Part Four: Return to Sender
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Go behind-the-scenes of how our red envelopes get from your mailbox back to our hubs, and the machine that sped things up! Thanks to our friends at USPS for providing some of the special footage. Check out more 20th anniversary videos and fun facts at dvd.com/20years.
USPS B-roll footage © 2018 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission.
I used to use the dvd service a whole lot more than I do now because I was so impressed with the amount of rare and obscure horror movies they had that I couldn't find elsewhere and I was happy. Slowly those titles started to disappear and most of them now sit at the bottom of my queue in the "saved section" listed as "availability unknown". It was good while it lasted I guess.
Thank you, Netflix! Great service, great people. I'm always impressed by how kind and understanding your personnel are when I have to contact you personally for any reason. The only thing I would like more of: older movies. You do have a decent selection, but it would be great to see more. My Saved File there is getting longer and longer - but those selected movies have either disappeared, gotten stolen, or taken out of circulation - just not sure. Otherwise - great service.
Delivery of DVDs has definitely slowed down. We used to be able to get at least 2 and many times 3 dvds in a week. We generally watch the movie the day we receive it and it's back in the mail the next day, and if the mailman came early enough, we'd watch it in the afternoon and take it back to the post office before they closed. Back then the Netflix distribution was in Syracuse, NY (about an hour from our home). Then we started receiving them from Rochester, NY and the turn-around time went frmo 1 day to 2-3 days and now, all the dvds we receive come out of Boston, and turn-around is 3-4 days. We're lucky if we get 1 movie a week from Netflix now... We now get 1/2 of what we used to for our money because of the change in distribution centers... it basically doubled our cost .
Same. Add post office slowdown to local distro center closing to Netflix closing on Saturdays... all value is gone.
I have been a Netflix subscriber for more years than I can remember. Service has alwAYS Been top notch. I am very grateful for your service.
I heart Netflix! The only thing about the internet that works every-single-time: NETFLIX. This video is so fun to watch. I love the behind the scenes. You produce such awesome content. And THANK YOU for bringing back Arrested Development!!! It makes me more happy than words can say!! Best. Show. Ever.
I remember when Netflix first came out. I can't believe it's been 20 YEARS. I'm old....
I live in a rural area and we also have your streaming but struggle to stream sometimes as we have poor wifi. Without your dvd netflix our free time would be pretty boring. And the speed of delivery and return is incredibly fast! Thank you so much!
I remember when my netflix disc arrived, like clockwork, two days after the mailman picks up the disc I'm returning. I stopped even waiting for the disc now. Who knows when it will come. It seems random time-wise.
That's on the post office. More e-commerce (amazon.com) means more packages to ship which means longer shipping times for all.
DVD
I have the same issue... only I know why that is... and it isn't Netflix... its your postal service. I use to have the same postman and use to not be latter than 2 pm, (which isn't the point of why yet) Took me a while to figure it out. At first I didn't even notice it was happening, but then a couple times it like took forever and started to make me upset cause the long it takes it kinda means I'm paying more (*explain that thought at the end*) well Iv called & have sent in a message and gotten my next movie while what ever was gong on was being handed on their end. Very cool of them! Then I was around home more often and notice when we had a sub mail delivery when things seemed to go crazy. I'm not sure what happen to the mailman I had before... but as far as my obsess for movie time goes & other missed mail goes.... He is so so so missed!!! (now my next door gets a lot of my mail since our address is so alike.... drives me bonkers, once they went away for 2 weeks... and my Netflix movie was sitting with their mail... really ugh)
Usually any more I take my movie to the post office its self for best results. I know they work hard and lots probably have to go to budget cuts or what not for why its gotten so crazy. For the most part if I get even a min. before 5 pm Saturdays 4 pm (or what ever you post office time is by) its 3 day total.
day 1 mailed (out of mailbox) .... day 2 their end.... day 3 next movie (in mail box) me oh so happy... hehe
*Now my thought on how much Netflix is... Since I get 2@ a time, I can usually get 4 movies a week which leads to maybe 12-16 movies a mo. Less than 8 and I'm unhappy.
I do pay for both online and mailbox cause, well cant get all I want with just the one way... of course... LOL
Very impressive operation - and thank you!
I hope that all those wonderful PEOPLE featured in the video are being paid a living wage and treated with respect! Thank you, Netflix peeps!
I used to get cracked and unreadable disks before, but not anymore. I can't remember the last time I had one that did not play. Nice work DVD Netflix!
I just want you to know that I LOVE my red envelopes. All the young people in my life stream, but I still love opening the mail to find one (or more) envelopes. It's fast, easy, maybe a little retro, and feels like Christmas when I open the mail. THANK YOU!
You never really think about what goes into you receiving your movies. This ARRM is very cool. I still normally have to wait a couple of days to receive my next DVD once the ones I have are mailed. I don't really mind because I have so many streaming apps to watch movies on that I wait patiently. I was a member back in the days when you first started and could get I believe up to 4 or 5 discs at a time. You have truly come a long way....Keep up the good work.
