I have five television sets. (I like to think of them as a set of five televisions.) I have two DVR boxes, three DVD players, two VHS machines and four stereos. I have nineteen remote controls, mostly in one drawer.
—Rick Moranis
WELCOME TO THE PAGE FOR DISCUSSIONS ABOUT NETFLIX'S DVD SERVICE!
This page is a place for subscribers of the Netflix DVD service to talk about anything related to that experience: problems, new wrinkles, changes in the design of the page - or anything else.
If you currently subscribe only to the streaming service, but have questions about getting DVDs, you'll find lots of help here.
For contributors to this page: While it makes sense to use this page for most DVD-related comments and questions (complaints, too), there might be times when there is some cross-over with the streaming side. For example, if a much-loved, but hard-to-find title is expiring from streaming, it's fine to let everyone know it's available through Netflix DVD. Likewise, if there is significant news, say, if the DVD service were to be done away with, that would qualify as something of general interest.
Also, if a discussion here takes a turn that would make it of interest to a broader audience, feel free to leave a comment on another page, such as the main Discussions page, letting us know it's here if we want to check it out. I'm not thinking of this as a "don't put it anywhere else" kind of page. More of a "common topic" kind of page, so that people who have the same interest can group/find information more easily.
ReplyDeleteI have put up this new DVD Discussions page because the prior one had almost 200 comments. The link to that page is above. If you need to refer to any of those comments, you can copy/paste the comment onto this page, and go from there.
Regarding availability of DVDs on Netflix, I have classified them into the following categories:
ReplyDelete1. They show up when I search for them, but they have Save instead of Add. These are further subdivided:
A. Available only on Blu-Ray, even though I know they were available on regular DVD at one time. Examples are "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "How the West Was Won".
B. Movie was recently in theaters (pre-COVID-19) or released directly to another streaming source (COVID-19 era) and has not been released on DVD yet. Current examples are "Hamilton" (Disney Plus) and "Rebecca" (2020) (streaming Netflix). Pre-COVID-19 examples that eventually made it to Netflix DVD are "Parasite" and "The Postcard Killings".
C. I know the movie has been available on DVD, but for some reason Netflix doesn't have it now, not even on Blu-Ray. Example is "The Sandlot", a really awful baseball movie that nonetheless shows up on almost every All-Time Best Baseball Movies list. This is a Disney movie that several people told me I would like that I tried finding on Netflix right around the time that Disney Plus started up. After I got it from a library, I discovered that I didn't like it at all. (I have an ongoing project to watch a lot of baseball movies.) I wondered back then if Netflix was being forced to pull their Disney DVDs or at least not being allowed to get more to replace worn-out ones.
2. They don't show up at all when I search for them. These are further subdivided:
A. I know they have been available on DVD because, for example, I was able to get them from a library.
B. They may not have ever been available on DVD. Some of the movies I've looked for have turned out to have been movies that were made for TV rather than cinemas. Some of these can be found on YouTube, taped directly from a TV broadcast, with varying quality.
Since 2001, I have been looking for the movies "Unchained" and "Putting on the Ritz", with no success, although I haven't looked in about two or three years. The latter is from Irving Berlin, and I have heard that his estate has not granted distribution rights to anyone for any of his movies.
there are also a 2A1 and 2A2.
Delete2A1. was once available on dvd, may now be out of print, regardless isn't listed on the site. fun time: try googling the following:
site:netflix.com name of movie or tv series
you may find a listing on the streaming site (no dvd subdomain), and you may even find a deindexed (hidden) entry on the dvd site that might have the word "unavailable" shown. movies they used to rent that are out of print or no longer distributed to them go saved (with or without blu-ray), unavailable, or are simply removed, like they were never even there. the number of titles in the netflix catalog has shrunken tremendously since streaming took off. some of the phantom entries humorously still come up indirectly in searches within the site because they were linked in editorial lists.
2A2. movies and shows that are newly, in the last few days/weeks/months/years, issued or reissued on dvd (and often but not always blu-ray) but not stocked or even indexed on the netflix dvd service. these may be new movies or shows or new editions of older ones, even tv movies and miniseries, but you won't find them on the site to rent or even to save to your queue.
a word of caution about youtube, the movie may not be how you remember it. that's because to avoid automated copyright detection these can be sped up, mirror imaged, stretched, cropped, and obstructed by the uploader, who doesn't own the rights to it. you're better off first checking if these are on some of the free, ad-supported streaming services that license cheap content, including that never released on dvd.
Thanks for this information. I try not to watch a theatrical movie on a site with ads. I will watch a made-for-TV movie or, if it originally aired on a network with embedded commercials, I will put up with ads. I did watch a theatrical movie on the ad-supported service tubi (available in my Xfinity plan) because it wasn't on any other streaming sources available to me at no extra cost. The only libraries in my metropolitan area that I have library cards from that have it were 30 or more miles away. In the pandemic, I am not going that far.
DeleteI now have Disney Plus and Hulu (with ads), so that will expand the number of movies I have access to. But I suspect that I will be watching more theatrical movies with embedded ads on Hulu, tubi, etc.
I am waiting to see if Amazon Prime will have any sign-up deals in the next few months.
i really don't care for ads either, especially in theatrically released movies. i watched one on crackle years ago and disliked the experience. still, with fewer movies available to rent on disc from netflix and obstacles to borrowing them from libraries, one must be resourceful, and the ad-supported model is here to stay. as well as tubi and crackle, check out pluto tv and imdb tv (viewable from amazon video, home of prime). if you want to avoid ads, before settling on user uploads on youtube, where the picture may be distorted, search for it on archive.org, where they are often downloadable as well for offline viewing.
DeleteI also have Hulu with ads. I haven't experienced any ads in the middle of a movie, only at the beginning and sometimes the end.
DeleteHere's an experience I had watching a movie on PlutoTV. I watched it for a while. I saw one very brief ad; in fact, I think it was an in-house ad for Pluto. I had to take a break and then tried to watch the movie again a few days later. It started from the beginning; I had no option to resume where I left off. I realize that the point at which I left off was not remembered because I was not a registered user and thus was not signed it, if they even have a user registration option for this service. This realization came after I explored tubi or one of the other ad-supported free services and saw that the point at which someone stops a movie is remembered only for registered users.
DeleteAnyway, when I tried to resume this movie, I fast-forwarded, stopping every so often to see if this is where I left off. But before I could get there, at two different points, I couldn't fast forward until I sat through a block of ads, probably 3-5 minutes. I decided that the trouble I was having was not worth it for this particular movie and thus abandoned my efforts to continue watching it. It is a movie that came out more than 50 years ago and was one of the first R-rated movies I ever saw.
curious if anyone is getting anything this holiday season. the last one i was sent took a day longer than estimated to arrive from the usual facility, so we're back to that. it was picked up thursday last week but wasn't scanned to be marked as received friday or arrived today. in addition, they still list the previous one as out with the post office weeks after it was signaled as returned.
ReplyDeletebetween this and a USPS package recently taking a week and a half to arrive, i decided just to let these run their course this holiday season and focus elsewhere, even though it does annoy me that i pay the same whether i get two or no red envelopes per week through no fault of my own.
i'm hoping others are having better luck with this. either way, enjoy the season in good health.
I am having issues right now, too! On Tuesday, December 1, I put a video in the mailbox in front of the Post Office that serves my home. Often, I put these in an unofficial drop box my apartment building has in the lobby for outgoing mail, which our Postal carrier empties when delivering our mail, but that day, I was going to the Post Office to send out a package (which reached its destination within a short time), so I took it there with me.
DeleteI checked my Netflix DVD app the next morning, but nothing had been sent from my queue. I figured that a scan got mixed, which would only have been about the 3rd time this had happened as a Netflix DVD customer (2 1/2 years now). Based on past experience, I expected it to arrive by Friday, 12/4. While I would not get a new DVD sent out until Monday, 12/7, I would have gotten an email that afternoon saying they had received it and asked me to rate the movie.
Over the weekend, I played around with the app to see if there was a way to report a sent-back video as missing. I saw that there was. I decided to try it, thinking that if it was too soon in their estimation, I wouldn't be allowed to proceed with this request. But I put in the information, including the date I had mailed it and where, and I was told that a new DVD would be sent out to me.
I forgot to check on Monday morning if a new DVD had been sent, but Monday afternoon, I got an email telling me that TWO DVDs had been sent out, and they had received the video I had sent back the previous Tuesday. Both DVDs showed up on Wednesday, 12/9, taking only what had for most of my subscription period been the normal two days instead of the three days I have sometimes been experiencing lately. Because I hadn't watched either of the two DVDs I already had in my possession (because I've been streaming a lot lately), I suddenly had four DVDs out from Netflix at one time. I did watch one later that Wednesday and sent it back from the unofficial building lobby box on Thursday. I did not get a new DVD sent out on Friday, but I figured it was because they knew I had gotten an extra one that last time.
I watched another DVD this past Friday, 12/11. I missed the Saturday Postal carrier's arrival, but since I had to go out to the store for some things, I swung by the local Post Office and dropped it in the mailbox out front. Seeing a notification about this message in my early morning emails reminded me to check the app to see if anything got sent this morning, and, NO, nothing did!
