Friday, August 15, 2008
Friday Morning Shipping Update
Let’s get right to it. This morning, we’re happy to report that all of our shipping centers are resuming normal operations after experiencing three days of significant issues. Throughout the night and as we post this update, our distribution centers are processing customer orders and getting them into the mail. If a member should have been shipped a disc Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, with rare exception it will ship today (Friday). As a result, millions of our members will receive DVDs on Saturday, in time (we hope) for some weekend movie enjoyment. But we know that’s not enough. The service interruption we experienced this week inconvenienced many of our members and put us in the awful position of disappointing people. So we’re taking added measures. For all members whose shipments have been delayed, we’ll be automatically applying a 15% credit to their next billing statement. Or, for new members whose first shipments have been delayed, we’ll automatically extend their free trial by a week. Rest assured that we are taking aggressive steps to fully understand the root cause of this week’s problems and safeguard against issues like these in the future. For now, we’re just happy to be able to get back to doing what we love most – delighting our customers. Again, most sincere apologies and thanks for your understanding.
298 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1 – 200 of 298 Newer› Newest»Can you please explain how 15% equals one week on failed service? It should be closer to 25%.
Sweet. Way to go guys.
Great, thank you Netflix. Glad the problems are worked out. 15% is sufficient compensation. For all you whiners, it wasn't one week, it was 3-4 days.
For those who aren't savy with math 31 Days X 15% = 4.65 Days for free courtesy of Netflix.
It's not "free" (courtesy of Netflix) -- I pay a monthly fee for the use of the service during this month and if the service isn't available then they are simply compensating me for the service that I didn't receive. They didn't give you anything for "free".
Sounds cool to me! I feel sorry for the Netflix employees at the distribution centers: I bet those discs are practically flying through the air!!
Thank you Netflix!
Thanks Netflix for putting your customers first.
When do the pink slips start to fly. This was an expensive outage and it's going to cost some jobs.
Congrats on the restart!
Yes, they gave you nothing, that is no thing, for free. So that is to say they didn't charge you for an absence in service. That is called fair, don't expect so pretentiously to be coddled because of an accident.
15%? What crap. I was expecting netflix to massage my huevos grandes.
What's weird now is that the two movies that were at the top of my queue that were scheduled to be shipped have been deleted from my queue. I had to add them back in into my queue and move them to the top of my list.
My sympathy to those whose queues were disrupted; thankfully mine has remained unchanged.
15%? How bout 50%. It is not just the amount of time the service was down but the overall general inconvenience to customers. 15% is a spit in the face.
Oh and why the hell is a company like Netflix using Blogger? C'mon guys - at least customize an installation of Wordpress, Geez!
If you're going to bitch no matter what Netflix does to appease you. Please, go over to Blockbuster....oh and get a life while you're at it.
Have a great day making people miserable with your attitudes!
I don't see how anyone with a concience can expect more than 15%. The service was disrupted for three days, so 15% is perfectly fair. Don't act like this is some sort of human rights violation. You don't deserve a 50% credit.
Also, it doesn't sound like the problem is actually fixed. He said they're still "trying to understand" the problem, so more than likely, they applied a bandaid that will hide the symptoms, but the problem still exists. Hopefully for the good of everybody involved, they can get this thing taken care of once and for all.
I had a similar queue issue. One movie was moved to the list of movies I have at home (with an arrival date of 8/9), which I certainly haven't seen yet and that date was before the shipping issues started.
Two more were completely deleted from my queue altogether. They're all part of television series, so I hope they don't end up getting shipped out of order. =/
Glad to hear shipping is returning to normal, though.
Also, David, what's wrong with using Blogger for a blog? Why should you waste valuable time and money on a system that has nothing to do with your service offering? That would just be stupid.
Everyone at Netflix - I am glad to see you are back up and running. Thanks for the credit. I though you should know I appreciate the hard work you have put in to get the system back up and running. Hopefully you will soon be able to exhale and get some stress relief. An outage like this is very difficult to handle especially if it is customer facing. Good luck all and good work. Thanks.
It was the VMWare ESX time bomb, I'll betcha.
