C'mon, everyone that actually pays attention has
Netflix figured out by now. During the trial period (or shall we say, honeymoon phase), Netflix is eager and willing to rush you any new releases you have on your list, while being even more ready to "receive" your disc back just as soon as it hits the firm's local distribution hub. After you've shelled out for a few months, you'll notice that those discs are magically taking a day or two longer to be received by the company, and those new releases you're craving are suddenly taking days (or weeks) to arrive. So, is
throttling a reality? The folks at
Sound & Vision Mag delved deep to find out, and while the company claims that "96%" of customers receive their movies next-day, there
is an algorithm that works against you if you're a notorious new release grabber. Additionally, it was affirmed that "the more you work your membership, the less likely you are to get the new stuff." As everyone with Blockbuster can attest, the story isn't really any different over there -- we 'spose that's just how life goes when you're the 4%.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 28th 2008 4:10PM
Throttling confirmed.
But honestly, it isn't too bad.
It didn't take months for them to throttle me, the service changed almost immediately after the trial period ended and I started paying.
During the trial period, I could drop a disc in the mailbox after midnight and they would receive it the next day and send me a new one that day, sometimes early enough for that to get to me the next day. So I could drop something Sunday night and have a new disc Tuesday. Also, I could get any new disc no problem.
Now, new releases generally (but not always) take a long time to get.
Now, if I return a disc on the weekend, and they get it Monday, they usually don't send out a new disc until Tuesday, and I get it Wednesday. If they receive the disc on Wed, Thur or Fri, then they will get a disc out immediately for the next day (including for Saturday).
They definitely give misleadingly fast service during the trial period, but their real service isn't too bad.
I think Netflix' claim that people get their discs in one day means the time in the mail, not the time spend in the warehouse. They have warehouses close enough to 94% of their customers to get reduce the mail transit time to one day.
kcmurphy88 @ Jun 28th 2008 4:20PM
One rule to follow with Netflix:
When they send you their periodic tracking email to see how long something took to arrive in the mail, ALWAYS add a day. Let them think their one-day delivery is two days and they'll not be so quick to throttle.
c64 @ Jun 28th 2008 4:28PM
I've been switching between netflix and blockbuster for years,When one raises there rates, add or remove features.They both are guilty of throttling.They both have the same pattern,you will get any movie release the next day and they will receive them within the next day.Blockbuster at the beginning will have received movies and shipped movies in your queue on the same day,but that won't last after the trial period it goes back to the same pace as netflix.
Jon @ Jun 28th 2008 7:54PM
The trick with blockbuster is you have to return your movies by noon and you will 99% always get your new movies the next day
I can never complain about blockbuster with total access i get double the movies i would get from netflix for less (I was grandfathered in with my cheaper price) and i get 2 game (or Movie) rentals a month on top of each time i reutrn movies from the mail , and even my small local BB has about 50 different blurays and more each week
J.Goodwin @ Jun 28th 2008 5:26PM
I found Gamefly to be far worse, but I don't see myself subscribing to any disc-by-mail service again at this point.
Big Sam @ Jun 29th 2008 12:44PM
When I had Gamefly it was awful, but it was being shipped from CA to TX too. My brother in CA gets his Gamefly disks fast.
Dan Davis @ Jun 30th 2008 11:52AM
I live in Seattle, and it typically takes about 6 or 7 business days to get a game (from the time I put the old game in my mailbox).
I'm hoping they add a distro center up here relatively soon.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Jun 28th 2008 5:29PM
I've been with them for years now & luckily for me I live in Houston and there's a distro center here, so I've never had that problem. It only takes a day to and from to get my movies and I get new releases shipped Mondays so I'll have them by Tuesday. Blu-Ray deliveries have been excellent as well.
Alareth @ Jun 28th 2008 6:26PM
I've enever really encountered any noticeble throttling in the 4 years or so my current account has been open, but I don't get new releases via Netflix either. I use it mostly for back catalog and anime titles.
The closest thing I've seen to actual throttling is recently if I've got two series in my queue, I'll get two discs from one and two from the other instead of four from the same one.
mntwister @ Jun 28th 2008 7:12PM
I've been with Netflix for many years now, I think since a year after it started. I've never really been unhappy with things. I live in northern Minnesota, and up until 8 months ago the closest distribution center was Minneapolis, 230 miles south. It has always been, with rare exceptions, one day for my movie to get back to them and one day for the movie to get to me the day they mail it. Now they have opened a center in Duluth, Minnesota which is 60 miles away so it's a day for sure now, but it was the same before.
I am most pleased with Netflix. I am also a member of Blockbuster because they are the ones that usually get the new "special" or "anniversary" editions, Netflix usually does not get new versions unless it's a very big title. So it's nice having both. Plus, if Netflix by-passes a new release, which they do in the morning (schedule your queue), Blockbuster does theirs later in the day so I can always take the title Netflix skipped and give it a shot at the top of my queue on Blockbuster, and it's worked very well.
Marcus Carr @ Jun 28th 2008 8:07PM
I usually get new releases right away. I watch a movie/bonus disc Friday night, send it/them back and receive new releases on Tuesday.
Deadhouseplants @ Jun 28th 2008 8:54PM
Um, this is a given. I have found out that the best way to work with Netflix is to have two accounts. (It is actually cheaper this way, trust me.) I found about this process about four years ago before they had profiles. I had two queues side by side on the screen. One was from an older account, the other from the newer account, want to take a guess which queue was a string of long waits and short waits, while the other was available nows. It's sick and twisted, but honestly, I alway have my movies or shows, so I can't really complain.
