TrueVisions Scam?

Two TrueVisions 'engineers' turned up at a Rag reader's, (RR), house today to collect the Truevisions' dish/receiver and RR told them they would have to return his BT2,000 deposit before they could have their equipment.

After much confab in Thai between RR's 'live in ATM abuser', (AA), and the engineers it was explained to RR that the only way for him to get back his deposit was to let them take the equipment and submit papers to that affect to TrueVisions and then Truevisions would refund the deposit directly to his account.

RR explained to AA that there was a good chance he wouldn't get the Bt2,000 once the equipment was gone as Truevisions know that nobody will take them to court for non payment of Bt2,000/-. Regardless, AA handed over the equipment to the Truevisions engineers.

Now the sting.

When AA showed RR the receipt provided by the engineers for the equipment taken, written in Thai on the form were the words:

No wall mount bracket for dish.

When RR asked AA why they hadn't taken the TrueVisions bracket off the wall she explained that the engineer had said it was too old...... Arghhhhhhhhhh TOO OLD, of course it's old, it's been on the effing wall for years. FFS.

So now RR's papers will be submitted to Truevisions with the magical 'no bracket' comment which will be all the excuse they need not to refund his deposit..... arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

There's not really a moral to the story but when Truevisions engineers turn up at your door, don't hand over the decoder until they've taken down the dish bracket. Also, make sure there's no pen written comments on your receipt.

TrueVisions launches new channel for Manchester United soccer fans

TrueVisions yesterday partnered with the Manchester United Fan Club to launch the MUTV Channel as a part of its customer-retention plan, particularly for soccer fans, before the new season of the English Premier League kicks off on arch-rival CTH.

"We are now happy with the churn rate, which is still below our estimate. We also expect that our existing subscribers who want to watch live EPL matches will opt to stay with us and buy a new set-top box provided by the EPL rights holder," said Ong-ard Prapakamol, chief commercial officer.

Rag -  think their 'churn' rate is about to rise......

Read the full article at The Nation.

TrueVisons Thailand launches new Knowledge and Supersports packages

TrueVisons have launched two new packages: Knowledge, with 88 channels at Bt590 per month, and Super Sport with 95 channels at Bt495 per month. Looking at the channels on offer I would say these packages are for the Thai market. 

Truevisions are targeting 100,000 new subscribers for each package. I suspect many of the 'new' subscribers will actually be existing Gold and Premium package subscribers downsizing now that English Premier League, (EPL), broadcasts are on the rival CTH network. It looks like TrueVisions are trying to lock-in their Thai customer base before CTH launch their rival 140 channel service, plus EPL games, on 21st June.

TrueVisions clearly feeling the heat.

TrueVisions' Channel changes leave cloudy picture

On Friday, May 3rd, I received a letter in English and Thai from TrueVisions containing information about the channel changes taking place on April 19th....

Now it's hard to know if the late delivery of the letter was due to TrueVisions inefficiency or the back log of mail that probably built up at the Post Office over Songkran. That said, TrueVisions have no excuses as they knew it was Songkran and should have taken the necessary steps to get the letters out before the holiday shutdown.

For those of you that haven't seen TrueVisions letter, the opening para makes interesting reading.

Quote:

To express our sincere appreciation for your support and continued trust, as well as to enhance your entertainment, especially for Premier League fans, which TrueVisions will broadcast until this coming May, TrueVisions would like to inform you that from April 19th onward, Truevisions is bringing these additional world class entertainment programs to you for free.....

:Unquote

No mention is made of channels dropped like Star World and it's quite possible that the Star World programs are available on a new channel but it's impossible to tell if that's the case from the letter or it's attachments.

Also, over the years, TrueVisions have lost broadcast rights for FA Cup games, Euro Champions Cup games, Spanish league games and now EPL games. All we know is TrueVision EPL broadcasts end in May. That's alright then........

EPL broadcasts could quite easily have been the jewel in TrueVisions crown. Brits, bars and Thais probably subscribed for this key service and without it TrueVisions looks far less attractive. After all, most of TrueVisions remaining channels can be streamed over the Internet, (so long as you are not using True Internet). Yes, some streaming services are subscription based but you can get a whole host of top class channels for what TrueVisions charge for a Gold package on two TVs.

Also let's not forget the local cable networks. What happens to TrueVisions if the cable networks add more international channels? Must be worrying times for TrueVisions.

I've scanned the new TrueVision channel listing and you can view a copy by clicking on the link. For those who haven't seen it, Channels 120 - 156 are home to many new or HD upgraded channels.