I love Netflix! Thank you ALL!
Thank you for continuing to provide this service. Since we lost Blockbuster and Hastings, we had almost no options, and streaming is not practical for us. I have noticed, though, that it is taking longer to receive discs.
I am amazed at how far we've come from the Blockbuster days. Keep up the great work.
If Netflix keeps ignoring it's customer's complaints and keeps treating them like what they want doesn't matter, they are going to GO the way of Blockbusters, too!
No matter what some people say, I love Netflix.
Who in their right mind says any different? It's the best thing since sliced bread and 10 inch black & white tvs.
Ditto. They do everything but put the disc in your dvd player for you. So easy!
I've been with Netflix stream and DVD since last fall 2017 and am very pleased with the service and selections so far. Didn't know about suspending one or the other, makes sense since I rarely watch streaming and am paying monthly for nothing.
While delivery times are very good for us, the number of scratched & damaged discs has increased dramatically. In one instance when I reported an unplayable disc and asked for a replacement I got the same one back. I returned it in multiple pieces, I got a playable one in replacement.
You guys should start offering 4K blu rays!!
The best-run company I have ever dealt with. Keep it up!
In the last year, DVD deliveries have slowed down significantly for me, sometimes 3 or 4 days late whereas I used to get DVDs every other day if I returned my just received DVD the next day after viewing.
Been using Netflix for many years. Started with DVDs and added streaming. My wife and I really enjoy using them and are totally happy with the service. Although we wish they would bring back HGTV. Maybe on DVDs? That possible?
Fascinating machine. I think if things are slowing down, it is because of the huge customer base. Netflix is still revolutionary to me.
Great piece of machinery. Too bad it now takes longer to receive the dads than in the old days.
I went back to DVD service because streaming no longer has the movies I want to see. I get about 27-30 DVD's a month and my queue seems to hover at about 200 waiting. Streaming used to be great, but now for me DVD's are the way to see the movies I want. Great to see why I get them so fast now. If I return on Monday, I get the next ones on Wednesday. That's fast.
Wow, I used to run those machines during my time at Netflix! Thanks for the video, it definitely brought back memories! :D
You deserve your success
My name is Alan Sobel
I have to agree with the previous post from Mary Pile; I have been receiving disks for over 10 years. I could set my clock with the turnaround time of 3 days. Over the last couple of years, it has stretched to 5 days here in Southern CA. No closures of Post Offices and no other delays with mail service observed. I wonder if there's an association with the installation of this machine. And a word to Mr Johnson: your machine needs a tune up int he alcohol-cleaning and scratch-checking department. Nowadays, about 1 in every 6 disks I receive either has smudges or fingerprints when I first open the envelope, or the disk annoyingly freezes during playback. I usually end finding the scratches after taking it out of the player and examining it closely against a reflecting light. Totally mood ruining ....
For those of you who are stating your waiting time is really long for the discs, I have to share my experience. I did a lot of research on my turn around times for Netflix discs. First of all, it seemed once the disc reached Netflix, it usually was only 1-2 days before I received a new one. However, I found that there was a LOT of variability in time for it to reach Netflix. So, experimenting with how I put it into the mail system affected how fast Netflix received it.
I don't put it into my mailbox as it is on the street and we have a little pick-up flag we have to put in an upright position to indicate to the carrier that there is something in the box to be mailed. Unfortunately, it is also indicating to everyone else who drives past it that something is in the box as well, so occasionally things have disappeared in our neighborhood. So, I mail at our post office, and have found the fastest turnaround is actually walking it in to the post office as they process it immediately. The mailbox outside the Post Office in the drive through lane seems to give a day delay if you mail it during the day, and if you do it at night when the Post Office is closed and only the night staff is working, it can be a two or three day delay.
What triggered all this research was that I noticed there was about a 3 month period in which two discs were "lost" that I sent back to Netfix, and one envelope was returned "empty". These were all discs I mailed at night in the slot accessible through the drive-through lane after the Post Office was closed. Since I started mailing directly in the Post Office during open hours, I have had no problems with lost or "empty" envelopes.
The boxes outside post offices "drive by boxes" are notorious for vandalism--people throw garbage in them, pour liquids inside, etc. If you care about what you're mailing (and it sounds like you have some scumbags in the area) it's better to leave it in a slot inside the building. If it's already past the box pickup time then you're not losing anything by doing that. (Sometimes box pickup time will be after the inside pickup time, depends how your local post offices are set up to move mail up the chain)
wow what a system...thank you for sharing...
I 'm glad that Netflix recycles the envelopes after the customers return the DVDs. I recycle the addressed part that is removed.
me too.
I look forward to my 2 red envelopes every couple of days. Their customer Service department is excellent.
Ironically, it's in recent years that the delivery seems to have slowed down. I used to be able to accurately predict when my movie would arrive. I understand the machine makes it easier on the people who work at Netflix, but for those of us paying for Netflix, it's kind of annoying for the movies to take longer to reach us.
That’s why this system was created. To make up for what Prickley Pierre said.
