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Waiting for the re-up
 
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William Shunn
shunn
11 November 2008 @ 08:31 am
Waiting for the re-up  
Thanks to Netflix, I've been enjoying a steady diet of The Wire, an episode a day on average—um, sometimes two. I'm nearly to the end of the third season. I watched Episode 10 last Thursday. The fifth disc of Season Three, with the last two episodes, was supposed to arrive Friday.

Friday's mail came and went. No DVD.

I didn't start to panic until Saturday's mail had also come and gone with no sign of my re-up. Trembling a little, I logged into Netflix to report the disc lost. Netflix told me that occasional delays are to be expected, and that I would not be able to report the disc missing and request a replacement until Monday.

I began to sweat.

The first thing I did Monday morning, even though the day's mail was still hours away, was to at last report Season Three Disc Five of The Wire missing and to request a replacement. Not an hour later I received email from Netflix telling me that they had just processed the return of the disc I had reported missing.

By now, spots were swimming before my eyes. They had received the missing disc?! The only scenario I could construct that could explain this is that the post office had somehow delivered the DVD on Friday to the wrong house, where that good citizen had recognized the error and straightaway put the disc back in the mail.

I started to feel nauseous. How close had my re-up come? Had it ended up miles away, or had it come to rest as close as next door?

I had to stop thinking about it. That way lay madness.

But hope still remained. Tuesday. There is a Netflix processing center right here in Chicago, which meant that at least I would have my replacement disc Tuesday. I only had to wait one more day. I wet my cracked lips as best I could with my blistered tongue. One more day.

I soon received email confirmation that my re-up had indeed shipped. It would arrive ... what? What the fuck? Wednesday? Why are you busting my fucking balls with this Wednesday shit, Netflix? That's no way to fucking do business! Wednesday?

Sorry, pal. Wednesday's the best we can do. Veteran's Day, you know. No mail.

Aw, shit fucccin mutherfuafhuoahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_&^$+@~%@%^%&^@!_#(&^%------------


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Current Location: Chicago, IL
Current Mood: sick
Current Music: David Gilmour, "The Blue"
 
18 comments | Leave a comment
 
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Ken: Apocalypse[info]steelbrassnwood on November 11th, 2008 04:03 pm (UTC)
I used to get my series discs this way too, through Netflix. Then I got a little impatient and tried to bump my subscription from two-discs-at-a-time to three (this was during season 6 of Buffy) and Netflix screwed things up so badly that I didn't get any series discs for well over a week. Then I saw the complete Buffy boxed set at a stoop sale, bought it, and switched my Netflix subscription to the minimum one-disc-at-a-time level.

So now I buy my series, usually used via eBay or Amazon. It takes a long time to watch a series, and the savings of the cheap Netflix subscription ($5/month instead of $14) plus the resale value of the box (they go back up on eBay or Amazon when I'm done, except for Buffy which I kept) make it almost work out financially. And I don't have to wait for the mail or deal with broken/unplayable discs.
William Shunn: Rich Uncle Pennybags Can't Handle It![info]shunn on November 11th, 2008 09:05 pm (UTC)
You sway me with your fancy economic arguments and whatnot, but the Netflix method does have the advantage of forcing me to pace myself.
geneticblend[info]geneticblend on November 11th, 2008 04:26 pm (UTC)
iTunes?
Before my admission into Wire rehab, Netflix couldn't send me the episodes fast enough, so I filled the gaps with iTunes downloads.
William Shunn: Alone at the Movies[info]shunn on November 11th, 2008 09:04 pm (UTC)
Re: iTunes?
It's a fine suggestion, but even in my jonesing state I can't see paying a couple of bucks for the privilege of watching the next episode on a screen other than my 40-inch plasma.
tim_pratt[info]tim_pratt on November 11th, 2008 05:39 pm (UTC)
Oh no! And that's the disc where Stringer Bell and Omar finally make sweet love by the inner harbor!

Sorry for your Netflix travails. But the Wire is worth waiting for.
William Shunn: Beef![info]shunn on November 11th, 2008 05:58 pm (UTC)
I want to see Jay Landsman make it a menage à trois!
agamisu[info]agamisu on November 11th, 2008 10:01 pm (UTC)
I'm actually very bad, cos I do this: http://megastic.com/TvShows/
William Shunn: Manhattan Dawn[info]shunn on November 12th, 2008 01:46 am (UTC)
Oh, you're awful. But then again, you come from a lawless land.
[info]scottjanssens on November 11th, 2008 10:48 pm (UTC)
Same thing happened to me in Oak Park. I got email one day saying they shipped a movie. I got an email the next day saying they received that movie. The one time I did report a missing disk, the disk arrived about 8 months (and 1 apartment) later with a note of apology from the post office.
William Shunn: Alone at the Movies[info]shunn on November 12th, 2008 01:46 am (UTC)
Hmm, I'm starting to think that maybe a few of their "shipped" discs don't actually make it out of the processing center!