I hate when I can't rent movies
15% is not adequate, I'm sorry.
I get 3 movies at a time, and in a rare moment of PLANNING AHEAD, I returned all 3 movies to get 3 more for my movie party tonight. Suffice to say, no movies arrived, so instead I have to go to the local movie store and rent 3 replacements. Total cost for 3 rentals? $12. Thats about 75% of my total monthly Netflix cost, so this 15% discount is bullshit.
Is there a way to see what was deleted from your queue? My top 3 discs were deleted, but I can only remember what one of them was.
You seriously need to verify how your backups restore and practice them. Also review your disaster recovery plan. An organization your size should never get caught with its "pants down."
I have always been pleased otherwise. Only had one DVD get broken in the mail!
I don't see how anyone can expect a customer to get less than 50%. You can claim x days = only 15%, but it does not work like that.
I get 6 discs a week. This entire week 0. Thus at least 1/4 of month is wasted. That is 25%, not 15%.
Secondly a company should be offering more than the absolute minimum if they hope to keep customers happy.
Thirdly, NetFlix should be financially punished for making a bonehead update without sufficient testing. That is: if this fiasco does not cost them a lot of money, they will make the same stupid mistakes again.
Those still complaining, shut up and go to BB. Really come on I rent six,I rent two, woo hoo babies. they were down 15% of the month and thats what they are giving back. Take it and shut up babies!!!!!
No shipping on weekends means Netflix service runs 21.7 days per month (52*5/12=21.7). As a percent of the month, 4 days offline is 4/21.7 = 18%. A 15%-20% credit is what should be expected and is what was given. For those of you who very existence is ruled by your Neflix queue, please get a life.
Thanks Netflix, good to hear you're up and running!
I think 15% is sufficient, it could easily have been nothing. 15% to all those people is going to be a pretty big chunk of change out of Netflix's coffers.
Not to mention, let's look at the big picture here, this is just movies. It's a great service to have and it was a little annoying having to wait but it did not affect my overall quality of life. It's not like it prevented me from going without the real essentials like food, water, shelter, and people. It probably made me talk to people more, actually.
So I'm fine with it, good on ya, Netflix!
should be more like 18-20% not 15%???!!?? Are ya kidding me. Even at the most expensive plan(which i'm sure most are not at) the % diff is little over a couple of bucks. You guys are pissed about that. What a bunch of babies the complainers are. good grief shut up.
Can I place a vote for Saturday shipping. I know Netflix has been against this, but why. I would love to be able to ship a movie on friday, and get one in my mailbox on Monday morning.
Ive been reading a lot of posts since they were going to pull profiles about 6 weeks ago. I as extremly pissed when they said this and left some shiatty posts, when they went back on it I had nothing bad to say. When they said they were having technical problems I felt more bad for netflix because it was an accident and they were pissing off customers, but didnt say anything. Here's my point, people will take any reason to spit at netflix, "OMG Netflix fucked up, free month!" "No profiles! Why isnt Watch It Now on Mac?" XBOX Live? Why Isn't Watch It Now on Mac?" "Oh a free month for this 3 day delay! Why Isnt Watch It Now on Mac?" "Finally Mac cracked and created a plug in for you to serve us with Watch It Now! How about a refund for all those months I didn't have it" or "Why didnt you do this sooner, obvisusly you dont want us as a customer that bad!"
I can honestly see where people are on both sides of the fence. I tend to get 6 movies a week, and for me personally it's been over 8 days since the return of movies and still nothing shipped out.
As far as finding something else to do, sure there's lots out there to do, but I have already paid for this.
I feel that the blanket discount is a good way to deal with a lot of people, but there will still be some people upset about how it was dealt with. You can not please everyone all the time.
Having a place to vent like this is far better then them canceling subscriptions.
All the people who assume that this stoppage of service doesn't really affect many people need to stop making grand assumptions of people they know nothing about. I have been in and out of surgery this summer, and my Netflix movies are one of the few things that keep me entertained and SANE while I go through a 3-month recovery in which I am confined to bed. So, yes, to some people, these movies are worth much more than others.
