I do my fair share of complaining about poor service. And if you follow me on Twitter, you might say that I do more than my fair share. Here’s my issue: It’s not so much that your service sucks, it’s that you refuse to be held accountable for it sucking, and rarely, if ever, do anything about it. I’m looking at you, Comcast and AT&T. That’s why it’s so perplexingly wonderful when a company does the right thing, like Netflix.
Tonight, Netflix emailed a large number of its subscribers to apologize for a Xbox Live streaming outage that occurred yesterday. They’re offering to refund 2% of users’ monthly bills back to them, if they simply click on the link that was emailed. It’s not a lot of money, but what’s remarkable is that Netflix did this for most of us completely unprompted.
Now, I’m sure someone somewhere complained, but rather than either arguing with that person or just quietly giving them some sort of discount, it looks like Netflix just emailed everyone that could have possibly seen this hiccup in service, and offered a refund — including users who didn’t suffer through it at all.
Refunding 2% of a monthly bill to all of these users will probably add up to a decent sized chunk of change (assuming a large portion of users click on the link), but the positive reaction they’re getting for the move on places like Twitter (and yes, this blog), has got to be worth more than whatever they’re paying. In a time of poor tech customer care, Netflix is the sterling example of how do it the right way.
Last month, we covered a Netflix internal presentation on how the company is run. It is simply an awesome guide that not nearly enough companies are anywhere close to following. It’s baffling how Netflix could be doing things so right, while there are so many companies out there doing things so wrong. It’d be one thing if Netflix wasn’t successful, but it’s extremely successful.
I’ve had basically no service from AT&T for large portions of my day in various parts of San Francisco for two months now. Do you think I’ll ever see a dime back from them? And before I just recently quit Comcast, my service would go out almost everyday without fail. Did I get an email apology and a refund? Nope. Maybe if I bitched loud enough for long enough, I could get something back from those two companies, but the point is that maybe I shouldn’t have to.
Netflix emails me from time to time to see about my movie streaming quality, and also to see if movies I’ve rented through the mail appear on time. If they don’t or the quality of my movies is poor, they apologize. That’s all I want. The refund is just icing on the cake. Too many other companies not only give you no icing, and no cake, but they steal your cake, punch you in the face, and then blame you for the whole ordeal.
But when it comes time to renew my plans with those companies, guess which one I’m going to stick with? Netflix. Companies often seem curious how other companies get “fanboys” — this is how.
[photo: TriStar Pictures]
Netflix is the win.
Netflix is the win bc they are proactive. ATT is the devil b/c they suck, period.
MG: thank you for continually complaining. Seriously, you are bringing the bigger problems to the attention of the masses. Now, we just need to wake up and act (i.e. drop ATT for a real service provider)
Agreed, thanks for bringing this up.
I have noticed lately that Comcast and ATT and MUCH FASTER to repond on Twitter than over the phone. Also, the people who work on their twitter accounts are much smarter.. and more friendly.
This reminds me of what Blizzard used to do (credit accounts with game time) when they had large amounts of downtime or other server issues (unplayable LAG!) when WoW was still a newborn baby.
Unfortunately, things change.
Great deal to be learned from!
I remember receiving notice about some class action lawsuit against them and flat our refusing to be a part of it. I would of actually felt bad taking whatever the law suit was going to give me. Out of everything I pay for every month Netflix is the only company that continues to add value and in most cases lower their prices time and time again.
This isn’t the first time they’ve done this, either. I got an apology/partial refund from them a few months ago for another service burp I barely noticed. And if you ever call their completely free 24 hour helpline, they have reps that actually know things!
It’s insanity, I tell you!
the fact that i’ve never had to tells me something, but that’s great to hear if I do ever need to.
There are things I liked about Netflix, but I recently dropped them after a particularly aggravating experience.
I don’t spend a lot of time watching TV these days but I was systematically making my way through watching the long Korean series Dae Jang Geum (recommended, through it goes too slowly.) So perhaps halfway through I notice that the queue for the next disc is labelled as “very long wait” or to that effect. I called customer service only to be told, in so many words, that they have to have a certain demand level to carry a DVD.
Ok, fine – but they’re offering a miniseries here, which was issued in multiple parts and which is a seamlessly integrated timeline (of the life of Dae Jang Geum), not really distinct episodes. Not having the complete series (18 dvd’s in total) is just stupid. Since this was a major reason I subscribed, I just dropped it.
