Netflix is irritating me

WPD · Post by **WPD** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:10 pm

I've had the first disc for How I Met Your Mother at the top of my queue for 2 weeks now and both times I have sent in a disc, the morning that I get notification that they received my dvd I check and the availability is "Now", but then they ship me the next dvd in my queue instead of the first disc and the disc shows "Short Wait".

Irritating.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:31 pm

Answers by phone:
1-866-716-0414

Current hold time is about 1 minute

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:34 pm

A few weeks ago, there was an available movie on top of my queue that for some reason wasn't shipping. I called, they shipped it above and beyond my normal 4-out. Netflix customer service has always been awesome.

WPD · Post by **WPD** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:40 pm

It isn't that it is available and they didn't ship it, just irritating that I looked this morning and it was available now and then when I got the email that stuff had shipped it wasn't and it showed as Short Wait...still does. I'm irritated at Netflix's lack of ability to predict the afternoon availability in the morning I guess. I still love Netflix, we're just not gonna cuddle tonight.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:26 pm

Half my movies in my queue are in the long,very long, or short wait. I've seen about all the movies I care to see that they have now. I'll probably be dropping them before the end of the year.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:58 pm

dbt1949 wrote:Half my movies in my queue are in the long,very long, or short wait. I've seen about all the movies I care to see that they have now. I'll probably be dropping them before the end of the year.

Goat porn is surprisingly popular.

Then again, you knew that when you loaded your queue.

Davidbld · Post by **Davidbld** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:53 pm

Yea, I've had Star Gate SG-1 Season 7 Disk 5 at the top of my queue for a while now and it show as "Available" but they've skiped it every time, maybe I'll call that number and see whats up.

Dave

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:59 pm

It's a bit of a pain but if I want a series disk, I'll remove the others from my queue and keep only the one I want. I'll add the next disk and that disk in the series only so when I return that one I don't wind up out of order.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:13 pm

Davidbld wrote:Yea, I've had Star Gate SG-1 Season 7 Disk 5 at the top of my queue for a while now and it show as "Available" but they've skiped it every time, maybe I'll call that number and see whats up.

Dave

Same disc, heck I had to wait two months just for the disc to get moved back into the queue over saved. There was apparently an issue where that particular disc went missing a lot. I did finally get it, watched it, and quickly got it back into the processing. 1-2-3-not it!

ohbalto · Post by **ohbalto** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:31 pm

A possible solution to your problem is to stop watching shows that suck.

farley2k · Post by **farley2k** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:08 pm

shol'va!

Davidbld · Post by **Davidbld** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:13 pm

Bump!

So I called them up and the woman I talked to said the disc wasnt sent cause its probably only located in a hub thats far from my location so they send a disc (next on list) thats closer. Its a "new" policy she said cause people were angry it was taking so long if the DVD was only available far from them...so there solution is to skip the disc altogether for awhile???!!!?? Huh? She said it would eventually be sent as a bonus disc. This is stupid, especially if your watching a series of disks, if it doesnt get here soon I'm gonna just call and tell them this policy is stupid.

Dave

WPD · Post by **WPD** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:18 pm

Davidbld wrote:Bump!

So I called them up and the woman I talked to said the disc wasnt sent cause its probably only located in a hub thats far from my location so they send a disc (next on list) thats closer. Its a "new" policy she said cause people were angry it was taking so long if the DVD was only available far from them...so there solution is to skip the disc altogether for awhile???!!!?? Huh? She said it would eventually be sent as a bonus disc. This is stupid, especially if your watching a series of disks, if it doesnt get here soon I'm gonna just call and tell them this policy is stupid.

Dave

That's odd that one disc of the series is only available from a far away hub. We had a movie that was coming from a far away hub and they sent it at the same time as another one. Then we never ended up watching the movie from the far away hub, so it all worked out.

