Netflix Disc Rental Future

[anomaly7]

For those you use the dvd.com mail service for movies through Netflix, anyone notice an overall quality drop in the last few months. A few things I noticed:

1. Slower turn-around time. Usually if I put a disc in the mail one day, the next day I would get an e-mail saying they received my disc and another saying another one has been mailed to me. Now, on the second day I get one e-mail that they received my disc, but it's not until the 3rd day do I get a response about mailing the new disc. So what was a 3 day turn around time is now 4 (or longer, since they don't operate on weekends).

2. Titles in my queue always seem to be short/long wait. Some I've seen with no wait one day, only to go back to short waits the next day. Yet somehow during those periods they don't get shipped to me, despite being higher on my list than those they do ship out.

It's a shame because it's still better than the film selection than the streaming services, but it's getting to the point I might not be able to justify the cost.

[Streetlight]

Is The House That Jack Built Director's Cut, it says UR, but the runtime is 151 min.

[NotASpeckOfCereal]

Originally Posted by anomaly7

For those you use the dvd.com mail service for movies through Netflix, anyone notice an overall quality drop in the last few months. A few things I noticed:

1. Slower turn-around time. Usually if I put a disc in the mail one day, the next day I would get an e-mail saying they received my disc and another saying another one has been mailed to me. Now, on the second day I get one e-mail that they received my disc, but it's not until the 3rd day do I get a response about mailing the new disc. So what was a 3 day turn around time is now 4 (or longer, since they don't operate on weekends).

2. Titles in my queue always seem to be short/long wait. Some I've seen with no wait one day, only to go back to short waits the next day. Yet somehow during those periods they don't get shipped to me, despite being higher on my list than those they do ship out.

It's a shame because it's still better than the film selection than the streaming services, but it's getting to the point I might not be able to justify the cost.

1. I have not seen this. I've noticed that if you check your queue, you can sometimes see the new film on the the 'at home' list with the just-sent-in film still there (so for me, 4 films rather than the 3 count that is my plan). I won't get the email about having received my disc for another day, but they apparently get notice that the returned disc is in the postal system (on its way). The general turn around time is the same as before, but I have a distribution center that is 'in the greater area' of the city I'm in.

2. I have noticed this on in-demand titles. It would not surprise me if they keep a smaller number in inventory for new discs (compared to before the hey day of streaming), and therefore can't get the just-released titles out to everyone as quickly as possible. However, that was also the case in years past (any kind of wait means that there are more requests than discs in stock, so it's a dynamic thing as to when yours pops off the queue).

But this is just for the 'short wait' (or longer) discs. I have Parasite at #1 right now and it, not surprisingly, has short-wait. Film #2 has 'very long wait', probably because it's an indy film (crowdfunded) that they have very few copies of. Below those two entries, over 95% of my queue titles have no waiting listed at all.

Chris

[Dotpattern]

Originally Posted by anomaly7

For those you use the dvd.com mail service for movies through Netflix, anyone notice an overall quality drop in the last few months. A few things I noticed:

1. Slower turn-around time. Usually if I put a disc in the mail one day, the next day I would get an e-mail saying they received my disc and another saying another one has been mailed to me. Now, on the second day I get one e-mail that they received my disc, but it's not until the 3rd day do I get a response about mailing the new disc. So what was a 3 day turn around time is now 4 (or longer, since they don't operate on weekends).

2. Titles in my queue always seem to be short/long wait. Some I've seen with no wait one day, only to go back to short waits the next day. Yet somehow during those periods they don't get shipped to me, despite being higher on my list than those they do ship out.

I have been noticing this too, to the point where I actually had to report the discs lost in the mail. I shipped discs back on a Monday and noticed, by Thursday, those titles were still showing as "at home." I reported them lost and received new titles the following Monday.

This past Monday, I shipped 3 discs back. As of today, Netflix indicates I have 1 disc that will arrive tomorrow, 1 disc due to arrive Friday, and 1 of the 3 I shipped on Monday still listed as "at home." Service has definitely hit some kind of snag.

[gotmule]

The other aspect I have seen lately is that there are more titles available only on dvd and not Blu-ray, or not available at all. I always used to count on Netflix for having some lesser popular movies accessible, but that is now hit or miss. The Courier is the latest title and even has Gary Oldman and Olga in it, but it is in a saved status. There have been a handful of titles that I want to see, but don’t want to buy, and streaming is not for me.

[Paul.R.S]

Originally Posted by gotmule

The other aspect I have seen lately is that there are more titles available only on dvd and not Blu-ray, or not available at all. I always used to count on Netflix for having some lesser popular movies accessible, but that is now hit or miss. The Courier is the latest title and even has Gary Oldman and Olga in it, but it is in a saved status. There have been a handful of titles that I want to see, but don’t want to buy, and streaming is not for me.

Great avatar pic.

