Netflix is broken, and so is my heart.

I'm addicted to Netflix, and this week I'm going through withdrawals.

The company had a major meltdown with its shipping systems earlier this week, and about a third of its 8.4 million customers are still waiting for DVDs. I am one of them.

What bugs me is that this is really intefering with my favorite pastime: lying in bed watching DVDs of television seasons (most recently Dead Like Me, The L Word and Shameless) while balancing my laptop on my knees and possibly listening to music at the same time. My bed is a multimedia wonderland!

What am I supposed to do now, go to the gym? I don't think so.

From a crisis management/customer service standpoint, however, I DO think Netflix is handling it pretty well, though I'm sure they're losing crazy money because of it. Yesterday I received this email:

We're Sorry DVD Shipments Are Delayed

Dear Emily,

Our shipping system is unexpectedly down. We received a DVD back from you and should have shipped you a DVD, but we likely have not. Our goal is to ship DVDs as soon as possible, and we will keep you posted on the status of your DVD shipments.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. If your DVD shipment is delayed, we will be issuing a credit to your account in the next few days. You don't need to do anything. The credit will be automatically applied to your next billing statement.

Again, we apologize for the delay and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us at 1-888-638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

So they admitted that things have gone horribly, horribly wrong and are giving me some money back for my troubles, so I won't hold it against them. I'm just going to have to find something to do while I'm waiting for my DVDs to arrive.

UPDATE: According to the Netflix Community Blog (who knew there was such a thing?) I should be receiving a shiny new DVD tomorrow!