# I don't get this complaint about Netflix I hear all the time **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 5, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258 "2010-08-05T12:48:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/41 "2010-08-05T18:42:06Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > On top of my WAG - for this particular title, I see that it’s available via Amazon, but I’m pretty sure that this isn’t how Netflix gets hold of its DVDs - not to mention permission to distribute them for others to view. So maybe in this and some other cases they haven’t negotiated rights for some films that are in-print on DVD. Consider shooting them an E-mail saying ‘hey, what’s the deal?’ and maybe they’ll look into it? I hope that they gather statistics on the saved lists, and use them to drive acquisition at least. With things that have never been released on DVD, they could even use them to demonstrate demand for the DVD to the owner, encouraging them to release it. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/42 "2010-08-05T19:00:23Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > > [@Anaamika](#): > > > > A few weeks? I do not remember that at all. I remember it being sometimes six months before a movie came out on DVD. And I paid attention, because I see less than half a dozen movies in the theatre in any given year. Really? A few weeks??! > > It was longest in the early days of VHS, but over time the interval between the last airing of the film in the theater and its release kept slowly shortening, until now when films are sometimes available on DVD as soon as a week after they’ve stopped playing on the big screen. So it’s just a matter of what point in that approximately 25-year interval we’re looking at. No it hasn’t. What films have been available one week after their release in theaters? I have never seen that to be the case, unless the film has already been in theaters for many months, it was re-released to capitalize on Oscar nominations, or perhaps if it’s some very small independent film on an independent DVD label like maybe something from IFC. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/43 "2010-08-05T19:32:38Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > No it hasn’t. What films have been available one week after their release in theaters? I have never seen that to be the case, unless the film has already been in theaters for many months, it was re-released to capitalize on Oscar nominations, or perhaps if it’s some very small independent film on an independent DVD label like maybe something from IFC. HDNet produces a bunch of movies that it releases in theaters, on DVD and broadcasts on television all on the same day (or within a few days of each other). For the most part, it’s stuff that would be direct-to-DVD if produced by any other studio. ---
**Author:** ![wipetheclock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b19c9b/32.png) [@wipetheclock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wipetheclock)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/44 "2010-08-05T19:59:21Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > [@artemis](#): > > > > It was longest in the early days of VHS, but over time the interval between the last airing of the film in the theater and its release kept slowly shortening, until now when films are sometimes available on DVD as soon as a week after they’ve stopped playing on the big screen. So it’s just a matter of what point in that approximately 25-year interval we’re looking at. > > No it hasn’t. What films have been available one week after their release in theaters? I have never seen that to be the case, unless the film has already been in theaters for many months, it was re-released to capitalize on Oscar nominations, or perhaps if it’s some very small independent film on an independent DVD label like maybe something from IFC. But he/she is saying that films are “available on DVD as soon as a week after they’ve **stopped** playing on the big screen” not a week after they are released. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/45 "2010-08-05T20:08:55Z")
My biggest Netflix complaint is that once a month or so, I’ll get a DVD so scratched that it can’t be played. Now, it’s not like it’s a small scratch that only affects a small, 10 minute section of the movie. It’s like the whole movie - no matter what part you attempt to play - is screwed up. Are people returning these movies without reporting it messed up? Are people scratching them terribly because they’re morons? Is Netflix not checking to see if the DVD’s are playable before they send them out? It seems like a large number of DVD’s are affected by this, which seems unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/46 "2010-08-05T20:15:01Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > My biggest Netflix complaint is that once a month or so, I’ll get a DVD so scratched that it can’t be played. Now, it’s not like it’s a small scratch that only affects a small, 10 minute section of the movie. It’s like the whole movie - no matter what part you attempt to play - is screwed up. Are people returning these movies without reporting it messed up? Are people scratching them terribly because they’re morons? Is Netflix not checking to see if the DVD’s are playable before they send them out? It seems like a large number of DVD’s are affected by this, which seems unnecessary. I sorta doubt they’re checking them. But optical discs are weird, sometimes one little scratch can keep a disc from playing, other times the whole surface can be scratched and it plays fine. So many times it comes down to _this_ disc won’t play on _this_ player. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/47 "2010-08-05T20:23:37Z")
