Comments on The Official Netflix Blog: Flagging Reviews

Netflix had a great part of their site called rele...

2007-12-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

Netflix had a great part of their site called releasing this week...every sunday I would go onto the site and choose out of this page new movies to add to my queue....they got rid of this page this week...I called and was told that the subscribers didn't like the page...I'm a subscriber and was never asked...after prodding for a while...I was told to go to other sites for movies releasing, go back to netflix, enter it's name and then add it to my queue...I'm disappointed with this as it's an obvious way for them to save money without regards for the consumer and i'm even more disappointed that they are teeling folks it is a decision based on customer feedback...it's clearly a lie...I would have said it was the most important page on the site as would many others...they should be embarassed...

@B & E. Thanks for the feedback, in case anyone ch...

2007-12-12T12:24:00.000-08:00

@B & E. Thanks for the feedback, in case anyone checks back.

And re the obvious non-reviews, like the latest one for 'Bagger Vance' ("This movie was badly damaged and stopped many times..."), I repeat an earlier suggestion that a Report Disc Problem box be added right next to Write A Review (maybe with an 'or' in between them?), since these people obviously aren't seeing the clear-as-day links at the top of their queue, hard as that is to understand.

That would surely save all of us, especially the unfortunate - if aberrant - renters, a whole lot of grief.

Richie, if it is not, by definition, a review, the...

2007-12-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

Richie, if it is not, by definition, a review, then it should be flagged as such. One cannot review a movie that one has not seen.
A complaint is not a review.
A moral or religeous judgement of a movie,or of those associated with it, is oten not a review.
Political grumblings are not reviews.
Hatred spewing is not reviewing.

These are my own opinions, and I use them to flag reviews till the cows come home.
I encourage everyone to have opinions, and to use them. That's what these tools are designed for, and what makes this site so much fun.

gonna go eat some pumpkin pie now.

I tend to mark them as unhelpful, though I can cer...

2007-12-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

I tend to mark them as unhelpful, though I can certainly see an argument for marking them as not a review.

Every so often I come across 1 star 'reviews' alon...

2007-12-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

Every so often I come across 1 star 'reviews' along the lines of "Fell asleep 2 minits into the movie, next thing i knew the credits were roling." The problem is, if you're really tired you can fall asleep during the best of movies, so is this really a valid review? Same applies to "we ejected this drek after 30 seconds and sent it right back". Give it l star, fair enough, but leave the reviewing to those that have actually taken the trouble to watch the darn thing, I say. Do you guys flag these as 'not a review', tag them 'unhelpful', or maybe even 'helpful' if you agree?

"I only put notes in with discs I have flagged as ...

2007-11-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

"I only put notes in with discs I have flagged as 'bad'. When they check the disc, they should see the note."

Makes perfect sense. I'll be doing the same from now on, unless they ever add a 'describe the nature of the problem' box.

I only put notes in with discs I have flagged as '...

2007-11-13T12:01:00.000-08:00

I only put notes in with discs I have flagged as 'bad'. When they check the disc, they should see the note.

My current main player has only had a problem with 2 discs in the last 6 months, and both of those played in my back-up player (playstation 3 that I usually only use for blu-ray movies).

"I usually throw a sticky note in to let them know...

2007-11-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

"I usually throw a sticky note in to let them know what problem I encountered."

Excellent compromise, as long as the system isn't totally automated. Do you happen to know if humans ever get to read your notes?

And 10 DVD players!!. Isn't that annoying, trying machine after machine till one works?? My 5 year old Panasonic workhorse would play a slice of toast if I let it!

@eric - Most of my players are different brands, s...

2007-11-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

@eric - Most of my players are different brands, so I haven't noticed any trends.

I few weeks back I mistakenly flagged a disc as damaged. It turned out the problem was with my player. There is no way to unflag, so I called up Netflix. The person I talked to didn't have any way to unflag it either. She said it was no big deal though, they would attempt to play it and if it played fine they would put it back into circulation.

I do think they should have an added field so we can explain how it doesn't play right. I've had some movies that play fine until the last few minutes. I usually throw a sticky note in to let them know what problem I encountered. Maybe thats better than entering it online anyway.

@Michael - I guess I should have chosen my words m...

2007-11-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

@Michael - I guess I should have chosen my words more carefully. By "flagging a disc as damaged/unplayable," I was referring to the process of reporting a disc problem to Netflix, not to the process of flagging a (non)review. Sorry for the confusion.

