NetFlix and "throttling"

It's interesting that even though a lot of people know about throttling, they are still satisfied with the service overall.

Even if I only watch 5 movies in a month, I'm still saving money vs. the rental store (not to mention the hassle of driving there and back, late fees, etc....) and I doubt they would throttle my account at that point.

I probably average 8-10 movies a month and I've never noticed a delay in my service.
 
Me either...

Robert said:
It's interesting that even though a lot of people know about throttling, they are still satisfied with the service overall.

Even if I only watch 5 movies in a month, I'm still saving money vs. the rental store (not to mention the hassle of driving there and back, late fees, etc....) and I doubt they would throttle my account at that point.

I probably average 8-10 movies a month and I've never noticed a delay in my service.
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I'm on the 4 DVD a month plan and I know I'm not able to turn them around fast enough to be labled as a heavy renter but a friend of mine is on the 8 DVD a month plan... He's got 4 kids who do most of the choosing and once the kid who selected the DVD watches it, they send it right back...

He has definitely noticed a surprising difference in turnaround time over the last couple of months...

Additionally, he notices that before he was experiencing any decrease in turnaround time, ALL the movies he rented came from Los Angeles or San Diego. Since he's become more of a heavy renter, he's noticing that half of his DVDs are coming from the east coast.

I'm wondering if this is part of the algorithm they use i.e., as you become more of a heavy renter, your films are mailed out from more distant distribution outlets...

I've noticed a few times that I was able to watch 3 movies in one night and the last one the very next day and send all the DVDs back that the next time around, I would get 3 movies from Albuquerque (I live in New Mexico) and 1 from the east coast and they would all go back to their respective outlets... Hence, the east coast rental takes longer to reach me and longer to be received.

When I stagger the DVDs and mail back one a day, they all come from Albuquerque and go back to Albuquerque so this is what I've been doing more frequently however, about every month and a half, all my DVDs show up on the same exact day no matter what I do...

filmy
 
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I have the three-at-a-time subscription and I'm throttled. I think I mentioned it in a previous thread.

I'm within 10 miles of the Tampa distribution center. When I send a DVD back, they receive it the next day and I get a notification 4 to 5 days later that they "just received" it and will send out the next disc as soon as possible, which is always 3 to 4 days later.

They advertise "unlimited" rentals. When it takes a week and a half to receive a movie, it makes you wonder how unlimited it really is. It's definately false advertising. I only thing that I hope comes out of this is Netflix gets forced to stop throttling to settle false advertising claims.
 
mrde50 said:
It's definately false advertising. I only thing that I hope comes out of this is Netflix gets forced to stop throttling to settle false advertising claims.
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I thought they were sued about this...

I had the three-at-a-time subsciption too, but cancelled my account due to too much throttleing. When I first got NetFlix (just about when they started business) they did not do this (or at least not so much). The first year I was really impressed. Then it got worse and worse since I rented a lot of movies. I actually used to get the movies, rip them to my HD, then send them back right away. Then when I had time I would just watch the movies off my HD. When I was done, I would have the next set of them waiting at the door. It worked really well in NetFlix's early days :)

After I cancelled my account, I heard they were sued about the false advertising. I think they gave people free rentals to make up for that. Those of you that are memebers did not receive any e-mails about that?

Netflix is still quite cheap though, as Robert said. Most people live with it. It annoyed the heck out of me...
 
From what I understand...

DirectorX said:
I thought they were sued about this...

I had the three-at-a-time subsciption too, but cancelled my account due to too much throttleing. When I first got NetFlix (just about when they started business) they did not do this (or at least not so much). The first year I was really impressed. Then it got worse and worse since I rented a lot of movies. I actually used to get the movies, rip them to my HD, then send them back right away. Then when I had time I would just watch the movies off my HD. When I was done, I would have the next set of them waiting at the door. It worked really well in NetFlix's early days :)

After I cancelled my account, I heard they were sued about the false advertising. I think they gave people free rentals to make up for that. Those of you that are memebers did not receive any e-mails about that?

Netflix is still quite cheap though, as Robert said. Most people live with it. It annoyed the heck out of me...
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In the article referenced above, it does mention the lawsuit... The guy that sued more or less proved that NetFlix was in fact throttling its customers that quickly returned movies.

If you read the article, the guy that runs NetFlix makes some fairly ridiculous statements and those alone are making me reconsider my subscription.

