What Triggers Throttling?

Ian wonders what causes Netflix to throttle your account: "It is really not that big of a deal for me, but it has set off my intellectual curiosity. What trigger did I flip that caused the throttling? Has anyone charted what factors cause throttling for each of the Netflix plans? I am on the 5 out at a time plan and have been watching a lot of TV series lately, so I have had a constant stream of movies flowing back and forth. At the same time, there is usually some film I have from Netflix that sits at my house for several weeks..."

Are you a high-volume Netflix customer? When does your service start to slow down?

Comments

[Scribe1964]

The closest thing to throttling I ever experienced from Netflix was a couple of years ago. At the time, if a returned DVD arrived on Monday, they wouldn't ship the replacement until Tuesday. I'm not even sure if that even was throttling.

For the last couple of years, Netflix has been extremely consistent. I almost always get DVDs from my local DC and they almost always ship the same day that my returned DVD arrives there. I probably see 32-35 dvds a month on a 7 out plan.

[Rusty Ramrod]

What causes throttling?

Using their service as advertised.

[mimyc]

A sure trigger for throttling for me is if I send back more than one disc at a time. The last few times I sent back all three movies at once (watch them all over the weekend, send back on Monday) it took them three days after receipt to send me out new movies.

[CJ]

Yes I'm a high volume customer - 8 out plan for last 5 years. My service doesn't slow down. I get 8 DVDs on average per week or 32 to 35 DVDs per month. It is irrelevant if I get 4 in one day or 4 during the whole week, I always average the 32-35 per month, assuming I'm not on vacation or not returning DVDs on a regular basis. My 8 out at a time subscription is really a 32 to 35 fixed amount per month subscription plan.

[Manda]

I've been keeping a log of my Netflix account for over two years, and the only possible connection I can come up with is what plan I'm on.

I suppose I'm a medium-to-heavy renter. I expect to get one cycle (i.e. 3 discs on the 3-out plan, 4 on 4-out, etc.) per week. I think that's pretty reasonable. I stick with 4-out most of the time, but whenever I downsize to 3-out, discs take 1-2 more days to get from me back to Netflix. It doesn't matter how many or few discs I rent, it always takes longer on the lower plan.

[tvindy]

One intriguing possibility that was brought up here several months ago by one of the commenters (I don't remember who) was that Netflix is far less likely to throttle you if you are good about rating movies and writing occasional reviews. I suppose this is either because they want to maximize the number of reviews on their site or because they interpret this to mean that you are actually watching everything they send you and not just pirating the DVDs en masse. I'm curious if anyone else here has found that to be true.

[hawk5391]

I agree with Manda. I got throttled a lot more on the 3-out plan than the 4-out plan. It wasn't so much that movies took longer to get back, or to be processed, but all of my New Releases were on Long Wait. Switching to 4-out solved everything for me.

[gir]

Is it really accurate to consider it a trigger?

With the way NetFlix prioritizes, I think it's probably a continuum. People who rent 18 disks a month are going to see more shipments from remote centers and more 'shipping tomorrow' than users who rent 12, and those more than someone who rents 8 (assuming they're all on the same plan).

[Edward R Murrow]

Netflix is like a dope dealer. You get great service when you sign up, then when you're 'hooked' they will choke the life out of you with throttling. Throttling is triggered simply by using their service.

The way you can avoid throttling with Netflix is to close your account for a week or two then sign up again.

[type-cast]

Netflix was very fast when I started. They'd send 20 discs a month on 3-out. Then 18, 16, 15. An un-mistakeable trend. I kept track of how many were sent each month from NF and BB and how many were usable. BB was faster even with slow shipping. That's the difference of throttling. BlockBuster seems to throttle as you pass a certain threshold. Netflix limits total shipments and gives light users higher priority. BlockBuster's system is more fair, the limits are softer and more targeted.

[Matt]

I'm on the 5 out plan, and watch 5-6 disks per week. (I don't subscribe to cable, so indeed, that's all the TV I get any more). At that rate, there's no perceivable throttling.

[junkfood]

I agree that your service will never be as good as it was when you first sign up. I guess they figure that once you're in they don't care as much.

But the best way to get that the best way to get throttled is to speed up your movie watching. I have the 3-out plan and during the summer I didn't have anything to watch on TV so I was blowing through them as fast as I could get the DVDs. I quickly learned what throttling was all about - having them "received" on Tuesday morning, but the next one doesn't go out until Wednesday afternoon meaning it really doesn't ship until Thursday; DVDs coming from out of state; etc.

However, once the summer was over and I slowed down they sped back up. I took a few days with the DVDs and when I sent them back I was promptly sent three more back.

Then just recently I signed up for Blockbuster and tried to put them head-to-head testing their speed. So I tried to turn around all of my DVDs as quickly as I could. As you might guess, the throttling returned.

By the way, BBO throttles too. So far in my test, Netflix is faster but I get more DVDs from BBO because of the in-store returns.

[peter]

>>A sure trigger for throttling for me is if I send back more than one disc at a time. The last few times I sent back all three movies at once ..SNIP..it took them three days after receipt to send me out new movies.<<

Doesn't happen w/ us. Most of the time I send 2-3 discs per envelope & they send out that # upon receipt.

On the 8/mo plan, we typically watch 34-43 p/mo.

