I just signed up for Chorus Digital- should I be afraid?

ShaneOC

Originally posted by ozpass
Bloody Chorus, they just can't seem to get it right for more than 24 hours at a time! The engineer came round yesterday, spent 10 minutes unhooking all my AV equipment, declared the crummy quality "due to the antenna", plugged everything back in incorrectly (necessitating an hour of my time trying to sort it out again) before p***ing off again!

Why? The only connection that he should be worried about is the connection from the antenna into the STB and the scart from the STB to the television. Everything else is irrelevant to the signal quality.

Originally posted by ozpass
Utterly useless. There's also a mysterious charge of 76 Euro listed on my first bill. It would appear that far from offering me compensation (muck), I have actually been penalised for the aggravation I have suffered at their hands!

I suppose they're justified to a certain extent as their clueless shenanigans are offering more entertainment than the abstract jigsaw puzzle that is the picture on 'Discovery Channel' at the moment.:o

I would send the bill straight back to them with a copy of all the crap that they have sent you. Ask them when you will be receiving your €76 and also is there any chance of a couple of months free subscription.

ozpass

Why? The only connection that he should be worried about is the connection from the antenna into the STB and the scart from the STB to the television. Everything else is irrelevant to the signal quality.

Yeah, that occurred to me too. The problem is I use the VHS-Out SCART on the set top box to get S-Video output which goes into my AV amplifier. The AV amp then outputs S-Video to SCART-1 on my television. I think that the trained monkey that they sent to 'solve the problem' followed the wires wrong and pulled out the Dolby 5.1 optical lead from my DVD player out instead. Once he'd loused this up he got renewed confidence and started unplugging and re-plugging everything.

The S-Video output from the Sagem box gives astonishing definition on the centimetre square blocks and aftifacts on the 'Discovery Channel'.

The sound, oddly enough, is perfect though. I get clear stereo sound 24/7 and Pro-logic does a good job of pushing it round the 4 surround speakers.

I would send the bill straight back to them with a copy of all the crap that they have sent you. Ask them when you will be receiving your €76 and also is there any chance of a couple of months free subscription.

I'm considering this at the moment. There's certainly no way they're getting away with charging me extra for something I never received but I just don't have the mental strangth to endure a call to customer support at the moment. A few hours of meditation and I'll be ready.

ShaneOC

Have you tried connectint the more direct route, i.e. STB direct to TV. It shouldn't make a difference, but it might be worth trying.

Is there an option on any of the menus to check the signal strength and quality.

spongebob

It may help if you disaggregate your bill and the issues as follows and pursue each separately.

1. You paid for phone/tv rental the phone was installed a month late so you are due a refund for the first month for the phone portion of the bill, then no dispute...hopefully.

2. You paid the rest of the rental component for the TV. As you said yourself, the TV picture kinda appears in a digital soup with distorted pixellation but with OK sound. This affects some of the channels you normally watch but not others (am I an optimist here)

This results in a 25% loss of usage or a 50% loss of usage or a 60% loss of usage of the TV signal depending on your 'experience' which is up to you to quantify. This % is what you are entitled to by way of rebate, per month, untill they sort it out and give you what they said they would and that you pay for (aka a contract). Such a rebate applies until they fix the problem at which stage you go back onto full price.

3. Then there is the matter of the unreasonable number of visits to sort all this out together with the no shows from Chorus, each one of these costs you money which can be added up.

4. Finally there is the issue of an unqualified engineer tampering with the customers own equipment. Chorus are responsible for the equipment mentioned by Shane OC. If the engineer could show you a movin and groovin Discovery channel on a TV connected to the Chorus STB by SCART then all the rest would be YOUR problem because they had delivered a functional signal out the SCART from the STB. The engineer could not do so and fiddled with an optical connector belonging to the customer (which is none of Choruses business because they present ONLY on SCART) . In so doing he broke a system which belonged to the customer and still did not fix the problem. This proves that he is unqualified, Chorus are only supposed to send qualified people out according to their licence from the ODTR

5. There is the matter of a phantom charge appearing on the bill. This must be credited in the first instance before you go looking for the 4 specified compensation strands outlined above.