I should point out however, that I've done some experiments with the return of my DVDs and it's seemed to improve turnaround time for me...

Every time I receive a mailer that sends the DVD to some distant outlet that will obviously take even more time for NetFlix to receive, I toss 'em and send multiple DVDs back to the outlet in my state. I started doing this because I noticed my own turnaround time slowing down at one point.

In fact, I have quite an inventory of mailers to the outlet in my state because of this...

Which makes me think that once their algorithm identifies you as a "heavy renter," their software flags your DVDs in more distant outlets...

Having said that, that still doesn't explain mrde50's problem with the delay he's experiencing...

Anyway, after the guy in the article sued NetFlix and NetFlix settled with him, they changed their terms and conditions so that they basically tell you that they're going to throttle your ass...

filmy
 
There was a settlement originally that basically gave current subscribers a free upgrade for a month... and would have paid 2.5 million dollars to the lawyers.

Luckily, some people raised hell about it and the deal was nixed by the judge.

Damn greedy lawyers... gonna give their profession a bad name! :lol:
 
FilmJumper said:
Having said that, that still doesn't explain mrde50's problem with the delay he's experiencing...
filmy
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They did the same thing with me. I used to have the service in Ohio, just a little farther from the shipping center than mrde50. As I said earlier, when I first signed up (more than four years ago), they would aknowledge my movie in two days tops (usually one day, then they would send it the next day). Then (when I believe they started throttling me), they would aknowledge receiving my movies four or even five days later (even though I'm sure they still got them as before). I was stumped.

I also signed up with their service in California, also close to the service center (this was about a year ago). Here the first month (maybe two) things were pretty smooth. Then they started doing the exact same thing (when it became obvious I was constantly renting a lot of movies). I knew nothing of throttling back then, but I had a feeling something slightly odd had to be going on. I think it's pretty obvious that they don't aknowledge they receive you DVDs (when they really do receive them) in order to delay the next shipment. It's a smart strategy. If you read more online about throtteling you'll see a lot of people that rent a lot of movies experience this 'late aknowledgement' phenomenon. I'm almost certain that's what mrde50 is experiencing here.

Btw, these guys are extremely hard to get rid of. They still e-mail me with "deals," or telling me how they've improved their service, etc. They keep your credit card, address, etc, on file. I can still log in (even though my account is inactive; for example to re-activate it if I want). I can do almost anything except to delete credit cards, etc. You can only update info, not delete. Their help/support section has all the info on how to rejoin netflix, and nothing on how to permanently terminate your past relationship with them.
 
What really sucks about this whole thing is Netflix is still a great service. I can
  • Choose what movies I receive next
  • Keep them for as long as I want
  • Get titles not available at the local store (Indie, anime)
It's a shame that a great service such as Netflix purposely finds a way to screw you out of your cash, keep the profit, and now admit to everyone that they're doing it.

No matter what happens, if the settlement dosen't require them to stop throttling, then I don't believe a proper settlement was agreed upon.

Directly from the Netflix website, here's what they offer:
  • 8 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $47.99
  • 7 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $41.99
  • 6 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $35.99
  • 5 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $29.99
  • 4 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $23.99
  • 3 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $17.99
  • 2 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $14.99
  • 2 at-a-time (4 a month) for $11.99
  • 1 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $9.99
Netflix is claiming that they cannot be profitable if people subscribe to their service and use it as advertised. Well then don't you think they should have hired an accountant somewhere down the road to figure out how much to charge to make them profitable? A business that's purposely not profitable is a doomed one. Case in point, Netflix.
 
I have had no problems with Netflix, they've even given me the benefit of the doubt a while back when I had a DVD go missing. I've thought about giving Blockbuster Online a shot, but have had so many in-store problems in the past.

I do however feel it's abit shady to say unlimited rentals then slow down the process in order to make money.

Poke
 
Don't you think that there is another side to this arguement.

When you look at the maths the guy (even when throttled) was getting fifteen movies a month for $17.99 or about $1.19 a rental - he's bitching because he wants twenty-two films a month which works out at a unit cost of about $0.82 a rental.

Sure Netfilx has shot itself in the foot by saying unlimited rentals, but surely there comes a point where the guy should look at the maths of what he's getting and if he needs more films, maybe he should up his rental package.

