Pages

Discussion: Complaints: July - September 2017






The pessimist complains about the wind,
The optimist expects it to change,
The realist adjusts the sails.
William A. Ward, Inspirational Writer





WELCOME TO THE COMPLAINTS PAGE for all Netflix-related issues. Here, you have carte blanche to gripe, grumble, groan, vent, rant, bemoan, snivel, whimper, whine, grouse, growl, repine, bellyache, bewail, or perhaps, offer suggestions for how to prevail. . . .


Older Complaints Pages:
February - June 2017
December - January 2016-17

81 comments:

  1. Good you started a new thread Carol. Scrolling on a mobile browser is brutal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I'll try to be more mindful about this in the future, Tony. Maybe put a 3-month/75 comments (whichever comes first) cap on any one page. I tend to forget that devices other than a computer present different challenges. I'm sorry about the scroll for the last Complaints page.

      Delete
  2. On my rant on Castlevania since it would get lost. I can't believe even Notflix had to ruin one of my favorite video games with a MA rating. I really though this would be different. Then I find out that is not just violent but filled with profanity. I never heard profanity playing Castlevania but no since Notflix can do whatever they want they have to load it with f bombs. Okay so a series taking place in the 1500's is loaded with profanity. Heck even R rated movies that I actually watched in that time period don't say the f word. But Notflix sure thinks so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. That word was in usage in the 1500s, so historically, they're probably on safe ground. I agree, though, that "accuracy" doesn't demand it be included in the dialogue, and that they should have stayed true to the video game sensibility. I'm sure you're not the only one who is disappointed in this change.

      Delete
    2. Tony, have you called Netflix to complain about their lack of family-friendly originals for the older set? I know it seems like most of their family-friendly shows are geared towards little kids. Maybe they don't realize that there are people who want something that adults and older teens can enjoy that isn't filled with more mature topics, language, and scenes.

      Delete
    3. Excattly, I wanted to call them up but as I learned through the years feedback is always ignored with billion dollar companies. Only the small open source and startups actually listen to feedback.

      I was really hopping that for this series. Well like that movie about the giant gray pig I was again disappointed. Now I know Lost in Space won't be for the kiddies another annoying thing these 20 year old's who love there vulgar garbage would say but wait they will say it when the series is out already.

      If you notice with MA garbage they actually won't post the rating until the day the series comes out but with the very few PG content like Fuller House, Unfortunate events and Anne they had the rating up a week before those series were available to stream.

      Delete
  3. http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/futurama-lands-at-hulu-after-netflix-streaming-deal-expired
    Good for Hulu. Get more Fox shows even ones that were never available to stream and screw Notflix they them keep producing more turd mature garbage.

    ReplyDelete
  4. More disconnect between DVD site and the streaming site. I noticed this with another title and thought it was just a one off, but some titles that become available on streaming do not show the "play" button anywhere on the DVD site. If you go to the DVD page for that title, it doesn't show the "play" button below the "in queue" button. For example: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", is now on streaming, but does not indicate that anywhere I can find on the DVD site.

    If you have a title in your DVD queue and it becomes available via streaming, why would they not indicate that? I always thought it was poor customer service to not email you when a title is set to expire that is in your MyList or when a title became available to stream that is in your DVD queue, but this is crazy. Maybe it's "connected" manually and they missed another one? That's not impressive either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. there is probably some delay between when a title starts streaming and when the dvd side of the web site has a play button.

      i have also noticed some titles never getting a play button despite being available to stream. in these cases, the titles were duplicates. each title is assigned a number on netflix (read the URL of any movie or show). sometimes when a movie or show is added to streaming it is given a new number instead of using the existing one, so you would never know from browsing the dvd site since the redesign. i've mentioned specific examples multiple times to customer service over the phone to no avail. in this sense, you are right that there is a manual element, but if a streaming title is correctly matched to the existing "movie ID" then it should show a "play" button eventually. it seems that is more than a day but, i'd guess, less than a week. i agree as well that this isn't impressive, especially for a company doing so well financially and critically. my only explanation is that their admittedly profitable disc rental business is such an afterthought that they commit very little resources to it.

      Delete
    2. We should also keep in mind that Netflix is separating streaming and DVD into two separate operations. Customer service has told me that there are two separate computer systems that, although they communicate with one another, are completely independent of one another. I think there are two reasons for this, both related to the possible sale of the company: Netflix may be worth more sold as two separate entities than if sold as one, and some possible buyers might have antitrust problems if buying one side but not if only buying the other side. When a sale comes, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney buys only streaming and either Amazon or Wal-Mart buys the DVD business.