Have you seen Nf carry BDs of titles as "small" as The Courier in the past, say, three years? Per Box Office Mojo, it appears that picture didn't get a US theatrical release (zero gross) and did only $212,000 of business internationally. redbox, which has a relationship with Lionsgate, doesn't have the BD either (only the DVD). Likely a bad example as the movie, to put it mildly, didn't do well at all. 3D-BlurayRental.com has the BD (with a "Short Wait").

Again, it's been made clear to me both by observation and what a rep told me on the phone a few years ago that Nf is just not as aggressively acquiring new disc titles anymore. I think the situation with that title is more anecdotal than indicative of anything new going on.

[Paul.R.S]

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by anomaly7

For those you use the dvd.com mail service for movies through Netflix, anyone notice an overall quality drop in the last few months. A few things I noticed:

1. Slower turn-around time. Usually if I put a disc in the mail one day, the next day I would get an e-mail saying they received my disc and another saying another one has been mailed to me. Now, on the second day I get one e-mail that they received my disc, but it's not until the 3rd day do I get a response about mailing the new disc. So what was a 3 day turn around time is now 4 (or longer, since they don't operate on weekends).

2. Titles in my queue always seem to be short/long wait. Some I've seen with no wait one day, only to go back to short waits the next day. Yet somehow during those periods they don't get shipped to me, despite being higher on my list than those they do ship out.

It's a shame because it's still better than the film selection than the streaming services, but it's getting to the point I might not be able to justify the cost.

1. What city are you in, anomaly? It's interesting that, Dotpattern, you're also in SoCal (and likely send to/receive from the Santa Ana, CA distribution center?) but I've not experienced delays like you have.

What I have noticed in the past two months that is new is that sometimes the site will say something is expected in two days instead of one. What that used to mean is that the disc was not available at my local distrib center and is instead being sourced from somewhere else. They used to send the next disc in the queue as compensation for the delay along with an e-mail confirming same. I'd get the disc and the return envelope would have a different city on it which confirmed it came from some place other than the usual local warehouse. They stopped both the extra disc and that e-mail a long time ago.

What might be going on now is they have perhaps stopped changing the return city address even though the disc came from some place farther way. For instance, The Conspirator (ironically, also a Lionsgate title) shipped to me this past Monday the 10th but the site said the estimated arrival was not the usual next day but the 12th instead. That's when it arrived but with the usual Santa Ana, CA return address.

2. I second what Cereal said about in-demand titles (and titles they just don't have a lot of) and it being a "dynamic thing." I think at best their sense of whether something has a long, short or very long wait is a guess combined with their data on how long a title stays out. But they can't know when something is going to get returned. And my understanding is that what determines who gets it next after a disc comes back in is what customer has had it in their queue at the highest position for the longest amount of time. So there are several variables there.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Paul.R.S

Great avatar pic.

Have you seen Nf carry BDs of titles as "small" as The Courier in the past, say, three years? Per Box Office Mojo, it appears that picture didn't get a US theatrical release (zero gross) and did only $212,000 of business internationally. redbox, which has a relationship with Lionsgate, doesn't have the BD either (only the DVD). Likely a bad example as the movie, to put it mildly, didn't do well at all. 3D-BlurayRental.com has the BD (with a "Short Wait").

Again, it's been made clear to me both by observation and what a rep told me on the phone a few years ago that Nf is just not as aggressively acquiring new disc titles anymore. I think the situation with that title is more anecdotal than indicative of anything new going on.

Good insight. I do believe I chose a bad example as you say.

[FragnitoM]

I think the dip in service has been going on longer than just the past few months... it’s really frustrating at this point. Sometimes it feels like paying the bluray surcharge isn’t worth it. They seem to only be stocking Criterion and Kino DVD only of new releases as well...

The delays are real. It may be because they’ve consolidated and closed some distribution centers, but now it takes 2-3 days for me to get a new disc when they get my returned disc early the next day like clockwork. it just feels like they are purposely delaying shipment or something... mail courier picks up my mail at 4-5pm and the next morning Netflix will have my disc and ship my next disc yet it gets to me 2 (sometimes 3) business days later? Seems sketch...

maybe they’re just understaffed now and marking off shipped discs in the computer and there’s a delay before they can actually pull them and get them out for delivery... I wish Netflix still cared about their dvd rentals as much as the streaming

In their defense, It is still valuable for watching stuff that’s just not available to stream or rent online and I try to load my queue with things I know I won’t be able to see otherwise

[stonesfan129]

I used this service for quite a long time and got kind of put off by it. Lots of titles were "Very long wait" or "Short wait." I kept getting lots of defective or damaged discs. I would report the discs damaged and readd it to my queue only to get the same damaged disc again. What is the point? Then as said, the shipping seems to have slowed down a lot.

[anomaly7]

Originally Posted by Paul.R.S

[Show spoiler]

1. What city are you in, anomaly? It's interesting that, Dotpattern, you're also in SoCal (and likely send to/receive from the Santa Ana, CA distribution center?) but I've not experienced delays like you have.

