The One Thing About Netflix That Bugs Me
It’s not throttling. Since we don’t churn through our Netflix account, we’ve never really been subject to it.
Rather, it’s that they don’t process on Saturdays. It’s bugging me more this weekend because I forgot to mail a disc back on Thursday, and by mailing it on Friday instead I lose as much as 4 days. If I mailed it Thursday, there’s a good chance it would have been processed on Friday, and I would have received a new disc on today, Saturday. Instead, it will not be processed until Tuesday, if they take Memorial Day off, and the earliest we will receive the next disc will be Wednesday.
It’s odd that even though most net businesses don’t process orders on Saturday, I expect Netflix to do so. I think it’s because they rely solely on the USPS, which does pick up and deliver on Saturdays.
Most net businesses rely on FedEx, UPS, or DHL, which though generally superior to the USPS, either do not have Saturday delivery or charge exorbitant premiums for the service.
A Google search yielded this interview from 2 years ago explaining why they don’t process on Saturdays. That interview also indicates that Blockbuster’s online service does process returns on Saturday — something that I saw noted in other sources as a result of my research. There seemed to be contradictory reports on that, however. It might depend on where you are. Finally, some articles also indicated that Netflix does, sometimes, process returns and mail out the next disc even on holidays, including postal holidays. We’ll see how they handle it this weekend.
