They are good at first and then they start playing their throttle game. I have been a member several times and it always ends the same way. Their claims of unlimited rentals is a lie. They play games like not checking your movies in for several days, then posting processing for several more, then shipping in 4 days, etc. That is the way you will get limited after a couple months. Then to try to contact customer service is impossible, it doesn't exist. Like I said they are good at first but you will quickly be limited.

I had NETFLIX for a few months... I thought that was the best company , probably the only one at the time so I didn't have much choice...  
 
I did not their service, it seems that in the begining I was getting my DVD pretty fast and then it started slowing and the I got the feeling they were just doing it on purpose...  
 
Then I found out on the new the tatics they were using and that's when I decided to cancel and go look for another rental service... That's when i found GAMEZNFLIX that offer DVD's and games... and... FOR LESS than NETFLIX ! ! ! !  
 
I felt really stupid for using NETFLIX for so long, but I never took the time to look for another service until I cancelled netflix... now I'm glad I did... even though gameznflix is not as big as netflix (not yet), it is growing very fast and I can get all the new DVD releases as well as GAMES ! ! ! I got the special miliraty deal $215 per year for 6 dvd's at a time w/ no monthly limit...  
 
So for about the price of one DVD a month (+-$18)I can get more DVD's I can watch and all the XBOX 360 games they offer.... That's a great deal. period. ;-)

Frankly, handling an average of 1.4 million DVD's a day on behalf of 5 million customers [give or take], I don't see how Netflix could possibly have either the time or the means to insidiously pick and choose who does and who doesn't get preferential treatment on any given day, as has been suggested here by some . Chaos Theory - with plenty of help [let's be fair] from the US Postal Service - can surely feel much the same to a frustrated end-user as targeted malice? Sure, I've had the occasional unplayable disk, and the built-in 'throttle' of their 5-day-week can be a tad frustrating when the weekend rolls around and you have nothing to watch, but overall I've always found their service to be remarkably good and consistent over the 2 1/2 years that I've been a member.  
 
Provided, that is, you just stay in your lane on that auto-piloted conveyor-belt of theirs! Try stepping outside the prescribed point-and-click routine by, say, ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT A 'REAL PERSON', and then you're suddenly lost in space - very much the stranger in a strange land, etc...... They only offer online Customer Service on their website [and even that requires you to jump through a couple of hoops], and it can be 2 or 3 days before you get a reply. I say 'reply', but it's often just a form letter, which - despite being perfectly friendly and polite - as often as not has nothing whatsoever to do with what you asked them. In fact the last time I tried to make contact, they not only completely ignored my question but also managed to erase everything except my sign-off "Thanks", so all I got back was a cheery : "You're welcome!". It felt more like "why are you wasting my time, Fool?" than "how can I help you, Valued Customer?". But finally, after 4 of these ghostships-that-pass-in-the-night exchanges they offered me a phone number [see below], and the issue was resolved 'face to face' in 30 seconds.  
 
So, in conclusion, I'd say that despite the inevitable snafus of a high-volume business, they're still - rightfully and by majority-opinion - the only real game in town. HOWEVER, if you do ever find yourselves needing to resolve something that isn't addressed on their web site [and a lot actually is], I recommend that you save yourselves some time and aggravation by picking up the phone rather than trying to e-mail them. I'm sure they're not evil or vindictive, just overwhelmed and understaffed : victims of their own success, perhaps, like so many before them. Maybe they should just shut down enrollment for a while, and regroup? Oh, and one more question : How is it possible that they don't carry Bernardo Bertolucci's masterpiece 'The Conformist', whilst offering unlimited access to 'Deuce Bigolo : European Gigalo'? Got no reply from them on that one either.  
 
Netflix Customer Service - 800 585 8131 / 800 638 3549 / 888 638 3549.

This review was modified by its author, Kartoffel, on 7/21/06 12:22 PM.

Pros: Exhaustive selection of DVDs  
Eliminates video store hassle(s)  
 
Cons: THROTTLING  
Damaged disc policy  
Horrible customer service  
Did I mention Throttling?  
 
Bottom Line: Netflix is best for the casual viewer who is willing to make sacrifices for convenience.  
 
I have been a customer of Netflix for a little less than a year now and the experience has been tumultuous. The best way to describe my experience is to divide it into three epochs.  
 
The Halcyon Days:  
I decided to give Netflix in 2005 as I was tired of the limited selection at the local video store and rising costs of rentals. As I live near the San Jose distribution center I figured I had nothing to lose. By the end of the trial I was hooked. No longer did I have to spend a half hour driving to and from the video store. Nor did I have to deal with poor selection of anything besides a new release. And on top of that, I was saving money overall due to the amount of rentals I have a month. After several months of satisfication with the 3-at-a-time plan, I decided to increase my subscription to 5 moveis at a time. But the good times would not last.  
 
