Netflix Help File on "Throttling"

Nathan discovered that Netflix has posted a FAQ about "throttling."

Q: What is “throttling” and does Netflix “throttle” its members?

A: Throttling” is not a term we use at Netflix, but is used by people who incorrectly believe Netflix intentionally tries to reduce the number of DVDs a Netflix member who is a frequent renter receives, by delaying his or her DVD shipments or returns. Netflix does not do this.

This confusion may have arisen from two scenarios in which infrequent renters may get preference over frequent renters.

The first scenario is if a customer requests a DVD, and their local distribution center does not have enough copies to satisfy demand, but there are other copies of the title available to the customer from another distribution center In this scenario, the DVD is generally shipped to the customer from the other distribution center the following day. We do this in an effort to deliver the DVDs listed highest in the customer’s Queue. Other factors being equal, these “cross shipments” happen more often to frequent Netflix renters. Cross shipments only happen if the local distribution center is short of the desired title; cross shipments are never artificially generated to slow a frequent renter.

The second scenario is when there is more demand for a title than we have copies of that title. On those occasions, we ship the available copies to the subscribers who, other factors being equal, have been renting less frequently. The subscribers who do not get their first choice will generally get their next available choice sent that same day from their local distribution center, and there is no delay incurred.

Returns are promptly processed as they are received, and there are no preferences in how they are processed.

For more information about shipping and receiving DVDs, please see our FAQ on “How does Netflix process and ship DVDs” and our Terms of Use.

Comments

[Complication]

Queue flame war in... 3... 2... 1...

[badlydrawnjeff]

It's about time Netflix officially addressed the nonsense coming from people.

[brent]

First I will say that I love Netflix and prefer it to any of the alternatives.

Back to Throttling... It does exist no matter what Netflix calls it. They defined what I consider throttling in the FAQ "The second scenario is when there is more demand for a title than we have copies of that title. On those occasions, we ship the available copies to the subscribers who, other factors being equal, have been renting less frequently." That much is true.

I for one don't think this is truthful on Netflixes part: "The subscribers who do not get their first choice will generally get their next available choice sent that same day from their local distribution center, and there is no delay incurred."
Once Netflix marks me as a heavy user, my delivery gets delayed by about a day for the entire next month. I know it happens, it cannot just be a coincidence as it has happened to me many times in the past.

[brent]

I can't believe I just typed "Netflixes".... Oh well, Note to self, proof my comments before clicking go next time :)

[Hunter McDaniel]

They could have saved themselves a lot of grief by putting this in the FAQs, say, about 4 years ago.

There is one more scenario where I believe they MIGHT use priorities, which is on busy days when they don't have enough staff to get everything out. It is certainly the case that when I get next-day shipments (from the local DC) it is usually on a Tuesday, which is their busiest day.

As for brent's assertion I can only say that this has never happened to me, even when after months when I rented almost 20 discs.

[CJ]

Let's see, following the NF reasoning, then I should have a second account with just HD-DVD and Blu-ray titles in order to have a better chance of getting new releases in Hi-Def.

I suppose, eventually, NF (and BB) will have separate queues for Hi-Def titles as more titles become available.

[eviltimes]

LIES ALL LIES !!!

Who are these jokers kidding? I am being throttled as we speak, er type, whatever. No new releases for up to 6, count 'em: SIX months. Although 3 is the standard delay. I've also had new movies shipped to me in DC from Alaska! When throttling is in full attack mode, they don't even register my returns for 3 to 6 working days!

They are pure unadulterated evil.

[Tester]

WHAT A CROCK OF BULLS***!

I guess that's why there was a successful lawsuit awhile back.

The following is addressed to whoever, from Netflix, is reading this;

If BULLS*** were money, your company would have enough to own the whole freaking world!

[MiniMonkey]

Long time reader... first time commenter. I've been with Netflix since 2000. I've gone through periods of heavy use and very low use. The only thing that has ever changed in these periods was the availability of in-demand titles. From my seven years of experience, everything stated in the FAQ is 100% accurate.

Not only is it accurate, but I think it's completely fair. When there aren't enough DVDs to go around, someone is going to have to wait and it seems to me that us heavy-users are the most logical people to be made to wait because we pay less per DVD rental.

