Netflix charged me $29.98 on the same day that the corporation put my account on hold: July 9, 2019. I did not realize the coincidence at that moment, but Netflix customer representatives would later point that out to me the next day. How do you find out that your account is on hold? If you look at your queue using a web browser on your computer, you get an alert at the top of your screen that says with a red background, “You have a problem with your account! Please contact customer service at 1-800-585-8018.” When I did, that is when I found out that my account was on hold while my money was not. How convenient for them, not for me because I had not had a single Netflix DVD in my house since June 29, 2019.
I joined Netflix on January 9, 2007 and paid $18.89 per month for the privilege of getting three Netflix DVDs out at a time with unlimited exchanges. The price went up as Netflix offered more services such as streaming. Netflix initially bundled the services together then separated them so now I pay $15.99 per month for just the DVDs and $13.99 for streaming. I’m not saying that the over twelve-year business relationship has been without problems, but nothing that I considered unreasonable. The occasional mix up, delay or technical problem is expected though it was slightly embarrassing that my city library was able to get me a new DVD release quicker than Netflix, but it is a gamble which DVD in my queue will be sent next.
How do I use it? My strategy is to mail the three Netflix DVDs on a Saturday so Netflix gets them on Monday so I have a stronger likelihood to get the new releases that come out on Tuesday. On Monday, Netflix informs me which DVDs were sent to me then I usually get it Tuesday afternoon, but occasionally if it is a busy mail week like Christmas, there could be a delay until Wednesday.
On the morning of Saturday, June 29, 2019, I put the three DVDs in a mailbox. Because technology can be wonderful, once USPS scans the Netflix envelope with the DVD in it, Netflix begins the process of sending the next available DVD in your queue before Netflix actually receives it, but that scan is demonstrable proof that a customer is not simply saying he or she mailed DVDs, but they’re sitting in his or her home. I suppose that someone could mail the envelopes with nothing inside, but I suspect that USPS and Netflix have thought of it. We’re not talking about a mom and pop shop. We’re talking about an institution founded by the US Constitution and one of the most successful companies of our times that killed the local mom and pop shop. Occasionally Netflix will send out the DVDs, but not get back the returned Netflix DVDs so if I notice that it is still showing in my Netflix queue when it is set to “all,” I report it so they could figure out what is going on. Eventually Netflix usually gets the DVDs, but occasionally I’ve heard on the news of stories of Netflix DVD thieves so I think that it is important to report even though it has historically never affected me when I did so.
As expected, on Monday, July 1, I got Netflix’s notice that Netflix sent the three DVDs. When I didn’t get any DVDs on Wednesday, July 3, I was concerned because I knew that the holiday would affect the way that the problem would be handled so I decided to contact Netflix customer service for guidance. The customer service representative said that I should be concerned if I didn’t receive it on Friday, July 5, but I could not call to report it because Netflix would be called so she directed me to report it using the website. On Friday, July 5, I went to the website, which indicated that I actually couldn’t report that I didn’t receive it until Tuesday, July 9. So was the customer service representative making a mistake or following a script that deliberately had a mistake that would further delay the process?
On Monday, July 8, I noticed that Netflix showed that the DVDs that I mailed on Saturday, June 29, 2019 were still shown as out. I went to the website to report that I sent them back, but I indicated the wrong date, June 28 or earlier, because I was looking at the wrong calendar. The report includes how and where the DVD was mailed: a mailbox in my zip code. I corrected this error in the following phone call.
When I woke up the next morning to the alert, I did not imagine that Netflix would act out of the ordinary in response to my report. When I called the customer service representative on the morning of Tuesday, July 9, I was told that my account was placed on hold so they could further investigate the missing DVDs. I was asked basically the same questions posed on Netflix website. I probably used a deadpan voice when explaining what a mailbox was. “You pull the handle, put the envelope in then let go of the handle.” Only one problem: what if I still did not get the three DVDs that Netflix allegedly sent me on July 1st. The answer was clear. I could report it, but I would not get them until the hold was released. The customer service representative said that I would get an email when the hold was released, which I never received, and I checked my junk email folder. At this point, I asked that I not be charged because based on the information that she told me, obviously I was not getting any DVDs if the July 1stbatch never arrived, and Netflix would not send any out to replace them. She replied that she did not have the power to do that, but when reporting our call, would include my request in her report. Later that night I do get an email indicating that Netflix received the DVDs that I mailed on June 29.