Overoptimistic. Customers service just told me that they have received no official notice of systems being restored. My 5 movie were returned in mail on 8-11, usually one-day turnaround, still have not been checked in at Salem OR center. Help center says wait until the 19th to report them missing. Under ordinary circumstances I would have had at least 5 and perhaps 7-10 movies coming in this week(!) with usual service, clearly not gonna happen.
Oh well, I'm hoping to see my top q'd next week.
I was just wondering if any one else's queue has been updated this morning or has gotten ship confirmation emails. I have not, and I was wondering if I am one of the unfortunate "exceptions" who didn't get DVD's shipped today or if other people still had queue slots not updated or filled. I would appreciate any one who could let me the status of theirs, thanks.
daniel, Saturday shipping would mean having to pay people to work on Saturdays. Basically you would have to expect the price of the service to go up 20%-25% for Saturday shipping.
Also, Netflix is not responsible for people having to pay $12 for Blockbuster rentals. If Netflix ceased to exist as a company tomorrow, would they then owe you for all of your DVD rentals? No, they wouldn't. They simply weren't able to provide a service for a few days, and their responsibility ends at making sure that you're not paying for a service you're not receiving.
The 15% works for me!
My only question is: why hasn't my website changed since Tuesday? Once thats updated, I'll be convinced everything is back to normal:)
Sephora? SEPHORA???? Complete silence. I wonder if she will be donning her camouflage and storming the Netflix compound over that %15 issue... Thank you Netflix, sorry for the stress you guys have experienced. The %15 credit is very nice, and very fair. To all those ridiculous, over-indulged complainers out there who are somehow STILL complaining, please go to Blockbuster. It's where you belong.
15%?!
I have 3 movies at a time plan. With mailing time, I receive movies once per week. With this disruption, I will recieve nothing this week. That's 25% of loss to me!
You can take my 15% and give it to the people who commented earlier who can't seem to be satisfied by anything you all do. As a reminder that the worst thing that's happened to them from this outage is their movies were a couple of days late.
Maybe they'll take that extra money and go buy a life.
Your solution was fair, but I hope pink slips were not sent. I'm a tech, and I know that things can happen. I also know that every single person in your tech department is kicking themselves because of this event.
So, yes, to some people, these movies are worth much more than others.
Poor logic. The value is the same for everyone in the same plan. If we both pay $17 a month, then we both receive the same value. The fact that you want it more than I do doesn't make it more valuable it just makes you more disappointed.
Netlfix must lose several million dollars for this massive "credit"/"refund". For those millions of dollars of lost revenues, they could have hired many top-notch engineers even if they are paid $100 an hour or more. I do not blame Netflix, I feel sorry for those "engineers".
Thanks Netflix! Glad you could get your system up by the weekend.
Netflix employs people to keep these systems running and to develop and maintain contingency plans. If there is an outage of this scope, then there was a failure and employees need to be held accountable (including the possible loss of their job). This outage cost Netflix money and is a "black eye" for their business.
Just a quick note of appreciation to the techies in Netflix's figurative trenches who have been sweating bullets to get the system up and stabilized. I've seen that happen and I say they are the true heroes here.
Netflix's system vulnerabilities are now well removed from the realm of committees and speculation, and into the harsh light of uh-oh!
Management, hopefully, will come round from any should'a-would'a-could'a and move straight to git-er-done.
Don't forget to get "I Survived …" t-shirts.
hubba-hubba-hubba
I receive movies once per week
Oh I see, so if you choose to only receive movies once per week, you should get a larger credit? So, what if I choose to only receive mine once per month, should I get a credit equal to one month?
Amazing. Can't please everyone.
I sent back one movie on Saturday of last week, two on Monday of this week, and I've yet to receive any in return, and the second two aren't even showing up as received by Netflix.
If I don't any by Saturday, it will be one full week that I didn't receive a DVD. On top of that, my queue is out of whack; the one disc they said they might be sending today wasn't even in my top 5 requested discs, and two others have disappeared. Since I use Netflix to watch TV shows, this is a huge inconvenience, especially since I use Netflix FOR convenience.