I don't know if the scanning device is in my local Post Office or in the sectional center, but I wonder if it's been dismantled. I'm going to try to mail from boxes that are served by a different Post Office if I have a chance. I'm not too far from the sectional center boundary, so if I still have this problem after using other nearby Post Offices and I'm on the other side of that line, I'll try mailing from there.
But as part of Netflix's possible plan to dismantle this service, they may have removed all of these scanners now to drive their customers away.
this morning when i saw that nothing was marked as returned and i still had two at home (the one i mailed back weeks ago and the next one mailed last week) with nothing coming, i started to "report a problem" and indicate on my end it was returned. in the end, i decided not to. they may get it tomorrow, in which case it would be moot to report it today because they won't ship until tomorrow anyway. i also have a morbid curiosity over how long it will take on its own and am taking it as a sign to spend my time differently (these two discs were each more than 2-hour time commitments).
Deletemailmen are supposed to scan the barcode outside of the envelope when they pick it up. i have had to remind the district supervisor to have his people do that when they missed it multiple times, and they had been good about doing it for the last few months until last week. i'm guessing they missed it this time and that this won't be the return of the bad habit, so i didn't contact the supervisor over it. of course, it's to netflix's advantage they don't get the return scan, but i'd be surprised if there was any dismantling; if anything, maybe conveniently not receiving (ignoring) the return scan from USPS. then again, maybe the distribution center is closed for COVID or something, and since most of us have the same one, i wanted to poll whether anyone's had something shipped since friday.
It occurred to me after I posted my earlier response today that maybe the one I sent back last Thursday through my building's Postal carrier also didn't get scanned that night. I figured that I didn't get a new one sent out on Friday because I got that extra one. I just got the email saying that they received that one. Usually when a DVD that didn't get scanned eventually gets received by Netflix, the new DVD went out the morning of the day I get the email. The emails come in the afternoon, several hours after the DVD went out. Since no DVDs went out this morning, then this was likely due to the extra one I got earlier.
DeleteDuring some nights in which I had insomnia, I did some spot checking of when DVDs got sent out on days when I was expecting this to happen to see what time they were shown in my app as having been sent. It's been a while now, but I think I determined that it was between 3 and 4 am Eastern time. This could be true for the other time zones, too.
the one that i sent on thursday last week was acknowledged as received this afternoon, so i should get one shipped tomorrow morning, as i hoped and half expected.
Deletei've never used the app, but on days when i expect one to ship, i've noticed changes in the 4 AM hour (eastern) looking at my queue on a browser. it might start with a blank slot under at home and a general message about shipping something, or it might say the title but not have dates yet. usually by 8 AM it will list as shipped, with the USPS-provided expected date of arrival. (i have it on direct knowledge that they ship in the early morning.) a confirmation email tends to come in the afternoon or evening.
i still have not gotten an extra shipment for as long as i can remember. it used to be standard if they shipped something from far away, but now it just takes longer and there's no bonus rental to make up for it. maybe it's because i'm on one out at a time, and, if not for the delays caused by USPS delivery and lack of scanning, i'm less profitable for them. (i think they should waive my monthly fee for the amount of testing and feedback i've given them over the years, but that's pretty unlikely.)
Travis, did Netflix send you a new DVD on Tuesday, December 15? If so, did you get it yet? I started two new topics about my issues this week. (Today is Saturday, December 19.)
Deletethey did not. it turned out that because USPS had not physically returned my previous rental, which they successfully scanned 2 weeks earlier as returned, netflix did not send me a new rental on their own, even though my more recent rental was physically received, meaning i clearly had nothing out on one out at a time. i called, they said the system is automated and i should have reported the older rental as lost even though USPS had scanned its return. i said it shouldn't have been my responsibility at that point. they reported it, cleared it, and made it so something shipped on wednesday for delivery friday, which i've commented on below.
DeleteAre you saying that the scanning begins when the mail is taken out of the box? When I've observed Post Office employees emptying collection boxes, they put everything in a big sack, not looking individually to see if there are any red Netflix mailers. That would be a very labor intensive process. I pictured this being part of the mail sorting process in a sectional center. Now, when the mailman on my route takes the small amount of mail out of the unofficial box in my building's lobby, he can easily see if there's a Netflix envelope. In fact, at least one other person in my building has a Netflix DVD subscription because I've seen outgoing envelopes that I didn't put there in the box. This box is of the type that a house would have outside its front door - open the lid and put in the mail. We had one on the house we moved to when I was 15. My bedroom jutted out of the front of the house upstairs, and the mailbox was up against my exterior wall. I could hear it scrape against the brick wall if I was in my bedroom when someone opened it.
ReplyDeletethen or at some point thereafter. for me, it's taken out of a cluster mailbox, similar to your building lobby outbox. i suppose that due to volume a blue mailbox might get dumped and then scanned at the post office.
Deleteso sayeth the district supervisor:
"Travis when the carrier receives your Netflix it should be scanned once its picked up and recorded based on that scan. I will speak to the staff over in that area to ensure that if there is a return barcode attached Netflix won’t send you another until the return is recorded which is that scan. I will follow up with you about this. Thanks"
Status after my mail delivery Friday, December 18:
ReplyDeleteI currently have one Netflix DVD in my possession. I watched one on Wednesday and sent it out with yesterday's mail. We got hit with a lot of snow on Wednesday, and when I put it in the lobby box that night, I didn't even know if we would get a mailman's visit yesterday. But we did. Because of that, I hoped that I would see in the app that a new DVD was sent out this morning, but nothing was. So nothing will be sent until Monday at the earliest.
As a result of either the DVD I sent back on Thursday, December 10 or the one I sent back on Saturday, December 12, one got sent out on Tuesday of this week (December 15). (Remember, I had four out at one time - see one or more of my above posts for details.) Yesterday (Thursday) was the earliest I expected it, but no such luck. Today, I went to get my mail with the great expectation of getting it and was even planning to watch it right away and send it out with tomorrow's mail to try to get another one by Christmas. But all that was in there were two charity solicitations for the other person in my household, and he told me he already gave to both of them. A big disappointment. I sure hope it comes tomorrow. I hope I get the one sent out as a result of sending another one back the other day before Christmas.
The one DVD I have now is "The Godfather Part III". I saw the first two as part of my Oscar watching project. It's a long one. I do have a lot to watch on streaming services, especially with several ones I'm interested in expiring on streaming Netflix, HBO, and elsewhere at the end of the month. But I want to get my money's worth from the DVD service this month!
The Android app is showing the message, "Your shipment may be delayed as the USPS is experiencing unprecedented volume increases." I have seen another variation that refers to COVID-19. I tried to report the movie sent out on Tuesday as not received, but the first day I can do it is December 20, which is Sunday. If I don't get it tomorrow, I may report it on Sunday, but I'll probably wait until after Monday's mail arrives if I don't get it then.
The other person in my household has been expecting an item from Federal Express. (Are they officially FedEx now?) It was sent Next Day Air but had been sitting in a local transfer facility for a few days as of early this morning. Because I had to run a few errands, I volunteered to go there and pick it up (not far out of my way), but when he called, he found it had been put on the truck for delivery by 8 pm today. I don't think it's here yet. I did see a package for him when I went to pick up our mail, but it was something from Walmart that he ordered just yesterday and didn't expect so soon!
No new DVD on Saturday, December 19 either. The only things in my mailbox were two charity solicitations (both addressed to me) plus a weekly community newspaper that is supposed to arrive on Thursday but usually comes later. Last week, we didn't get it until Monday. They have announced that the December 31 issue will only be available online.
ReplyDeleteI'm still going through baseball movies lists that I've found online. By now, I've seen most of the movies on various lists I've encountered, but the one I'm going through now has "Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch". It's next up for me. This list is a Best Baseball Movies list, but this movie also shows up on some Worst Baseball Movies lists. I don't place much credibility on best or worst now because "The Sandlot", a really awful movie, shows up on just about every Best Baseball Movies list.
Since "Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch" is the fourth movie in a series, I need to see the first three before I watch that one. (There's also a fifth movie, but I will probably not watch that one unless I absolutely love the first four, which I doubt will happen.) Netflix DVD has the 1st and 3rd movies in the series in addition to the one of interest to me. The 1st one, "Air Bud", is the one that was sent to me on Tuesday the 15th but has not yet arrived. The 2nd one, "Air Bud: Golden Receiver", is not available on any of the streaming sources available for free to me, not even Disney +. (Some or all "Air Bud" movies have a Disney connection.) But several libraries near me have it. I will need to reserve it for a curbside pickup. Library checkout periods range from 3-21 days. I don't want to reserve the 2nd movie until I know when I'll be done with the 1st movie. Now with the holidays coming up, the libraries that have the DVD won't have many pickup time slots available, possibly none until January. Once I have seen the 2nd movie, then I can move the the 3rd one to the top of my queue, followed finally by the 4th one, which is the one I wanted all along.
The next baseball movie on my list is available as a Netflix DVD, so I am probably going to move it to the top of my queue to be watched along with earlier "Air Bud" movies as they become available.
It's so frustrating that the charity solicitations, often sent non-profit or bulk rate, are reaching my mailbox, while my Netflix DVD, my bank statement, and one of my credit card bills are way overdue. (At least those two are available online, but I would hate to think that my bank statement, which contains my full account number, is in the wrong mailbox. That has happened before.)
