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View Full Version : Netflix Throttling Customers?


Suhit Gupta
02-11-2006, 06:42 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/10/netflix.renters.ap/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/10/netflix.renters.ap/index.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Netflix typically sends about 13 movies a month to Villanueva's home in Warren, Michigan -- down from the 18 to 22 DVDs he once received before the company's automated system identified him as a heavy renter and began delaying his shipments to protect its profits. The same Netflix formula also shoves Villanueva to the back of the line for the most-wanted DVDs, so the service can send those popular flicks to new subscribers and infrequent renters. The little-known practice, called "throttling" by critics, means Netflix customers who pay the same price for the same service are often treated differently, depending on their rental patterns."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/netflix.jpg" /><br /><br />Dude, that sucks. I have totally been loving Netflix and over the last several months, I keep comparing the service that I get (I use it extremely heavily, up to a dozen per month) to what my girlfriend gets (about 5-6 per month). She almost always gets the new releases before me even though I put them in my list well before she does. I always figured there was some algorithm in their system that I just hadn't figured out yet but it looks like it is just throttling. I totally loved their service but this puts a slightly bad taste in my mouth. :-( Lately I have been seeing a number of Blockbuster advertisements telling us about their Netflix like service, I wonder if they do the same. If any of you use it, please tell me of your experience.

Ed Hansberry
02-11-2006, 01:50 PM
I keep comparing the service that I get (I use it extremely heavily, up to a dozen per month) to what my girlfriend gets (about 5-6 per month). She almost always gets the new releases before me even though I put them in my list well before she does.
throttling stinks, if they are doing it, but why is this guy renting movies on his own and not watching them with his girlfriend?

drummrsanonymous
02-11-2006, 03:23 PM
Wow Ed. Maybe they're geographically seperated at the moment or have other challenges. My girlfriend is off starting pharmacy school while I keep working on my masters and working here. We're 3 hours apart, but keep tabs on what each other is doing - like what movies we watched. It could totally make sense for each of us to have a Netflix account. However I prefer bargain bins and she doesn't have that much time for movies.

Back on topic, I've never used Netflix, but a buddy at work recently switched from Netflix to Blockbuster because it started taking forever to get new releases (3 to 4 weeks), turnaround time slowed to 3-4 days, and for the in-store rental. He was a pretty heavy renter. I'm not exactly how many a month, but it was probably more than 6. We'll see how getting new releases goes, but he's already found out that Blockbuster's selection isn't as robust as Netflix's.

Chris Gohlke
02-11-2006, 03:43 PM
I'm on Blockbuster, specifically for the in-store rentals. Now that you get one free a week, I use that for the new releases and use the on-line for the less popular stuff. I've averaged a little over 13 movies per month over the last nine months, plus the in store rentals. I've noticed a slight delay in the shipment of movies, but I feel I am getting an excellent value, so I let it slide.

Suhit Gupta
02-11-2006, 07:27 PM
I keep comparing the service that I get (I use it extremely heavily, up to a dozen per month) to what my girlfriend gets (about 5-6 per month). She almost always gets the new releases before me even though I put them in my list well before she does.
throttling stinks, if they are doing it, but why is this guy renting movies on his own and not watching them with his girlfriend?
Thanks drummrsanonymous for your reasoning. That is exactly right. She's studying in NY and I moved to Seattle for a job recently. So it is nice to try and sync on movies every once in a while so we can actually chat about it.

Suhit

Ed Hansberry
02-12-2006, 01:38 AM
throttling stinks, if they are doing it, but why is this guy renting movies on his own and not watching them with his girlfriend?
Thanks drummrsanonymous for your reasoning. That is exactly right. She's studying in NY and I moved to Seattle for a job recently. So it is nice to try and sync on movies every once in a while so we can actually chat about it.
Ahhh... that makes sense when you put it in context. :wink: Distance never occurred to me. :oops:

Kursplat
02-12-2006, 05:40 AM
I don't use either, yet. However, according to what I have read online, it appears BB throttles as well. However, as Chris pointed out, BB has the added advantage of the store rentals which can be used for the new releases if you absolutely can't wait. I have also heard from several people that have used both that the interface and selection for BB are not as good.

Personally, once I start I'll have such a huge backlog, I won't be hurting to see a new release the day it comes out. If I need to see something THAT bad, I'll see it at the theaters. :)

CST
02-13-2006, 01:39 AM
However, according to what I have read online, it appears BB throttles as well.


Being a BB user I have not seen any throtting,as far as I can tell. I have used it for new releases, but find it easier to go to the store to rent them there than wait a day.

Just on the last 5 months, including Feb's projected rentals, I'm up for 72 rentals, online, and 10 in-store. Here are my numbers - Oct 14, Nov 19, Dec 12, Jan 12, Feb 15*. Thats an average of 14.4 a month.

Since I'm on the old plan of $14.95/mo it averages out to 1.04/rental - so I'm not complaining... if only I could get them into the mail box the next day...

Kursplat
02-16-2006, 03:07 AM
Your 14/mo is what they are getting AFTER NetFlix throttles them. They were getting 20+/mo before the throttling. I wonder what your 14 will drop to after they start throttling.

Nah.... They would throttle, would they? Would they?
http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2006/mft06021501.htm

Chris Gohlke
02-16-2006, 03:34 AM
Blockbuster needs to use its local store as an advantage. They could probably save quite a bit on postage if they allowed returns to the local store. It could then bundle them up and do one return shipment a day. For people like me who live close to a blockbuster, this would be great for increasing my turnaround time. They could cut their postage nearly in half and they would only probably end up having to send a few extra movies a month based on the shorter turnaround time. Seems like a Win/win

Kursplat
02-16-2006, 03:21 PM
One would think that at first. But what about the extra manpower required at each store for receiving, logging, bundling, and mailing these discs every day. You wouldn't want them collecting discs for several days and THEN sending them back, since that would keep discs out of circulation longer then necessary. They would have to either add more discs or customers would have to wait longer for some titles because of that.

I don't know if the savings in postage is enough to warrant all the extra man hours spread out across all the stores.

Very interesting thought though. A definite advantage for them if they do it.