So while I feel like 15% is a low figure, it's better than nothing, I guess. Frankly, I'd be happier if they upped my plan for a month. Getting 4 or 5 at a time for a month instead of 3 would be more useful for $2.50 credit.
The rumor mill says this was caused by problems with an Oracle database upgrade.
The person who calculated the 18% did the math correctly and said that the 15% credit was fine with him/her. So he or she wasn't complaining and shouldn't be called a baby.
Thanks guys, it happens sometimes, but at least you're back up and we're getting a credit. Back to my queue....
Someone in the development organization at Netflix must have purchased AccuRev Thursday night.
Our movies that were scheduled to go out for the past 3 days now say that they will be shipped on Monday. Maybe it's just a glitch, though, since the Netflix message on the website now says the centers will be shipping today. Guess we'll see. I usually get DVDs from Raleigh and Greensboro, NC, if that helps anyone else...
Hey I get 8 movies at a time.I pay over 50 bucks a month..15%..hmmm well it says movies are being shipped yet I had 8 in process,now all gone when I awoke this morning,I sure hope they kept track of movies I had there cause I sure as shit don't..lmao...I hope I gey me some tomorrow....as for JMAT...Dude get a life and stop busting peoples balls,better yet get a job you know what that is right...you some kind of computer engineer or something ...but past few days you have been some kind of loud mouth asslicking prick...JMAT SHUT THE F**K UP YOU ASS..congrats Netflix...
There are six kinds of entries on this blog:
1. Obseqious Netflix praise: Hey guys, you only fukked up for three days. Congratulations. We love you and LackLustre Video sucks.
2. Nasty Netflix complaints: Hey guys, you have screwed up my life forever. I'm going to LackLuster Video from now on.
3. Nasty comments about Netflix complaints: Hey guys, get a life. You're addicted to movies. Go fuk your wife or husband or sumthin. Or get out your binocks and stare at the man in the moon.
4. Positive comments about nasty comments about Netflix: Hey guys, you're absolutely right. Netflix as ruined my life too. Let's sue.
5. Negative comments about nasty comments about Netflix: Hey guys, everybody has a right to complain so stop complaining about complaining! (People who make this comment are too dumb to see the contradiction)
6. This one.
By the way, there was an occasional speculation about what might be going on. You know, exercise of a little imagination type stuff. But that got called "IGNORANCE" by chris(t) so we may have to add another category.
I'd say we're all losers here. As Firesign Theatre would put it:
We're all Bozos on this Bus.
"We expect to ship your next available movie by Monday."
You really do want your customers to leave, I see.
Netflix could be saving millions of dollars each year if they would open the ability for Mac users and non-Vista users to stream movies. Think about the tens of millions of users who are NOT Vista users. that Netflix still hasn't crunched the numbers and figured out that they are probably losing millions ot iTunes/Apple is a horrible management blunder.
More lies from Netflix.
If you should have been shipped a disc Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, it will ship today (Friday).
Then why does my queue say:
We expect to ship your next available movie by Monday.
?
(Note that on Tuesday it said Wednesday, on Wednesday it said Friday, and now Monday, but you're still claiming it will be shipped Friday?).
The problem is with Netflix's email systems. They werent able to process or send our email confirmations and thus the entire Netflix system crashed as it carried directly over to their order processing and mail delivery systems.
Inability to send and receive email confirmations= NO NETFLIX
Get a new email system Netflix. ASAP!!!
This problem is only going to happen again if you use the same old POS.
I get 3 movies at a time, and am feeling the deep pain that others have expressed due to this shipping calamity. However, I also own many of my favorite movies. I bet other movie lovers out there also own their favorite movies. So, this week has been an opprotunity to watch a few of them.
I love Netfix. I love not having to depend on Hollywood video or BB for my movies fixes, my tastes are not mainstream enough to be satisfied there. The 15% is just fine.
I didn't fit into any of those 6 categories. I just wanted to find out if there was any way to figure out which 3 DVDs were deleted from my queue. Luckily, I eventually remembered. They were "Six Feet Under Season 1 Disc 1," "The Big Chill," and "The Player." I tell you this because I know everyone was dying to know.