The other person in my household finally got his several days overdue Next Day Air Federal Express shipment today.
my experience is just that i was supposed to get something friday and didn't then or saturday. USPS's 2-day delivery estimate has now blossomed into 4+ days. my queue has that same banner at the top with the message copied from USPS about delays. it's all very understandable, but it bears repeating that the biggest loser is the customer, then USPS.
Deleteas far as dismantled sorting machines at USPS, i have to assume the ones taken apart in the summer were never put back together. on-time delivery is down significantly just from 3 weeks ago, noting that some mail just sits in the facilities.
a couple years ago in december i didn't get several pieces of mail delivered to me that i was expecting, including a big check. a few weeks later i got a parcel of this undelivered mail rubberbanded and left at my front door one day. more recently, my mortgage statement i knew was coming from my informed delivery email never arrived in my mailbox. two weeks later, my neighbor across from me left it at my door. it was unopened, and i'm on autopayment, but i agree, it's not good to have bills lost and misdelivered.
there is a brand new director's cut of The Godfather Part III out now with a different ending and other changes if you want to see it as well.
i can't vouch for the Air Bud series. i still watch what i call family movies and animated ones; some stand up better than others in adulthood. i can't say i've ever seen Air Bud recommended for adults, although if you like films about/starring dogs then maybe so. if you want a recent baseball family one that is still enjoyable, check out disney's Million Dollar Arm.
i almost always go in film order as well. it's usually the first that interests me, but if i missed it theatrically and a sequel comes out, i won't see that until i've started from the beginning.
I saw "Million Dollar Arm" earlier as part of this project.
DeleteHere's the status of everything right now.
I opened my mailbox to see a lot more mail than I had gotten the past two delivery days. I even saw a bit of red sticking out near the back. Netflix! But alas, it was another charitable fundraising item. Still no "Air Bud" today.
I reported it missing as soon as I got inside my apartment and requested that a replacement be sent out. Remember, 12/20, which was yesterday, was the first day I could report it as not delivered. Once thing I noticed is that I got a display asking me to verify my address and to change it if it is not correct. I'll bet that there are a lot of people who move and forget to give Netflix their new address, and new DVDs get delayed coming there. I can see that people might not have time to watch movies while they're taking apart and packing up their stuff, unpacking it at the new place and setting it up, and doing other stuff that has to be done when moving, so they haven't sent a DVD back to Netflix in a while. (At least they remembered to take the one or ones they had out to their new place. Forgetting to do that, or forgetting where they were packed, is probably another issue that people have.)
But then I felt that maybe I was too hasty in reporting the DVD lost when I noticed that among the other things that came today was a holiday card from one of my cousins. It was postmarked last Monday, December 14, the day before the Netflix video was sent out. She lives in New Jersey, the same state the Netflix videos are usually sent to me from, but she is farther away from me than that origin point, Trenton.
So if mail is taking a week to get from New Jersey to where I live, the Netflix DVD that was mailed last Tuesday should get to me tomorrow. If I do get one tomorrow or Wednesday, that will certainly be the one originally sent. Otherwise, it could be either one (assuming the replacement is sent tomorrow).
In the meantime, I sent one out with the mailman when he came to my building on Thursday. In the old days, it would have been scanned that night, with a new one sent on Friday. That didn't happen. But two things happened today. First, this morning I noticed that a new one was sent today. And second, I got an email from Netflix in the afternoon telling me this plus telling me that they had received the one I sent back on Thursday.
There was a big article yesterday on the front page of the Sunday paper where I live about all of the mail piling up at post office facilities. Oh, I did get my bank statement today. I usually get it around the 10th-12th of the month.
nothing for me either. no mail at all in fact since thursday. at this point, i'm not going to rush to watch my netflix, as a new one won't get to me until next year anyway. nice racket netflix has going.
Deleteyes, there was a news report i heard today about warehouses full of UPS, USPS, and fedex packages to be delivered. it stands to reason that if packages are delayed worse than usual, so is other first class mail.
Regina, if I read all this correctly, you have a 2 disc plan but had 4 out a time at one point due to delays and such. You'd have to send back 3 discs before Netflix will send you the next one, thus putting you back on the 2 out at a time.
DeleteI don't know if you're using the site or just the app, but the site has a big banner informing customers about heavy delays at the post office because of COVID. Mail is seriously delayed because of a few things. 1) COVID. Any exposure requires that a mail carrier quarantine for 14 days, so someone else has to cover their route or the route is skipped for a day. You can imagine the havoc this causes in sorting warehouses. 2) DeJoy's changes. DeJoy's been pushing to stop overtime. This significantly slows down the mail. My local post office is about a month behind on packages. He's also removed a lot of sorting machines, and while the discs aren't supposed to go through the machines because they're fragile, all of the other mail that could go through is getting backlogged, so the discs end up backlogged, too. In their rush to get things back, they might not be remembering to scan all of them, especially if the people who are sorting aren't their regular employees. 3) Mail priority. Packages are the priority right now, and there are a ton more of them this year than this time last year. Certain routes have someone whose only job is to deliver the packages, so you might get a package but not the rest of your mail if the carrier who would handle your route is quarantining and no one else is available to fill in. It really ISN'T Netflix's fault that the DVDs are taking so long.
Hi, This is Regina Litman responding from a different device than where I usually reply, so I am probably not signed in with my usually login and can't figure out how I did set up my sign in there. I don't have the notify option available to me right now.
DeleteI'll respond in more detail in the next day or so, but I need to set one thing straight. I have an account in which I can get 3 (THREE) DVDs at a time. That is the maximum currently offered to me. If I could get more this time. The Twitter page that Travis mentioned in the now-archived thread where someone could request a higher amount no longer serves Netflix DVD customers. I tried contacting them one day last week with the purpose of doing this, but they told me I had to call a customer service number to reach the DVD department.
i don't have the tweet in front of me, but it was from the dvd department (which does tweet at @dvdnetflix, but they would tell you to call about this). the streaming department would do the minimum to help you with a dvd subscription. the number you need to call is 1-800-585-8018, but if you get your service code from the dvd site (or maybe app) first, it will speed up your call. the point about asking them for a higher plan stands, but i would recommend waiting until january. Nica is right about the source of the delays, and maybe this will sustain the dvd service a few more months at our expense.
DeleteOkay, I'm back on my usual device. I found @dvdnetflix, and I happened to see a reply they made to someone else in the past few days telling them they can get up to 8 DVDs out at once by calling some customer service number. I'm not going to do this right now for two reasons: 1. I'm paying Netflix enough money as it is. 2. If I did up my DVD count, the way things are going, I probably wouldn't get the new ones until well into January anyway.
DeleteI have streaming Netflix and have never seen the "Back to the Future" movies. They are leaving Netflix on December 31. Maybe I'll binge watch them while waiting for the Netflix DVDs to arrive. The Indiana Jones movies are leaving Netflix then, too. I know I saw the first one in a movie theater when it came out and probably saw the second one, too. Maybe I'll binge watch those four, too. Two or three movies I probably want to watch, including "La La Land", are also expiring on HBO. The date given for them is 1/1/21. I have been meaning to test whether this actually means 12/31/20. I'd hate to postpone one of them to the 1st only to find out it expired on the last day of the previous month. I'll test this with one I already watched or one that I wasn't interested in watching.
One of my nicknames for myself is "The Spoiled Princess". Our power doesn't go out much (thanks to underground lines), but when it does, I will sometimes post on Facebook that "The Spoiled Princess" is upset. I feel like "The Spoiled Princess" right now. I have had such dependable mail service all my life that I am spoiled, and it's hard for me to accept that things are not running properly, and it's not business as usual.
Yesterday (Tuesday 12/22), we got one item in the mail, a package for the other person in my household. Later that day, I saw Nica's post about how some routes have someone whose only job is to deliver packages. Inspired by that, I checked the mail again, in case some non-package items came after that. But there was nothing.
Today (Wednesday 12/23) was the first day I could expect the DVD Netflix sent out on Monday in response to the one I sent back last Thursday. And there was still hope for the one sent on December 15. Of course, neither one came. I did get a charitable donation request postmarked Monday from a place in my local sectional center. It probably got processed differently than something that would come from NJ.
I'll keep checking my mail, of course, but I am now resigned to not getting anything from Netflix until after the first of the year.
If the mail is back to normal, and Netflix is still in business in the Thanksgiving through New Years Day timeframe next year, I may increase my total out at one time to handle holiday delays. I started with 2 at a time and raised it to 3 in November 2019 after my experience of holiday weekend delays (which I do consider to be normal) the previous year (my first with Netflix).
"Godfather 3" is still sitting on the table next to the TV. I can't bring myself to watch it and send it back yet. I like seeing at least one red Netflix envelope in my home. I had a DVD out from a library (not available through Netflix) that was due back today. I kept that one sitting around past the time I watched it but finally took it back yesterday.
One more thing - I still feel that I am justified in reporting an overdue DVD to Netflix in case they want to know how their customers are being affected. And maybe they'll do something extra in the future to make up for this, such as give us 4 at a time at what is now the price of 3.
no netflix for me yet this week either. unless it comes tomorrow, it will be at least a week late. you're right, it's better to tell netflix about late arrivals and returns, and i won't hesitate next time. i don't like the blemishes on my rental history, but it won't be long before that's a thing of the past, and if not for the expiring 12/31 content i'd make time for the dvd subscription when the mail finally arrives.
