Netflix

Nature of the Offense

Unlike a lot of the companies on this site, I actually like Netflix. A lot. But I hate getting frivolous price gouges with no accompanying value increase, like the one-dollar monthly hike Netflix just imposed.

Netflix doesn't have a publicly accessible email address, so I just ran down the address of their CEO and fired off the following complaint.

The Letter

Dear Mr. Hastings,

I would like to express my immense disappointment in Netflix's decision to raise membership prices for its consumers. I realize instant streaming has become the new rage, and you have to keep up with server demands, but as of this moment, your service has added no additional value to merit the rate hike. Allow me to spell out the problems with your new pricing model.

The current "new arrivals" to the Watch Instantly menu include Sorority Wars, The Planet's Funniest Animals (Season 9), The Hot Chick, Maid in Manhattan, and Repo! The Genetic Opera. Citizen Kane is nowhere to be found. Neither is Vertigo, The Sound of Music, Gone With the Wind, or Anal Babes 9.



"Netflix: bringing the authentic cinema experience straight to your living room!"


Sure, I can get unlimited instant streaming for cheap, but I'd better be content to watch the latest Rob Schneider masterpiece. It's like being able to take whatever I want out of the DVD bargain bin at Wal-Mart. This is after being a paying customer for 5 years without being able to watch instantly on:

1. a TV
2. a Mac
3. a web browser other than Internet Explorer
4. a wireless router more than 3 months old
5. the toilet.

That last one might not be your fault, but I still can't get Netflix on my cell phone unless it's an iPhone. My point is that after it took so long to finally get any use whatsoever out of your Watch Instantly service, I should be getting a discount to make up for lost time, not a price gouge.

I do understand that as more customers use your streaming service you have to upgrade your servers, but there are other companies in your position who aren't sticking it to their customers in the middle of the worst economic downturn in 80 years. Take Nintendo, for example. I can play unlimited Goldeneye online, and for free. Sure, Rob Schneider might very well pop up there too, but in that case a) I can't see him, b) there's no voice chat, so I can't hear him, and c) I can blow his friggin' brains out. Maybe Nintendo doesn't have to pay content providers like you do, but hey, nobody ever said Netflix isn't allowed to use The Pirate Bay.



"Up yours, Schneider!"


I would strongly urge you to either reconsider your subscription fee increase, or at least give us something worth watching. Otherwise, I'm coming over there and making you sit through The Human Centipede: First Sequence with me.

The Response

As of this posting, the highlights of the New Releases in Netflix's online selection were:





So yeah, looks like that letter did a lot of good!

In all seriousness, though, I noticed just the other day that my rate had actually been "grandfathered in," and I wasn't paying the upcharge, which wasn't part of the original plan. Maybe the letter did some good, for once.

Guest Author Letter: Time Warner #2

Nature of the Offense

Even if you have never been to this site, you probably already know Time Warner Cable sucks. Their broken give-a-shit has driven our frequent contributor, the Fast Food Warrior, completely up the wall, and the following letter conveys pure exasperation as well as anything you'll ever see.

For context, FFW has canceled his services with TWC, only to receive a bill the next month anyway. To be fair, it's true that he's still getting the same quality of service as before he canceled...

The Letter

Congratulations TWC, you have managed to still incite my rage even after I ended our
relationship. Today I received notification of a bill covering the service period beginning November 25, 2010, that would be automatically charged to my credit card. This would normally not be so surprising except for the fact that I terminated my service on November 1. I recognize, as your online chat agent (P*** S*****) repeatedly pointed out, that you bill one month in advance. (editor's note: see the full chat transcript here) However, I am not accustomed to being billed for future service by companies that I am not a customer of. I tried to turn off the recurring payment feature so that my credit card could not be automatically charged, but was unable to do so. Your chat agent attempted to walk me through the steps that I had just followed on my own, but told me that he lacks the power to do anything. Why do you even offer online chat about billing issues if your agents are effectively neutered. This makes about as much sense as buying an B-cup bra for Pamela Anderson.



This is the second time FFW has used a simile that I refuse to find a picture for.


More troubling was the fact that there was no credit on this latest billing statement for services paid for in the post-cancellation period on last month's bill (11/1 to 11/24). This was contrary to a statement made by your online chat agent, who assured me that such a credit should appear on the next bill following cancellation. Your agent also assured me that I could "ignore" the latest bill.

Given your company's stellar record of integrity and quality customer service, I should have no reason to not trust his statements, right? Wrong. TWC does not keep to its own standards of performance, consistently fails its customers and even makes life difficult for those who are no longer customers.

You are hereby on notice that if I see a single cent charged to my credit card in the future from TWC, or fail to see a full credit for unused service within one month, I will not hesitate to open a disputed charge inquiry with American Express. You certainly don't want to mess with them.

Thank you for wasting an hour of my day.


The Response

We'll just skip the start of the form letter here and skip to the relevant bit...

"I have checked your account and would like to inform you that the service call for the disconncetion (sic) of the service is scheduled on 11/18/2010. Please be rest assured, your services will be disconnceted (sic), and once the services are disconnceted (sic) and the equipments are returned, your account will be credited and if there is any credit balance left on the account. You will receive that
credit as refund check at your mailing address.

Also, I have escalated your issue to the relevant department. Our escalation team will contact you at XXXX@XXXX.com in the next 24-48 business hours. We appreciate your patience. For your reference the ticket number is "

...aaand it cuts off there. TWC's idiot representative couldn't even be bothered to fill in the ticket number on the form letter. Also, what does it mean to "disconncet" your cable? FFW called the 800 number to find out, and got an email shortly after, explaining:

"I request you to provide us some time to resolve your issue, as your issue has been escalated to the relevant. Please be rest assured your issue will be resolved as soon as possible."

FFW and I wondered together what "the relevant" was. My conclusion is that his complaint was finally placed in the "relevant" inbox, rather than the "trash immediately" pile that most customer letters go into. Perhaps I should take some insight from this regarding my own letters...




After some more back-and-forth with the TWC staff, FFW finally received the following notice:

"I understand your issue has been fixed and would like to be contacted only if you have been given free cable and internet service for lifetime.... We will be sure to share the poor experience you encountered with our entire team so that everyone re-focuses on the importance of providing quality customer service.... Please be rest assured your issue will be resolved as soon as possible. "

FFW's reaction: "I only hope they didn't confuse a lifetime supply with the Lifetime family of shitty cable channels. "