I’ve had the movie Watership Down in my queue for several months. The status for that movie has been “short wait” the whole time it has been on my list. What’s up with that? I put it at the top of my queue to see what would happen and they skipped over it and sent me the next movie.
Maybe someone has their only copy and Netflix expected it back soon so they could send it to you, but the current renter is taking their sweet time?
They’ve probably got a limited number of copies of that movie, and they’ve all been rented out. They’re got to wait for someone to return a copy before they can send it to you.
I’d bet that’s right. I had a short wait for The Wanderers. It didn’t take months, but a week anyway … and it said it would arrive from Topeka, Kansas, or something like that. I’m on the east coast.
While we’re on the subject of Netflix, I’d like to ask, has anyone here ever had problems with discs from Netflix being damaged, defective, or otherwise unplayable? (I haven’t used Netflix myself and am thinking about signing up.)
It happens, but not very often. There’s an option on their website to report the problem, and they’ll send you a replacement copy on the next business day.
Word of advice: Never return the defective disc until you get the replacement. Otherwise, they’ll just turn around and send you the same broken disc. Same applies for mislabeled titles or the wrong movie sent by mistake. :rolleyes:
A few times. Once somebody had put the wrong DVD in the sleeve*; once the disc was broken in the mail, and once or twice I’ve had discs that froze up and wouldn’t play to the end. You just notify Netflix and they’ll send a replacement immediately.
*It was supposed to be Hawaii Five-0, but the DVD inside was Casino Royale (the Daniel Craig one). I’d already seen it, but I enjoyed watching it again before sending it back to Netflix, and meanwhile they sent me the correct disc without waiting for the return.
I’ve only had to return one disc to Netflix because it was unplayable. In fact, the disc was cracked completely through. I returned it, and then had to wait just over a month to get a replacement. Unfortunately, it was the fourth disc of season one of Rome, which kind of broke up the continuity of watching the series.
I also had something interesting just happen; Netflix told me that my next selection was not available at my local shipping center, so they sent me the next available disc on my list. Then they told me that they would be sending the first disc in 3-5 days, without waiting for me to return any other discs. So I’ll have three discs in my possession instead of the two that my plan calls for. I’ll have to return two of them before I get another disc, though.
That didn’t happen in my case. Of course, the fact that it was completely broken may have had something to do with it.
I had a slightly different experience with my last problem disc. I reported it scratched and asked them to send out a new copy, dumping the scratched one in the mail immediately. Rather than getting the same movie, I got the next one on my queue, and it wasn’t until I sent another back that I got the one that had been scratched. Definitely a different disc, though; the scratched one had Netflix’s grey label, while the second one sent was an original movie disc.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was on Very Long Wait for a couple of months before I finally got a chance to get it.
I have had it for about a year, and the only problem I have ever had was I sent a disk back to them, and they didn’t get it; but I just reported the problem and got the next one in my queue.
The “long wait/short wait” thing I have never gotten. I have waited longer for “short wait” movies than “long wait” ones, and vice versa…I think it has something to do with how close you are to a distribution center than anything else (I think there is one here in Indy where I live, but I’m not sure).
Also, for anyone in this thread who doesn’t have Netflix. It’s freakin’ awesome. Get it as soon as possible. The once at a time unlimited is a great plan, for cheaper than ONE trip to the video store, and you just keep getting them and getting them. The only thing I don’t like is the small fee for blu-ray movies, but I get over it cuz blu-rays are more expensive and I understand. Plus It’s only 2 bucks.
Get Netflix. Now.
Yeah, sometimes my short waits have been pretty long. And sometimes they’ll send things from far away if they don’t have an available disc. And I agree that Netflix rocks.
I have wondered about the short wait/long wait/very long wait thing too. Disk 1 of Space was on Very Long Wait for many months, despite being released several years ago. Not the second disk, mind you, just the first one. Why? I don’t know.
I’ve been really enjoying the Instant Watch feature. Just saw the French horror movie Them for free last night… scared the crap out of me.
I was seriously considering cancelling our subscription–we’ve had it for several years, but we suck at returning DVDs and we just don’t watch a lot of movies. And then they set up that deal with Xbox Live, and now I watch movies and tv shows several times a week. Sure the Instant Queue doesn’t have the best selection–but I imagine it’ll expand, and in the mean time, my dream of having good movies sent directly to my television the second I want them has come true (I don’t count PPV or On Demand b/c I never want to watch any of those movies).
Disc 1 of the new Smothers Brothers DVD set has been listed as “Very Long Wait” for as long as it’s been out. It’s getting close to the top of my queue, so we’ll see what happens.
I love Netflix and I suppose it’s not really their fault but man have I had some beat-ass looking DVDs arrive from Netflix that’d have trouble playing. Either that or the business side of the DVD looked like someone just used it as a plate for their fried chicken dinner. Even from physical rental locations I haven’t gotten some of the filthy DVDs I’ve gotten from Netflix.
Usually a quick wash/wipe is enough to let them play without problems but I’ve gotten a couple scratched into unplayability. I never did see the end to Casino.
Count me as another who loves Netflix.
My biggest gripe though was when I got Schindler’s list. It’s a 2 disc movie, and both discs only counted as one on my then 4 at a time plan which was a nice touch. The problem was disc 1 was 16:9 (or maybe wider, I forget). But disc 2 was 4:3.
It really took me out of the movie since in my mind I was bitching up a fit. Not the end of the world of course. But maybe if Oscar had skipped just 1 five star dinner he could have afforded to send me a better disc 2.
I seem to recall reading that you can game Netflix on discs listed as having a wait. Essentially, the trick is not to have anything else in your Q, so that they have no choice but to send you something listed with a wait. I’ve never tried it, though, and I feel as if it may have been old information–dating from when Netflix originally launched.
Personally, I’m just happy to get my goodies several times a week. Since the overwhelming bulk of my Q is classic and foreign titles, I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem.
I’ve had a couple of movies that were either “short wait” or “very long wait” and in two cases I got them by removing every other thing from my queue. They had been at the top for awhile in both cases, so “short wait” had not been quite accurate. When there was only one movie in the queue, that was the movie I got. (And I think I got the advice to do that right here on SDMB.)
I’ve had no trouble with Netflix replacing damaged disks, though. I got one that arrived broken in half and have had a couple that were unplayable. It really surprised me that they wanted the one broken in half back–wouldn’t it make more sense for me to just toss it? It’s not like they’re going to glue it back together, I don’t think. I guess they just want proof I wasn’t trying to steal a perfectly good disk.
ETA: I see I’ve said the same thing as Law Monkey. Took too long composing my post, didn’t I?