Deletedon't hold your breath on a price decrease; they've said they aren't doing that to make up for the delays in recent years, but they haven't hiked prices in a while either. i also can't picture them adding back those higher-tier subscriptions for customers to select online simply because streaming is so much more popular and the delays caused by USPS (and netflix reducing its service).
if you haven't signed up for informed delivery already, i recommend it. the previews are generally accurate. https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action
I hope everyone who celebrates is having a Merry Christmas.
DeleteThe Netflix DVD sent out on 12/15, its replacement sent out on 12/22, and the one sent out on 12/21 all showed up on 12/24 (yesterday). I wondered if there was going to be a way to tell which was the 1st one sent and which was the replacement, but there wasn't. I watched one of the duplicates that day, and have packaged both in their return envelopes to go out with the mailman tomorrow.
I also signed up for Informed Delivery right after I read your response on Wednesday night. Apparently, it takes a few days to go into effect, so I probably won't see anything until the middle of next week.
i got mine thursday the 24th as well, so that must have been USPS's netflix day. :) it just managed not being a whole week late.
Deletei didn't request a replacement disc, but when i have in the past for damaged ones, i've kept the original at home until the replacement arrived. this is for two reasons. customers sometimes complain about returning the damaged one and getting it shipped right back out to them as the replacement, typically for low-stock titles shipped from farther away. true or not, i don't care to test it. my main reason is that often it will be particular chapters/several minutes of the disc that won't play on any device, so i stop there. because these tend to be older titles and in low stock, i know the likelihood of being sent another damaged disc. when that happens, i can usually go back and forth between the two damaged discs and between them be able to watch all of it. i couldn't do that if i already returned the original, which i have no incentive to do because netflix won't send me a different title until i return the replacement, and anyway netflix shouldn't be renting discs that don't play all the way.
for informed delivery, you may have to wait for a verification code to come in the mail from USPS for it to start, and despite USPS being the sender, that may be delayed. when i signed up a year ago, i think it was about a week later that i got this letter.
When I report not having received a disc, very common now in the holiday rush, I no longer request a replacement. I’ll just get, eventually, two copies of the same film. I request that I be sent the next title on my queue. This way, there are two different titles in the mail at the same time. Since I have the one disc at a time plan, it keeps from going two weeks without receiving a new title. As Travis, points out, however, a defective disc has to be treated differently, but this year I’m not getting as many defective discs as I’ve gotten in Christmases past.
DeleteI'm guessing that sometimes a defective disc gets damaged coming in the mail to me, so it's not coming from a stock of mostly damaged discs. I've only gotten two unplayable discs from Netflix (a far cry from my library experience), and one of them was one of the most popular movies of all time, "The Sound of Music". I'm sure they keep plenty of that one in stock.
DeleteLatest in my Netflix follies:
ReplyDeleteDecember 26 - As noted above, both copies of the movie I had reported lost went out with my mailman. Also, it was the first day of Informed Delivery. I didn't see images that day, but they showed up for that day a couple of days later.
December 28 - Apparently, both DVDs I sent back on Saturday got scanned that day, and TWO got sent out to me that morning. I was surprised to see two get sent because I figured that they would "know" that one was an extra. I watched the other DVD that had come on the 24th, and since I had to take a package to the Post Office to be mailed later that afternoon, I mailed that DVD back from there, too.
December 29 - That DVD got scanned the day I mailed it, too, and yet another one was sent out to me. I was really caught off guard! I didn't expect another one to be sent back this time, so I hadn't done any queue management. #1 in my queue, a 1990s classic that I've always wanted to see but have never gotten around to seeing, has a "very long wait", so #2 got sent to me. It had also gotten skipped when two were sent out on Monday. I had put the 2nd "Air Bud" movie on hold at the library and was going to be picking it up on Wednesday, so I would have put the 3rd "Air Bud" movie in the top spot.
December 30 - I picked up the 2nd "Air Bud" movie from the library. Informed Delivery was now showing me the images. I was hoping to get the two DVDs mailed on Monday that day, but they weren't among the images, and they didn't come.
December 31 - One scanned Netflix image in Informed Delivery, with as many as three expected. I wondered which of the ones sent on Monday I'd be getting, but I also had a hunch it would be the one sent on Tuesday. And that is exactly what happened. So the two on Monday are taking longer to get to me. If only I had thought to do queue management on Tuesday!
January 1 - I watched the DVD I got yesterday, choosing it over "Godfather Part 3" (still in my possession) because it is only about half the length of that one, and I didn't have a big block of time to devote to it and wanted to get it out with tomorrow's mail. I put it in the lobby box for the mailman tomorrow. I put the 3rd "Air Bud" movie at the top of my queue. Also, I tried to find one of the movies listed as expiring on 1/1/21 on HBO to see if they work like Netflix, where the expiration date is actually the day before. And, yes, HBO movies also expire the day before the listed date.
January 2-3 - I plan to watch the library "Air Bud" DVD. If one or both of the DVDs sent out on December 28 show up on Saturday, I will try to watch one of them or "Godfather Part 3" and send it back on Monday, January 4. I figure that Netflix will eventually realize they sent me an extra DVD and won't send me another one until I send two back to them. I'm not sure if I will watch the "Godfather" movie yet if neither of the expected DVDs show up on Saturday.
Upshot - Netflix shows 4 different DVDs at home with me. Two are still on the way, one is going out with tomorrow's mail, and one sitting next to my TV table, where it has been for a few weeks now, along with a library DVD.
Latest Netflix follies as of today:
ReplyDeleteJanuary 2 - Informed Delivery showed just one Netflix DVD, and that's what I got (of the two that were sent on Monday 12/28). I watched "Air Bud 2" from the library.
January 3 - I watched the video that came the previous day, choosing it over "Godfather 3" due to it being almost an hour shorter. I put it in the lobby mailbox to go back when the mailman came today. I noticed, though, as I was taking it downstairs that it was going back to San Jose instead of Trenton. I wondered if this was why it took so long to get to me. (Speaking of returning DVDs, I also returned the library DVD in its outside return box.)
January 4 - I got the second DVD that was sent last Monday. When I opened it, I saw that it will be going back to Trenton. Informed Delivery did show it. But the Netflix app did not show a new one getting sent to me today. Either the one sent on Saturday was not scanned, or they finally realized they sent me too many.
I'm sorry to bore everyone with these accounts, but I think that the events of today bring me up-to-date with what my account should be. Right now, "Air Bud 3" is at the top of my Queue, and that 1990s classic, now with just a Long Wait, is second. That one is even longer than "Godfather 3", so I'll need to find time to watch both of them eventually. The one that was going back to San Jose was another 1990s classic that I had never seen, and I think it had been marked with some kind of a wait. Maybe it got sent to me because it had that wait coming from Trenton.
This replaces one that I deleted because even after two read-throughs before hitting Publish, I found an error that totally changed the meaning of what was intended.
ReplyDeleteWednesday night, I put a Netflix video in the box in the lobby to go back with the mailman on Thursday. If all went well, a new one would be sent to me Friday morning, before the long holiday weekend. Thursday morning, Informed Delivery showed a new Netflix video coming to me that day, slightly overdue because it had been sent out on Monday and should have gotten to me on Wednesday. I was finally getting "Air Bud 4", the baseball one. It's a short movie. We had been getting our mail fairly early, often by 1:30 pm, lately, so I decided that I would watch the movie after the mail came on Thursday and then drive over to the Post Office to drop this one to go out, too. Two videos to be sent out on Friday morning with arrival targeted for Tuesday after the Monday holiday.
Of course, that was the day our mail came very late, so late, in fact, that at 4:30, it wasn't here yet, and the one awaiting pickup in the lobby wouldn't get scanned on Thursday night if the carrier came any later. Forget two getting sent out on Friday. It looked like I wouldn't even get one!
There was something I needed to get out in the mail that had to be postmarked by Friday. I was procrastinating until the deadline day, but I quickly got it ready to go out, grabbed the Netflix mailer from the lobby box, and headed for the Post Office.
The move paid off because I did get notification about a new DVD sent out on Friday. While I was in the Post Office arranging for my other mailing to be sent Certified Mail, I mentioned that we hadn't gotten our mail yet. Someone there told me that they had a shortage of carriers that day.
On my way back from the Post Office, I stopped off at a convenience store for a few items. Of the three buildings in our condo complex, ours gets its mail last. As I drove back into the development around 5:15, I saw that the mail truck was in front of the building that gets its mail first. Eventually, the mail came, and the "Air Bud" video from Netflix was in it.
I have been busy with other things this weekend and have not had a chance to watch either "Air Bud 4" or "Godfather 3". But I may try to watch "Air Bud 4" tonight to get it out with tomorrow's mail.
I think I have figured out why Netflix only has "How the West was Won" on Blu-Ray and not on regular DVD, even though it has been released on DVD.
