Posted by elrous0 on 08/25/05 14:54

Nonymous wrote:
> Ya should been a member back in, oh, 1998 or 1999. Now *those* were some
> wait times.

Hah! Maybe you're from an alternate universe or something. But
Netflix's waiting times for me were MUCH better in 1998 than they were
when I finally gave up on them in 2001. Back before they started that
damn subscription based model, it was simple:

1) You find movie
2) You rent movie for $5
3) Movie arrives 3-4 days later (applies to new releases, old releases,
everything--no queue, no waiting lists for new releases, no excuses)
4) You mail it back 5 days later

Back then, they had every incentive to make sure the movie you wanted
was in stock and to make sure they got it to you promptly (since your
rental period didn't start until you got it and the faster you got it,
the faster they got it back).

Once they went to that subscription model, it became in their best
interest to STOP you from ever getting your movie (since they make the
same amount of money either way). The fewer titles they mail out to
you, the more they save on postage. The less stock they have, the less
stock they have to buy, store, and ship.

To me, every change they made from 1998 to 2001 just made the service
worse and worse. I finally bailed in 2001 (and have no intention of
ever going back as long as they maintain a subscription model). I don't
know about the last four years, but I suspect little has changed.

-Eric

[Back to original message]