Is anyone out there very happy with the UPC digital tv service?

_Whimsical_

I was all set to sign up with them tomorrow but after looking through the threads here I'm having serious second thoughts.

I don't think I could stand a very slow navigation on the tv.
Do the record and live pause & rewind function work well?
I have a samsung LCD tv. Sounds like there's alot of trouble with them and UPC.Is this generally the experience?
Anyone want to try and convince me signing up is a good idea?:o

200motels

Go with Sky.

caspa307

im very happy although i just have the standard package but i get 50 megs speed so

guv999

It depends what channels and functionality you are looking for.
IMO Sky is better than UPC for TV, but I can cope with UPC TV as the Broadband and phone package are excellent

Mr. Presentable

OP, I also have a Samsung LCD. There are no issues with it and UPC.

I am pleased with our service from UPC - and like that I don't have to have a dish on my house!

An Tarbh

It's crap like you get today with the time on the box that annoys me. I know in the grand scheme of things it's quite trivial but it still irks me nonetheless when things don't work properly.

As for the tv service it's nothing more than adequate, I've no issues with the picture quality on SD, but the lack of interactive and other HD channels is a major downside.

Broadband and phone are superb.

In an ideal world I'd go with UPC for phone and broadband and Sky for tv, the biggest and obviously major issue with Sky is the fact that with UPC my tv costs €73, if I want to get the same service with Sky I'd have to pay €116. So unless I get a pay rise in the near future I'm stuck with UPC.

_Whimsical_

Thanks everyone. I have to say that reading through some reviews here it sounds as if the tv service and box are not even adequete but if it is adequete I could live with it. That's good toread that someones ok with samsung.

I was with sky but it caused so much hassle. They put the dish up on my chimney and poorly attached it. The result is that we've had 8 engineer call outs in 2 years.Every single windy night has resulted in a month of no tv while we waited for it to be fixed. As there've been so many problems and they agreed the dish was put up poorly and ridiculously high they've given me the callouts free so far. Now they say the dish has rusted and needs to be replaced before it falls down... but they no longer insure their engineers to go climb up that far up the house anymore and a new dish and fitting will apparently cost a fortune. Also if I'd had to pay for the 8 callouts it wouldve cost be 1000 quid on top of my monthly charge just to maintain my tv. So I've decided I can't afford it. Is UPC the only other alternative to sky that offers record and pause etc?

An Tarbh

I've had a Samsung tv since March and have no issues with UPC.

If you're a sports fan the big plus for UPC is that Setanta Ireland and ESPN are part of the Max/Select pack, something which costs €28 extra with Sky at full price.

Mountjoy Mugger

If you have a Samsung TV, it means you have already decided to compromise on quality.

djimi

If you are used to Sky for TV then, installation issues aside, you will notice a quite serious drop in the quality of service on UPC. Lack of HD channels, substandard equipment (including a barely functioning EPG on the HD box), and (in my opinion) and poorer quality SD signal when watching on a LCD TV.

You sound like you have had a torrid time with Sky and to be honest I dont blame you for looking at changing service, but my advise would be to find someone you know who has UPC running on a similar TV to your own and spend a little time playing with their box to ensure that you are aware and happy with the differences between UPC and Sky.

blindsider

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I was all set to sign up with them tomorrow but after looking through the threads here I'm having serious second thoughts.

I don't think I could stand a very slow navigation on the tv.
Do the record and live pause & rewind function work well?
I have a samsung LCD tv. Sounds like there's alot of trouble with them and UPC.Is this generally the experience?
Anyone want to try and convince me signing up is a good idea?:o

I can only share my experiences. I have never been a Sky customer and I have no allegiance to UPC.

We have UPC triple play - phone, 5Mb bb and the Digital+ Max service.

We are v happy. No outages in 19 months. TV Navigation gets slow after ca. 1 week - plug out the box for 10 mins and it's perfect again. The EPG is slower than Sky - but it works. HD channels are fine - but I don't get upset by having to watch sth in standard view.

