Netflix slowing down on purpose
I think Netflix has done something that is about one of the most foolish things they could have done. By slowing down service on purpose, but making it sneaky, they have diminished the trust consumers have in their service. I know it makes me cranky.
Now, whenever it takes more than one day for my returns to get to them I wonder, is this just natural fluxuations in the mail system, or is this them slowing service on purpose. When it takes a day between when they say (again, benefit of the doubt is now all but gone) they got the movies back and when they send out a new one, I wonder if this is slowing down on purpose also.
If, instead, they had said "We're very sorry, but the behaviour of people with 3 movies out at a time is taking us below our profit margin, so we are going to sometimes send some movies together in the same envelope to save postage." I don't think anyone would mind. It would be upfront. Maybe that solution had logistical problems at the distribution hubs, I don't know.
I used to feel great about Netflix. I would recommend it to my friends. I would talk about how nice it was not to worry about late fees. I would talk about how it's good to preview a video before deciding to buy it, because there doesn't seem to be ratings available on the web on replay value (as opposed to how good the movie is).
Actually that would make a great website. I wonder if it isn't out there already. Movies could be rated not just on how good they are, but on replay value, since those aren't the same thing. It could be tricky, though. Different people look to different things when they are interested in replay value. Complexity (part of the idea of the Sleeper Curve from a book I've been reading) would be key. I'm not sure what else.
If the slowdown is isolated to the 3 movie subscription, maybe I'll go to 4. But maybe I'll switch to Blockbuster's service.
Right now, all I know is the whole thing makes me a little cranky.
Now, whenever it takes more than one day for my returns to get to them I wonder, is this just natural fluxuations in the mail system, or is this them slowing service on purpose. When it takes a day between when they say (again, benefit of the doubt is now all but gone) they got the movies back and when they send out a new one, I wonder if this is slowing down on purpose also.
If, instead, they had said "We're very sorry, but the behaviour of people with 3 movies out at a time is taking us below our profit margin, so we are going to sometimes send some movies together in the same envelope to save postage." I don't think anyone would mind. It would be upfront. Maybe that solution had logistical problems at the distribution hubs, I don't know.
I used to feel great about Netflix. I would recommend it to my friends. I would talk about how nice it was not to worry about late fees. I would talk about how it's good to preview a video before deciding to buy it, because there doesn't seem to be ratings available on the web on replay value (as opposed to how good the movie is).
Actually that would make a great website. I wonder if it isn't out there already. Movies could be rated not just on how good they are, but on replay value, since those aren't the same thing. It could be tricky, though. Different people look to different things when they are interested in replay value. Complexity (part of the idea of the Sleeper Curve from a book I've been reading) would be key. I'm not sure what else.
If the slowdown is isolated to the 3 movie subscription, maybe I'll go to 4. But maybe I'll switch to Blockbuster's service.
Right now, all I know is the whole thing makes me a little cranky.
posted by David at 11:38 AM
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