Friday, April 8, 2011

Netflix Blows It

So I gave in to pressures and went to sign up for Netflix. Actually, it appeared to be the model I think I'm looking for -- movies when I want them from the Internet (no cable). I had trepidation about the quality of the image streamed to the TV from my computer, but I was prepared to work on that.

So I sign up, hit play, and they tell me they won't play the movie because I don't use one of their supported operating systems. First bad thing: I know I'm using an off-the-mainstream operating system (Ubuntu), but that's my choice and my decision to deal with. Stream to me in a standard way and make it my problem to make it work.

So I cancel the account. Second bad thing: They force me to view a questionnaire with many complicated questions about why I'm canceling. Third bad thing: My reason isn't on the list, and they don't allow a free format comment.

So I hit "Contact Us". Fourth bad thing: They don't have an e-mail way to contact them.

Do I feel confident that Netflix will actually have a responsive phone system that lets me talk to a human, after the way they've demonstrated that they're not open to my way of doing things? No way.

Netflix, you ain't getting my money.