I have Steanta and ESPN (3 channels) which I like - I refuse to pay for Sky sports or movies.

I notice Sky reception can be dodgy in bad weather - never happens with UPC.

BB is excellent - best in the business IMO. Phone is good, no issues.

HTH.

dunworth1

i also have no problem with upc we have tv phone and broadband all work fine
hardly ever down

the reason why most of the thread are negative is because only people that have problems will come to this site and the majority of people that are happy have no need to come on here that is why most of the threads are negative about upc.

remember you have a 7 day cooling off period which means if your not happy and dont like it you can cancel with no penalty

Infoanon

dunworth1 wrote: »

the reason why most of the thread are negative is because only people that have problems will come to this site and the majority of people that are happy have no need to come on here that is why most of the threads are negative about upc.

Who are these majority of people that are happy with UPC ???!!!

Yes broadband is good
Customer service is appalling (well documented on this board and in other media)
Software updates in the last year have resulted in complete loss of service across the network / collapse of certain stb models
Fewer channels then SKY
HD service that is unavailable in many areas
HD service that is significantly inferior to Sky
Sales staff who make promises about services that will not be delivered

There the facts and personally I wish it was different but UPC seem to be unable to resolve their quality control issues ie software updates / customer service.

I did have a problem with the UPC box and my aunt with a Samsung did too. It seems the backlight in the TV interferes with the IR sensor and the workaround is to cover the IR sensor on the box with insulating tape.

Sounds like one of those things that affects some people and not others.

dunworth1

Infoanon wrote: »

Who are these majority of people that are happy with UPC ???!!!

people are happy with upc or they wouldn't have so many customers.
or be still in business

and before someone says most have no chioce to be with upc thats complete bull no one is forcing them they can use an ariel get sky or rent/buy dvds etc.

djimi

dunworth1 wrote: »

people are happy with upc or they wouldn't have so many customers.
or be still in business

and before someone says most have no chioce to be with upc thats complete bull no one is forcing them they can use an ariel get sky or rent/buy dvds etc.

You see the problem is that it is not complete bull. Most apartment buildings do not allow Sky/FTA dishes to be put up and an ariel does not give you any channels that are worth watching, so if you are unlucky enough to live in an apartment building that allows a UPC monopoly then you literally have no choice if you want to have any kind of decent TV service.

In my case I want Sky Sports, Im not allowed to put up a dish to get Sky (which I would do in a heartbeat if I could) so I have no choice but to pay for UPC. Given how many people live in apartment buildings ruled by management companies Id say there are a lot of people who have UPC out of necessity rather than choice.

Infoanon

dunworth1 wrote: »

people are happy with upc or they wouldn't have so many customers.
or be still in business

and before someone says most have no chioce to be with upc thats complete bull no one is forcing them they can use an ariel get sky or rent/buy dvds etc.

1) Many People don't have a choice - thats a Fact and suggesting that people should buy DVDs as a replacement for a TV service is a bit weak.
2) Remind me what service came out on top of worst customer service survey on RTE ?
3)UPC have customers in the same way that the ESB retain customers despite Bord Gais being cheaper.

The question posed was 'is anyone very happy with the UPC digital tv service' and the issues I listed above is my experience (and it appears many others) of the UPC service.

dunworth1

Infoanon wrote: »

1) Many People don't have a choice - thats a Fact and suggesting that people should buy DVDs as a replacement for a TV service is a bit weak.

as i've said already no one is being forced to have upc so they do have a choice.

you can confront the management with support from all the residents in the building requesting to get a sky community dish stating that the current tv service is not acceptable . i have known people that have done this.

why not almost everything thats on tv is on dvd and with no ads.
and for sports you can always go to a pub.

djimi

dunworth1 wrote: »

as i've said already no one is being forced to have upc so they do have a choice.

you can confront the management with support from all the residents in the building requesting to get a sky community dish stating that the current tv service is not acceptable . i have known people that have done this.

why not almost everything thats on tv is on dvd and with no ads.
and for sports you can always go to a pub.