As an update to my situation...sent the discs this morning, disc shows up as available. Tonight it shows up as short wait. It better not be short waited when the discs arrive.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:29 am

At least the days of dealing with discs in general are nigh over.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:16 am

Zaxxon wrote:At least the days of dealing with discs in general are nigh over.

Why does everyone insist on this being the case? The broadband backbone in the US simply is not good enough for any sort of high quality digital distribution.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:47 am

pr0ner wrote:
Zaxxon wrote:At least the days of dealing with discs in general are nigh over.
Why does everyone insist on this being the case? The broadband backbone in the US simply is not good enough for any sort of high quality digital distribution.

I read in Network World that the US ranks 14th in average bandwidth availability (and this obviously covers more than just civilized nations because France is #1

). Large parts of the country still have expensive (and slow!) satellite service as their only option.

Netflix on-demand services aren't nearly comprehensive enough to give up the disk (and the series disks that are constipating my queue are among those not available). Comcrap on-demand is prohibitively expensive for new releases, and their selection of free movies is small. With the market slowly moving to HD, the bandwidth requirements jump considerably, exasperating the problem.

I have no doubt that it will happen some day. I still think we're several years away from being weaned off the disk, though. There is also the wider economic picture to consider...are on-demand consumers providing as much or more revenue per capita than buyers of physical media? That might not be an easy question to answer. A DVD can make a nice, tangible gift. An email notifying the recipient of available on-demand movie credits? Not so much.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:58 pm

If you've used services like Netflix's on-demand streaming and don't agree that the main drawback at this point is lack of content, you're nuts.

People* don't care whether the stream is 480p or 1080p. They care that it's quick to start playing, and that Sex and the City is available. We're already there with Hulu, cable on-demand, and Netflix.

Anyway, I said they're nigh over, not that they're over. Give it another couple of years. If there aren't more people in late 2011 watching their content via the various on-demand options than there are purchasing discs, I'll be amazed.

*-- meaning people who matter, meaning Joe Six-Pack, not you and me.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:40 pm

With the digital conversion push, more people than ever are going to be watching HD and they'll start getting used to it. The other day, I was wondering why 24 was looking so crappy, then I remembered it's on my standard-definition Tivo.

Convenience plays a part, but I'm not entirely sure it's a large part. Ultimately, though, a paradigm shift has to be capable of producing more revenue than the existing model, or industry will have little incentive to get behind it.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:07 pm

While there's certainly some content that I really want to be in HD, there's also a lot that I don't care about being in HD. For example, I liked that The Office streamed in HD on Netflix, but I wouldn't have been broken up if it was in SD.

What I could see happening is for there to be a low-cost SD streaming service, and a high-cost HD streaming service. Hopefully not soon, but I could see it happening.

But I agree that the content needs to be expanded. That said, I have 100 titles on my instant queue right now, so it's not like there's a nothing. However, it doesn't hurt that I have a love for awful movies (Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter!). It was heartening to see a whole selection of Discovery shows go up this week, including something like three seasons each of Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:10 pm

Chaz wrote:(Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter!)

How many atheists can you fit into a Jeep?

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:13 pm

My drawbacks to Netflix's on-demand streaming are as follows:

1) Improper aspect ratios, even for HD stuff. Movies shot in 2.35:1 aren't transmitted over streaming Netflix at their proper aspect ratio.

2) Lack of a consistent HD signal. Netflix constantly bumps down from HD to SD the instant it feels my connection can no longer handle it. Which requires rebuffering and all that noise.

3) Lack of digital surround sound. What's the point of watching something in HD if I don't get killer sound to go with it?

All of those issues lead to a massive thumbs down for me.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:36 pm

pr0ner wrote:My drawbacks to Netflix's on-demand streaming are as follows:

1) Improper aspect ratios, even for HD stuff. Movies shot in 2.35:1 aren't transmitted over streaming Netflix at their proper aspect ratio.

2) Lack of a consistent HD signal. Netflix constantly bumps down from HD to SD the instant it feels my connection can no longer handle it. Which requires rebuffering and all that noise.