As far as the knock against Gamefly, I love it, and they're improving, you just have to know how to work that as well. If there is a game coming out that you really want, don't have a long queue of games for them to have a choice to pick. If you only have one game in your queue, they have to send that one. I have been working this with new releases since the Xbox 360 launch days.
J.Goodwin @ Jun 28th 2008 11:06PM
I don't know where you live, but in the northeast, I was having over a week between sending a game out and receiving a new one, which is unacceptable. Even if I bought a game, it would take a week to get a new one from the queue. I'll never go back.
thatlostdog @ Jun 28th 2008 10:13PM
With Netflix if you send on friday you get new stuff on tuesday because thats when new releases come out.
JoN @ Jun 29th 2008 1:51AM
netflix also uses a system that knows what type of user you are... for example...
I have a 3 out a time plan (which i will never change because i am grandfathered in on an old employee accommodation from a retailer) - i rent maybe 4 discs a month from them...
my friend who has the same plan, rents 20 discs a month from them...
i will get a new release or hard to get title more often, because if i want to rent it, then its one of few.... if he has to wait a week, he'll have plenty of other stuff to watch...
this system is needed for them to accurately do business.
no harm no foul here people... move along.
eric f. @ Jun 29th 2008 10:50AM
I've been a Netflix customer since early 2000, and I've never experienced throttling. I do live in NYC, so I have a local distribution center. If a drop a movie in a public mailbox, I usually receive a new one the next day.
I just had 10,000 BC (BluRay) at the top of my Queue with a "long wait" and it miraculously shipped to me the same day.
Balloondoggies @ Jun 29th 2008 2:21PM
Same here, Member since April of 2000. Never seen any signs of throtting. I am on the 4 disks for $14 or so per month. (Had the same plan since I started)
riverside_guy @ Jun 29th 2008 11:12AM
I have always found that a public mailbox in NYC is a lot slower than the PO itself. I'm fortunate because the real PO is about 1/2 block farther from me than the public box, so I always "mail it" at the PO.
Gordon Werner @ Jun 29th 2008 2:26PM
I have been a member of Netflix since back when they started (and offered you a discount if you wanted to buy and keep the DVD).
I have never had any of these problems ... sure, sometimes I don't get the new releases when they come out ... but that is because they are popular and everyone wants them.
but I have never experienced any problems whatsoever.
Peter @ Jun 29th 2008 2:31PM
I've been a Netflix member since 2000 and the only problems I've had were relayed to the post office, not Netflix. When I started mailing my movies back from work instead of home, they magically started getting there days earlier.
Anyone who is getting their quantity of discs throttled is working the system and gets what they deserve. There is no way a regular member is watching 2 movies a day every day for a month. The people who are getting the number of movies they receive throttled are the people who are getting a disc, ripping it, and sending it right back to get more, they are not "watching" them in the normal sense. Regardless of it's legality, it's certainly against the spirit of the system and I have no problem with those people getting throttled.
andyg8180 @ Jun 30th 2008 9:04AM
they throttle new releases... not so much other movies... i've been lucky with them the last few months... but ive had my share of no-shows for the weekend... kinda depressing... but internet TV is great too...
Mr_Fizzlepop @ Jun 30th 2008 4:42PM
I'm just north of Seattle, a movie mails on Wednesday and I have the next movie Friday. I am a movie buff so I do rent both newer and older movies as well as TV series.
I mail it Saturday, they have it Monday and if it's a new release, even though I'm a years old user, and go through 3+ discs a week I get it Tuesday 8 out of 10 times.
Blu-ray stock is a bit less and so there does seem to be longer waits on those, but that is the only place I still see waits and those have gotten better in the last two months or so.
No late fees, 12+ discs a month for 20 bucks, I win.
BT @ Jun 30th 2008 7:22PM
netflix always throttled me when I was a customer. my new releases can take up to 4 months to arrive. No joke, 4 months. after that, I said forget you, and switched to Blockbuster. Surprisingly, BB never throttled me even when it is new releases. So just wanted to share my experiences with you guys. But since they are constantly raising their rates, I have recently dropped Blockbuster as well.
Oscar @ Aug 11th 2008 5:42PM
It appears that now netflix is "throttling" in a new way. Twice in the last week they have claimed that the next disk in my queue is not available at the local shipping center, so instead they will send it from another center THE NEXT DAY. Of course, it takes an extra day as well to get the DVD from there, so instead of receiving the next disk the day after they receive my return, it takes 3 days. And of course, this will happen more often to subscribers who use the service more.
I only wish there were some way for them to ship movies further down in my queue instead of adding a 2 day delay for the top queue item.
Blitzgal @ Sep 5th 2008 5:01PM
I've also had this new version of throttling happen to me quite often over the course of the past year (I've been a Netflix member since 2003). I usually have to wait two months for a "new movie" so I tend to watch television series instead. At least one of my weekly rentals is now being sent to me from across the country so that instead of one day shipping time I have to wait four days to receive it. And for some reason they've now started jumping way down my queue and sending lower choices even though all of the choices above that one are supposedly available "now." It's so irritating to be watching a television series and have them send the fifth disc when I haven't yet watched discs 2-4.