How Long Does Netflix Take To Get You Your Top Picks?

I can count on one hand the number of times it took longer than two business days to get my pick from Netflix, but I live within sixty miles of a shipping center and I'm usually not in a hurry to get new releases right away, so that may have something to do with it.

Even when something at the top of my list supposedly has a wait, Netflix usually gets it to me within a couple days anyway. One of the only recent exceptions was the unrated version of 1408, which was near the top for about a month before it finally got to me.

I hardly ever have troubles getting my top Netflix pick two days after I mailed back my disc. I've noticed longer delays on some of the bigger new releases (the latest release of Sopranos comes to mind), but I usually have it in hand after a week or so. One thing that might be a factor is how many Netflix hubs are in and around Toronto. Like Napoleon, I have a supply center in town and another in Houston, about 200 miles from here. One tends to pick up the other's slack.

I can't remember where I read the tip online, but it was suggested that if you place a title that is in "Long Wait" or "Very Long Wait" status at the top of your queue under titles that haven't yet been released but have a confirmed release date, it somehow tricks the Netflix computer system into sending you what you want sooner rather than later. It's not completely foolproof, but there was a foreign title I had in my queue for months when I tried this tip and it was sent out within a week. And it's worked for me a few more times since.

I believe they fixed this shortcut because I have several titles on very long wait that have yet to be shipped out.

I had Blockbuster Online for about a year. I had MASH at the top and I never got it by the time I canceled. Switched to Netflix a month later when Blockbuster jacked their rates up and tried to force me to switch plans. Got MASH, Q: The Winged Serpent, and 13 (Tzameti) three days after I signed up - three titles I never got with BB.

I'd imagine these are really obscure horror titles, kind of like that weirdo Australian thing you recorded a few years ago about a robot monster killing people with laser beams in a parking garage.

If a movie goes out on one day's mail, I get it the day after next. Very nice turnaround.

One huge advantage Netflix has over BB Online is that they will ship you the movie you want regardless of how long it takes. Blockbuster would skip the movies at the top of my queue if they couldn't guarantee them arriving in 2 days. So I waited forever for "Pusher" to even be available, then it kept getting skipped. Netflix will ship it from some far away distribution center instead. Might up the time it takes to arrive, but at least you get the movie you want. And this has only happened to me once.

Yeah, in the almost 5 years I've been with Netflix, I've only had to wait up to 4-5 days for about 3-4 titles that came from other distibution centers, including one that shipped recently from Anchorage, Alaska. Instead of sending it all the way back there in the pre-paid envelope, I held onto it for an extra day or two and double-packed with another rented title into a pre-paid envelope for the distribution center closest to me. Both arrived back there with a day or two and my next two titles were shipped shortly thereafter.

And I can only remember a couple of times that a title got lost in the mail, but I reported them and Netflix sent me the next movie in my list, as well as emailing me when the lost titles finally arrived back at the distribution center and were checked in. But, the weirdest thing that happened to me that secured my loyalty to Netflix was when my sister emailed me requesting that I rent an obscure workout video and send it to her at the address of some friend's she was doing a long-term housesitting for. Being a good brother, I did this, but it turns out she provided me with the wrong address, so it went into a postal blackhole. Eventually, I reported the title as lost and they charged my credit card and my sister agreed to reimburse me. Within a few weeks, the movie appeared in the mail, so I put it in a Netflix envelope, shipped it out and was reimbursed in a day or two.

But did you watch the workout video? Or was it all cock and balls?

No, I had no interest in watching it, so I put it in the mail immediately.

Two of the most unusual titles I rented was the TV movie version of The Bourne Identity from the late 80s with Richard Chamberlain and Jacklyn Smith. It was a much more faithful adaptation of Ludlum's book, but much more cheesy as well. And just to show how much of a true movie freak I am, I recognized a bad guy from this movie as the stuntman who doubled Pierce Brosnan as Bond in the big dam jump from the beginning of GoldenEye and later confirmed it with IMDb.

Also, I rented this TV movie called Sword of Gideon, with a rather respectable TV cast for its era (1986), as the novel on which it was based was apparently one of the sources used for Steven Spielberg's Munich. Several of the people who've rented it said it's better than the Spielberg movie.

Both Netflix and Blockbuster (I had free months with both) were slow when it comes to HD stuff. Combine that with new releases and I weep for the future.

I had to wait a good 2 weeks when Casino Royale first came out before I got the Blu-Ray from Netflix.

When people ask which service I recommend, I almost always say Netflix. But I gotta say Blockbuster was faster (probably because of the store drop-offs though). I suppose it depends on how close you are to a shipping facility.

Getting HD discs is my biggest problem with Netflix at the moment.

You'll always get new release DVDs if you send back your discs on friday or saturday, but with Bluray/HD-DVDs you never know. Alot of them instantly become VERY LONG WAITS. I hope one format wins soon or both formats get more popular so I can see Ratatouille on bluray one day.

The only time I have a problem with Netflix is during holidays, when shipping is slower than usual. Although, that probably has more to do with the US Postal service than Netflix. As far as new releases, I've never had to wait more than 2-3 days for brand new releases, even after I add them to my queue during th e same week they are released. If I time it right, I can get new releases on the same afternoon that they are released.

$20 at Best Buy! Just go buy it. Its the only G rated movie I can have the balls to backup I like recently.

(really also a very nice blu ray disc in terms of audio and video quality)

What I tried to do was go with blockbuster, and return a regular DVD to get a blu ray in store. When I saw the selection... ...the horror... ...the horror.

Not to mention I went inside a Blockbuster. Its like getting AIDs, through your ears. Now that I know their pain 10x, I'll donate something.