Netflix in ship shape again

Netflix, which hit a snag earlier this week that prevented it from shipping millions of DVDs to its customers, said this morning that it was back in business. Some of the customers affected by the delay might get their movies and TV shows in time for Saturday night viewing.

"We're now shipping from all of our distribution centers, with full expectation that everybody's discs will go out today," said Steve Swasey, spokesman for the Los Gatos, Calif., DVD rental service. "All systems go."

Netflix will issue a 15% refund to members whose discs were delayed this week, he said. About one-third of Netflix's 8.5 million members were affected by the delivery delay, stemming from what company executives characterized as "severe technical difficulties" but wouldn't describe in any more detail. The credit will automatically appear on affected subscribers' next monthly bill.

The stoppage hit all 55 Netflix distribution centers. The company on average ships 2 million discs a day.

"We really regret this happened, and we’re doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again," Swasey said.

-- Alex Pham

Photo: Netflix

Comments

[Bill]

I think its time for Netflix to buy, lease or rent a new computer system, and backup power supplies to go with. Namby-pamby PR jive stories about 'it won't happen again' don't cut it. Their IP department needs a shakeup and a resignation or two. FIX IT, or go out of biz, Blockbuster is hot on competing. DVD rentals look better and replay as you wish, much better than any cable system could ever do.

[Bill Mackinzie]

Hey guys, running the systems for DVD rentals is complex. I know, I run the software for SugarDVD.com, the largest rental by mail for Adult DVDs online. Hats off to NFLX for addressing this publically and quickly. Anyone who gets upset at their delay can drive to the video store or use video-on-demand!

[Dr. Jim Anderson]

Hmm, I'm pleased to see that Netflix appears to have fixed their problem(s). However, I'm still dying to know what went wrong! It appears as though they got hit by a problem that took their business out of service for several days despite having just about everyone working to fix it...

My gut reaction is that this was a major meltdown in their backoffice. I suspect the folks out in Vegas would be more than willing to take bets on when it might happen again. A quick look on the Netflix corporate website and in Hoovers reveals that Netflix does not currently have a CIO. Perhaps this outage started as a leadership issue...!

- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting
http://www.blueelephantconsulting.com

For a more complete discussion of the Netflix IT horror story & possible reasons for the outage, check out:
http://businessofit.blogspot.com/2008/08/netflix-shipping-problems-it-horror.html

[rob]

As a customer I am pleased by the service, I was contacted before I even noticed there was a problem and offered a disount before I even had a chance to complain. How many companies have that kind of customer service these days? Huzzah to Netflix!

[Jim R]

I am most impressed by Netflix and I think they are doing a great job. I plan to buy stock (it they are public, I have to check on that). It is great the way they addressed this problem. Netflix is great!!!