      Delete
    3. I thought last year that Netflix was going to ditch there DVD service in the US. I can't believe they are still using it.

      Delete
    4. Why on earth would Netflix ditch their DVD service? Doesn't it make them more money than streaming? Plus the majority of movies available on DVD are not available on streaming. It amazes that the same people who constantly complain about there being nothing worth watching on Netflix streaming then turn around and declare that Netflix should dump their DVD side.

      Delete
    5. Rogue One still has no play button. I wonder how many titles in my dvd queue are like this? I watch my queue for this because I would prefer to watch it streaming and when I see a title "acquire" a play button, I add it to my streaming Mylist. If Netflix is doing this intentionally, it becomes yet another reason to consider alternatives. Of course, if they are just becoming sloppy, taking customers for granted or for whatever reason, it is also another reason to consider alternatives.

      Delete
    6. yeah, i've been checking the status periodically and see that it still hasn't been updated. i have no explanation. i'd love to know the reason because it isn't a mismatched movie ID and i can't imagine netflix synchs its streaming and discs databases less often than weekly, and it's been more than a week.

      i usually search for "play" on my dvd queue to see what gets added to streaming, but my dvd queue is intentionally mostly full of titles that netflix will never add to streaming. i'd be surprised if any of mine were streaming but not showing it, but the fact that this glaring example still hasn't been reconciled on the discs side is troubling.



      unrelated, i think i noticed hovering my mouse over titles that under formats tv shows will display streaming as a format (in addition to dvd and blu-ray) but that movies don't list streaming as a format even if a play button appears. i miss when the discs site would accurately display streaming availability data.

      Delete
    7. And, there it is. So, does it just take a while for them to get added to the dvd side or do they possibly read this?

      Delete
    8. It's becoming a rare event when a title in my dvd queue earns a play button. I've put several titles in my queue I would be interested to watch or watch again should they become available on streaming. They are not something I would interrupt my dvd deliveries to watch though. This does clutter up my queue, but we don't have the multiple profiles option available on the dvd side like the streaming side has.

      Delete
    9. your guess is as good as mine. it's probable that someone with some pull is at least aware of this blog if not a regular visitor, and at this point i have to accept the possibility that netflix synchs its dvd site to its streaming catalog less often than once a week. i can't imagine it served any business interest to hide the fact that that movie was streaming from customers who have both services. i also can't think of another title that showed a delay like that, only remember people here talking about getting or almost renting discs only to find out the titles were recently added to streaming, but i think to the effect of within a week, probably 24-48 hours.


      i really miss the advance notice we used to get and don't understand how it served customers to remove it. i know i've already typed the response one less than credible supervisor told me when i asked, that customers could confuse it for dvd availability. unfortunately, the company is clearly set on dividing the two services as much as possible even while retaining full ownership and operation of both.

      Delete
    10. I agree completely. I'm not seeing any business interest in what they are doing, and not doing on this. Only more grumbling customers. I've never understood why they didn't have some bot that looked at your list for expiring titles and notified you by email it was on its way out. Instead, they just hope you don't notice it not being there. Same for a bot sending an email to customers if a new streaming title is in their dvd queue. Users are paying for bandwidth and Netflix is paying for mailing. Is it somehow cheaper for them to mail it vs. serving it up on streaming? From our perspective, it just looks like bad customer service.

      Delete
    11. I think it's because for the longest time, people didn't care. But now that Netflix is losing bigger contracts like Fox, more people are starting to care. Unfortunately, people are dumb and Netflix is still listening to the dumb people. It sounds awful, but it's the truth. I mean, most people I've spoken to don't know that Netflix still offers (or ever did) DVD service. That's how the company got its start!

      Delete
    12. i've been told by netflix most customers use the netflix recommends My List (if that) and hardly anyone uses the manual sorting with any strong organization. i don't know how true that is, but i believe one of the advertised benefits of letting netflix order My List is that it does put to the top or otherwise highlight content that is expiring. can anyone confirm that? we all know they pull content without notice in addition to the paltry 7 days listed on My List for movies and 30 days for tv series that could have hundreds of episodes, and for business reasons i don't see that changing even though it would offer better customer service.

      i do get promo emails from netflix about content added to streaming, mostly tv shows, especially originals, but i think i got an email saying they added dude, where's my car? no idea why they thought that was so important. i've never received an email saying something in my dvd queue has been added to streaming, but based on my experience using both services netflix offers, they don't use one service to complement the other, which is a rather huge failure when you consider the resources at their disposal. even with just one customer profile, my recommendations in streaming were always divorced from whatever i watched, queued, and rated on the discs side of the web site, which is a shame because i have over 4,000 ratings and 11 uninterrupted years of rental history they could use to suggest something more appealing than dude, where's my car? or the latest netflix original.