1) Let's not confuse the "flagging" of a review wi...

2007-11-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

1) Let's not confuse the "flagging" of a review with reporting a problem disc - these are different worlds and handled in different ways. if you report a bad disc using the movie reviews system, no one in customer service will see it and your fellow netflix members will just remove the review (since it's not a review).

2) If a movie has hundreds of "helpful" votes, it is going to be difficult to gather enough "flags" to get the review removed from the movie page. This should keep reviews on polarizing movies from getting moved away. On the other hand, moronic reviews - one would hope - would not end up with many helpful votes, and therefore the flags would more easily get them demoted. Just know we continue to tune as we spot problems.

3) jaymikey - i cannot imagine why your reviews aren't showing up. The Customer Service folks are usually remarkably good, and they should be able to find all your reviews and see why they aren't being posted. We get thousands of new reviews every day, so the system seems to be working - and it sounds like your problem isn't one of getting flagged and removed so much as them never appearing, right? This is clearly as CS issue - ask them to get your info and if they can't solve it, forward it to the community team to explore. It could be a bug, or as simple as something in your reviews that keeps them from being posted. Sorry to hear about this.

Eric, when you say 'flag a disc', are you referrin...

2007-11-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

Eric, when you say 'flag a disc', are you referring to the 'report disc problem' links? If so, I just sent NF a suggestion that they add a description box for situations like the one I had the other day, when I got an 'unplayable' notice immediately, but after washing the disc the movie itself played fine but the previews kept skipping. I wasn't sure whether or not to report it, and risk having it withdrawn from circulation unnecessarily. A single additional sentence under 'damaged disc' would make that their decision, not mine.

@Michael - this discussion raises an interesting s...

2007-11-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

@Michael - this discussion raises an interesting set of questions for you as well: What happens when we flag a disc as damaged/unplayable? Is action taken on it immediately, or does it take several complaints? What action is taken once a disc is flagged? Does someone look at it or test it? Is any attempt made to clean or repair the disc? Should we flag any disc that gives us problems, or is that designation really only intended for discs that are completely unplayable?

@Baff - Do you notice any trends on which players ...

2007-11-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

@Baff - Do you notice any trends on which players work better than others? Have you found that one brand works better than another? I had an old 2nd-gen Pioneer that would play just about anything, but I finally replaced it due to lip-syncing issues (remember those days?). I now have a Sony 5-disc Progressive Scan model that probably chokes (to some degree) on 30-50% of the Netflix discs that I give it.

And half the problem is fingermarks and crud from ...

2007-11-13T00:13:00.000-08:00

And half the problem is fingermarks and crud from previous members. Unless they're cracked I find it rare that skipping or 'unplayable' DVDs won't function perfectly after a gentle wash with warm water and a little dishwashing liquid, and some pat-drying it with a soft towel (no rubbing and certainly no circular wiping, as per vinyl LP's). Just hold them using the center hole and the edges, Folks!

You may want to consider getting a new dvd player....

2007-11-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

You may want to consider getting a new dvd player. I have about 10 players. Some of them don't like about half the dvds I stick in them, others will play just about anything no matter how scratched they are.

Its not just how expensive the player is either. I have a $20 player that has played everything but a couple dvds with actual cracks in them.

The dvd players in my computers tend to be the most finicky.

We are considering using another online rental, du...

2007-11-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

We are considering using another online rental, due to the fact that every other movie we receive is scratched or unwatchable. Someone needs to figure out this problem and weed through the bad DVD's because it seems that I am not the only customer with this problem.

That's totally insane! No reasonable explanation? ...

2007-11-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

That's totally insane! No reasonable explanation? A far less patient and restrained NF blogger was saying the same thing (on every thread!) a while back, but we just assumed that he'd been blacklisted for being totally obnoxious. Good luck.

Well... after reading this rather snarky thread, I...

2007-11-12T02:10:00.000-08:00

Well... after reading this rather snarky thread, I found it essential to respond. First of all, McWhammer, you will be happy to know that ALL reviews of Lost: Season 4 have been removed. Personally, I find this encouraging and disheartening at the same time. I am a HUGE fan of The Movies and enjoy the discussion and sharing of ideas that the cinema encourages. However, I have been unable to post my reviews for more than THREE MONTHS! This irritates me on a number of levels.

