Netflix's Sick Day Problem

2008-01-23 12:24PM PST/Home

Philip Aaronson

A few weeks ago my kids were stuck inside with a cold over the holidays. It was then I realized that Netflix has a fatal flaw with their service. There's no way for me to order up a few extra movies when I need them. Sure, they'll let me up my subscription, but that's not always what I'd like to do. Occasionally I need a few movies to tide me over, like until the kids are better. So what do I do now? I wind up running over to Blockbuster where they try and sell me on their service. Or I suppose, now that Apple's rental service has been released, I'll probably check there for something that might take the kids' minds off their runny noses.

My suggestion: Netflix, let me pay you an extra $2-4 a pop and send me the next movie or two, or three on my queue. Netflix is not only leaving money on table, they're letting us run to their competitors every time we have a sick day.