For users of Profiles, I have good news to report: we will keep the feature with no plans to discontinue it.
We were persuaded by the well-reasoned, sincere responses of loyal members who very much value this feature. As someone who enjoys helping his four-year-old daughter manage her one-DVD-at-a-time, G-rated sub-account, I identified with these thoughtful pleas to maintain Profiles.
Because of an ongoing desire to make our website easier to use, we believed taking a feature away that is only used by a very small minority would help us improve the site for everyone. Listening to our members, we realized that users of this feature often describe it as an essential part of their Netflix experience. Simplicity is only one virtue and it can certainly be outweighed by utility.
As for improving Profiles, there are no definite plans in place yet, but, like everything at Netflix, we seek to make it better and we are open to suggestions. Non-users of the feature and new members will be able to access Profiles in 2-3 weeks. Existing users will be able to continue their use, uninterrupted.
We apologize for any inconvenience the previous announcement caused.
Enjoy.
-Todd
Monday, June 30, 2008
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«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 555 of 555 Newer› Newest»Add one more "thank you" to the queue. My family will be glad to stay with Netflix now that we know you really do care about every last 1% of your customers.
I always find myself absurdly pleased (and surprised) when companies listen to their customers. I would think that it only increases the brand loyalty effect that much more. I immediately downgraded my albeit frugal plan when I got the initial email, I am probably going to make effort to upgrade and use the service more now. I agree with the comments that note people saying they didn't even know about the multiple profiles feature. Although I don't know why someone using NF wouldn't be aware of the feature, I heard the exact same thing from office mates when I found out they were going away.
Thank you! My son Henry thanks you! This is a great example of a business doing the right thing for its customers. I will remain a Netflix customer and continue to sing your praises any time the topic of movie rental comes up!!!!!
Thank you, Netflix
Thank you! What a great "anniversary" present. My wife and I have been members since July 2003 and the previous decision to remove profiles was the only time we've been unhappy with Netflix. Thanks for listening and answering!
great news, well done. My family loves netflix and I did not cherish the idea of returning to blockbuster because of this!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I share an account with a roommate with radically different tastes than I have. Without profiles the recommendation function would be rendered meaningless for both of us.
I am so pleased you have listed to those of us who really value "Profiles."
Good Call. I'm glad you are listening to your customers. I wish other businesses would do the same.
Woohoo! I was wondering what the hell came over Netflix to want to do away with that feature... that was just silly
Thank you!
Kudos to Netflix for reconsidering! I was planning to research alternate services, but thanks to this decision, I'll be sticking with Netflix.
I suspect that if the profiles feature were publicized and promoted more heavily, more people would use it. It's a natural for families and for people who like to categorize their rentals (e.g. keeping movies and TV separate), and as others have pointed out, it distinguishes Netflix from the competition.
Have you considered implementing an API for your web services, so that third parties could develop enhancements and add-ons, for profiles as well as your other functions? Many web services (e.g. Google, Yahoo) have done this. The effect would be to add value to Netflix's services at little cost to Netflix, as well as offloading some of your software development burden.
It seems very clear to me that Netflix's long term goal is to get out of the DVD rental game altogether. The advent of the "Watch it Now" feature, the introduction of the Roku player, proposed deals with Microsoft and the XBox 360, and the overall dumbing-down of their website all reinforce this idea. I think the removal of the profile feature was just the next step in preparing Netflix to be used exclusively on the TV set, and not the computer screen.
The obnoxious slider bars that everyone loves to hate? They don't make much sense using a keyboard and mouse, but imagine sitting in front of your TV with nothing but a remote. Suddenly big box art and an over simplified method of browsing makes sense.
Yeah, Netflix bowed to customer outcry and left the profile feature in place (for now). But rest assured you'll be seeing more changes in the near future that prepare us for Netflix on the TV.
This is great news! Thank you.
One more thank you. Now I don't have to cancel in September.
I wonder how many people got fired over this.
This is very much appreciated. Thank you for listening to your customers.
Too little, too late.
I don't believe you were persuaded by "well reasoned, sincere responses of loyal members..." You were persuaded by threats to leave.
