BT Vision

VisionMan

@tiredofpoorservice

Hi, the situation has now been explained to you twice, as to why it is the way it now is, but I'll expand on it further.

At the moment, BT Vision has approx 750,000 users, and of those, only a paltry 150,000 users subscribe to Sky Sports. For which it costs BT £1 per user, per month (yes, they actually lose money on it).

But for BT it's actually far worse than that. Because to broadcast those two channels over Freeview, it costs BT £10M per year, per channel. So thats a £20m a year loss, plus a £150,000 per month loss, for all users.

So the situation had to change. And it has, and will do further, when the new channels launch next year, over IPTV. Though other providers are an option for you. And there are many out there for you to choose from.

tiredofpoorservice

VisionMan wrote: »

@tiredofpoorservice

Hi, the situation has now been explained to you twice, as to why it is the way it now is, but I'll expand on it further.

At the moment, BT Vision has approx 750,000 users, and of those, only a paltry 150,000 users subscribe to Sky Sports. For which it costs BT £1 per user, per month (yes, they actually lose money on it).

But for BT it's actually far worse than that. Because to broadcast those two channels over Freeview, it costs BT £10M per year, per channel. So thats a £20m a year loss, plus a £150,000 per month loss, for all users.

So the situation had to change. And it has, and will do further, when the new channels launch next year, over IPTV. Though other providers are an option for you. And there are many out there for you to choose from.

You say that the situation has been explained to me. But it hasn't, or at least, only by people who are missing my point. I signed up for a particular service. Part of that service is being withdrawn. You now explain that it is a loss-making service. That, however, is not my issue. If BT were foolish enough to enter into the contract (and I am certain that they waste lots of money in all sorts of different areas) then that is their concern. I don't see why this gives them any legitimate right to withdraw the agreed service. If I had tried to withdraw within the contract period then they would have charged me big-time. Besides which, given that, as you say, they have to continue it for the "paltry" 150,000 (20% of BT Vision viewers), then they might as well get their £15 a month (which is, incidentally, greater than the £1 a month which you claim that they pay) from me.

TOPS

VisionMan

tiredofpoorservice wrote: »

You say that the situation has been explained to me. But it hasn't, or at least, only by people who are missing my point. I signed up for a particular service. Part of that service is being withdrawn. You now explain that it is a loss-making service. That, however, is not my issue. If BT were foolish enough to enter into the contract (and I am certain that they waste lots of money in all sorts of different areas) then that is their concern. I don't see why this gives them any legitimate right to withdraw the agreed service. If I had tried to withdraw within the contract period then they would have charged me big-time. Besides which, given that, as you say, they have to continue it for the "paltry" 150,000 (20% of BT Vision viewers), then they might as well get their £15 a month (which is, incidentally, greater than the £1 a month which you claim that they pay) from me.

TOPS

I didn't say it's one pound a month. And Boy, are you mad! But don't take it out on me. I'm just a fellow user, just like you.

tiredofpoorservice

Taken the plunge and signed up with TalkTalk. Initial indications are not encouraging. Switch-over date is 27 December. Fair enough. But TV engineer isn't coming until 9 January, 2 weeks later. Apparently, in that time we will simply not have any TV services, except our ordinary TV. The thought that this might not be considered especially convenient does not seem to have occurred to them. And so far, customer services have been every bit as poor as BT's. Online chat is awful - bland, trite, pre-prepared phrases and no real answers given. e-mail pretty much the same. Phone totally cringeworthy (based, I suspect, in the Philippines or some country where labour costs are low and American accented English is the norm).

At least the router arrived.


TOPS

Ectophile

Unfortunately, TalkTalk rate even worse than BT when it comes to complaints to OFCOM.

VisionMan

tiredofpoorservice wrote: »

Taken the plunge and signed up with TalkTalk. Initial indications are not encouraging. Switch-over date is 27 December. Fair enough. But TV engineer isn't coming until 9 January, 2 weeks later. Apparently, in that time we will simply not have any TV services, except our ordinary TV. The thought that this might not be considered especially convenient does not seem to have occurred to them. And so far, customer services have been every bit as poor as BT's. Online chat is awful - bland, trite, pre-prepared phrases and no real answers given. e-mail pretty much the same. Phone totally cringeworthy (based, I suspect, in the Philippines or some country where labour costs are low and American accented English is the norm).

