Netflix Rental History Controversy

Netflix has made a controversial change to the way it provides customers a complete rental history. Netflix used to e-mail a detailed report that included the ship date, return date, and the title of the movie, but now the report is presented online and they have eliminated the ship date on all but the last 90 days.

The information in the old report was used to analyze the rental data by sites like Tall Rock.net, Netflix History Analyzer, and The Republic of Geektronica.

Is Netflix worried that this information could be used against them in a case similar to the recent class action lawsuit (and resulting $2.5 million settlement)?

I spoke with a customer service representative at Netflix who said they were still working on the feature and another update was due soon. While he couldn't tell me if they were returning the ship dates to the report, he was aware of some of the analysis sites and why this information was important.

To access the 90-day and full history reports go to "Your Account" and select "View All" from "Your Rental Activity." At the bottom of the page you'll see a "Show All Returned Rentals" button (if you've setup Profiles you'll have to select "Your Rental Activity" first).

There is one feature in the new history report that I think is interesting. I'm wondering if a programmer could extract the ratings ("class=star alt="5.0 Stars") from the new report? While it won't get all of our ratings, it might be possible to save the ratings from the movies we've seen.

Is having a complete rental history important to you?

This story has been covered at the Netflix Fan Blog and on Manuel's Netflix Journal.

Comments

Old news, reported on Manuel's site November 13th. Good to see Mike is finally admitting it, though. Luckily, I have all rental logs saved, all the way back to the beginning. I'm disgusted by this recent pathetic move from ThrottleFlix. I should be able to access my FULL rental acitivity at Netflix like a can at Blockbuster, GreenCine, and every other site. Give me back the email history, you greedy, lying, thumb-sucking, sons of whores. If you gave good service, you'd have nothing to hide.

[Becky]

I keep track of my complete rental history using Netflix Freak, a shareware application from The Little App Factory.

"I keep track of my complete rental history using Netflix Freak, a shareware application from The Little App Factory."

Most applications won't work anymore, because Netflix removed the RSS feed from your queue. FlixQueue doesn't show my updated history now as a result. And there are numerous errors or discrepancies, like saying a movie is still out or not listing the return date properly, past October 18th, 2005. NFLX has screwed us.

[Mike K]

I've known about it since the 13th as well, but I was told by different people at Netflix that the changes to the history feature are not complete. I haven't been able to get information on what features it will have or when it will be available, and I really wanted to post the complete story.

You're right -- I probably should have posted this sooner. I'm surprised that only a few people noticed the change (I typically get a bunch of e-mails when something like this happens).

I really wonder how many people have ever looked at their history.

- Mike K

"I'm surprised that only a few people noticed the change (I typically get a bunch of e-mails when something like this happens)."

I noticed it before Manuel posted the story. First, I noticed that there was no button to press for my complete email history. I never noticed any missing information like Manuel stated, I think they only did that briefly. It's lame that we can't access our complete history online, like we can at BBO and GC.

"Most applications won't work anymore, because Netflix removed the RSS feed from your queue."

What do you mean? My RSS feed urls are still there and work. Queue, Most Recent Rental Activity & Recommendations as well as all the public ones. I have them running in a rss reader everyday. Mine last updated at 4:52pm yesterday when 3 shipped ouit and all show the ship date.

http://www.netflix.com/RSSFeeds?lnkctr=mfRSS

[tallrock.net]

Speaking as the guy behind the tallrock.net applications, I'll update the applications once Netflix finishes their changes to the rental history section.

Until then, the RentalStats application is kind of crippled. Manuel does have a work-around posted on manuelsweb.com.

[WendyD]

Interesting. My new returned rental history available online only goes back to Feb. 2001, even though I joined Netflix in Nov. 1999. Anyone else notice this? I have my rental history emails saved in several accounts, so to me its no big deal, but I just wondered if it was just me.

[RAYMOND KNIGHT]

My guess would be that NETFLIX has not intention of ever putting those two dates together again. The window for throttling to begin has dropped to two-months now has best as I can detect. The amount of DVDs to qualify you for throttling has consistenly dropped over time. Even with this plea-bargain it should still be illegal for them to receive a DVD and not acknowledge that it has been returned. I hope that will be the next court case.

[Rusty Ramrod]

I use both NF and BB. I keep a local log of ship dates and ship times so I don't really use their versions of my rental history, but can see where it would be useful to some.

Also, can anyone tell me if there is a site similar to this for BB. Lately my BB service has gone to crap and I would like to see if others are having the same issues. Yesterday they sent me Polar Express (a new movie) and the #20 and #21 from my queue even though 16 of the titles higher in my queue showed as available. A call the BB yielded nothing except an obviously bored employee.

"Give me back the email history, you greedy, lying, thumb-sucking, sons of whores."

Man what a whiny bitch. Most people who are upset with a business will stop shopping there unlike the professional victims who post here. You are truly pathetic.

"What do you mean? My RSS feed urls are still there and work. Queue, Most Recent Rental Activity & Recommendations as well as all the public ones."

Whatever, FlixQueue and other applications do not work for the History any more. They only go to October 18th, the next 3 have errors or inconsistencies. After that, there's no data. We should be able to access our FULL rental history, both on their website and by email.

"Man what a whiny bitch."

