Here is the response I received from Netflix in regards to the decline in their service (btw: note that the person that responded has the name of "Rou" - what the hell!!?!?):


Dear Paul,

Thanks for your message.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this may be causing you in regards to the shipping process. Here is how we process and ship our DVDs:

We receive rental returns Monday through Friday, except holidays. We process nearly 100% of returns the same day we receive them. When we check-in a return, an e-mail is automatically and promptly sent to you to let you know that we have received your DVD.

Our goal is to ship you the DVDs listed highest in your Queue. We try to ship you DVDs from the distribution center closest to you so that you get movies quickly. Often, on the same day that we receive a DVD from you, we will ship the next available DVD from your Queue. In certain instances, your next available DVD will not ship until the next business day following our receipt of your returned movie. This can occur, for example, when your top choices are not available to you from your closest distribution center or the number of shipments to be processed by the distribution center on that day has been exceeded. When this happens, your DVD will ship on the next business day and may come from an alternate distribution center.

In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service. As a result, those members who receive the most movies may experience next-day shipping and receive movies lower in their Queue more often than our other members. By prioritizing in this way, we help assure a balanced experience for all our members. Those that rent a lot of movies get a great value and those with lighter viewing habits are able to count on our service to meet their limited needs.

When we ship you another DVD we automatically and promptly send you an e-mail letting you know that it's on the way and telling you the estimated arrival date.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks,
Rou,
Netflix Customer Service

what kind of willy wonka bullshit is that?

did prince buy out netflix or something?!?

i wrote them a complaint letter last night, too. and this morning i clicked the little service error thingie that lets you tell them you sent something back but they apparently haven't received it, and did that for all three movies i returned to them last weekend.

netflix is really dropping the ball.

I guess I don't get how my service went from being spectacular to crappy within one month! Did they suddenly have an increase in users that they hadn't planned? Did they change their prioritization? What the hell!?!? THANKS A LOT, ROU!!!!

I just dont understand that i pay the same amount of money as those slow pokes


But I get punished becuase I watch movies?

its seriously NOT FAIR

It's probably a canned response...but still that's a lot of wacky BS. Though I'll bet if they get enough of these or if folks start leaving because of it, they may do something ...like open up another store (I think they only have one) to handle to midwest or east coast or soemthing.

Hey Anxy - I think we should open up a Netflix forum on the org....I could talk about it all day! When service is good, all I want to do is talk about the movie I just watched, the movie I'm getting, and the movies I've been recommended. When service is bad, all I want to talk about is how I want to kick Rou and his band of hooligans squarely in the nards. Let's make it happen.

superspaceboy said:

my DVDs always come mailed to me from a chicago zip code. they have warehouses all over the place. i don't think that's the problem. and as for their inventory, i always had a hunch that if they didn't have something in stock, they had the permission and resources to just download and burn a copy. maybe i'm on crack with that theory, i don't know. but i see an awful lot of DVDs with plain grey labels and the netflix logo etched into the silkscreening/thermal etching/whatever it's called.

I'm sorry

Last month I registered under 31,694 names, and ordered 3 DVDs on each account.
So I guess they were a little bit busy.

My deepest apologies
[Edited 4/13/05 8:58am]

SomeoneElse said:

you ruin EVERYTHING.

Anxiety said:

Thank you
I do try my best

ReturnOfDOOK said:

to think, i got my mom and my boyfriend gift subscriptions this year. feh.

forum or no, i do believe we have a little saga going on here. or at least something to bitch about on a regular basis!

fuck this! i'm going back to cockbuster!

no i'm not.

ReturnOfDOOK said:

What a crock of doo doo. Basically, people like me are being penalized for making the most of their membership?

so after returning my movies on saturday morning, writing a letter about the slowdown of their service yesterday, and sending them notifications this morning that i returned their damn movies last saturday, i checked my queue and it indicates they're shipping my next movies TOMORROW.

i'm SO not a happy netflix customer these days. dook, i think we need to start kicking up a big ol' fuss. i could go for some shameless acts of righteous indignation right now, i don't know about you!

Anxiety said:

I put my movies in the mail on sun even so they would get there by either mon or tues, it STILL says they havent shipped or EVEN recieved the movies I mailed, its weds, I think I may cry

ella731 said:

those birches need to get it together.

Anxiety said:

Think if we form a mutiny, we could get something accomplished, as long as it doesnt include having to switch to Blockbuster

Anxiety said:

*and* your excitement got me soo excited i got my mom a certificate for x-mas..thanks a lot anx!!!

ella731 said:

that's where they have my nutflix in a vice. i will NOT, under any circumstances, have anything to do with blockbuster. if anyone's gonna cut the movies i rent, i want it to be the directors, and i want it to be because it's how they intended me to see the movie. none of this 'family values' horseshit. i made the mistake of renting 'bad lieutenant' from schlockbuster years ago, and it was more like 'slightly unpleasant lieutenant'.

maybe we should start one of those online petition thingies, and those of us who have friendster, myspace, tribe.net accounts, can all post bulletins to have folks sign. i don't know if this ever does any good, but at least it'll get people talking and maybe other netflix subscribers will be able to say "hey, it's NOT just me who's getting slow-ass service!"

i mean, if they're gonna slow their service, fine. they need to inform their customers, though. they need to be clear about it. and if they're gonna give us a lesser product, we need to pay less for it.

sosgemini said:

i don't run the place, god damn it! if i did, they'd have more russ meyer movies for rent!

Anxiety said:

That may work, but seriously I doubt NETFLIX will even flinch, they have a good strong hold I think, yea they only have 75% of the movie rentals in their pockets whats that


I pay $19.25 a month which still if I rented movies I would pay that for 3 new releases at my local video store, but they WONT have the movies i like, unless im craving Drumline, or any other movie along those lines.

So yes I can be pissed off, but I have to face it that I live in a cow town, and I have to take what I can get.

But that doesnt mean I still cant be upset about it

here's their response to my letter of complaint, which i just got:

Anxiety said:

Buncha liars they got over there at netflix!

Anxiety said:

how does it feel know dook has is a higher priority than you? i mean he got a response from Rou, you only got one of them generic premade responses.

sinisterpentatonic said:

netflix is bitches

Anxiety said:

i hate to break the news, but it looks like we're their bitches.

sinisterpentatonic said:

In case anyone was worried

They Finally recieved the movies I sent bacl to them...

I will report back in when I get my new movies..