      Delete
    13. Good points. New users probably don't sign up for dvd service even though the library is vastly greater than streaming. The few I know don't have it. They don't use MyList either. It's more of an instant gratification thing, but I see that as very short sighted. They will also watch 20, 30 minutes of a movie and then flip to something else, so I don't even bother watching what's on when I'm there. The number of times I've heard "Oh, I started that, but just wasn't into it" is outrageous. I guess Netflix could do whatever they want and they wouldn't care, because they have no way of even knowing.

      I have no idea about letting Netflix order MyList. Didn't know that option existed and with what they've done with "Match %" and how far off it is, they might as well go with random sorts. Everything today is presented with an agenda and to move the viewers in the direction the presenters want like to their content. I see they've added "The Matrix" to streaming. How appropriate.

      Delete

    14. This is in response to Lee K, 8/1, 10:04 a.m.
      Hi Lee K, I might not be understanding correctly, but it sounds like you're saying you have multiple profiles on your streaming side, but just one on your dvd side, so only one queue there. I have the same 5 profiles on both sides, so if I wanted to, I could use various queues for different lists. They only ship out of one list, but it sounds like that's what you would want. If this is what you're saying, maybe give customer service a call and see how you can get all your profiles on the dvd side. Btw, I have the cheapest dvd plan - only 2 dvds per month - so it's not a factor of how much my plan costs. If I misunderstood you, well, uh, never mind (in my best Emily Litella voice).

      Delete
    15. Travis, I seem to remember years ago, Netflix would send me an email whenever something on my DVD queue came to streaming. Now it's sort of random and will depend on if that item just happens to be something Netflix thinks I would have been interested in anyway. (I do like the notifications that a new season of a show has arrived, but even that isn't based on what's in my list but based on what they think I should be watching.)

      I know when I would sometimes switch between manual sorting and Netflix recommends about a year or so ago, they would push to the top whatever it was that I had either just moved in manual sorting or just added to my queue. It didn't push up what I was currently watching, and I don't remember if it pushed up what was expiring. (I don't take my list off manual anymore since I'm sort of scared that if I do, I won't be able to get it back.)

      Delete
    16. same here, i don't want to risk losing my order. a customer service rep had me change it a year or two ago to see/test something, and it just looked chaotic to me. i was relieved when i switched it back that my order hadn't changed. i do remember the netflix recommends version being picture-based like the homepage, which i didn't like because i search for words (and dates) in the browser and sorting through hundreds of frequently changing posters in netflix's seemingly random order of preference is not my idea of fun.

      the app sometimes says "based on your interest in..." because i move expiring titles to the top of My List. again, i wish they would make use of my overall data, like having rated or queued work by or featuring this person or a recent interest in this genre. i get a little of the latter in streaming, but because i mostly stream titles that are about to expire, the related recommendations go away quickly, leaving me with seemingly impersonal recommendations despite all of the available data.

      i do get occasional "dvd.com" promo emails, but i think it's usually major new releases they are shipping. i can't recall any coordination with streaming. it always seems to me like they are competing with themselves rather than offering a two-pronged service. their marketing is very different between services. it seems they miss the obvious angle of being able to see more with both.

      Delete
    17. This morning, as a test, I switched from manual to recommended sorting to see what happens to the soon-to-expire titles. Of the four expiring titles on my 325 item list, one was at the top, two appeared in the middle, and one was near the very end. So, they're not all pushed to the top. Nica, I switched back to manual without a problem--my previous ordering was restored.

      I did get two play buttons on my 500+ DVD queue this morning. They've been rare appearances over the last few years, but I'm seeing more of them over the last weeks. When I see a play button I manually add the title to my streaming MyList and then delete it from my DVD queue so I can add another title there.

      Delete
    18. Hi Carol, that is some great information. I don't have multiple profiles on the streaming side, but could see the value for it on the dvd side from what I mentioned on 8/1. Thank you, I will look into that. I also settled on the 2 dvd plan.

      CanadaiguaNY, I do the same thing with my dvd queue looking for the play button and manually adding it to streaming, however I leave mine in the queue until after I've watched it on streaming as a reminder to rate it so Netflix dvd will incorporate that into my future dvd recommendations. I still rate them on the streaming side too since my app still has that and Netflix still records it as it shows when I look at a title on my SmartTV. I don't think it goes into their Match nonsense, but they still record it and display it.

      Sounds like we are all doing a lot of work because of Netflix's, um, confused sense of customer service.

