Saturday, February 11, 2006

I have been a Netflix subscriber for only six months but I believe that I have been a victim of Throttling.

Throttling is Netflix's way of evening things out. I pay $17.95 for unlimited rentals but their computer actually does limit me by not having movies available to me when I want or taking extra days to send me the next movie in my Queue. A dissatisfied customer actually did personal research to prove the practice. The results are bothersome.

I recently sent Netflix an email about my own displeasure with the practice of throttling. This officially puts me in the "Angry Old Man" category but I don't care.
**NOTE: I previously belonged to the "Angry Black Man" category.**

Here is a copy of the email that I sent to Netflix.

I was happy with my service until the last six weeks. It seems the movies that I am most interested in renting have a wait time while my friends (with newer accounts) seem to get those movies rapidly. I have also noticed that sometimes it takes significantly longer for my movies to come. Often I will get a new movie in a day but many times it takes three days.

Recently, I read an article in the Chicago Tribune about the practice of "throttling." I am sure you are familiar with the term. It is my belief that your company practices throttling. The very idea that you would penalize my account because I watch a lot of movies is very troubling to me. I was considering upgrading my account but instead I think I may cancel it altogether and sign up with Blockbuster.

With Blockbuster, I can pay the same fee PLUS receive a free rental at one of their store locations. Please address and resolve this problem or I will have to take my business elsewhere.

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