UPC Not Showing German Grand Prix - Act Now

hoarder

http://www.upc.ie/television/?ps=paidsearch&CMP=paid_search_Digital_TV

Everybody go to this link, open a chat window and hound them about the F1 and maybe we can get it sorted in time for the race. They have admitted to me that they have made a mistake this morning not showing it

Lets everyone do it and see if we get anywhere. I am onto them now and not giving up until they literally turn off the chat box.

Charlie-Bravo

The chat isn't working! That was quick.

The simple solution is to give everyone access to Setanta Sports 1 for the duration of the race coverage but I can't see Setanta allowing that to happen. So pressure needs to come from UPC to Setanta to switch back the programming to have F1 on Setanta Ireland.

The press release of 8th of March this year is the tool to beat these guys with.

Veloce

This is a f*cking disgrace. BBC not showing either? Looks like the damn golf is on

delad

It says we will be back in a few minutes, in the chat. This is a fcuking disgrace, been looking forward to the race for the last 2 weeks. The fcuking golf is on about 3 other channels anyway. Cnuts.

Is there any other way to view the gp apart from the usual sh1tty ad-infested streams you usually have? I would pay about 5 euro for a decent hd stream with no ads and no interruptions and decent commentary, but no way I'm paying upc 15 euro for setanta 1 for the sake of a 2 hour race.

Northern Monkey

That's ulster bank and UPC both getting the bullet from me this month.

delad

I got through to someone on the chat and he told me to call the 1908 number to see if they could do anything for me. Got through and asked could I have the setanta 1 channel for a few hours at a reduced rate but they basically said no chance. Fcuk this, I'm cancelling upc.

hoarder

I got same on chat, then spoke to the rudest woman ever in UPC who told me that Setanta programmes are not their responsibility. I informed them of their press release and she just kept saying "My I repeat, Setanta programmes are not our responsibility". I said "are you refusing to tell me if you are breaking your promise" and she just said "may I repeat" again.

Absolute F*ing disgrace. I asked for a manager, she told me she would log a call. I said I wanted someone now, she said no. I asked when would the call back me, she didnt know. I told her the race was in an hour and I got "may I repeat" again. No care or interest

I think they have been caught out on this one in the background on something (maybe advertising or something) and the deal is to do nothing until the race is over and then hope it goes away

Spread the word, UPC are a promise breaking organisation which employ underhand tactics to avoid customer service issues and have zero regard for customer care.

After this I am getting rid - full stop. Absolutely fuming here this morning.

kirving

I wouldn't mind so much, but UPC jumped on the fact BBC weren't showing all races live, and used this to market their service.

Most likely a Setanta decision, but UPC should give us access to Setanta Sports 1 to keep their end of bargain.

http://support.upc.ie/app/answers/detail/a_id/393/~/formula-1-on-setanta-ireland Screenshot that link too.

Veloce

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I wouldn't mind so much, but UPC jumped on the fact BBC weren't showing all races live, and used this to market their service.

Most likely a Setanta decision, but UPC should give us access to Setanta Sports 1 to keep their end of bargain.

I've just sent a tweet to Setanta asking what the story is. Whether I'll hear back from the cnuts is a different story.

Rascasse

There's also a €10 downgrade fee with UPC so it will cost €25 just to get this race. I'm raging as I only saw mention of this in the other thread about 15 mins after their customer support closed on Friday. Only sales staff there till Monday and they can't/won't authorise a refund on the Setanta fee.

Currently I'm debating going into town and watching in a pub or taking a gamble on Setanta and hoping I get a refund of the €25.

Seriously considering getting Sky now. Nearly switched after Xmas, kicking myself now.

Edit: Also Setanta screwed up the Malaysia qualifying. Nothing but a black screen for the entire session. Time for UPC to get Sky F1.

kirving

Was just onto their Chat service, they just said that the gold was given priority. Not good enough, but there's no point going mad at a rep. I'll email someone higher up.