It doesn't make it easier on the people who work for Netflix - it makes a different set of people work there, doing different jobs. They all still work a full 8 hours, I presume. The benefits of the machine go to the customers, who get the discs sooner, more accurately, and for less money, and to the stockholders, who get to spend less money.
We DON'T get the movies sooner and our rates just went up this year so I really don't know what you're talking about. And are you a shareholder? Nothing that you said here has anything to do with my complaint which was directed at Netflix. At least the two people who commented before you gave me useful information. In the future, keep your opinions to yourself.
I have to agree with you. I used to get my movies in 2 days now it is 3 days.
Stop blaming the Post Office!! Netflix has closed some of their distribution plants---my disks use to go to Cleveland now they are shipped to Columbus.
I always wondered what the process was... been a member for many years! and have had no problems
Automation up, service down!!! I used to get my DVD the next day, and the return acknowledged in one day, rarely ever two days. Now, for the last couple years it takes three to four days to receive a disc also three to four days for Netflix to show the return. Netflix put the blame on the post office. (?)
I had that issue, I started dropping at my main PO and bang, movies were quick again. Luckily that is easy for me, but I understand the exact issue you have.
That was one of the first things I noticed as well. Maybe the volume of customers have increased, the post office delays or other matters are slowing the return and mailed out copies. Loved the one day service....
I also wonder whether Nx itself adds DVDs to my Queue, in that I can't imagine having added some they send me.
They stopped working on Saturdays a while back. No processing returns and no mailing stuff. That really affected how many movies I could watch a week.
True. Just shut off doing anything on Saturdays. Less movies but keep the same price. SAD!
I also wish Netflix would invest in more DVD's. I often end up renting from my local store because Nflix often has a "short wait" on many disc's- new and old. The turn around time is a least a day longer as the AARM has caused many local facilities to close.... Otherwise an easy company to do business with.
Would be nice if they started offering 4k disc rentals.
Loyal fan of Neflix, they provide an unappreciated service to movie/entertainment media buffs. Miss the days where you could go out rent a movie with your family. For them to stay in business in this unstable economy says alot about them. Nice thing to see the process that comes along with trying to get that envelope to their customers. If you have a problem with Netflix voice it, but don't dog them no paying service is perfect.
I now keep track of when I mail a disc back, so that in the event I still see it on the queue after a number of days, I can accurately say when I mailed (and from where, since I sometimes drop it in at the post office and other times a street mailbox). I also track when they ship it (not from the email, but the queue showing it shipped) so that if I don't get it within their guidelines, I can tell them.
As for cracked and/or damaged discs, in the 12 years I've been a member, sure I've gotten damaged ones, but not to the extent that I could actually say I get a bad one once a month or at some frequency. According to my emails, the last damaged dvd I sent back was in January 2015. The title was Criss Cross. And there were a total of 26 discs in the 12 years that were reported as damaged. Plus 17 that I reported as unplayable (based on the emails I see). So 43 discs. So, 3.58 discs per year with a problem. Not too bad, if you ask me. But if we only go with 9 years, it's almost 5 discs per year that were bad in some way.
One of the things many of us have wished Netflix would do with the streaming service would be to have the ability to have the different profiles password protected. I don't want my kids to necessarily be able to see what films I watched. Many of my friends say the same things and so far, they haven't addressed this.
Next thing I would REALLLLLY like to have them do is when you click on a movie to put into your disc cue, you should get a pop up that says, "You watched this film on (date); do you want to order it again? A number of times I will put a film in my cue and not remember I already watched it. Their computer has the list, how hare would it be to pop up an alert when your ordering it a second time. We do forget things...the computer doesn't.
Sorry, but do you REALLY think Netflix cares about what you want? They ignore all the rest of us, so....get in line.
I was amazed that it took Netflix so long to get separate subaccounts at all. What was it, ten years? I never had to share an account with anyone, but it must have really reduced the utility of the service for someone who did.
So I'm guessing separate passwords won't be coming soon.
You can read on the movies description page if you had seen it before with the date. Your asking Netflix to be responsible for your inability to read it or remember yourself. And sometimes, people want to see a movie again.. BTW. I have sometimes done the same thing queuing a movie that I have previously watched already.. Using the "Stars" to rate a movie is a quick visual aid to see that you have already seen a movie.
Can barely hear this until I crank the volume up past 50% on my laptop... of course that makes sense with all of Netflix' streaming videos being low in volume unless you have a 7.1 ultra-surround system which I absolutely do not need.
20yrs!!
I used to get more DVDs more quickly. What's happened? Now it is a week between sending one out and getting the next one. That's either like paying more, or receiving less--not good alternatives either way!
That's the other side of this automation. It costs too much to do on a small scale, so they consolidated a lot of distribution centers into fewer larger ones. Yours was shut down and your discs are coming from further away.
I live in San Jose, where one of the consolidated distribution centers is, and my discs turn around in 2 days like they always did.
As for your "price increase", sucks for you, but it keeps prices down for those of us who live in the population centers! And since there are more of us, you can understand why Netflix is willing to sacrifice you.