It could be my faulty perception, but it seems like they aren't throttling us anymore...?!?#?$

[Aron]

Two articles rehashing throttling on the same day. Must be sweeps week in the blogosphere.

[smgpugfaw]

Add me to the 'never had a problem' list. I've lived in two different metra areas since joining Netflix and always been on the three out plan. Never had a problem getting new releases as long as I time my returns to get to NF on a Monday or Tuesday. If you miss those release days, you'll be waiting for the gazillion other people who were smart enough to time their returns to get the discs.

When there's no new releases that I'm wanting, I can turn around discs twice a week for a total of 24 DVD's per months with the occasional hiccup knocking it back a disc or two.

Been like that for as long as I've been a member and no matter where I've lived.

[neilk2350]

i was getting throttled a lot (8 out 3-4 back a week on mondays) 6 months ago. it improved drastically recently. i was getting all my dvd's until i got my xbox 360 HDdvd player. they seem to be restricting hd dvd's if i no longer am getting 3-4 on monday (usually 1-2 is hd dvd) and if i toggle my choice between hd dvd and dvd the wait gets shorter

[RAYMOND KNIGHT]

Being on the 8-out plan and getting 8-per week is not a high-volume user just like getting 5 per week on the 5-out plan is a low volume user. Of course, you aren't going to be throttled.

[peter]

>>..SNIP...Must be sweeps week..SNIP..<<

that's funny..

[orb]

If I average less than 20 per month on a 3 out no throttle but last three months averaged 23 per and last 2 of three shipments were from over 2000 miles away

[t325]

I'm on the 2 at a time plan and don't get throttled, but I guess I'm not a heavy user. The only slow downs I get are due to the fact that I'm about 300 miles away from the nearest DC so USPS can be pretty unpredictable. Its usually next day, but occasionally longer.

[Hunter McDaniel]

Like gir, I believe NF application of priorities is more of a continuum than a sharp on/off. But I also think they have tuned the algorithm somewhat over the years. When I first joined three years ago it was obvious that they had some job which ran once per month to recalculate priority - my queue could change from 98% "Now" to only 60% "Now" overnight, and it seemed to be based entirely on my usage that one month. That just doesn't seem to happen anymore.

I also suspect that they give some consideration to how long you've been a subscriber, but not in the manner so often alleged. While there may be a honeymoon for brand-new subscribers, I think a six-month subscriber with high usage will get lower priority than a multi-year subscriber with the same usage - and they will be less likely to adjust priority for a couple higher than normal months.

[ChicagoGuy]

It is interesting that so many here say they are not throttled when they use one turn per week.... try upping the ante.. if you start to routinely get more than one turn (that is send back quickly) you will immediately get into the NetFlix "customer service hell". I am a heavy user.. never copy a single dvd (not even sure how I would do that) and watch and return the same or next day. I am therefore a prime Throttle target.

I get filx sent from all over the country, sometimes as many as 25% of my flix come from Timbuktu. I'm in Chicago area and near a major distribution center so it isn't that they are doing this to "serve me". I get multiple day check in, shipping tomorrow noted at 9 AM, etc., etc., etc.. I could go on but lets be clear here..

Throttling is caused by one thing and one thing only. If you attempt to utilize NetFlix as advertised for "unlimited" use through the prudent use of the USPS and timing of your returns you will be subjected to a raft of NetFlix business practices that will limit your number of Flix. As I have said here before.. I know I get a good value for my investement in NetFlix. My objection is plain and simply that NetFlix and old Rod lie to their customers. There is no question that a limit is placed if you attempt to use NetFlix as "unlimited" I just with they would fess up and try honesty with their customers.

[ChicagoGuy]

Oh by the way that is nonsense about rating movies... I have rated over 4000 and i get throttled. NetFliz has one criteria only.. do you attempt to use the service as advertised....."UNLIMITED"

[Mr. Nethead]

I used to be lightly throttled, but over the last 18 months or so it hasn't been happening. I'm on the 8 out plan and generally do one turn a week.

I think if people would just keep it at one cycle per week we'd see a lot less throttling. My service has actually been improving. There are three different distribution centers that give me one day delivery now! (Madison, WI; Milwaukee, WI; Carol Stream, IL.)

[hueristix]

I was getting worse service a while back, but I sent an unhappy email and I guess they took me off. I get 2 day turnaround on 80%+ Most who are complaining are trying to do the "burn and return"- like anyone will confess to that on a forum- or the same few schills that always chime in even though they claim they quit Netflix long ago.

As far as HD-DVD, there are just a lot less of them, it does take a day longer sometimes. Cheers to Netflix for at least having both new formats in what could be a bloody battle, but they probably don't want to invest in too many copies of HDDVD. or BluRay just yet.

If you really feel you are being unfairly "throttled" and not just a victim of the inherent logistics in such a service, then why not quit?

IF you have enough time to constantly watch movies, you can't expect any service other than the truly unlimited VOD of the future to fulfill your needs. But that ain't gonna be a cheap, sorry. What everyone fails to point out is that Netflix is the best deal out there. Period. Total Smackcess included. That is why you talk smack and continue to use the service.

If you feel a need to watch 2+ movies a day then I say find another solution to your problem, like a BB AND netflix account, buying DVDs, PPV, etc., because you are saying you want to spend about a third of your waking life getting your flix- I guess you dont have a job like normal people and should be able to afford plenty of movies.