Since TopTV became StarSat last year I haven't spoken to any subscribers who are positive about the platform. It had already started happening before the change of name but the name change really marked the beginning of the end for many people.
You may remember I wrote about a friend of mine who was so fed-up she literally exploded with "
I hate StarSat!" when we spoke about it.
Between then and now complaints continue to abound. StarSat's
Facebook page is a post-it board of anger and disappointment and viewers keep writing to us at TVSA with complaints about the platform.
Earlier this week we received a letter from Wayne titled "What's Up With StarSat?" and it highlighted many of the problems and complaints people are having - including the lack of answers provided by StarSat.
This from Wayne about it: "The question is what are we as paying subscribers supposed to do? At the moment this platform has been bogged under major technical problems. Many subscribers are missing channels and some do not receive any signal. The facebook wall of Starsat is flooded with complaints and all they can do is reply to these very serious complaints with generic answers. Nothing is honest and nothing is new."
So. I decided to get in touch with StarSat to see if we could get non-generic answers to some of the questions everyone's been asking. StarSat have answered with these answers ... too generic or not? You be the judge.
As you'll see ... I give my take beneath the answers:
Q: What's happening with FOX Movies? The channel was supposed to be added to the platform but hasn't been?
StarSat: We expect to add Fox Movies imminently. We have been told that the agreement will be effected any day now. Unfortunately we haven’t been given a fixed date.
My take: They should have never have said that the channel's coming until the agreement was sorted out! Wayne, in his message to us, specifically said that StarSat's broken promises need to exposed and it was clear that he felt very strongly about this. It made me feel strongly about it too!
It's beyond ridiculous that they advertise and promote things before all of the business has been finalised. They made this post back in February:
Clearly they need to do something about the spelling on their Facebook page and they need to stop over-promising and under-delivering. The key to keeping customers happy is to under-promise and over-deliver - you'd think they'd know that!
It isn't only FOX Movies that they've done it with, they've done it with lots of other channels too, including e.tv's new bouquet of channels, eKasi+ etc. which haven't materialised.
This was posted on the Facebook page back in February and nothing's happened since:
Subscribers are feeling that they're being sold promises instead of reality so it's no wonder people are livid.
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Q: Why is there no replacement channel for the loss of TLC?
StarSat: We have still to secure a suitable replacement for TLC - unfortunately there are not many channels out there that are similar to this channel. It is not an easy channel to replace. We await feedback from our acquisition team in Beijing.
My take: This really highlights what a big loss the channel is for the platform. Ultimately the real problem is that StarSat wasn't able to retain the channel in the face of the competition from DStv.
They need to make a creative plan pronto and that's
not
what they seem to be doing because it's been months now. They should consider ways of offering something else that's unique and their own e.g. launch a local channel with shows by subscribers or something. Alternatively they could create their own channel made up of addictive international reality shows.
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Q: What's going on with the reappearance and disappearance of FOX Crime?
StarSat: FOXCrime has been experiencing technical problems from the delivery site.The channel is definitely still on the platform.
My take: Why aren't these same technical problems affecting the channel on DStv too? This channel's
so important to StarSat as a competitive tool so it should have top priority when it comes to being maintained i.e. whoever's responsible needs to lose an eye if it goes down.
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Q: What’s being done about the numerous technical problems that cause the disappearance of channels?
StarSat: The technical problems have been varied but they are being sorted out one-by-one. This includes problems with the early TopTV installations, where problems are being experienced with the LNB. If they have not done so yet, subscribers who experience these problems should call 086 086 STAR/7827 for assistance.
My take: What does one say to this, except "Okay".? It's one of the nasty impacts of the technological revolution, that one has to phone tollfree numbers and almost go mad as a result.
What one wants as a customer is needing to call that number as
little as possible. TV's supposed to be entertaining and a stress-reliever that helps you escape from daily life so needing to call and call sucks.
Ultimately it comes down to: "Is it worth the effort or not?"
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Q: Why is there so much Chinese language content for a South African market?
StarSat: There is a package that is targeting specifically the recent Chinese immigrants in South Africa. The other Chinese channels are in English.
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Q: Which channels are HD and which aren't?
StarSat: We have two HD channels on the platform at present. NBA TV (which is broadcasted both in SD and HD versions) and Star Bollywood HD (which is a different channel to Star Bollywood SD - in the Special or basic bouquet.) We anticipate that increasingly channels in future will be in HD format.
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So, do you have StarSat? What do you think of their answers?