NetFlix needs to provide subtitles for their British based content. Sometimes I can't watch the movie/documentary because I can't understand a thing they're saying because their accent is so THICK.
The discs are superfast for me, but I've had problems with bad disc and just yesterday, the disc was cracked. One thing I did notice is that some movies I put in the queue are later available for streamline. I wish they would have told me that...I wasted a couple of my disc choices that way.
I wonder if this is the reason I get so many cracked discs lately. It rarely happened in the past but the last year or two I've gotten a number of discs that were actually in some cases broken in half. I guess it could be the post office doing it but strange that it rarely ever used to happen.
I have been getting discs since Netflix sent out its very first red envelopes -- I have NEVER gotten a cracked disc. Only once I got one that stuttered and froze but then they sent a replacement immediately plus an extra to calm my nerves. Super company.
Over the past 2-3 months,I have received 2 discs which were cracked all the way through one side,and there was no sign of damage to the envelope Looked like they were shipped that way. In previous years this was extremely rare. Plus,before,all my discs came from Columbia,SC--80 miles away. Now they are shipped from somewhere in GA. Turn around time was 2 days; now it's 4-5 days. The value has definitely declined.
@Captain Cinema --Well, you are very lucky. I haven't gotten a lot but have received about 3 or 4 over the years.
I went through a period early last year (2017) where I was receiving 4/5 disks broken and often the 5th would not play at all. (even checked in 3 different players and performing lens cleaning) Netflix kept sending me replacements and blaming the post office, and still they would arrive broken. I WAS P.I.S.S.E.D!!! ... After about the 27th broken or un-viewable disk I received, I finally closed my account for just shy of 6 months to keep my queue from disappearing. Since re-subscribing again in January, I have been receiving less problem disks, but shipping service has definitely worsened with delays between when Netflix reports disk returns and subsequent next disks shipped on my Queue.
BTW.. If you start getting repeated broken disks, Start logging them with pictures, When I threatened to sue for Netflix's failure to live up to what I was paying for after talking to more than one supervisor (or somebody playing the role for my call) , all of a sudden my history was purged of more than half of the broken and unplayable disks I reported!!! The only reason I still renewed my subscription after this BS was that being disabled and stuck at home, there are few other options for me to go out and find the foreign disks I like to watch.
Otaku Kani what does that mean: your history was purged for nearly half of the reported discs?
Love the machine, hate the fact you can only get 2 discs out now for more money! I was there at the start 20 years ago. I lived through the limited number of distribution centers and slow deliveries. I love Netflix more than the R3B0X... and then the love reverses ... Rentals are still your moneymaker... and the rumors of less selection and termination of DVD altogether and now it takes longer to get titles ... all just starts to sour the milk.
Netflix really Needs to Step their production up the reason being that I'm tired of receiving my movies weeks later then prior to the one is mail back.
With all this automation, including reading barcodes, cleaning the disks and checking for cracks......why is it that I've been receiving MORE cracked and damaged DVDs? There have been at least 4 during the past month.
I wish Netflix would invest more in the disc rental side of their business instead of their streaming business. Seems like money is being squandered there, as the overall quality of their streaming services has gone downhill over the last several years. Disc service is still awesome, although I feel like there is more of a problem in availability now. I wish they would just buy more discs instead of investing in yet another crappy Netflix streaming show :(
Streaming services have higher margins, and thus that will be where you see more of the investment. Especially with 4K content and better ways to compress it without losing substantial quality and not max out your allotted cap with your ISP at the same time.
I agree completely. We have been DVD rental customers almost since the start and do not want to be pressured into switching to streaming. If we've got the disc and it is not damaged we know we can watch the movie whenever we want. With streaming our ability to watch is dependent on how our internet service is working at the moment, a big variable.
THANK YOU OMG.
Their selection in streaming is terrible, but they keep harping on it, ignoring the millions of people who are happy with DVDs.
I love the streaming side. I have a Chromecast device and my pictures are clear and crisp, the sound is OK and they never ever buffer which I get a lot with other services. I am actually thinking about giving up the discs and keeping the streaming because of the content. My only problem with Netflix if you want to call it a problem is that I believe they need a genre for foreign language films instead of lumping them in with other genres...If they could correct this then I would be an even more happy camper...
I, too, love the DVD selection compared to the streaming selections. However, I have some movies in my queue that have been there for 2+ years because they don't have the disk anymore, but still list the movie on their site. (I leave them on there to remind myself I want to own it if I find it).
looks pretty dope
Sadly, it seems more and more every day the selection of DVD's is getting smaller and smaller. I have actually gone out and bought many DVD's that had sat in the "Saved" folder for years! I actually shut my account down at one time because there just wasn't anything coming in even though the monthly charge was always collected. When I restarted my account, it reset everything as though it had just been"Saved"! At one point I had over 100 in that Saved file but through giving up and buying from other sources like eBay, etc., or just taking them out and giving up completely I am still holding right at 30, HOPING for a miracle that I may get one of them before Netflix drops them from their system. I have actually sat and watched one DVD go from "Short Wait" to "Long Wait" and then suddenly just vanishing altogether from my Queue in the span of just two months! It appears that Netflix is slowly, but surely, getting rid of their DVD department and trying to force customers onto streaming video, which I will NEVER do! Oh, and commenting about their crappy service when you post a review goes nowhere. Just read some of the bad comments about broken or damaged or wrong disc shipped. I had one disc that was damaged sent to me TWICE before I gave up and cancelled it. Netflix WAS a good source of DVD rentals but not any more. Sadly, for the short time they may still provide their "service", they are the only game in town, then poof! Gone to streaming video and OUT of my life!.
