The strike is over! We beat 'em!

Okay, there was really no strike, but I'm morally obligated to quote Newsies as much as possible.

Success! Netflix seems to be mostly back to normal, showing 74 pages worth of subtitled content (up from 17 pages last week).

I don't know if our emails and calls and tweets and blog posts had anything to do with it or not but regardless, it would be a good idea, after all of that, to say, "Thank you." There are two sides to the advocacy coin: asking for help and appreciating it when it's offered. So often, we master the first but don't give the second any thought.

If you'd like to thank Netflix and show your support for subtitled and captioned content, here's how you can contact them:


Submit an email through the Contact Public Relations form
Call them at 1-866-501-1604
Follow and send tweets to @netflix, @netflixhelps and @neilhunt


I should say more eloquent things now but that cold I've been expecting for over a week has finally made an appearance so I'm going wallow and (thanks to Netflix!) watch old episodes of Ugly Betty.

Are you back on the Netflix bandwagon? Hit up the comments below!

Update on Netflix subtitles

Gaaaah. My brain hurts. I have not been this wound up about something since the last time I was out of Nutella. 

Anyway, I finally got a Twitter response from @netflixhelps that said, "We're working on it." (I tried to get a screenshot but I'm techno-dumb at the moment and can't figure out how to do it on my trusty old laptop. It's probably as easy as picking your nose but whatever, have I mentioned that my brain is fried? Also, I've been on a Mac all day at work and I'm pretty sure some things just get lost in translation when I get home to hang out with my PC.) I also noticed a couple of other tweets from @netflixhelps to other users, assuring them that the subtitle issue was being dealt with.

But you know me, I can't let things go and my favorite question in the world is, "Why, God, WHY?" So I tried to give Netflix a call but apparently every piece of technology I touch turns to sh-... um, crap, and my Captel app wasn't working on my phone. Blergh. So then I turned to Sprint Relay Online to try and make the call and after 10 minutes of registering for an account and blah blah blah, I was finally able to use the online relay service to call Netflix.

The representative I spoke to was polite and professional. I saved a transcript of the conversation and when I asked what was up with the subtitles, the representative said: 

its a glitch in our system that came up recently it is also been affecting letting people know whether or not a title is available in HD but it is an issue that we are well aware of and we re scrambling to get this fixed as quickly as we can (SOUNDS PLEASANT) ga 

I asked if deaf and hard of hearing customers would be refunded for the days of lost service and was told that:

thats not something that i have any input on but i can certainly pull up ur account and take a note of that and if they do choose to give out compensation then u would be notified via email ga

I also asked if they were working to get subtitles back on all previously subtitled content or just some of it:

we will most definitely be working on recoverying all subtitles for the titles that had them previously and wer er also just working on getting subtitles and cc for all titles in general

 I wanted to give him a virtual fist bump for that last part alone.

My friend Shanna was kind enough to share this story on her own blog as well as on Facebook. I appreciated reading her friends' feedback and personal experience with Netflix. One person in particular, who has been subscribed to Netflix for a few months, noted that the subtitle issue had popped up before but rarely lasted longer than about 24 hours. I also learned that Netflix publishes its own page of subtitled content. At the time of this publishing, the list was up to 17 pages (there were only five or six pages this morning), so I hope things will be back to normal soon.

I appreciate that Neflix is aware of the issue and is working to resolve it, and I especially appreciated the courteous and professional conversation I had with the representative. However, I would like to see Netflix provide more consideration if or when this issue pops up again. For instance, a quick informational email, blog post or notice on the website indicating that Netflix is aware of certain issues and is working to resolve them would go a long way in quelling people's (okay, my) frustration. I'm thinking of something like, "We value you as a customer and as such, are working to restore subtitles as quickly as we can. We appreciate your patience as we investigate the matter." That's just gold right there. In my oh-so-humble opinion. ;)

Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post, tweeted or re-tweeted information and blogged about Netflix subtitles! 

Netflix subtitles in the Wii

I did it. I'm a cop-out. A hypocrite. If my life was Newsies, I would be Jack when he goes to work for Pulitzer. I'm a scabber, you guys!

