Comments on The Official Netflix Blog: Happy New Year.

adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhry...

2008-07-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması

Taking away the RTW page is KILLING the obscure in...

2008-03-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

Taking away the RTW page is KILLING the obscure independent film market.

Yes. Netflix used to portray itself as the underdog, taking on the big corporations. I actually like them as a company back then. Now that they are the biggest player in the online rental business, they seem to have lost all the things that got them there. Customer service, respect for the customer, and respect for the film industry, all seem to be forgotten values to them. The customers are the enemy. There was a time that Netflix supported the small independent movies. No longer. Porky's Revenge XIII is the name of the day. It is funny, they tell all their potential subscribers that they have all the newest blockbuster films, then when these people actually sign up, they find out the Netflix may have them, but they don't want you to actually rent them...LOL. That is a great long term business plan!!!

Waging war on your customers as well as the independent film makers is very short sighted, IMO. I suggest everyone take a look at GreenCine.com.

Taking away the RTW page is KILLING the obscure i...

2008-03-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Taking away the RTW page is KILLING the obscure independent film market.

Now the joe blow netflix customer will never ever know about most of these movies.

When they had the RTW page up, no matter how obscure or indy a film was, it would get thousands of ratings(hence thousands of people were seeing these films) now look at some of the obscure films and how many people have rated them. 50, 60. I KID YOU NOT!

The only ones who will ever see these movies are the handful of us who know the link to the RTW page.

Yeah, those movies are available NOW to all of us, but the filmmakers are getting screwed.

That sucks.

I have been using GreenCine.com to get the new rel...

2008-03-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

I have been using GreenCine.com to get the new releases. The only problem is that they seem to get a lot more new releases than Netflix. So I spend a lot of time trying to find their movies that Netflix doesn't have. It is a small price to pay until I move over.

It is very simple to find out what the new release...

2008-03-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

It is very simple to find out what the new releases are. I have added the following to my favorites and check Tuesdays and Sundays for updates:

http://www.blockbuster.com/browse/newReleases/releasingThisWeek

http://videoeta.com/week_video.html?when=1

It is bad business to have to go to your competitor for what you want...

Your intellect never ceases to amaze me, Howard.

2008-03-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

Your intellect never ceases to amaze me, Howard.

Sam or whatever your real name is...You probably n...

2008-02-29T17:02:00.000-08:00

Sam or whatever your real name is...

You probably noticed that I rarely respond to you. The reason is that I have long suspected that your are either affiliated with netflix or at least with a netflix employee in some way. Frankly, I can't imagine a normal person spending all their free time on netflix blogs defending and responding to EVERY possible criticism of a huge corporation.

Now Michael the netflix employee and blog moderator had mentioned in one of his posts that he and other netflix employees receive notifications every time someone posts here. That boosted my theory about you since you have shown an uncanny ability to mount a defense of EVERY one of my posts almost immediately after I post.

Now I don't post in almost a month (and not surprisingly you don't either). I then make a post and BINGO, here you come out of no where to defend netflix for the 1,000th time. Wow, what a coincidence?!?!?

You have confirmed everything that many of us suspected about you. I suspect you are more likely a wife of an employee than a real employee. So I will not bother reading or responding to any of your future posts. Your lack of credibility has made you irrelevent.

BTW, one of your early posts where you begged us not to go to BlockBuster.com because their stock price was not as "stable" as Netflix was a real gem. I still laugh over that one. It was priceless. Did some netflix marketing pinhead feed you that line?

Still going with the conspiracy theories, Howard? ...

2008-02-29T00:51:00.000-08:00

Still going with the conspiracy theories, Howard? I'm sure you will win over many other crackpots to your cause with such imaginary tales like the censored posts detailing your investigation of the shady business practices at Netflix.

The people at Greencine must be banging their heads against the walls. They try to offer better service than Netflix and charge a slight premium for it, and yet people like you feel they deserve that same service at no extra charge and would rather stick with Netflix and complain about it.

In the last post I said the posts from Jan 1 - 8 w...

2008-02-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

In the last post I said the posts from Jan 1 - 8 were deleted. Correction, it was Feb 1 - Feb 8.

I will try to answer some of these questions that ...

2008-02-27T17:20:00.000-08:00

I will try to answer some of these questions that have come up...

Has Netflix somehow made it clear that their rationale for making this change is to reduce the number of people moving new releases to the top of the queue? Or are we assuming that?