I wonder who else we can complain to?

i57dwun4yb1pt8

its on at 8 pm tonight , and 6 on bcc i think

so lock urself away until then.

looks like golf is more important to the corp elite

personally i think golfers are all vermin.

kryogen

Complain and protest with your wallets and leave. Sky is far superior

kirving

Yeah, but also more expensive...

This is the perfect excuse to get out of contract however.

Rascasse

Are they more expensive? When I looked at the start of the year for my channels (usual TV + Sky Sports) and keeping UPC broadband they were a few euro cheaper.

Couldn't be bothered with all the hassle of switching so didn't. Idiot.

kirving

Well, when you bring phone and broadband into the equation, they are yeah.

losthorizon

DaDumTish wrote: »

its on at 8 pm tonight , and 6 on bcc i think

so lock urself away until then.

looks like golf is more important to the corp elite

personally i think golfers are all vermin.

I think its actually on at 10.30pm on Setanta tonight!

Rascasse

Ah yeah, if you need multiroom then you need a phone line.

Decided to watch in a pub than risk not getting my €25 back.

delad

losthorizon wrote: »

I think its actually on at 10.30pm on Setanta tonight!

Yeah setanta aren't showing it until 10.30 despite the fact the golf is scheduled to end at 7. At least its on bbc 2 at 5.30 though.

Mena

Ahhh to hell with them, just ordered Sky :mad:

Autosport

Sky sports is free to everyone this weekend so if u have the F1 channel you can watch for free

Very lousy of Setanta/UPC, they said at the beginning of the season that they would be showing all the races live on Setanta.

losthorizon

delad wrote: »

Yeah setanta aren't showing it until 10.30 despite the fact the golf is scheduled to end at 7. At least its on bbc 2 at 5.30 though.

Its prolonged highlights though. I think the Setanta coverage at 10.30pm is the whole race.

dloob

Since I moved house I've been waiting for the contract to run out so I can dump the TV service.
Well now if they want a reason here it is.
At least their broadband is working well, ahem.

dastardly00

Rascasse wrote: »

Ah yeah, if you need multiroom then you need a phone line.

Decided to watch in a pub than risk not getting my €25 back.

I think it was best not to risk the €25!! Good chance they wouldn't refund you.

antodeco

Think I'll ring up and ask them to remove the connection that runs across my garden. They've nowhere else to put it, so should cost them a lot to dig up and run cables the long way

Brian CivilEng

Serious shooting themselves in the foot today from Setanta, I managed to see the race on Sky (free preview weekend) thankfully. Missed the superior Ben and DC, Martin doesn't seem to be the same anymore but apart from that decent enough coverage. Not worth an extra €40 odd a month mind, but if Setanta screw up their scheduling again next week I may have to reconsider.

hoodwinked

considering both eircom and sky have given us half price contracts at the moment upc arent that much cheaper, and we get all te races here,

can not believe UPC would leav people unable to view a race! :eek:

xxyyxx

hoodwinked wrote: »

can not believe UPC would leav people unable to view a race! :eek:

It was Setanta who made the schedule for their channel. People's anger should be with them.

Charlie-Bravo

xxyyxx wrote: »

It was Setanta who made the schedule for their channel. People's anger should be with them.

I disagree, UPC promised to show every race live F1 this year - we pay UPC for the service, not setanta. I hold UPC responsible for not upholding their side of the deal. :mad:

donspeekinglesh

I blame UPC too. They were advertising they carried coverage of all the f1races.
I'll be making a complaint to the ASAI tomorrow, and checking out Sky's offers.

dloob

astrofluff wrote: »

I disagree, UPC promised to show every race live F1 this year - we pay UPC for the service, not setanta. I hold UPC responsible for not upholding their side of the deal. :mad:

Exactly, UPC made a big deal out of it, all the F1 races live at no extra cost was the ad.
This has just reinforced by decision to drop their TV service once the contract is up.
Will keep the broadband though.

icdg

astrofluff wrote: »

I disagree, UPC promised to show every race live F1 this year - we pay UPC for the service, not setanta. I hold UPC responsible for not upholding their side of the deal. :mad:

UPC don't own Setanta, they couldn't force them to schedule the Grand Prix on Setanta Ireland. Nor do UPC own the TV rights to Formula One in Ireland. If they had unscrambled Setanta Sports 1 without Setanta's permission they would have been in breach of their own contract with Setanta.

