Foo - Do you rent from Netflix?

Are you the ass hat with the nasty, seldom washed fingers that just can't stop touching every inch of the disk? Do you like to share what you are eating and drinking, with the next person renting, by smearing it as much as possible on the disk? Do you like to leave it, read side down, on the bare concrete floor of your hovel so your dog, the one with the bad sinus problem, can nose it around for hours at a time? Do you let your children, that you are so proud of because the doctor said they were special, throw them like frisbees into fixed objects?
If you are, the rest of Netflix users would like you to go die in a fire. Thanks.

I've never had a problem with NetFlix. I love NetFlix.

just pray it isn't sticky like the way a playboy is sticky....

just pray it isn't sticky like the way a playboy is sticky....

Probably depends on the kind of movies he's checking out.

I was thinking about getting the service, but since I've heard they 'throttle' frequent users I've decided not to, even my girlfriend has noticed that the turn around has gone way up when she watchs a lot of movies. Some real BS, unlimited my ass. Oh well, less time in front of the idiot box, the better.

I use them, and am slightly annoyed at how many movies stutter when I'm watching them.

I might end up having to pre=clean each one before playing. Annoys me.

Oh, and Van Helsing only has one redeeming quality....Kate Beckinsale in a corset.....hothothot. Aside from that, it's nothing special.

I rent from netflix ,Mr Cranky pants. I'm the one who washes the disks and uses their disk repair kit on the ones that that skip and stutter. For every n'ere-do-well there is a Good Sam, so maybe netx time you get a nice, clean and shiney disc from Netflix that dosen't skip.... you can say "Thank you, Stacey"

I clean everything that comes into my apartment, so there.

So...... aside from the disc cleanliness.... is Netflix worth it for you?

Do they have obscure stuff like "A Sunday In Hell" (the Paris-Roubaix one from th 70s) or "Overcoming" (the 2005 CSC documentary) or anything from World Cycling Productions? I'd love to be able to get cycling DVD's through Netflix.

Netflix is great. It is the customers that have no respect for other users that cause tht problem. Like Stacey I wash the disk before I load it in my player and I bought a disk doctor just for Netflix movies(My rant was caused by a disk with a freaking crack in it, that caused the movie to lock with three chapters to go.)
They offer movies and documentaries that you cannot find anywhere else. They deliver fast. The look up system is good and will even prompt you if you have renters block. If you have a problem like mine, and catch it, when the disk arrives you can go online and they will send you another right away.

The "throttle" Jersey mentions, I believe is a bunch of hype.
This myth claims that Netflix will try to limit you to 7 movies a month, by stalling delivery, because that is their profit break point. Sometimes it will take longer to get a new release(go figure) but I have never had it take more than four days for a movie to turn around from me dropping it in the mail to getting the next one.
I have been a member for a year and two months and average 14 movies a month. So some months I must have been getting way more than 14 because in March I only watched five. (I have seen at least 196 movies since I joined, that is the number I have reviewed)
If you join just remember, hold the disk by the edge. A dvd disk will not fold. Put it back in the sleeve when you get done watching it.

I just looked and they do not have either of those movies, but if you request them they might get them. They do carry a lot of older stuff, lots of noire from the fourties and fifties. B movies and cult flicks. British tv series, Documentaries, like Scratch and Dark Days. Go look at the site, 55,000+ movies.

I have no problem with the throttling either, although I'm below the limit. BTW it's more like 12 movies a month not 7 that they supposedly start throttling at. And it isn't throttling per se, it's just that supposedly if I (avg 5/mo) and Rev.Chuck (avg 14/mo) ask for the same disk at the same time, and they only have one, I get it first. Even at 5/mo it's still comparable to or cheaper than renting, and it is way more convenient than I anticipated when I first decided to try it.

And unlike everyone else, I've only ever had two discs that wouldn't play. One was a Spongebob one we rented for my son (go figure, a kid's DVD all scratched?!) and the other I forget what it was, but all I had to do was clean it with a soft cloth.

We have been with NetFlix for 18 months or so. We have returned 4 disks. One was delivered completely broken in half, one was cracked and two wouldn't clean up. I attributed the first two damaged disks to the USPS. I think NetFlix is a great success story. It is just another example of the burrowing effect. People will pay for convenience. By comparison, how many times did anyone have problems with a local rental shop? I guess the difference is that you don't have to wait for a replacement with the local store.

Ive got a friend who uses Netflix, he has the same problem as you frequently. He says though that furniture polish works exceptionally well for most scratches.
Of course there is nothing you can do about cat-claw marks or whatever. I think that employees of Netflix need to check the DVD's when they return to them

I've used Netflix for about three or so years. The customer service is non-existent. You cannot talk to a human being : everthing is through their website. Last year I got about three DVDs that could not play. Sometimes I would get a DVD that wasn't even on my DVD list.

I don't understand the concept of throttling. Why piss of your hardcore customer base? I'm considering cancelling my account.

My small way of getting back at Netflix is by sending in all of my old mailng envelopes without DVDs in them. I suggest other pissed off Netflix user to do the same.