[wolfgang613]

Eviltmes, are you saying that the new releases are being delayed for 6 months or that they were not sent out on the release date to you for 6 months. I am confused. Also it is not uncommon for the USPS to take a few days for proses the mail. Especially at big mail hubs. It might be a post office delay and not a Netflix delay. I have seen this happen more then once.

[rjm]

Netflix DOES throttle. Despite them saying
"Netflix does not do this."

Its been PROVEN repeatedly by THOUSANDS of customers.

I have personally sent back 2 discs in one envelope on more than one occasions and they pretend not to get one of them untill the next day.

I also believe they are holding off on shipping my DVDs a day while showing they were sent, they dont get here the next day like they should. I believe they are holding them in their office.

By the way, whatever happened to the lawsuit over it ? Did anyone ever get a free month or did the laywers just get their millions and walk away ?

[SykoByte]

I have a friend that was "throttled" very badly. They eventually started placing more and more of his movies on "Long Wait" and "Very Long Wait", and I'm not talking new releases either. And when he would send movies back, they would take longer than a day for Netflix to receive them even though I was in the same area (with a Netflix shipping center) and I only had 1-day turn-around.
We even placed the same movie (and not a new release) on each of our queues and his came up as "Very Long Wait" and mine came up as "Available Now".
I haven't really been throttled by Netflix, but I saw my friend's account and he was throttled incredibly bad. Eventually he just had to cancel because it was a big rip-off for him.
Another friend of mine started out great, but now he always has a 2-day turn-around rate when it was always one day before.
I'm just thankful Netflix hasn't screwed me over yet, and for reasons I do not know.
But yes Netflix throttles, it's a fact, no matter what they may state. I just don't understand how they pick and choose which members to throttle, because I've rented just as much and just as long (if not longer) as my friends have, and I haven't really had any problems.

[xoxo]

"I believe they are holding them in their office."
oh yeah, i am pretty sure they have the time to sit around and pick on you out of millions of customers that they have to serve.
it's funny how people trip over new releases. don't you guys realize that you need a get a life and maybe start worrying over more important things in life...than just sit and b*tch over new releases. does it really make you feel like a better person if you have the new release right when it comes out?? does EVERY business throttle you if they are out of something when YOU want it?? I think not. So really.
and i must state that i don't work netflix, and never have, but i believe that it is fair that sometimes preference is chosen. if i was a renter that didn't rent that often, i would like to know that i am not pushed aside over someone who rents all the time. that's just me.

[MiniMonkey]

To be clear, there are several in-demand titles that are not new releases.

I can't explain the postal delay, except that it could be an issue with your friend's specific postal center (even if you live in the city, you could be serviced by different postal centers).

If anything, the fact that you've rented just as much for just as long as your friend and haven't experienced these delays should be proof that Netflix doesn't throttle by delaying processing or shipments.

[Lamont]

They do throttle, they say so themselves in another one of their fine print terms where they state they artificially limit the number of dvd's that are sent out from each center per day.

I had a return come in this Monday and the next disc on my queue (not a new release) was shipped to me on Tuesday from my local DC, for no other reason than throttling. (I have been renting alot this month as I have had to stay home and take care of my dog that just had a liver tumor removed; I have to feed her every 2 hrs from 6am- 12 am and administer 14 pills/day!)

Statements above about 2 discs being returned in the same envelope and only one being acknowledged as returned are correct, it has happened to me also (that was the summer I was home recovering from ankle surgery).

And quit the personal attacks, telling people to "get a life". Who are you to judge? What people do with their free is really nobody else's business (unless they are out committing crimes). There can be illness, disability, unemployment- have some compassion and get off your high horse.

Remember, it is the "unlimited" advertising that sticks in peoples' craw; as others have said in the past, people are willing to pay more if they go over their "allotment" but I imagine this is administratively too burdensome.

[xoxo]

really, there is no reason for an attack because obviously you know everything. except if you didn't notice, actual HUMAN BEINGS pack those envelopes. and those HUMAN BEINGS do need to go home sometimes so yes there is a limit to everything that is shipped. think about it, most people have a designed shifts at work, and just like most everybody else, so do these human beings and i don't blame them for wanting to go home after 8/ hours of stuffing envelopes just so that you can have your movie on a tue rather than on a wed. i am sorry i dont mean to be mean, but don't be unreasonable. there is a limit to everything. its very obvious...there is a limit because those people don't live in those warehouses and ship movies 24/7.

