Discussion Forums - Questions about SwapaDVD

I have not had many problems managing my Wishlist until the last couple months, but now see things that don't make sense.

I had one title at No. 1 in my list and showing as No. 1 of 2, with a two-week estimate of No. 1 (with second member at about No. 10 in their Wishlist). Over the period of about a month, the item displayed as No. 1 of two, two-week estimate of No. 2 and finally slipping to No. 2 of 2 and two-week estimate of No. 2. The other member stayed at around 10 in their list throughout except for the last couple weeks when they moved it down to below 50. I have asked the site as to how this is possible (several times) but never received a response. After two months of gradually slipping further behind in the queue to the member that has it ranked much lower priority than me, I gave up and moved it to No. 2 in my Wishlist. It continues to slide farher behind member No. 2.

In addition, I currently have a problem with the movie that I moved up to No. 1 in my Wishlist. I have been No. 1 of 24 for quite a long time and currently no other member has the movie higher than 3 in their list. The site shows current position as No. 1 of 24, with two-week estimate of No. 2 of 24. Refreshing does not change the display.

Am I missing something here? Any ideas why the Wishlist is acting this way?

There are a number of glitches in the system these days.  I can't answer the question on the one you have in your #2 spot losing it's order--but that seems pretty extreme to fall behind someone with the title in their #50 spot!  Although if you have one in your #1 spot, and you are one in line of however many, it doesn't seem like you should loose your spot in line.  One member is reporting that changes made to the WL are not updating.  Look for the discussion "Site Glitch" a little below this in the forum.

By any chance do you have the "hold" box checked for this title? If that were the case, you would not be accumulating any points for it, so you would gradually fall back in the line.

Good deduction Kevin!  

Patrick, your account is on vacation hold. 

I don't know for sure but I think............... when on vacation hold, wl set to 48 hour offer does not earn points and you will lose you place over time.

Wl set to auto-request does not lose points on vacay!  

So set those titles to Auto-request.  

So set those titles to Auto-request. 

Yes! and make sure you have funds and credits available

Thanks all. I checked and each item is on auto request with no hold checked.

Valerie - not so sure about the impact of putting Wishlist on vacation. Ignoring these two titles, I have a number of wishlisted titles that are on 48-hour offer and they continue to move up in the queue.

Pat

Here's an older post about Vacation Hold

posted by:  

You do not earn points while your account is on vacation status.  As for the other question, check out the help section under the topic: How does the Vacation Hold affect My Wish List?   All items not set to auto-request on your Wish List will be "hidden" from the system when a Hold is in effect. 

• If a Wish List DVD becomes available while a Hold is in effect, and the Wish List DVD is NOT set to auto-request:
  • you will be "passed over" for that copy
  • you will retain your place on the Wish List

• If a Wish List DVD becomes available while a Hold is in effect, and the Wish List DVD IS set to auto-request:
  • if you have enough credits in your account to request the DVD, it will be requested for you automatically, and sent to the mailing address on your account.
  • if you don't have any credits in your account, you will be passed over for that copy of the DVD, but it will remain on your Wish List in the same position.

It is wise to set only those items you have credits for to auto-request on your Wish List during a Hold if you will be away from email while the Hold is in effect.

• You can choose auto-request for only those DVDs you are "high up" in the queue for, as those are the ones that will most likely become available to you while you are away.

If you place a DVD on your Wish List while a Hold is in effect, that Wish List item will not be hidden by the Hold.

• Think of your non-auto-requested Wish List items as a birthday present.   Whatever is on your Wish List will be "wrapped up" by the Hold when it goes into effect, and the birthday present will be "hidden" from view by the wrapping; anything placed on the birthday present after it has been wrapped (any newly Wishlisted DVDs) will not be hidden from view.  This analogy also applies to how the Hold "hides" items on your DVD Tower.
• You can place each item on Hold as you add it to your Wish List if you don't want it to be visible to the system.

More Wishlist Quirks 

posted by 

This topic just came up . . . somewhere else on the forums.  (I'll be darned if I can remember where, though!)  There are a couple different reasons this could happen.  If you don't have the movie in the number 1 spot on your wishlist, you can be passed by other people who have ranked the movie higher than you.  This isn't really all that likely, though, as it can take quite a bit of time for someone to pass you (unless you have the movie waaayyyyy down on your list) and it's unlikely that you'd be passed by more than one person at a time.

The more likely reason is that some people ahead of you in line ran out of credits in their account.  If they do not have enough credits to buy a DVD on their wishlist, they won't show up in the queue for the movie.  (We're not sure if that is for all movies on a wishlist, or just those specified as Auto-Request.)  They still keep their place in line, and continue to earn points each day, but they don't show up on the list to anyone else.  As soon as they add credits back into their account, they show up again, thus bumping you back the places you thought you had advanced.

General consensus from that previous thread on the topic seemed to be that nobody likes this feature.  People who have their wishlist on Vacation Hold appear as a yellow dot, so why can't people who are out of credits appear as a blue dot or something?  Both are still accumulating points for the DVD, neither will be offered the DVD if it comes available, so why treat them differently in the queue?

EDITED:  YOU WILL NOT SEE YOUR OWN YELLOW DOTS.  YOU CAN ONLY SEE OTHER PEOPLE AS A YELLOW DOT. 

Valerie - thanks very much for setting me straight. Now I have another thing I can't explain, as I see a number of items that I have on 48 hour that are definitely advancing on items above them in the queue.

Pat

You are welcome!  Really, it's enough to make someone's head spin.  There are so many nuances/quirks to the Wishlist. When I get time I will make a uber wl info post.  Not only that but the Wl is completely different on PBS. 