Not many pubs in Ireland show cricket.

I want to watch TV shows when they are current, not several months later.

Communal dishes are quite expensive and the idea is generally not very well received in a lot of apartment blocks from what I have seen.

dunworth1

djimi wrote: »

Not many pubs in Ireland show cricket.

I want to watch TV shows when they are current, not several months later.

Communal dishes are quite expensive and the idea is generally not very well received in a lot of apartment blocks from what I have seen.

i really didnt start out to begin an argument
i was just stating that the majority of people who come on here have problems
with their service and that the people that have no problem and that may be happy with it are not on boards.

people have different opinions on how they feel about the service that they are receiving there just as many people that complain about sky
and that they prefer upc to sky.

its a personal thing people will stick with what meets their needs and are happy with it

patrickc

heres my opinion as someone who was with sky for 5 years and moved to upc 2months ago.

the broadband is great.
the phone we had one or two outages but they said that was a local issue and has been grand since that.

the tv, i have the package which incorporates the free espn and setanta I like my sports so happy with that.
for the first 2/3 weeks the EPG was really slow, after numerous phone calls they sent an update through the box and thankfully it's alot better since, it's slower to navigate than sky but is liveable with. during that 2/3 weeks also we had alot of interference with the signal, but that update also sorted that.

sometimes if you pause a programme and play it again the dubbing can be out, annoying but just pause and play and that solves that.

overall now that they've sorted the initial problems I'm happy with UPC, and value for money for the phone/BB/tv is brilliant, especially with purse strings tight.

_Whimsical_

Thanks very much everyone for the replies. Its seems to be a mixed bag of opinion but at least its not majorly negative. I think I'll give it a try. I've been hooking up the laptop to the TV to watch stuff streaming but as I'm not the only one who uses the laptop that isn't going to be feasible solution to the no tv issue for long! I think I'll try the 25 euro package and cross my fingers!

It's a pity they stick you with a year long contract from the get go. We really do need some more competition in these services in Ireland.

Again the help is much appreciated .

dunworth1

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Thanks very much everyone for the replies. Its seems to be a mixed bag of opinion but at least its not majorly negative. I think I'll give it a try. I've been hooking up the laptop to the TV to watch stuff streaming but as I'm not the only one who uses the laptop that isn't going to be feasible solution to the no tv issue for long! I think I'll try the 25 euro package and cross my fingers!

It's a pity they stick you with a year long contract from the get go. We really do need some more competition in these services in Ireland.

Again the help is much appreciated .

as i said aleady earlier you have a 7 day cooling off period

djimi

dunworth1 wrote: »

i really didnt start out to begin an argument
i was just stating that the majority of people who come on here have problems
with their service and that the people that have no problem and that may be happy with it are not on boards.

people have different opinions on how they feel about the service that they are receiving there just as many people that complain about sky
and that they prefer upc to sky.

its a personal thing people will stick with what meets their needs and are happy with it

I agree with you completely; the problem with internet forums is that people are a lot more likely to come online when they have a problem to complain about than when they are perfectly happy, so opinions tend to be lobsided and the majority voice should not always be taken as gospel.

I also agree that peoples experience of any service can vary; sometimes due to differing levels of service, differing equipement or differing expectations. Personally I am coming from being a long time happy Sky customer, and my opinion of UPC is that their equipment and service when it comes to TV is quite a way behind Sky. Others may find it perfectly acceptable, and that is fine too. If my second box (standard digital box running into a CRT TV) was my only UPC box then I too would probably be perfectly happy as the picture is quite acceptable on a CRT TV and the EPG seems faster on the non-HD box compared to the HD box. But I find the picture quality of the SD channels to be poor thru the HD box and the EPG to be very slow, and many others seem to feel that way as well (certainly about the EPG issue).