[Lamont]

Please tell me- why is shouting to make a point necessary? With most companies, when there is extra work to be done there is something called "overtime", where employees who want to work extra hours are paid time and a half. There is also something called a "second shift". There are also staggered shifts and other ways to get all the discs sent out the same day, if they chose to do so. They do not.

Please! Stop these ad hominem attacks! I did not call you a know it all, why do you name call beacuse I disagree with you?

[hueristix]

I think Netflix has a giant database where you may be on the "poo" list. I think one way to get there is to bad mouth them in forums. They love me, maybe because they read this site?

Whatever the reasons, I get a lot of movies each month, some being new releases, blurays, and HD-DVD.

My service is so good I never even once considered switching over in the height of the 'coupon madness.' Or selling my temporarily tanking stock.

Netflix is one brand I really respect. In fact, I straight up think some of these throttling claims are by schills.

In the end, the consistently great service of NEtflix will earn them more long term customers now that the coupon fraud of 2007 is behind us.

[Ama]

All I know is that whenever I'm heavily renting, I notice there are always A LOT of "waits" in my queue. And during periods when I'm not renting as much (like right now) every single movie in my queue is available now.

[xoxo]

no shouting matches at all, in fact as valid as your point is, movies are shipped with the us postal service. there is so many hours in the day that they deliver mail, and so many days a week that they deliver that mail to us. so really, there is no point of working second or third shifts if there is nobody there to deliver it.

[Old Timer Too]

After all the hassle of BBOL and their new programs and unfulfilled promises, I decided to give NF another chance. I left them around 18 months ago after they refused to acknowledge that they had provided the equivalent of 6 at-a-time plan when I paid for 8 at-a-time. They weren't shipping from far away centers, but they were certainly delaying getting discs shipped.

Obviously, as a "new" first time renter, they are making sure I have a "good" experience. I have a strong mix of older titles and only one has a "very long wait" on it (as the first title in a TV series.

I moved another "very long wait" to the top of my queue and it was shipped the next day. This was part of the initial shipment, so you know that as a new account, I'm getting premium treatment.

Do I appreciate it? Not if it means that someone else who has been a steady renter is getting shafted. To me that is unethical to the extreme and so, we'll simply wait and see what happens.

In the meantime, BBOL still has problems and as long as those continue... well, we'll just have to see, won't we.

[profpudwick]

MiniMonkey, I'm not sure I agree 100% with your comments, but I wish you would post your very well stated thoughts more often!

[profpudwick]

Wolfgang613, you wrote: "... it is not uncommon for the USPS to take a few days for proses (sic) the mail. Especially at big mail hubs. It might be a post office delay and not a Netflix delay. I have seen this happen more then once."

I am sure you are right but can you please tell us how you know it was USPS delay, and not Netflix delay?
Danke und Beste Grüße

[profpudwick]

Sykobyte, you wrote: "I haven't really been throttled by Netflix, but I saw my friend's account and he was throttled incredibly bad. Eventually he just had to cancel because it was a big rip-off for him."

You may be right in your analysis of your friend's rentals, but I have to ask you whether you can state that his per-DVD rental cost was at a level that allowed Netflix to make a profit on their doing business with him? (They have to do that to stay in business.)
Regards,

[profpudwick]

Lamont wrote: "And quit ... telling people to "get a life". ... There can be illness, disability, unemployment- ... it is the "unlimited" advertising that sticks in peoples' craw(s) ... people are willing to pay more if they go over their "allotment" but ... this is administratively too burdensome."

Lamont brings up good points, but I have a different slant. First, we need to keep in mind that Netflix is a business. Unless they make enough revenue to cover operating expenses, they will not continue to stay in business.

So of course they throttle, but we don't need to get emotional about it. Look at it as a business plan. Pretend you are a server in a restaurant, and you have one big tipper and one bad tipper. Whom would you serve?

Netflix is like that server.

My advice: If you feel you are being throttled, up your slots by one or two. Yes, pay another $6 or $12 a month to Netflix. Like Lamont said, go ahead and pay more to ensure better service.

