Netflix Policy continued

I've heard from a number of you who are experiencing similar frustrations with the Netflix slowdown and I encourage you to write Netflix and let them know how you feel. Perhaps if enough of us speak up, someone of authority will notice and take action.

Since the last post about Netflix's policy on establishing priority for shipments, I have sent a few more emails to Netflix, each exchange more maddening than the last.

I replied to their email with the following:

Why should a "balanced experience" for all Netflix members be a goal for Netflix? Clearly not all members use Netflix in the same way, so artificially balancing the experience across all members makes little sense.

A first come, first served approach is the fairest for all. Taking into account how long a DVD has been in a member's queue as well as where it is in the queue should be the criteria for who gets priority.

Clearly Netflix is quietly increasing profits by limiting the number of DVDs that a member can rent. With that business model in place, Netflix should revise the marketing pitch, "members rent as many DVDs as they want" because it is blatently untrue. I cannot rent as many DVDs as I want because Netflix has made the business decision to put me lower in priority for shipping.

If customer satisfaction is important, I would suggest that Netflix re-examine this policy.

Janice

To which they responded with the exact same paragraph from their original email that described the "balanced experience" concept.

As a rule, I'm not opposed to form letters. I've been known to use them on occasion. But the form letter should address the the question/concern at hand, otherwise it's just plain annoying.

So picture this--the email above was a reply to their email. A reply which included their email. So if the person had actually taken the time to scroll down, they would have seen that I had already received the "balanced experience" canned response. Aaargh.

Of course, I couldn't let it go.

Danielle A,

Thank you for your reply. However, I already received the exact same response from Scott at Netflix Customer Service. If you scroll down in the email you'll see it.

If you read my email, you might notice that I was responding to the notion of the "balanced experience" that you and Scott refer to in your form letter responses.

Your email does not provide any enlightenment.

Janice

Here's the response that stopped me cold:

Hello Janice,

Thanks for your inquiry.

We really do appreciate your feedback and comments and we will definitely take them into consideration but that is not going to change how we prioritize movies. We apologize for any inconveniences that this may have caused you.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks,
Kimsorn,
Netflix Customer Service

Wow.

My first thought was, what feedback and comments of mine are they going to take into consideration? And since when does a Customer Service representative set company policy?

And then the lightbulb came on. Wouldn't those be good questions to ask the COO, the VP of Marketing, and the VP of Customer Service?