I'm afraid I don't understand the outrage of someone who lives in the ricest country in the world complaining about having to pay $1.19 a rental. I know people in Africa who earn that much for a day's work.
 
clive said:
Sure Netfilx has shot itself in the foot by saying unlimited rentals, but surely there comes a point where the guy should look at the maths of what he's getting and if he needs more films, maybe he should up his rental package.
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I both agree and disagree with this comment.

Yes, if anyone expects 20 or so movies a month from Netflix, they should pay for the appropriate subscription level.

On the other hand, Netflix is wrong in throttling customers in two ways:
  • It's false advertising
  • Customer are receiving less movies than what they're paying for
Nonetheless, Netflix is still wrong in admitting to their practices. If Netflix stopped throttling customers, I'd probably lower my subscription to a lower level because I am receiving the number of discs I want. If I want 50 DVDs a month, I'd up my subscription.
 
On the other hand, Netflix is wrong in throttling customers in two ways:

* It's false advertising
* Customer are receiving less movies than what they're paying for
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I couldn't agree more. Netflix are the victims of their own marketing strategy, and they've chosen to deal with the problem in a dishonest way.

I don't either party comes out of this looking good - Netflix for trying to weasel out of a mistake they made in their business strategy or the guy who sued them.

Of course, it could just be that I've always had a problem with the "sue them" culture. It's because of bozos like this that my public liability insurance cost thousands of pounds every year.
 
See thi is why I love going to my local store (Blockbuster), grabbing a movie, looking at games, chatting up teh pretty blonde behind the counter and arguing with the store clerks that Top Gun IS in fact a good film.

There's something about that level of interaction that always stops me from using a onlien account. Also funny thing is I found when I did a trial I never watched the DVD's I had. They were alwyas one at the bottom of my list and as I never got charged late fees they sat there for days on end.

Very odd. When I know I have to return them the next day I get my arse in gear and just do it!
 
I've never had the same clerk twice at a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. I do like the idea of getting the movie at the moment, but the selection of online rentals is far greater than any video store.

I agree with you clive. It is something inherent in Americans that we often do not appreciate our abilities and rights in this country, but at the same time false advertising is false advertising.

Poke
 
Poke said:
I've never had the same clerk twice at a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. I do like the idea of getting the movie at the moment, but the selection of online rentals is far greater than any video store.
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The reason I subscribed to Netflix is because the local Blockbuster store carries 47 copies of the latest multibillion dollar Hollywood flop. There's no indies. There's an extremely limited Anime section consisting of around 4 titles. There's only two or three Japanese films (I rent Japanese films like a kid eats candy).

Netflix, with all their flaws, actually gives me the choice to choose what I want, when I want it. I 50% like them for that, 50% hate them for throttling me. I don't believe I'm getting what a I paid for as a subscriber.

Netflix: The Necesary Evil (tm) :bang:
 
I use lovefilm and haven't noticed any throttling, although to be honest I probably am well outwith the range as I don't go through anywhere near as many as that, I tend to go through about 8 DVD's a month, from my 2 at a time suscription package. I have read Lovefilm have employed this service however.

Their service is pretty good but I've heard a few people complaining about the time it takes to deliver DVD's.

I used blockbuster and screenselect in the past and found them both you be pretty good as well. I seem to be pretty lucky when it comes to things like this :D
 
I've definitely been a victim of throttling and I have to say that all of these reports do taint the company for me. I was a huge Netflix advocate and now I probably wouldn't recommend them. However, I will keep subscribing myself until a better alternative comes around.
 
While I am pleased with my service and don't plan to cancel anytime soon I am curious about one thing. Is netflix really loosing money because so many people are working the hell out of their mail carriers or is netflix just really trying to squeeze every penny for profit in order to maintain there growth goals. In my experience with unlimited type situations for every one person who milks a service for all its worth another two people are taking full advantage of a service. Rule of averages keeps everything running smoothly.

I just googled netflix profit reports and found this article

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-calearns25.4jan25,1,6851409.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true

Revenue up 36% over last year- exceeded subscriber goal by 200,000 subscribers- hmm not too shabby. If they report a loss for the next fiscal quarter I suppose we can talk more about what netflix has to do to remain profitable. Otherwise there throttling pratices are just illegal.

But then Clive, I guess its business practices like this that made us the richest country in the world to begin with.
 
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