Letters to the Editor
Michael Huggins
Published Letters: 32 Editor's Choice: 6
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If it ain't broke...
[Read the article: Why Blockbuster is gaining on Netflix]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been a Netflix subscriber for almost 2 years now and have 480 movies in my queue. I am amazed at their selection and have almost no complaints about their service. However, when I read Claire Fontaine's comment:
When I called customer service, the Blockbuster rep. suggested that I report it damaged and then keep it until they sent a good copy!
I have to say the same thing happened to me with Funeral in Berlin. I know--and the customer service reps even admitted--that Netflix kept shipping me the same unplayable copy five times in a row, until even they advised me to stop ordering it for a while until the bad copy or copies could be purged from their stock. And they even allowed me an extra DVD twice over this. But I've still never gotten to see Funeral in Berlin.
There have been a few other quirks, like the copy of Mystery Train that had no subtitles for the Japanese dialogue and the copy of Bedniy, Bedniy Pavel where even the viewing options were in Russian, and I had to simply click at random until I finally figured out how to make the thing display English subtitles, but such glitches are few and far between. There is a Blockbuster two doors from me, and that's fine for popping in to pick up something like Collateral and a bag of microwave popcorn that leaves its butter all over the warming plate instead of retaining it in the bag with the popcorn, but for most of the movies I care to see, Netflix is the obvious choice.
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All or nothing?
[Read the article: Psst! Have you heard...?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This article is as if someone had written the following:
My credit card debts were out of sight, so I swore off all debt. I define "debt" as any borrowing from anyone for any reason. I made it work for a few weeks. Then I ended up spending the night in my office because someone had stolen my purse and my new scruples would not allow me to ask a friend for bus fare home. Now I realize that debt is a part of life. It makes me feel connected to my fellow consumers. Which is worse--to abuse credit cards or to be an abstemious miser?
How strange that a writer doesn't understand what gossip is. It's not the "all or nothing" affair that the article misrepresents it as being. It's not gossip to mention to a mutual acquaintance, "Jackie is quite the flower gardener and has won prizes at flower shows." Gossip is saying "Jackie went to a flower show last week without her husband. And she seemed to spend an awful lot of time talking with Bill. Come to think of it, his wife wasn't there either."
That's gossip. Again, it's strange that any adult, let alone a writer, would not understand something so simple.