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Netflix backs down from inconveniencing customers

I love Netflix. No matter how hard I tried, I could never remember to get videos back to the store on time.

I just got an email from Netflix saying they have decided to let us keep our individual profiles. I keep two profiles, one for my wife and myself, the other for my daughter. When I return my movie, the next in my queue is sent, and when my daughter's is returned, her next flick is sent. The recommendations for the two profiles are very different.

A couple weeks ago Netflix said it was ending the ability to keep multiple profiles. Bad, bad, bad idea.

A company should never take away a feature that customers like. Only monopolies like cable companies and Microsoft can get away with that.

But people complained, and Netflix has relented. It's amazing they made the mistake in the first place. Remember, with the internet, your competitor is one click away. Customer service is not something to be trifled with.

In the email, Netflis said, "We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you."

It's a simple rule that the company had better learn. Always try to delight your customer. It's a lot more valuable than all the advertising you can buy.

Living green: How to pour milk

The New York Times reports on a new, more environmentally friendly milk bottle being offered by Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Costco. They're easier to clean, using 60% less water. They can be stacked more efficiently without crates, saving fuel used by delivery trucks. They also keep milk fresher, cost less, and fit into the door shelves of your refrigerator.

But there's a problem. Apparently, people spill milk all over the table like a three-year-old trying to fix dad's breakfast for Father's Day.

The shape and lousy spout make it clumsy. Sam's Club had someone demonstrating to customers how it should be poured -- tipping it rather than lifting it off the table, and pouring slowly.

It's tempting to say, get used to it, as Ashley does at AdventuresInSocialMedia. We should be able to make a few sacrifices for the environment.

Unfortunately, most people don't. Beer and soda cans used to have pull tabs that pulled off the can and ended up in waterways where they choked animals to death. Several firms designed pull tabs that stayed connected, but people couldn't figure some of them out (push the dot on one side first, then the other side, then lift.)

Vendors even started making commercials making fun of beer guzzlers whose brain cells were too deteriorated by alcohol to figure them out, and gave instructions. Finally, someone came up with the current design, and it became universal.

So there's a lesson. Figure out how to make a milk jug with the same properties but is easy to pour, patent it, license it cheaply, and you'll make a fortune. It's too hard to teach people new tricks.