      Travis, btw I spoke to my gf last night and she said she surfed through Netflix's recommendations on streaming and started three different titles and couldn't get into watching any of them. I don't think she rates titles or uses MyList, so I'm not sure what the recommendations are based on. That's just some info I thought I'd pass along on “new users” that didn't grow up with the dvd rental and recommendations based on ratings. It's such a foreign concept to me to just start new every evening flipping through Netflix's recommendations, but obviously people do it.

      Delete
    19. yeah, i think that's basically the norm. i guess a lot of people like to watch the same movies and tv shows repeatedly as well.

      when i was introducing my girlfriend to netflix's streaming offerings (we both had disc memberships), she told me she absolutely wouldn't watch anything in my instant watch list, so i let her pick. she browsed and settled on the bay (barry levinson, 2012). i used to browse netflix more often than i do now and had already lumped this one in with the rest of the anonymous direct-to-video horror on offer at the time. when we finally finished it, she was like, why did you let me watch this?

      Delete
    20. I got resistance on watching anything on MyList too. If it's expiring, there is even more resistance. Like, if Netflix is rejecting it, she definitely has to reject it. It's weird. With all her false starts on watching shows though, she now frequently says “I've seen that” when we are trying to pick something off of MyList. So, maybe I need to set up a profile of stuff she's picked off of my list to watch already.

      Delete
    21. CanandaiguaNY, good to know about switching to Netflix suggests. It sounds like it's still the same random order that it was the last time I had switched to it.

      Lee K, I will leave discs in my DVD queue until I've watched them as well, just so if they are pulled unexpectedly from streaming, they don't lose their spots. I've been doing that since the infamous Sony/Starz debacle in 2011 or sometime like that, since I lost about 10 movies from my queue overnight and couldn't remember which ones I'd lost.

      Delete
    22. Nica, I even go to the extreme of grouping my titles with a play button together in the center of my dvd queue in case one of them unexpectedly (unannounced) loses its play status. None of the titles in that block of play buttons should be without a play button unless they just suddenly drop it from streaming. Back when Netflix was customer friendly and rating a title on streaming also rated it on the dvd side, yellow stars would stand out in my dvd queue reminding me to delete that title.
      I'm sure you remember that, I'm just ranting here.

      Delete
  5. quote Nina
    I think it's because for the longest time, people didn't care. But now that Netflix is losing bigger contracts like Fox, more people are starting to care. Unfortunately, people are dumb and Netflix is still listening to the dumb people.
    end quote

    I agree. Also don't let those stupid 20 year old writers tech bloggers let you hear that. They say NF drops such such content but that is okay because they just added my words more hot garbage original mature content.

    This is why I don't bother with those useless bias sites anymore. Just here, cordcutters.com and aftvnews.com all run by older smarter people not the youth I get all my NF and other service like Hulu getting TGIF news first.

    ReplyDelete
  6. HAAA I am right.
    http://exstreamist.com/your-kids-are-probably-watching-a-lot-of-tv-ma-content-on-netflix-amazon-and-other-streaming-services/
    Stupid Notflix and Amazon making mostly MA rated garbage.

    ReplyDelete
  7. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/disney-to-pull-movies-from-netflix-launch-new-streaming-services.2060709/
    Told you so. So by 2019 Notflix will be all original content. CW WB will have there own service so they will gone too. Terrible.
    I however will sub to Disney. I love Boomerang and Funimation, Hulu but NF mot so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Hi Tony - I copied your comment to the Disney Discussion page, since it is also appropriate there, and others are talking about this topic. Thanks.

      Delete
  8. http://deadline.com/2017/08/gypsy-canceled-netflix-naomi-watts-one-season-1202146744/
    Yes. There is some sanity left in NF. Another MA rated show cancelled down the sewer where it belongs. I am happy and yes they renewed Series of Unfortunate Events 2 more seasons a PG series and Anne (really CBC) another season.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Every week I review the previous week's top ten movies to see if they should be added to my dvd queue. Normally, "top ten" movies get a full five star suggested rating based on my viewing history. As they move up my queue, usually before they become available to ship, they adjust to a more realistic rating as more people rate them. Lately, most "top ten" movies are getting three stars and an occasional four star. Anybody else noticing this, or have I just become so critical that nothing gets five stars anymore?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i don't check the top 10, but i can't think of the last movie on the dvd side* that had 5 stars predicted for me. most of the movies i look at are in the 2.5- to 4.25-star range with a maximum 1-star difference between the average and what netflix predicts for me. because i almost exclusively rate 3 and 4 stars, the predictions are almost invariably within 1-star accuracy for me.