I already set up a Blockbuster account. If their turnaround is at least as good as Netflix, I will keep it, and reduce my Netflix account to a minimum (because Netflix still has better selection).
You should have thought about this more carefully taking such a cavalier step.
I just signed up again and was looking for the profiles and couldn't find them. Thought I was missing something only to discover they removed the feature. So glad they are bringing it back!
First, thanks to all those that wrote the quiet, thoughtful posts that surely tipped the balance, and to Netflix for making this major concession. Perhaps more of a concession that many here realize, because after reading posts elsewhere by Messrs. Cockcroft, Swasey and Rubin about your significant code problems, it became much easier to understand how you came to decide to scrap profiles and start from scratch - even if not any easier to like said decision! So, if you're going to have a blog, maybe keep us more in the loop in future, like Michael did. As much for your owns sakes as ours. Thanks again.
BRAVO!
Well now they know people like this feature, hopefully NF will promote this feature as an added value to the service and more than "1-2%" will start using it.
Thank you for keeping Profiles!!
This is a very significant element to my household's Netflix experience. The feature keeps an equitable balance between each family member, making sure that they are able to pursue their own desires and interests for their entertainment.
I am also very impressed that Netflix was willing to respond to concerned users. It lets us all know that, Netflix, you value each of us, not just as a general mass, but each customer.
Yay Netflix!!!
Thank you!! We have been exploring other options for Sept, now we will stay.
Thank you for keeping profiles!
Hey, Blockbuster shares just plummeted 18% (j/k).
Thank you! I complained loudly when the first announcement came, so I'll publicly pat you on the back for the reversal. Profiles really are the one feature we love about the Netflix user interface.
Ok, fine. I'm sooooooooo glad it's back. This announcement of the profiles (sub-accounts) being taken away really upset our household. It caused a stir by us having to refigure everything and telling those in the sub-accounts... sorry!
I'm glad Netflix is adaptable, and even though I now need to replace the sub-account queues (having jumped the gun after the first announcement), it will be a welcomed task.
Profiles is a feature we use and love. All in our household get to continue to enjoy the movie of their choice. Thank you!
Bravo, and thank you Netflix. Now go make something better than profiles, and we'll all switch to that system and you can start implementing your future features without having to drag that ole profile ball'n'chain around
anyone dare to bet how long profiles will actually stay? surely this is just a brief respite, a stay of execution if you will.
surely, since the decision was f-i-n-a-l, the feature is actually going away, it's just a question of when.
do i dare to keep putting my ratings in to my profile, or do i continue with a different service from this point on?
one day, my ratings and my history will just be wiped. surely?
@ Apprehensive -
Why so glum? You can be damn sure that at this point they'll figure out a way to transfer all the data from the current creaky system to whatever new one they develop. Who wants to go through all THAT again? And it isn't the profiles, per se, that are the problem, so much as the data scaffolding that's precariously supporting them. It's generally easier to tear down and re-build than repair in place.
Just another Thank You!!
Last week I was disappointed in Netflix, this week I'm thinking about getting a Roku.
I feel like a lab rat who's just been given a piece of cheese after running a maze.
This whole thing feels like it's been a giant experiment by Netflix to see what would happen if they tried to drop this feature.
It's pretty obvious that Netflix would have done some research prior to the original announcement, and come up with some estimations on how many customers they would lose, how much revenue they would lose, and if that would be considered acceptable to the company overall. At this point, we were considered expendable and unneeded. Isn't that a nice thought to contemplate?
So, what happened to change their mind? That Netflix figured out they would have lost more customers or revenue than originally projected and/or was considered acceptable? That's my guess.
However, before we congratulate ourselves for getting Netflix to reconsider, we shouldn't forget why we had to do that in the first place. Netflix thought they could afford to throw us away as customers. The horrible handling of the whole profile announcement just shows that they had already decided we who use the profile feature were an unneeded and possibly, expensive, burden.
Do not think we have won a final victory here. How long do you think it will be before Netflix tries this experiment again? Targeting another feature or aspect of Netflix that will only be saved if enough of us scream and howl in protest, Netflix can simply promise "new features" while always returning to the current system as a reward - our piece of cheese - for performing on demand.