WAIT A MINUTE - I sent movies back on Monday, and normally they would have been received Tuesday and new movies sent out. But my Queue says that they expect to ship my next movie on MONDAY. That's pretty damn close to 1 week.!! This morning it said they were going to ship today, but now it says Monday. I wonder if they really have it fixed ??
The problem is with Netflix's email systems. They werent able to process or send our email confirmations and thus the entire Netflix system crashed as it carried directly over to their order processing and mail delivery systems.
Inability to send and receive email confirmations= NO NETFLIX
Get a new email system Netflix. ASAP!!!
This problem is only going to happen again if you use the same old POS.
It's interesting to note that if you were a "free trial" customer, then you got an automatic 1 week extension on your trial. So, Netflix assumes that the outage was worth 1 week of additional service to "free trial" customers, but not worth a free week to existing Netflix customers. Message: our potential customers mean more to us than our current customers.
Jonathan asked "Then why does my queue say We expect to ship your next available movie by Monday"
Answer: Because Netflix doesn't like you and has specifically targeted you out of us millions for punishment. In fact, when the truth is finally revealed, you will discover that this entire service disruption was just to piss Jonathan off. That, and also to add more conspiracy fodder for the Roswell UFO crash.
I'm getting tired of being lied to. My queue just changed from saying my long overdue movies will ship today (Friday) and now reads:
We expect to ship your next available movie by Monday.
The "resumed normal shipments Friday" press release is just more BS.
Read this post as it describes exactly why Netflix had this huge disaster with their service.
"technology issue that affected the company's system for sending DVD e-mail alerts."
http://www.appscout.com/2008/08/tech_glitch_delays_netflix_shi.php
15% doesn't cut it, not even close. I've missed an entire week of service. Stop being so cheap and treat your customers like you care just a little.
Anonymous, if you bothered reading the other comments you would see that I am most definitely not the only one whose queue says movies will be shipped Monday, not the Friday Netflix's message said.
Here's another prediction:
More than half the people whose shipments were delayed will not receive any sort of automatic credit, and will have to call Netflix and actively complain to get the credit assigned.
Because let's be honest, most people do not review their billing history, and that is exactly what Netflix is counting on.
Why does my queue say SHIPPING ON MONDAY?
Right under the banner headline about how everything is shipping Friday?
You've lost me Netflix. I've had it.
How many back-logged shipments do you think there are? They probably can't get them all into the mail at the same time. A couple of days of catch-up seems appropriate.
But I would like to be treated as well as a new subscriber. I have often sugested that each continuing subscriber should recieve something extra on their anniversary date, like an extra 3 dvds or one week free. Something that lets us know that our continued patronage is valued.
Shipping today my rear end! My Netflix screen says (for all four slots) "We expect to ship your next available movie by Monday." And this after getting three movies put in the "Processing" category last night … only to get the slots emptied, forcing me to re-add the movies to my Queue.
"SHIPPING MONDAY"? Netflix, I still love you... but I want a 25% credit for that!
Because let's be honest, most people do not review their billing history, and that is exactly what Netflix is counting on.
Guilty as charged. I will happy if I receive it but I will not be taking any time to confirm a $2.55 credit. I've got other more important things to do, like watch paint dry.
How many back-logged shipments do you think there are? They probably can't get them all into the mail at the same time. A couple of days of catch-up seems appropriate.
If their official statement claims that If you should have been shipped a disc Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, it will ship today (Friday). then that is what I expect, because that's what they said. To then say that a movie is shipping Monday, not Friday, as the official statement said, is an outright lie.
Let's all just calm down. We all know NBC sabotaged Netflix so that we'd all tune in for the Olympics. Don't let the bad guys win. They're counting on your frustration. You must persevere.
Reading these comments really has been a revelation to me. It's astounding to realize how so many people have so little to do in their lives. To get so exercised over this infinitesmal, atomic-sized glitch in one tiny corner of the universe, when there are so many other problems with which to be concerned, is almost unbelievable. If all this unfocused energy could be aimed at something worthwhile - just imagine what we could accomplish!
