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Discussion: Complaints: October - December 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:
July - September 2017
February - June 2017
December - January 2016-17

30 comments:

  1. comment that disappearedOctober 5, 2017 at 3:46 PM


    Wellesley72 October 5, 2017 at 11:57 AM

    Not only do they lose their exclusive to Disney new releases, most of their Fox/FX shows and content like 30 Rock, but now Netflix has the chutzpah to raise prices from 10 to 14% on all but their basic plan for US customers. I might be able to understand if the new originals that dropped in 2017 were smashing successes but they have been releasing shows and movies of such varying quality that prove that statistics in show business are generally meaningless. Since their international business runs at a loss, this simply looks like a ploy to have US subscribers continue to subsidize the international side. Netflix is going to have to prove that they can still make QUALITY productions, both in TV content and in film, or they are going to lose this long-term subscriber.

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    1. I don't mind the one dollar extra being added to my monthly bill because, let's face it, where else can you go to watch so many movies/series in one place? I also have Amazon but that site is ugly and very user unfriendly (including not being able to see expiry dates without hovering over every title in your list) and has a fraction of Netflix's catalogue. Plus I find myself watching a lot more non-American stuff these days - Australian, British, French, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, German, Spanish, Mexican and so Netflix's catering to foreign markets is great for me as I don't devote my viewing to only the things that topped the box office in the U.S.

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    2. I think Netflix is starting to become too big for its britches. You take away 30 percent of your catalog and now you want us to pay more? More because you're not willing to sit down and bargain for the 3rd party content that its subscribers want? More because you expanded too quickly into 200 countries and need to have specialized content for each one? More because you're spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave and can't afford to cut back on your bills? Nah.

      This won't do it for me (I think I've found more than enough to watch), but I can see a lot of people walking on this raise. Unless they want to go the way of Blockbuster, they should reconsider alienating their customers by charging more for less.

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    3. Luke, good point about the non-American shows. I definitely am not happy about having to pay more for their originals, given how few I watch, but I also don't know that I would want to shell out more for multiple services so that I can watch shows from other countries. If I only watched shows from one region, it would be different, but like you, I watch a good variety.

      Like Brian, I have a pretty large list as well, so $1 isn't going to be the breaking point for me. However, their continual loss of licensed content is frustrating combined with them not getting some of those shows on the DVD side. And with the news of shows migrating to Hulu and/or the rumors of each network wanting their own streaming service, well... it just makes me worry how much time I have left to watch the licensed content.

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  2. I agree. I hope by 2019 Netflix goes under. They are the worst run company ever. They think everyone likes there mature garbage originals.

    I said I was going to drop them after a $1 and it would have happened yesterday if T-Mobile now does not foot the bill for me. If I ever drop T-Mobile or they stop the promo I will drop them that day.

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  3. Starting from yesterday afternoon I've been unable to drag any title in My List up or down the page in order to sort them alphabetically as I've been happily doing for the past couple of months. Now the moment I try to drag a title I get an "aw snap" message on a white screen and I have to reload the page and it it does the same thing every time I try to drag a title. I use Google Chrome. I tried incognito and it did the same thing.

    I switched over to Internet Explorer and I'm able to drag titles. Unfortunately, unlike on Google Chrome, I can't drag a title all the way down my list to where I want it. I can only drag a title as far as the bottom of the screen and have to then scroll down the page so the title is now at the top of the screen and drag the title down some more over and over again until I finally get it to where it belongs. This takes an average of ten minutes per title if the title belongs in the second half of the alphabet. Obviously this is intolerable.

    I've looked online and tried everything and nothing works (including disabling extensions of which I only have a couple such as Adblock Plus). I called Netflix twice last night and both guys who picked up were hopeless and somehow both accidentally hung up on me twice (I wasn't being difficult fyi) but not before the second guy told me it was happening on his end as well when he tried to drag a title.

    So, anyone else here having this issue all of a sudden? It's only happening on My List when I try to drag a title. Nowhere else and not when I try to do anything else. Is there a fix? Considering the guy at Netflix had the same issue, I'm assuming it's a Netflix issue and not an issue with my computer.

