What Happens when You Rent Too Much

Online DVD rental companies and plans are becoming the standard for DVD rentals. Many people find the unlimited rentals for one monthly fee the most exciting part of the plans. Some of these people will watch a movie or more a day and return the DVDs quickly, leading to the next titles being sent quickly. If a customer does this enough times, the companies may perform an action that many find unfair.

The problem is simple: if a customer orders enough movies in a month, the cost of shipping can exceed the monthly fee. Even if the customer does not exceed the fee, higher volume customers are less profitable than lower volume customers. To help combat this, some companies use a process known as throttling. Throttling allows a company to slow shipments to customers who are high volume and therefore less profitable or costly to the company.

Netflix, which refers to its throttling program as a “fairness program,” has received a lot of negative press for this practice. Netflix distributes movies from the closest distribution point to a customer. When a movie is not available from the closest distribution center, Netflix will send the title from the next closest center. Netflix uses this situation for throttling. Netflix does not deny movie shipments, a practice that would void their contract with the customer and open the door for lawsuits. Instead, if a high volume customer is requesting a movie that must be sent from a different distribution center, their request is moved to the back of the line, delaying shipment and slowing down the number of movies that can be rented in a month. If a title is heavily demanded, it is more likely to go to a low volume customer than a higher volume customer. This simplest form of throttling simply doesn’t ship a new title the same day as the returning title is received. Netflix was sued for this practice in 2005 and settled by giving away a free month’s subscription. The practice since then has been more hit and miss to prevent another suit.

Not every company employs throttling. Trying to capitalize on Netflix’s bad press, Blockbuster announced that they perform no type of throttling. It is important to note however, that Blockbuster’s terms of use give them the right to throttle if they choose to. Many plans are capping the number allowed each month to prevent them from having to throttle customers. Most that do cap plans offer the ability to rent over the cap for an additional fee. DVD swap sites like Peerflix do not throttle customers, but they do require customers to sell DVDs in order to purchase others and may limit the amount purchased if few titles are made available for purchase.

Throttling is by no means a reason not to rent DVDs online. Most customers never approach the necessary volume to flag their account. If you do, be aware that movies will begin arriving more slowly than before. You can always change companies if you are unsatisfied with the movie arrival times.