Every time, sadly, I’ve checked it on our dvd player (xbox 360) and each of our laptops, and they never play on one but not on the other two, etc. But you’re probably right, they’re likely not checking at all. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/48 "2010-08-05T20:27:57Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > My biggest Netflix complaint is that once a month or so, I’ll get a DVD so scratched that it can’t be played. Now, it’s not like it’s a small scratch that only affects a small, 10 minute section of the movie. It’s like the whole movie - no matter what part you attempt to play - is screwed up. Are people returning these movies without reporting it messed up? Are people scratching them terribly because they’re morons? Is Netflix not checking to see if the DVD’s are playable before they send them out? It seems like a large number of DVD’s are affected by this, which seems unnecessary. I found this problem for a long time, but when I upgraded to a newer DVD player, it never happened again, and that’s about a year and a half now. I wonder if it’s the Xbox? I have never tried to play any of them on the xbox so not sure. I don’t think they are checking them but they never bitched when I sent them back as unplayable… ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/49 "2010-08-05T20:36:59Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > [@artemis](#): > > > > It was longest in the early days of VHS, but over time the interval between the last airing of the film in the theater and its release kept slowly shortening, until now when films are sometimes available on DVD as soon as a week after they’ve stopped playing on the big screen. So it’s just a matter of what point in that approximately 25-year interval we’re looking at. > > No it hasn’t. What films have been available one week after their release in theaters? Not one week after their _release_ in theaters (that would be stupid); one week after they have LEFT the theaters. And that’s not uncommon these days, if the film has had a long theatrical run. It used to be that no matter how long the theatrical run was, it would take at least six months for the movie to go out on VHS after it was no longer playing in the theaters. That changed over time. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/50 "2010-08-05T20:39:06Z")
Some of the DVDs I get from Netflix are really scratched up. I wonder if a visual inspection is _ever_ done on them unless someone reports them as damaged. I told the story a while back about getting FOUR cracked copies of the same movie in a row (The Flight of The Navigator). That was pretty frustrating…I was beginning to think my letter carrier might be having anger management issues or something. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/51 "2010-08-05T20:43:55Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > Not one week after their _release_ in theaters (that would be stupid); one week after they have LEFT the theaters. And that’s not uncommon these days, if the film has had a long theatrical run. It used to be that no matter how long the theatrical run was, it would take at least six months for the movie to go out on VHS after it was no longer playing in the theaters. That changed over time. Oops! I forgot to add that I think what caused the change was that initially studios wanted the films to play on cable movie channels before releasing them on VHS for home play. As VHS rentals/sales accelerated and fewer people subscribed to HBO and Showtime, the studios began accelerating their VHS (and later, DVD) release dates. The home video market became more lucrative to them than the cable movie channel market, and the studios responded accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/52 "2010-08-05T20:49:07Z")
I’ve not had any significant problems with receiving scratched and unplayable disks yet - but I’m sure it’s going to happen to me eventually (especially since I seem to have the world’s most finicky DVD player). That’s a problem which is much more annoying than having to wait a bit to get the latest Hollywood blockbuster! I suppose in some cases there’s not a lot Netflix can do about the issue, though, since new replacement DVDs aren’t always available for purchase and DVD players can vary a lot when it comes to their ability to read scratched disks. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/53 "2010-08-05T21:00:20Z")
> [@Richie\_Incognito](#): > > You are correct that back in the day of video stores, it would be common for a new release to be out of stock. What you are missing is that, while it may have been difficult to get the movie on the specific day you wanted it, it would not be difficult to get it a short time after. Typically no more than a day or two. With netflix it can be weeks. OTOH, I have had movies listed as “very long wait” that were shipped the next day. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/54 "2010-08-05T22:20:38Z")
We’ve recently started watching movies (and working our way through _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ a second time) through Netflix on our Wii, and the thought occured to me the other night that Netflix is basically a jukebox for movies in your home. Like a jukebox, even an online one, it’s not going to have every single thing that you want to see – but there’s an awfully good chance that there’s something good. And you can see it RFN. These are pretty good times in which we live. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/55 "2010-08-05T22:33:33Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > > [@Anaamika](#): > > > > A few weeks? I do not remember that at all. I remember it being sometimes six months before a movie came out on DVD. And I paid attention, because I see less than half a dozen movies in the theatre in any given year. Really? A few weeks??! > > It has never been a few weeks (which is just insane even suggesting it). Right now the average amount of time is between four and six months. For example, **Kick-Ass** just came out on DVD this week, four months after its theatrical opening. Meanwhile, a bigger movie like **Iron Man 2** was released in theatres on May 7 and will come to DVD on September 28, a span of five months. I checked and Iron Man II is still showing in a couple of 2nd run theaters in town, so a few weeks isn’t far off. I remember one movie that was still in the 2nd run theaters when the DVD came out. Shucks Avatar is being released to movie theaters again on August 27th and it has been out on DVD since April. