Problems with Setanta Sports - How did you get here ?

I am consistently getting up to five hits every day to my blog under the Google search "problems with Setanta Sports". Which despite its launch over six months ago, seems still to be causing all sorts of problems to its customers.

Often when looking through how people have got to this blog via Google or other search engines, I feel they might have got here by mistake and ended up linking to a story that they were not actually interested in. However, as can be seen from the moe than 60 comments left on THIS story about Setanta Sports and their problems, it appears that this blog has, at least, allowed people to let of some steam over the uselessness of Setanta's customer support.

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

The Number one "hit" on this blog from search engines today

The number one hit on search engines today to this blog is the search phrase "Setanta Sports problems".

CanI refer anyone who does not know what is meant by this to this posting HERE.

It seems that Setanta Sports are still not answering people's phone calls.

Oh dear. It looks like I made a wise choice sticking with Sky.

Problems with Setanta Sports ?

I wonder how many other people are suffering the same problem as a friend of mine.

He has just received his Setanta Sports viewing card so he can watch Live Premiership Football on his Top-Up TV equipped Freeview box on Saturday, however, he has to phone Setanta Sports to get everything to work.

What's the problem ? He spent 5 hours on the phone this evening and never got anyone from Setanta to answer as apparently "Due to high call volumes, etc, etc".

With their football coverage starting on Saturday, I guess they have lots of phone calls being made to them at the moment. But is is hardly an auspicious start to their new service.

When Setanta set themselves up as an alternative to Sky, I think most customers thought they'd try and rival SKY's sports coverage, not their awful customer care.

UPDATE - Setanta Sports have contacted me about this and have issued a response (see comments). Any problems you might have, then send them here as Setanta are looking at the comments and are, I believe, trying their best.

UPDATE 2 - A letter from Setanta Sports

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