At least the router arrived.

TOPS

I take it by 'switch-over date' you mean for BB and telephone?

What TV Boosts have you chosen to purchase and whats the overall cost of the total package in comparison to BT?

Oh, and tops, you do know you cannot record any of the live channels at the moment on the TT platform?

tiredofpoorservice

VisionMan wrote: »

I take it by 'switch-over date' you mean for BB and telephone?

What TV Boosts have you chosen to purchase and whats the overall cost of the total package in comparison to BT?

Oh, and tops, you do know you cannot record any of the live channels at the moment on the TT platform?

Yes, I did mean that for switchover date.

I haven't chosen any boosts - there's quite enough to watch without adding more. The only thing I am tempted by is the Ashes so we might take the Sky Sports boost for a couple of months come next summer.

The total package was considerably less. I was paying £35 per month with BT. With TT I am paying less than £30 but also got a £50 shopping token (usable at Boots so it's a genuine saving) and a subscription to Lovefilm (of less value since I wouldn't have bought it but I'm sure it will be of benefit).

No, I didn't know that "you cannot record any of the live channels at the moment". What exactly do you mean by this? The TT website clearly states, "Pause, rewind and record Freeview channels". Can you elucidate?


Thanks


TOPS

VisionMan

tiredofpoorservice wrote: »

Yes, I did mean that for switchover date.

I haven't chosen any boosts - there's quite enough to watch without adding more. The only thing I am tempted by is the Ashes so we might take the Sky Sports boost for a couple of months come next summer.

The total package was considerably less. I was paying £35 per month with BT. With TT I am paying less than £30 but also got a £50 shopping token (usable at Boots so it's a genuine saving) and a subscription to Lovefilm (of less value since I wouldn't have bought it but I'm sure it will be of benefit).

No, I didn't know that "you cannot record any of the live channels at the moment". What exactly do you mean by this? The TT website clearly states, "Pause, rewind and record Freeview channels". Can you elucidate?

Thanks

TOPS

Sure. You can record Freeview channels, but not any of the pay-for Boost channels, such as Sky Sports, etc.

So if your not paying for YouView TT TV, what exactly is the breakdown of the £30 your paying?

tiredofpoorservice

VisionMan wrote: »

Sure. You can record Freeview channels, but not any of the pay-for Boost channels, such as Sky Sports, etc.

So if your not paying for YouView TT TV, what exactly is the breakdown of the £30 your paying?

Phew! Personally, I don't care about recording boosts (although I suppose come next summer I might want to record the cricket highlight program - do you happen to know if this is an ongoing thing or whether you will be able to record boosts soon?).

I've just looked it up. I pay £14.50 for the actual service (anytime phone, unlimited download BB, YouView TV) and then £9.50 a month (paid upfront) for line rental. You can choose line rental at about £15 per month ongoing. Upfront costs paid for with my Aqua card (3% cashback) and monthly payment by DD through Santander (another 3% cashback). Amortise the £50 voucher over 18 months. So in fact I think it comes to about £21 per month, all in. It's a bit of a budget price but we simply don't want or need a top-of-the-range (or even mid-range) solution. I just hope it works.

Does this help?


TOPS

VisionMan

tiredofpoorservice wrote: »

Phew! Personally, I don't care about recording boosts (although I suppose come next summer I might want to record the cricket highlight program - do you happen to know if this is an ongoing thing or whether you will be able to record boosts soon?).

I've just looked it up. I pay £14.50 for the actual service (anytime phone, unlimited download BB, YouView TV) and then £9.50 a month (paid upfront) for line rental. You can choose line rental at about £15 per month ongoing. Upfront costs paid for with my Aqua card (3% cashback) and monthly payment by DD through Santander (another 3% cashback). Amortise the £50 voucher over 18 months. So in fact I think it comes to about £21 per month, all in. It's a bit of a budget price but we simply don't want or need a top-of-the-range (or even mid-range) solution. I just hope it works.

Does this help?

TOPS

Thanks for the breakdown. Those are good value for money prices your paying.

In regard to the TT YouView recording situation - yes that will change, and become recordable sometime in 2013, when the subscription Boost channels will be moved to the EPG. As will the BT YouView content too, when that arrives. And 100 IPTV channel numbers have already been allocated by Arqiva for such content to be displayed and be recordable.