Dear Netflix,
Thank you so much for hearing us out. I'm very pleased that you will continue to keep the profile feature. I can now go back to recommending Netflix to family and friends.
I'm very excited that you are listening to your customers and taking their words to heart.
Just one suggestion. There are times when people are using the profiles feature under one account and later want to split off to each have their own accounts. For example, if two roommates share an account but each have their own profile, then one moves out of the apartment. If possible, please create a way for those with a profiled account to break off and have their own account maintaining their queue, ratings, reviews, etc.
THANK YOU!
This is such an important feature to me and many other people. This is great news!
Thank you! This was essential to keeping me happy as my husband would often bump my movies off the top of the queue :) Thank you thank you. We'll continue being customers.
A suggestion for profiles would actually to be to implement the delete profile feature. I have been a member of Netflix for about 5 or 6 years now, and it's always been "scheduled for a future release". :(
I will never understand some people and how they respond.
Netflix: Hey, we're getting rid of profiles.
Some people: Boo! You suck. We hate you! Stupid Netflix.
Netflix: Wow, we didn't realize it was that important. We'll keep them. Sorry we freaked you out.
Most people: Yay! Thank you.
But a few people, oddly enough some of the same as before: Boo! You suck! We hate you! Stupid Netflix.
I'm part of "most people". Thanks for listening! Netflix is nifty.
thx, customer for life
I thank you. My wife thanks you. My children thank you. We will definitely keep our subscription now.
Thank you for listening to your user base! Profiles are a huge part of what makes Netflix so useful to me and my roommates! Thanks for keeping them - I didn't want to leave Netflix!
I didn't realize the feature was offered until i read it was being removed about 2 weeks ago. Since I read it is being brought back as an option for those who don't currently have it I'm eagerly awaiting an opportunity to make seperate profiles for my wife and myself...this will make ratings much easier for us since I like sci-fi and action movies and she likes chick flicks and action movies.
I think we were that focus group Netflix needed to hire before they made this move.
Hey, Brothers and Sisters in arms, kinda off the point, but I'm struck by how many marriages/liaisons would purportedly have been in dire jeopardy had profiles gone bye-bye. Next time maybe try to marry/hook-up-with someone who likes more or less the SAME movies! It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more fun!!
THANX NFLX!!!
Great news! I'm glad NF re-considered. The profile feature is the best and a market place advantage.
Thank you for listening!
Not much spurs me to make a complaint like I did... it was the first time, actually.
My family looks forward to maintaining our account.
Thank you for listening to your customers! Your email has made my week!
While I was unwilling to leave Netflix, I was feeling very bitter about the loss of profiles. Now I can happily buy the Roku box and remain in love with your company. I'm off to tell my family members, who just recently signed up, that they will be able to set up profiles shortly!
I want to say thank you for changing your mind and keeping this vital service. My wife and I have very different tastes in films and having seperate lists and profiles helps us both to find movies we might not have heard of otherwise. I agree with people that perhaps you should describe the merits of the feature in a clear manner so that everyone understands the benefits. you might find that alot more customers will use it if they understand what it can do for them.
THANK YOU!!! It's nice to know that the customers' voices have been heard...it is much appreciated and all too rare these days. Thanks for listening.
Thank you very much for listening, Netflix! My and husband and I (with our respective, cherished profiles) look forward to remaining loyal customers for years to come.
You need to allow people to have multiple queues on a single profile. Having one queue for multiple discs is a pain. If I have a four disc account, but I'm just one person, I want four separate queues, so I can control each individual disk.
I was so pissed about this I immediately called my wife and we agreed to cancel. You sent me a generic BS email a couple of days later saying “You spoke, we listened…”. But you didn’t think far enough ahead to make an offer to people like me to actually re-sign up. I sure ain’t gonna go out of my way to sign up again so you messed up twice in my book.
Thanks for listening to your customers. I'll be sticking with Netflix and not going over to Blockbuster.
Thank you very much for keeping the profiles. I'm relieved. I don't know what other options exist, and had profiles gone away, I would have explored other options. I don't know if I would have left for the competition, but I would have looked around.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
When Netflix announced the profile feature would be discontinued you failed to provide anyway for me to preserve my data. Now that Netflix has reversed itself and said it will keep the profiles, I am still angry.
