8/21/2007

The number one hit on this blog today ? "Cancelling Setanta Sports"


After my previous postings on the subject of Setanta Sports, when I received an e-mail from a senior member of staff in response claiming things were getting better, I expected the number of hits from people searching under the term "Setanta Sports Problems" to drop. It didn't, until today, when the favourite search term suddenly changed to "cancelling Setanta Sports".

Somebody at Setanta really needs to get their backside kicked for the poor customer service they are offering there. It is clear that lots of their customers are deeply unhappy, emails are not being answered and lots of people regret making the choice to go with Setanta.
Update - Statement from Setanta Sports received by e-mail to me.
Dear All,
It is disheartening to see so many negative comments when we are improving so quickly. Believe me, I do undertsand what it is like to be waiting on the phone for long durations of time only to end up talking to an inexperienced agent - we've all been there and as per previous emails, its not good enough and I offer no excuses.We are indeed the new boys and contrary to how we are perceived, we do want to offer a world class service and are moving very quickly in that direction. However, as simple as it may sound, increasing headcount is not something that can generally be done at a flick of a switch and yes, once we get these guys on board they not only have to be trained but supported in order to get up to speed - again, that does take time.Those of you on the Satellite platform would have noticed a much quicker call answering time over recent weeks with the experience starting to show through with Agents. Its far from perfect I agree but I would ask you to support us - If you believe we are getting better and doing that relatively quickly then stand by us - we will get this right!On Freeview, it has taken us a little longer to get the right and are days away from having sufficient people on board at this stage - again, it will take a couple of weeks for them to gain the necessary experience.The anonymous post re cam and card issues posted on 21st August, can you pass me your details please (please pass via Nich , who I'm sure will be kind enough to relay to me) as I would like to resolve asap.
RegardsMatthew - Setanta Sports

6 comments:

Tim said...

Re: that ad

I'll say this for Setanta... they have their knockers.

badum-tish!

Unknown said...

I Have been subscribed to setanta for about 5 months using an old on digital box. Quite good service even if the picture does seem to break down at a corner or free kick. At the beginning of July I got a new card for the new season.
However this card does not work checked out their website which stated quite clearly you can still see setanta on old On digital boxes, just tell them and they will send the correct card which I did. After several hour long calls to setanta who kept telling me to tune to channel 5 and leave over night,. nothing and there customer representatives really didnt seem to have a clue. On about my 5th call I spoke to someone who seemed to know what he was talking about. He then tells me the problem is with my old on digital box as they no longer work with setanta. I pointed out what there web page says and he apologised saying it would be updated soon. However as I was misled they would send me a freeview box with slot so I could continue to watch setanta. I was assured I would have within 3-5 days. Three weeks later I have received nothing though they are still deducting subscription from my bank account. I called again after half an hour was told there is a great backlog of people in my position and it could be in excess of two months before I get a box though they will continue to charge me for a service I cannot see. I said that this was not good enough and I would like to know if I can have my subscription refunded. I was told thats up to you if you want to cancel but I cant do it to will have to write to our department in Kircaldy. I am at this point about to log in to my bank account and cancel the direct debit as I think I have paid around £60 so far and viewed nothing. Surely this is fraud offering a service they cant or wont provide because they have a backlog. So if any one else wants to try for a refund or cancel rather than wait til probably xmas here is their address.
Setanta on Freeview
PO Box 800
Kirkcaldy
KY2 6WD

Anonymous said...

I'm in the same position as Vivienne. I got a new card without warning which I tried to get working for a week on my OnDigital box which worked fine with Setanta since it started on freeview.

When I phoned up I was told I would recieve a new box within 3-5 working days, still nothing arrived. My signal is reactivated on my old card and works for a week and then it is switched off and I need to waste more time and money to get it reactivated for another week.

We have have had no explaination as to why new cards have had to be issued when the old ones still clearly work.

I've just called twice tonight to be reactivated and it hasn't worked.

Considering what we get on freeview from Setanta for the same price as 8 channels on satellite it is very poor service and very bad treatment of existing customers. I do feel taken for granted.

I will also be writing to the SPL, trading standards about this as I'm sure you can't just change the conditions without notice. I will be writing asking for my money back
for the two months I've paid in advance for a service I am not getting.

emma said...

hi all.
i am glad to here that i am not the only person who is having problems with this company,as far as a concerned it is the worst thing i ever ever spent my money on.
got my card on friday and had nothing but a black screen since.after about 7 calls to them lasting anywhere from 20 mins to 30 mins as you might expect getting feed up now (I COULD USE A STRONGER WORD BUT THOUGHT I BETTER KEEP IT CLEAN).
so in the morning i will be calling for the last time to tell them they can stick it where the sun dont shine......
i would like to know please if anyone else is having the same prob as me.....

Anonymous said...

after a flustrating month I have now cancelled my subscription and really this is a shame because the coverage was good, I say WAS because for no apparent reason I have lost my signal ( mid match last night 10-09-07) spent £2.50 on the phone last night they could not tell my why it had been shut off but thought there was a theci problem !!!! so told me to wait till this morning

So today 11-09-07 and after another £3.70 (37 mins) on the phone and still no reason why I had no signal, I was put through to cancellations, and in fairness was treated well the operator was very effiecient, I got my cancellation sorted, although I still have no signal and no one seems to have a clue why not, my service is to be terminated on the 11-10-07 and no further payments will be taken, I will cancel my DD just to be sure, well this has been a very expensive experience as detailed below

Argos Setanta Package inc CAM, set up charge and first month £49.99
Setanta on activation inc extra month, another set up charge £29.98
Phone calls at 10p per min 6 calls in total £12.70
Total £92 .67

All this got me was 32 days viewing mainly 4 Prem Games
This works out at £23.17 per game so I am very fed up but decieded to cut my losses before I loose any more money,

footie fans need a strong Setanta to rival Sky and there are no shortage of suppoters willing to join, but I would urge any one thinking of giving Setanta a try to wait till they get soted out, they cannot cope with the demand and the Theci stuff on Freeview is still work in progress (very flacky) so by my calculation I am owed £19.98 overcharge (they say they have not recieved my letter) and the email system is 3 weeks backlog I will write this off to experience

And to rub salt in my wound I still have no signal and all the Support folk tell me is to keep switching my telly off and on and keep rubbing the card on my jumper, you really just couldnt make this up could you !!!!!!!!!!

Hope you lot have a better experienc than me ( keep the faith)
Ken

Anonymous said...

I'm in the United States (yes, an expat) and started my subscription with Setanta through DirecTV. I was pretty happy for a while when I started to notice that live matches were showed the day after. Having subscribed to Setanta through DirecTV made it very easy to get rid of the "service." It's not so easy to get football, rugby and cricket over here :(

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