3) Lack of digital surround sound. What's the point of watching something in HD if I don't get killer sound to go with it?

All of those issues lead to a massive thumbs down for me.

my complaints exactly...inconsistent quality thanks to variability in connection speed and lack of surround sound really hurt the Netflix streaming experience for me. until i can stream a movie with 5.1 audio, i'll continue to rent my movies on DVD/BluRay...just isn't anywhere near the same experience without quality audio.

iloveplywood · Post by **iloveplywood** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:04 pm

I like streaming netflix quite a bit, but it is a niche service at this point. The inconsistency kills it from being more than that. You never know what kind of quality you're going to get or even if it will be watchable. The way bandwidth is being restricted of late I just see this problem getting worse. I hope I'm wrong though.

WPD · Post by **WPD** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:49 pm

WPD wrote: As an update to my situation...sent the discs this morning, disc shows up as available. Tonight it shows up as short wait. It better not be short waited when the discs arrive.

Final update! Netflix is finally sending the first disc! Huzzah!

Davidbld · Post by **Davidbld** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:49 pm

Okay...so interestingly, the next disk there sending me is one that has been in my queue for about four months and has always had a "long wait" (which is Stargate SG-1 Season 2 Disk 1)...was it my call that did it? I can only wonder, but if it was I'll second that they have awsome customer service.

Dave

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:22 am

Rise from the dead, o thread of Netflixiness!

Our TiVo HD arrived yesterday, so we tried out the Netflix integration. They're still only sending stereo audio, but the HD video was great. 720p, and even up-close on a 42" TV, it looked every bit as good as our cable HD signal. Our HD stream was stable; we watched several episodes and didn't get bumped back below HD a single time.

Netflix is up to 17k streamable items. They've got a long way to go on content availability, but if they would just make the switch to AC-3 audio--which really wouldn't push the bandwidth required up by a lot--the quality is sufficient.

See, I can do it to you, too!

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:58 am

The Preacher wrote:Edit: I hate you, Z, for making me respond to a younger you.

Crap! I pulled an Austin!

Sorry, Preach.

WPD · Post by **WPD** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:05 pm

Zaxxon wrote:Rise from the dead, o thread of Netflixiness!

Our TiVo HD arrived yesterday, so we tried out the Netflix integration. They're still only sending stereo audio, but the HD video was great. 720p, and even up-close on a 42" TV, it looked every bit as good as our cable HD signal. Our HD stream was stable; we watched several episodes and didn't get bumped back below HD a single time.

Netflix is up to 17k streamable items. They've got a long way to go on content availability, but if they would just make the switch to AC-3 audio--which really wouldn't push the bandwidth required up by a lot--the quality is sufficient.

We have had a Roku player since last December and have used it...three times. There aren't enough recent movies and my wife is all about the recent movies.

And it was a fitting time to bump this thread....HIMYM Season 3 comes out on DVD Tuesday! Will I get the 1st disc early next week or get tossed to the back of the inevitable "Very Long" queue? STAY TUNED!

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:24 pm

<cough>

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu May 01, 2014 3:55 pm

I was reminded of this thread when I saw this article today over at The Verge. That's about the strongest signal we're going to get that disc-based media is in fact dying. Looking back at the complaints we had back in 2009, it's not hard to see why. OO, in 2009:

Zaxxon wrote:If you've used services like Netflix's on-demand streaming and don't agree that the main drawback at this point is lack of content, you're nuts. People* don't care whether the stream is 480p or 1080p. They care that it's quick to start playing, and that Sex and the City is available. We're already there with Hulu, cable on-demand, and Netflix.

Anyway, I said they're nigh over, not that they're over. Give it another couple of years. If there aren't more people in late 2011 watching their content via the various on-demand options than there are purchasing discs, I'll be amazed.

