Gears of War Realm

I normally don’t post personal stories here on Gears of War Realm but this one is related and slightly interesting.

On Friday in a rush to return a HD-DVD movie I rented from Netflix before the weekend; I accidentally ejected my copy of Gears of War from the Xbox 360 instead of ejecting the movie from my HD-DVD drive. I then blindly stuffed it into the Netflix envelope and shipped it out. I realized on Saturday when I went to play Gears of War and found the drive empty. I quickly tried to contact Netflix, whose customer service number is not found on their website! Why is that? So I instead used an online contact form saying I returned personal property.

I was initially figured it’d be a lost cause, after reading this on their FAQ section on their website:

Q: I accidentally returned a personal CD or DVD. How do I get it back?

A: Unfortunately, we’re unable to return personal CDs or DVDs that are mistakenly sent to us.

Now to counter that, I read online that many people have had luck getting personal property returned to them by Netflix despite their notice on their website of otherwise. I found via Google this story on HackingNetflix with lots of comments saying they have had luck getting returns from Netflix in the past. Usually really quick too, next day returns.

I then found the customer service number by using Google again, and called them up on Sunday. After being on hold for close to a half hour, I told the friendly customer service representative my problem. She related to me, saying she had just bought her brother a game and can understand the cost of it. So the said she’d try to send a message for them to return it to me, but would also give me a $10 credit over the next 7 months to make it up to me. While I told her that was nice, all I wanted was my game back. She was very nice and very friendly, and said they’d do their best. She said I’d get an email to confirm my new rate discount.

A few hours later I got an email from customer service saying they’ll only give me an “additional DVD” each month for three months, instead of the $10 off for 7 months. That equates to a whole whopping $15. Thanks Netflix! That kinda upset me, but I figured it was just a second rep making his decision and that I’d wait to see what happens about the first offer.

Then is when the ultimate kick in the face came. This morning, they must have processed their returns from the weekend because that is when I got the following email.

Dear Patrick,

We received an empty white sleeve in your recent return. If you haven’t already sent back the DVD you intended to return, please include it with your next return along with a note including your name and email address so we can match the movie to your account.

If you returned the DVD and white sleeve in its envelope, please visit the Shipping Problems page (http://www.netflix.com/ShippingProblems) and select “I returned a DVD but Netflix has not received it.” We apologize for any inconvenience.

-The Netflix Team

Well isn’t that a kick in the face? Suddenly my $70 copy of Gears of War seemed to vanish on the way to the sorting center and only thing that remains is the empty sleeve? I highly doubt my game was a victim of an accidental USPS mishap. I will instead lean towards some Netflix employee at the Chicago Sorting Center will be playing my copy of Gears of War at home tonight.

So I call up to complain, to see if they could track down the employee that sent that email to me. I was instead told many different stories by the unfriendly customer service rep. I was first told that Netflix NEVER and CAN NOT send back personal property. After telling him about the websites I found via google that Netflix CAN and WILL he then changed his tune to say it’s “Rare.” But he tried to tell me that no humans work at the sorting centers, that it’s all automated. Even that email was automated by a machine, no human was involved. There is also no way to contact the sorting centers I guess, by either a customer or by even another Netflix Employee. I thought this smelled fishy.

I told him I’ve seen photos of humans that work the sorting center. He then said that the humans only pack, but don’t unpack movies. Well that’s really funny because this story that aired last night on 60 Minutes has the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, saying that all returns are opened by hand and are checked for scratches before being sent out again. Here’s a quote from the video clip, available on the website.

Reed Hastings: We get 100,000 returns and we open them one by one.

Leslie Stahl: By Hand?

Reed Hastings: Yes by hand.

So that email I got saying that an empty sleeve was returned was done by a human using software on a computer to tell me my sleeve was empty. I bet his or her sleeve was not empty, as they probably had my copy of Gears of War stuffed up their sleeve.

Again, I know that this is my fault, not Netflix‘s fault. But I am just angered by the lengths they go to lie to their customers and how they enforce their unfair policies. Their policies are also there to protect their property, while not helping their customers at all. They are very adamant about me returning their movie to them, yet my property that they have they don’t seem to want to return to me. If I were to keep it, I’d be fined and taken to small claims court. But I was told there was no legal action I could file against Netflix, or it’s thieving employee, to get my personal property back. That’s pretty sad if you ask me, and all I want back is my game.