The problem is not the return, it's the delivery. For every Blu-Rays I rent, one is delivered cracked. It's probably not on the NetFlix side, it's on the post office side. There was a rash of cracked discs that happened in 2009 and now it's happening again. At least with BRs.
.
My guess is its your post office or carrier. Have had netflix for 10 years and have gotten two cracked disks total. Last one was a few years ago. It's really rare.
But, you closed down the nearest return facility, so, it takes two days now instead of the usual overnight.🙄
They need to improve that machine. I feel like I get more scratched discs than ever now.
Netflix is a blessing for people with physical disabilities.
I agree! I have a Chronic Pain Syndrome (RSD/CRPS) and cannot often get out let alone get across the apartment on a bad pain day.. I can't afford Cable TV on what I get from SSDI, nor can I afford fast internet to subscribe to a movie streaming service. Netflix had been my link to entertainment. I only wish they would offer a discount to the disabled much like Amazon Prime recently started doing.
It just sucks that the post office moves slower. My movies go out faster (yay!!) but it takes longer to get here than it used to. I used to get them basically next day...sometimes in 2...but it's around 3 days. But that isn't on you guys. I'm not sure what happened on their end. But it is frustrating when you have unlimited rentals in a move, and their slowness cuts down on how many discs that's divided by. And like right now, my streaming queue has a lot in it so I have plenty to watch, but there are times I'm caught up on that and would like them to deliver it already. Wish I knew what had changed with the PO.
I agree. It's an unfortunate side effect of more e-commerce (cough, amazon) creating more packages to ship and increasing wait times for all. But, that's just the way it is.
The Post Office closed a lot of their mail sorting facilities due to excessive union demands for more money, less work, etc. They consolidated a lot of these closed facilities into one regional area but did nothing about quality or speed. Add this to the fact that they also contracted out many of their delivery services and it was inevitable that service would suffer. Since this consolidation took place I have noticed a big jump in the number of damaged and/or "lost" packages as well. The postal service keeps raising their costs but the service doesn't keep pace. In my local area, once our local sorting facility was closed, mail that took one or two days at most to get delivered, sometimes even in the same day, went to three, four, or more. I have seen, no joke, a so-called "Priority Mail" package take over thirteen days to get delivered! Complaining will get you nowhere because unions take care of their own first and customers are just left with no alternative but to just sit and take it.
Doesn't help when Netflix closes local distribution facilities AND quits shipping and receiving on Saturdays. So basically does a whole lot less work, needs to own a whole lot less discs, and you get a lot less as a customer. For the same amount of money. Or more. VERY SAD.
One day? Interesting, I am up in Idaho and it takes 3 days now. I assume closing facilities is to blame?
Wow 3 days?I live in Los Angeles and I used to get it one day...but now it's 2 days...even though the facility is near by...🤷♂️...
Love my Netflix! My only complaint is having to pay for streaming AND one DVD at a time for when the movie I want isn't streaming.
I'm pretty sure the number one complaint about Netflix and every other streaming service is the dearth of movie titles. The vast majority of popular movies, including just about any recent theatrical movie, are not available on Netflix streaming, so you're lucky that you find the movie you want most of the time.
When I go through the dvd.com catalog to plan my viewing, generally searching by predicted star ratings, I almost never see a movie that is also available on streaming.
I'm sure you're right. I also pay for hbo, showtime, etc so usually have too much to watch anyway. How do you search by predicted star ratings? moving the mouse over the movies in a category? or will Netflix show you 3, 4 or 5 star movies, etc?
Well, bear in mind that not everyone sees the same website. Netflix is constantly testing new versions of the website by showing some people the new one and others the old. And I've seen mine change about once a year (usually for the worse).
But this is what I do: pick a genre, such as Comedy. In the upper right corner, it says "sort by" and I select "highest rated". This wording is incorrect; it's actually sorting by how it thinks I would rate the movie if I watched it. I also uncheck "include rated/seen titles" Now I just go to the first movie in the list (It's "Post Grad" for me right now, and hovering over it tells me I should consider this a 3.6-star movie) and add that to my queue.
dvd.com rating estimates are almost always eerily accurate for me.
By comparison, Netflix.com (streaming) ratings are practically random. If I want to know if I'll like a streaming movie, I type the title into dvd.com. Typically, netflix.com calls it a 4.5-star movie and dvd.com calls it a 2.5.