UPC are probably just as mad at Setanta as everyone here is, who probably assured UPC that they would show all the races on Setanta Ireland. Setanta's motivation for not doing so in this case was probably the fact that the golf was live on BBC One and if golf fans had turned over to the BBC on the final day of the Open they would never have got them back. Formula One fans had nowhere to go - UPC doesn't carry Sky Sports F1 so Setanta Sports 1 (which I imagine has very little domestic subscribers on UPC) was the only channel on UPC showing the Grand Prix live. Captive audience vs audience who would go over to the BBC. Its not to justify it by any means - I was annoyed myself - but maybe an explanation as to why Setanta did it.

Rascasse

icdg wrote: »

UPC don't own Setanta, they couldn't force them to schedule the Grand Prix on Setanta Ireland. Nor do UPC own the TV rights to Formula One in Ireland. If they had unscrambled Setanta Sports 1 without Setanta's permission they would have been in breach of their own contract with Setanta.

Thats fair, but surely it wouldn't be difficult for UPC to say to Setanta "Hey mind if we unscramble your channel for the day/2hrs?" thus not annoy both their customers.

The whole thing just smacks of incompetence and/or lack of regard for their customers. They didn't even let people know in advance on twitter - how hard is that?

guyfo

Just in case people here are changing to sky. If u watch f1 but dont really care about what the other sky sports channels have to offer DO NOT ORDER THE SKY SPORTS PACKAGE. Sky f1 hd comes on the hd package too. Its €10 pm but you get some good channels and its fantastic to watch f1 on a hd screen if u have it.

Charlie-Bravo

icdg wrote: »

UPC don't own Setanta, they couldn't force them to schedule the Grand Prix on Setanta Ireland. Nor do UPC own the TV rights to Formula One in Ireland. If they had unscrambled Setanta Sports 1 without Setanta's permission they would have been in breach of their own contract with Setanta.

UPC are probably just as mad at Setanta as everyone here is, who probably assured UPC that they would show all the races on Setanta Ireland. Setanta's motivation for not doing so in this case was probably the fact that the golf was live on BBC One and if golf fans had turned over to the BBC on the final day of the Open they would never have got them back. Formula One fans had nowhere to go - UPC doesn't carry Sky Sports F1 so Setanta Sports 1 (which I imagine has very little domestic subscribers on UPC) was the only channel on UPC showing the Grand Prix live. Captive audience vs audience who would go over to the BBC. Its not to justify it by any means - I was annoyed myself - but maybe an explanation as to why Setanta did it.

Fully appreciate the position here but UPC shouldn't go around giving an undertaking to provide something they couldn't. They have really let their F1 fan base down - they'll suffer worse from their error with this.

forzacalcio

Im not sure if any of ye know but you cal ALL leave UPC before July 31st. They are changing the terms and conditions by rasing prices so all you have to do is call up and cancel with no penalty!

Myrddin

As painful as it was to have to wait until half ten at night to watch the race, it's hard to put the blame on UPC. This is a Setanta fukc up, & yes, we were promised by UPC full F1 coverage...but they in turn were likely promised it too by Setanta.

The golf was on every second channel yesterday, on BBC with no ads I hear, why Setanta chose to show the F1 twelve hours late & let it run on untilo after midnight is nothing short of shocking.