I had actually had a subscription some years before this one as well, and had dropped it too, because of a well documented thing that they ultimately acknowledged – if you ordered “too many” discs, they deliberately throttled you by extending delivery time. I don’t know if that’s still the case but it would not surprise me.
Did you find a video service that had all 18 DVDs, that works better for you?
How about bittorrent?
Easily the best video service on the net.
http://thepirat...3/Dae_Jang_Geum
Yeah I was affected by the outage last night, and the one a few months ago. It’s funny because I barely ever do streaming movies via Netflix, but it seems like half the time I do, I have problems! However, both times, unprompted, I got an email apologizing for the problems with an offer for a refund. I think last time it was 3% instead of 2, but whatever, it’s the gesture that counts and is much appreciated. Netflix is a star of a company.
NetFlix is an awesome company, wish more companies were like them. very customer oriented
Blizzard were really good at this in the early days of World of Warcraft (and still are) when the servers experienced outages. Even better, you didn’t have to do anything to get it.
It’s amazing how effective giving discount is when things go wrong. Even in that situation where people are acting like the world has ended and the forums are going crazy. It’s worth its weight in gold.
One for the playbook — no doubt.
It’s truly amazing and astounding that a company today really understands the meaning of public relations and customer service. Go Netflix!
Netflix actually gave me a 3% refund. http://imgur.com/GvqKS.png
lucky you
I got 3% as well… I wonder if it’s based on your plan. Would be willing to bet that those of us w/the 1-at-a-time got 3% while anything above got the 2%…
Still, good post here
Good example indeed of them doing right.
Personally, I can’t say I hold them in quite as high a regard due to requiring HDCP compliant video card/monitor (unless you use a VGA cable, which I had to do) for streaming, and more recently, for forcing me to use Silverlight, which has WAY lower quality streams and WAY lower bitrates…
BUT…
You are right in that they do largely treat customers pretty well and try not to suck, ESPECIALLY compared to many other companies. In that regard, they do still deserve some praise, and have indeed done right with helping people instead of totally blowing them off…
Hell yeah!
One of my movies got “lost” in the mail and I thought to myself “shit, this is going to suck to resolve”.. Nope they said “sorry, it happens, we’ll have your next movie out to you tomorrow.”
It made me feel so good. They didn’t argue to try and make me pay at all which is what I was expecting.
Good job noting the companies doing it right.
Brilliant. A company doesn’t deliver on its stated purpose and, if it fails, it apologizes and makes it right. Too bad every company doesn’t learn from Netflix. I love them.
Dude, get over it. It’s a great service we all know it. Even my grandma knows how to get my PS3 and hook into the Netflix movies via PlayOn.
Are you sure you didn’t trip over your fiber after having a few?
Hear, hear, and the Netflix slideshow is amazing. I never thought I’d get through 134 slides or however many it was but I couldn’t stop clicking…
why am I experiencing delayed delivery more often than not? Dvds had come almost on time in my first years but they rather seem to be being lazy these days.
You should get email surveys. If not, you can also report service issues on the website under Netflix->YourQueue->Report a Problem.
There are items for reporting delayed delivery and delayed return. Netflix can’t help you if you don’t report a problem.
Netflix frequently sends me “When did you receive this disc” and “When did you mail this disc” questions. I gladly answer because I know it’ll only make their service better.
Yeah. I agree. When I got my 2%, I was like damn . . . good job NetFlix.
Then my gf did the math.
Still, good vibes.
http://www.traderbots.com
yeah, it’s not much, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
Son, give up. There are still plenty of farms out there.
I’ve received this type of email from Netflix before and got a partial refund when I hadn’t even noticed the glitch. They’re quick off the mark if there’s ever a technical hiccup with the service (which is rare indeed), and I get regular emails asking me about the quality of streaming video and whether or not a DVD has arrived or been mailed. I’ve had one instance where a DVD I returned got lost in the mail, and when I queried it with Netflix they immediately said “OK, no problem. Your next disc is on its way.”. Can’t complain about that kind of response!
In a nutshell, Netflix “get it” – they understand their business, they understand their customers, they understand their commitment to those customers, and they’re goal is obviously to satisfy.
Netflix is one of those rare businesses that I can truly say I have great respect for and I support them 100% because they give me, as their customer, exactly what I need from their service.
ATT internet also sucks ridiculously… unexpected service outages an upwards of 10-20 times per day. NOT lying.
Things like this happen quite rarely nowadays especially when most companies are so money-oriented rather than service-oriented
I just read my Netflix email and the 2% is nice. It’s not much, but in this case it really is the thought that counts. Especially when in this day and age companies literally go out of their way to screw you and make you feel like your a criminal just for complaining about service.