Why? Because I took action to protect my data and merge my profiles. I spent six hours making a backup of my data (1,250-plus ratings and 130-plus queued items) and then began re-entering my data into the account owner profile. I made it a third of the way and am planning on finishing the process this soon because now my data is even further fractured between accounts.
So I would like to ask two things of you:
1. Immediately implement a method for export/import of user data including ratings and queue. I would prefer the hReview Microformat or XML, but if it has to be tab-delimited plain text, so be it. As long as I have an easy way to backup my data.
2. Develop a merge profile feature so that users are not stuck in "profile" silos if the choose to merge their data.
I accepted that eliminating the profile feature was your decision, but you left me out in the cold when it came to protecting my data.
Now that you are keeping profiles you are not off the hook. The lack of data portability is still a hole in your service. Its time you set this right and enabled a data portability feature that allows for exporting of my data.
Again its MY data.
Outstanding! Thank you for listening and responding to your customers' concerns. I was dreading life without Netflix, so am happy that I can once again go about happily rating movies and filling my queue.
Well done, Netflix!
Thank you! I would never cancel my netflix subscription, but I am so glad you are keeping profiles!
Somehow I don't think it ever really was going to go away. I think NetFlix did it to get some press.
THANK YOU!
Thank you - I have reactivated my account and am glad I took the time to voice my opinion through multiple avenues.
As several people have mentioned, now that Netflix has decided to keep profiles (for now, at least), they may want to examine how they announced and planned (or rather, failed to plan) the impending transition. Had the decision stood, as many people were upset with the disposition of their data (queues and ratings) as losing profiles. I'm hopeful that Netflix has learned from this.
Thank you! As many others have mentioned this is a must-have feature for me and my fiance. Actually this was *the* deciding feature for us going with Netflix instead of BlockBuster. As long as profiles remain we will happily subscribe to Netflix.
Thank you for being one of the good guys and actually listening to your customers!!!
Thanks, Team Netflix. But, Man, I've heard people talking about their house being washed away or burned to the ground with more perspective and sanguineness than some people here talk about their data........
Look at all the hate transformed into love! World peace imminent.
Awesome. Thank you. I'm staying for sure now that my roommate and I can split our queues. We're both excited to have this feature back as an option.
In this day and age, there are few companies who are really dedicated to creating a great user experience for their customers. Additionally, there are even less who listen and implement good feedback.
a huge THANK YOU for being both. Netflix sets the standard among many companies for continuous improvement.
-arnold-
Excellent excellent excellent. Glad to know that you listen to your subscribers! I was one of the many planning to jump ship on September 1. It is good to know my queue is safe and sound! THANKS.
Thank you! I am relieved that the profiles are staying. I was beginning to dismantle my queues and look for alternatives, and now I don't have to.
I can also continue to tell everyone I know how great the service is.
Thank you, thank you.
My three year-old daughter can't wait get get her movies back in the mail! With her name on them!! I had to make a screenshot of her queue and was going to start moving things over...much to my dismay. All is good in the universe, and big companies really do listen. Next time, survey us, k? Or focus group. We'd probably all love to beta test things for Netflix.
We were persuaded by the well-reasoned, sincere responses of loyal members who very much value this feature.
I see. So the OVER 2,000 responses by your customers asking foe the Releasing This Week page back were evidently not "well-reasoned," not "sincere," and were posted by "non-loyal" members?
Why do you people insist on continually insulting your customers. You claim you took away the Profiles because your customers were too stupid to use them, and now you are bringing the Profiles back because those same customers have proven to be more loyal than the customers who used the Releasing This Week page.
If your statement had any truth or sincerity to it, you would bring back the RTW page first. Your "loyal" customers were using that feature LONG BEFORE the Profiles existed.
Whoo-hoo!!!!! Thanks!!
My wife and I would also like to add our thanks. It really makes customers feel respected when a big company listens to what they have to say. I plan on remaining a loyal customer and plan on spreading the news of multiple profiles to other potential customers, since I believe that's one of the features that separates you from other rental businesses.