Howard: To put it in a nutshell they have said that people were adding movies from the new releases page, moving them to the top of their list, and supposedly then complaining that the newest biggest blockbuster they just added wasn't available immediately. I have been very skeptical of this reasoning. There are numerous ways of fixing the supposed problem without removing the releasing this week page. I think it is more about being able to advertise that they ship 98% (or whatever) of their customer's first choice movies on time. Of course they will leave out the part about how they are able to do that - by making it as difficult as possible for subscribers to find the movies Netflix is short on. Also, if large enough numbers of users can't find the new blockbusters when they come out, then Netflix can buy fewer thus increasing revenue at the expense of customer service.

Does NF read this particula part of their own blog? And if so does anyone know why they haven't responded here? Have they responded somewhere, and if so where?

A Netflix employee has posted three or four times that the Netflix brass "really cares" about this issue and what we say, and will be addressing it here "shortly." Since it has been almost three months since it went away, I think it is pretty clear they are just waiting us out. Also, I noticed that they have removed an entire week's posts between Jan 1 and Jan 8. In one of those posts removed, I explained (and discussed with other posters) some of the internal thought processes of a company like Netflix, or Blockbuster, or GreenCine. Perhaps I was on to more than I thought. I may be wasting my time typing this as well if they are now censoring out posts here.

I'd really like to know how to take this up a notch. Let them know that this new design is truly poor. That even if it had all new releases, it would still be poor because they are asking me to work.
Frankly, I think it is now a lost cause. They removed it well over three months ago, there is a petition with about 3,000 signatures asking for it back, their have been about 2,000 posts among these blogs here, there are thousands of discussions about it on the internet, and yet absolute silence from them. I think that tells you everything you need to know about how they feel about you (and I) as customers. The releasing this week page is gone. In another month or so, the blog link will be removed. And a month after that the page it self will disappear. They are just waiting us out. So what can you do?

Well, this is what I am doing...

1) I am no longer recommending anyone to Netflix. I have probably brought as many as 40 people here over the years. Those people have probably brought in 100 more. No more. If people ask me about it, I tell them that Netflix has a reasonable price, a good selection, and the worse customer service on the planet that takes your business for granted. I then suggest they look at GreenCine.

2) I am getting my new releases selections from GreenCine now. It forces me to check weekly the GreenCine.com site for deals and current prices. When their prices get competitive with Netflix I will change over. My observation is that they get a lot more movies weekly than Netflix does so I feel good about it as a company. When I have emailed them they responded right away, I was impressed. They try to operate like a mom and pop business with personalized detail and attention to their customers. In other words, they have the business plan that Netflix USED to have and has lost since becoming so big. Oh, and when I go, I am going to do everything I can to take every one of the people I recommended to Netflix with me.

The bottom line is that I used to love Netflix and the way they have treated their customers regarding this issue has completely soured me on the company. By trying to make it hard for me to find certain movies, they are looking at me not as a customer or partner, but as an adversary. Big companies tend to do this after they get fat and complacent.

Sign the petition to let NF know what you think of...

2008-02-21T22:36:00.000-08:00

Sign the petition to let NF know what you think of them removing RTW page.

http://www.petitiononline.com/netflix

Lynda

I've already left a comment, signed the petition a...

2008-02-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

I've already left a comment, signed the petition and even faxed the links for this blog and the petition to NF's offices.

But I have a couple of serious questions for anyone who knows:

Has Netflix somehow made it clear that their rationale for making this change is to reduce the number of people moving new releases to the top of the queue? Or are we assuming that?

Does NF read this particula part of their own blog? And if so does anyone know why they haven't responded here? Have they responded somewhere, and if so where?

I'd really like to know how to take this up a notch. Let them know that this new design is truly poor. That even if it had all new releases, it would still be poor because they are asking me to work.

Anyone? Looking for just responses, not any new flame wars.

Finally I found this place to complain about the n...

2008-02-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

Finally I found this place to complain about the new release page being gone!! WHY! WHY!..It's been bugging me big time..and the new 'thing' does NOT have new releases or tell you what will be released in the current week!! Im glad that I am not alone in this..don't you think with all these complaints..they would at least put the old one back up?? PLEASE fix this NOW!!

Loss of releasing this week option is terrible. As...

2008-02-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

Loss of releasing this week option is terrible. As others have said, alot of people added from this list not necessarily at top of queue, but simply to ensure movies were not missed. Now I find myslef going to Blockbuster then back to Netflix to add movies and seems I could cut out middle man. I do prefer Netflix as I find reviewers of movies on this site to be more astute than Blockbuster, but losing the Releasing this Week page is basically an exercise in "hide the ball." Netflix marketed itself as a more convenient source of DVDs, but making them more difficult to select undermines the marketing scheme and therefore, wrecks a prime reason for joining or maintaining membership.

