[mersey70]

I was just reading Broadband TV News and noticed this article. It appears BT Vision is the most complained about Pay TV platform, and indeed by some way.

I have to say when I had it I rarely experienced problems but these figures make for very poor reading, given BT are trying to raise their profile in this market.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2013/...tv-complaints/

[ronxray]

Anybody who gives Sky a run for their money has my support and patience.

[VisionMan1]

Ofcom's overview of the situation -

http://media.ofcom.org.uk/2013/06/26...es-revealed-2/

Full report here -

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bin...jan-mar-13.pdf

[White-Knight]

Also, now reported on DS:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/new...-by-ofcom.html

[mersey70]

I had a good read of the report, and indeed those going back a few years. In the broadcasting forum Visionman kindly explained about the new middleware and billing systems that could explain the spike in complaints. However, it's pretty clear BT Vision has been, by far, the most complained about platform for several years and long before the new middleware and billing systems were introduced.

Hopefully they'll sort it out but they can obviously expect far greater scrutiny now that BT Sport is on the horizon. I must admit that since I left BT/BTVision a few years back (for no other reason than cost) I hadn't really even given it a thought until now so I don't know if that is typical.

[1andrew1]

I've known people who have subscribed expecting to have all the entertainment channels on it like Virgin and Sky and been disappointed.
I think the new BT YouView set-up may initially disappoint as the IPTV channels will not be recordable at first.
It will be interesting to see how it fares after that. Will people subscribe expecting to enjoy the likes of Sky 1 and be disappointed? I know we all do our homework here but we're probably the exception!

[mersey70]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I've known people who have subscribed expecting to have all the entertainment channels on it like Virgin and Sky and been disappointed.
I think the new BT YouView set-up may initially disappoint as the IPTV channels will not be recordable at first.
It will be interesting to see how it fares after that. Will people subscribe expecting to enjoy the likes of Sky 1 and be disappointed? I know we all do our homework here but we're probably the exception!

If they are disappointed in that respect it will probably be their own fault but personally I think most consumers are a bit more sophisticated than that. I don't know of many people who would subscribe to a Pay TV service without first checking what you'll actually receive for your subscription fees.

The non-recordable issue could be different though, many people may just assume if you have a PVR you will be able to record all the channels you subscribe to, I certainly did with talktalk until I read on here you can't!

[infinidim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mersey70

If they are disappointed in that respect it will probably be their own fault but personally I think most consumers are a bit more sophisticated than that. I don't know of many people who would subscribe to a Pay TV service without first checking what you'll actually receive for your subscription fees.

The non-recordable issue could be different though, many people may just assume if you have a PVR you will be able to record all the channels you subscribe to, I certainly did with talktalk until I read on here you can't!

I think another reason why BT Vision is getting a lot more complaints these days is the upgrade that have done in firmware from what I would call "classic" BT Vision to "new look" BT Vision.

This has been the worse upgrade that I have ever been involved with. Features that worked well in "classic" BT Vision now don't work in "new look" BT Vision.

It may look nicer the "new look" BT Vision but if it is a retrograde step then they should have held off upgrading until most of the bugs were fixed.

Infinidim

[VisionMan1]

Whereas I prefer the new interface. And its now totally stable. Been a rocky road though, for some.

[mersey70]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinidim

I think another reason why BT Vision is getting a lot more complaints these days is the upgrade that have done in firmware from what I would call "classic" BT Vision to "new look" BT Vision.

This has been the worse upgrade that I have ever been involved with. Features that worked well in "classic" BT Vision now don't work in "new look" BT Vision.

It may look nicer the "new look" BT Vision but if it is a retrograde step then they should have held off upgrading until most of the bugs were fixed.

Infinidim

Thanks for the reply, i'm finding all the information very useful as I have now cancelled Sky TV and i'm currently weighing up all available options.

Going from what I have learned it would appear BT Vision does have quite some way to go to be considered a genuine player with the likes of Virgin and Sky.

I'm sure it will get there eventually but the technical issues, together with the very complicated offer (in my opinion anyway) are not making the service seem very appealing to me just yet. The content also seems a bit patchy too.

But it's early days I suppose.

[infinidim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VisionMan1

Whereas I prefer the new interface. And its now totally stable. Been a rocky road though, for some.

I a like the "new style" interface but sometimes it does have it's moments..

Infinidim

[VisionMan1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinidim

I a like the "new style" interface but sometimes it does have it's moments..

Infinidim

Oh, do tell! I don't recall reading a resolution to your situation. What happened Infinidim, and more importantly, did you get a new box?

[infinidim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VisionMan1

Oh, do tell! I don't recall reading a resolution to your situation. What happened Infinidim, and more importantly, did you get a new box?

Yes I did get a new box and it was free yet I saw an entry in my bill for it which I also got credit for. They put me on version 7.0.7 (non-multicast) of the firmware which I know is not the latest and still has a lot of bugs in it which I have raise with Warren Buckley (Head of BT Retail Customer Services). The latest version of software does fix some of the bugs that I have but they won't let me go on the trial of it. I also raised the issue of error VMC011 with the exec of BT which they didn't respond too .

Bottom line currently is I am still not completely happy but it is moving in the correct direction.

Next stage is to try and order BT Sport, hopefully it won't be a disaster but I will not hold my breath.

Infinidim

[Haribo76]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VisionMan1

Whereas I prefer the new interface. And its now totally stable. Been a rocky road though, for some.

Stable is an unusual choice of words for a service that has lost red button, lost 1080i in many cases and had the search function ruined/ Not to mention iplayer is all but unusable.

[infinidim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinidim

Yes I did get a new box and it was free yet I saw an entry in my bill for it which I also got credit for. They put me on version 7.0.7 (non-multicast) of the firmware which I know is not the latest and still has a lot of bugs in it which I have raise with Warren Buckley (Head of BT Retail Customer Services). The latest version of software does fix some of the bugs that I have but they won't let me go on the trial of it. I also raised the issue of error VMC011 with the exec of BT which they didn't respond too .

Bottom line currently is I am still not completely happy but it is moving in the correct direction.

Next stage is to try and order BT Sport, hopefully it won't be a disaster but I will not hold my breath.

Infinidim

Ordering BT Sport, what a nightmare!!!!

I ring up and ask to have BT Sport added to my account t no extra cost. They say they can't do it. They have to send my order to the back office. 3 Days later I look to see whether I have BT Sport, nothing. Ring up again and I am told that my order has ben cancelled because I don't need to order BT Sport!!!! Contact BT Retail executive level escalations and they tell me to order it online, which I do. Get it ordered and new firmware gets downloaded to the BT Vision+ box - can now see the BT Sports channels on the channel list.

I can also see nearly all the time, activity on the Openreach modem which looks like multicast is transmitting all the time even when the box is in standby.

Infinidim