After emails to both TSN and my provider, Starchoice, I have some potentially brutal news for the Canadian racing fan. First, TSN promised an email reply but am yet to receive one. Starchoice did, however, email me informing me that no provider would have TSN alt available to them by the end of this month. Starchoice was just one of the first to make it unavailable. I'm sure it has something to do with mobil's explanation earlier on in the thread. Here is my response from Starchoice with my original complaint.
I am emailing to ask a question regarding the TSN alternate channel 401 of your channel line-up. I realized that channel 401 was no longer accepted by my receiver on Saturday the 9th of August. I called the Starchoice programming department to enquire and was told that there was a problem with the channel and it was being worked on. I was satisfied with that but realized the channel was still not available the following day. Thinking programming's answer was not exactly honest I contacted Starchoice tech support and was given two other explanations. First I was told that NASCAR ( it was the NASCAR race that I wanted to watch ) had decided that TSN was not allowed to show the feed on that channel and if I wanted to watch the race I had to order channels 440-445 to see it. That is an out and out lie as these channels are only car specific channels, not full coverage of the race. Obviously just a ploy to get me to buy some programming. Besides, if NASCAR had decided to blackout the race I would still be able to access channel 401, I would just have no picture. When I questioned the tech person about this fact they totally changed their story to TSN is no longer offering that channel. That again is untrue as I know they still have a schedule for TSN alternate on their website. I also know that many COGECO cable customers are still able to access the channel. My question is, what one of the three stories, if any, are true? I have found some evidence that there has been a conflict between TSN and many of the service providers, Starchoice being one of them, over acceptance of a new TSN2 channel. Because of this disagreement, service providers have dropped the TSN alt channel. Is this the case? If so, why did you not disclose this service disruption to your customers? You are very up front with price increases. I would also appreciate Starchoice informing their technical and programming departments so I don't get lip service when I call to ask a simple question. The total lack of professionalism and more importantly, lack of honesty has me rethinking my many years of loyalty to Starchoice for my satelite needs. It is not a wonder Starchoice, Bell and many other suppliers are losing some of your market share to the US providers. You may be counting me as one of them in the very near future.
Stachoice Reply
Thank you for taking the time to contact us!
We apologize for the level of customer service you have received. We can assure you that this is not a common practice as Star Choice prides itself in exceptional customer service.
We do not want you to think that you are in no way a valued Star Choice customer and we appreciate your business with Star Choice. We do also apologize for the inconvenience the removal of the TSN Alternate channel may have caused. We apologize for you not being informed of this change prior. We have escalated this off to our senior management.
TSN has discontinued their alternate feed, channel 401. Though we may have been one of the first to remove it, by the end of this month, all service providers will not be carrying this channel as broadcasting ceases.
TSN is in process of creating a new channel aimed at replacing their alternative feed. We are in negotiations with TSN regarding adding this channel to our line up, however we are waiting to hear what programming they will offer on this new feed to make sure we continue to offer our customers good value for their dollar. To our knowledge, no other service provider has reached an agreement with TSN regarding their new channel offering so it's difficult for us to provide any details about what the future will hold.
Please keep a look out for any new information in regards to this on our website at
www.starchoice.com or TSN's website at
www.tsn.ca.
Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Please also include all previous emails with your replies.
Thank you for choosing Star Choice,
Administration Team
Notice the red text. Obviously a mistake but does that not say I am not a valued customer?
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=8108.msg50735#msg50735
