I’ve had a Netflix account for almost four weeks now, and I’m finally beginning to get a feel for what it’s like to use their DVD rental service. They offer a huge selection and a high level of convenience, but it seems to me the customer has to be a little organized.
The customer has to maintain via Internet a list of DVDs he or she would like to receive, and I think the Netflix interface for creating and updating that list is pretty easy to use. Some people seem to enjoy mulling over their list, playing around with it, showing it to others, and so forth, but I am finding maintaining my list to be something of a chore, albeit a very small one. I am not a good list person, and I would rather not make a list of anything, including DVDs I would like to eventually get around to seeing.
It seems to me that the most vexing thing about renting from Netflix is the uncertainty associated with when you’ll get any particular DVD on your request list. When Netflix receives a DVD back from you, they send you the DVD highest on your list that they determine to be currently available. But when demand for a particular title exceeds Netflix’s supply, some customers get wait-listed.
To help customers deal with the wait-listing issue, Netflix assigns an availability status to each DVD in your request list. A status of “Now” means you’ll probably get it right away, “Short Wait” means you’ll probably get it within 14 days, “Long Wait” means you’ll probably wait 15 to 30 days, and “Very Long Wait” means to expect a wait of a month or more.
This all seems a bit tricky to me, and my way of dealing with it has been to keep about half a dozen DVDs in my list, making sure they all have an availability status of “Now.” Of course, I realize many customers would not find this strategy acceptable. But my method does have advantages: I don’t have to think very far ahead, and I’m getting my DVDs in a timely fashion in exactly the order I’m requesting them.
But enough for now about the mechanics of using Netflix. Here’s a log of activities during my fourth week with the service:
Monday, October 4: Netflix acknowledged receipt of “Woodstock,” which I mailed back to them the previous Friday. They also notified me they were shipping me “Gimme Shelter.”
Tuesday, October 5: The postal service delivered “Gimme Shelter” to my house. Also, I dropped “Buena Vista Social Club” into a mailbox after having had it at home for six days.
Wednesday, October 6: Netflix acknowledged receipt of “Buena Vista Social Club,” which I mailed the previous day. Also, they notified me they were sending me “Tupac: Resurrection.”
Thursday, October 7: The postal service delivered “Tupac: Resurrection” to my house.
To summarize my Netflix experience so far, they continue their perfect performance, while I continue to end up struggling to find a good time to watch the steady stream of DVDs they’re sending me. After having had the service for nearly four weeks, I’ve watched only five titles I’ve received from them, and I have three Netflix DVDs sitting unwatched on top of my TV.
That’s it for now, but keep looking for new installments of this Netflix diary.