This sucks. They should give 15% PLUS double the amount of dvds sent today from your subscription package.
How is it that a "technology issue" created all this havoc? shouldn't their shipping system be pretty fool-proof after 9 years? This sounds like a cover-up. I have a feeling all the low paid factory workers went on strike for the week.
Why does everyone assume the queue is the gospel truth? If Netflix has a database problem, it's very possible the queue timing is wrong. They say they are shipping discs today and they are probably doing just that.
I agree: I wondered if the messages of when the DVDs are shipping just change at a certain time of day. I'm gonna hope for DVDs tomorrow.
Wojo, I'm glad you remembered your movies! I doubt that I could remember mine...
Read this post as it describes exactly why Netflix had this huge disaster with their service.
"technology issue that affected the company's system for sending DVD e-mail alerts."
http://www.appscout.com/2008/08/tech_glitch_delays_netflix_shi.php
I have had 2 discs that have been scheduled to ship since Tuesday. Now one has been taken off the queue completely and now :expects to ship my next availabel movie by Monday" WHAT HAPPNED TO THE FRIDAY shipments. Appears the problem is still not fixed. Anyone else seeing this problem?
Lora, I'm surprised I did. I have like 492 movies in my regular queue and then another 150 in my instant watching queue. I kept staring at the screen trying to picture what I kept seeing near the top, and the first 2 disc popped into my head pretty quickly. It took some clicking around in the Drama section to finally remember "The Big Chill."
Hey, it's only movies, don't worry about sending anymore DVDs. Kids are starving. In fact, why is Netflix even in business instead of curing a disease or something. [/sarcasm]
I think a 15% is ok for anyone impacted. I am really glad to see Netflix stand up and announce your shipping problems and take ownership.
This is the 1st real outage I can think of but I am very impressed on how you handled it.
Good work team...
Jim
Thank you, Netflix! I am glad to hear that you are back up and running. :) And thank you for the 15% credit. I find that to be fair compensation.
Yes it should 25% for one week. 15% is an inslut. And I bet the way our (and my) Queue are screwed up that many of us do not see any new DVDs until next week. I know there was processing yesterday for two new DVDs and now they are gone. BLOCKBUSTER here I come.
I can tell y'all that queues aren't necessarily reflective of what they have or you can expect to receive. Mine has been a mess too, but I've gotten my movies when expected, anyway.
So I'd advise everyone to be patient, leave the queues alone, and see what happens.
I have not recieved any discs from your company since 8/11/8 and now your web site is telling me you won't even be shipping any to me until 8/18/8???????
We expect to ship your next available movie by Monday. (More)
That's over a week of no service!
A VERY DISAPPOINTED CUSTOMER :
Looking forward to getting my movies!
Just want to say...there are three companies that I truly enjoy doing business with. Cabelas, Costco and Netflix. In my opinion, customer service could not be better.
Thanks, Netflix.
P.S. I didn't expect any refund simply because not being able to see a movie on time is no big deal, but thank you.
Don't let the nickel and dimers get to you.
"If a member should have been shipped a disc Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, with rare exception it will ship today (Friday)"
Well, I guess I'm the "rare" exception. Went to bed last night, my queue told me that my next three movies (for those curious, THE WIRE, SEASON 5, Discs 2 & 3, and some flick called "EVIL" that's supposed to be a cross between "If..." and "School Ties") would be shipping today.
Woke up today to find out that the Red Envelope is currently processing "MAGNUM FORCE", and my next to movies are, supposedly, shipping Monday. No "WIRE" (sniffle), no "EVIL".
15%, eh? Let's see...not working since Tuesday (one). Not working Wednesday (two). Not working Thursday (three). Not working Friday (four). In all likelihood, won't receive the correct DVD Saturday (five). Possibly nothing to watch Sunday, and even if I do get "MAGNUM FORCE", not really what I had in mind (doesn't jibe with "THE WIRE")...but we'll give Sunday a pass. Monday, well, I won't be receiving anything, so it counts, 'cuz even IF (notice, that's a big if) they do, finally, get their act together, I still won't be receiving anything until Tuesday (six).
