Alphabetize

[nycomet]

Re: Alphabetize

If this insane bickering continues somebody is going to get banned.

C'mon guys. Let's play nice and enjoy some Vudu conversation.

I honestly believe that Vudu team has heard our cries for sorting (and many other requests) and we will get it in the next major update to the service.

[tfisher]

Re: Alphabetize

I believe this is Jeffpn fault because of his many previous posts where he attacks people and tfisher was unfairly edited by by dhatman.

Kokomo, forgive my ignorance or lack of attention to all the details, but what do you mean I was "unfairly edited"? Are you saying that they altered one of my messages on this forum?

[jeffpn]

Re: Alphabetize

I believe this is Jeffpn fault because of his many previous posts where he attacks people and tfisher was unfairly edited by by dhatman.

No, tfisher and I are the only ones keeping this thread alive. It's everyone else who is allowing this thread with a request for a much needed feature to slip deeper and deeper down the list, by NOT posting.

I'm the "attacker", but he's the one who was edited? I've never been edited.

[kokomo]

Re: Alphabetize

I think this thread is about dead. Everytime i check it, the same two people are going at each other. Much like every horror movie ever made, its time for a reboot.

I believe this is Jeffpn fault because of his many previous posts where he attacks people and tfisher was unfairly edited by by dhatman.

[Kocheese99]

Re: Alphabetize

I think this thread is about dead. Everytime i check it, the same two people are going at each other. Much like every horror movie ever made, its time for a reboot.

[tfisher]

Re: Alphabetize

The only reason I mention that I know what I am talking about regarding making a simple change as adding sorting capabilities is because I read in another post a couple of days ago that someone at VUDU told the poster of that message that adding sorting would "be too hard". My comments are directed at that. I was not talking to you and not trying to impress anyone. Sometimes it helps to let someone making false statements know that your not as ignorant as they think you are in order to get them to reconsider their position. While a 4 year old really couldn't make such a change in their code, your point is valid...it's not a very difficult change for them to make.

Banging my drum, as you put it, can help. I was one of thousands of drum bangers when we changed Netflix's mind a while back about their purposed website. Thank goodness they communicated with their customers about things that were coming before it was too late for them to turn back from a major mistake. I left Netflix and later returned as a customer. If I don't see the type of growth I expect to see over the next few months I will be gone from here too (after I figure out what to do about the digital copies I have already purchased on this site).

[jeffpn]

Re: Alphabetize

I agree...sorting our movies seems to be the number one request here. This seems like a reasonable request and should be easy to implement (no, I do not know their systems...but I know enough about programming to know that sorting is a very each feature to implement).

Again, I agree that sorting is a much needed feature. You don't have to "know enough about programming to know that sorting is a very easy feature to implement." Any 4 year old could sort (to an extent). One only need know his ABCs. Anyone who regularly uses a computer, especially working with databases, knows the ease that sorting creates. It's obviously a much needed feature. I don't think continually banging your drum stating the credentials will make it any more of a priority to Vudu. The request to sort stands on it's own. And the continuation of this thread helps the cause.

[tfisher]

Re: Alphabetize

I agree...sorting our movies seems to be the number one request here. This seems like a reasonable request and should be easy to implement (no, I do not know their systems...but I know enough about programming to know that sorting is a very each feature to implement).

For those of you who have several DVDs, how do you arrange your DVDs? We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 DVDs and we keep them on a shelf arranged in alphabetical order.

For those of you who have purchased movies and paid the fee to store your DVDs in the cloud, don't you feel like those movies belong to you even though VUDU is storing the digital copy for you? Don't you feel like you should have the right to find and access those movies the same way you would at home?

[Speedaddict81]

Re: Alphabetize

Jeff,
I'm afraid you are living in the false reality of the pre-70s, when customer service was unheard of and customer satisfaction meant 'here's what you get from us, and you better like it'.

I can't say with certainty that sorting is the number one customer complaint, but on here it is the number one suggestion. The number one complaint is probably streaming issues, ie stopped playback (which I get on almost every movie I watch, but see no reason to complain because it is just as likely a problem on my end). However, if customer suggestions don't make it to developer meetings (which I consider a 'Board Room meeting'), there is an issue with information flow. The only good reasons I see for the Devs to not look at this forum are: 1. They are contracted externally and it isn't in the contract, or 2. They are working comstantly on other improvements.

[jeffpn]

Re: Alphabetize

No, I am not as arrogant as you seem to be.

I am a better customer [than you]

I assure you that [my comments] are supported by many VUDU customers both on this forum and others not even using this forum.

How ironic. Your post reeks of arrogance.

I never said customer's opinions don't matter. I said that you'll never get Vudu to release schedules or timetables if their policy is not to do so. Statements like, "Companies find they must change their philosophy regarding customer service and customer relations every day" are completely ignored by Vudu and other companies you feel compelled to fix, unless you are employed by that company. Do you think Vudu is analyzing your posts, and discussing them at board meetings? No! They may discuss your desire to alphabetize, but they don't care about your plans or opinions for Vudu's business model. Good luck with your quest, "better customer."

[tfisher]

Re: Alphabetize

No, I am not as arrogant as you seem to be. WHAT I AM SAYING IS THEY NEED TO LISTEN TO AND COMMUNICATE BETTER WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS. It's about building stronger releationships between the company and the customer. I am not trying to "convince" you of anything. I am trying to figure out how you could think that this forum is all about you. Did I put ANYTHING in my previous postings that was aimed directly at you? Did I say that YOU needed to communicate with VUDU customers better or that YOU should make some much needed enhancements to VUDU's systems? None of this is about you man...so why not just shut the hell up?