*-- meaning people who matter, meaning Joe Six-Pack, not you and me.

pr0ner wrote:My drawbacks to Netflix's on-demand streaming are as follows:

1) Improper aspect ratios, even for HD stuff. Movies shot in 2.35:1 aren't transmitted over streaming Netflix at their proper aspect ratio.

2) Lack of a consistent HD signal. Netflix constantly bumps down from HD to SD the instant it feels my connection can no longer handle it. Which requires rebuffering and all that noise.

3) Lack of digital surround sound. What's the point of watching something in HD if I don't get killer sound to go with it?

All of those issues lead to a massive thumbs down for me.

Zaxxon wrote:Rise from the dead, o thread of Netflixiness!

Our TiVo HD arrived yesterday, so we tried out the Netflix integration. They're still only sending stereo audio, but the HD video was great. 720p, and even up-close on a 42" TV, it looked every bit as good as our cable HD signal. Our HD stream was stable; we watched several episodes and didn't get bumped back below HD a single time.

Netflix is up to 17k streamable items. They've got a long way to go on content availability, but if they would just make the switch to AC-3 audio--which really wouldn't push the bandwidth required up by a lot--the quality is sufficient.

Streaming without DD+ surround sound? Not a thing anymore*. Streaming under 1080p? Also not a thing*. Lack of content? Maybe on our $7.99 subscriptions, but I can rent/own anything I can get on Blu-Ray in about 14 seconds via half a dozen different outlets.

And the cheaply-streamable items count has risen greatly, as well. 17k items for Netflix? Well over 100k now. Plus Amazon Prime Instant Video, HBO Go, etc. I was off by a couple of years with my 2011 guess, but we're there now.

* - For anyone who cares enough to invest $50 in a Roku or similar device.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu May 01, 2014 4:41 pm

I still notice that blacks are often crushed when streaming, and that is coming directly from a LAN cable, not wifi. It's HD, technically yes, in terms of resolution, but it's compressed as hell and it shows.

Does that keep me from watching it? No it does not, but I notice.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu May 01, 2014 4:44 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:I still notice that blacks are often crushed when streaming, and that is coming directly from a LAN cable, not wifi. It's HD, technically yes, in terms of resolution, but it's compressed as hell and it shows.

Does that keep me from watching it? No it does not, but I notice.

I see this periodically, as well. It has gotten a lot better for me in the last year or so, though.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu May 01, 2014 5:34 pm

The loss of Netflix's disc based business would suck for me. I don't want something to watch; I want to watch something. I don't want to watch 100k items; I want to watch Movie A.

Every once in a while I get lucky and the movie I'm in the mood to watch is available via streaming. Usually it isn't.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu May 01, 2014 5:36 pm

For some reason, I've largely lost that mentality (which may have something to do with my acceptance of the new paradigm). Occasionally I'll have a burning desire to watch one thing in particular and will either buy or rent it, but 90+% of the time I can make do with the uncountable quality things available in the subscription packages that I haven't yet seen.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu May 01, 2014 8:20 pm

Blackhawk wrote:The loss of Netflix's disc based business would suck for me. I don't want something to watch; I want to watch something. I don't want to watch 100k items; I want to watch Movie A.

Every once in a while I get lucky and the movie I'm in the mood to watch is available via streaming. Usually it isn't.

I have disk-only subscription because such a tiny percentage of what I watch is available streaming. There's no real video stores around anymore; certainly none with wide variety of foreign films. I would be very unhappy if Netflix were to forsake me.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu May 01, 2014 8:27 pm

The studios have decided to hassle the goose that laid the golden egg. You've got Disney and Warner Brothers putting up their own streaming, all the studios strong-arming them into not renting new releases for 30 days, and demanding exorbitant fees.

The market is fragmented, to say the least.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Thu May 01, 2014 11:12 pm

It will be interesting to see how the Secure Content Storage Association affects things like Netflix heading forward.

At work today it was revealed that the typical movie in 4K format will take up 40GB of storage space. Yowza. And consumer-wide implementation of 4k is projected to be 18 months away (Christmas 2015).