LOL, Owned!
Maybe you should try soliciting user feedback from your subscriber base before such drastic changes.
All I can say is thank you for listening to your customers.
Huzzah! Thank you Netflix! :)
Great news! Thank you for listening to the community!
THANK YOU!
Great news. Netflix rocks!
Thank you. We will remain customers now. I'm now even a bigger Netflix advocate than before. I was not for a few short weeks when profiles may have been going away. Thanks!!!!!!!!
I never even heard of this feature until I read about the uproar when you announced it was going away. I can't wait to start using it now - it will make things so much easier for my wife and me. Thanks for listening to your loyal customers, Netflix. You guys are awesome!
I didn't know that profiles were in danger, but I am glad to see they are sticking around. Here's why:
Genre-based Profiles
My wife and I actually have 5 profiles set up by genre... This way we can be sure to have an action flick, TV show, comedy, classic, and documentary at home at any given time. It gives us options depending on our mood and avoids situations where we have 5 action flicks when we really want to watch a comedy, for example. Best part is that when I send a movie from a specific genre back, it's replaced by something from the same genre, so our portfolio always stays in balance...
Great service!
"Dare I say one that could potentially be monetized (as a paid feature)."
do NOT do that. please.
Good recovery!
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Nice try, Sparkie. But off to Spammers' Hell with you.....
Thanks for listening. Profiles are a key feature of NetFlix for my family. It's great to be able to give my son something that's "just his" to manage while being able to restrict age-inappropriate choices, and also to keep helpful "suggestions" for kid stuff out of the profile my wife and I use. Definitely appreciate it.
TiVo "suggestions" in our house have become useless for the adults because of a lack of this kind of feature!
THANK YOU for not getting rid of this feature! I was about to take my movie bid'ness elsewhere if this change actually went through, and that would have been very sad!
Great -- I'm wondering why I never even SAW this feature available to me. Where the heck was it hiding??? Did Netflix even make an effort to inform all its members of this particularly useful idea?? I keep reading that all these folks miss it, but I never saw anything about making a new profile or adding another queue. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT??
BETTER IDEA! Make the profiles easier to find! A dropdown from a tiny arrow by your name is difficult to find. I had my account for two months before I noticed it.
THANK YOU! I signed up for profiles years ago when I heard about it, mainly because I didn't like how my husband's movie ratings were affecting the movie suggestions I received from Netflix. Then I started an extra profile for myself because I had filled up my queue. I plan to have a profiel for my daughter when she's a little older.
I agree with others, people don't use profiles because you don't advertise it as one of the most useful features that you have. I had to tell my friends about it.
Thanks for showing that you really do care what your customers think.
By the way, for those who are interesting in new releases, there's a Netflix RSS feed for new releases. I've always used that.
Thank you so much for deciding to keep the Profile feature.
It may have its difficulties, but that doesn't mean it's inherently bad. It just means it needs work! And with so many subscribers so passionate about it, it seems an area worth working on!
I believe you're making the right decision and I'm sure we all look forward to seeing how you can improve the Profile/multi-user/multi-queue experience.
Thanks again.
Woohoo! Thanks guys!
Smart move. You've turned this from a potential PR disaster into a model case of listening to customers and responding. Suggestion for improving the feature: allow all profiles to watch streaming movies. That's the only thing that's confusing about it to my family. They get ticked off when I have to log in with my profile so they can watch a streaming one.
Thanks so much -- we love the profiles feature. yay Netflix!
Since I took the time to complain with an email and a post to the Netflix Blog (along with many others), I feel it only right to take the time to say:
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
Thank you Netflix, for listening, responding and caring about the needs of your customers.
Thank you so very much!!! My family loves the profile feature! It is what helped us to make the choice between BB and Netflix. We have preschoolers and it helps to be able to separate movies that my husband and I watch from what my kids are watching. Thanks again for listening!!! We'll be staying around!
