"Very Long Wait", "Long Wait" - The New Release New Norm

[Waba]

How many others are getting caught in Netflix's cost cutting measures and seeing new releases with "Very Long Wait" and "Long Wait" as their status? Outside of 'Speed Racer' and 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' I haven't received any popular (subject to interpretation). Currently I have:

'Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'
'Wanted'
'WALL-E'
'Kung Fu Panda'
'The Happening'
'Tropic Thunder'
'Hancock'

I have a friend I converted to a Netflix fan who has pushed his discs down to just one "for old movies" since he can't get new releases in a timely manner.

I called customer service about the issue and they said they suspect this is because they have closed their used disc store.

Netflix loses much of its appeal if you can't get the movies you want is a timely fashion. Should they not have enough copies to satisfy their customers within a month? ('Kung Fu Panda' & 'Tropic Thunder') Isn't two months too long? ('The Happening').

I've giving this until after the holidays before I found my friend - if I don't just suspend my account all together.

[ewd76]

I got Chronicles of Narnia the first day out because it was at number one on that Monday. This is the third week in a row that this has happened. Got Horton Hears a Who coming tomorrow.

[dionie]

I had "Dark Knight (Blu-Ray)" with a "Now" status but they are still sending today a title that is on the 15th on my list. #2 to #14 are on the different "Wait" status.

I would have understood if they sent a different one if "Dark Knight" is not on "Now". This also happened with "Hancock" before it changed to "Long Wait".

This still gets me wondering.

[Spindaddydad]

I would have understood if they sent a different one if "Dark Knight" is not on "Now". This also happened with "Hancock" before it changed to "Long Wait".

This still gets me wondering.

One thing to remember is that the "status" is not in real time. It can be as much as a day late in depicting the actual status of a title.

Best to just use the status indicator as a general assessment.

[dionie]

I'd like to believe what you said but that was not my experience with regular DVDs.

Maybe the status is for all discs as Now but blu-ray is already "Very Long Wait So Don't Bother Getting Blu-Ray But Get Regular DVD Instead" status perhaps ?

Thanks for the reply.

[jmonthedude]

It would be nice if they could work out a deal to have these movies available for instant watch HD streaming the day the DVD/Blu Ray is released.

[Spindaddydad]

It would be nice if they could work out a deal to have these movies available for instant watch HD streaming the day the DVD/Blu Ray is released

Yes, it would, but the big and mighty studios don't like that.

[Evil Herbivore]

have to give props to spin daddy & some others:
* studios won't give the electronic rights for new movies - they still can make a good profit on having NR be "new" so people rush to buy & rent them asap
* closing the pv store has nothing to do with the number of copies NF buys of any title
* more "hot" titles tend to come out this time of year - since studios want people to buy for holiday prezzies - combined w/ darker earlier & cold out - more people tend to stay in, watch movies & demand the "new" titles eventhough most of them stink. ( the bizarre American "theory" of new = great and anything a month old = not worth it) sigh.
* per Spindaddy - status is not real "real" time as spinD stated - but estimate determined on the usual comings & goings of your hub and is factored every day for the estimate of the next day.
* NF is a movie company , not a new release company. NF focuses on all types of movies: documentaries, music, instructional, anime, etc - not New Release focused like the brick & mortar stores are. NF inventory is far, far more inclusive than any brick and mortar - and therein lies the strength - and that's why there are a lot of devoted fans - you can get things you cannot get anywhere else. New Releases aren't NF forte, nor will they ever be as they make up such a tiny, tiny piece of cinema. As some have said here, seems like Red Box or such places are a popular place if there is a NR you really, really want, but aren't willing to buy. I don't have issues getting NR, but I rarely ask for them since they're mostly downgraded pablum for the 13-19 year old spastic mindset.

[Christopher]

as for right now I have Hancock Horton Hears A Who Step Brothers wall-e and the dark knight all on either on a long wait or short wait. And yes I had Dark Knight at #1 so they would send it to me monday but nope they sent me Meet Dave starring eddie murphy instead witch was at #2. I almost started to rent alot of news from Either Red Box or DVD Express if I have to wait longer then a month. I think this sucks but what are ya gonna do I even called CS and they told me that they tend to send the new movies to people who rent less then I do. So in other words someone with a 1 or 2 out at a time plan and pays less then someone on a 3 or more out at a time has a better chance at getting the new releases more then I do hmm that makes no sense to me at all. with NF vast variety of selection I wouldn't give up NF for any other DVD rental service out there.

[photo heathen]

"So in other words someone with a 1 or 2 out at a time plan and pays less then someone on a 3 or more out at a time has a better chance at getting the new releases more then I do hmm that makes no sense to me at all."

For a company like Netflix, low-turnover customers are their bread and butter. To you it may seem like those customers pay less than you do, but since they are only renting a handful of movies a month, they are in fact paying much more per disc than you. Therefor, Netflix is in fact earning much more profit off an occasional renter than they are off of the hardcore renter.

So it stands to reason then that Netflix would want to keep as many of those low turnover/high profit customers as possible for as long as then can. By giving those customers higher priority on new releases they are more likely to keep those customers happy for the longest period of time. Since low-turnover customers are more likely to only ever rent newer releases anyway, it's sort of a no-brainer. On the other hand, few hardcore customers are going to cancel simply because they don't get the hottest new release all the time. Generally they have 499 other movies in their queue to keep them occupied.

[Spindaddydad]

And yes I had Dark Knight at #1 so they would send it to me monday but nope they sent me Meet Dave starring eddie murphy instead witch was at #2

Rather than having DARK KNIGHT in your #1 slot, you needed to have your # 1 slot open. And to do that you need to return a movie on Fri or Sat.

And yes, someone who returns fewer movies makes more money for NF than someone who rents a whole lot as Heathen says. Think about it

[I'm Not a Turnip]

Hey Christopher, I think you misunderstood what the CS person meant. He didn't mean someone on the 2-out plan gets new movie preference over someone on the 3-out plan. He's saying person A is on 3-out ($17 / month) and rents 1 movie -- person B is on the same plan and rents 17 movies. Person A essentially paid $17 each for his monthly rentals, Person B paid $1 each for his. Person A rents fewer movies, pays more for each individual rental and therefore gets preference on new releases.

[ewd76]

So are you saying that Netflix actually wants you to send more money to them while they send fewer movies to you? Well, this is hard for me to wrap my brain around.