Remember that rant and rave of yore, where I raged against Netflix for not providing subtitled content? Wellll Phlixie convinced me I was missing out and I couldn't resist the siren song of being able to watch Ugly Betty reruns whenever I wanted and finding out what the Dowton Abbey hoopla was all about, so I buckled. Folded. Sold my soul (This seems to be a theme as of late. So far, 2012 is shaping up to be the Year of the Doormat). And in December 2011, the roommate and I signed up for Netlix.

And let me tell you, it has been a glorious month. I'm reacquainting myself with first loves like Scrubs and making new friends like Switched at Birth. I've dabbled in the Dr. Who waters and starting thinking in a British accent because I watched so many BBC shows. I love television, don't judge me.

Wednesday night, though, the honeymoon came to an abrupt halt. Nothing in my queue was subtitled. The subtitle button was gone. I rebooted the Wii. I tried to run a system update but there wasn't one available, so I know the software is fine. I checked the settings. Twice. I tested several shows in my queue by just playing it, thinking they moved the subtitle setting elsewhere. Nothing.

I checked on it again this morning, hoping it was just a fluke... but still, the subtitles are suspiciously absent.

Sad face, sad face, sad face.

Netflix customer service does not provide an email address, so I turned to social media for help. I posted about the issue on Netflix's Facebook wall (thrice!... which they deleted... thrice!) and bombarded Twitter with the problem. So far, my tweets have gone unanswered but on Facebook, I discovered that I wasn't the only person having issues:

To be clear, this is not an issue of "Why doesn't Netflix provide more subtitled content?" (For the record, as of last night, Phlixie listed over 5,000 titles that were available with subtitles. This afternoon, the number had dropped to 2,300. The plot thickens, but I digress.) 

My concern is that subtitled content was available through the Wii and now it is not. When are the subtitles coming back? Why are they not working for the Wii? Is the issue with Netflix or with Nintendo? Are other platforms affected? Is there anything I can do to bring them back? 

So far, my attempts to reach out to Netflix have led to dead ends. Will you help me get the word out to Netflix? Post your concerns on their Facebook page (they will delete it but at least you made some noise).  Mention @netflix, @netflixhelps and @neilhunt in your tweets. Call Netflix at 1-866-501-1604. Write a blog post. Tell your friends. 

And Netflix, if you're listening... help a girl out, huh? Answer some tweets. Check your Facebook. Your customers would be eternally grateful.

Weight of glory

Random fact of the day: Chipotle sauce is spicy. You knew this. I, however, am a slow learner and can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that Chipotle, the restaurant, does not have to be spicy, but chipotle, the sauce in my Panera sandwich today, IS. I was almost in tears after the third bite.

Hearing aids: I'm getting tired of this Netflix thing. I wrote a rough draft of a letter, plan to revise it and get some signatures this week (or next, really. The weather forecast isn't looking too promising).

My life really is not all about being hard of hearing. It is the filter through which I view everything. The decisions I make about where to go and when to run errands and how long I stay somewhere and what I watch, just to name a few, are made with hearing loss in mind. But sometimes I get tired of thinking about it (which is probably why I love TV so much... it's a great way to escape for a bit!) Because even though I made this blog to vent and share what life is like when you wear hearing aids, that's not all there is to me and it's not all there is to this life.

The sermon passage at church on Sunday was from 2 Corinthians 4 and I'm thankful for the reminder of verses 17-18: "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Hearing aids are transient. Thanks be to God.

In other news: More snow. "Yay," she said flatly.

Netflix is the bane of my existence

Random fact of the day: If I hadn't majored in English, I think I would have gone for psychology. Or sociology. I'm watching Mad Men right now and it's just fascinating from an anthropological standpoint.

Hearing Aids: I'm trying to write Netflix a letter. The Mad Men amazingness aside, Netflix fails to deliver when it comes to their instant watch content (meaning you can opt to watch shows/movies from Netflix on your TV or PC). I tried to watch an episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8, but alas, no subtitles. I thought that was weird, so I checked their FAQ page. This is all they have to offer:

"The technologies we use for streaming do not yet adequately support closed captions, and most viewers object to permanently visible open captions, which they cannot turn off, burned into the video stream for English-language content. We are working on delivering closed captions or optional subtitles in a future technology update, probably first for PCs and Macs, probably sometime in 2010..."

