sMoRTy71.com: Followup to Netflix trick

Followup to Netflix trick
OK, the exposure on Digg has resulted in a bunch of comments (both on Digg and on my blog). So I thought I would address some of them.

1. Yes, this isn't really a scientifically-proven trick. It is anecdotal. Thought that was obvious, but got some snarky comments anyway.

2. I don't have movies in my queue that I don't want to watch. It is just that I don't want to watch the ones they send right now. The fact that something is lower in my queue implies that my desire to watch that movie is lower than the one at #1.

3. You don't have to try this! Several people complained that they have too many movies in their queue to try this. Well, this isn't mandatory, so your queue should be just fine.

4. One guy complained that I was letting the cat out of the bag and that he had been doing this for a while. Sorry.

One of the more useful comments actually suggested a little freeware app called FlixQueue that allows you to manage and backup your Queue. FlixQueue would make it very easy to maintain a large queue and still use my "method."

And finally, I think this trick (whether it works for everyone of not) shows that Netflix is definitely "reserving" a portion of their inventory for new customers (or at least for customers who aren't me). Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to go from "Very Long Wait" to "Now" in a matter of minutes.

A few months ago, we did a little experiment at the office. Several of us have Netflix and each of us were at various stages in our membership (1 guy had a trial, the rest of us were members from 3 months to over 1 year). I tried to add a movie to my queue and got "Very long wait." The others in our test group did the same and the results varied from "Long Wait," "Short Wait" to "Now." Guess who got the "Now?" The new guy, of course.

I guess I would rather see NF come clean about their efforts to place limitations on their unlimited service and make them part of the membership agreement. Why not say, "You get X movies per month for $X.?"

Based on the comments I've seen lately, NF has gone from one of those companies you tell your friends about to one of those companies you don't really like, but you stick with 'cause there aren't any better options.

UPDATE: 10:24 AM -- I am getting slammed a bit over on HackingNetflix for my original post. Here is their post. Here is my response:

"Hey, I'm the guy who posted this "trick" on my blog. I didn't expect it to get picked up on Digg and get all of this attention/scrutiny.

It is purely anecdotal; however, it has worked both times I tried it. Take that for what it is worth.

I was simply getting tired of being sent the 4th or 5th movie in my Queue when I really wanted the 1st, 2nd or 3rd movie in my Queue.

The reason I was willing to take my Queue down to almost nothing is because I was on the verge of cancelling because of:

1. Shipping tomorrow messages (instead of fast turnaround I had in the past)
2. Long waits for every new movie I wanted
3. Delays in checking my movies back in -- it takes 3 days to get a movie to show up as returned when in the past it was 1 day

I don't advocate that everyone try this. It was just something that I observed when I was on the verge of quitting.

I think what this "trick" (even if it only works a couple of times) shows is that NF is reserving part of its inventory for new customers (or customers who aren't me). Otherwise, they couldn't go from "Very long wait" to "Now" in a matter of minutes. And I think that sucks.

So, I didn't mean to upset any of the NF fanboys with my post. Blame the guy who put it on Digg :)

BTW, someone on Digg suggested using a little freeware app called FlixQueue to backup your Queue before trying this."