      *as i used to say, i was constantly getting 5 stars predicted on streaming before it sprouted thumbs.

      my only recent observation is the number of ratings has gone down. i recently watched and rated some major releases from the last 2-3 years and was surprised to see how few other customers had rated them. i think it's because most netflix customers are streaming only and these titles were never added to streaming. still, it's a little disorienting to see a run of the mill movie from 10+ years ago with millions of ratings and a hit from a couple years ago with just a few thousand. the ratings are probably polarized as well, 1s and 5s, because with fewer customers there are probably those who feel strongly and want to influence the score who bother to rate it, but it seems to even out. what you may be seeing is those who were enthused over the movie gave it a 4 or 5, and once people start renting or seeing it advertised they bring the average down (to earth).

      there hasn't been a movie released in the last few years that i rated a 5. a 4 is a very good rating to me.

      Delete
    2. Ok, see titles below three stars almost never make it near the top of my list and generally I only move up the four to five star titles. Oddly enough, "Unforgettable" is in transit even though it is rated a three. It seems to be getting a weird political treatment because Heigl "looks" like Ivanka. Skipping the irony of disliking someone because of their looks, it is the only three star in my top eleven "to be shipped" queue. Normally, I only concern myself with scheduling the top 10 or so in the queue. Since I generally agree with the dvd rating recommendations, I frequently rate them the same. Sounds like you do too, but your scale (2.5-4.25) seems to be shifted left of mine (3-5). So, even with a different scale, it works for both of us.

      Back to my org post, if the best of the best (top 10 for the week) are only getting a three star (on my scale) out of the chute, I'm wondering if they will follow the usual pattern of dropping a star, two or more? That's not encouraging since they will never float to the top of my queue. I've never had one go up in ratings, only down. Maybe fewer people rating dvd titles is the correct answer as to why. Hmmm.

      Delete
    3. Oh, one other observation. The top nine titles in my queue are marked "short wait". Apparently, I'm going to have to start managing the top 20 titles.

      Delete
    4. i'd never noticed or seen or heard mentioned any similarity between heigl and ivanka, but i see it now. i remember that movie getting mixed reactions on its merits when it was out theatrically. to me, a 3 seems completely fair (i haven't seen it), but no doubt people rate movies and shows up and down for all kinds of crazy reasons.

      i skimmed my queue, and most titles are in the 3- to 4.5-star predicted range for me. there are a small few under 3 stars, and oddly enough the one with the lowest rating (solid 2) is at the top because of my previously mentioned habit of renting movies and shows with a "Very Long Wait." the only titles nearing 5 are tv shows, which i am a lot more generous giving 5s to (i figure if i watch a whole series over the course of years as it airs then i must love it). even though i find netflix's predicted ratings pretty accurate, i'm not deterred by 2- to 3-star ratings. i may not add them to my dvd queue, but i'll stream them or watch them on demand for free. i love being pleasantly surprised and ending up rating them 4 stars.

      Delete
    5. I think she plays the crazy ex and I can see her playing that part well. Maybe too well. We'll see anyway.

      Because of the "short wait" issue I mentioned, I went through my queue. It seriously needs a purge night. Ugh, I don't just delete movies with one or two stars, because I too like those pleasant surprises. It just takes time to filter out the no-go's.

      Delete
  10. NF lets you now rate there original shows thumbs up or down even before they come out. I already thumbs down some shows that I know will be mature garbage just by reading the description.

    Still ticked off that Brad Paisley is mature rated. Come on I listen to his albums and they don't have profanity. I understand if it was a rap artist but come on country music is not even safe from Netfilth.

    Good read here from 2015 when it was not as bad.
    http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/is-netflix-turning-into-netfilth/
    Don't read the filthy comments though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't care for the original content at all. I did not get Netflix for that. Netflix should just stick to non original content which is what they are best at. the original content is not that good in my opinion. more movies less tv shows in my opinion.

      Delete
  11. Over the past few days I've noticed that almost every time I pause a TV show and then come back to it later (after having dinner or going to the bathroom or whatever) and hit play to continue, it starts playing from the beginning of the episode instead of from where I was when I hit pause. Very frustrating because then I have to remember where I was up to in the episode in order to move the button to start playing from there instead. Anyone else on here had this issue lately?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Hi Luke, I have not experienced that problem. I wouldn't like that at all - sorry you're having to deal with it. I wonder if it makes a difference what device you are watching on. I watch on a Sony smart TV, that has a NF app. I pause a lot, because I get interrupted a lot. Sometimes the pause is very brief, sometimes longer, and sometimes long enough that it reverts back to "rest" mode. When that happens, I get a choice when I go back to it: I can choose "resume" or "play from the beginning."

