1. I find it strange when I hear that people keep their dics for months at a time. I don't think I've ever kept a movie longer than two weeks, and that was because I was waiting for someone else to watch it.

Posted at 3:23PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Emily

2. 2 months sounds reasonable... i've kept stuff longer myself and i feel bad about it

Posted at 3:26PM on Nov 29th 2009 by claire

3. I have never kept a netflix DVD more than 2 days. However, instituting a penalty fee would completely go against the whole mantra of netflix. it's one of the main reasons why so many ppl left blockbuster. so.... a nudge e-mail would be cool. but a 6-month penalty fee, not so cool.

Posted at 3:32PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Kari

4. Here in the UK, the Netflix equivalent (LoveFilm) just send you a polite reminder to return your disc after about 8 weeks. That seems the best way to go. I don't see why people WOULD hang onto them, anyway - as you don't get a new disc without sending the old one back. So I doubt it's a massive problem for them.

Posted at 3:37PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Dan

5. Netflix's whole deal is that you don't have to worry about late fees. If they started fees or harassing me for a service I pay for I would drop them super fast. The fact that it's even discussed is crazy.

Posted at 3:48PM on Nov 29th 2009 by C.A.

6. To the author of this article.
When you finish watching your movies from Netflix be responsible. Send your movies back so others can watch too. It's simple. There's no need for writing an article about something you know what to do in the first place. One more time.
1. Get movie from Netflix
2. Watch movie
3. Send movie back so others can watch too.

Netflix will be happy. They got their movie back. You're happy because you saw the movie you ordered and now someone else can enjoy the movie too.

Posted at 3:50PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Liam

7. The problem isn't that people watch their Netflix movies and then don't send them back. The problem is that we forget we have them for a little while or can't find time to watch them right away, and that's why we don't send them back.

Life gets in the way, and we remember a couple weeks later that we haven't watched any movies in a while. So sorry that we don't all have as much free time as you do. For some people, it's not as simple as 1-2-3, as you put it.

It's not like we're intentionally keeping movies we've already watched just to keep other people from being able to watch them...

Posted at 11:23PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Rivndellelf

8. So, for you, I hope Netflix institutes their e-mail nudge and if that doesn't work I guess you'll have to buy the movie. It's because of people like you that Netflix will have to change their policies to get their money back. If you can't be responsible and return a movie that you rented from Netflix in a certain amount of time then, DON'T RENT IT!

Posted at 7:45AM on Nov 30th 2009 by Liam

9. The problem is when you never have time to watch the movie but you really want to. My wife and I tend to keep movies for months since we're both too busy to ever watch them but always think that we'll find a way to make time.

Posted at 4:23PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Gene

10. Fees of any kind would definitely not jive well and wouldn't make too much business sense since I bet more than half of the people who use Netflix came to Netflix because of not having to worry about fees.

The nudge is definitely a fantastic idea. But like a lot of people here, I just don't get why people would hold on to DVDs for more than two weeks. That's my maximum. It would mean I was just too busy or didn't feel like watching that kind of particular moment. So after two weeks, I return it. And I've only done that probably three times during the two years I've had Netflix.

Posted at 4:26PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Ryan

11. There is no reason to hang on to movies that long. Look, if you don't have time to watch them, fine. But maybe On Demand or some kind of Pay Purview would suit you better. Hanging on to a rental for 2 months is just irresponsible. If you don't have time to watch it, don't rent it.

Posted at 4:36PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Kev

12. Well given how many emails Netflix seems to send me (So...how did you like that DVD? What day did you receive that DVD, anyways? When did you send it back btw..etc..) I'm surprised the "nudge" email hasn't already been instituted. "That DVD isn't gonna watch itself!" or something would be fine.

Posted at 4:39PM on Nov 29th 2009 by dogcow

13. Interesting...this is something I've been thinking about for a while. While we send our back very quickly--I want the most movies I can get in a month. I think the longest we've ever had a disc is maybe 3 weeks, and that was because I was waiting on someone else. My problem has been my not being able to get discs. We've waited for 4 months for Zack and Miri for example before finally giving up and renting it elsewhere. This has happened several times usually with new releases) and finally prompted me to call and make a formal complaint. Why was something perpetually on long long wait? Netflix tried to tell me it was movie popularity in my area, but I told them I didn't buy that. These were movies that were now long past being popular. Every video store in my area had them readily available. I finally did get them to admit there seemed to be a problem with discs not getting returned.

So maybe a phone call or reminder email is in order? And when its been months maybe they should get fined? Frankly, what incentive does Netflix have to make you return the discs? Your the loser because you're getting charged by the month regardless. You get nothing if you don't return it. They risk losing customers if we all get mad and leave, and with memberships soaring, I think they'd need to lose a great many of us to really hurt.

Posted at 8:12PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Julie

14. Um, you already pay a fee for returning movies late. It's called your subscription fee. I would hope Netflix is more concerned about people who cost them postage fees by turning around too many movies than it is about punishing those people who turn around too few.

Posted at 5:44PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Chris H

15. I am totally guilty of this. I have kept Netflix movies for months. The funny part is most of the time I watch them right away, and then forget to return them. Once they made it to the car, but it took a couple of weeks for me to remember to throw them in a mailbox. Another time they hung out in my handbag for about a week. I was much better at it when I had outgoing mail at my apartment, but now I actually have to go in search of a mailbox.

Posted at 5:58PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Jaded

16. i dont want anymore emails, we should take responsibility for our movies rented, i thihnk we are so used to getting things our way... part of a bigger problem we have here in the states :)
sam
twitter.com/samuelsanchez

Posted at 6:11PM on Nov 29th 2009 by sam sanchez

17. Netflix will never institute a fee and will most likely never integrate a nudge system. The reason for this is that Netflix prefers customers that don't watch a lot of movies because it costs them less in postage fees. This is the reason the Netflix has a horrible throttling system.

Posted at 7:09PM on Nov 29th 2009 by bayamus

18. I do like the idea of a nudge email, because if it wasn't for the streaming, some months I would be completely wasting my Netflix charges. Yeah yeah, we should all be sending them back and watching them quickly. I should also be flossing ever 15 minutes.

But sometimes you end up sitting on something heavy when you're not in the mood for it. When I get busy at work, the last thing I want to do is come home and watch something like 'Hotel Rwanda'...no matter how good it is.

Posted at 9:34PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Andy

19. I don think it's funny the comments saying that if you don't have time to watch the movie, don't rent it. You do get the point of Netflix, right? They automatically send them to you! So if you don't have time to watch a movie and you return it in order to be a Responsible Netflix Customer, they send you another one that you don't have time to watch! Keep it until you watch it, then send it back, don't sweat it.

Posted at 10:51PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Kymm

20. I pay a subscription fee so I don't have to deal with the hassle of late fees. So because it's a subscription-based service, it's entirely my perogative how long I retain my copy.

I'll be honest here I still have SHINDLER'S LIST and THE STORY OF US from the month of Feburary of '09. I'm in no rush to return them because I've enjoyed re-watching them when I can. I also held on to it so that I could share THE STORY OF US with my folks for the Holidays.

The day NETFLIX changes their policy to add late fees, it will be the day I quit their service.

Posted at 10:46PM on Nov 29th 2009 by Cray