Have a mug of hot coffee and a box of fags beside the table!

M

ozpass

Yeah, that's been tried. The quality problem is bitstream/decoder related (blocks, artifacts etc.)

There is a menu that tells you signal strength, amongst other things. I posted all the details in a slightly older thread (in this forum) entitled Sagem ITD 4000.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58603

ShaneOC

And don't forget to have a wall placed near the phone so it is convenient for banging your head against.

spongebob

Failure by Chorus to address each of these matter is actionable in either

1. The small claims court

or

2. The ODTR

or both, especially Items 2,3,4

Just so ya know.

M

ozpass

If I were to charge Chorus for the number of fags and Espresso coffee that've been consumed as a direct result of their incompetence I'd probably get a year's free service!

4. Finally there is the issue of an unqualified engineer tampering with the customers own equipment. Chorus are responsible for the equipment mentioned by Shane OC. If the engineer could show you a movin and groovin Discovery channel on a TV connected to the Chorus STB by SCART then all the rest would be YOUR problem because they had delivered a functional signal out the SCART from the STB. The engineer could not do so and fiddled with an optical connector belonging to the customer (which is none of Choruses business because they present ONLY on SCART) . In so doing he broke a system which belonged to the customer and still did not fix the problem. This proves that he is unqualified, Chorus are only supposed to send qualified people out according to their licence from the ODTR

No intentional disrespect to Chorus engineers 'as a whole' but all of the supposedly technical people I've communicated with would probably have difficulty spelling 'C-H-O-R-U-S', let alone managing a decent installation. That sounds a bit pompous, I know. I'm not claiming I'm any kind of genius myself, but a call to customer service (who are supposed to be competent to offer technical solutions) will confirm my opinions.

Your points are all totally valid. If I'd entered my 'relationship' with Chorus at exactly this point, I'd be full of p**s and vinegar and attempting recompense for all of these.

I can't get away from the fact that it took 1 month, 16 'phone calls, 2 faxes, countless emails and a complaint to the ODTR JUST TO GET A SERVICE THAT I HAD PAID FOR!!!!!

I honestly think I don't have the energy to claim back a few Euro for a 50% service. Maybe I'll feel angrier by tomorrow.

Don't think they're getting away with that Euro 76 though!;)

ShaneOC

Originally posted by ozpass
I honestly think I don't have the energy to claim back a few Euro for a 50% service. Maybe I'll feel angrier by tomorrow.

Don't think they're getting away with that Euro 76 though!;)

Feel angry now. Ring Neil!!! Ring Gerry!!! Charlie Wolfe(*) will take care of Chorus for you if you ring him.

(*) Charlie Wolfe is a late night chat show host on Red FM in Cork.

ozpass

I can do now that they've installed my 'phone line!

mike65

Suddenly my travails seem small in retrospect....

Mike.

sceptre

At this stage it's a saga. I'd be in the small claims court at this stage. Or what I actually did with Chorus - threw their box on their doorstop.

Slutmonkey57b

Take them to court!!

As to the ones who ran an illegal wire across someone's garden, arrest them for tresspass!

And if they touched any of your equipment - sue them!

There's no point going to customer services - find out who the managing director is, call his office and ask to be put through. If they refuse ask to speak to the legal department to explain why they're damaging your VERY expensive a/v equipment and lying to you all the time. Better yet get a lawyer to do it for you. And send them a nice long letter addressed to the MD asking him what his position is. Customer Services exist specifically to wear you down so that the people responsible for the problems don't have to deal with them you see.

ozpass

Damn it!

Will these clowns ever even attempt to offer a decent level of service?

I called CS again this morning (I know, I know! But I don't have a direct-dial number for anyone senior) to get the latest update. Regarding the Euro76 (must sort out m'keyboard settings for the Euro symbol!) they claim to have refunded me 50 Euro 'yesterday'. AIB online banking doesn't seem to agree, but the updates to info here may not be instantaneous.

