I signed up with Netflix in January of 2004. For the first 8 months, I experienced great turn around times and had minimal problems with discs that weren't playable. I never received a wrong DVD. There were very few times when I would send a movie back in the Monday run of the post and then not get something back until Friday. However, as of a few months ago this has changed.  
 
Turn around times: I drop three DVDs off Monday morning at the post box. (I found morning makes a difference). Thursday I am e-mailed the confirmation that they received my e-mail. Friday I am e-mailed the confirmation that my movie shipped. Saturday I get one or two movies. Never all three. By Monday, I have all three movies; Tuesday I return at least one to keep a steady rotation. There is a serious lag there. I am 12 miles from the Santa Ana distribution center.  
 
I didn't gripe about price. I was still renting DVDs for far less than Blockbuster and Hollywood Video and I never had to deal with fighting over a new release. When the price went up I was cool, when it went down I was ok as well. Even though they charged me regular price for November when the new price should have taken affect.  
 
Customer service: I have written 19 letters to Netflix. I submit them via the suggestion box. There is no other way to get a hold of them. Their customer service is the worst I have ever seen. Netflix neither cares for their customers or loyalty.  
 
Netflix is a company that will soon find themselves in serious trouble. Wal-Mart is a joke IMHO (mostly because they don't accept master card because they don't want to pay the extra 15 cents per transaction -- yet it's ok that we pay their taxes!). I have been a member of Blockbuster for just under 2 weeks. So far so good.  
 
I think that Netflix has more variety, but I cannot stand a company that flies by the seat of their pants with total disregard for their customers.  
 
Luckily, in my business I can track down executives of Netflix and contact them directly. Perhaps I would be invading their space, but their customer service practices are shoddy to say the least.  
 
Earlier this week I received an e-mail regarding a new member subscription. Within 12 hours, I was sent another e-mail by Netflix apologizing for the mistake. Apparently, they're quick to dig themselves out of a whole, but as long as they have thousands of members, who cares about one or two.  
 
Unfortunately, for them, I live by the motto "treat your customers right they'll tell 4 or 5 people, Treat them wrong, they'll tell the world."  
 
I truly hope that Netflix is blown out of the water by other competition. Blockbuster may not have the variety, but they were so quick to help me when I needed it. Just in case they were quick to help since I am a free trial user, I decided to use a friend's account who has been a member for 2 months, I asked three lame questions on a Sunday night, and I had a response by Monday mid-morning. I was even called by them because they needed clarification on one of my questions.  
 
If I sound upset it is because poor customer service is worse than sending cracked DVDs (which I have had 8 cracked DVDs and 6 unplayable from Netflix in 6 months). Given their turn around time, I haven't got the patience for their poor quality control.  
 
The good:  
Netflix is great about missing DVDs. I had one that never made it to them and without question they knocked it off my list as a returned DVD. I commend them for that. Their site is also very easy to use. It has to be though because they have incompetent morons working for them.  
 

Netflix is still the best. I have never had a problem with delivery times. I live in a backwoods town hours from the nearest city and I receive my movies the next day. I've been using Netflix for three months and only once have I received a movie late.  
 
Blockbuster is an evil company owned by fundamentalist religious people that edit the content of movies they don't agree with, or refuse to carry them. Same with Wal-Mart.

This review was modified by its author, eliza, on 11/8/04 6:18 PM.

Netflix is still the best on the block. They are also the cheapest at the moment (after reducing their prices).  
 
I have tried walmart blockbuster and gameznflix. Netflix wins hands down. Great turn around time and they have more TV series in stock than the other services.  

I have had a 3-DVD account for several months.  
Delivery time is very good (usually next day), but not always next day (probably shipped from a different distrubution center).  
I select about 10-20 movies a month from them.  
I have not experienced the "longer wait" for movies others have complained about, after their free trial is over.  
Their selection is very good. They are the best on-line service.  
The only thing I don't like is when a DVD arrives cracked or unplayable. They will not send a replacement until they receive the damaged DVD.  
BlockBuster.com will send a replacement immediately.  
 