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    1. I'm not having a problem dragging, using a desktop Mac and Firefox. Usually problems like this occur when the Netflix engineers are fiddling with the code--maybe here trying to fix a problem that began with a Chrome update--and it tales a day or two or three before things get working again.

      As to the dragging stopping at the top or bottom of the screen, I've found that there is a very narrow window at the top or bottom of the screen where, if I hold the cursor right there, the scrolling will continue up (or down) but, if I go up or down too far, the scrolling stops. You might also try scrolling while holding down the Shift or Control or Command keys.

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    2. I downloaded the Firefox browser and I was able to drag yesterday and today's newly added titles into alphabetical order. The only real difference is that, to move faster down the page when dragging, I had to move the cursor left and right unlike in Google Chrome when you move the cursor to a certain spot at the bottom of the screen. Anyway, much thanks for the tip. You've saved my sanity.

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    3. i don't think that's a new issue. i use firefox, and that's how reordering titles was after netflix removed numeration and the ability to move titles around by number. i called and expressed how time consuming and unnecessarily annoying this new arrangement was and got lip service, but obviously they never brought back the old manual My List with numbers because those of us who use manually ordered My List are just freaks like that. i still use firefox and have gotten faster at moving titles. for a while, it did seem like i could only move a title to the top or bottom of the screen and repeat the cycle as you said. as CanandaiguaNY said, i discovered by trial and error that if i hold the selected mouse at the bottom or top of the screen it will keep scrolling down and faster than i could manually. it's fickle, subject to sudden and unexpected error, and still takes minutes to move a title but not as long as it used to. of course, it used to be just seconds per title, but that's "progress" for you.

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  4. Another honest write-up it is from December 2016 when NF had more content.
    https://blog.rapidweblaunch.com/2016/12/01/why-should-cancel-netflix-account/

    Here is where there are wasting $8 billion dollars.
    http://www.kentucky.com/entertainment/tv/article179668081.html
    Says that they are close with CBS and the CW well they said the same about Fox and soon Notflix will have no fox content left thank goodness it is at least moving to the better Hulu service.

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    1. not all of us have hulu or want to spend more to watch the content that is or was streaming on netflix.

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    2. I understand. Years ago I would not subscribe to any streaming service. Really Hulu was in the gutter for me. However with all the bonehead moves NF made and the other services getting better I did not have a choice.

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    3. in the back of my mind, i still perceive hulu as a free service that started charging. however, when i had a brief trial, i saw how much was on there and how they justified the subscription prices other than the old one they had to see more than the minimum free episodes made available by a studio or network. when i think about who owns hulu, it makes perfect sense that so much content pools there now, making it an attractive service, in some ways more so than netflix with its emphasis on originals and MA-rated content and its reliance on what i call z movies using money that could be better spent on a smaller number of higher quality, better known movies and shows, much of it i'm sure at a bargain if it's being overlooked by the other services as well. i do agree with you that for people like most of us, netflix's decisions are quite confounding; unfortunately, we are in the minority with this view.

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    4. Also I had to uBlock the alert tab on NF homepage. It use to be good suggestion the few NF originals I can watch but lately they just suggest MA rated original garbage for three weeks already the worst being "Big Mouth" so I just block it now. I hope it however does not show up on the TV app anytime soon.

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    5. Me to and I use to use the free Hulu quite often when the ads were not annoying. Just one short PSA ad many only 15 seconds.

      I noticed when Hulu Plus came out the ads increased and got annoying (DTC Drug ads) made me drop the service. Only getting it free from Bing I still never used it.

      I was going to drop them once my free promo came out but then Hulu went ad free NF or then when I started to call Notflix started to remove almost every licensed show I liked for there original content mostly mature garbage.

      Then Hulu got much licensed content exclusive and what Notflix lost when my free promo's ended I kept it and happy pay $11 a month. After Notflix raised there rates I was ready to click the cancel button but then T-Mobile covered the cost even after the stupid increase I kept them but now instead of back in the day when I use to watch NF 6 hours a day I watch 1 hour or less and not every day.

