Netflix’s Chief Product Officer, Neil Hunt, has addressed Netflix streaming content problems on The Netflix Blog.
Many subscribers are suspicious that Netflix is throttling streaming content for heavy users. Netflix is flatly denying this practice, but the company has no credibility, because they have abused subscribers through throttling before and denied it.
Netflix’s denials of throttling streaming content are somewhat like the denials they used when they lied about their practice of throttling through the mail. Netflix used to blame USPS for the check-in and shipping delays for DVDs. We later discovered the fault largely did not rest with USPS, and the delays were mostly due to Netflix. Now that Netflix is being accused of throttling streaming content, Netflix is blaming the ISPs for the delays. First they blamed USPS, now they are blaming ISPs. We found out USPS was mostly innocent. What we will find out about the ISPs?
As of now, Netflix is on record as officially denying the practice of throttling streaming content for some users. If someone later finds Netflix is lying, there will probably be more lawsuits and ill will toward Netflix.
By the way, Neil Hunt’s most infuriating point in Netflix’s denial is that Netflix “hopes” to solve the streaming content problem by the end of the year. Why is this not a higher priority for Netflix? Netflix should be talking about having this resolved by the end of April.
Showing posts with label throttle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label throttle. Show all posts
3/17/2009
Throttling Suspicions for Netflix Streaming Content
The latest controversy surrounding Netflix is about the throttling of streaming content over the Internet. Some Netflix subscribers have strong suspicions that Netflix is limiting their ability to view streaming content by forcing unusually long data buffer times that can force a viewer to wait for many minutes or hours before viewing a movie or show. Netflix and their defenders say some Internet service providers must be limiting their users’ data downloads through these buffer delays.
Regardless of who is causing these buffer delays, they are a problem, because they can greatly limit a Netflix subscriber’s ability to view streaming content. The real problem here is we do not know the true cause or culprit. We cannot trust the ISPs, because they are sometimes unscrupulous companies who hide behind technology and defend themselves with nonsensical industry lingo. We absolutely cannot trust Netflix, because, a few years ago, they were caught throttling subscribers through the mail and would not admit it until lawyers got involved.
Both the ISPs and Netflix have the ability to throttle customers and both could benefit by throttling. Since neither side can be trusted, throttled Netflix subscribers are in the dark. As of now, it appears that some Netflix subscribers who access streaming content might be getting throttled over the Internet. The question is: If this throttling is intentional, who is doing the throttling?
Click below to read Riyad Kalla’s article on The "Break It Down" Blog about streaming content throttling at Netflix.
"Netflix Throttling Instant Video Streaming Performance for Viewers"
Regardless of who is causing these buffer delays, they are a problem, because they can greatly limit a Netflix subscriber’s ability to view streaming content. The real problem here is we do not know the true cause or culprit. We cannot trust the ISPs, because they are sometimes unscrupulous companies who hide behind technology and defend themselves with nonsensical industry lingo. We absolutely cannot trust Netflix, because, a few years ago, they were caught throttling subscribers through the mail and would not admit it until lawyers got involved.
Both the ISPs and Netflix have the ability to throttle customers and both could benefit by throttling. Since neither side can be trusted, throttled Netflix subscribers are in the dark. As of now, it appears that some Netflix subscribers who access streaming content might be getting throttled over the Internet. The question is: If this throttling is intentional, who is doing the throttling?
Click below to read Riyad Kalla’s article on The "Break It Down" Blog about streaming content throttling at Netflix.
"Netflix Throttling Instant Video Streaming Performance for Viewers"
6/02/2005
Netflix Admits Plan Limits (Well, Sort Of)
On June 1, 2005, Manuel’s Netflix Journal reported what seems to be an indication that Netflix is beginning to subtly admit the limits of their unlimited rental plans.
Netflix’s Terms of Service now states, "Most of our subscribers rent between 3-11 movies per month." This somewhat ambiguous and non-committal statement is far from a confession, but at least Netflix is giving customers a hint they may be disappointed if they hope to watch more than eleven DVDs per month on a three-out plan.
Perhaps Netflix is feeling the heat from outraged customers, or maybe Netflix is just hedging in case they get hit with lawsuits. Regardless, at least Netflix is giving customers a little more information.
