipping is typically 1 day....at least I have never heard anyone saying Netflix is typically longer. Even my parents, who live in BFE, only have a one day shipping with NF.

The extra shipping delay is why I typically ended up with less discs with BB than I get with NF, even taking into account the in-store exchanges (combined with that BB was horrible about shipping a disc out the same day they received one).

Be curious what you decide. Perhaps the no-28 day delay and some additional catalog titles will make up the difference for you. For me, it doesn't, but that's my personal opinion.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

Hmm. So they said it would be here tomorrow but it came today. Same city that Netflix shipped from. I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[Brucewl]

Oops， whatever, I can not even use Netflix, because this service is not available in China.