Netflix Review

Other than fashion and style, my biggest hobby is watching movies. Ten years ago, friday nights were the Blockbuster nights at our house. Blockbuster has achieved the impossible as a brand, and became a part of English language. But with the internet era, so many things are changing in our lives fast, I mean fast.

I have been a happy Netflix customer since 2005 and I want to write my honest opinions about Netflix. Being a customer for over 3 years, I believe my thoughts count, so here’s my honest Netflix review.

Netflix Delivery Time:

Before I signed up with Netflix, my biggest hesitation was the delivery times. I was surprised with first few deliveries. It took exactly 1 business day after they’ve received the mailed back DVD. Since I had the 3 DVD plan, I was never left alone without any DVD’s to watch. I thought it would slow down, just like any other corporate service, it starts like a dream, and ends like a nightmare (e.g. Verizon). Boy, I was wrong. The slowest delivery I had from Netflix within 3 years of being a customer was 2 business days (during holiday seasons). Now, I call this a 5 star service.

Netflix Pricing Structure:

Netflix pricing was too good to be true, and the prices were higher 3 years ago when I first signed up (I don’t remember exactly how much I was paying back then). Trust me, my late fees with Blockbuster was higher than Netflix’s most expensive monthly plan. I used to hate the feeling of adding another item to my “to do list” every week. “DROP THE DVD’s to Blockbuster”. I don’t want more obligations with my already extremely busy life, and schedule. Now, it takes me around 1 minute to put the DVD back in the envelope, open the door, walk to the mailbox, drop the DVD and come back, I call it the “Happy Life”.

Here’s the current Netflix Pricing Structure (from Netflix Official Website):

**Free Trial is a limited time promotion. When I first signed up, they didn’t have any promotions. So take advantage of it while you can.

Netflix Plan	DVDs/Month	Price	Free Trial?	Hours to Watch Online?
3 DVDs at a time	Unlimited	$16.99/month	Yes, View 2 Weeks Free Trial	Unlimited hours included
2 DVDs at a time	Unlimited	$13.99/month	Yes, View 2 Weeks Free Trial	Unlimited hours included
1 DVD at a time	Unlimited	$8.99	Yes, View 2 Weeks Free Trial	Unlimited hours included
1 DVD at a time	2 DVDs per month	$4.99	Yes, View 2 Weeks Free Trial	2 hours included

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Instant Watch Feature (Watching Movies Online):

Now, if you have a dial-up connection, this is not the feature for you, but if you have high speed internet (DSL, Cable, Fios, etc.) this is the gem, the big gift, the miracle. One day, while I was checking my emails, I saw an email from Netflix about their new “Instant watch” service. I have ignored it. Few weeks later, couple of my friends were talking about how great the new “Instant Watch” feature of Netflix was. I wanted to give it a shot, and tried it. The quality was great, the movie selection was not great though. And since I had a 15″ monitor, it wasn’t the best experience for me. I haven’t logged in to watch another movie for a while. I was already happy with my regular DVD’s in the mail.

June, 2007 I have received my new computer (with a 22″ wide screen monitor), and tried the instant watch feature of Netflix again. It was almost as good as watching the DVD on my TV. If I’m not wrong, currently they have over 12.000 movies ready to be watched online. Instant watch feature is great, because you can watch whatever you want whenever you want. Sometimes, you have a new DVD, you start watching it, and you hate it. But you don’t have another choice, you have to wait for the new DVD’s to arrive. Now, I can watch the new releases, and classics on my computer, and even sometimes on my laptop before I go to bed.

Netflix Account Hold Feature:

Every year, I take one month vacation, and I’m usually on a vacation somewhere far away from New York. Netflix has this great feature, brilliant idea; Account Hold. I either email or call them, and they put my account on hold for 1 month. I don’t pay for it. When I first heard about this feature, I have sent the Netflix customer service an email right away, and asked them if they had a vacation hold option, and here’s the reply I have received:

“We are able to place a hold on your account anywhere from 7 to 90 days.
During the timeframe, no DVDs will be shipped and you will not be
billed.

The DVDs currently out will need to be returned within 7 days. Your
Queue and rating information is saved for the entire time the account is
on hold.

Once your hold timeframe has ended, your account will be billed
immediately. The date your account is reactivated will be your new billing
date.

If you would like to place your account on hold, please contact us
24-48 hours before you would like the hold to take effect. Please also let
us know the specific date that you would like the hold to be removed
from the account.”

Yes, you read it right, they can hold your account for up to 90 days. This is not a joke, this is the true, best customer service I’ve ever received in my whole life.

Think about how much money you’d save if you didn’t pay for all the monthly bills when you were away? After this email, Netflix has become a LOVEMARK for me. They say Google and Apple are the top lovemarks in the world, I say Netflix is the #1.

Additional Charges, Late Fees, Taxes, etc. for Netflix Service:

Whatever the plan you choose, you pay the plan rate + tax. No additional charges, nothing. I haven’t been charged an extra penny for over 3 years of being a happy Netflix customer.

Netflix Player by Roku:

I haven’t purchased this product yet. But I have a close friend who has it and I have watched a Netflix movie at his place with the Roku Netflix Player. You simply purchase this product called Roku Netflix Player for $99.99 (or cheaper on eBay), you connect it to your regular TV (they guarantee it will work with your TV, or they’ll send a full refund), then watch any Netflix movie or TV show on your TV without paying any monthly fees. The best part is; it has a remote control, and it also works wireless. Even though I haven’t used it yet, I have read some great positive reviews online and I have a personal recommendation from my friend. So, I’m getting it next week.

Here’s the Screenshot from Roku’s website:

After so much positive feedback, some might think I work for Netflix. I neither work for Netflix, nor I am their advocate. Many people take their valuable time to write bad reviews about products or services they get from companies on blogs, forums, and websites. It’s very rare to read an honest review about positive experiences. Most of the time we take great customer service for granted, and we don’t spend the time to write about it. That’s the only reason I’m writing this Netflix Review, and I hope you will be happy if you decide to subscribe to Netflix after reading my review. But again, this is just one side of the story, so check out some other reviews online, or go with a free trial before making your decision.

Didn’t I have any bad experience at all with Netflix?

Yes, I did. Since this is a fair, unbiased Netflix review, I have to tell you about my bad experiences also. Within 3 years of being a customer of Netflix, and receiving hundreds of DVD’s, I had 2 incidents.

1) One DVD was lost in the mail. 2nd business day, I have filled the online form, and they have shipped another DVD right away with an apology email. I said, wow, only wow. Bad experience turned into a great experience.

2) 2 of the DVD’s I have received (same day) were scratched. They have arrived the same day, both were scratched. One of the DVD’s didn’t even play, the other one skipped a few minutes at the middle of the movie. It wasn’t a pleasure experience, but again Netflix has made up for their mistake (or the postal service’s mistake) right away and sent replacements. Again it was a bad experience, but a great customer service.

Mistakes happen in life, we all make mistakes in our business and personal lives. So out of hundreds of DVD shipments, total of 3 problem DVD’s. It’s not even a problem for me. But to make this an honest Netflix review, I needed to mention these incidents.

My Netflix Review Conclusions:

This is the end of my Netflix Review. Oh boy, I have written too much. Overall, I love Netflix, I love their service, I love their selection of DVD’s, and I highly recommend them to my friends. Since you are reading my blog now, we are also friends, so I’d highly recommend giving Netflix a chance with the Free Trial, and making a decision yourself.

Please add your both positive and negative experiences to the comments section, and help me make this Netflix review the most unbiased review available online.

Finally, just want to say; “Thank you Netflix !“. You are my LOVEMARK.