Throttled!  
At first I was unconcerned that it was taking awhile for certain new releases to arrive. Who cares if it takes a little longer to get Revenge of the Sith when I have a ton of other great films to watch. But the delay on new releases soon began to expand and more films were on the long wait of my queue. I knew something was rotten in the state of Denmark when Skeleton Key took 2 months to get. In fact, any new release was now a 2 month wait guaranteed for me. I knew Netflix had a policy of throttling but I figured I was not outside of the normal bounds of renting. I subscribed to 5 films at a time and it took me roughly a week to view all of them. But when I mailed them at the same time it would show that they were recieved on different days. Furthermore the turnaround used to be 2-3 days as I lived 10 miles for the distribution center. Now it was 5 for some reason. Enraged I complained to customer service via email and recieved a response that thanked me for the feedback but said (I do not exaggerate heere) that Netflix recieves too many emails so they can't respond to them. Needless to say I dropped my subscription from 5 at a time to 2.  
 
The Present:  
Well I still use Netflix as I detest Blockbuster and the local video store is quite small. But now I simply use Netflix for more obscure or older films. Ultimately if you're looking for a video store replacement it all depends on what type of film viewer you are. If you're a film aficianado and view a lot of movies then Netflix is not for you. If you're a casual viewer and looking for something primarily out of convenience (or only rent less popular films)then Netflix is great.

Netflix has been horrible to me since day 1.  
 
I signed up for their 2 week trial. Within those 2 weeks, I received 3 dvds total. I decided to hang on for another month after that to see if it would get any better. Heck, the DVDs get sent to Dayton, OH, luckily, that is where I live! You would think the shipments would be very quick. WRONG. The same slooowwww service was given to me by Netflix.  
 
On top on this, I recevied 3 DVDs that did not work. This may not be the fault of Netflix, but it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Funny how this never happened ONCE when I was subscribed to Blockbuster online.  
 
One other gripe. Netflix does not work on Weekends. They don't send DVDs, they don't process returned DVDs, etc. This means that while you PAY for 30 days (WHICH INCLUDES THOSE WEEKENDS), Netflix is only working 5/7 of the days you pay for. When I returned movies on a Thursday of Friday, the would get processed Monday, and another DVD title would be sent Tuesday, meaning I get it Wednesday. This equates to 12 DVDs per month MAX. Did I mention I live in Dayton, OH?  
In most cases, I would say 9 DVDs per month is realistic. Hmm, might this be the throttling everyone talks about? Unlimited rentals my butt.  
 
Netflix got $19.25 from me, and that's ALL they will every get. STAY AWAY.

This review was modified by its author, Triolent, on 5/12/06 8:12 PM.

they ship your rentals fast in the first couple of months of memberhip. after that they start lagging. i signed up for "UNLIMITED" "3 out a a time" plan. but, by delaying my rentals, they actually limited me to 9 DVD's a month.

I'm surprised by the horrible rating here. Netflix has a huge selection (almost every DVD ever released in the U.S., including TV shows) and they allow for the occasional lost disk.  
 
But understand you won't see a quick turnaround. I'm a two-hour drive from my distribution center and it takes 4-7 days between when I mail back a DVD and when I get a new one. If I return a DVD on Monday, I can expect the new ones on Friday, but that's delayed by two days if the weekend overlaps the waiting period. That's actually not bad though; it means, in the worst case, that on the X-at-a-time plan, you get X per week. Since it's $6/month for each increase in X, the $15 three-at-a-time plan can give you 12-15 DVDs per month. Each $6/month after that gives you another 4-5 per month. That is cheap.  
 
But Netflix does purposely wait a few days before they send you new DVDs. I know they get my DVDs the day after I mail them, but they wait several days before sending me new ones. This is actually spelled out in their terms of service.

I subscribed to Netflix back in September of 2005 for the second time after they asked me to come back and offered me a lower monthly rate for 3 months. I had previously cancelled due to time constraints so I thought what the hell now that I have the time to watch movies I will resubscribe.  
 
Everything was great for the first 2 months of service then in early december it all started going downhill. I have had new releases from Late November/Early December sitting in my Queue for nearly 2 months. I contacted them via their contact link about this and after 10 days recieved a reply saying basically we cant control when this movie will be available. Note that it was not 1 movie but several and as of this writing they are still sitting at long wait at the top of my Queue. I expect these movies will make it to HBO before they ever make it out of my Queue.  
 
After this complaint my service really degraded. They have started to take 2-3 sometimes even four days to release my next films to me. Even though they are getting my returns back the day after I send them every time. This is actually occuring as I type this. I have returned 2 movies which they recieved on Tuesday yet they are not shipping replacements until Thursday.  
 