Well, how cool is that?! I just added a bunch of thrillers. Thank you Bryan.
Interesting video but where I live my delivery is now one day SLOWER than it used to be. Apparently their machine doesn't work in Southeastern Wisconsin!
Something like this is true. The machine is too expensive to use in small-volume distribution centers, so whatever center used to ship your discs has shut down and they now come from a consolidated center further away from you.
Wonder why we recently received a disc that played so poorly we never saw the ending.
After 20 years could we have the film blurbs that are printed on the sleeves written after the author has actually watched the movie?
The discs are cleaned? Not very well. There is usually a fingerprint near the outer edge that I must remove or the playback can fail at the end.
MANY OF MY DAMAGED RETURNS ARE BECAUSE THE DISCS BEGIN TO STICK IN PLAY MODE AND FINALLY STOP ALTOGETHER. THAT SHOULD BE ONE OF THE 'RETURN REASONS' SINCE NO ONE AT NETFLIX IS GOING TO SIT AND WATCH THE MOVIE IN ORDER TO DISCOVER THE DEFECT AND IT JUST GETS SENT TO SOMEONE ELSE. THEY SHOULD ALSO GET BUSY ACQUIRING ALL THOSE 'UNKNOWNS' THAT KEEP ADDING UP.
Why has it slowed down? In late 2019 I got my Blu-ray disc 2 days after Netflix received it...it used to be one day...and Blu-ray discs availability have been longer way longer as of late...
That's cool
Interesting. A perfect example how automation replaces manual labor and at the same time may improve service and obviously the bottom line. I have never received a wrong DVD. And the number of cracked DVD's is lower in the past year although it was never very high. My only complaint is that my return is now sent to NJ instead of my own state MD which slows down the arrival of my next DVD. I hope Netflix will invest in a place in Maryland to improve its old faster service. In the meantime I use my own collection of DVD's or stream. The latter is time consuming to find something I enjoy watching.
I love it when my next Netflix movie arrives in the mail! I'm still "old-fashioned" and like receiving it this way. How can I tell if a movie which I watched and had someone else mail for me was received by you?
I have received several discs from Netflix that don't have any visible scratches, and yet they still skip and freeze. I own several movie discs that are beat to hell and don't skip or freeze at all. I believe that Netflix gets their discs from some substandard manufacturer that provides them with poor quality duplicates. They really should invest more in their disc services instead of their streaming services especially since you can only view new releases with the discs.
Can you please bring back old Netflix please i love it i miss it so much please
Hi Angel, do you mean the Netflix DVDs? Because that is us. We never stopped doing it!
How is I still get broken and cracked DVD"s ? Sure it hasn't happened very often But in the last two years I've gotten Two ???
I've always wondered that. But what I wonder more is how do DVDs get scratched? This presumably happens in people's homes, but the way I use a DVD, there's no opportunity for scratching. It goes from the envelope to the machine, to the envelope. The machine touches the disc only with a laser.
I have an old machine that is more sensitive to scratching than modern machines, so I notice this a lot.
I'd actually say that's extremely impressive to have only gotten 2 cracked discs in 2 years. I seem to get a cracked disc every 4 or 5 weeks. But what I can say is that my delivery time is excellent. Next day they always have my discs, and when they ship I always get them next day.
Maybe it's that most of the DVD's I pick are not the latest but more obscure. and when I do catch up on things more current i get more damaged ones. I'm just supposing because I don't remember exactly which ones were Just my sense of shock
Has anyone else noticed that Netflix online movie choices have gotten pretty lame?
Probably because NONE of their upgraded centers seem to "talk" to any of the others like they used to do to see what they still have in inventory. Have you noticed that you rarely, if EVER, get an envelope anymore except from one place? And the selections have all but dried up on many that they used to have.
I definitely agree... and am quite tired of it. There are way too many international movies as well. Very disappointed.
They always have been kinda lame. There are 4 to 5 times as many disc titles available as streaming titles. But, that said, some titles that I've really enjoyed are available only on streaming, like El Ministerio del Tiempo and all the Lilyhammer seasons. Not clear that streaming is worth the extra cost; I loved it when it was free and the basic disc subscription was 3 at-home at a time. Guess that makes me a cheapskate old fossil.
R. B. Yes. Such a crappy choices. That why I also subscribe to mail DVDs. But even those movies aren't as good as the ones I rented 9 years ago. Still like Netflix, though. Would like to see more foreign movgies.
There is good stuff, but what you watch it, it gets difficult to find other good stuff. That is, the variety isn't there, and they don't rotate stuff as often as they should. I usually stream for awhile, then suspend that and switch to DVD for awhile, then vice versa....I'm not going to pay for both services simultaneously.
There are not enough choices with streaming than there are for DVD/mail services, otherwise I would change my subscription. I check out the choices of Hulu/Roku, (which I subscribe to along with free tv/documentary streaming) BUT Netflix DVD/mail STILL offers better documentary, foreign film, indie films to watch. It would be simpler for me to have streaming only as we do not get US mail sent to our street address in this mountain community. I have to pick up any dvd at the Post Office and hand deliver it there again when sending it back, but it is still worth for me because of the CHOICES offered
But I have noticed that there are not the same wealth of choices as there were 5-6 years ago within the DVD plan, and their classification ease has changed. If I wanted to watch all Norwegian movies (for example) they were all listed by country. Now it is a mish mash.
