Netflix Review

Netflix began its online movie rental operation in 1999, and at the time some naysayers predicted the young company was doomed to fail. They believed that with the predominance of video rental chains in just about every town big and small throughout the U.S., the slower mail distribution format was doomed to remain a tiny niche. Boy, were they wrong.

Online DVD rentals became such a success that smaller upstarts popped up, each trying to follow the successful Netflix formula. Recently the market has become so significant that behemoths such as Walmart and Blockbuster have also opened up their own online DVD rental divisions, determined to take their own slice of the lucrative pie.

People sometimes wonder as they read through the movie reviews on this site whether Netflix (or other online rental companies) is all it is cracked up to be, or a good source to discover some of the 80's popular and obscure cinematic gems, so I decided to write a review about my experiences with this company to help you get an "insider's" look rather than depend on company propaganda.

Here are the reasons I enjoy the Netflix service:

No Deadlines or Late Fees

I used to rent movies at local rental shops quite frequently (from the days of VHS), but eventually I became so tired of worrying about deadlines and/or late fees that I just said the heck with it and stopped. The thought of jumping into a car to return videos, particularly after a hard day at work, became too aggravating.

With Netflix there are never any deadlines or late fees. For one monthly rate, you can have a certain quantity of DVDs out at any time, and best of all you keep them as long as you want.

Convenience

Since I have to pick up my mail every day, receiving new DVDs and shipping back viewed ones is quick and easy. No side trips, no fighting with traffic, no problems.

Navigating the Netflix website couldn't be easier either. As soon as you sign up for a free trial you can start filling your rental queue with literally hundreds of movies with the click of one simple button. Each movie is accompanied with reviews from fellow Netflix members as well as professional critics, and a good majority of them even allow you to view a sneak preview.

Netflix also provides free postage-paid return envelopes, so shipping the discs back never costs you a penny beyond the monthly fee.

Transit Time

One of the primary concerns with renting movies online is processing and transit time. The typical turnaround time I've noticed with other online rental companies is about 5-6 days. 2-3 days for the disc to arrive at the distribution center, 1 day for processing the next disc, 2-3 days for the disc to arrive back to me. That might be fine if you're renting expensive video games (which I do with the Gamefly service), but it's unacceptable for DVDs as far as I'm concerned.

Netflix has 29 distribution centers throughout the U.S., which cuts down the turnaround time drastically. They also prize themselves on same-day processing. In my experience, I receive the heavy majority of my movies within 2 days, so if I ship a movie to Netflix on Monday, I have a new movie waiting in my P.O. Box first thing Wednesday morning. So far the slowest turnaround time I've experienced is three days. Not too shabby!

Selection

I have found Netflix to have the best overall selection of films, from very obscure foreign films such as The New Barbarians to the popular hits we all know and love. In addition they have ample copies of each film, so you won't see a list of "Short Wait" markings in your rental queue due to unexpected demand, as is rather common with other services. As of the time of this writing I have 144 movies sitting in my queue, and every single one is available now.

Customer Service

With the multitude of discs that come and go through the mail, it's inevitable that rough handling during delivery may snap a disc here or there. The one time I received a damaged disc I visited the Netflix website, filled out a simple form stating that the disc arrived damaged, and later that same day a new copy was shipped to me. No questions asked, no added fees, no requirements to have the broken copy shipped to them first (of course I did have to ship it back – they just didn't withhold the replacement until its receipt).

Overall I have been delighted with the Netflix service; it has severely beaten all the other services I've used in the past and present. Were I to rate it as I do movies and music, I'd grant Netflix a 10 star rating, whereas other services that I've been satisfied with would have only earned a 7-8.

But don't take my word for it. Netflix offers a free two-week trial whereby you can have three discs outstanding, with no maximum number of how many discs can be shipped back and forth during that period. Once I gave the free trial a try, my mind became set – online movie rentals are indeed the future, and Netflix is the leading the charge with superb service, selection and turnaround time.

Netflix DVD Rentals. NO LATE FEES; 25,000+ titles. Try for FREE!


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