6 days without receiving movies, when I'm on a 5-at-a-time plan?
Epic.
Fail.
To say I expect more than a below the board 15% (6 out of 31 days is closer to 20%) reimbursement isn't "whining" or "whinging" or unnecessary griping from someone who feels they're entitled to more...it's the simple truth that we, as customers, deserve more. IF they get their myriad problems under control, I would take extra movies, a one time only bump up to one extra movie out a time, anything. Anything but the smallest feasible amount that the number crunchers have deduced.
Oh, and for all those who think that Blockbuster is your only other option (and, let's face it, it's not even an option for a cinephile), there's always -
http://www.greencine.com/main
I haven't tried them, yet, but I do frequent their rather awesome blog, and I'm fairly certain, just based on browsing the titles, that anyone into cult films, Criterion releases, genre fare and the like will feel right at home with them.
I am amazed how many people defend this ?????? I don't even know how to describe it. But upon reflection, I agree. Get a life, read a book, and GET RID OF NETFLIX. I'm guessing all the people defending Netflix by saying get a life.....etc. think Netflix is a good idea. A whole alot of money in your pockets, or a whole lot of holes in your head.
It's not a matter of getting a life it is a matter of getting what I've paid for a movie
Jonathan: "Here's another prediction:
More than half the people whose shipments were delayed will not receive any sort of automatic credit, and will have to call Netflix and actively complain to get the credit assigned.
Because let's be honest, most people do not review their billing history, and that is exactly what Netflix is counting on."
Let me explain to you how this works Jonathan. You see, the corporations finance Netflix. And then Netflix goes out and the corporations sit there in their, in...in their corporation buildings and, and and see that's, they're all corporationy, and they make money. Mhm.
If this is fixed, why is my next movie shipping on Monday?
The disks I got Thursday still say "Shipping Wednesday".
So my guess is that when you see "Shipping Monday", it is the software thinking last Monday.
Either way, I have confidence that Netflix will do what they say and ship them out today.
No one would be hurt as badly by not doing what *reasonable* people would expect as Netflix.
(10% of people will complain unreasonably, no matter who or what the situation.)
Funny, (well, not really) but, the DVDs that were supposed to ship last Tuesday now say they will ship on Monday - I guess I'm a rare exception.
And please, 15% - is this going to be like the 'evxtra DVD' I was supposed to receive this month as part of the class action settlement?
Well, you didn't come through on that, either.
Everyone that's mad is making it sound like Netflix wanted this to happen. I can't think of a single reason that would be true, other than some sort of bizarre ploy to gain sympathy from customers. The likelihood of that is probably fairly low. They screwed up, but they don't need to be crucified. It's one week without movies. I guarantee you'll still be alive when Monday and Tuesday roll around. I go through 6 or 7 movies a week so I'm not speaking from the viewpoint of someone who only sees something now and then. I love my movies more than most. And if you're really that mad about $1 to $4 (the difference between 15% and 25% depending on which plan you use), then that's really quite sad. You can try to argue, "Well, that $1 to $4 for each customer adds up to millions, and it went right into their pockets." You're right, but they still lost money in man-hours and other opportunity costs from the sound of this problem. They haven't been sitting behind their mahogany desks lighting cigars with $100 bills while all this has been happening.
I'm confused. At the top of my Queue page is a banner message that reads:
Our Shipping Centers Are Mailing DVDs
Delayed DVD Shipments Are Being Sent Today (Friday)
Yet my actual DVDs read:
We expect to ship your next available movie by Monday.
Someone isn't telling the truth.
And for all you apologists posting what a great job Netflix is doing - if you are happy with your terrible service that's fine, but I expect the service I paid for and was promised. I don't want a refund, I want them to do what they were hired to do and ship the DVDs in a timely manner. There is no excuse for what will now be a week-long delay in mailing out the DVDs. Blockbuster anyone?
The Friday shipment update is still not true - my online update is now pushed back to Monday, the 18th.
I mailed back three DVDs on August 8th, so yes, a delayed shipment on August 18th will be a 10 day gap and 12-13 days before I receive them...
My movies aren't shipping until Monday! And they haven't recognized the DVD I returned on Wednesday. sigh.....