My roomate tried out BlockBuster.com. They are cheaper. I have not been impressed at all. They frequently screw things up!!! Have had the service for about 2 months. Low quality control!  
1. They sent the wrong season for Smallville, 3 DVD's!!! All the sleeves said Season1, but were from Season2.  
2. Delivery time is hardly ever next day, usually takes 2 days.  
3. Have had about 3 times when their DVD's were unplayable. They were scratched, not cracked from delivery. I think that they don't take bad DVD's out of circulation???!!  
Once, I had to order the same DVD title 4 times!!  
I even think they shipped the same bad DVD I had reported earlier, back to me! It had a really strange damage pattern, and i saw the same pattern on 1 of the replacement DVDs.  
 
I tried out Wal-Mart. They were horrible. Turn around time for a movie is about 7-10 days! Hard to believe they could be that bad!

I cancelled Netflix and switched to http://www.rent-a-flic.com, they have so far had way better service, shipping and are cheaper.

I like to get what I pay for and Netflix has a good idea. What I don't like is companies that sell you one thing and deliver another (bait and switch) and Netflix is just that type of company. During the first month I received 95% of the movies I queued promptly, after the first month service suffered severely. It was apparent that once your trial period is over this company earmarks the high volume users and degrades their services. This was proven when I would continually get "long wait" on new releases and friends that had submitted for a new account with Netflix could get these releases all day long. This wasn't a system glitch as I could remove and re-add the release but still received the "long wait" status. In addition to a delayed delivery of new releases, their turn around of received movies slowed down to a crawl once the first month trial was over. Netflix gives preferential treatment to members based off of high volume rentals and does not practice fair service practices. Nothing in their contract dictates penalties for this nor is it ethical in my opinion. I have since canceled service with Netflix and convinced a handful of interested participants to take their business elsewhere. Netflix does not deserve my business nor will I ever endorse them as a reputable online service.

I have been a customer for close to a year now and have been happy. There was only one time when shipments got mixed up, but they remedied the situation quickly. Anytime we have had a problem with a dvd, we mark the sleeve, send it back, and within 2-3 days it has been replaced. I would definatley recommend Netflix to anyone!

I've been a member for a couple years now. Overall the service has been good but their claims of "Netflix can reach more than 80 percent of its subscribers with generally next-business day delivery" really pisses me off. I live about 10 miles from one of their distribution centers. When the center opened last year I did receive next day service for a short while. Now 80 percent of the movies they ship take 3-4 days from the date they claim to have shipped them. Of course 98% of my returns are at their location the next business day. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm trying to view 6 movies per week for $20/per month. I've been more than happy to watch three movies per week. Only now in order to continue watching three per week I have to return the movie the very next day instead of having several days to watch it. Service going down and price going up. Maybe with the increase in price they can hire someone to actually get the movies to the post office by 5PM on the day they claim to ship them.

NetFlix invented the business of online DVD rentals, and does it better than anyone else. I've been a member for nearly two years, and have been very happy with the movie choices available, the speed of shipping, the low cost compared to local rentals and, when problems have come up, how quick and easy it has been to resolve them.  
 
I love being able to choose almost any movie, without having to drive to a store with a more limited selection. The web site recommendations, based on my ratings, have sometimes pointed me to movies I didn't know but really liked. I do wish that bonus discs were included with the movie, but realistically I don't watch many of them anyway.  
 
My movies seem to ship from two different locations. 80% come from the closer center, and arrive in one day. The rest arrive in 2 or 3 days. All of my returns go to a nearby center, and almost always are acknowledged the next day.  
 
During my membership I've had one movie I never got, another that NetFlix didn't receive, and one that arrived damaged, In each case the NetFlix web site let me report the problem and it was resolved very promptly with absolutely no hassle.  
 
I think it is true that your rental history affects how long you wait for popular movies, but I'm not as sure it affects the turnaround time from when they receive a movie from you until the next is shipped out. I think some of the people complaining about this policy don't realize that it is necessary, since otherwise the cost of postage alone could exceed the monthly memberhip fee. Maybe NetFlix should offer a frequent renter option where you would pay the return postage in exchange for more discs out or a discounted monthly fee.  
 