I have so many points to make. Let's delve right in.

1) I will begrudgingly give points for maybe, probably, adding subtitles, maybe, probably in 2010. They have 12 months to redeem themselves.

2) That aside, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

2a) While I'm the first to admit I know nothing about video and streaming and technology, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the notion that their streaming technology (which, from the 8 seconds I saw, seemed to be superior to other sites like Hulu or individual networks' sites) doesn't support subtitles. I mean, really? In this day and age of technological advancement, you can't find SOME way to make it work? Highly suspect. HIGHLY.

2b) "Most viewers object to permanently visible open captions..." How do they know? Did they run a poll? I'd like to see numbers because I can't believe that the number of: young D/deaf and hard of hearing adults, older adults who are slowly losing their hearing, people who are trying to learn English, people who are visual learners or people who just plain like subtitles because they find they pick up more with them than without really rival the number of people who steadfastly REFUSE to watch something with subtitles on them. REALLY?

2c) "Most viewers object to permanently visible open captions..." That's what they said. This is what I read: "'Most' of our viewers are far more important to us than 'all' of our viewers. We don't care about you, but we're more than happy to provide subtitles for our foreign language films so that our hearing customers can understand them. We're freakishly xenophobic and don't want our hard of hearing customers to enjoy domestic films. Also, we're scared of hearing aids."

2d) And finally, even if having subtitles "permanently" burned onto the show/movie does change the viewing experience for hearing customers... well, how can I put this politely? Buck up. :) I put up with so much day in and day out, missing information left and right, wondering if I'll ever go anywhere else in my job because I can't always hear what's going on around me, watching my social circle shrink because I (and others) find it difficult to communicate, choosing to not ask "What" all the time so that I don't bother YOU... all the while struggling to rise above it gracefully (and usually failing). I mean, the least you could give me is subtitles when I would just like to escape into an episode of Lost for an hour to get away from the exhausting realities of my world. Because with subtitles, you don't lose anything and you actually gain something. Without them, I lose everything.

Oddly enough, I can't find an email address for Netflix and I hate using the phone (plus I think I might end up yelling on the phone - or I'd chicken out and be too nice and say things like I'm sure you're doing the best you can and you're awesome and thanks for even taking my call - and that would not be in anyone's best interests). So I think I might send them a letter via certified mail. I was thinking that might be better because maybe then I could get other people's signatures on the letter so the Netflix powers that be would know that I'm not the only one who's not happy with their unfair practices.

I also need to send ABC an email because I often can't watch Scrubs because the captioning is messed up (and I've checked it out enough to know that it's an ABC problem and not something wrong with my TV). Only thing I don't know is if it's an ABC thing, my local affiliate thing or a Scrubs thing. I'd like to find out soon, though, because my beloved Lost comes back for its final season Feb. 2 and I do not plan to miss a minute of it.

Disney also deserves an email (and an ass kicking) for not providing subtitles on "Up" rentals. NOT COOL and yet another "We don't care about you" message. That's really not the message I'd expect from the warm and fuzzy family corporation.

In other news: Weight loss. Ugh. Problem: I like food. Problem: It's too freaking COLD to do anything other than huddle on my couch underneath lots of blankets. I have got to figure out a way to incorporate some exercise into my routine. I should probably watch less of That '70s Show and do more Wii stuff... I'm always surprised at how Wii tennis can get my heart rate up!

Anywhoozzle (I'm gangsta like that, yo), I'm off to wrap up an episode of Mad Men and watch (500) Days of Summer before calling it a night. And oh you betcha I'm going to use the heck out of my Netflix two-week trial (which I signed up for BEFORE discovering their ADA FAIL) before NOT picking up a regular subscription. (I know, I know, what do they care about losing one two-week trial. But it's a matter of principle. And you know, if other people did the same thing, maybe Netflix would start to get the message. Hint, hint)

Gosh, this was long. Night all!