Netflix—Further Cuts to Service?

Some years ago Netflix pulled a fast one on their customers. They changed their DVD and Streaming services to separate entities. That meant we no longer were able to stream and receive DVD’s at the same time. They lost tons of customers. We stayed the course.

Now I think they are screwing around with the service again. Our plan allows us one DVD at a time with no limitation on the number of disks we receive during the billing period. Since we live close to a distribution center, I could get as many as three disks a week. I would return one, they received it the next day, and mailed a new selection that same day.  The new selection would arrive the next day. Our mail comes early in the day so we are able to watch the movie in the morning and return it the same day.  In all the years we have been members of Netflix the items I mailed were received the next day. This cycle ran six days a week thereby allowing us to receive three movies a week. Of course, there are times when we only get one or two a week because of a delay in our watching.

Some weeks ago, I learned from news reports that the company was no longer going to ship on Saturdays. Okay, that is no problem for me. I can conceivably receive my three disks a week with this plan.

I have noticed that they seem to have slowed their service further with no notification that I have seen. For the last few weeks, the last DVD, the one that should have been mailed from them Friday to arrive here on Saturday, is delayed. The first time I thought maybe it was a problem with the post office, though unlike some people, I find the post office is generally efficient and reliable. I see now that a pattern has developed. We are only receiving two movies a week for the same cost, and my account states that there is no limit to the number of movies we can get during the month.

I wonder if other people have noticed a slow- down or is this just the South Carolina distribution center. They may be losing another customer soon. It’s not the number of movies, it’s the principle of the thing, as they say. I’m p.o.ed. If I fulfill my part of the contract (paying monthly in a timely manner), the corporation should fulfill their part, too, with no new hidden limitations.