Netflix Woes -or- I’ve Been Throttled!

The end of December marks my three-month tenure as a Netflix customer. At first it seemed like an excellent service; I’ve been enjoying the movies, as well as the requisite 24-hour turnaround for my 2-at-a-time rentals. Recent delivery times, however, leave much to be desired. Over the past 6 weeks, I’ve watched the arrival rate peter out to two, and now three, business days. Since I live in the proximity of two major cities, I didn’t expect to encounter such delays. But it isn’t just the delivery times: it now takes Netflix 1-2 additional days to acknowledge the receipt of my returned dvd’s. What’s going on?

This afternoon I googled around to see if others have encountered this issue, and…ho boy. Apparently, this problem with Netflix has been logged by angry customers since (at least) 2003. Prior to today I had no idea what the term, “Netflix Throttling”—or, deliberate delays on shipping and limited new-movie availability for customers deemed “heavy users”—meant, nor did I realize that many other customers often wait 7-10 days for delivery!

But today’s experience really takes the cake: Last Thursday, a dvd arrived that stuck around at home for 5 days. It was a combination of last-minute shopping, misc. holiday preparations, one relative after another wanted to watch it, etc. Yesterday, I sent it back, anticipating the arrival of the next title in my queue, one whose availability has been listed as “now.” Today I received an email from Netflix informing me that 1) the title is unavailable at the nearest shipping facility, therefore, 2) it will be arriving from a site located 3 states away. What? 

Not only did Netflix fail to send an email acknowledging receipt of the previous dvd, but they have also changed the shipping status on my queue page. “Shipping” has now changed to “Shipping Friday.” It’s going to take more time as it is: why hold on to it for another 24 hours on top of it?

Several customers have cited this trick—shipping from distant locations—as a classic throttling technique. It has nothing to do with availability. Logic tells me that regardless what title came next in the queue, they would have found a way to delay shipping, thereby ensuring that I would not receive the dvd before the weekend.

Due to these nefarious tactics, many angry customers have dropped their Netflix accounts for Blockbuster (who, I hear, is having its own customer service issues of late) or altered their viewing habits so as not to be penalized for “heavy viewing,” a ridiculous concept coming from a service whose slogan boasts “unlimited viewing.”

I, for one, have no plans to cancel my subscription. Yet. But I will, however, closely monitor the return/delivery rate from here on out, and when it is no longer economically viable to keep Netflix, I will drop it on its ass.