Things Nobody is Telling You

 

Dear subscriber:  Please no questions.

I have decided to start a new informative feature on this here interblog.  These missives will attempt to explain (or simply demonstrate) how something that should be dandy is actually a minefield of problems.  That is, all the things you should know but wouldn't because nobody is making them explicit.

The first party up for review is the DVD/Online Media subscription service--Netflix.

Here are some things you should know: They still throttle.  A lot of people are under the impression that because of the class action suit, which they paid a lot of money to settle, the activity of throttling had ceased.  (By the by, throttling is when Netflix denies film titles that are in demand to customers that the company feels is using the service too frequently.  That is, getting a large number of DVDs per month.)  But all they did was re-word the service agreement to allow for throttling without impediment by law.  You see, what they mean when they say subscribers can have unlimited rentals is: Please limit yourself, or we will.

No. 2: You will not have access to new Warner Bros. and other studio titles until one month after they are released.  Netflix made a deal with WB to delay renting their latest films in exchange for making more of their back catalog (i.e. the films you've already seen or made the choice to avoid like plague) available for instant viewing.  WB feels this delayed gratification will cause subscribers to rush out and purchase their DVDs.  And while you're out you may as well get it on Blu ray, and come back in a couple months for the Special Edition, and a year after that for the Anniversary Edition...

The above is correlative to No. 3:  Instant viewing is mostly crappy.  By that I don't mean the titles, but rather the execution.  Whether watching on your home computer or HDTV, unless you have a connection that is Microsoft HQ-speedy and wholly free of glitches, the picture and sound are fuzzed and twitchy at best.  The fault of connection speeds cannot be laid at Netflix's door.  But I would rather they stick to their primary mandate--mailing your film choices quickly and seamlessly--than depreciate that service just to amplify the number of movies that you can watch stutter and pixelate on your new big screen TV.

(Feb. 2011 Update: Netflix's instant viewing is a lot better now, even with only a moderately speedy connection.  There are also many more HD titles that look pretty good.  If you're going to go with only an Instant subscription, I can't argue against it.)

No. 4:  Many Fox titles you receive will be stripped of their special features.  Fox, and its affiliate studios, have taken to removing the extras you typically find on DVD releases in exchange for bare-bones presentations.  In many cases, though, the Netflix pages for these films will still indicate that these special features are on the discs.  I know many people don't care about extra features, but these films also won't contain Director's Cuts or Extended versions of the films themselves--that is something customers might well choose over theatrical versions.  The reason behind this: Fox wants to sell (not rent) its wares.

No. 5:  Netflix's customer service is sorely (and surprisingly) lacking.  Sorely, because the reps you speak to either have no clue about which disc side is up, or are pretending to know nothing.  Either way, you're screwed.  Surprisingly, because there is no way to communicate with customer service via the Netflix website or by email.  This seems more than passing strange for an internet-based megalith.  But it does mean there's no electronic paper trail when a rep tells you over the phone that they have no knowledge of why Warner Bros. flicks aren't available, or what might be happening to the Fox films.  Both statements that have been interpolated to me.

So, caveat emptor.  But if you're looking for a sort of, kinda solution...  What I've done is drop my Netflix membership from three titles at a time to one.  And I've picked up the cheapest Blockbuster rental option.  This way I can get any WB films immediately, and Fox titles with their special features (though I get these on Blu ray--no extra charge on Blockbuster, four dollar surcharge on Netflix).  I now pay an extra two bucks per month, but I get the perks and avoid most of the headaches involved with these services.  Or you could just subsist on rabbit ears and YouTube.  That might be the most Zen choice of all