ReplyDeleteI have now gotten "How the West was Won" on regular DVD from two different libraries in two different counties. This comes in a package of three DVDs, with the the movie split between two of them and special features on the third one. On both copies, the movie freezes near the end of the movie on the second disc. Because it happened both times, I think this is a manufacturing defect. Netflix may indeed have had the movie on regular DVD, but every copy got reported as defective. I will report both of these defective to the libraries, but I don't know if they will be able to repair them. If they can, I will ask them to let me know when it is repaired so I can check it out again. One is going back tomorrow (checked out last Friday from a library with a 7-day checkout period), and I will likely be taking the other one back next week some time (checked out yesterday from a library with a 21-day checkout period). I will look for streaming possibilities, where I can pay to rent it. Even Amazon Prime only has it available for rental (or purchase, which I'm not interested in). I don't think any of the streaming services that my household or I am paying for has it available to stream for no extra cost; this includes HBO, Hulu, and streaming Netflix.
Of course, I could eventually buy a Blu-Ray player and get it from DVD Netflix.
This movie is about 5 minutes longer than "The Godfather: Part III", which I finally watched yesterday (and sent back with the mailman today). That one fit onto one disc, and I had no problem playing it. So I can't blame trying to fit a long movie onto a DVD. The two parts of "How the West was Won" are each about 80-85 minutes long.
you can buy a blu-ray player new for $50-60 or used for probably a lot less. HDMI cables (for 1080p HD to your tv) are cheap, too; don't overpay for one, if you don't have one or several already. you could also get a 4K-UHD player for a little more money, and that plays the latest format as well as blu-ray and dvd.
Deletea lot of newer blu-rays make up for authoring errors on old DVDs; most offer substantial improvements in picture quality over dvd as well. they also fit more content per disc.
run times vary per disc on either format. i've certainly rented single movies/documentaries netflix sent out to me split across 2 discs. when manufacturers make that decision, the picture quality is generally higher than if they had tried to cram it all onto one disc; it's something called bitrate, where the higher it is, the truer it is to the source (same applies to streaming, btw). on the other hand, in my first year of netflix dvd service, i rented a title that ended up being 5 1/2 hours on one disc. that runtime was incorrectly labeled (i think it said it was an hour), probably because it was more of a playlist of short interviews (that i believe play in random order) than a structured documentary. i don't recall the picture quality suffering either. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448234/
I discovered that "How the West was Won" is streaming on HBO Max, which Comcast/Xfinity recently added for everyone who was already getting HBO, so I was able to finish watching it there. When I first checked availability of this movie last fall, we didn't have HBO Max yet. One big advantage of watching a movie on DVD as opposed to streaming (or VHS) is that I can go right to the general area of what I want to watch with scene selection. To see just what I had missed near the end of that almost three hour movie, I had to fast forward a lot. And the fast forward options of some of the cable service streaming services aren't very fast.
DeleteI finally watched "Godfather 3". It went out with my mail on Thursday, January 28. Netflix sent a new video, "Blazing Saddles", out to me on Friday the 29th, with scheduled arrival date on Monday, February 1. Informed Delivery didn't show it that day or on Tuesday, February 2. Because of snow, we only got mail one of those two days anyway, but now I don't remember which one. On one of those two days, we were going to be getting one item that couldn't be scanned. I wondered if it was going to be the Netflix movie, even though they had always scanned properly before. But it turned out to be a Happy New Year card from a cousin. It was in a black envelope, which probably made it hard to scan. In fact, I could see there was a postmark on it, but I couldn't make it out. The DVD did not show up on February 3 or 4, either. The 4th was the first date I could report it missing, and even though I thought it was probably weather-related, I reported it anyway. Of course, it showed up on Friday the 5th, and the replacement showed up right on time on Monday the 8th. I watched that particular movie pretty quickly because it was fairly short, and I didn't have much time to watch a movie one day that week. I sent both back at once, and just like the last time, I got two replacements. So, even though I have a 3-at-a-time subscription, I have 4 DVDs out right now.
ReplyDeleteThe two that were sent out to me on February 11 were, I think, #2 and #4 in my queue. #1 has been that 1990s classic, "JFK", with a waiting period that is now down to Short Wait. #3, now #2, is a late 1970s classic, "National Lampoon's Animal House", that I recently added near the bottom of my list (currently around 20 items) but decided to move up because I really want to see it again. It currently has a Long Wait. Sometimes I have gotten DVDs that are at the top of my list but still showing wait times, even long waits. I wonder if I get some kind of credit for having had it #1 for a long enough time that I will get the next one that comes back.
When I first saw "Blazing Saddles" in the 1970s, I told people at the time that it was the funniest movie I had ever seen. Despite some racism, I still think it's quite funny. It also made a great follow-up to "How the West was Won" because some scenes were obviously parodies of ones in that movie. I have never seen "JFK" but have always wanted to see it. "Animal House" was the most expensive movie-watching experience I ever had. Late in its theatrical run in 1979, I went to see it by myself at a Saturday afternoon matinee because all of my usual movie-watching companions had either already seen it or didn't want to see it. When I came back to my car, I saw that someone had bumped into it and caused a visible dent. I never did get it repaired. When I went to trade it in more than two years later, the dealership told me that the dent would require them to take $300 off my trade-in allowance. I should have had it fixed in 1979 when it happened. My deductible was probably $100 then. On the other hand, having negotiated other trade-in deals over the years, I suspect that they would have found some other reason to take off $300.
DeleteHi Regina - wanted to check to see if you know about the website reelgood.com. You can look up any movie, and it will tell you if it is streaming anywhere. For example, Animal House is streaming on fubu.tv and on Showtime, which is available on several platforms including Hulu and Amazon. There's usually a 7-day free trial. Of course, you might prefer to wait for the DVD, but it's nice to have options.
Thanks for letting me know about reelgood.com. I finally got there today. fubu.tv doesn't sound familiar to me. I'll have to see if it's on my Comcast/Xfinity system. But if it's like tubi or pluto with embedded ads and like Netflix (unless I'm quick on the draw) and tubi with closing credits cut off, I am not interested in it. Showtime is not in the bundle we get from our condo or that we chose to add. Besides, the DVD of "Animal House" is on its way to me and should have come today, but Informed Delivery does not show it. There is one item that couldn't be scanned. It's been too hectic for either of us to get to the mailbox yet today. And there is something else overdue that is not a standard size piece of mail that I am hoping is the item that couldn't be scanned. I'd actually rather get that than "Animal House" right now. I have other movies to watch.
DeleteHere are my latest Netflix experiences. Due to a personal issue in my life, I have not had much movie watching time lately. (No, not connected to COVID-19.) I have not yet even watched two DVDs that got sent to me on January 20 and February 11, respectively. I did watch the two movies that were sent out when I sent both copies of "Blazing Saddles" back. I watched the first one on Wednesday or Thursday, February 24 or 25. I then sent it back the next day, but because I couldn't get to a mailbox that day, even the one in my building lobby, I gave it to someone to mail. Several days went by, and receipt by Netflix didn't show up in the app. I was not surprised to not get a new DVD because I figured they caught up to the fact that I had four out, not three.
ReplyDeleteI eventually reported the DVD as missing and got a message that they'd send me the next one in the queue. That wasn't the reason I reported it. I wanted to ensure I'd get a new one the next time I sent one back. But they did indeed send one out to me, and I got it in a reasonable amount of time. I then watched the other one I got at the same time on Wednesday, March 3, and it was mailed back at the mailbox by my post office the next day. A new video was sent out on Friday, March 5, with scheduled delivery on Monday, March 8. But it didn't show up until Wednesday, March 10. I watched that one the next day, Thursday, but didn't have a chance to mail it back until Saturday. In the meantime, Netflix received the one that had been mailed back on February 25 or 26 on Friday, March 12, and sent yet another one out to me, that one being "Animal House". It was supposed to arrive today, but it wasn't in Informed Delivery, and at 5:50 p.m., our mail is not here yet. (I am hoping that an item that couldn't be scanned is a more important item that is overdue.)
The one I sent out on Saturday is showing as returned, but nothing new was sent out today. Probably Netflix has finally caught on that I had four out when I should have only had three. "JFK" is still first in my queue and is now showing Long wait. I don't care if I get the 2nd movie in my queue because it is part of a movie-watching project for which I have a deadline of March 31. The three most recent Netflix DVDs I've watched are also part of that project.
Well, I missed a window of opportunity for "JFK". There was a period of time in which I had all three of my allotted Netflix DVDs at home but had given priority to watching various streaming movies, especially on Prime, where I wasn't sure I would be going beyond the 30-day trial (which I did), and soon-to-expire ones on HBO and streaming Netflix. I noticed at some point that "JFK" finally didn't have a wait, so I rushed to watch one of the DVDs I had out. But by the time word got back to them (at the end of the day that I put it in the mail), it had become "Short wait" again, and I got #2 on my list. I sent another one back with the outgoing mail on Tuesday of this week. Wednesday, I saw that my new #2 got sent out, which I got today. And now "JFK" is showing as "Long wait".
ReplyDeleteWith the addition in the past several months of Prime, Disney +, HBO Max, Hulu, and Peacock to my available networks and the continued availability of HBO and ad-supported services such as tubi (despite the subtraction of StarzEncore), I now have more streaming choices than I've had throughtout most of my time as a Netflix DVD customer. Most of the movies currently in my Queue are now available in one or more of these services (especially Disney +). "JFK" is not one of them. It was available on HBO Max but not HBO when HBO Max was "coming soon" to our Xfinity service, but it expired. According to Reelgood (thanks, Carol, for the recommendation), it is not streaming anywhere else, except maybe for a rental/purchase fee. That may be why it is so in demand as a Netflix DVD. So far, I am not paying rental fees for movies that aren't streaming for free on one of the services I get and also aren't available on DVD from Netflix or a convenient library. I haven't checked the nearby libraries for "JFK" because I usually reserve that option for DVDs that Netflix' DVD service doesn't have at all or only has in Blu-Ray.