I know this comment might get flamed and I know the bs that continues to go on with AT&T and the App store approval process, but one can’t forget that Apple has done this numerous times. Remember the 1st gen iPhone fiasco when they dropped the price 2 months or so after it launched? What other company would have done the same thing and responded with a $200 credit? Granted it was in store, but still not many other companies would have done that.
Another example… about 2 months ago my gf and I were getting on a plane each with a carry on. It was a small regional plane so not much room for carry ons and they insisted she check the bag. Unfortunately she also had her puppy so she quickly threw her white MacBook into her suitcase and checked it on the tarmac. Well needless to say they f’d it up and the plastic around the case cracked. I told her to bring it to the local Apple store to see if there’s anything they could do. btw this was out of warranty by about 7 months. Sure enough… a quick talk with the genius bar and voila it was completely fixed and replaced. They took it for about 2 hours and put on a brand new face around the keyboard at no cost whatsoever. No questions, no accusing her of breaking it, nothing. Try that at your local computer store or even Best Buy for that matter.
That is why we love using Apple and other companies that go out of their way to make things right. Sure, no ones perfect, but as MG said… it’s the companies that get Fanboys that are the ones typically getting it right.
yep, i’ve always had good experiences with Netflix and Apple. Can’t really think of any others that are good across the board. Amazon is pretty good, when they’re not taking back Kindle books, Zappos is known to be awesome, but I don’t use them much.
how about all the people apple screwed over with fried nvidia video cards?
I didn’t try to use the service yesterday, so I didn’t experience the issue. Still I got the same e-mail. I am choosing not to click on the link and ask for any money back. I’d hope that more companies would learn from the Netflix example. Treat customers right and they will treat you right.
I’ve also had great customer service experience with Netflix. They have refunded me in the past with no questions asked. Fantastic customer service. I couldn’t agree more. Great post!
Ok ok. But have you ever tried to contact their customer support? If so, you probably spent 2 hours searching the site for a contact form or a support email address. To this day, I still don’t know how to get in touch with Netflux for a question that is not addressed in their faqs.
I love netflix but this poor customer support posses the he’ll out of me.
Use Bing as your search engine and you’ll see the customer service number right away.
http://www.bing...=&form=QBRE
Great! Now they can apologize to me for sending me unsolicited commercial E-mail. Otherwise, there is no chance I will ever do business with those spamming bastards.
Your loss.
I think the reason we don’t see more Netflixes is that corporations are so focused on bottom lines and never giving in and managing their “brand,” they forget (or perhaps can’t believe) that great service is better than great spin.
Why? Customer service is a cost center with unmeasurable ROI. It is assumed overhead of pushing product. It also often comes way after the sale. So it’s better from a corporate standpoint to pick out the minimum number of the cheapest employees, put them in a firefighting mode with only a thin wafer of planning, and pray that no major flubs happen.
And admitting you made a mistake? Why, that just compromises what you imagine to be your perfect record. That and it would seriously reinforce your insecurities about being a solid company to work with.
So the point is, most companies are not Netflix because they are cheap cowards.
It was 3% credit for me…
I got 3% also. I’m on the cheapest plan too.
los gatos in da house. winchester, a yay e yay
My family’s got Blockbuster. I’ve done my share of wishing it was Netflix instead, especially after learning that Blockbuster doesn’t have The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Their only real advantage that I know of is the in-store trade-in, and I’ve been using that less and less. Well, if I ever move out…
It’s even more amazing because Netflix is a company who’s products and services are completely web-based. There’s almost no interaction between their customers and employees. They COULD be lax about it and still have a good, successful company. But they are fantastic with customer support which really makes them a great company.
I’ve never bought anything from Zappos but I hear they are exemplary with customer support as well.
I’m not even Jewish but 2% still seems like a good deal considering the economy.
I was so absolutely confused when I got the email that I not only checked the sender and the email header, but also scrutinized the link behind the text before clicking it. The funny thing is that while Netflix had problems last night I thought it was Comcast acting up again.
MG: Great quote about fanboys. I have been nothing short of amazed at the level of service they provide when I only give them $16.99 a month and the majority of that HAS to go to the USPS.
I wonder when they’ll start adding netflix drop boxes in major metro areas to save money on post.
Because of your post, i just bought net flix 2 week trial, and i’ll probably keep it =]
Netflix is truly a fantastic company. Thanks for sharing your story of a good customer experience. Zappos is another company which focuses on the Wow affect to market their product. If only there were a cable provider which would offer such service.