      If NF goes down I don't care but if Hulu or the other services go down I am a nervous wreck.

      I also don't bother checking the NF news as it just bias towards there stupid originals and how they write it is okay NF is losing Disney and insert next company here because we are replacing it with that filth "Big Mouth".

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    6. i used to mute the sound for however long free hulu indicated the ads were, and i always opted for one long ad at the beginning instead of more throughout. i would leave the room. adblock plus also used to block some of the ads, but when hulu caught on it would show a black screen for the duration of the blocked ads. i agree that the free service ads were more bearable than the ones i remember from my paid hulu trial. in the end i barely watched anything during my trial, partly because of the presence of ads. i find it galling to charge a subscription price and still have ads, but then that's how magazines worked, only you could just flip to the next page and not have to look at it for a few minutes first.

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  5. Hulu saving was to come out with a ad free version. Also Hulu new UI is not half bad. Really at least videos don't autoplay with sound and if you turn off autoplay credits are uninterrupted. Also right in My stuff it shows if anything expires a rare for Hulu. The only thing was the X-Man cartoon which came back in one day unlike Notflix when it never came back.

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    1. it's a huge positive amazon prime video doesn't do the tomfoolery netflix does with autoplay with sound or minimizing the credits as soon as they start so that some other program can be advertised and now even start playing a trailer if you aren't quick enough to prevent it. i have to keep netflix muted as well because i simply hate the library music and trailers that play in browse mode. it was much better when you could read the info without any of that or the movie/show itself starting. at this point i have to assume that by not making these settings optional netflix is deliberately dumbing down and numbing its customers to consume more of their content and thus build loyalty through dependence. sickening stuff really.

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    2. NF listens to zero feedback and I though Google and Microsoft were bad NF takes the cake.

      They got rid of the info secret menu telling you the bitrate it now just shows the time, people complainted they bought it back just to take it off again.

      The app does that baboom intro crap the same intro crap when you watch a NF original. They stopped that but now it started again.

      I guess next would be not only shrinking the credits but make the next episode play automatically no matter what like they use to do.

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  6. Great I start watching the Bible mini series and now it is expiring. I am afraid to watch any new "licensed" content on Notflix because 8 out 10 times it expires before I can finish it.

    As long as T-Mobile foots the bill every month I will keep this once great but now pathetic steaming service but my button will be on the cancel button the day they stop footing the bill.

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  7. And if I have too read another freaking article about those foul mouth brats from Stranger Things aka Stupid Things saying NF is fine. They are in big trouble when Disney launches in 2019. Cheaper with more "quality" content. Already I know it is going to be ad free. Just hope it is in 1080p and 4K unlike Disney channels 720p or the pathetic CBS All Access 540p.

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  8. Notflix is getting rid of Lost next month in the new year and it is not on Hulu. I finished it years ago but still now they really have nothing except there mostly filthy originals and the CW shows.

    I guess Notflix rather add two MA rated shows called "Light" and another one "Dark" even thought they are both dark in content.

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  9. I just got my notice that the "cost of your Netflix streaming membership will increase to $10.99 on Sunday, January 14th 2018. Why? So we can add more of what you like to watch. Awesome ..." Well, not so awesome for me.

    I saw in an article in the LA Times, this morning, about Disney's purchase of much of Fox, that one of the principal advantages to Disney of the purchase is the large backlist of films that it is getting from Fox which, added to its own backlist, will give a very large catalog of older and classic films for its streaming service. This is exactly what I want from the streaming service I subscribe to, and what Netflix, increasing, won't have, concentrating, as it is, on its "original content."

    Netflix's DVD side does have a large catalog. That's why I'm more likely to keep that subscription when time comes to replace Netflix as my main film streaming service.

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  10. Customer support at Netflix really is atrocious. They don't know ANYTHING about the company they work for.

    I called them this morning to complain about the fact that the recently added section on the streaming side no longer lists recently added by each genre. Now it's short lines of titles "because you watched Graduation" etc.