GEt it, they have to pay for postage. this also works to get back at all of the credit card companies that send applications for a new card. Just mail an empty envelope so they'll have to pay first-class postage. If everyone does it, those scumbags will feel it.

my roommate does it

never a problem with crud on disk. THAT is your local
netflix depot doing that. write a paper letter to netflix corporate
with photo of crappy disks and it will be taken care of


the throttle is real from what I can determine from
2 users I know, and the press articles about it.
heavy users get a reset and go to the end
of the queue automagically whether or not there is 1 or 2 or 20 disks
available. then half the time the queue empties and disk goes
out anyway, or the heavy user waits up to a week for a title

I've pondered using it but I don't have a DVD player or a TV and none of my computers have any spare power or ide connectors so none have any cd roms or dvd roms hooked up.

The "throttle" Jersey mentions, I believe is a bunch of hype.
This myth claims that Netflix will try to limit you to 7 movies a month, by stalling delivery, because that is their profit break point.

But Netflix acknowledges the practice--and the Federal Trade Commission was concerned enough to intervene--as reported by AP coverage last month regarding pending approval of a class action settlement attorneys' fees provision (excerpted):


A judge on Wednesday delayed approval of a proposed class action settlement that would require Netflix Inc. to offer a free month of DVD rentals to resolve a lawsuit that prompted the popular online service to acknowledge it gives preferential treatment to its most profitable customers.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Thomas Mellon Jr. indicated he needed more time to figure out how much he will reduce the fees of two San Francisco lawyers representing the interests of 5.5 million current and former Netflix subscribers.

[...] Mellon's refusal to approve the proposed attorney fees represents the latest twist in an 18-month-old case revolving around allegations that Netflix had been exaggerating how quickly it delivers movies to subscribers.

Netflix and the class action lawyers initially reached a settlement five months ago, but the deal was scrapped after the Federal Trade Commission and several attorneys objected to a provision that would have allowed the company to automatically charge people after the free month of DVD rentals expires.

Under the revised settlement currently under consideration, Netflix will be able to charge only people who notify the company that they want to continue the service.

[...] About 418,000 consumers accepted the offer after Netflix sent notices last year under the original settlement. Gutride and Safier believe that number will grow substantially higher as more people learn about the revised settlement.

The agreement covers Netflix subscribers through Jan. 15, 2005 -- the date that the company made a little-noticed change to its terms of use to disclose it sometimes delays shipments to frequent renters so it can give higher priority to customers who keep their movies longer.

The practice, derided as "throttling" by its critics, helps boost Netflix because the company charges a flat monthly fee and provides postage-paid envelopes for DVD returns.

The system means Netflix makes more money from infrequent renters and risks losing money on customers who return DVDs quickly so they can get the next movie on their online wish lists.

Full article available (cached) at www.law.com, Google searches, various news sites such as AP.

I was using Netflix and was throttled. In addition it became almost impossible to get popular releases in less than a few weeks after they came out. I recently went to BB online. While the mail order has many of the same problems as Netflix I get mutliple coupons for in store rentals. So if there is a good first run that has a long mail wait I just stop buy and pick it up at the store. This is a value add that Netflix cannot offer.

I used Netflix a long time ago when they first got started, and I loved it. Then I started having trouble with many of their dvds, and I dropped the service. Since I live in the country and it is harder for me to get into town to rent movies, it just means less time spent in front of the TV.

It may be I don't get throttled because I rarely watch new releases. Like I said, I average 14 a month and never have it take more than four days to get a movie turned around. As I understood the lawsuit it was because Netflix made a claim of unlimited rentals for their low price($9.95?) when you were limited with that plan.
If you have the, 3 at a time plan, for $20 a month and rent five movies a month, it is costing you the same as BlockBuster but you don't have to go to BB and deal with traffic and the people in the store. The selection is much wider as well. If you are just into getting the newest thing out then in store BB is better, but that is about the only place they surpass Netflix. I used to stop by a BB on the way home every day or so and pick up a movie. I started in the A's and worked my way thru the whole store. It only took about six months, because the selection is pretty small. With Netflix I have rented nearly 200 movies in a little over a year and have 200 more in the que. All most all of them are older movies I had not seen.
If you want to see the new release, you might as well go to BestBuy on tuesday release day and get it at the discount price they offer on release day. Then you get all the extras and you get to keep it. If it is a movie I am really interested in, then I do this.

My only problem with Netflix is the mouthbreathers that do not repsect that they are borrowing the product. It is not theirs to tear up. Someone else will be using it so treat them with some care. I have noticed that the older movies and documentaries are usually in real good condition, but action movies are beat all to hell, and "kids" movies are covered with food and finger prints.

I've pondered using it but I don't have a DVD player or a TV and none of my computers have any spare power or ide connectors so none have any cd roms or dvd roms hooked up.

Just get a USB external box, and mount the drive in that. If you have a USB 2.0 controller in your system, it will play just fine.

Or better yet, stick one of the hard drives you use least often in a USB enclosure, and then fit the DVD-ROm inside the machine

I'm on the one at a time plan, since I was just trying it out...now I'm moving to the two at a time plan.

Overall I'm satisfied with the service...fast shipping, excellent selection (they even have "breaking away" :D ), and with exception to how some people mistreat the discs, is about as good as blockbuster.

I think the only thing they could do to improve on it is to add more obscure movies to their collection.

Thanks for the thread. I have a few disks that have been laying around for a couple months now!