Netflix’s Terms of Service now states, "Most of our subscribers rent between 3-11 movies per month." This somewhat ambiguous and non-committal statement is far from a confession, but at least Netflix is giving customers a hint they may be disappointed if they hope to watch more than eleven DVDs per month on a three-out plan.
Perhaps Netflix is feeling the heat from outraged customers, or maybe Netflix is just hedging in case they get hit with lawsuits. Regardless, at least Netflix is giving customers a little more information.
3/20/2005
How to Get Revenge on Netflix
By Warren S
Netflix Underground
http://netflixunderground.blogspot.com/
March 1, 2005
INTRODUCTION
If you are reading this, you have probably already been burned by Netflix. Your first few weeks as a Netflix customer were wonderful. You started catching up on all of those movies you had missed, watched a new DVD almost every night, and you were amazed by what a wonderful value you had found.
Sadly, things turned ugly after the first couple months of your membership. Suddenly, your returned DVDs took days to arrive, and your new DVDs took an extra day or two to ship. You began to grow queasy as you discovered that your unlimited rental plan had some substantial hidden limitations.
If this has happened to you, it is not a mistake or anomaly, and it is not the fault of USPS (contrary to Netflix claims). Netflix’s software has identified you as a heavy user (an unprofitable frequent renter), and Netflix has chosen to throttle your flow of DVDs. Essentially, Netflix has subjected you to a series of artificial, software-driven delays that reduce their costs by limiting your rentals during each billing cycle.
Now that you know what Netflix is doing to you, you are furious and want to get revenge by telling them that you are canceling your membership because you are not getting enough DVDs. The catch is that this measure is very ineffective and exactly what Netflix wants. If you are a heavy user, you are unprofitable, and Netflix will be thrilled to learn that they successfully throttled you right off of their membership rolls.
Canceling your membership is a very reasonable act of retaliation, but definitely do not give Netflix the satisfaction of knowing that they throttled you out. If you cancel, give Netflix some other vague explanation or none at all.
If you really want to get revenge on Netflix, you will need to be much more proactive, stoke the fires, and make some noise. They cheated you, and now it’s payback time. Below are several easy actions that you can take to have some influence and put some heat on Netflix.
REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
Call Netflix’s Customer Service Department every time something is wrong with your account. Fielding service calls requires a lot of resources and raises the cost of their throttling measures. Netflix’s incentive to throttle heavy users will be reduced if they know they have a 10-minute call to deal with each time they cause a delay on your account.
http://netflixunderground.blogspot.com/
March 1, 2005
INTRODUCTION
If you are reading this, you have probably already been burned by Netflix. Your first few weeks as a Netflix customer were wonderful. You started catching up on all of those movies you had missed, watched a new DVD almost every night, and you were amazed by what a wonderful value you had found.
Sadly, things turned ugly after the first couple months of your membership. Suddenly, your returned DVDs took days to arrive, and your new DVDs took an extra day or two to ship. You began to grow queasy as you discovered that your unlimited rental plan had some substantial hidden limitations.
If this has happened to you, it is not a mistake or anomaly, and it is not the fault of USPS (contrary to Netflix claims). Netflix’s software has identified you as a heavy user (an unprofitable frequent renter), and Netflix has chosen to throttle your flow of DVDs. Essentially, Netflix has subjected you to a series of artificial, software-driven delays that reduce their costs by limiting your rentals during each billing cycle.
Now that you know what Netflix is doing to you, you are furious and want to get revenge by telling them that you are canceling your membership because you are not getting enough DVDs. The catch is that this measure is very ineffective and exactly what Netflix wants. If you are a heavy user, you are unprofitable, and Netflix will be thrilled to learn that they successfully throttled you right off of their membership rolls.
Canceling your membership is a very reasonable act of retaliation, but definitely do not give Netflix the satisfaction of knowing that they throttled you out. If you cancel, give Netflix some other vague explanation or none at all.
If you really want to get revenge on Netflix, you will need to be much more proactive, stoke the fires, and make some noise. They cheated you, and now it’s payback time. Below are several easy actions that you can take to have some influence and put some heat on Netflix.
REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
Call Netflix’s Customer Service Department every time something is wrong with your account. Fielding service calls requires a lot of resources and raises the cost of their throttling measures. Netflix’s incentive to throttle heavy users will be reduced if they know they have a 10-minute call to deal with each time they cause a delay on your account.
Netflix Customer Service
(800) 279-5688
(888) 638-3549
Other Netflix Contact Information
Address
Netflix, Inc.
100 Winchester Circle
Los Gatos, CA 95032
Headquaters Phone
(408) 540-3700
Headquaters Fax
(408) 540-3737
20/20 VISION
Contact 20/20’s John Stossel (www.abcnews.go.com/2020/ABCNEWSSpecial), share your Netflix experience, and encourage him to investigate the company’s business practices.
JohnStossel@abcnews.com
FILM AT 11
Contact your local television stations and newspapers. Let them know what Netflix is doing. Those local investigative reporters drool over frauds like this. If Netflix gets pulled into a public relations firestorm and is forced to spend revenue defending their public image, they might realize it would just be cheaper to keep their heavy users quiet by delivering a few more DVDs per month.
CONTACT THE FEDS
Netflix is committing fraud across state lines and the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) needs to know about it. File a complaint online.
http://www.consumer.gov/sentinel/
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
JUST THE FACTS, MA’AM
The FBI (www.fbi.gov) and National White Collar Crime Center (www.nw3c.org) have joined to form the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov). File a complaint online.
http://www.ifccfbi.gov/cf1.asp
GO POSTAL
Write USPS and tell them that Netflix is unfairly blaming your post office for delays and shipping problems. USPS needs to know that Netflix is using them as a scapegoat. If USPS knows how they are being portrayed, Netflix will get a chilly reception the next time they have to negotiate bulk mailing rates and terms. Contact USPS at the following address.
Azeezaly Jaffer
Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20260-0001
REDMAIL
Netflix uses the US mail to conduct business. This makes Netflix subject to mail fraud investigations. File a complaint with the US Postal Inspector.
http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/
https://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm
BETTER THAN NOTHING
File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Netflix’s complaint file needs to reflect the true scope of customer dissatisfaction. Every complaint helps build the case against Netflix.
http://www.bbb.org/
CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN’
Go after Netflix on their home turf by informing the California Attorney General (http://caag.state.ca.us/) about what is going on his state. File a complaint here.
http://ag.ca.gov/consumers/mailform.htm
HOME SWEET HOME
Netflix is committing fraud on residents of your state, and it is the responsibility of your state’s Attorney General to stop things like this. You can find your Attorney General’s contact information on your state’s official government Web site.
http://www.loc.gov/global/state/stategov.html
GET LETIGIOUS
Contact a local law firm, tell them your Netflix story, and see if they are interested in launching a class action suit against a multi-million dollar corporation. If a good class action lawsuit gets going, Netflix will probably be forced into a settlement that will result in partial refunds for their customers.
TAKE CHARGE
If you have expressed your dissatisfaction to Netflix and been denied an adequate refund, call your credit card company and dispute Netflix’s charges on the grounds that they did not deliver the product for which you paid. Placing the charges in dispute will instantly put the burden of proof on Netflix, and they will be forced to make their case to your credit card company. Depending on your credit card company’s policies, you could get some money back. At the very least, you will force Netflix to expend resources defending themselves, and you will raise the attention of the credit idustry. If Netflix gets too many disputed charges on their record, it will impact the merchant fees they pay to the credit card companies.
SUMMARY
Ironically, if Netflix had supplied me with enough DVDs, I would not have had the time or motivation to take these actions or write this article. Now, I’ve done what I can on my own. Unfortunately, I am only one person, and my impact will be minimal. If, however, many more people take these actions, Netflix will be pressured into coming clean on how they do business and publicly admit the imposed limitations of their "unlimited" rental plan. If enough people take action, things will change.
==================================
Reprint Notice: This article may be reprinted and distributed freely without additional permission. Please credit Warren S, Netflix Underground - http://netflixunderground.blogspot.com/.
The original article can be found in its entirety at http://netflixunderground.blogspot.com/.
