"Return set-top boxes or pay £39.99"

DMC

I know what I'd do. <blows raspberry and ups to fingers >

Man, West Briton, what now?

Return set-top boxes or pay £39.99, ITV customers told

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,857145,00.html

John Cassy, media business correspondent
Tuesday December 10, 2002
The Guardian

Up to one million former subscribers to the defunct pay television business ITV Digital are to be told to return their set-top boxes or pay £39.99.

Liquidators Grant Thornton will start sending letters to former customers of the digital terrestrial television firm tomorrow saying that the boxes were only loaned by ITV Digital and must be bought or returned.

The controversial move is an attempt to recoup some of the £1.24bn lost when the much maligned business collapsed in May.

At its height ITV Digital said it had 1.2m subscribers; liquidators believe there are 1m boxes still in existence.

However, many former subscribers are thought to have thrown away their boxes following the collapse of the service. Several hundred thousand other consumers are understood to be using their boxes to receive Freeview, the replacement service for ITV Digital which offers 29 channels free.

In an unexpected move, joint liquidator Malcolm Shierson, a partner at Grant Thornton, will send the letters out under ONdigital branding, the former name of ITV Digital. The Guardian understands the name of ITV Digital was changed back to ONdigital on October 17, the day before the business was placed into liquidation.

It is thought the move was taken to minimise further embarrassment for ITV and its two biggest shareholders Carlton and Granada.

The letters from Grant Thornton will encourage former subscribers to buy their boxes and carry on receiving Freeview. The liquidators have pledged to collect unwanted boxes free of charge.

Under the terms of ITV Digital's customer service agreement, boxes were given away free to people taking out long-term subscriptions. However, customers were obliged to return the boxes if they cancelled their payments.

Creditors to the ITV Digital are sceptical about how many boxes will be bought or returned. "We're not exactly holding our breath for a big cheque," said an executive at one organisation owed several million pounds.

Creditors have been warned they are likely to recover 2p in the pound. Organisations including the Football League, Carlton, Granada and BSkyB are owed a total of £1.24bn. A total of £27.3m has been raised so far through disposals.

ShaneOC

A friend of mine recently acquired an OnDigital box. I will be checking to see if there is any way of picking up a signal in Cork. The house is fairly high so you'd never know !!!

DMC

Ha ha!! Listen to this! Its from the Breakfast show on 5 Live this morning..... the liquidator almost cracks up and whines "I want the boxes back!" Classic journalism from VD!

icdg

The final twist of a sad story...

And the company is for some reason now called Ondigital 1998 plc. (Confirmed with the UK CRO website, name change from "ITV Digital plc" to "Ondigital 1998 plc" on 17th October 2002). To not damage the ITV brand any further, apparently.

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by icdg
The final twist of a sad story...

And the company is for some reason now called Ondigital 1998 plc. (Confirmed with the UK CRO website, name change from "ITV Digital plc" to "Ondigital 1998 plc" on 17th October 2002). To not damage the ITV brand any further, apparently.

I see they have not sent in their accounts to the CRO:) They are in danger of being struck off LOL!

icdg

Given that they are insolvent and in liquidation, I think filing accounts is the last of their worries!

I'm shivering in me boots...but not because, ITV digitals liquidator's goin a knocking at the door:eek:
But because , I've just been on the mountain behind me here and it is snowing a blizzard up there
I think thats where I'll hide the box:D
mm

Rebel18

What will happen who puchased their pre paid boxes or am i just confused?

Wasnt there set top boxes being sold second hand when on digital collapsed?

DMC

Anyone who had a later contract/agreement like that with ITV Digital, i.e. those who signed up in earlier this year, should be fine. The box is yours.

DMC

Hehe, good ol' Monkey.... Are you up for it Man?

http://media.guardian.co.uk/diary/

"Monkey was so intrigued (and ever so slightly amused) by the prospect of hundreds of repo vans charging around the country trying to pick up unwanted, unloved and abandoned ITV Digital boxes that we wanted to investigate further. Liquidators Baker Tilley are sending out letters to an estimated 800,000 former ITV Digital customers telling them to fork out 40 quid or hand over their box. Picking them up is surely going to be a logistical nightmare and one that Monkey is only too keen to chronicle. So if you've arranged for them to come and pick up your unwanted box, we want to hear from you. Having described the demise of ITV Digital in excruciating detail, MediaGuardian.co.uk would like to be there when these boxes go to meet their maker - only to be reconditioned and flogged back to punters. So we want to hear from anyone who makes an appointment with the Repo Man. We will then come to your house and chronicle this unique moment in British broadcast history in a minute-by-minute special Repossession Watch. Anyone who wants to participate email us at monkey@mediaguardian.co.uk . "

West Briton

DMC asks what would I do if, by some quirk, a particularly dedicated and downright mad drone from the liquidators asked me for my box back or else pay GBP 39.99?

Hmm. The answer to that I think most sentient contributors to this board could guess.

DMC

Well, its not likely that they'll cross the north-west frontier and get it back, is it?

/DMC tightens banjo strings....

Originally posted by DMC
Hehe, good ol' Monkey.... Are you up for it Man?

http://media.guardian.co.uk/diary/

"Monkey was so intrigued (and ever so slightly amused) by the prospect of hundreds of repo vans charging around the country trying to pick up unwanted, unloved and abandoned ITV Digital boxes that we wanted to investigate further. Liquidators Baker Tilley are sending out letters to an estimated 800,000 former ITV Digital customers telling them to fork out 40 quid or hand over their box. Picking them up is surely going to be a logistical nightmare and one that Monkey is only too keen to chronicle. So if you've arranged for them to come and pick up your unwanted box, we want to hear from you. Having described the demise of ITV Digital in excruciating detail, MediaGuardian.co.uk would like to be there when these boxes go to meet their maker - only to be reconditioned and flogged back to punters. So we want to hear from anyone who makes an appointment with the Repo Man. We will then come to your house and chronicle this unique moment in British broadcast history in a minute-by-minute special Repossession Watch. Anyone who wants to participate email us at monkey@mediaguardian.co.uk . "

LOL They better have wellingtons if they're going up that mountain, I think I'll wait for REPO man to contact me first though:eek:
mm

well, it looks like, I can take my box out of hiding now, as Granada and Carlton, have just announced today that they will pay the liquidators, the £40 stg per box that is out there.

So former ITV digital customers can keep their boxes after all

mm

DMC

Take a bow, Victoria Derbyshire. Her interview of the repo man on Five Live alone blew this to smithereens.

So, Carlton and Granada are paying the liquidators the £39.99 necessary to recoup the losses of the collapse of ITV Digital. No doubt this money will be going to the creditors, who include...... Carlton and Granada.

Ah yes.

Richard

Originally posted by DMC
Take a bow, Victoria Derbyshire. Her interview of the repo man on Five Live alone blew this to smithereens.

So, Carlton and Granada are paying the liquidators the £39.99 necessary to recoup the losses of the collapse of ITV Digital. No doubt this money will be going to the creditors, who include...... Carlton and Granada.

Ah yes.

Well, C&G are only paying about £3 a box. But I suspect that's a lot more than they would have got overall had they relied on the public to pay up.