net flixeth, and net flixeth away

so, until now, my netflix experience has been pretty amazing. i mean, as much as i love opening the actual dvd case, seeing my favorite action hero on the cover, and reading the cheesy synopsis that gives away too much information, you just can't beat the cost and the ease of paying and ordering online, and having movies shipped directly to your house. its roughly $15 per month to have 3 dvds cycling in and out of my house at all times. there really is no comparison to netflix when the alternative is driving to blockbuster everytime i want a movie and giving them $5 per dvd.

that said, i was a bit upset when i called customer service today and had a conversation that went something like this:

customer service rep: "hi and thanks for calling netlfix customer service. how can i help you?"

me: "yeah i just had a question about a shipping issue with my account."

customer service rep: "ok, what is the problem?"

me: "well, i just upgraded my account today to get 3 dvds out at a time, mainly cause i needed a movie by friday, and i figured i'd just pay the $3 to upgrade this month instead of paying $5 for one at blockbuster. it made sense cause it said that the new movie would be shipped out today. turns out that wasn't the case."

customer service rep: "ok sir, can you give me your account number?"

[gave it]

customer service rep: "alright, it looks like... yes, ok, it went through today, but its looking like it won't be shipping out until tomorrow."

me: "right. well, that sort of defeats the purpose for me. i ordered it to avoid having to get one from a video store since it said it would be shipped out today. i mean, are you guys able to do anything about that?"

customer service rep: "not really sir. there is no way we can send that out today, at this point."

me: [baiting that i just wanted something in return for my trouble... a free dvd... just a simple sign they cared...] "so, there's no way you guys could like send it in one day, or something?"

customer service rep: "no sir, there is no way we could do that even if we wanted to. i don't even think there is a service that would deliver it that fast."

[really? there is no service that can deliver a package in a day or less? i wanted to tell him that i too agreed that this phenomenon would be a feat of mankind, and that one day it would be an downright honor to live in a nation that could somehow, someway create a streamlined, state-of-the-art transportation device to give us the ability to transport a package from Baltimore, MD to Fairfax, VA in one day or less.]

me: "ahh that kinda sucks, cause thats the whole reason i did this."

customer service rep: [remains silent, and sounds bored]

me: "well, the other thing i wanted to ask is are you guys going to be issuing credits for your shipping problems from last week?"

customer service rep: "yes, sir, we are issuing a 15% discount on next months bill due to our shipping problems from last week."

me: "oh ok, cool. didn't know about that."

[silence]

me: "so yeah, i guess that kinda sucks about the dvd that was supposed to go out today."

customer service rep: "yeah sir, there is nothing i can do about that."

me: "well, i guess if it can't be shipped today then it can't be shipped today." [again, baiting]

customer service rep: "yeah."

me: "alright then. i guess that's it."

customer service rep [all of the sudden upbeat and excited]: "ok sir well thank you for calling netflix customer service and have a nice day!"

wow. poor showing netflix. i'm sorry. i'm just disappointed. you are a brand new company. if you see that a customer is dissatisfied, the line is, "is there anything i can do to help this be a better experience for you?" or "i'm sorry we didn't hold up things on our end, again. can we issue another credit to your account?"

anything like that would have been nice. the comment about there not being a service that could do same day delivery was actually a little crazy. and yes, of course it is, after all, just a dvd, and not really the end of the world if it comes a day late. it just seemed like netflix didn't care at all that there was a problem, or that their website told me something completely inaccurate. and when a company is that new, you sort of would expect them to be willing to do whatever to keep customers happy. especially one that just "upgraded."