About that one that arrived so late -- did it finally show up in a shredded envelope sealed in a plastic USPS mailer? I've received other late mail from them in that condition.
[info]scottjanssens on November 12th, 2008 03:18 pm (UTC)
Yep, shredded netflix envelope in a plastic USPS mailer.
William Shunn: Mending Fences[info]shunn on November 12th, 2008 05:08 pm (UTC)
They have employees whose job it is to carefully shred randomly selected mail.
maureenmcq[info]maureenmcq on November 12th, 2008 12:42 am (UTC)
I so feel your pain! My husband has now seen all five seasons and is going through WIRE mourning. I am nearly finished with season two, and so have hours and hours of learning how to say "Bal'mor" and "Aight" correctly.
William Shunn: Alone at the Movies[info]shunn on November 12th, 2008 01:42 am (UTC)
Bodymore, Murdaland
LOL. My favorite pronunciation is the way Bubs says "McNutty."
[info]goodmike.myopenid.com on November 12th, 2008 03:01 pm (UTC)
Sheeeeeee- yit
This will make sense to you once you get into season 4.
William Shunn: Behind the Rain[info]shunn on November 12th, 2008 05:07 pm (UTC)
Re: Sheeeeeee- yit
I can't wait for enlightenment!
[info]parttimedriver on November 12th, 2008 08:10 pm (UTC)
Symapthies. We watched the final two seasons via Netflix, fortunately without interruption. Best police drama ever, and one of the best TV shows, period. As with _Deadwood_, our only solace is watching the actors pop up on other TV shows. (Hey, there's Calamity Jane on _Life_! Check it--Bubbles is on _Heroes_!)
William Shunn: Brad Dourif as Doc Cochran[info]shunn on November 12th, 2008 08:26 pm (UTC)
I expect my re-up in the next hour or two!

What The Wire has over Deadwood is that The Wire was allowed to end gracefully. I'm still pissed about Deadwood's messy cancellation.

(Hey, Silas Adams from Deadwood was on Life too!)

Edited at 2008-11-12 08:26 pm (UTC)
Thanks to Netflix, I've been enjoying a steady diet of The Wire, an episode a day on average—um, sometimes two. I'm nearly to the end of the third season. I watched Episode 10 last Thursday. The fifth disc of Season Three, with the last two episodes, was supposed to arrive Friday.

Friday's mail came and went. No DVD.

I didn't start to panic until Saturday's mail had also come and gone with no sign of my re-up. Trembling a little, I logged into Netflix to report the disc lost. Netflix told me that occasional delays are to be expected, and that I would not be able to report the disc missing and request a replacement until Monday.

I began to sweat.

The first thing I did Monday morning, even though the day's mail was still hours away, was to at last report Season Three Disc Five of The Wire missing and to request a replacement. Not an hour later I received email from Netflix telling me that they had just processed the return of the disc I had reported missing.

By now, spots were swimming before my eyes. They had received the missing disc?! The only scenario I could construct that could explain this is that the post office had somehow delivered the DVD on Friday to the wrong house, where that good citizen had recognized the error and straightaway put the disc back in the mail.

I started to feel nauseous. How close had my re-up come? Had it ended up miles away, or had it come to rest as close as next door?

I had to stop thinking about it. That way lay madness.

But hope still remained. Tuesday. There is a Netflix processing center right here in Chicago, which meant that at least I would have my replacement disc Tuesday. I only had to wait one more day. I wet my cracked lips as best I could with my blistered tongue. One more day.

I soon received email confirmation that my re-up had indeed shipped. It would arrive ... what? What the fuck? Wednesday? Why are you busting my fucking balls with this Wednesday shit, Netflix? That's no way to fucking do business! Wednesday?

Sorry, pal. Wednesday's the best we can do. Veteran's Day, you know. No mail.

Aw, shit fucccin mutherfuafhuoahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_&^$+@~%@%^%&^@!_#(&^%------------


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