Phew! Thanks guys. We hereby officially endorse Reed Hastings' Vision Award, even if maybe only 20/30 vision for making us all run around like decapitated chickens for 11 days and have to explain to our crestfallen kids how come good people sometimes do bad things ;-)
I've long thought that there should be some kind of instruction manual built into the site, that not only lets members know what all the features are, but how they work. I'm sure there's a ton of great stuff like 'Profiles' that "only 1% or 2% use" simply because they don't know it's there, or how to use it - there was a cute 'how-to' video posted a while back that suggested we were heading in that general direction.... but then we went and lost our venerable Droidmaster (sniff).
Thanks for listening to your customers!! I was sick at the thought of leaving Netflix but outraged at the idea of not having the profiles I had so carefully built.
Thanks Again!!
Thank you!
I hadn't complained before because I thought the folk with families had so much more reason to complain than me. I am single with no kids, but maintain several profiles: 1 for movies, 1 for tv shows and 1 for my occasional house guests. (Incidentally, at least 2 of my former house guests have become Netflix customers after sampling the service by using my house guest profile.)
It would have been very frustrating to go back to only 1 queue and 1 set of recommendations. Perhaps frustrating enough for me to look elsewhere for my rentals.
I really do think Netflix needs to do a better job letting people know features like this exist. I have a couple of friends who didn't know about profiles until news came that the profiles were going away. I'm sure both will sign up for them as soon as they can now.
Thank you.
Rich
My husband and I are THRILLED that Netflix has decided to keep the profiles feature. We were having trouble trying to figure out how to manage 4 varying tastes in movies and monitoring our young teens' movie access with only one queue. Thank you VERY much for listening to your customers. We may be a small group, but we're very appreciative!!
BEWARE- I do not know if anyone else has had this happen. I gladly signed online petitions and emailed Netflix my specific intentions should this feature go away. Now I am experiencing 'delayed' turnaround times on my returns and shipments. For example: I put my son's video in the mail on Saturday. Previously I would have received an email on Mon telling me the movie was rec'd and the next in line would be delivered by Wed. (This impressed me and I was happy to recommend the service for it's quick turnaround.) NOW after the fiasco, I have just today, Wed, rec'd an email that the movie was received, and A MOVIE FURTHER DOWN IN LINE will be shipped from the EAST COAST (We are in Cali) tomorrow (Thur) which pretty much guarantees we will get it by Saturday. He was in the middle of a series and this will totally screw him up! ALSO there is no way to stop the shipping to say I only want movies available from near me to ship, so now he gets to wait at least 2 weeks for the next disc in his series. NICE BLOW JOB netdix. Maybe I'll move by account afterall. And to think I even sent you a thank you email yesterday! So to all of you beware of similar repercussions.
I see a few "I remain bitter" and "it was obviously just a publicity stunt" posts in amongst all whoopdidooing, which is perhaps understandable since all we heard on this blog was that profiles were "too confusing", which made absolutely no sense. What made more sense were posts on Hacking Netflix and on the Ning Community explaining that the problem is primarily technical, having to do with [as i understood it] outdated and cobbled-together computer programs. And in their commendable zeal to introduce future cutting-edge innovations the technical department first needed to clear out the tangle - which happened to include us!
In other words, no cold-hearted, money grubbing Evil Empire, or sinister Karl Rove-like publicity stunt, just a Big Picture vs. Small Picture problem, with them not being able to see the trees for the forest; until those trees started hollerin and jumping up and down, that is!
But there are plenty of companies that would have gone ahead and clear-forested anyway, so thanks for being one of the good guys, Netflix. This time round, at least!
Thank you very much for listening to us. It was a great relief to find the announcement in my mailbox. I've been a member for many years and have been very happy with Netflix. I'm glad you didn't let us down.
Thanks for listening. My husband and I use this feature for ourselves and for our children.
Thank you for your prompt decision, thank you for listening.
Ok, so I've read a few more of other people's comments and the conspiracy theorists are making me laugh. I'm a professional software engineer, and believe me you should assume cock-up over conspiracy any day.
The conversation probably went like this:
Software Team Leader: "Oh Gawd, profiles is such a hack. We coded it in 2 days when Henry had this bright idea, and only Fred knows how it works. He hasn't been able to take vacation for 3 years because he's the only guy that can fix it. No-one uses it, can't we just turn it off?"