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/56 "2010-08-05T22:40:03Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > …These are pretty good times in which we live. Absolutely! With Netflix and air conditionong, who cares about global warming? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/57 "2010-08-05T23:00:44Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > My biggest Netflix complaint is that once a month or so, I’ll get a DVD so scratched that it can’t be played. Now, it’s not like it’s a small scratch that only affects a small, 10 minute section of the movie. It’s like the whole movie - no matter what part you attempt to play - is screwed up. Are people returning these movies without reporting it messed up? Are people scratching them terribly because they’re morons? Is Netflix not checking to see if the DVD’s are playable before they send them out? It seems like a large number of DVD’s are affected by this, which seems unnecessary. One DVD a month sounds awfully high. I’ve had Netflix for several years and I’m probably pushing 1000 movies total and I can count the number of movies I couldn’t play on one hand. A couple of those were actually cracked. I’ve had a lot more movies that needed to be cleaned before they would play correctly. I was a little put off by Netflix’s suggestion to wash them with soap and water, but it actually seems to work. I have to do that a lot more often with movies I get at the library. Some of those look like the people used them for coasters. I’ve also found that some DVD players are more finicky than others. I had a friend complain that they couldn’t play DVDs that played fine on my DVD player. I had them buy the same Philips model I use and their problems went away. ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/58 "2010-08-06T00:26:07Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My complaint about Netflix has to do with the “saved dvds” list. They are movies not yet available. For example, I have _Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!_ on that list. It is a Russ Meyer movie from the 1960s. Yes, the 1960s. From my Que: \*\* Availability date unknown\*\* WTF? Well, you have to wait until they print, release and distribute the DVDs. Would be the same issue if you wanted to buy them in a store. An old movie like you mentioned wasn’t release on DVD the first time around, of course. So now you have to wait until the studio decides it would be worth it to produce. I’ve got a couple on my saved list that I know don’t even exist–like from a TV series that was canceled and they never did the season listed. Eventually, I’ll delete it or they will make it disappear. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/59 "2010-08-06T12:51:02Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > > [@lindsaybluth](#): > > > > My biggest Netflix complaint is that once a month or so, I’ll get a DVD so scratched that it can’t be played. Now, it’s not like it’s a small scratch that only affects a small, 10 minute section of the movie. It’s like the whole movie - no matter what part you attempt to play - is screwed up. Are people returning these movies without reporting it messed up? Are people scratching them terribly because they’re morons? Is Netflix not checking to see if the DVD’s are playable before they send them out? It seems like a large number of DVD’s are affected by this, which seems unnecessary. > > One DVD a month sounds awfully high. I’ve had Netflix for several years and I’m probably pushing 1000 movies total and I can count the number of movies I couldn’t play on one hand. A couple of those were actually cracked. > > I’ve had a lot more movies that needed to be cleaned before they would play correctly. I was a little put off by Netflix’s suggestion to wash them with soap and water, but it actually seems to work. I have to do that a lot more often with movies I get at the library. Some of those look like the people used them for coasters. > > I’ve also found that some DVD players are more finicky than others. I had a friend complain that they couldn’t play DVDs that played fine on my DVD player. I had them buy the same Philips model I use and their problems went away. My son really wanted to see _Jaws_ and I put it at the top of my queue. The first two copies were cracked and the third was scratched so badly it wouldn’t play. So it took us four copies before we got a playable one. To Netflix’s credit, we had _Jaws 2_ next on our list and they went ahead and sent us that one too with the playable copy of _Jaws_ for our troubles. Mechanical sharks galore…aieeeeee! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258/60 "2010-08-06T13:24:57Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > > > It has never been a few weeks (which is just insane even suggesting it). Right now the average amount of time is between four and six months. For example, **Kick-Ass** just came out on DVD this week, four months after its theatrical opening. Meanwhile, a bigger movie like **Iron Man 2** was released in theatres on May 7 and will come to DVD on September 28, a span of five months. > > I checked and Iron Man II is still showing in a couple of 2nd run theaters in town, so a few weeks isn’t far off. I remember one movie that was still in the 2nd run theaters when the DVD came out. > > Shucks Avatar is being released to movie theaters again on August 27th and it has been out on DVD since April. Well, I understand more now - the difference between the date it stops showing in theatres and the DVD release. But I will ask these people who are complaining if that’s what they mean, as I honestly don’t know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-complaint-about-netflix-i-hear-all-the-time/549258.md?page=4)