My priorities for finding a movie these days are: 1. Streaming free to me ad-free on my TV. 2. Netflix DVD 3. Streaming free to me with ads. 4. Library DVD. 5. Hoopla or Kanopy, streaming services which are made available to me through my library but which I can't watch on my bought in 2009, made in 2008 non-smart TV and thus must watch on a smaller screen source. 6. Rental from a streaming source. 7. Unofficial copy of full movie on YouTube. 8. Purchase if available and I want it badly enough. I have only done this once, for a 1920s silent movie from Grapevine, a company that I learned about on this site.
Xfinity makes Netflix, Prime, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, several ad-supported sites, and their latest addition, Disney + available through my cable system as apps.
because you are now an amazon prime member, if you ever order an item shipped from amazon, look for and select the "no-rush" option at checkout and earn limited-time digital credit. you could then use that to rent movies like JFK and not have to pay per se. other than that, most of the movies that people watch on popular streaming services come and go, so you could just wait unless your project demands you watch it at a certain time.
Deletei usually rent on netflix titles that aren't streaming. i've been renting the '80s V disc by disc, even though it was on my netflix streaming list about 10 years ago. back then i wasn't paying much attention to expiration dates and don't recall if i ever saw one and how long in advance. because 8 out of its 9 discs have no extras, i'm annoyed at myself for missing it and that it was never added back, which i kept waiting for. as for why i'm watching it now, one reason is one of the discs had a "Very long wait," so i didn't want it or the whole series to become unavailable, as i would have scrapped it before skipping any episodes. (the completist in me is making me watch it; the original miniseries is the only one really worthwhile.)
i know in november, above, i recommended searching on archive.org before resorting to youtube, which messes with the video to get around copyright detection. another alternative is vimeo.com, where some viewers and even the people involved in the creation process upload films under the radar without mangling them.
i'm glad for you that xfinity has those streaming services integrated. i, too, still have a non-smart TV, and increasingly my devices are no longer being supported. watching an entire movie or anything for that amount of time on my laptop is not a good option for me, which is too bad because on this site's sister blog the administrator shared an appealing free online film festival happening now.
as for that cottage industry of burned DVDs of rare and out of print titles, i've never patronized those online stores. most of that is probably obtainable as downloads. i wait for it to be released and buy it officially or look for it to pop up on streaming. ones i have no hope for i have downloaded, but i try to avoid that. anything truly in the public domain (like many 1920s titles) i don't feel bad about downloading, but there are distributors that specialize in restoring those and procuring and producing supplemental content, so they can still be worthwhile to buy in a physical format, and you don't have to worry about a pressed disc not playing like the chances you take with the bootleg sellers.
Thanks for the recommendations of Vimeo and archive.org. I typed the titles of several hard-to-get movies into archive.org but had a 0% success rate. I also registered on Vimeo, but I didn't even know where to look. I did type in the names of some of the movies I tried to find on archive.org, but I didn't have any success. But I will keep these two sites in mind.
ReplyDeleteAs for the list I made in my last post, I realize that sometimes the preferences are based on circumstances and whether I want to watch that movie right away or am willing to wait for it.
Suppose I take everything except "JFK" out of my Netflix DVD Queue. Then, when I send back the three "second choices" I currently have in my possession, will I not get anything until "JFK" no longer has a wait? I'm also guessing that there may be other customers who are doing the same thing, so I realize I may need to wait in line behind them. But as soon as I am the first in line, I'll get it next, right?
ReplyDeletesomeone else on this blog also thought he could "game" netflix to send him what he really wanted. they just won't send you anything if nothing in your queue is available. you'll then not only get nothing, at a cost to you, but also have to add back what you took out.
Deletejust because something has listed even a "Very long wait" doesn't mean you won't get it shipped to you. it does take persistence and beyond that chance. sometimes it will ship from far away. if you're willing to essentially lose money by emptying your queue, or want it badly enough to allow extended shipping time, it stands to reason an equally or more attractive option would be to rent it elsewhere.
Travis, I wouldn't say that I was trying to "game" Netflix in order for them to "send me what I really wanted" but rather the fact is that virtually every one of the approximately 100 titles in my queue had a short wait, long wait or very long wait notification next to it thanks to the number of distribution centers plummeting in recent years and it taking longer and longer for DVDs to ship in both directions (i.e. because a returned DVD wouldn't arrive back on Monday as it should have, all that week's titles would switch to very long wait for the next month or two). Thus sometimes I never got anything shipped to me when I should have because there simply wasn't anything in my queue of 100 titles that didn't have a wait notification. I canceled the DVD side of my subscription (keeping the streaming side) in frustration a year ago and, while I've missed out on some cool new releases, a good number of them end up on either Netflix streaming or Amazon Prime anyway. The DVD side of Netflix isn't worth the money nowadays. Plus I've since moved (from New York) to a rural area in Virginia so I suspect shipping would take even longer today.
Deletei'm sorry if i mischaracterized what you did. i mainly wanted to use the example to caution Regina against taking a drastic action that wouldn't have gotten her anything.
Deletei'm not happy with DVDs taking 2 postal days to get to me from the nearest distribution center and longer, without any complementary bonus shipments, from others. the loss of saturday as a receiving and shipping day still stings as much as the loss of the in-state distribution center. i also still take issue with the way netflix removes titles from its catalog without notice despite continually lying about there being some kind of one. even with the reduced catalog, delays, and the odd issue with the website, i still have nearly 10 years' worth of titles in my queue at the rate of my current plan, focusing on content that isn't streaming as part of a subscription (my TV can't get newer services anyway). i grin and bear it.
i am more tempted to cancel netflix streaming out of mounting frustration with reduced support for my device and their own website. last month i streamed one movie. i'm streaming more this month only because a TV series i like is expiring soon. i've had streaming since it was free with a DVD subscription, and my account says i've been a member for 16 years. when i try to get customer service, they make plain they don't care about me or maybe anyone else other than as a steady revenue source. for me, it's the streaming that isn't worth what i'm paying because i have such a negative experience with the way they've degraded it. they've given me no reason to believe they will straighten up, so i look forward to calling, getting a supervisor, and having said supervisor cancel my streaming service for me just to send a message, however much of a drop in the ocean it may be to the global behemoth.
Last night I searched for "Nomadland" on Netflix. It came up with the Save option, probably because it's not yet out on DVD. Sometimes when this happens, a date is already set, and the date appears next to the title in my Saved Queue. But this one is showing Unknown, so there is probably no announced date. Once it is release, there will probably be a Very Long Wait.
ReplyDeleteI then went on reelgood and searched for streaming sources. It's on Hulu, where I watched it in large clumps of time today between other things I had to do. I think this was the first time I watched a full movie on Hulu. I've only watched TV shows there, including Hulu originals. I was concerned there would be embedded ads, but there was only one 30-second ad at the beginning. (I restarted it at one point because it froze, and there was an ad at the beginning again.)
"Nomadland" is becoming available on the Netflix DVD service on May 18.
ReplyDelete
DeleteThanks for letting us know, Regina.
Several weeks ago, "JFK" suddenly had no wait showing for it over a weekend. Unfortunately, I had not sent anything back recently. I watched one on that weekend or on Monday, but by Tuesday, it was showing Long Wait again. I'm guessing that a bunch of people who had it at the top of their queue had put a returned one in the mail on Friday or Saturday.
ReplyDeleteHowever, about a week and a half ago, I put it in the search box on the reelgood site, and lo and behold, it showed up on both Tubi and HBO Max. I quickly verified it on my Xfinity system, and yes, both were available there. Obviously, I was going to watch a 189-minute movie on the service with no ads (yet), HBO Max, not on the one whose ads would stretch it out even longer and which would cut off the closing credits, which always interest me. I checked for expiration dates for both. Tubi showed June 30, 2021. HBO Max does not show expiration dates on my system unless the movie is also on HBO, which this one wasn't. I found a website that shows what's expiring on HBO and HBO Max that month, and it wasn't listed for June. But I decided to be cautious, just in case it was leaving both streaming platforms the same day, and watched it spread over the two-day period of June 29-30.
Usually when I watch something in my Netflix queue on a streaming source or a library DVD, I remove it from the queue, but I kept "JFK" in mine, still at the top. There are several scenes I'd like to play again (and for this function, a DVD is usually easier than a streaming source or VHS tape to do it). Plus, I'm curious to see if I will ever get it.
I just put it into reelgood again just now. HBO Max is still listed, but Tubi is gone. HBO Max does have a feature to show all of the movies leaving soon, presumably by the end of the current month. I did not see "JFK" there when I looked on June 29. But I still decided to watch it that day because I had been wanting to watch it for so long. And, yes, it was worth the wait.
The film that was in the #2 slot in my queue got sent out this morning. One of my cousins told me recently that he has a small part in this film, and his name is in the closing credits. The only streaming source was Tubi, where my Xfinity X1 box set up does not allow watching closing credits, and it left Tubi within a short time after I found it there. So I decided to see if it is on Netflix DVD, and it is.