      If I watch on my laptop, and pause, the show holds my place. The time bar at the bottom of the screen shows where I left off, and picks up there. If I want to start over, I have to move the time bar back to the beginning.

      If you have a time bar, have you tried watching what happens when you pause? Could it be a factor of whatever device/app you use - perhaps a glitch there? Let us know what you use to watch NF, and perhaps someone else who does the same can respond. Also, have you tried calling Customer Service? This is the kind of thing they often know about.

      Good luck; let us know what happens.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Carol.

      I watch Netflix on my desktop computer and so it has the time bar underneath if I hover over it with my mouse. I think I'm going to have to physically make a note of the time before I hit pause and then at least I'll know where to move the button to on the time bar when I return.

      I don't know why this has suddenly started happening.

      Delete
    3. Luke: This has "suddenly started happening" because of adjustments that are constantly being made in the coding in the various parts through which the stream flows. The glitch arises in one of two ways: 1. The Netflix engineers are implementing their latest great new idea which has an unintended consequence that they now have to fix, or 2. There's been an upgrade somewhere else which is affecting the Netflix stream and the Netflix engineers have to tweak their code to compensate (has your computer's OS been recently upgraded? Or some "improvements" made by your ISP? Etc.)
      When one of these glitches arise, I usually wait for it to go away, as it usually does. But Carol's advice to call CS is good. When I've done this, I'll be told either "we know, and our engineers are working on it" or "I'll tell the engineers". When you call it'll probably be helpful if you tell the rep. whether you're using a PC or a Mac, the OS version, and whether you're streaming over the internet (which browser?) or using the Netflix app. This would help them identify where the glitch is, if they don't already know about it.
      I hope this helps.

      Delete
    4. I binge-watched all four seasons of Raising Hope (including putting it on pause before bed and then clicking the arrow to continue again the next day - so hours being left on pause) and I'm happy to report that the issue is now a rare event. Almost every time I clicked the arrow to continue, it started where I left off. Only maybe three times out of four seasons did playback revert to the beginning of an episode.

      Delete
  12. I did end up calling customer service and she wrote up a report after asking many questions and telling me to try multiple things. Then she accidentally hung up on me.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yesterday morning I scrolled through my DVD queue (the main queue and the saved queue) as always to check if any of them were now available to stream and noticed that three recent Korean movies - Luck-Key (2016), Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned (2016) and A Violent Prosecutor (2016) - had a play button next to them.

    I then went to the streaming side of the website and looked them up in order to add them to my streaming queue and the movies didn't come up when I typed in the titles. So I waited until this morning and tried again. No. Still couldn't do it.

    I went back to the DVD side of my website and clicked on one of the play buttons and got a message on a black screen saying "Time unavailable. This title is not available in the United States."

    I've never seen that message before because I've never had a play button show up next to an unavailable-for-streaming movie on the DVD side of the website before. Has anyone else? If so, do the play buttons go away eventually? I assume it's just a momentary glitch even if it's still in progress for two days now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same thing for "The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography", which is a U.S. documentary in my Saved queue. The Play button has been up now for several weeks. On hitting the button I get : "Whoops, something went wrong...Title Unavailable There was an unexpected error. Please reload the page and try again."

      Delete
    2. The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography was on the https://www.netflix.com/browse/just-added page last week. i didn't try playing it or even add it to My List, but it should be available to you now. the korean movies are a head scratcher to me without checking into it. i did see two movies in my dvd queue yesterday with new play buttons that i never noticed added to streaming, but one of them i was anticipating this month from the press release (that netflix says doesn't exist). the other i wonder if i'd get this error. hmm.

      Delete
    3. The B-Side is still not playing for me. Maybe soon?

      Delete
    4. I love Korean movies so I was annoyed that Netflix got my hopes up for nothing that three new ones were available to stream. Oh well. They've been in my saved queue for a year. At least the streaming side added a couple of new Korean series this past week.

      Delete
    5. i just revisited the link in my history, and the streaming site no longer shows the option to play. maybe they are having technical problems or added it too soon.

      (for my 2, they were added yesterday, it seems; i think there is a 24-hour delay for the just added page, which shows them now. that also makes my other theory, that the two sides are out of sync with each other, a little less clear. there did not seem to be any delay on these 2 titles.)

      Delete
    6. you may have noticed, but the b-side has been readded to streaming, if you ever see this

      Delete
    7. A blue play button appeared next to the b-side title on my saved queue this morning, and I was able to add the title to my streaming MyList.
      I didn't know we could reply to archived blog pages. It took me awhile to find this spot after your reply showed up in my email inbox. There's an advantage to checking the "notify me" box.