Like a person tipping in a restaurant. No burdensome adminstration there.

And use the Watch Instantly! No throttling with that!

[Scribe1964]

I've never been throttled, or at least I've never experienced the kind of delays that are described by some here. Maybe someone should define what a heavy user is. How many dvds do you actually watch per week and what plan do you have???

[Scribe1964]

"My advice: If you feel you are being throttled, up your slots by one or two."

I change my plan all the time (just went back to eight out). I'd rather pay a little more to Netflix and know that I always have something at home rather than having to make a trip to the local BB, which never has anything I want to see.

[RAYMOND KNIGHT]

Interesting, they don't throttle but yet they settled a case that they agreed throttling was taking place and agreed to terms which have yet to be implemented. "A Rose by any other name....", I think applies here. What about delaying shipments by a day is that part of there non-throttling process? They throttle is many different ways not just the two ways they have stated. The two ways they stated is throttling as well.

[RAYMOND KNIGHT]

llovenetflix,
It's called a computer program. They don't actually hold a DVD in there office but what they use probably is a complicated algoritim which gives everybody a point count and once you exceed a certain point you are throttled and receive designated penalties.

[noe638]

"They throttle is many different ways not just the two ways they have stated."

I agree Raymond. I think NF has the unique ability to shift the definition of what any NF user would call throttling and then claim they don't do their own definition of throttling. I have never heard anyone complain that NF gives dvd preference when there is limited supply to lower volume customers. People may be a little peeved that new customers get preference over old customers, but it makes good business sense.

The first paragraph and the paragraph about returns are complete lies based on my past experience with NF. There is definitely an invisible ceiling on the number of movies a person can rent and they definitely take longer to acknowledge receipt of your movies if you are a high volume renter.

And NF still throws around the terms "unlimited" and "next business day" and then buries the real story in their terms of use. Can't they use asterisks in their advertising like BB?

Customers want 1) fair value for their dollar and 2) honest dealings. Netflix gets an A- for #1 and a C- for #2.

[leonardodicrapio]

I returned a movie on September 1st -- it was received yesterday (September 12th). I returned it from an out-of-town location (but only about 50-100 miles away). That is the USPS at work. I once had a postcard that took over 2 months to be delivered within the United States (from New Orleans -- about 5 years before Katrina -- to Pennsylvania).

[Complication]

This subject is the heart of much of the disgruntled feelings of posters throughout this site. These are the same people that are so passionate about movies that they would be great fans of NF if they didn’t feel slighted. The problem is that once a person feels slighted the otherwise reasonable explanations for why things occur are no longer accepted. I’m in a unique position to see both sides because I work for a company similar to NF (adult DVDs by mail) and am also a long time and heavy renter on NF.

The fact is, my company gets accused of throttling as well even though I know for a fact that it doesn’t happen. We open every envelope that arrives each day and ship out a new disc to everyone that has an available slot the same day. We only have one facility that is a small fraction of the size of a NF facility so it is much easier to accomplish that. If we get accused of throttling (and all our competitors get accused too) then it is easy to see how a complex operation like NF would. Not that I’m going to convince anyone, but here are some things to consider for those that are only on the cusp of feeling slighted.

First off, you have to understand that there are people out there using the “unlimited” service for illegal activity. As soon as the disc comes in the mail, they rip it to their hard drive and put it back in the mail. If they live near the PO box where the discs are collected, they may even get them back in the mail stream the same day. This becomes more and more obvious when 12 hours worth of movies are repeatedly returned 2 days later even though there are only 6-8 hours between when the mail arrives and the last pickup at the blue postal boxes. I’m not saying that people here are doing this but, to NF, the guy at home with his sick dog ends up looking like the same pattern. This is not justification for them “throttling,” but when a group of customers is so far away from the norm, the people at NF are going to assume that at least a good percentage of them are doing something illegal. From this perspective, you can understand why they structure things the way they do.