Not to mention the constant, prolonged ad breaks...made the race a pain to watch. Completely missed the first run of pit stops, constantly taking the viewer out of the action & when we're returned, there's been changes in places & we've no idea why.

If anything, UPC's only crime is not being able to offer us the dedicated F1 channel & brokering some kind of deal with Sky. Because I'd gladly pay for it. Sky is too expensive, especially given I need multiroom. So please UPC...get your finger out please.

xxyyxx

astrofluff wrote: »

They have really let their F1 fan base down - they'll suffer worse from their error with this.

How many do you think are actually going to cancel because of something out of UPC's control? Let's get real about this.

Charlie-Bravo

Not many probably, because UPC offer triple play for a lot of people. Those of us who are dedicated F1 viewers may look to Sky (or FTA satellite from Germany or France) to get their coverage, especially when the rights come up in 2014 - Sky F1 may get the Irish market deal. But for 2013, will they 'promise' the same?!

For yesterday's race I had a back-up plan in place, e but I wasn't happy with being treated like this by UPC hence my complaint to them - looking forward to hearing what their response will be. I know its like flogging a dead horse after the event but they need to listen to their customers and in turn pull their weigh with Setanta to prevent a re-occurrence.

forzacalcio

Setanta confirmed t me today that this decision was made one month ago but will be GO GO GO for the rest of the season on Setanta Ireland

Rascasse

xxyyxx wrote: »

How many do you think are actually going to cancel because of something out of UPC's control? Let's get real about this.

It may or may not be many. I'd imagine it will depend on what BBC show next year and if UPC decide to get Sky F1 or not.

After half a season we have not seen the qualifying in Malaysia as, apparently, Setanta only have staff during office hours and some fool set up the system wrong the day before. We've also not seen the German GP as Setanta decided golf was more important and neither they nor UPC decided to make contingency plans.

Lets also be frank about Setanta's coverage - it's awful. They take the BBC feed and then randomly throw in adverts and cut coverage after the podium. No gridwalk, no interviews. Awful.

This is all the result of UPC not paying for Sky F1 as the UK cable companies did. They decided to wing it with Setanta to save a few quid.

I give UPC nearly €100 a month for TV+Sports+Broadband. Asking for them to have every F1 race to be shown live really isn't asking much.

If UPC go much longer without Sky F1 I can imagine many people, to whom F1 is important, leaving them and going to Sky.

Charlie-Bravo

Had a lovely call from UPC customer service about my complaint - again, just got the usual bull about it being outside their control. I told them my complaint was not with Setanta changing their scheduling, but of UPC's promise to give live coverage at no extra cost - their response: we'll let the marketing section know of the complaint!

I knew it would go nowhere, but if enough people kick up a stink, they won't want to have to deal with it again. So next year they'll not promise anything like it where it makes UPC look like fools for promising live coverage, and not make UPC customers look like mugs for believing them! :rolleyes:

Myrddin

UPC have apparently got some additional HD sport & movie content from Sky. Anyone know if the F1 channel might be available soon on UPC?

Northern Monkey

I don't think they have got the F1 in the new channels, which is a pain.

Here is a list of what has been added.

http://www.upc.ie/pdf/UPClaunches21newHDChannels%20.pdf

Myrddin

Northern Monkey wrote: »

I don't think they have got the F1 in the new channels, which is a pain.

Aw seriously? What a let down! Shocking having Setanta as the only option on UPC, I'd gladly pay for a proper channel

losthorizon

Suddenly my cable company has dropped Setanta and put on Setanta 1.

FFS!

macker22

the F1 this week is on setanta 1 again

donspeekinglesh

It is on BBC though, isn't it?

Charlie-Bravo

from looking at the listings the qualy and race are on Setanta Ireland. The practice is on Set.Sports1 on Friday. No FP3 coverage from what I can see.

Myrddin

donspeekinglesh wrote: »

It is on BBC though, isn't it?

I thought this was a Beeb covered race...please don't tell me its poxy Setanta for Spa?