      Delete
  14. Now the Korean movie Inside Men (2015) also has a play button next to it but comes up with the same message if I click on it. Weird that it's only a handful of Korean movies that have this glitch. No movies from any other country have it and I have American, British, Australian, Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Mexican, German and Canadian movies in my streaming and DVD queues.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'd be quite curious to know the explanation for that. (by the same token, why rogue one didn't have streaming info for, what was it, 2 weeks?)

      Delete
    2. For some reason I couldn't post this yesterday afternoon when I tried. So trying again this morning.

      I called Netflix yesterday and the first woman I spoke to was practically orgasmic over the whole thing, saying how cool it was and also what good taste I have in movies (after trawling through them to find the play buttons). Weird. I was put on hold then she came back and said she had no idea so put me through to the streaming side who, as soon as I'd finished repeating my problem, immediately told me that she couldn't help because it was an issue with the DVD side and so she put me through to the DVD side again. There a third woman wasn't any help either and then, while trying to put me through to the streaming side a second time, ended up accidentally hanging up on me.

      So no explanations for the play buttons at all.

      And today I noticed that the Juliette Binoche movie Slack Bay which I've had on my saved queue for over a year and arrived on streaming today doesn't have a play button next to it on the DVD side of the site. Neither does, as Nica mentions below, the recent Beauty and the Beast remake.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, I've gotten into the habit of checking unogs every day or every other day to make sure I haven't missed anything that came to streaming. For some reason, Netflix is making it difficult to see what is new to the streaming side. Even when they have a title that lots of folks are waiting for (Rogue One, Beauty and the Beast), they seem more interested in pushing their newest show or trailer for an upcoming Netflix title.

      Delete
    4. you seem to have hit the lottery, Luke!

      yeah, i loaded the streaming "just added" page this morning and didn't see BATB, which i think confirms my hunch about it not updating for what is added that day or at least not until after some delay. i thought the dvd page was mostly in sync with streaming adds but that for some reason they hold back on the play button/streaming indicators for major adds, which is very puzzling. that was because i think i noticed two less popular titles with play buttons in my queue (available; i don't used saved) apparently the day they were added to streaming. by that logic, you should have seen slack bay with a play button. i doubt it's a browser issue, but for comparison i use firefox.

      my experiences trying to get customer service dealing with issues relating to both streaming and the dvd site have been frustrating as well. they do not coordinate with each other at all, entirely acting like separate companies. i believe they do share technical support (which we cannot reach directly), but their expertise and focus are firmly in streaming, based on my experience last year. the people we customers can actually speak to are pretty useless most of the time and aren't above lying/making stuff up to get us off the phone.

      Delete
    5. Nica, I do the same thing but I use Instant Watcher though, on the odd occasion, a couple of days might go by without any updates even though I see new additions in the New Release section of Netflix's streaming side.

      Travis, I don't even call Netflix anymore unless I'm really confused by something because, as you say, they're pretty hopeless. At least the people we get to speak to. In regard to lying, I had one guy tell me (when I was complaining about an expiration date issue) that "most people don't care when things expire." The fact anyone could utter that phrase with a straight face is beyond me.

      I've repeatedly asked them to bring back a running number for how many titles one has in the streaming queue and they still haven't and always act surprised that it was removed (if they're not denying the running number existed in the first place). The left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing at Netflix unfortunately. Talk to two people and you'll often get two very different stories.

      I use Google Chrome.

      Delete
  15. I haven't had any titles that have play buttons but aren't really streaming, but now Beauty and the Beast (the live-action one) doesn't have the play button. Maybe it's too early in the day or something, but it's starting to seem more like a trend.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The B-Side is still not streaming for me. The play button has been up on my DVD queue for weeks. Whatever the problem is, it's long-term.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it has a play button on its page on dvd.netflix.com but not on its streaming page. i guess the simpler explanation for all of this is "netflix" doesn't care about "dvd.com" and vice versa. we'll probably see more of these going forward as the discs service continues to rot away.

      Delete
    2. The B-Side on my DVD saved queue no longer has a Play button.
      The are Play buttons for The Bad Batch (2016) and Slack Bay (2016), both on my Saved DVD queue. I was able to add them to my streaming MyList.

      Delete
    3. at this point my guess would be they added the movie prematurely to streaming and took a while to correct the metadata for the dvd site.

      Delete
  17. Mystery solved!

    Remember when I posted about four Korean movies - Inside Men, Luck-Key, Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned and A Violent Prosecutor - all having a play button next to them in the saved section of my DVD queue but couldn't actually be played from there and were nowhere to be found on the streaming side?