MG, you recently quit Comcast. What alternative for broadband is there in SF? I am sick and tired of Comcast. Their customer service is terrible but I don’t think I have a choice at home. And I only have broadband. Been off cable tv for years now.
And talking about customer service… Citibank is another huge piece of crap.
MG, you sure do like using tom cruise photos recently. i remember when you had a small problem with nuclear explosion images. whatever in the world goes on inside you head?
I was wondering why he used a picture from Jerry Maguire.
“you had me at hello” hello!
in case it hasn’t been clear yet, I get a little fixated on things at times
In the individual basis, two percent of a month isn’t much money. Overall it can be a big payout. I don’t think they are under the watchful of any regulatory agency as a utility (they probably should be), but if they were that would have roughly the amount they would have been forced to compensate the subscribers. It would have been better if they just promised to never carry another movie starring that American treasure Paris Hilton.
As mentioned many times here before, Netflix absolutely rocks.
Service and offering is top notch, and contrary to practically any other company I’ve dealt with in my life, Netflix makes it a habit to check up on things to make sure service is as it should be.
As MG points out, little things like making sure DVDs are shipped and received on time, or that its streaming service provides a satisfying experience, are really appreciated.
Netflix seems to give a damn. And that’s a really nice change.
The outage lasted all of like an hour on xbox 360. And it actually half worked, the only problem was it was slow to load and wouldn’t show any of the newer features just the instant queue.
Weird. I got a 1% credit. Oh well.
hmm what plan are you on?
Nice to see someone calling out a company for good service. And Netflix is impressive.
Before you get carried away, remember how Netflix screwed its customers by throttling the heavy users and denying they were doing it, and then how after they lost the resulting class action suit they tried to screw the rest of their users by offering temporary free service upgrades that turned into increased billing rates unless customers remembered to revert to their old packages.
Basically, any service that requires a multiple months or years contract is gonna have horrible service. Which is a paradox.
The lifetime value of a cable or mobile subscriber is huge compared to the lifetime value of a netflix subscriber. You would think that cable and phone companies would be far more interested in retaining their users than netflix but instead, they mainly have contempt for their users.
Netflix’s acquisition costs, low margins & completely flexible usage contract mean they need to work extra hard to keep you subscribing.
Signing up with a Comcast or a Verizon is like entering an S&M relationship with no safe word.
“Signing up with a Comcast or a Verizon is like entering an S&M relationship with no safe word.”
hahaha. That’s the quote of the day in my book! Good stuff.
I remember this one time I broke a Netflix disc by mistake.
I just emailed them and asked what I should do. I was expecting them to ask me to pay for the cost of the disc and blah blah. But they just asked me to send them back the disc and they’ll ship me a copy of the movie on a new disc!
That was my first, and only experience with Netflix customer service and I was very impressed.
See, this is why they say that newer innovative companies always manage to upstage the incumbent, slow old beasts.
I was offered 3% also, but I didn’t even turn on my Xbox. I figure since they are being honest and doing the right thing, I will too. I didn’t accept the money
go hug a tree.
Our Comcast internet service has been so bad lately, we were almost ready to drop it for DSL with the phone company. After countless calls, a tech showed up yesterday. Call the company what you will, the tech was great. He checked out the whole system in the house back to the community wiring and boxes. He replaced, gratis, some indoor connections and wires… all politely and intelligently. He left his personal card in case we had further problems.
Now, if Netflix would just recognize that Mac users like me were deserving of a little love and access after a year of hollow promises, I’d stream a film or two to my Macbook pro.
i hate tivo
Great, now if only Netflix would stop with the pop-under ads that seem to be on every website in existence.
Oh, it’s worse than that. Netflix sent me unsolicited commercial E-mail (i.e. SPAM) to advertise their services. And I wasn’t the only one; Skip Montanaro got the same messages. (Link points to archive.org; his original page dates from 2005.) I documented both his experience and mine in a comment to kuro5hin.org here.
To this day, if I see a Netflix ad in the weekly ad flyers that come to my (postal) mailbox, it goes straight into the garbage. Because companies that send spam are garbage.
Very nice to see positive stories about companies doing the right thing and doing it well.
Netflix is the best! A few months back I remember getting a similar email from them because some faulty equipment in one of their distribution centers caused deliveries to be delayed for a day… I would have never even noticed the issue but they owned up to it and offered condolences and a small refund… what an awesome company! I love ‘em!!