I'm bored with this kicking HC marlarky :yawn: .

Does anybody care to speculate on what changes to the Service/programme line up we might reasonably expect to receive in the next few months.

Presumably HC are still giving four months free to those who threaten to leave on the basis that they are going to offer something new and competitive!

Use of the red button would be a start !

They need to do something, I have just started my 4 free months, and if nothing is done at the end of that, I will be looking around. I just don't feel they are very competitive at the moment.

I feel the same... my 12 months are up, and a communal dish is going to be installed in my block of flats.

If, by the end of the year, we dont see some channel additions, (and I mean the likes of Sky One and Bravo), I will be off.
It'll be a shame, as I like Homechoice, but the lure of HD and basic channels like Sky One/Bravo will prove too much.

I didn't think you could get SKY HD on a communal dish?

No expert, but my friends in a different block of flats have a communal dish and Sky HD.

Better leave then dude as Homechoice will NEVER get sky 1

Hi there

I am just wondering how people got 4 months free?

I too am unhappy with the erosion of HC's service and have started looking at alternatives.

Is this an incentive given by customer services to stay?

What does the "free" bit cover?

Thanks

You wont get it now.

HC were doing tit to keep the subscriber numbers up so that they'd be bought by Tiscali.

If you're unhappy now they're more than happy for you to leave the service.

I was nearing the end of my 4 months free offer and gave them a ring to see if there are any new things hapenning and spoke to a very nice lady who said there are things in the pipeline but all she could confirm was that HD will be coming "soon" and there will be a new STB. Then she offered me another 4 months for free!

Thanks HC!

interesting... maybe i should try again then. at the moment my HC is being cut off in a week's time...

Thanks for the heads up Masai - just got another 4 months free too!

The guy said they had been authorised to give the offer to all customers until the new package prices were agreed, which probably wouldn't be any time soon.

No probs dude!

Thanks guys for flagging up this 4 free months to me.

I was thinking of moving to Sky but just spoken to HC and been given Max Pack free for 4 months. The guy said that a new service was currently being drawn up as they have been taken over by Tiscali and new packages etc were coming up in the new year.

The free months were to give them time to get the new service sorted and then let me make a more informed choice.

Result!

Makes me wish I didn't sign a new 12 month contract when I moved house

Just gave them a ring and got the 4 free months!

Fantastic,thanks for the heads up.

Going shopping now to spend the money i've just saved on games.

yeah, nice one. i just got another 4 months free!

despite all the moaning about HC you can't beat free!!

I don't know how you keep managing this - I just called them and was basically told that if I was thinking of leaving for sky, I was welcome to go!
grr. I guess I get to subsidise your freeloading for the next 4 months

I phoned this morning told them I was thinking about getting sky hd,asked them if hd was coming to homechoice told me in the new year, got 4 months free they said everything should be sorted by then

I just got four months free. Thanks for the tip.

To be honest, I often wonder why lots of people complain about Homechoice. True, things may not be stunning, but they're very good for the price: customer service is fairly good, my internet has always been fast and very reliable, the VOD service is good-if-not-great; and replay is handy. All I'd like to see is HD and more channels, but they're not make and break.

Adding Audio Desription would also be a step in the right direction.

I contacted HC about this about 2 months ago and was told that they do intend to introduce it in the New Year.

There shouldn't be a problem getting sky HD on any sattelite dish as long as you have a sky HD box, the standard definition boxes can receive the signals but they cant decode the signal

The way channels go on to digital platforms (such as homechoice, sky, cable, freeview) is that the channel or company that owns the channel chooses to put the channel on that platform and pays the platform to list the channel on it's EPG (electronic programme guide), with sky there are more channels that are not listed on the EPG which you can watch although most of them are test transmissions or channels waiting to get on to the EPG. For sky a channel pays about £70,000 for a free to view channel to be listed.

If you want a channel to be on homechoice the best thing to do is contact the company who owns the channel as most channels probably dont see the point of paying Homechoice to list their channel and only have it broadcast to a small amount of people in London. If you contact Homechoice about a channel you want to see all they can really do is tell the channel they have had requests for the channel to be on homechoice, if you contact the channel they will directly get your request and it may convince them more than homechoice telling them X amount of people requested the channel

We were told by the sky monkies we'd need our own dish, so we went for homechoice instead.

Well I am now in my second 4mth free period and the cust care team told me "havea nother 4mths until the changes come into effect in the new year" well that could be, Jan 07 and it could be Dec 07!

Its not clear! I'm not bothered at the moment as have had 2/3rds of the year free Digital TV and 10mbps broadband!

But I dont wanna leave HC I do like the service! I just need them to announce the flextech channels on their package and a new improved PVR box (with the blue light!) then i'll happily stay!

How'd you get 10Mbit?