The Netflix apologists on here make me laugh. Customers have a right to complain when service does not meet expectations and that is absolutely the case here. For many of us, it seems to have gone far beyond losing 15% of this month's service.
Movies were lost from my cue. I'm now told my next film will ship Monday. And the movies I've returned in the meantime still aren't checked in (who knows when those will ship).
The entire manner in which this was handled has been pathetic.
--A.S.
I'm glad things are back up and running! Just FYI - I still got movies from the NYC shipping center through this week so I won't be enjoying the 15% rebate, however my queue is pretty messed up. For a 4-movie sub, I have 6 movies currently in my 'out' section. 2 Movies I returned are still on the list along with the 2 shipped after they got them. I also received one on Thursday and it still states 'shipping wednesday.
My advice for right now is to not trust what your queue says at the moment.
Mine didn't ship out today and now it says on mine that they expect to ship on Monday. What gives?
Should have received my movie on Wednesday, but didn't. Then I found out about all the problems and was sympathetic. After all, these things do happen.
Today I saw where shipping had started once again, so I expected to receive my movie perhaps on Monday.
But I got it today!
Thanks Netflix for being open about the problem and for communicating with your customers along the way.
I love your service.
A. I don't think 15% is sufficent, but honestly I wasn't expecting to receive what should have been right. I haven't had any movies sent since Monday, and assuming this is fixed, won't receive any movies till Monday. That is a week, which doesn't add up to 15%. However, I also own a business and with 8.4 million customers they are already going to be hit hard with this outage.
B. How can people tell others to "get a life" when they complain about not being happy with 15%. How are YOU any better telling them to "get a life"? How about YOU read book or "get a life" and stop worrying about other people and what they are complaining about.
Everyone handles situations in a different way. You may not be outraged by loss of service with Netflix, but I am sure there is somethign you are outraged about that someone else thinks is foolish. Some people just need to rant to feel better. Let them rant.
So now not only do I get screwed over on damaged dvd's, (I rent them once, and when they don't work Netflix does not replace it, they give me the OPPORTUNITY to rent it again, like that is any kind of compensation; not even the local rental stores force their customers to pay a second time for damaged discs.), but now when their entire shipping facility fails, (not just mine or your local facility but the entire U.S.), they slap me in the face again by offering me, (a current customer), a paltry 15% compensation, while at the same time offering NEW customers a 25% compensation????
Incomprehensible!
Hmmmm, that http://www.greencine.com/main
is looking really tempting!
You know when you deposit money in the bank on Friday after 3 pm, but it doesn't show up in your balance until Tuesday? That's what's going on right now with Netflix. The databases are lagging and they are not synced up with the actions of the real world. I bet your precious movies are shipping today and Netflix will spend the weekend catching up the data. Give your queues a few days to settle.
The complaints people have are understandable considering how companies offering a service so often abuse customers in ways companies selling actual goods would never dream of.
Imagine if Best Buy made you pay a month in advance for a 60-inch TV, then when you went to pick it up they told you they only have 30-inch TVs available and though they really owe you nothing, out of fairness they've decided to offer you a credit of $20 per missing inch. Which you'll receive not as an actual credit but as a discount the next time you prepay for an item at Best Buy. I think some bitching about that would be justified.
Although, shipping issues are suppose it be solved and movies shipped today (Friday.Two of my movies are not being shipped until Monday (of course,it could be relayed again). The three others movies have not been processed yet they should have arrived two days ago on Wednesday. Four movies were deleted from the top of my queue. I do not think all is well yet.
I'm going to guess that the fact my que has not changed means . It has one still blank and three still shipping this past Wed. I've not been one of the people exploding about this but if people do not get stuff tomorrow I think it should be a 25% discount.
It seems to early to call the problem fixed if 1) the cause is still unknown and 2) there are still customers affected (who haven't received the DVDs they have requested and expect.)
I have been happy with Netflix service until now, and intend to reserve judgement until the situation is fully resolved.
We all have a choice to take our business somewhere else if Netflix doesn't ultimately resolve this in a fair and timely manner.