Christopher writes, "I noticed recently that even though my account is specifically set up to have the Blu-ray added to my queue when available, the DVD is added and I have to manually change to Blu-ray in the queue. I noticed this after receiving a DVD copy of a film that was also on Blu-Ray. I assumed it was an error in the warehouse, but after adding additional titles, I noticed that DVD is now the default despite clearly stating that Blu-ray will be added per the screen cap below:"
If you have opted for the Blu-ray plan, you can set the preference for Blu-ray or DVDs that you add to your queue on the "Your Account & Help" page.
I tested this and it added Blu-ray over DVDs for me -- but is anyone else having this problem?
I had the sample problem. I called Netflix and they told me it was a database error. They escalated it to the engineers and it was fixed in 24 hours.
Posted by: David Hyman | May 25, 2011 at 07:32 AM
I've not had the problem Christopher describes. My pet peeve (and one possible explanation for his problem) is that if you add a movie to your queue when only DVD is available, but later the studio decides to release a Blu-Ray version, Netflix does not automatically update your queue. Every few weeks I scan through my queue and I find a handful of movies where the drop-down tab reads DVD and I have to manually change it to Blu-Ray. That could be what happened to Christopher if it's been a while since he added the movie to his queue.
It's doubly-annoying on multi-disc series because there is no drop-down. You have to hover over the title, wait for the pop-up, figure out if it's on Blu-Ray, remove the entire series, and re-add it to get the Blu-Ray version.
I understand if you're in the middle of a series (it may be four DVDs but only three Blu-Rays, thus they don't correspond to one another), but if the series is still in your queue (or if it's just a one disc film), I wish Netflix would update your queue automatically. We are paying for the privilege of Blu-Ray, after all.
Posted by: Kushambaka | May 25, 2011 at 08:10 AM
I occasionally see this if a movie is only out on DVD when I add it to my queue and then a BluRay version comes out later. Otherwise, I pretty much always get the BluRay version.
Posted by: Tim | May 25, 2011 at 02:37 PM
Hmm, I guess I will have to call Netflix about this issue now. I received another DVD today that was also available on Blu-ray. And i even specifically made sure the drop down was set to Blu-Ray before it shipped. This must be a specific issue with my account as it doesn't seem to be effecting many others.
Posted by: Ctaber | May 25, 2011 at 05:14 PM
I've always had this problem. I shouldn't have to - but every month I have to go through my queue and find the random saved titles that Netflix didn't correctly tag "Blu-ray". It's frustrating that nothing works as it should on a website I am paying to use.
Posted by: MattChance | May 25, 2011 at 06:55 PM
I often go through my disc queue to switch DVDs to Blu-ray myself. Annoying.
Posted by: Jdrch | May 26, 2011 at 12:31 AM
I've mostly seen it happen, as others have suggested, when the DVD comes out before the blu-ray, or when they don't have the blu-ray yet (sometimes Netflix doesn't actually buy the blu-ray if the DVD has already been out for a while, it seems). I've had ones pop into my queue set to DVD, then when I change them to blu-ray they pop back into "saved" with an unknown release date.
Posted by: Jandy | May 27, 2011 at 10:59 AM
I have the same problem, about 30% of the time. It's just NF, they are a poorly managed company when it comes to servicing the customer.
Posted by: eviltimes | May 27, 2011 at 02:42 PM
@Ctaber I had the same problem. Something to do with x and y not syncing at the nextflix databases. They told me they're working on it. I removed my blu-ray access (my netflix would default to blu-ray) as sometimes I wanted dvds to watch on my laptop.
Posted by: Jonathan Trillo | May 30, 2011 at 11:29 PM