Once again I contacted them regarded these obvious purposeful delays in shipping and was told that I had recieved more than the monthly average for the month and so my shipments were being given lower priority ( ridiculous! ) They billed my account today before I had a chance to cancel it but this will be the end of my relationship with Netflix

Honestly, I understand the grievances of fellow users on some issues regarding Netflix. They claim a one day turnaround but this is a bit ambitious. I have the basic one at a time unlimited program and it usually takes about 3 to 4 days to receive a replacement after I have mailed a DVD. I don't get worked up about it since I only pay 10.00 a month. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives. No late fees, even with the delay you still get about 4 to 5 rentals a month at the low rate of 10.00. These products are mailed to you,are the most recent releases, and the website is extremely helpful and easy to use. However, if I had one of the deluxe programs I probably would be more concerned because I am not sure if it is worth the added expense.

This review was modified by its author, Snugglebug, on 1/18/06 11:48 PM.

Over a period of three years I had a netflix subscription for most of that time.  
When they hiked their prices a while back I left.  
early last year with the lowering of the prices I returned, at first to the entry level then gradually I went back to the 8-out at a time plan.  
 
When I left this time they didn't even provide a place to tell them how upset I was with their poor service. So I have to tell it here and hope it will help others.  
 
Most of last year they would usually get the dvds back within a couple days of me mailing it. Tulsa to OKlahoma City. Almost everytime they would delay an entire day before shipping out any new dvds. Basically 2 days there, 5 or six days for me to get the new disc.  
In the last few months they started putting farther locations on my "nearest processing center" return disc locations to advance the time it took for me to return movies.  
I was sending discs to Atlanta, New York, Texas, Arizona, California, and this last week during the christmas holidays they wanted me to send a disc from Tulsa Oklahoma to Honalulu Hawaii.  
The last three weeks I was with them I got a cracked disc every week. No wonder if they are adding to the american taxpayer burdern on a large scale adding useless postage miles to deliveries, and increasing chances discs will be damaged. But that's okay I'm sure postage stamps arent going up because of one company's greed.  
Anyway, I had other bad experiences along the way, but I finally got tired of giving them +$50 a month for bad service.  
I have a MVP plan at Hollywood Video that costs me about $17 a month and I get a lot more movies than netflix sent.  
I love watching movies on my time off, I hate all those reality shows on TV. Too bad netflix isn't part of that anylonger.  

This review was modified by its author, phoss, on 1/7/06 12:45 PM.

Obvious 'throttling', slowing down of service. Business practice contradicts advertising of unlimited rentals.

I admire Netflix for revolutionizing the world of video rental. I like the fact that you can stop and start membership and there is no contract. Their delivery times used to be lightning quick but that has slowed considerably as they have gotten more customers. Their web site is very easy to use and you can even watch trailers for movies now, which I love. They're not PERFECT, but I would still prefer to give them my business over Blockbuster for having come up with the concept first.

Netflix is a terrible business to rent DVDs from, based on my personal experience of ~1 year. My DVDs were not sent in a timely matter and wen I questioned why this was occurring, the computer generated response from Netflix thanked me for bing a good customer - and nothing more. Google Netflix and you discover my experience is similar to the majority of Netflix customers. STAY AWAY FROM JOINING NETFLIX!!! There are many other online rental sites, including Blockbuster!

The horror stories seem to be true. I did not read up on them before I started and it was really awesome for a month or two, I was getting 8-9 movies a week with 1 day turnarounds. We had just had a baby so we just laid back and watched movies until the honeymoon came to a screeching halt. Around Xmas the turnaround time went way downhill, I mean like 3-4 movies a week...maybe.  
I called them and was told that blockbuster offered a similar product and that I was free to leave when I returned the movies I had.  
The practice that I am experiencing is called 'throttling' and it is because in the world of 'unlimited' movies it is seen that someone getting as many movies as I do is not profitable. They should just come out and say that or give up.  
No customer support responses and long wait times for new releases to the tune of 3 weeks+.

After reading through all the other negative comments about NETFLIX, I see that I am not alone. The preferential treatment during the trial period and the purposeful degraded service thereafter. Since the trial, shipping takes 2-3 days instead of 1, check-in takes 2-3 days instead of 1. Unexplained shipping delays for items listed as available now. Even though you can recommend movies they don't offer, it appears to be an exercise in futility. Apparently they think providing an area to make recommendations is good enough, although they never act on it, nor respond. They don't offer any way to contact customer service; the have a suggestion area. I tried this, to complain about their service. No response. As far as selection, I don't think its as good as BlockBuster (a really excruciatingly slow mind-numbing service, it actually hurts), I found they don't offer Superbit DVDs nor a lot the directors cut, unrated versions I was looking for. I thought it was great during the trial, but it sucks big time now! I'll be cancelling after this month is done.