DeleteGlad you finally got to watch JFK, Regina. It is a good film. It looks like you've got the way to find what you want down pretty good. :-)
I sent a DVD back yesterday, Friday, so I will likely get one sent out on Monday, and with luck, that one will arrive on Wednesday. Today, I went into the app to add a movie I want to see that's not on any of the streaming sources. When I went into the queue to move it to #2, I noticed that "JFK" is not showing any kind of wait. I now have my fingers crossed to see if it will be the one sent to me on Monday. If not, well, at least I will likely have the one I just added to the queue coming to me - The Monkees' 1968 movie, "Head". I once had it out on VHS from Hollywood Video, who had a 5-day borrowing period, unlike the 7 days of Blockbuster and some local stores and chains. I did not have time to finish watching it, the first time (but probably not the last time) I ever didn't finish a video I had paid to rent or check out. Now I'll finally have the chance to watch the whole thing.
Deletethe only G-rated movie i've ever seen with graphic footage of a person really being murdered.
DeleteI got sent "Head", the #2 movie in my queue, on Monday despite "JFK" still not showing any kind of wait. Today, Tuesday, it is showing Long wait again. I suspect several others who sent back videos on Friday (or even Saturday) had it #1 in their queues, and by the time they got around to fulfilling my order, the ones they had in stock had been sent out. Incidentally, once I get "Head", I will watch it from the beginning because I don't remember what I saw the first time around.
DeleteI'm watching so few of my Netflix videos lately that I have changed my subscription from 3 DVDs at once to 2. But I also changed my streaming option to HD, so the net change in my monthly fee is up about $1.00.
ReplyDeleteSomething that may cause me to change my number of DVDs back to 3 is that the U.S. Postal Service is extending the time periods for first class mail delivery starting October 1. I will probably change it anyway as we get into the holiday periods of more days without mail delivery. Thanksgiving through President's Day.
they're still doing that thing we discussed where they just pull titles from the queue and overall library completely without notice and the number of titles in the queue mismatches depending on where you look. thankfully i keep my own record of the titles that have had very long waits so i could account for the removals. no point in calling them and calling them on it again because they always deny there being no notice and pretend there's some kind of banner flashed once and i just must have missed it. that's about the most dishonest thing they do.
ReplyDeletein other news, i didn't get my disc today as was scheduled, so i am guessing USPS got an early jump on its happy holiday season delay.
I finally got the "JFK" DVD from Netflix yesterday after waiting more than a year. I had not watched any Netflix DVDs for a while, and I knew that after I sent back the first of three that were in my pile, I would not get an immediate replacement because I had cut back to two at a time. Last Wednesday, I decided to do a double feature and send two of them back that day. The first went out with my mail carrier early in the day. I drove to the Post Office with the other one, pulling in at 5:03 pm, 3 minutes past final pickup, in time to see an employee heading out to empty the boxes. He brought the bin up to my car window, and I dropped it in. I have been there as late as 5:06 and not missed the last pickup. But I cut it close this time.
ReplyDeleteI did some queue management before I sent them out. I moved "Alice's Restaurant" and "The Last Picture Show", two late 1960s/early 1970s classics, to 2nd and 3rd. The former is not streaming anywhere. The latter is streaming only on TCM, a channel that so many cable, satellite, etc., systems include with basic service that reelgood.com lists it in the TV Everywhere section, but mine changed it to a higher cost tier a few years ago. I actually considered dropping "JFK" from 1st to 3rd, but, darn, no waiting period was listed for it, and I wanted to see if I'd actually get it this time.
I got the email Thursday that "J.F.K." had been sent and would be arriving Tuesday. That would have been Monday witouth the Columbus/Indigenous Peoples holiday and Saturday without those new Postal Service standards. And due to my schedule, I will probably not get a chance to watch "JFK" for at least a couple of weeks. Remember, I did finally watch it on HBO Max, but I wanted to see it on DVD, where I am more familiar with ways of repeating sections I didn't understand. Incidentally, "JFK" is off HBO Max again, and it is not streaming anywhere else now. So it will likely go back to various wait times. "Alice's Restaurant", not streaming anywhere, shows a short wait as of today. "The Last Picture Show" does not have any wait time shown. Probably anyone who wants to watch it has TCM available to them through their TV content provider.
I didn't watch any Netflix DVDs after I got the "JFK" one in the mail and set my limit down to 2. I put it back up to 3 last week. I had been thinking about a 1980 movie called "Carny" that I wanted to see when it came out but didn't get a chance to watch then. It is not streaming anywhere. I looked in my Netflix DVD app and saw the title "Carny" there, so I added it and moved it up to #1. As soon as I set my limit back to 3, "Carny" shipped on Thursday with delivery scheduled for Saturday. That was a pleasant surprise because, with the new Postal Service standards, I was expecting it to be Monday.
ReplyDeleteAnd it came on Saturday, which was a good thing, because it was not the movie I was expecting! No, Netflix did not goof up and send me the wrong movie. I goofed up by not looking at the date of the movie called "Carny" that I put into my queue. The one Netflix has is a 2009 TV movie called "Carny", which I have no interest in seeing. As soon as I discovered my error, I drove to the Post Office in time for their 4:00 pm Saturday pickup. Today, "Alice's Restaurant" got shipped with an expected arrival date of Wednesday. If it comes as scheduled, I will have it by Thanksgiving, and if you are familiar with this movie or the song it's based on, Thanksgiving figures in the story! I just realized this right now!
The other movie I have out right now is a 3-hour U.K. television version of "Rebecca", the 1940 Best Picture Oscar winner that recently had a remake done on streaming Netflix. I plan to watch the streaming version once I get this one out of the way, but I've had it out since April and still haven't watched it.
Meantime, the 1980 "Carny" is available for rental on both YouTube and Amazon Prime, plus there is what appears to be a bootleg full copy on YouTube. I already checked all of the libraries in my area, and none of them have it.
Here's a degrees of separation game for the two "Carny" movies:
The 1980 "Carny" stars Gary Busey.
Gary Busey played Buddy Holly in "The Buddy Holly Story".
Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens died in the same plane crash.
Ritchie Valens was played in "La Bamba" by Lou Diamond Phillips.
Lou Diamond Phillips is the star of the 2009 "Carny".
ReplyDeleteClever - thanks.
I watched "Alice's Restaurant" on Thanksgiving and put it in the mail to go back on Black Friday. I got "The Last Picture Show" the following week. I haven't watched it, "JFK", or the U.K. "Rebecca" yet, with all of my spare movie-watching time (not much of it lately) going to either the 8 hours of the "Get Back" documentary on Disney Plus (which I still have about an hour and a half left to watch) and the bootleg "Carny" on YouTube (which I have finished).
ReplyDeleteI had a 1964 comedy called "The Yellow Rolls Royce" near the top of my Netflix DVD list. It had a long wait displayed for it, so I put it at the top of my list. I noticed about a week or two ago that it had disappeared. It is now nowhere to be found on DVD Netflix. I guess this is one of those movies that they have dropped. I'm guessing that the long wait was probably for their only copy, and then someone reported that one as lost or damaged, and now they don't have it any more. This was my first experience in 3 1/2 years of being a Netflix DVD customer of a title disappearing from my queue.
According to the Reelgood site, the only streaming service that has it is TCM, which most cable and satellite services have on a basic tier but not mine. It is available for rent on a few services. I haven't had a chance to check nearby libraries yet.
ReplyDeleteI admire your dedication to finding the films you want to see, Regina. I hate when Netflix suddenly "loses" a DVD title. Hope you can find The Yellow Rolls-Royce at the library.
I found it in the online catalog of a library system in a neighboring county. The branch where it is located is not convenient for me to get to these days, but I can have it sent to one that's close to the boundary with my county.
Delete
DeleteYay! Good going.
Because I haven't been watching my Netflix DVDs much, I went into my account with the intention of changing my subscription from 3 at a time to 2 at a time. I was greeted with a message saying that Netflix was no longer offering the 3 at a time option, and if I were to change to 1 or 2 at a time, I would not be allowed to change back to 3. So I have kept it at 3.
ReplyDeleteIf you recall, I finally watched "JFK" on a streaming service, but the pause, rewind, and fast forward on that service on my Xfinity X1 box are cumbersome compared to these functions on my DVD player. So I kept "JFK" in my queue despite all those months of long waits, so I could watch it again with rewinds of scenes I didn't quite get. It was sent to me last October after it had been in my queue for more than a year. In June, I got an email from Netflix DVD congratulating me on my anniversary with them and noting that I had been sent "JFK" all those months ago. They told me that if I lost it, I should tell them, and they wouldn't charge me for it that one time. Since this wasn't the case, I didn't take them up on this offer.
I finally watched it spread over Wednesday and Thursday last week - almost 3 1/2 hours in a director's cut, 1 3/4 hour each day. It was just when I was about to put it into the mail on Thursday that I attempted to change my subscription. Since I didn't go through with the change, I got another DVD sent to me that arrived yesterday.
ChapelHillNC (for some reason I’m not being allowed to sign in)
ReplyDeleteNetflix DVD by mail seems to be adding more titles. After years with very little activity, I’m seeing, over the last few months, titles that have been on my Saved list moved up to my Queue. Today Applause (1929), saved since 2019, The Set-up (1949), saved since 2013, and Q & A (1990), were all added to my Queue.