Lets start with labor capacity. Those same people here that want NF to add more shifts or allow overtime are probably also posting to the “save our work week” sites too. Bringing on another shift in a manufacturing company makes sense based on being able to make more stuff. For NF, they would only need another shift, at most, a couple of days a week which only creates more of those part-time jobs that people complain about. Plus you have the logistical problem of meeting the cutoff time for bulk mail at the post office (even if NF has a special deal to make theirs later). Overtime isn’t really an option on a large scale unless you wanted your monthly fees to be much higher. Our company mitigates the problem by processing mail on Saturday, but this is only possible for us because we also ship out sales orders and can cover the extra labor and logistics costs.

So this leaves NF with a limited capacity per day per facility. They can’t ramp up with too many people because they would have little to do on Wednesday and Thursday. So what do they do when the amount of discs that arrive is greater than the facility capacity? Not everyone that returned a disc is going to get serviced that day. NF has chosen to try to reduce the problem for new and infrequent renters at the expense of heavy (possibly illegal activity) renters. While I’m not a fan of the practice when it happens to me, many would see it as a reasonable business response.

Another type of scarcity is that of new releases (or old releases that become popular later for some reason or another). We’ll set aside the question of why “new” titles are somehow better than all the rest and assume that everyone wanting these titles has seen all the other interesting titles out of the 65K that NF carries. Again NF is confronted with not being able to satisfy all renters’ top choice and must choose who gets what. This is often compounded as their system moves on to other facilities for titles that your local facility doesn’t have enough of. The problem becomes even worse to the extent that NF has miscalculated (or cannot afford) the number of copies required and/or which facilities need more than others due to regional population density and tastes.

Then there are the basic delays and inconsistencies inherent with the mail stream. I live within 5 miles of and drop off my movies at the main postal sorting center where NF picks up and drops their mail. I’ve sometimes had delays that last 6 and 7 days (most mail is delivered next day, to or from). My theory is that the post office has many mail carts filled with red envelopes and sometimes one gets set aside as someone goes on break or at shift change and no one notices until several days later. I have also heard of mail being left in seldom-used machines that should have been cleaned out. I guess when you are faced with a job where the mail just keeps coming, making sure it gets processed in order is not always high on your priority list.

The bottom line is that NF doesn’t have to do anything insidious to explain the delays that heavy renters see other than what they already say they do. I think people are more aware of it because NF does such an accurate job with their “long wait” vs. “short wait”. They know that there is a limited amount of the title. They know that you are on the heavy renter list. They know that there is enough demand from regular renters that you are very unlikely to receive the title. They have the balls to tell you as much.

They only thing that, as a heavy renter, I wish NF would do is allow me to choose whether a title is important to me or not. For most of my queue, if the title isn’t in the local facility then I’d rather they skip to the next available. For some titles that I am looking forward to seeing, I’d like them to ship it as soon as possible. I realize, however, that this type of feature is only useful to those of us that actively manage our queue. Since this isn’t the majority of customers (or usually the profitable ones either), I doubt it will ever be implemented.

[hawk5391]

I guess the question of whether or not you are being throttled depends on your definition of "throttling." If you think that the distribution of high-demand titles according to criteria other than "first-come first-served" is throttling then yes, obviously there is throttling; Netflix admits it themselves. But I think most reasonable people can understand that a business has to allocate its products among its customers in a manner that is most economically feasible -- that's the basis of capitalism, right (see: Adam Smith's Invisible Hand Theory)? And why wouldn't Netflix give their most profitable customers (the casual or infrequent renters in this case) first crack at high demand titles?

As for shipping delays and shipping from distant DCs, we have all experienced this at some time or another (I'm waiting for a title to reach me in California from Wisconsin right now). But I don't think many of us except the most obviously paranoid could really believe that someone from Netflix is personally supervising our rental history and setting aside titles to be mailed later or from a distant location. Like all the other wacky comspiracy theories out there, the arguement begs the question, "why hasn't someone come forward by now?" Certainly if this was going on, a disgruntled Netflix employee would have said something by this point.

No, it's more likely that there are certain inefficiencies that are built into the Netflix model (let's name a couple: one day delay in shipping if your title is not available at your local DC, not shipping on Saturdays) that will artificially limit your maximum possible rentals in a given month. The fact is, inefficiencies are simply encountered more frequently by high-volume renters (who are also denied high-demand titles), and who do you think is represented on this site?

[Hunter McDaniel]

I'd say Complication has a pretty good summary of the issue. Sadly, I don't think he'll convince those who think NF is out to get them.