Man, what a whiny Netflix shill. Nothing they do is ever worthy of complaint or criticism.

"Most people who are upset with a business will stop shopping there unlike the professional victims who post here."

Most people who are not shills would notice the loss of features or the lack of features offered by other online DVD services. They'd get angry if it was something they ever used or wanted to use. Shills, on the other hand, would say, no big deal, stop whining.

"You are truly pathetic."

Talking to yourself again? Get a real job. Professional shill is a pathetic occupation.

Go F yourself, bitch.

"What do you mean? My RSS feed urls are still there and work. Queue, Most Recent Rental Activity & Recommendations as well as all the public ones."

Whatever, FlixQueue and other applications do not work for the History any more. They only go to October 18th, the next 3 have errors or inconsistencies. After that, there's no data. We should be able to access our FULL rental history, both on their website and by email.
---

What do you mean, Whatever!?

How far back do you think RSS feeds go? I have never seen one with more than 10 items. You need to archive the data to build a history. Does not your software do that? Do you think RSS feeds just keep getting added to without an end? Usually only 10 items are in a RSS. Your software should be logging the history. Get better software or learn to use it correctly!

[Fred Thompson]

@rusty,

I have been having the same bad service with BB as you for the past 2-3 months. I cancelled and this is my last week with them. I don't know of a BB type site like this. I don't know what happened (unless is financialy related) but the service has gone downhill for me. Back before the summer, they were great.

Lately I have no more USPS scanning, 3-4 days each way, no more SE releases of older movies - but the shipping time is the killer.

@Fred,

When I called I asked about the shipping delays and received the standard “USPS is the problem.”

I get maybe 1 in 20 scanned.

When asking about them skipping over 16 available titles she told me the order I had them in my queue had no bearing on what they shipped out. HUH?

As a test I have removed all but the 3 disks I want next time from my queue. We will see what happens. :-)

[CJ]

"Is having a complete rental history important to you?"

Online with dates? - not really.

Right from the first rental way back in year 2000, I started saving the Tear-off sheet on the shipping envelop. On this sheet I write the DVD title, date received, and date mailed back. These sheets used to have barcodes I thought might be useful. Anyway, I still keep these sheets as kind of a "shipping audit trail."

The new system, where you can see all the rentals on line (sans dates) without waiting for an e-mail, will work better for me. I usually just want to know if I've already seen a title before re-renting - I tend to forget what I've seen 4 or 5 years ago.

[Manda]

In addition to Netflix Tracker (listology.com) I have a steno pad in which I keep a record of each DVD - the distribution center they come from, the dates they are shipped/received, travel time, and any problems (cracks, etc.) It's low tech but it works for me.

"Right from the first rental way back in year 2000, I started saving the Tear-off sheet on the shipping envelop. On this sheet I write the DVD title, date received, and date mailed back."

I do the same thing, except I also add date sent to me and the date they admit getting itback. I also record when and where I sent the return. This makes throttling blatantly obvious. It also shows that inside the main post office is the fastest place to send.

Oh, and I also write down the city each disc came from, if it's not my local one. And I write down if they throttled the next movie after they received it. For instance, I will write "one day delay" if they say my next movie is "Shipping tomorrow." Occasionally, that gets pushed back another day. I don't file a sheet until the next DVD has shipped. This makes throttling all the more obvious. And they do it ALL THE TIME to me.

Other important information to record is how long the disc took to get to me and back to them. I subtract postal holidays days on the way to me, plus weekends on the way back to them. I also record how long I kept the disc and the total turn-around from the time they sent it to the time they got it back... I've added more information over the years, and I have gone back and updated my old records if needed. I would make an excellent witness in the prosecution of their next class action.

"As a test I have removed all but the 3 disks I want next time from my queue. We will see what happens. :-)"

It's always a good strategy to keep your Q small, esp if some titles you want most are long waits. If you always have a slot open with nothing to send, you will get the long wait titles as soon as they come in. I use this trick all the time. If you fill your Q with available movies, you may never get the ones that have a wait on them. So I add no more than 2 available movies at a time, and the rest are waits. I record other movies on a list that I can refer to periodically.

"If you always have a slot open with nothing to send, you will get the long wait titles as soon as they come in... If you fill your Q with available movies, you may never get the ones that have a wait on them."

Good advice, but awkward to implement. It'd be great if Netflix and Blockbuster had an option you could check that would HOLD one or more slots for wait titles at the top of your queue. It's a hassle trying to get wait movies, because they seem to come back and go out again at the worst possible times.

"You need to archive the data to build a history. Does not your software do that? Do you think RSS feeds just keep getting added to without an end? Usually only 10 items are in a RSS. Your software should be logging the history. Get better software or learn to use it correctly!"

I am archiving the history, but the current data (past October 18th) is NOT AVAILABLE. Maybe Netflix has changed how it works. I'm using the software right and it worked fine before. So don't treat me like an idiot.

"I get maybe 1 in 20 scanned."

I don't care if they do postal scanning. They get my movies 1 postal day after I sent them. They send new movies immediately every time. That alone is more better than Throttleflix. Most of my Blockbuster DVDs arrive in a day. The only things I don't like are getting the DVDs out of order, and not having all of the new special editions any more. Still, their throughput kicks NFLX's s ass all over.