I wish you would put some investment in disc rentals. I've been with you since you started and I used to be able to get old motorcycle movies, and other odd or difficult to get discs. I've had some movies in my wish list for a very long time so I guess the ability to get these out of the mainstream movies/documentaries have fallen victim to streaming content. Unfortunate. I did enjoy this video....thanks
I got another disk today which would not play. That's 2 within a week.
If these machines are supposed to clean the discs, why do I still get discs with mucky fingerprints on the playing side?
Can you release an extended version of this? I would love an I'm depth look at the inner workings of the dvd.netflix facility
I use both streaming and disc. I hate it when the shows on streaming are trashy comedians, second rate movies or the movie disk is "A VERY LONG WAIT". But other than that...yay!
I'm finding it takes longer to return or recieve a disc, used to be much faster.
Then how come when I get a cracked disc and report it, I end up getting the SAME cracked disc I returned to them? This happened twice. The second time was with Gothika, I got the same exact cracked disc THREE times total and had to give up and torrent it.
When you send a busted disc back you get a Sharpie and write BROKEN all over it so the machine is too ashamed to try to put it back into inventory.
Yeah, how many people did that thing put out of work?
what
Your comment reminds me of what people said in the late 70s and 80s when newspapers changed from people hand-setting the type to having the newspapers printed through a computer system. I took a "Print Shop" course in high school in the 70s because it included learning how to develop film. However, it also included "training" on hand-setting type for a newspaper. I couldn't believe how incredibly boring it was to put all the type in order and then find the appropriate sized space bars to put in between the words to make sure it made nice neat columns. On the positive side, the experience ensured that I did well enough in high school to get into college so I didn't have to do such a job.
If the only thing a person is qualified for is a repetitive motion job, then they must be resigned to the fact that at some point they most likely will be replaced by a machine. And....I am surprised that in the 21st century people still don't "get" that.
ok lawrence summers
Considering the volume of discs being handled daily, it wouldn't surprise me if the number of "lost jobs" was minimal. You still need people to make sure the envelopes are sorted properly (disc heavy on one side, other side is just paper), load them into the machines, take the paper part to recycling, etc. If anything, many people probably just got reassigned to doing tasks that the machines can't do, while letting the machines handle the more tedious of jobs. So instead of sitting down on sore butts each day, straining their eyes to make sure orders match up, they can move around and relax.
You obviously haven't watched Modern Times, Wolfie. You can get it from Netflix DVD. What most people don't have a clue about is that robotics are going to take away more and more jobs, even ones done by many skilled workers and we need to be preparing the society for that. Meanwhile, somebody had best start improving the education system as well. It would help if schools were inspiring enough to make kids want to stay in them.
Will guess the machine missed one of my dvd I rented. The movie kept jumping from one scene to another. I got frustrated and just returned the dvd.
If you contact them and tell them the disc is skipping, they send a replacement immediately.
Ophelia's Fall - Definitely. Netflix did this for me recently. They shipped it the same day I reported the disc error.
I have many CDs that have issues and don't play properly from Netflix. I think the automation may need improvement. And the delivery is much slower than it used to be. :( And the choices seem more limited. I ask for movies and they say WAIT UNKNOWN. It's all the ones my residents really want. :(
Not playing properly might be your machine. I used to wonder how Netflix could stay in business when 1/4 of the discs have to shipped twice because scratches render them unplayable. Then I tried playing one of these discs that my DVD player, one of the first ever made, would not play into my modern computer and it played fine. So now I know - it's not worth it for Netflix to replace these scratched discs because they work fine for most people.
All-in-all, pretty satisfied with Netflix. BUT --- I can count on a minimum of one cracked/non-playing disc per month. I deal with it. Also, either Netflix or the postal service has slowed; I used to get discs quicker --- I'm guessing Saturday is the difference. Netflix must not be doing on Saturday what they DO do Monday-thru-Friday.
Netflix stopped processing on Saturday about 5 years ago. They first announced the plan when the post office announced it would probably stop Saturday delivery. The post office didn't, but Netflix quietly did anyhow.
Netflix releases a video promotes a wrong information. The guy at the beginning of video inserts the DVD into the envelope, and the bar-code orientation does not facing the window on envelope.
He specifically said it is no longer necessary to align the bar code to the window.
It doesn't matter how you return it anymore. The barcode seen through the slot is only for the machine to read on the way OUT of netflix. It doesn't read it on the way IN until it takes the disc out of the envelope.
Good to know. Thanks. I don't have to petrify to send the DVDs anymore.
Sorry, I miss some times. Thanks for letting me know. I would not worry anymore.
I'm the 1000 subcriber yass
I have 20 movies in my Saved Queue when are you going to make old movies available?