What I have noticed in the past two months that is new is that sometimes the site will say something is expected in two days instead of one. What that used to mean is that the disc was not available at my local distrib center and is instead being sourced from somewhere else. They used to send the next disc in the queue as compensation for the delay along with an e-mail confirming same. I'd get the disc and the return envelope would have a different city on it which confirmed it came from some place other than the usual local warehouse. They stopped both the extra disc and that e-mail a long time ago.

What might be going on now is they have perhaps stopped changing the return city address even though the disc came from some place farther way. For instance, The Conspirator (ironically, also a Lionsgate title) shipped to me this past Monday the 10th but the site said the estimated arrival was not the usual next day but the 12th instead. That's when it arrived but with the usual Santa Ana, CA return address.

2. I second what Cereal said about in-demand titles (and titles they just don't have a lot of) and it being a "dynamic thing." I think at best their sense of whether something has a long, short or very long wait is a guess combined with their data on how long a title stays out. But they can't know when something is going to get returned. And my understanding is that what determines who gets it next after a disc comes back in is what customer has had it in their queue at the highest position for the longest amount of time. So there are several variables there.

I'm in Orlando, FL, and last I checked there was a distribution close to me. I'm lucky in that regard.

I've seen titles go from no wait, to short wait, and although those are high on my queue list when available, I seem to get something shipped lower on my list. Maybe something happens during the day that would cause it to change.

Maybe they are understaffed at the time. This happened about 6 months ago and then returned to normal, but now went back to being slow again.

Others seem to have noticed a similar trend, so I guess it's not just me. And as others have pointed out, I'm seeing a lot more notices about titles having a shorter wait on DVD.

[Paul.R.S]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

Sometimes it feels like paying the bluray surcharge isn’t worth it.

Mos def I think that "BD access" fee should also be on the list of things they dropped years ago.

Originally Posted by anomaly7

I've seen titles go from no wait, to short wait, and although those are high on my queue list when available, I seem to get something shipped lower on my list. Maybe something happens during the day that would cause it to change.

Yes, frustrating but I think this is simply a function of what happens to be available at the instant the system picks what disc you're going to be shipped next (regardless of what the availability status of the disc that's first in your queue was even just a few moments before that picking happens).

Too bad we don't still have the earlier incarnation of HackingNetflix.com.

[mastadge]

It's definitely gotten a lot worse as subscriptions have dwindled. Aside from the diminished availability of older titles on BD, there are more and more new smaller titles that they never acquire -- sometimes in any format. Also, it used to be that I could reliably send out my discs and if they arrived at Netflix on Monday I'd get the new releases for that week, but now they don't order enough stock for that so week after week the new releases go immediately to very long wait. Except now even a "short wait" is often 3+ months or more, whereas with a "very long wait" they sometimes take pity on you and ship you an available one from a different area. It's definitely getting harder and harder to justify continuing to pay for the service.

[Paul.R.S]

Disc delivery slowdown this week?

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Paul.R.S

Disc delivery slowdown this week?

I dropped Ready or Not in the mailbox last Tuesday, and 21 Bridges shipped out on Friday and in my mailbox on this Monday. Not as quick as it used to be back in the day, but I don’t think it is much longer than it has recently taken over the last 3 months.

The crazy thing I am still trying to wrap my mind around is I ordered a longer cabled microphone for a sub eq system on Sunday from a company in Finland which shipped on Monday and I received it on Wednesday. How is it I can get a $40 part in two days from Finland?

[NotASpeckOfCereal]

I mentioned earlier that I had not experienced any slow-down in my area. I take that back — I have been noticing it of late, and before all the stay-put social-isolation stuff started.

[Paul.R.S]

False alarm for me: In the wee hours, the site wasn't showing that a disc had been received and another kicked out but later in the day it did.

Looking forward to finally watching Snowpiercer tonight.

[stonesfan129]

I use this service and have noticed a lot of titles in my queue are "Very Long Wait." It's like they only have 1 or 2 copies. Maybe someone checks these out and then don't return them for like a week or something. I've also reported defective discs that hung up part of the way through the movie. Readded it to queue after I sent it back, only to get the same exact disc again.

[Stanis]

My wife and I were watching ER from the start through netflix. We were halfway thru season 6 when suddenly s1-7 disappeared from the que. The show now starts at s8? Had to get a free hulu trial to keep it going, I love Nflix rentals but it seems to be slowly dying

[anomaly7]

Since my post a couple months ago, I bumped up my account to 2 discs out at a time instead of 1 and it appears to be working better the last few weeks. Still not as fast as it used to be, and they also aren't as good about updating their queue list for short/very long waits.

For example, I've had Gemini Man in my queue since it was released to rent back in January, and it still shows as a short wait. Usually a movie like that (didn't do very well theatrically, not that popular) would only show a short wait for about a month max, but it's over 2 now. That is not the definition of "short wait" to me.

So yeah, they certainly seem to have fewer copies going around is the only logical explanation I can think of for these changes. I am curious about what method they use for mailing the discs. Is it based on the ranking in one's queue, so simply a rotation of who's next in line to get a disc based on when they mailed back the previous disc.