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Netflix is now screwed..Why you should put your membership on hold.
I was in the mood to watch a movie.
Fired up the AppleTV to see that a lot of movies were no longer in my Instant Queue (approx 20). Weird, executed a search for the movie "Grown Ups" to find out it is no longer available!
I called Netflix to be told it is a "licensing renewal" issue and that the movie studios were being difficult. Nothing could be done.
I asked, well you are collecting my $7.99/mo and I am now down hundreds of movies. the CSR told me it was available on DVD and no big deal, upgrade my account and I could get it.
That was the end.
Funny though..When I told the CSR I was using an Apple TV she said "Who makes that Roku?". I said yes.
So the larger question here is that is Netflix doomed to lose a large amount of customers over these types of issues? It is bound to happen over and over again. In his All Things D9 session Reed Hastings said he hoped that throwing a bunch of money at licensing would be the answer. Clearly it is not!
- lysol 15y agoI think the real issue is that you wanted to actually watch "Grown Ups".
- jason_slack 15y agoCan you blame me? Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Reiner all in the same flick? The only thing that would have made that better is adding Jim Parsons...
- jrsmith1279 15y agoI have to say that IMO that movie was a terrible letdown given the people who were in the movie. Most of the people in the movie are some of my favorite comedians/actors and I expected a much funnier movie.
- jeffool 15y agoI... Don't get it? This has always been how they operated? Films coming in and going out of streaming ability? It's kinda how the studios treat channels like HBO, Showtime, and the like. Netflix just did the online move before those guys wised up. (Though, HBO has now, and congrats to them.)
- jason_slack 15y agoI have never had this happen and I have been a Netflix customer since about late 1999-2000, IIRC.
- jeffool 15y agoI recommend visiting http://instantwatcher.com http://instantwatcher.com It's been around for at least two years, I know, just for this reason. It's a good site. Each title has a "Remaining" area where it shows how many days it's got left on Instant Queue availability, and you even even click "Expiring" at the top to see what's ending soon, so you can make sure you fit it in!
- jason_slack 15y agoindeed a good resource, Thanks.