Obviously your cost depends on how many movies you view in a month. In my 3 out at a time membership, I typically see 12 to 14 movies per month, for an average cost of $1.50 to $1.75 per rental. This is about half of the going rate in my area, not to mention greater convenience and the gasoline savings.  

I just wanted to share my experience with. Netflix.  
I've been a member of Netflix for about 4 weeks.  
This also includes the free 2 week trial period.  
I want to point out that I live about 46 miles from the distribution warehouse.  
I am in the 3 at a time plan, ( 19.95 plus tax) and I also return DVD's the very next business day.  
During the 2 week free trial period, DVD's would arrive the next business day. When I shipped my DVD's back, they would receive them the next day as well. Also, another set of 3 DVD's would ship the same exact day as Netflix recieved my viewed DVD's. So based on this quick turn-around, everything looked great.  
Coincidently, after the 2 week free trial period ended, Processing the DVD's is now taking  
"2 business days" as compared to "same day" back in the trial period.  
Also, shipping is now taking 2 business days instead of 1 business day like it was in the trial period.  
In other words, Processing and shipping have taken consistently longer ever since I've been a paying member.  
After the free trial period ended, processing and shipping DVD's are taking longer.  
Incidently, it still takes 1 business day for my DVD's to reach there warehouse.  
Based on what I have seen, It looks like Netflix may be holding on to the DVD's a little longer so they can limit the amount of DVD's that you can rent.  
Of course, we really don't know for sure, but something is definitely fishy about Netflix.  
 
Summary: The free 2 week trial was great, quick processing and shipping.  
However, After the trial period ended, things changed, Shipping and Processing take noticeably longer now.  
Some other reviewers noticed this same pattern,so I know that it's not just me.  
It's clear that something is definitely wrong.  
I just hope Netflix addresses these issues soon.  
 

This review was modified by its author, OVER-KILL, on 4/15/04 4:56 PM.

NEtflix has fast shipping and a good selection of movies. Only thing I am not happy about is that they are raising their prices.

This review was modified by its author, roadrashtx, on 4/25/04 2:16 PM.

When I started using Netflix, I thought it was great. I live close to their shipping center, so DVDs were turned around in one business day, as advertised. That was consistant for the first 2 months. Then things suddenly changed - they must evaluate members' rental histories to adjust and slow things down. Suddenly shipments were delayed. Not occassionally, but 100% of the time. The few times they ship on the day of the return, they wait until after 5PM so the package effective ships a day later. Returns acknowledged early Friday morning are not processed until Monday.  
 
The bottom line is that they have a great concept - IF it were on the level. But it isn't. Once you're in for a while, they take control of number of rentals permitted each month. And that is not as advertised. Personally, I think they should be investigated and forced to adhere to Truth in Advertising.

I have been very happy with their service and selection. All of the problems I have experienced are the fault of my local Post Office.

I have used Netflixs for over a year now, and they provide a great service. You keep 3 DVDs at any one time, and can keep them for as long as you wish. No late fees. The service is only $20 a month, and in that time you could theoretically rent at least 15 movies from them. Compared to Blockbuster, that's a saving of about $55 a month!  
 
Their database is huge, all you have to do is look up the movie you want and add it to your list. You receive whichever movie is #1 on your list, but you can change that quite easily.  
 
Only once or twice have I received a damaged movie. The last instance was only a week ago. I went onto the website and reported it damaged. They shipped a replacement before they'd even received the damaged one that I still had! I sent that one back and everything was cool.  
 
These people that complain about how long it takes, they don't know what they're saying. Netflix has so many more titles to choose from that it's worth waiting three or four days for a movie to arrive, especially if I can keep it for as long as I want until I have time to watch it. I would assume those people who can't wait three days for their movies don't have much else better to do than sit next to the mail box.

Have been a member of Netflix since February 2001. They have since opened a location even closer to my home and I now have myh DVD's about a day after the email is sent. I have had several movies in my queue and they are sent as soon as they are available. Overall, have never experienced a problem with Netflix. Haven't been to Blockbuster in 3 years!!!