As suspected, the clod who came to check the picture quality had p**sed off without so much as a 'phone call to arrange someone to check the alleged 'faulty ariel'. The bubble-head in CS informed me that it was 'another department' that dealt with such investigations and they would 'call me back'. Yeah right!

God I'm tired of all this.

I'm dropping by Cork Chorus HQ tonight to raise hell. If any Chorus customers reading this notice a disruption to service between 5.30 and 6.00 tonight it is because I'm smashing someones' head into racks of equipment.

My patience is officially worn thin.:mad:

spongebob

By the time the CS droid gets to talk to you it will be 5:58PM

by the time you have outlined the problem it will be 6:00PM

Chorus have no customer service ethic so they will close the shop at that point. Your story is so long I would trundle down there at 4PM and ruin their afternoon.

Get names...such as the installer guys name who disconnected your AV kit, he will be mentioned in upcoming legal documents methinks.

M

ozpass

Muck,

I wish to god that I had sufficient cash to take the punks to court. I may, however, have to settle for p**sing through their letterbox.

I have a complete dossier of dates/times and names of people I've dealt with. And no one competent to submit it to.

I'm thinking seriously about 'phoning that guy at 96 FM.

spongebob

You have all the names dates and stuff. The simple claim is that you did not get what you paid for, I mentioned 5 actionable grounds and that you shoul dtotal on each, reach a grand total, add in a figure for aggre....€250 or so on top of the quantifiable losses and then claim the lot Here

You do NOT need a lawyer and it costs about €10 to claim and the data....more than that in terms of time writing the litany of broken promises and assurances down on the form.

€10 and no lawyer is not too onerous IMO

M

Slutmonkey57b

He's right, the irish equivalent of Judge Judy.

Do em, man, do em.

Nero

Jesus this is a great read .... keep it up Oz.

ozpass

Just to let you all know- I'm in the process of filing smalls claims proceedings to the tune of Euro 433.92 (a year's subscription) against Chorus.

The fella at the Citizens Advice Centre seemed to think I had good grounds for making this claim. Chorus then have 2 weeks to dispute my claim, or automatically have to cough up. :cool:

DMC

When will this happen? How long will it take?

ozpass

I'm going to take the completed form to the Small Claims Registrar at the District Court on Monday. Chorus then have 2 weeks to dispute the claim. If they don't dispute it, we mutually agree a date for payment. If they don't pay, a Court Order will then be executed by the Sheriff.

If they do dispute then the court will arrange a hearing at which both parties outline the facts of the case as they see them and a judgement is made there and then.

There are no costs (beyond the initial 15 Euro registration fee) so my liability iz zip. The worst that can happen is I don't get the money.

Longest it could last is maybe a month.

ShaneOC

Originally posted by ozpass
I'm going to take the completed form to the Small Claims Registrar at the District Court on Monday. Chorus then have 2 weeks to dispute the claim. If they don't dispute it, we mutually agree a date for payment. If they don't pay, a Court Order will then be executed by the Sheriff.

If they do dispute then the court will arrange a hearing at which both parties outline the facts of the case as they see them and a judgement is made there and then.

There are no costs (beyond the initial 15 Euro registration fee) so my liability iz zip. The worst that can happen is I don't get the money.

Longest it could last is maybe a month.

Hands up who hopes it goes to court. We can have a big ICDG day out.

DMC

OK, time to be serious....

As you are now taking proceedings to the Small Claims Court, its kinda going sub judicie from this point on, so for benefit of ozpass and the success of his case, and for the benefit of boards.ie and ICDG, so as we do not become embroiled in any legal case, no more posting to this thread, until we know the outcome.

I'm sure I can unequivocally say, on behalf of all the members and mods of ICDG and Boards.ie, best of luck mate, hope you hit 'em for six and get the amount from them. You deserve it.

I'll close the thread, we can open it again once everything has been done and dusted, as it will serve as a great set of posts.

Action: Thread closed.

dahamsta

Action: Thread closed.

No it isn't.

DMC

Oops! Silly me. Now it is.