[edit: it's 4K, not 4k]

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Thu May 01, 2014 11:12 pm

Zaxxon wrote:I was reminded of this thread when I saw this article today over at The Verge. That's about the strongest signal we're going to get that disc-based media is in fact dying. Looking back at the complaints we had back in 2009, it's not hard to see why. OO, in 2009:

Zaxxon wrote:If you've used services like Netflix's on-demand streaming and don't agree that the main drawback at this point is lack of content, you're nuts. People* don't care whether the stream is 480p or 1080p. They care that it's quick to start playing, and that Sex and the City is available. We're already there with Hulu, cable on-demand, and Netflix.

Anyway, I said they're nigh over, not that they're over. Give it another couple of years. If there aren't more people in late 2011 watching their content via the various on-demand options than there are purchasing discs, I'll be amazed.

*-- meaning people who matter, meaning Joe Six-Pack, not you and me.

pr0ner wrote:My drawbacks to Netflix's on-demand streaming are as follows:

1) Improper aspect ratios, even for HD stuff. Movies shot in 2.35:1 aren't transmitted over streaming Netflix at their proper aspect ratio.

2) Lack of a consistent HD signal. Netflix constantly bumps down from HD to SD the instant it feels my connection can no longer handle it. Which requires rebuffering and all that noise.

3) Lack of digital surround sound. What's the point of watching something in HD if I don't get killer sound to go with it?

All of those issues lead to a massive thumbs down for me.

Zaxxon wrote:Rise from the dead, o thread of Netflixiness!

Our TiVo HD arrived yesterday, so we tried out the Netflix integration. They're still only sending stereo audio, but the HD video was great. 720p, and even up-close on a 42" TV, it looked every bit as good as our cable HD signal. Our HD stream was stable; we watched several episodes and didn't get bumped back below HD a single time.

Netflix is up to 17k streamable items. They've got a long way to go on content availability, but if they would just make the switch to AC-3 audio--which really wouldn't push the bandwidth required up by a lot--the quality is sufficient.
Streaming without DD+ surround sound? Not a thing anymore*. Streaming under 1080p? Also not a thing*. Lack of content? Maybe on our $7.99 subscriptions, but I can rent/own anything I can get on Blu-Ray in about 14 seconds via half a dozen different outlets.

And the cheaply-streamable items count has risen greatly, as well. 17k items for Netflix? Well over 100k now. Plus Amazon Prime Instant Video, HBO Go, etc. I was off by a couple of years with my 2011 guess, but we're there now.

* - For anyone who cares enough to invest $50 in a Roku or similar device.

Eh. The HD thing is less of a problem, as the buffering's gone away and almost everything is in HD.

The 5.1 thing is still a problem, as the strangest movies still aren't in 5.1 (The Avengers doesn't have 5.1 on Netflix, for instance).

Bandwidth caps from ISPs are still going to be a big issue, especially for people who feel the need to stream everything all the time. What happens when you hit your cap? Are you done watching Netflix for the rest of the month? Or do you bend over and pay the overage fees for streaming entertainment?

As others have said, there's still content issues, too. Almost seems like you need Netflix AND Amazon Prime (and maybe Hulu) in order to stream everything you'd really want.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu May 01, 2014 11:31 pm

pr0ner wrote:As others have said, there's still content issues, too. Almost seems like you need Netflix AND Amazon Prime (and maybe Hulu) in order to stream everything you'd really want.

With the exception of the incoming HBO content on Prime, so far it seems to me to be almost an exact copy of the content that Netflix has available (and Epix for that matter). Low hanging fruit/licensing?

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu May 01, 2014 11:46 pm

Be careful with the content issue arguments. Everything never has been and never will be available in one $8/mo plan. But it is available. There are very few things I can't rent for a few bucks via Amazon, just as used to be the case with Blockbuster. Except now it takes one minute and zero movement from my couch.