Lost and found: my relationship with Netflix

Andrew Torrance details his struggles in his darkest hour over winter break as his Netflix account failed him when he needed it most.

Andrew+Torrance+smiles+benevolently+as+he+logs+into+his+Netflix+account+with+ease.

Amira Carter

Andrew Torrance smiles benevolently as he logs into his Netflix account with ease.

Andrew Torrance, Staff Writer

There I was, minding my own business on Christmas break, logging into Netflix to watch my shows that I desperately needed to get caught up on. As I clicked on an episode, the excitement of being reunited with Netflix filled my soul. As exhilarated as I was, that was all shot down like a rebel pilot during the Battle of Yavin when an error message appeared on my screen: “We cannot find all the required components to play Netflix on this device.”

Frantically, I swooped over to the Netflix help page to find a solution to my problem. Confidently, I went through the steps Netflix gave me to solve the issue until I realized that my outdated version of Google Chrome did not possess one of the essential elements to operate a happy, successful Netflix. “Just download the most recent version,” I thought to myself. So that’s what I did. I thought it was an easy fix, but unfortunately, Netflix was as broken as the hearts of the Winona football team after BSM beat them in the State finals.

With my lack of success regarding solving this problem on my own, I knew I had only two options. One: live the rest of my life without Netflix and accept my inevitable defeat. Or two: contact the dreaded customer support. Knowing that Netflix is a staple of my weekly diet, along with napping and skipping Wellness, I concluded that talking to customer support was my ultimate fate.

Netflix was as broken as the hearts of the Winona football team after BSM beat them in the state finals.

— Andrew Torrance

I grudgingly picked up the phone before realizing that Netflix had delivered a blessing. Luckily for me, I found that Netflix has an online chat feature for customer support because God forbid I have to talk to another human being over the phone. I logged on to the chat to meet my personal Netflix savior, and that’s when I met Marco: my only hope. I explained my problem to Marco, and he, unlike most customer service employees, actually seemed to care a little. After all, we’re dealing with high stakes here.

After talking to Marco and following all of his instructions, I still ended up nowhere. Chrome wasn’t updating, the component I was supposed to have wasn’t showing up, and I was losing hope. I began to believe that my time with Netflix was over. My entire Netflix experience started to flash before my eyes. I remembered the time when I watched four seasons of Parks and Rec in just under two weeks, the time I watched the entirety of The Office in two and a half months, and the time last year when I watched Bob’s Burgers instead of studying for my Spanish final; a final on which I earned a modest B-.

After what seemed like hours of tribulation with this issue, Marco pitched an idea so bold, so powerful, so mind-numbingly obvious that I was shocked that neither of us had thought it up until now: “Have you tried using a different browser?” “A different browser,” I thought to myself. “Could it really be this easy?” Trusting Marco’s wisdom, I opened Firefox, logged into Netflix, and clicked on a show to start watching. It worked. Marco did it. I jumped for joy and breathed a sigh of relief as my life-threatening problem had been solved, and finally, I thanked Marco, a true hero, for his courage and sacrifices in this great struggle.

If I learned one thing from this experience, it’s to always trust the kind souls of Netflix customer support. Additionally, I have learned that it’s advantageous to abolish my broadband subscription in favor of the liberating platform of online television. No longer am I bound to the evil confines of the broadband industry. With Netflix, I will rise up and assert my independence over the Comcast regime and receive the type of customer service I deserve.