It is my relationship with VUDU that I am trying to build on here. Therefore, I could care less if you agree with me on anything I have posted on this forum. These are suggestions I feel they should use to make their releationship stronger with their customers. Sure they are based on MY experience with their product, so what! Last time I checked I am a customer, and based on comments you've made before it sounds like I am a better customer based on the number of movies I have bought and converted to digital. And besides, many other customers seem to agree with some of my suggestions based on what I have read here, and this is why they should be listening.

Companies find they must change their philosophy regarding customer service and customer relations every day. This is nothing new in the business world, so you really should stop thinking that our (the customers) opinions don't matter. They do matter! Netflix use to think that their customer opinions didn't matter and they quickly found out that their customer's opinions DID matter after they lost a very large percentage of their customers.

I work for a Fortune 500 company and we are constantly having to adjust our business practices and make changes based on social media. Social media has really changed the way companies must do business. We have to really keep our eyes on forums and social websites to find out what is being said about our products and our service. People take more advice from social media these days than a company's television commercial.

So while I do not really believe VUDU doesn't care about what we have to say, it is possible that our opinions don't matter to them today. That doesn't mean that customers should just ignore things they don't like. We need to let them know how they can get better and what they can do to get more of our business. If they ignore us, like Netflix did with their customers, then we should find a better service to use and stop using VUDU.

I hope that you can finally understand that these are suggestions from VUDU customers to VUDU. I am sorry if you felt like I was trying to communicate directly to you. And, while my comments are being posted here under my user ID, I assure you that they are supported by many VUDU customers both on this forum and others not even using this forum. My entire family and other people that I have talked to over the past 3 months or so seem to have similar ideas about how their experience with VUDU could be improved on.

[jeffpn]

Re: Alphabetize

So you previously thought that all of Vudu's employees are automatons? I'm glad you changed your mind in that. You still seem to me as someone who thinks that Vudu won't survive without taking your advice.

You've tried convincing me that Vudu must change their philosophy on sharing information with customers. You've failed. Maybe you'll have better luck convincing Vudu. I'll bet you don't.

[tfisher]

Re: Alphabetize

I didn't even notice that was you posting earlier...here we go again! I don't understand why you continue to make comments that make you sound like you are VUDU's big brother trying to protect them from their customers. Please don't try to explain your personality to us, even if I could understand why some people are jerks I doubt I would really care.

Anyway, I will give you a few more minutes of my time to try to explain what I am talking about here. The mechanic was a good "analogy" of what I am talking about, even though we are not talking about actual car repairs or even buying movies. The analogy is about good customer service. Many years ago our CIO used this same analogy when we started our estimation process and started to give out target dates for all IT projects.

Sharing this information isn't about holding people to all their commitments, it really is about customer service. If they don't already, VUDU must understand that there is more to their business than just movies and they must acknowledge that customers have certain expectations regarding issues surrounding their systems, things like parental controls, the ability to quickly and easily find movies and information about movies, etc.

Here are other examples...we've known a lot about Windows 8 for a while now. Other companies share information with the public or their customers because they realize that people investing in their products and services have to know what direction they are heading in before making a commitment to go with their products and services. Do you know when the iPad 4 will be released by Apple? March 2013! Apple doesn't always give out many details about what functionality will be delivered, but just the fact they they have plans to evolve is often enough. Until today I wasn't even sure VUDU had a development staff, but I still don't know if they work on code or just play on the internet all day.

I doubt any of this will have an impact on VUDU sharing this information with the people who keep them in business and the people who can put them out of business...but I do hope that they will realize that their systems need to continue to evolve if they want to grow. Based on the response that RandomNinjaAtk posted earlier, I have a LITTLE bit of hope that they might be working on enhancements.

[jeffpn]

Re: Alphabetize

If Vudu took my movies for processing, like a mechanic takes my car to work on it, of course I'd insist on a timeframe. You need a better analogy. When did Apple publicize a release date for the iPhone 5? Or did they? Does Microsoft publish timetables for their patches and security fixes? Or do they just release them when ready? The company I work for doesn't release projected availability of certain services either. It's too easy for the competition to swoop in and offer customers contracts while we are preparing our services for deployment. Like I said, there are a number of reasons why companies don't share information with customers. I find it highly unlikely you will change any company's mind on that decision, but good luck.

[tfisher]

Re: Alphabetize

It's not unheard of for companies to communciate with their customers and provide estimated timelines. Not just in the software industry, and not just in technology or entertainment industries either. If you take your car to have work done on it you want to know when it will be ready for you to pick it up, right? If a mechanic cannot provide this information you probably will not continue using them when most mechanics will tell you when they think your car will be ready.

Sure, "snags" as you call it will happen and target dates are missed. But the important thing is communication and making the customer feel like their requests are being taken seriously...it's all about the customer and making them feel like they are getting service. All IT shops have project plans, schedules, etc. So it's not like this is information that don't have. We are always able to get this type of information from IBM (what they are working on for the next release and their next release date).

The last company I worked at we provided our customers with functionality we were developing and a date we expected each feature to be available. Those dates were usually padded and we normally implemented a week or two early from their perspective. However, there were a few times when we were late and we would let them know when dates were being pushed back so they could make any necessary changes in their plans. But the bottom line was that they felt like they were important to us.

...even Netflix has an email about "upcoming releases", but I don't know that I remember seeing one (I guess I need to go make sure I am signed up to receive that email).