DVD Unwrapped

So after the not getting Burn Notice again, NetFlix sent me Batman: Gotham Knight, Vantage Point and The Spiderwick Chronicles. I almost sent them all back out of spite right away. But wanting to get Burn Notice before the weekend, I turned these three around quickly and back out the door. I have to be near a NetFlix distribution center, because NetFlix got them quick. So now my queue has Burn Notice Season 1 Discs 1-4 as the first four discs in my que followed by Semi-Pro, The Mist and Juno. Can anyone guess what they are sending me out? Certainly not Burn Notice, they are sending out Semi-Pro, The Mist and Juno.

It has gotten to the point where they are doing this on purpose. I really don’t get it. And of course the only way to communicate with NetFlix is by phone. I really don’t want to sit on hold for an hour just to complain about my queue. NetFlix realy knows how not to treat a customer. The only thing keeping me from canceling the service is their On Demand feature, where you can watch movies on the computer. The selection isn’t great, but its getting there. Aside from that, I have had it with NetFlix. NetFlix sucks.

I went and took every other movie out of my queue except for the Burn Notice DVDs. Your move NetFlix.

After the last queue issues with NetFlix, I watched The Bucket List, Jumper and Strange Wilderness. I shipped them back to NetFlix as quick as possible, hoping to have new movies sent out today. I went in and set my Queue to try and get at least one disc from Burn Notice Season 1. So my queue was set with Burn Notice Season 1 Disc 1. Then I moved up Batman: Gotham Knight, which releases tomorrow. So the rest of my queue was Vantage Point, which had a Long Wait, Burn Notice Season 1 Disc 2, Burn Notice Season 1 Disc 3, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Burn Notice Season 1 Disc 4, Semi-Pro, The Mist, Juno, No Reservations and Drillbit Taylor.

So common sense say since Vantage Point has a Long Wait that I would get Batman: Gotham Knight and Burn Notice Season 1 Discs 2 and 3. Well, not so in the world of NetFlix. They are sending me Batman: Gotham Knight along with Vantage Point and The Spiderwick Chronicles. I don’t understand why the queue is a numbered list if they are just going to send whatever they feel like. And I love how Vantage Point goes from Long Wait to Shipped, it never hit Short Wait. Is this proof of NetFlix throttling New Releases in the queues of members to favor those on Free Trials? Obviously something is going on and NetFlix is playing with peoples queue’s for whatever reason. All the while, the last three Burn Notice Discs are marked Now, yet I still can rent them. I thought the queue was about what I wanted to rent? I guess not. NetFlix is making a great case to switch to Blockbuster.

I am sick and tired of Netflix messing with my Queue. When I put movies in order, if they are available now, then I want them shipped in that order. Not any order you see fit to throttle the system and screw current customers saving all the good movies for the free trial users. I am on the verge of canceling the garbage that is Netflix. I have Burn Notice Season 1 Disc 2, The Bucket List and Jumper set at the top of my Queue. What do they send me? The Bucket List and Jumper and Strange Wilderness, the fourth movie in my queue. They don’t send me the one disc I actually wanted: Burn Notice Season 1 Disc 2. Yeah I want to see the other two movies, but I was really looking forward to Burn Notice.

Why have a Queue if NetFlix isn’t going to follow what you set? I can’t believe the NetFlix people are so ignorant to ignore the Queue order. NetFlix is doomed to fail. From the terrible interface redesign, to the removing Profiles, its obvious the leadership at NetFlix is unable to handle running a company successfully. This is just another reason in the laundry list of reasons to switch to Blockbuster.

Thanks for not sending me Burn Notice NetFlix, you suck. And for those considering getting into online DVD rentals, stay far away from NetFlix.

The high-definition format war is officially over says The Hollywood Reporter. Toshiba today officially announced it will discontinue developing, manufacturing and marketing HD DVD players and recorders. The announcement ends a two-year-long battle with Blu-ray Disc to succeed DVD. Toshiba will stop shipments of HD DVD players and recorders by March, and will stop production of HD DVD drives for computers as well. The company added it would continue to provide product support and services for current HD DVD owners. The decision came much more quickly than industry sources indicated first to Home Media Magazine on February 14, when they predicted Toshiba would stop backing HD DVD by May.

The move came soon after both Wal-Mart and Netflix announced they would only carry Blu-ray product, and Best Buy announced it would give preference to Blu-ray. Warner Home Video’s decision in early January to only support Blu-ray left HD DVD with Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment as the only major studios supporting the format. Hardware sales data the week after Warner’s announcement showed 93% of high-def players sold were Blu-ray, according to The NPD Group, and Nielsen VideoScan data has consistently shown Blu-ray software outselling HD DVD 3:1 or more.

Toshiba significantly lowered its player prices during the holiday season, and Microsoft dropped the price of its Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on by $50 earlier this month. Toshiba also bought a 30-second Super Bowl ad for a reported $2.7 million, but apparently was not effective in boosting sales or digging into Blu-ray’s lead.

The Hollywood Reporter is citing “reliable industry sources” as saying that Toshiba is on the verge of officially dropping its HD DVD format. Though Toshiba denies that any such decision has been made, the just-published article in The Reporter points to “substantial” losses from each HD DVD player sold and a series of high-profile defections as key motivators for the company, with one unnamed source close to the HD DVD camp telling the Reporter that “an announcement is coming soon . . . it could be a matter of weeks.”

Asked to respond to the report, Toshiba VP Jodi Sally reiterated her company’s support of the HD DVD format. “Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings,” said Sally. She went on to address “the market developments in the past month,” saying only that “Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players.”