I went ahead and followed the link to the site description of how vacation hold affects Wishlist. I could not find any reference to not earning points. 

Patrick, It is your tower that is on vacation hold that is most likely affecting your WL.  When I went to your tower it says it is on vacation hold.

Gloria - thanks for the response. While my Tower has been on vacation for the last month, my issues began long before I put it on vacation. I also note that the issues I am raising are confined to the above two titles. Other titles I have checked appear to continue to earn points, as they are in passing owners ahead of them in the queue.

Since your posting, I noted a few strange ones in my own WL.  Like your experience some continue to move up, but one seemed undecipherable to me.  Probably due to my not reading hte graph correctly?  It's not a highly wished title so I'm not all that concerned.

I am almost 100% certain that you still earn points while on vacation hold but you will not get anything posted to you if its on 48 hour (whereas you will if its on auto and you have the credits/money). Ive never lost spots in line despite being on vacation, sometimes a month at a time.

Kathryn - I agree. That is exactly what I have been seeing. Since putting my Tower on vacation (in the middle of a move) I have continued to earn points and pass others (except for the two items I mentioned above). This is happening whether or not I have the item on auto-request or 48 hours. I also agree that any of these items only get posted to me if the item is on auto-request.

I don't understand why, but the two items that caused me to make this post are now not a problem. Both are earning points to and advancing versus their position with other member requests.

i read this whole thread and i am at a loss. i have no holds or vacation holds. all my items are on auto request. i have credits and i have money to pay for a few holds. i have 2 movies on my wish list from 2010. i have 3 from 2014. my account actually works because i requested a movie and got it in december. I am either 1 or 2 on the 5 movies i have on my wish list.

the two movies from 2010 i am starting to decide on just going out to buy them off some web site. it is hard to believe that i get nothing in almost 7 years for those 2 movies.

i think since joining i got one movie off my wish list. yes i like the old movies. yes i send out way more than i get back. the wish list is more like a bookmark for what i want to buy.

Reginald: The movies that I see on your list are fairly obscure titles, as far as the club inventory goes. I've been a member for close to 9 years, and probably most of the titles that I put on my wishlist when I started are still sitting on the list (many #1 in line for the next posted copy).  I have over 1700 titles now on my list, and I probably average over two wishes granted per month.  The more you wish for, the more likelihood to have a wish granted.  If there are titles that I really, really want but it looks like it will be a long time (if ever) to get them through the club, then I buy them elsewhere.  The club is only one of my sources for DVDs.

what you are telling me is what i been doing. when i can't find them here or elsewhere. i go to amzon or ebay to buy them. i am not a collector so i post them here and i get credits for them. i get pissed off sometimes because i feel i am buying things for other people to get. i only get this way when i buy the movie. so it is only a passing phase of being mad.

i only have 4 movies on my tower because i have given so many away it is ridiculious. i have never been over 10 dvd's in my tower and i will be adding a few more. which i know will be going pretty quick. lol.

just trying to get around paying 70 for one of them on my list.. i got some spare money coming my way next month and i will break down to get one of them and post it for someone else to add to their collection.

waaaaaaaaaaaah

Given that its $70, theres no wonder you havent seen it posted to your wishlist. Although rare, expensive titles do get posted, its rare, and well, expensive, for others to do so ;)

My main sources for DVDs and Blu-rays are secondhand stores (like Half Price Books, Disc Replay, Goodwill, etc.) and Best Buy/Amazon/Target (for definite keepers and for great deals on things I'm likely to swap). I have very rarely paid more than $5 per disc for used titles, and frequently pay only $2-3. Sometimes even $1. There's no telling what I may find when I go out shopping, and was very delighted to find a copy of the OOP Hedwig and the Angry Inch for $3 (the wish list was so long that it was unlikely I'd get it anytime soon). I would never consider paying more than $10 for a DVD or $20 for a Blu-ray that I didn't intend to hang onto. But that's just me. Other people have other priorities for their finances, and that's perfectly fine.

For myself, I just consider the methods of acquiring discs as a sort of game of chance, and enjoy watching the titles that I luck into. (It is not uncommon for me to fall in love with something obscure that I got through the wish list out of mere curiosity or seeing that it featured a favorite actor/director/writer, etc., and then be completely underwhelmed by some other long-awaited title I'd heard a lot about.) 

i'm not rich and i am not a collector. i got a bad bad habit of not watching movies multiple times. once is usually enough for me. i'm not one for shopping at used stores in person for titles. i just go to ebay or amazon and buy it. i thought one of the movies was 70 dollars but i just checked on amazon it is only 14.99.

i like watching older movies or sequels i knew were out there and i couldn't find. so i will spend the 14.99 and watch it one time and post it here for some lucky swap member. it just gets under my skin sometimes that i wish more people would post some of these things i want to see.

i live outside of seattle washington. my county library system has a ton of movies and what they don't have seattle city has. when they don't i come to here or i go buy it. sometimes the titles i want are only on vhs. yes i still have one but right now it is not playing the vhs. i bought a title off a internet that i can't watch because my dvd/vhs player is playing vhs.

just one of those things.

i will get it figured out and watch it and then i will get the dvd off of amazon and then give it to someone here.

wwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

lol.

i'm nuts.

Does your library do inner library loans? Go to Worldcat.org and see if you can find the title in another library system

I'm sorry, you can only request books through Interelibrary Loan, they do interlibrary load DVDs, CDs or CTs.

the above message is from my librarian at the library. she said no can do. plus my lovely wife who worked for 19 years for another library in my area sadi the same thing.

thanks for the idea. i did try.