Finally, to the rest of the remaining DVD-by-mail customers of Netflix, 25 years in business, before it retires the door on Sept. 29, still holds one trick up its sleeve. In this last batch, it offers the last lot of shipping free of charges and is not adding late fees when discs are yet to return. In fact, earlier last week, the service offered its customers a farewell opportunity to receive up to 10 extra discs within their final lot and view one last go at whatever they might wish to look at before service closes once and for all.

Customers who opted in before August 29 will receive a random selection of additional discs from their queues. However, the offer was limited to U.S. customers.

The offer was presented to the customers through an email which stated:

After 25 years of movies in the mail, we're reaching the end of our final season. We really appreciate that you're sharing movie nights with us until the last day. Let's have some fun for our finale! The "fun" is in seeing just how many discs arrive. Rather than receiving a set amount of extra DVDs, there's no indication of how many will arrive until they show up in their respective red envelopes. Supplies are limited and the final shipping date for all discs, including these random extras, is September 29.

Several media houses published this shocking news about extra discs Netflix would later announce but failed to add that it is possible to keep them.

Now, Netflix comes clean: It does not want those DVDs after all.

In a post on X last night, the company Netflix announced it isn't collecting any overdue DVD charges that were sent in the past after September 29. "Feel free to enjoy your final shipments until you are satisfied," it told its readers.

Speaking of which: a bright note to help clarify amid all the alarming headlines popping up:

We're not charging for any of the missing discs after 9/29. Have fun with your final deliveries as long as you'd like! ❤️???????? https://t.co/lpSJHq29ZX
— DVD Netflix (@dvdnetflix) August 22, 2023

Translation: Customers who signed up to receive the extra discs get to keep them all — along with the red Netflix envelopes that are sure to become a collector's item at some point, we'd imagine.

It has been an incredible run for Netflix's DVD service to have made it this far into the streaming era.

But earlier on, customers were not very pleased when the company tried to break apart its DVD and streaming businesses into two. When the company created the brand "Qwikster" for DVDs in 2011, customer backlash ensued and the plan was soon abandoned. Later, Netflix's then-CEO Reed Hastings admitted Qwikster was the symbol of Netflix not listening to its customers. Of course, Hastings' move to break apart the businesses was the right one, though it came a tad too early for customers' liking. By the end of 2012, Netflix acquired the domain DVD.com and then separated its DVD-by-mail and streaming businesses once again.

The mail-order business limped through the years, even though the company was shifting towards streaming. This April marks 16 years since shifting towards streaming and the announcement that Netflix will end the mail-order business for good. Revenues slid from $200 million to half in the following year.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, writing to the company blog, said, "To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you."

Netflix DVD.com will mail out its final discs on September 29, 2023.

If customers have second thoughts and do not want the final discs delivered by Netflix, the service company gladly accepts returns up to and including October 27, 2023.