Software Project Manager:"Yea, seems reasonable. No-one will notice"
My wife and I thank you.
Thank you!
I guess this is just another thank you to the chorus. But then, you folks caught a lot of flack so you deserve the gratitude and kudos for keeping them. Thanks a lot and I look forward to having Netflix for quite some time.
BoredByTV AtYH
Thank you. This type of customer-responsiveness is why we liked Netflix.
It is great that you actually listened to at least one segment of your customers.
Now it is time to listen to the rest. Bring back the "Releasing This Week" page.
Your reasoning for getting rid of the Profiles was because a few of your customers were too stupid to figure it out, and it was supposedly causing technicla support nightmares.
Well, the Releasing This Week page was simple enough that anyone could use it, even your customers (you know, the ones you think are all dim-wits?). And since it only requires a link on your site, there is NO technology or support requirements. Just a simple one time "take three minutes and create a link" job. That's all.
So please return the Releasing This Week link ASAP.
Bout time you came to your senses.
NOW, instead of bitching about how few people use it, why don't you ADVERTISE IT!!!!!!!
And I don't mean a button on a website. This is an advantage you have over your competition. To quote "The Producers", "FLAUNT IT BABY!!! FLAUNT IT!!!"
Howard, I think it's maybe time to let this one go, old pal. And when you come to think of it, this rather odd arrangement -- part secret-handshake, part casual-Fridays -- of keeping the link alive for those motivated enough to find it, while reducing the unsatisfiable demand for the hottest new releases every Sunday, really ain't such a bad compromise. My main concern being that one of these days someone over there is going to say " "OK, Howie-boy, that's IT", and will cut the link just to spite you. Then where will we be?
Thank you Netflix!!!! I love my profiles.
Thank you - you likely saved my marriage or at least my sanity! Thanks so much for listening.
Thank You!!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! By listening to your customers, you've only solidified us as life-long devotees and outspoken proponents of your service.
Thank you so much!!!
Yay! I'm so happy!
thank you a million times, I don't even know how to put into to words the way the releif washed over me when I heard profiles were not going away. Thank you so much now I do not have to go to blockbuster
Thank you, my boyfriend and I have very different movie tastes and watches movies very slowly I wouldn't know what to do if I had 5 movies at home that I really didn't want to see.
Thank you for keeping profiles.
Thank you for listening to your customers - you've retained my account and renewed my faith in your sense of ethics.
This was the right thing to do to please loyal customers, who are your company's lifeblood. Don't forget that in the future, and myself and others will be customers for years to come...
Thank you for leaving in this feature! I had just logged in to move my queue over to the main profile and realized that I would loose all of the movies I had rated and all of the suggestions. I was really upset. My partner and I don't watch the same movies, so the suggestion system was going to stop working for us if the profiles went away.
Thank you for keeping this feature and listening to your customers. Similar offerings are tempting, but NF is still the best...mainly because of the website. It is very easy to use and looks great (and is very cool from a programming perspective).
Thank you Netflix! Profiles is a very useful feature, and I was not looking forward to any of the alternatives. I'm sure there are opportunities to simplify and streamline the feature, to encourage adoption and more widespread use. For example, it may not be necessary for each profile to have its own separate logon userid & password.
Excellent news!
My faith in Netflix is restored!
Thanks. I have even upped my account level so I can set up a new profile specifically for Western/War movies.
Wow...a company that cares about and listens to its customers. Thank you! Now I won't have to cancel our account when it expires. And I can go back to pimping Netflix to my friends--the Profiles feature is a GREAT selling point, especially for families with kids in different age ranges.
THANK YOU! We were very disappointed that the feature was going to go away. My wife uses it for "her" movies and for the kids.....the ability to have a sub list that mails independently from the main list has become a significant part of our membership.
Wow, I'm quite impressed! A company actually listening to their customers? It sounds like common sense, yet rarely happens.
Thanks for being one of the good ones!
Good job. Exactly how a company should react to the needs of its customers.
This is good news for those few who used it, but now we'll never know what features we could have if this wasn't holding Netflix back.