One minor point though regarding regional variations in the demand for discs. Even if NF miscalculates how popular Californication will bee in LA vs. Atlanta, such a problem will be self-corrected by cross-shipments within one or two rental cycles. Those cross-shipments then get returned to the local DC, so that local supply and local demand will remain pretty well matched. Thus your chances of obtaining a copy locally will be about the same no matter where you live.

I also used to wish there was a feature to mark titles as "local ship only", but as NF has grown over time I've seen fewer and fewer cross-shipments even for obscure titles; only four so far this year It's really a non-problem nowadays.

[CJ]

I agree with MiniMonkey 100%. The NF FAQ is accurate based on my experience since year 2000. I have no issues with NF throttling or whatever they call it.

My only complaint is with the HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats (I have both players) not being in some sort of second queue or separate account for people who prefer seeing new releases in Hi-Def. Mixing Hi-Def with SD titles in one queue gets complicated for me at least, and puts me at a disadvantage...

[CainFortea]

As for the settlement that people are talking about, it was settled. They offered everyone a free month.

But it is in appeals at the moment, don't know who appealed it though. I've heard rumors it was the guy who brought about the class action, he was first asking for like a million dollars. And over time has been windling his way down. I hear he appealed it and is asking for 20k.

www.netflixsettlement.com

Now a free month to a few thousand customers, does that really sound like they were "caught red handed"?

Personally, and i've been reading this site for a while, I think that most people who think they are getting delayed are simply not paying attention. When they take their envelopes out to the mailbox, open it up, and take their mail out of the box and put the movies in it, they say "well, they should get it tomorow!"

[BlackSol]

Complication wrote: "but when a group of customers is so far away from the norm, the people at NF are going to assume that at least a good percentage of them are doing something illegal."

As long as the dvds are returned to NF playable and in one piece it none of NF's business what customers do/don't do with the dvds.

[eviltimes]

wolfgang613:

Specifically, they didn't send me "Jarhead" until 6 months had passed, while it sat at the top of my queue as "very long wait". The normal throttling delay is 3 months. Right now I'm just starting to receive new releases that came out in June. And it's consistent. Consistency proves it's not the USPS. Before throttling I had overnight service from my nearby DC. Blaming the USPS is an old tactic by NF, anyone falling for it has other issues. Changing my number of discs out at one time used to work, but not anymore. I went from 8 to 3 to 4 and now 6 (my queue has changed) in just this calender year alone, and for the first time, it didn't halt the throttling. And to everyone who thinks it's a conspiracy- no it's a computer program. According the NF's business model they only want new customers (it's a pyramid scheme), since I'm not a new customer, I am a bad customer. I understand this business model, that's not the problem. The problem is they won't admit it!

[Complication]

BlackSol wrote: "As long as the dvds are returned to NF playable and in one piece it none of NF's business what customers do/don't do with the dvds."

It isn't about it being their business or not. The people that constantly flip discs are a thorn in the side of NF profitability. For someone at NF trying to solve the problem of profitability, the fact that the use is likely illegal would make the person think, "they shouldn't be doing that in the first place and they are costing us money." They may not have enough evidence to cut your off but they will definitely try to prevent you from affecting their other customers (e.g. back of the line for you).

I'm not a customer of Blockbuster but I imagine they would have the same stance if they offered an all-you-can-rent program in the stores (maybe they do already). Even though exchanges in the store don't really cost them much, they would not be happy if you repeatedly walked out to your car with a rental and then came back to exchange it 15 minutes later. By your logic it is none of their business, but that doesn't mean they would let it happen.

[jimofoz]

Yes, they probably don't "throttle" but I did notice a smaller number of DVDs per month after a few months of service. I'm not really complaining as I do understand, but I do think it does happen and I'd just wish they'd own up to it.

I work for an Internet company and they offer "unlimited" access until, of course, you go over the limits. There was just a magazine article about how many companies are now cancelling folks who go over what they feel are limits - even if technically unstated. Sprint recently took a lot of flack for dumping customers who called in too often and I some of the cell phone companies will dump you if you do too much roaming.

The rules of commerce have changed. Read the small print and see how much software you bought that you actually "own."