Unsurprisingly I did not get the July 1stshipment of DVDs and reported it on the evening of July 9, 2019. I called Netflix on July 10, 2019 when they gleefully reported to me that they always charge me on the 9thfor the month, claimed the hold was lifted though I have no objective proof such as the promised email, and Netflix would send the replacement DVDs that day, and I should get them Friday, which sounds uncomfortably familiar to the reassurances that I got the week before when the customer representative said one thing, but the Netflix website definitely indicated another. Fool me once.
At this point, I ask to speak to a manager, Manuel #22. I request a refund for the month or at least 75%, i.e. $11.99, but he only offers an additional three DVDs or a 50% refund, i.e. $7.995. Why? In the real world it may just be two weeks lost assuming that the alleged replacement DVDs actually do arrive on Friday, which I will not assume until they are in my hands; however in the real world, there is no point in paying for unlimited DVDs if you don’t actually have any DVDs nor are given any time to watch them.
Netflix implicitly gives you six days, minus holidays and Sundays, to watch DVDs and put them in the mail to get the next one. The mail isn’t delivered until the afternoon usually hours before the last mail pick up is scheduled. It is literally impossible, unless the DVD contains an unusually short movie, to watch a DVD and mail it back on the same day that you get it. There is a substantial difference between Netflix mailing a DVD and a customer getting it during the week versus getting it on a Friday or Saturday. Intentionally or not, it is a way of stacking the deck in Netflix’s favor to reduce the number of days that a customer gets a DVD, can watch it and mail it back to get the Netflix DVD. So if I get the DVD on Friday, in the real world, not a theoretical world in which viewers are androids who can watch a feature film using fast forward and pop it in the mail on the same day, I’m probably not getting any DVDs the third week as well because it only leaves one mailing day before the following week starts.
Manuel decided that he wanted to parse dates with me because technically the problems started last month, prior to when I got charged on 7/9/19, and this is a whole new month. I immediately replied back, “Fine, refund me twenty-five percent for my June 9thpayment and fifty percent for my July 9thpayment.” Manuel was not pleased with how quickly I adjusted to Netflix’s fiscal calendar. I absolutely turn down the offer of Netflix sending me an additional three Netflix DVDs. I haven’t gotten the replacement DVDs so the idea of more theoretical DVDs that I can’t watch seems ridiculous so if I don’t get these additional DVDs, it would exacerbate the problem. Netflix and I both know that Netflix can’t guarantee which DVDs I would get next or when so this is not a solution. Manuel explains it is the only solution that Netflix can offer, and I should read my terms and conditions. I immediately respond that it is the only thing that he is authorized to offer, but Netflix can do more. They make the rules for themselves so they can accommodate requests and unusual circumstances. He agreed with that point and suggested that I write corporate. I let him know that if I’m writing, I’m tweeting, and I’m also a lawyer.
All contracts are subject to the law so if terms and conditions violate the law, it doesn’t matter what is said in the fine print. I frequently hear rumors that Netflix would like to eliminate its DVD program because of the shipping costs, but for customers like me who just won’t go away, are they trying to make it so abhorrent that we leave voluntarily? Is Netflix deliberately trying to push a model of getting DVDs to customers later and delaying the ability to report problems so customers have less time to receive and watch DVDs as a practical way of limiting their offer of unlimited DVDs and reducing shipping costs without changing their advertising or plans? Netflix needs to keep its word or not offer something if it can’t deliver. In Massachusetts, taking money for a service that is not being provided could be interpreted as a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93A. The minute that my account was put on hold, I no longer had access to unlimited DVDs and should not have been charged as if I was. Is Netflix trying to eliminate DVDs?