Yeah! I was just going to suggest if profiles must go away, then tags would be really useful. But profiles are a huge feature win for me.
Hmmm, maybe tags would be worthwhile too.....
I agree with many posters here that profiles are not easy to find out about and that more people would use it if they knew about it and were shown ways to utilize it. It's great to share if you have roommates, a kid away at college, someone in the military or if you just want to seperate the types of movies.
Netflix is starting to make corporate based decisions and after paying them for 5 years (since 2003) I'm starting to look elsewhere as well due to the quality drop in movie releases and poor technical support.
".....and after paying them for 5 years (since 2003) I'm starting to look elsewhere as well due to the quality drop in movie releases and poor technical support."
Thanks for the mathematical leg-up (2008 - 5 = 2003), but all I know is that, as an equal opportunity renter (and shame-faced whore?), I finally gave up on the 6 'long' or 'very long' waits sitting for weeks at the top of my Blockbuster Q, and transferred them all to my Netflix Q - and guess what? All 6 were available 'NOW'!! So I suggest that you think twice about leaving a company that gets the fundamental basics right, even if we can quibble about policies at the margins.
Always good to be heard. My loyalty is renewed.
Thank you! Thank you for listening to us, your members. I appreciate your listening and taking action. Thanks!
Thank you.
Thank you so much! I use a profile for myself, my wife, my kids, and my mother in law. I only have to worry about mine. I watch mine slower and take longer to send it back, while my wife watches hers immediately. The different profiles are pure bliss and I for one and VERY happy you are keeping them!
Thank you!
It's late posting, but I wanted to add my thanks since adding my ire.
Just had to add another THANK YOU! We were going to leave but now I appreciate Netflix even more.
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Oh, right, I forgot there'd be a blog post about this. Well, it's delayed, but still: GOOD.
We were about to drop from a 4 to a 2 disc plan and just buy a freaking DV-R.
THANK YOU! My husband and I each have our own profiles becuse he watches his movies 3 times faster than I watch mine. I love that we can keep our accounts apart and he doesn't get stuck with the sappy love story and I won't get saddled with the extra horror flick. Thanks for making the right call!
We were THRILLED to read that you are keeping the multi-profile function. Both us AND our in-laws were going to move back to Blockbuster until we heard about the change of heart. Thank you!
Thank you!
My wife and I have VERY different tastes and having my movies recommended to her and vice versa would be a nightmare. Also, I would be very angry to lose all of my ratings I've accumulated.
Now if you could just enable instant watching for profiles, I would be able to enjoy netflix as much as my wife does.
great news! I will stay with Netflix!
Thanks for keeping the profiles feature -- it certainly helps to separate long queues into multiple profiles based on category to (TV Shows, Foreign Films, etc).
My main suggestion for improvement would be an easy way to move entries from one profile to another. I find my main profile takes a long time to load with 400-450 movies in it, and I periodically add discs to another queue manually and then delete them from the main queue.
Profiles work great, and it will be great to see how they are improved even more over time.
I'm glad the profiles aren't going away, but part of me was looking foward to the merged queue because it would make it easy to add movies from the other profiles into the Instant View Queue.
Now that we have the Roku Netflix box, we all share the Instant View queue. Any way to let the other profiles add to the Account's Instant Queue from their DVD queue?
I never tried the profile features mostly because I didn't know what they were but now that I know I would like to try it. However you said that people that didn't use it would be able to start using it in 2-3 weeks. It's now been over a month and I see no sign of a profile option.
yay! thanks!
Great News! Netflix just succeeded in keeping me as a customer.
Hooray! My husband and I were seriously considering getting rid of our Netflix account if we lost our profiles. As a homeschooling family, it's a vital resource for us and we count on having a profile for our kiddo.
Very good to hear... by why can't profiles use streaming?
When will the profiles feature be reinstated? It's been two months now.
great!
I am SO happy about this. However, I really wish an email was sent out to all Netflix customers, as it was when the initial decision to discontinue was made. That would have saved me a lot of work transferring my husband's queue to mine after the date of this blog posting. We just kept waiting for the change to come when we finally decided to do some research on the issue tonight. Regardless, THANK YOU for keeping the separate profiles.
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