DeleteThanks for the update, ChapelHillNC - nice to hear from you. This sounds encouraging.
Well, it has finally happened. Yesterday (Tuesday, April 18), I got an email from Netflix saying that they are ending the DVD service on September 27. I'll post more of what it said if anyone is interested.
ReplyDeleteYou, I and Carol may be the only ones still looking at this thread. I’m not surprised that NF is dropping out of this business but I am that they’re closing it down and not selling it. NF is highly leveraged and could use the income from a sale to finance the next season of The Crown or something. Other DVD by mail sites to explore when the time comes are Gamefly.com and 3DBlu-rayRental.com.
Deleteno, i check this and the main discussion post still. i sent netflix a survey response (those who got the email and read the FAQ know). i don't expect a response. i forgot to ask what they're going to do with all those discs. i did ask if they're still profitable. i suppose i could just check the investor site. i linked this one. (hi.)
DeleteHave you guys had any issues receiving DVDs since this announcement? My last one hasn't shown up and I had to request a replacement.
Deletein the last few months, i've gotten more unplayable discs, and they take longer to get here, typically 3-5 days. the only difference since the announcement is i haven't called to complain. i'm sure USPS helped sink the service.
Deleteno responses to me, but i rechecked the FAQ after the reminder email today and:
Delete"Q.
Can I purchase discs from DVD Netflix?
A.
We are unable to sell discs from our rental inventory."
that still doesn't answer the question of what will happen (landfill?). also, does that relate to the underhanded tactics i've referenced in years past where studios leverage their relationships with netflix as a streamer to impose extrajudicial restrictions? if you remember when blockbuster went out of business, the stores did sell their inventory (not that i want any).
"Q.
What will happen to my personal information related to my DVD subscription?
A.
Most personal information related to DVD subscriptions will be deleted at the end of the DVD subscription service [...]. The data include: [...] Reviews"
another pity really because netflix probably has the biggest collection of user reviews of films/shows/videos, perhaps that ever will be. they already removed the reviewer attribution years (decades?) ago. i wish they would totally anonymize the data, dissociating with the account, and preserve the entire collection somehow, whether on netflix.com or elsewhere like archive.org. i valued the reviews, especially before streaming lowered the sophistication of the customers.
DeleteThanks Travis. That is unfortunate about the user reviews being discarded. We live in a throw-away world where big corps only care about what they don't want, and not about who might benefit from it. What are the odds the DVDs will be donated to a library? I'm thinkin' not good. If they had good intentions, one would think they would want customers to know.
i would love that! i have this vision instead of the E.T. atari game. maybe netflix is so lacking in vision themselves that they never thought of donation? i believe the customer feedback form is still open.
Deletethis addition supports my landfill vision:
Delete"Q.
Do I need to return any remaining discs after the last shipping day?
A.
You will not be charged for any unreturned discs - please enjoy them for as long as you like! If you do choose to return the disc, we will continue to accept returns until October 27th, 2023."
I’ve had one disc take a longer than usual time getting here. I’ve also noticed discs skipping more while playing; I’ve been washing and wiping them dry before playing them so they play better. And A good many more of the disc s in my queue are showing a very long wait. Obviously more users are checking out more discs.
ReplyDeleteEverything that was in my Saved section is gone now. I guess they've finally decided that if they don't have the discs, they're not going to get them.
ReplyDelete
DeleteHard to watch the slow demise.
I can't seem to post a reply to the comment about what will happen to the DVDs in the Netflix inventory when they close down. Another member of my household, who does not have a Netflix DVD subscription but sometimes watches mine with me, has long held the idea that Netflix doesn't even keep a physical inventory. His opinion is that they keep the movies in one central cloud location and burn them to DVDs when they are about to be sent out. I have pointed out that the DVDs have nice labels like the ones I've bought or checked out from libraries, but these can also be affixed neatly from a central storage place. Of course, this means that over 5 billion DVDs have likely gone to waste unless they are reusable. It somewhat makes sense because all but one of the DVDs I've gotten in my five years as a subscriber have come from one location. That other one came from clear across the country. I can't believe they have had every one of them in that one place.
ReplyDeleteIf they really have a physical inventory, it's a shame they can't sell them to customers or donate them to libraries. I suspect it's just a logistical thing, not a licensing issue. I think they are going to bill people for unreturned DVDs about a month after they stop sending them out, so it wouldn't surprise me that some people may keep them and pay the bill intentionally after that time. Of course, they'd be limited to the number of DVDs they can have out at one time.
I haven't posted here in a while, and I see the wording, "This site is protected by reCAPTCHA...." I will be very unhappy if I have to pick out the number of motorcycles or traffic lights before I am allowed to post now!
DeleteHi Regina, I'm sorry you had trouble posting as a reply. Not sure why that would be. Also, I don't know anything about the whole reCAPTCHA thing. That's not something I have any say about. Please let me know if it becomes a problem.
Not that it matters, but I'm afraid your housemate's logic doesn't hold up. For one thing, if Netflix burned a new DVD every time someone ordered it, why would you ever have to wait to get a popular one? And, that process would take more time and expense than the more obvious method, so why would they do that? Also, some of the ones I received had obviously been used. Finally, it doesn't make sense that they would destroy the DVDs when they came back, and if they didn't, then there would be inventory. And, of course freshly burned DVDs would be reusable. What if a customer wanted to watch it - or part of it - again? Or someone else in the household wanted to watch at a different time?
Nice to hear from you, Regina.
before your time, netflix did used to sell its inventory on its website. you may be right in that logistically it wasn't worth it to the company. i've been a subscriber for 18 years and would never purchase the discs i've gotten in the mail. would your friend like me to screenshot for him all the damaged discs i've reported? i assure you they weren't freshly burned from the cloud nor sent all but one time from a central location.
Delete
DeleteThere's an article in Variety today that says Netflix will be randomly sending out extra DVDs at the end of September. Subcribers will be getting an email that tells them about it, and lets them know how they can opt in to that promotion (it's not automatic). If nothing else, this should resolve the question of whether or not there's inventory. ; - )
So my life with the Netflix DVD service has ended. I sent my last DVD back on Tuesday. Today I downloaded the final report that I was entitled to get. (Tomorrow, Friday, October 27, is the last day to request it.) I know I could have kept the DVDs I still had after they stopped sending out new ones, but I didn't want them because I am trying to declutter. Also, I prefer DVDs that I own to have their jewel box and packaging included. The DVDs that I got from Netflix and my long-ago Blockbuster subscriptions don't come with these, understandably so since they would be difficult to mail. Neither did DVDs I rented from Blockbuster and other stores. Library ones sometimes do come with them.
ReplyDeleteEver since the announcement that Netflix would be closing its DVD operation, I kept hoping for another company to buy it up. As the September 29 deadline approached, I Googled to see if this was possibly going to happen. The only thing I found was news from closer to the April 18 announcement date than the then current date that Redbox, which runs DVD vending concessions, was interested in buying it, but Netflix refused. Speculation was that Netflix had proprietary algorithms for such things as showing DVDs someone may be interested in that they didn't want to surrender. I don't recall if Netflix thought that Redbox wasn't offering enough money.
I have never used a Redbox machine in a store, but I may start doing so soon. Redbox mainly offers recent movies, and a lot of what I want to see are older, especially classics.
The Netflix DVD apps are still on my iPad and Android phone. When I try to go into it on either device, I get a message that says, "The DVD.com app is not available." It has a link to the dvd.netflix.com website.
i stopped going to redbox a decade ago. i'm an avid moviegoer, i'm not interested in direct to dvd releases, and streaming is better for catching theatrical releases i missed during their run. having to go back out to return a movie the next day was annoying in general, but the worst was the lines, especially with people taking their sweet time to decide what to rent. as you say, it doesn't have catalog titles, which is mostly what i watch, too. i still find it obscene netflix consigned its inventory to the landfill. i lost further respect for the company after piecing that together. i can't say it surprised me in 2023 no other company bought it, however.
Deleteas mentioned above and elsewhere, there are smaller companies still renting by mail. physical media is near its end stage. best buy will stop selling it altogether after the holidays. i monitor prices on blu-ray.com, and there are complete series of tv series that are priced to move ($10-40 for sometimes 100+ episodes in HD). i've only bought one so far, which was to save me a month from streaming it on netflix if and when i return. i could go on and on. netflix closing its (i'm guessing still profitable, but they never answered me) dvd business marks the end of the era. i'll keep buying my favorites, especially titles i can't rely on being streamed, or where it makes more economical sense than to stream (bang for the buck), but for me, i took this as a sign to pursue other hobbies and interests. that said, they could've given me some extra rentals. i got none, and they/USPS cheated me one of my last proper rentals (yes, i know it was a free month). i, too, returned all my rentals, even though they're being trashed or maybe recycled.
final numbers:
474 titles in queue (so much for #GetThroughMyQueue)
1732 total rentals
5663 total ratings
2 reviews written
10% top renter, 10% top rater, 18 years
morgan freeman most rented actor
I was also a top 10% renter and rater. 2009 rentals, a member since 2002. My first three rentals were Deep Blue Sea, American Beauty, and Jurassic Park III.
Deletemember since 2005. first three rentals: Dark Water (2002 original), Snatch, and The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Disc 1. :)
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