Yes.. no official response from netflix on our com...

2008-02-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

Yes.. no official response from netflix on our complaints here is, in fact, the big corporate "F-U, sit there and take it" message.

I'd say we've received it, wouldn't you? Albeit a ...

2008-02-12T02:46:00.000-08:00

I'd say we've received it, wouldn't you? Albeit a response more usually associated with the middle finger than the written word.

Where is our long awaited Netflix response?

2008-02-11T20:29:00.000-08:00

Where is our long awaited Netflix response?

Sign the petition to let NF know what you think of...

2008-02-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

Sign the petition to let NF know what you think of them removing RTW page.

http://www.petitiononline.com/netflix

Lynda

Seems like Netflix is just waiting us out. The "...

2008-02-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

Seems like Netflix is just waiting us out. The "steam" is dying down, so I guess they'll never change it back.

The new pages suck. Thank fully the old "link" still works so I can see, at a glance, all the NEW releases that netflix is adding - not just a few movies that, through some insane machine logic, they think I might like...

It's an insult. My wife hates the new page, My kids hate the new page... but the old link is bookmarked on our computer and that is what we will use. When that stops working perhaps we'll go to blockbuster... or perhaps not...

Nice spin, Howard.Congratulations to Blockbuster o...

2008-02-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

Nice spin, Howard.

Congratulations to Blockbuster on implementing features that Netflix has had for a long time. However, I do like the idea of a mini-queue, and have long wished that Netflix had something similar.

Now let's look at their "assurance" that nothing will be taken away. Basically, it's meaningless. All they are saying is that they haven't removed any major functionality in the current upgrade (that most users could tell). This is not a promise that they will not make major changes in the future, and you can be sure their Terms of Service allows them to do whatever they want in that regard.

Try to get them to say in writing that they will never, ever remove their RTW page and you will see that they are not the big buddies that you think.

Anyway, you've made a fabulous case that Blockbuster is a superior service to Netflix. I hope you enjoy it over there.

I visited the Blockbuster.com site today to see TH...

2008-02-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

I visited the Blockbuster.com site today to see THEIR "Releasing This Week" page so that I could then come back over here and add them to my queue and I noticed how they make changes to their site.

They have a very big graphic that you really can't miss. It says something like "Learn about the exciting new changes coming to our website." So I clicked on it and lo and behold it shows all the future changes, with picutures of what they will look like. And the VERY first thing is does is to reassure their customers that NONE of the features that they currently use will be taken away with all the great new improvements. It then actually uses the "Releasing this Week" page as the example to show all the new changes to their site. They actually seem to think of their customers as partners instead of "the enemy." What a concept.

Why can't Netflix be as forthright, open and honest with their customers? The RTW page just disappeared one day - without notice. A month and a half later and still no official response even though it has been promised multiple times. Nothing but this blog which 85% of the Netflix customers probably don't even know exists.

All this news about throttling, holding titles for 24 hours, removing the RTW page to hinder subscribers, 20 minute waits to call customer service etc, all point to a paranoid Netflix corporate culture that takes the position that their customers are adversaries to be avoided and nothing more.

The need here is for information. I used to look a...

2008-01-31T22:21:00.000-08:00

The need here is for information. I used to look at the new release page because it let me know about the "New Releases". Since we started with Netflix I havn't stepped foot into a rental store. I guess I may have to start going to the real stores again, at least to pick up the little flyer that gives you a list of all of the movies releasing that month.
What is really going on here is that people are adding new releases to the top of their Que and not everyone is getting them on the 1st available day. Well guess what, I remember going back to the store 3 or 4 days in a row before being able to rent a new release because of demand also. Thats just the way it is. Don't try to lessen the effects by witholding information from your customers.

With all this talk about GreenCine.com, I decided ...

2008-01-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

With all this talk about GreenCine.com, I decided to look at their website again this morning. You know what, on their FRONT page they now list all their "releasing this week" movies. On the very FRONT page!

I wonder what could have motivated them to do such a thing???? It displays quite a difference between these two companies and how they deal with their customers doesn't it?

But Howard, GreenCine is only one Latte Grande per...

2008-01-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

But Howard, GreenCine is only one Latte Grande per month more!...

Best post on this thread so far.

Netflix thinks you don't have a choice, and they m...

2008-01-30T10:23:00.000-08:00

Netflix thinks you don't have a choice, and they may be right TODAY. Tomorrow may be different, and many of us will remember how "great" their customer service was regarding how the RTW page was handled.

Grrrr! Curse those Netflix bastards for having a service superior to that of their competitors. They'll regret this one day, mark my words!