    It's only because of an email that was sent to me this morning that I knew about the Japanese series Erased (which I was looking forward to) being added today. It was nowhere on the recently added section of the website.

    Also, they removed the countries from the international section. You used to be able to click on "international" and then, say, "French" and all the French titles would show up. Now you have to click on the magnifying glass and type in "French movies" for the list of French titles to appear.

    The customer support guy claimed that foreign titles and what's recently added "isn't important" to the US market which is why they stop feeling obliged to make all of them easy to locate. In fact half the titles on Instant Watcher that are listed as having been added to Netflix today are NOWHERE to be seen on Netflix's own recently added section. Insane.

    I also brought up the fact that Netflix removed the country of origin on their foreign titles (I brought up the difference between a Spanish movie, an Argentinian movie and a Mexican movie) about a year ago and the running count of how many titles are in My List at any given time and he claimed they weren't deemed important either. In fact, he claimed he thought My List had a limit of just 100 titles and that surely nobody would have more than 500 in My List ever. Ugh.

    And then of course I got hung up on as usual despite my not being abusive in any way. That seems to be a new thing. Hang ups when they don't know how to answer a question.

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    1. the hangups must be deliberate on their part because you've mentioned that a few times now and i always get the "if you don't mind, please hang on for a one-question survey..."

      before the miramax, epix, and universal tv purges and before the numbers were taken away, i had reached 500 titles. i've posted about this before, but they told me they didn't know what would happen to returning titles if the list was already maxed out, so i then kept it several below 500 and added more as space allowed. after all of these contract lapses, i won't have to worry about maxing out My List again, and i have to admit it's hard for me to imagine anyone will unless they compulsively watch all "netflix originals."

      as for new adds, the categories of new releases and even recently added are hit or miss, as you've noted, and aren't necessarily both displayed. i don't tend to see a title in those categories the day it is added; i thought it took at least a day. i try to remember to check https://www.netflix.com/browse/just-added at least once a week to see if it is updated. i like how the web site now links to recently added up top. in my app i also have a separate section for recently added outside of the title browser that shows a different and fuller but visually compact view. if i want to add a title through the app, i'll go there if i don't see it immediately in the scroller because it's more comprehensive and i guess less catered "to the US market."

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    2. In the past, it wasn't unusual for me to reach 500 titles but I'm now down to about 250.

      Over the past month I've been focusing on getting through as many non-Netflix titles as possible. In fact I only have 20 non-Netflix movies remaining which I will be able to get through by the end of the month (if a movie doesn't grab my attention within 15 minutes, I delete it).

      With those 20 remaining titles gone by the end of the month, I'll only have Netflix series/movies left as well as non-Netflix series (plus whatever movies get added each day). Then my focus will be on getting through those non_Netflix series with the idea being that Netflix titles will be there forever and I won't have to worry so much about expiration dates or at the very least a massive purge. Of course if BBC removes their titles...

      Back when the Miramax deal ended, I got 7 days notice on over 40 movies expiring. I don't want a repeat performance of that.

      In regard to recently added titles, I rely on Instant Watcher but unfortunately days can go by without updates on that site even though titles are being added on Netflix which is frustrating.

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    3. Don't get me started with movies that are not in English either dubbed or subtitled. I hate those and they should mark them that they are not in native English.

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    4. I don't call NF CS anymore. They are all young NF original lovers. One even said well I am watching OITNB while working during a call. Really.

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  11. Wow Hulu just got a boatload of animation like Tiny Toons, Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs that Notflix lost. Hulu even has Lost now. What does Notflix have there turd of a MA rated movie Bright which is so bad that they are wasting your money making a sequel.

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  12. HI COMPLAINERS :-) I HAVE PUT UP A NEW COMPLAINTS PAGE FOR JANUARY. PLEASE USE THAT PAGE GOING FORWARD. LINK IS IN SIDEBAR AND FOOTER. THE LINK TO THIS (OCT-DEC) PAGE IS NOW IN THE DISCUSSIONS ARCHIVE SECTION OF THE SIDEBAR. HAPPY COMPLAINING!

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