    I noticed the play buttons vanished from those movies last night. Then this morning I see all four of those movies (plus six other Korean movies - Big Bang, Beautiful Sunday, The Throne, Mr. Housewife, Running Wild, Underground Rendezvous) are now available to stream in the international movies section of the recently added section.

    I guess the play buttons on the original four were a timing glitch, appearing before they were contractually allowed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'm glad they finally added those.

      yes, i am fairly confident that netflix discs gets estimates of when the titles will be added (metadata). in the case of these movies, the date changed, but netflix didn't update the metadata for the discs site until now. for the b-side, the date was correct, at least i believe so because i remember that movie being added on streaming, but once it was removed from streaming the availability date was never removed from discs. i believe these are the same dates we customers used to see when we browsed the discs site, e.g., hover the mouse over a poster and see Streaming from 9/30/17 or Streaming until 10/1/17. this may also explain the high-profile additions of rogue one and BATB, being somewhat closely guarded by netflix and subject to delays or negotiations, not getting streaming data on the discs side until later. if i'm right, this is proof that netflix really doesn't care about coordinating their web site for customers.

      Delete
    2. I just went to Instant Watcher and see that, in addition to those 10 Korean movies, they also added another 6 Korean movies and well as a Korean series today. So many that they didn't all show up in the recently added section.

      I've usually only seen a handful of movies from one country show up on one day. Not this many. Not that I'm complaining. Hopefully they do the same for some French movies in the future. I'm starting to run low on those.

      Yes I remember being able to hover over titles in my DVD queue and getting a notification if it was coming to streaming soon at which point I'd delete it from my DVD queue so as to not waste a slot when I can just wait a week or two and stream it.

      Delete
    3. i still check https://www.netflix.com/browse/just-added at least once a week, including most fridays, and i notice batches of certain countries' movies and shows being added at once, whether it's korean, indian, or most recently nigerian.

      there are a few korean movies i've really enjoyed, but i have never watched a tv series of theirs. i give netflix a lot of credit for having them available to stream.

      Delete
  18. DVD complaints and comments need there own section. I did not have the DVD service in years and I still can't believe NF offers it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't really care what Carol does regarding a DVD page, but I have to say this:

      Tony, this blog does not revolve around you. It does not exist solely for you. Obviously, others have the DVD plan and use this blog as a way to talk to others with the plan who may be having similar issues. We keep the posts away from the main pages and keep them to the discussion and complaints pages simply because there is no other dedicated page for them. If it doesn't apply, do what others do: skip them.

      Delete

  19. The new DVD Discussions page is up. Links are in the footer and sidebar under Ongoing Discussions. The url is:
    http://expiringonnetflix.blogspot.com/p/discussions-dvd-page.html

    Tony, I decided to create this new page so that information valuable to those who DO have DVD subscriptions (including myself) could all be in one place, where we'll know to look. I'm glad it has the side benefit of not needing to scan through comments not of interest for those who have streaming-only subscriptions (like yourself).

    Do be aware that there might be times when it is relevant to mention something about the DVD side on another page. You might not care about it, but some who don't usually read the DVD discussions will find it interesting. The only page I like to keep an eye on for comments getting too far afield is the main page. Other than that, I like to give a lot of leeway, as long as everyone is behaving respectfully.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. Since I have the streaming service I only care what is expiring. The disk service does not worry about that because they have most of the series and movies on disk already.

      Also I know a few topics might slip here and there but if it turns into a full long discussion then it can be moved to the DVD Discussion page. Makes sense sine my rants ended up being moved to this page.

      Delete

    2. Let me be very clear, Tony. I make the rules here, and only I decide when a comment needs to be moved. In the 2 years this blog has been around, I have had only one contributor that annoyed other readers so much, I had to make a page where his comments could be tolerated. I like you, Tony, and I appreciate some of the valuable contributions you have made. But don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. :-)

      Delete
    3. I understand.

      Also back to my rant I have not been using Netflix much now but since T-Mobile it footing the bill I have not been complaining much because I am not paying for it no more.

      Delete

    4. I think you might have settled on the perfect solution for you, Tony. Netflix is there for the few things it has that appeal to you - for free - and you have Hulu and I guess another service or two that have more to offer of what you like. I'm sure that has helped your frustration level to go way down (just try to ignore all the self-promotion of objectionable stuff on NF). Good goin'.

      Delete

  20. There is a new Complaints page for October, to help keep the scroll-down for comments shorter. There are links in the sidebar, footer, and on the main page. The url is:
    http://expiringonnetflix.blogspot.com/p/discussion-complaints-october-2017.html

    ReplyDelete