Interesting if unscientific test done by someone who reckons the more you rent from Netflix the slower they send them to you. http://dvd-rent-test.dreamhost.com/ My friends and I figured this is what was happening.
Wow. I actually considered that this might be the case as my selections became lesser available the further I was into my membership. It got so bad that I just quit. The service concept is great, but once you watch all the interesting titles that your local store might not have, Netflix's title availability sucks.
Thanks for the information. We'd been considering netflix and for the time being now I think we'll wait.
others? does anybody have experience with the other DVD rental by mail services? there are many of them.
It looks like the best thing might be to periodically quit and resign up. I guess you would be best served if you could use a different address and/or credit card.
First of all, that webpage is frighteningly thorough...but that's cool. Just goes to show that many businesses have no interest in long term customers. It is all about the quick buck.
I just got it 2 months ago, and while some titles have waits on them (including a very long wait on the MLS 1999 year in review DVD!) most are available. It's a neat concept, and new stuff tends to be more available.
I've been a member for years and have had no trouble whatsoever. In fact, service has gotten better rather than worse in recent months and I've been turning them over faster than I did in the beginning. Seriously, sometimes they've had 48 hour turnaround, which is mind-boggling to me.
I think they've got a distribution center near DC, which would explain the DC-area folks having such a quick turnaround time.
I sent 2 movies back in the Saturday afternoon mail and have already received a new one. The second one should be here tomorrow. I'm loving Netflix, personally.
Bingo. I got it through work, and that's one of the things they tell the media department to use in the sales pitch (the DC distribution center giving a quick turnaround.) I've had it since February, and for 15 bucks a month, I've been thrilled with the service. Now if only that MLS video will become available...
We signed up about 6 months ago. One of the things I found interesting was the least # of movies per month we could sign up for was 3. And we went through several a month those first few months before tiring of watching movies. Later, one of my friends told me I could edit my account to lower the # of movies per month to 2, with a lower membership price. I have really liked this, because for us 2 is about good. On the downside, we've had Fargo on our list since day one, and still haven't been able to get that (so, if one of you is hogging that movie, send it back pronto, buster!). EDIT, 10 minutes later: I swear to God this just happened. My AOL inbox clicked, so I checked it, and guess what? A message from Netflix: "For Fri: Fargo." Bitch and ye shall receive!!!! I have a feeling their inventory will expand as their business does.
Unless you're getting superbargain stuff, you can't get a couple of DVDs for $20. I just got Buena Vista Social Club for $13 or $14 and that's just about the cheapest DVD I've seen that's worth owning.
I got "In Like Flynt" and "Our Man Flynt" for $9.99 each new, but you're right it's hard to find decent dvds, that is one's you wouldn't be embarrassed to own for under $14.00 Target does have some typical cable tv fare for cheap, but why do you need to own that crap? To be fair they had both "Time Bandits" and "Life of Brian" non Criterion releases (neither have any extras) for $9.99 In the interest of fair reporting I've managed to get "Dolemite", "Charade", the above mentioned "Flynt" films, and "the Quiet Man" for about 10 bucks each.