Initially, I contacted customer service (which was extremely personable and willing to help) to no avail. "Wait a-couple-a weeks 'cause I see your account has been flagged for this issue and it is being 'worked' on" was the standard response. Four phone calls later (and as many posts to this blog addressing this issue) it became apparent to me that my little problem was "not important" in the eyes of the NF Gods.

I then settled into a comfortable void of folks-that-love-film-and-refused-to-be-silenced and kept posting my reviews, knowing they would never be published on the NF site. Then... I was assaulted by the barrage dumb (followed by a never ending parade retarded) "reviews" on the community page. Useful gems, like "This disc was scratched, send another, please" and "This movie suks cuz they dont speak american or nothin" or the ever faithful "Why can't they make movies about murdering your family without so many swear words", disgusted me to no end. I watched as my "influence rank" plummeted and still continued to post reviews.

Then came the The Golden Compass. Gigantic numbers of right wing-fascist-religious-conservative-zealot NF members were able utilize the review system to call for a boycott of the film. This is when I started to get angry.

Now... the attention of this blog to the unfavorable comments about NF on another site by ONE poster has gone beyond the pale. Not only has my issue been completely ignored, but the ego of NF employees has (apparently) become more important than the concerns of a paying customer.

I truly love NF and appreciate the incredible changes that facilitate my ability to access films that, otherwise, may have eluded me. It just seems self-congratulatory to scold someone for posting negative feedback elsewhere on the web when right here at netflix.com customers are being marginalized every day.

ugh........... frustrated.....

@Knaldskalle. My understanding is that it's all ba...

2007-11-10T22:37:00.000-08:00

@Knaldskalle. My understanding is that it's all based on pre-determined algorithms, but that these are being monitored and fine-tuned for the time being to make sure that 'demotions' and 'removals' are both fair and rational.

Speaking of which, pretty much anything to do with religious, political or social belief systems might arguably be considered 'controversial', but denying well documented historical facts like the Holocaust is just plain moronic. So, based on your and others' flagging of that review, it looks like the system is working pretty well.

What makes me thing "Flagging" still isn't working...

2007-11-10T19:11:00.000-08:00

What makes me thing "Flagging" still isn't working is that the unaired "Lost" Season 4 is rated 5 stars with 9 reviews right now. Why is Netflix allowing people to write reviews for all of these T.V. shows that aren't on yet? The season starts in 2008, so why let people abuse the rating and reviewing system? How are we to trust a 5 star review when Lost Season 4 already has it? Everyone, go flag those 9 reviews as not helpful and not reviews - let's see if they're doing their jobs.

"We don't want the flags being used to remove revi...

2007-11-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

"We don't want the flags being used to remove reviews that are simply controversial, or irksome to a small group"

A while ago I came across a review of Schindler's List that said the movie was hilarious because "it never happened". I flagged it as offensive and it was later removed, but I guess it could just be considered "simply controversial" or "irksome"? So where is the line drawn? I'm just curious as whether to such decisions are left to the reviewers+algorithms or if a staffperson actually takes a look and makes some sort of executive decision.

Off topic, but 'Ask Mike' seems to be defunct. Som...

2007-11-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

Off topic, but 'Ask Mike' seems to be defunct. Someone was hunting for 'movie privacy' the other day, without success. Wouldn't it perhaps make more sense to have 'Invite Friends' + 'Friends Home' + 'Movie Privacy' all show up on the lower community toolbar without having to open 'invite friends' first? Or maybe the space is being reserved for future goodies?

I've even voted by mistake meaning to go to the ne...

2007-11-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

I've even voted by mistake meaning to go to the next page! So yes, some kind 'void' system would be great, especially since you can't now rectify the situation with a counter vote the next day, as I've done a couple of times in the past.

I wish we could change our vote after we click on ...

2007-11-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

I wish we could change our vote after we click on it and before we leave the page. A couple of times I've accidently hit the wrong one but it wouldn't let me change it.

I have done this on a number of times as well. It would be so helpful to be able to change or edit our choice in case we make a mistake. I feel awful marking someone's review unhelpful when I really meant to mark helpful. It's a stupid mistake but it happens.

I have a totally unrelated request. When our friends & faves reviews show up featured on the community homepage, there is no title listed. If I don't recognize the movie by cover image I have to do the mouseover thing in order to figure out what movie is being reviewed. If you guys could please add the title along with the review and box cover that would be so much better so that we can immediatly know what movie is being reviewed.