A Good Look at Netflix from the Average User

I'm a big movie fan. I love the old black and white films as much as I love the new movies coming out. If you are like me and spend more money on DVD's than on food each month, you soon realize there has to be a better way.

Browsing the Internet, you always run into ads about renting DVD's online and getting them delivered to your mailbox. The obvious choice, of course, was Netflix.

Thanks to that free trial offer, it was easy to at least attempt. I figured if it turned out bad, it was better than some other offers that preferred you paid up front before you buy.

Not three days after I registered the first time, I had three ready to watch movies in my mailbox. They were three I probably would not have bought on my own, having never seen them. I love movies but I'm picky about the ones I buy. This whole DVD rental thing was a real lucky thing. I didn't have to buy or rent at $3.00 a movie to figure out if I did actually like it.

I had a new movie each night and by day three I slipped them back to the post office and picked out another three movies. Within two to three days, I had another set of DVD's. Since joining Netflix, it's been three movies every week. That's just twelve movies a month; at a better rate than Blockbuster and much better than buying them and hoping I'd like them. It's even faster than purchasing from Amazon or even eBay.

I did like the selection. If it's on a DVD, it seems they have it. I did sometimes find movies in the wrong categories but I don't expect perfection. I don't feel guilty about picking out a movie I am not too sure about, because I know if I don't like it, I can return it and get a new one that much sooner.

I think the best part was the convenience. I could rent movies without some sixteen-year-old kid giving me hard looks when I wanted to watch Spirited Away or Phantom of the Opera or Finding Neverland. Excuse me if I'm not interested in Vin Diesel at the moment! I certainly appreciate not having to go into town. Living in a rural area, it's certainly a consideration, given the high gas prices.

As a more casual user, I send the movies out when I'm done with all three; I do feel it's worthwhile. Netflix didn't hassle me when a movie I rented didn't arrive, and simply sent me a new one. The customer service representative did let me know that sometimes movies get lost, and as long as you're pretty much in good standing with Netflix, they don't tend to charge customers for something that never arrived.

All in all, I don't regret my purchase and look forward to a long relationship with Netflix. Now if they would only find a way to rent best-selling novels via Internet and delivered to your mailbox. Now that would be something.