==================================
3/16/2005
Netflix Tactics
The theory is that Netflix maximizes their profit by decreasing the monthly rentals of heavy users with a series of various delays. Here are the most common tactics that Netflix could use to slow down your flow of DVDs. Note that this section is theoretical and can be proven
conclusively only with internal Netflix documents.
Late Afternoon Shipping
Netflix sometimes ships DVDs in the late afternoon. This makes it harder on the post office to get the DVDs to you the next day. This often adds a day to your turnaround time.
Delayed Check-In
Netflix will not always check-in your DVDs on the day that they arrive. Netflix will sometimes increase your turnaround by simply holding your DVD for a day or two.
Delayed Shipping
Netflix should send out your replacement DVD the same day they receive your returned DVD; however, they often push your ship date back a day. This allows them to automatically increase your turnaround time by a day on each DVD.
Alternate Distribution Center
Netflix will send your DVDs from alternate distribution centers that are outside of your local area. Depending on distance, this tactic can easily add an additional two or three days to your turnaround time. (See Comments for details.)
Monday Delivery
Netflix will hold your replacement DVD and ship it so late in the week that it is almost impossible for the DVD to arrive before Monday. This throttling measure not only adds days to your turnaround time, it can leave you irritated all weekend.
Missing DVDs
Netflix will sometimes throttle you by "losing" a DVD for an extended period of time. This missing DVD tactic will effectively reduce your three-out plan to a two-out plan. This virtual plan downgrade can go on indefinitely. When this happens, the burden is placed on you to discover the problem and report the issue to Netflix. Each time this happens to you, you will probably end up having to report the DVD as lost to restore your full flow of DVDs. Even though Netflix will almost always blame USPS for the missing DVD, there have been many reports of Netflix suddenly "finding" DVDs when customers start asking questions.
conclusively only with internal Netflix documents.
Late Afternoon Shipping
Netflix sometimes ships DVDs in the late afternoon. This makes it harder on the post office to get the DVDs to you the next day. This often adds a day to your turnaround time.
Delayed Check-In
Netflix will not always check-in your DVDs on the day that they arrive. Netflix will sometimes increase your turnaround by simply holding your DVD for a day or two.
Delayed Shipping
Netflix should send out your replacement DVD the same day they receive your returned DVD; however, they often push your ship date back a day. This allows them to automatically increase your turnaround time by a day on each DVD.
Alternate Distribution Center
Netflix will send your DVDs from alternate distribution centers that are outside of your local area. Depending on distance, this tactic can easily add an additional two or three days to your turnaround time. (See Comments for details.)
Monday Delivery
Netflix will hold your replacement DVD and ship it so late in the week that it is almost impossible for the DVD to arrive before Monday. This throttling measure not only adds days to your turnaround time, it can leave you irritated all weekend.
Missing DVDs
Netflix will sometimes throttle you by "losing" a DVD for an extended period of time. This missing DVD tactic will effectively reduce your three-out plan to a two-out plan. This virtual plan downgrade can go on indefinitely. When this happens, the burden is placed on you to discover the problem and report the issue to Netflix. Each time this happens to you, you will probably end up having to report the DVD as lost to restore your full flow of DVDs. Even though Netflix will almost always blame USPS for the missing DVD, there have been many reports of Netflix suddenly "finding" DVDs when customers start asking questions.
3/09/2005
Throttling
Throttling is when Netflix limits the DVDs you can rent during your billing cycle by restricting your flow of DVDs. Netflix limits your flow with delay tactics such as delayed check-in of your returned DVDs, delayed shipping of new DVDs, shipping wrong DVDs, etc. The practice of throttling sets Netflix’s profits for each customer and ultimately cheats you out of 8 to 16 DVDs per month.
Heavy users are guaranteed to experience severe throttling. Moderate users will experience some throttling. Light users and new users will probably not experience throttling.
Light User = 0-8 DVDs
Moderate User = 9-13 DVDs
Heavy User = 14 or more DVDs
Heavy users are guaranteed to experience severe throttling. Moderate users will experience some throttling. Light users and new users will probably not experience throttling.
Light User = 0-8 DVDs
Moderate User = 9-13 DVDs
Heavy User = 14 or more DVDs
Usage based on per month average of correct and playable DVDs received on a three-out plan.
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