Gee, my queue is packed with a lot of oldies. I figure the main limitation is that some aren't available on DVD yet, which Netflix can't help. I do wish they'd stream more oldies, but again, it may not be their fault.
i've got well over 100 of those, and i'm pretty sure almost none of them are ever coming back :-(
You probably NEVER will see them. At one point before Netflix management started pushing streaming videos and such plus automating everything, the centers used to "talk" to each other and keep up with inventory from ALL of their facilities. That seems to not be the case anymore. Now, all you get is from ONE location and if they don't have it, tough! When was the last time you received a selection from any other address but the one they have "assigned" you to?
Fairly recently, actually. It doesn't happen often but I do get them from other states' facilities.
Maybe it is the fault of Netflix since there are many not-so-old movie DVDs they do not offer but can be purchased on Amazon, like:
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
The Getaway (Steve McQueen)
A Fish Called Wanda
Fatal Attraction
Marathon Man
Cocoon
Above the Law
Wag the Dog
So do you check in or mail DVDs on Saturdays?
I thought the bar code had to show through the little window when you return it,the video said it does not matter so whats the point of the little window slot??
The video says the point of the slot is that their machine uses it when shipping the movie out to know what address to print on the envelope.
If it mattered upon return, customers would be given some guidance, like in the old days, to get the disc in the envelope so the barcode shows.
But another video in this series says the post office scans the envelopes and tells Netflix a return disc is coming. I don't know how the post office machine can do that through the envelope, but maybe it does somehow.
Can't wait until Netflix streams EVERY movie they offer. Waiting for movies in the mail is ANTIQUATED.
What happens if I have two DVDs and return them in each other's envelope?
Sometimes people lose/damage their return envelope and have to return two discs in one envelope. That's fine!
That crashes the ARMM as it begins to watch both movies at once and the blue orgies are too much to handle lol
No problem. The machine reads the bar code on the disc and on the envelope to verify. I think the video says that. It also says that it will print a whole new envelope if necessary, and the case that the disc is in the wrong envelope is probably one case of that.
Netflix will come to your door and have you deported. Goodbye!
But movies take way longer to get.....
Pretty cool. I wish it could check for rewinding. There is at least one episode on every TV series disc I get that does not start at the beginning. The last one started in the ending credits and I had to rewind it the whole way. I find I have to check every single episode to be sure it is at the beginning. Otherwise, it is amazing how quickly they turn discs around!
What?
"Be kind, rewind" (as they used to say at Blockbuster)
You DON'T "rewind" a DVD, just tapes!
thanks for bringing a laugh to my day, Marcy!
How do you know when a disc is damaged. I have had 3 in the past year and always write on the jacket that it is a damaged disc?
You can report that it is damaged if you go to your history under your DVD queue. Just click on "Report" and that will let them know the disc needs to be removed from circulation when they get it back from you.
Uh huh...I did that and got the same disc sent back to me with the damage in exactly the same spot! I cancelled the selection so they couldn't send it to me a third time!
Wow I sure didn't know that. But if they are recycling their jackets, unless they are done by automation, they should see my large note written on the jacket. Thanks Richard. They need to have a better way to report damaged discs. I have called them with a damaged one and ask that they send me that disc and the next one at the same time, and they did do that. I thought that was nice.
The video makes it pretty clear that humans never see the jackets. And the machine doesn't know how to read remarks written on it.
Same happened to me several times on the same disk.. they kept sending replacements and I would get it with a similar crack.. Finally after calling Netflix for the 4 time in about 12 days, insisting that they weren't checking into my complaint and was just re sending the same disk back to me, they suggested that I hold on to the disk till the replacement arrived... Sure as shit!!!.. the replacement had a crack in the same exact spot, as did the next replacement!!! It was shortly after this that I finally said "enough" and cancelled my account for near 6 months.
I odeed movie called "Quills" and it was cracked. I couldn't watch it, of course. Go figure.
Ah! I can voice my suggestion! Minor as it may seem, I would appreciate your placing the adhesive flap on the opposite side of the envelope - so I can see that the bar code is visible in the "window" before I seal it. As currently constructed one inserts the disc with bar code appearing in the window and then must turn the envelope over to pull away the tab before sealing it. I'll bet that more than one customer has inserted the disc and mailed it with the bar code not showing. And P.S. keep the politics out of your business (Obama and ilk)
I'm very disappointed with the length of time it takes to get my next disc. They're saying they try to have it in your mailbox the next day! In my experience, it takes close to a week. Terrible customer service. You are paying for a monthly service and they are dragging it out so that you get fewer discs per month.
ARRM took away jobs? :P
More money saved for management perks and bonuses!
Netflix gave those jobs 10 years ago. No business OWES people jobs; move on like that job never existed; take responsibiity for your life.
And less need to raise the price. I'm for it.
Less employees means they don't have to raise prices to keep up with minimum wage laws. If you want, you can donate the $2 you now save every month to a charity if you really do care about others.
Yeah, it fired a bunch of workers and it ate their children for electricity too.
How many people were laid off as a result of automation in 2010?