I wasnt really trying to start an arguement either; I was simply responding to your comment that people have other options with regards TV service, which in a lot of cases simply is not true. A lot of apartment buildings (the majority from what I can see) are pre-wired for UPC, and given that they do not allow dishes to be put up this means that the only option available for a proper TV service (ie more than just the Irish channels) is UPC. The only choice you have is UPC or no TV other than RTE.

angel01

I must say I am very happy with UPC, I find they are great value, I myself have a HD+ box and I haven't had any issues. I find the channels are good, I am on a digital max package and I think they are really good. I have both TV & Broadband with them and have no problems on either. If I do have an issue, I contact them via twitter (@weareupc) and they ring me back quickly and all issues are fixed.

No problems at all here, happy as Larry in fact

mollser

I'm with UPC and have often considered going with Sky. There is no doubt that sky is a better service, but you do pay a considerable premium over UPC for that.

Everyone agrees that UPC's HD offering is poor compared to Sky, however they don't charge any extra for it over and above the €5 charge for the recordable box. Sky's €15 for their HD is quite frankly horrifying, and I personally would never pay that.

And after 6 years of being a happy sky sports subscriber, it got cancelled 6 months ago and there has been only one weekend I wanted it back, for Heino Cup rugby. The €408 per year saved here alone is justification enough. The big big advantage with UPC for me is the free ESPN and Setanta built into their top package, between these and the stuff on free tele it is more than enough sport for me. (caveat - no interest in premiership). Here there are huge savings over $ky.

And as for Sky having more channels - give me a break, those are in the main utter tosh and I think UPC are better for not having 50 x Angel TV channels.

The other big plus with UPC is the basic analogue service pumped around the rest of the house for free. The 17 odd channels in the bed room is plenty for us, something i wouldn't like to be paying sky another €10 for.

But if you can justify spending the big money on your tele, sky would be the way to go.

UPC's broadband is savage - just downgraded to the basic package, giving 8mb a month and 125gb a month monthly allowance for €25 pm - and consistently rock solid speed.

Kristopherus

I was a sky customer for 15+ years. Had the top package with Sky Sports (no movies). I dumped Sky in August and got UPC on mmds. I have to say so far its the best decision I made in a long time. I have the Digital Max & Sky Sports and am saving €40 + per month on the Sky equivalent. I have no hesitation in recommending UPC, based on my experience.

icdg

I'm reasonably happy with UPC Digital. It does have its advantages over Sky:

- Smarter positioning of the UK terrestrial channels - The BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 are together and are at the top of the EPG, just after the Irish channels.
- BBC Three, Four, News Channel, World all on the EPG. UTV, ITV 2, 3, 4 all on the EPG. All national BBC radio services on the EPG.
- A lot cheaper for sports fans. Setanta Ireland included in all packages. ESPN included in all but the very basic digital package. That means, assuming you're taking the Max pack, you only need to subscribe to Sky Sports to get all the premium sports channels (except Setanta Sports 1).

Against that, you do have to weigh up the disadvantages
- The slowest EPG in the West, since the last major software update. Seriously, I'm not sure how much usability testing it went through, as it is slow with a capital S. I don't actually use the main EPG much due to this, but DVR users would probably find it a real headache.
- No red button (except, er, on Euronews). This is the biggest disadvantage. You miss out on some Sky Sports content (such as Champions League multiscreen and some ERC matches). Also services such as Sky News Active and BBC Red Button.
- A lot less channels. BUT - a lot of the channels missing from UPC are of the shopping/dubious variety. Among the ones you might miss, are Challenge TV, Fox News, Channel 5, Bravo 2, LivingIt, and the CBS branded channels. But most of the other major channels are on UPC.

Personally, I'm quite happy with the UPC TV service overall. It gives me all the major UK channels and a good lot of sports (two live Barclays Premier League games most week and plenty of rugby) without having to shell out for Sky.

Kristopherus

I find the text (aertel) works better on UPC. On multiple pages you can scroll at your leisure through the pages. None of that annoying jumping from page 1 to 3 etc:)

Groucho2000

One plus that UPC has over sky is that when you record an episode it will list the series/episode number as well as the episode name. Sky does not seem to be as good at that.