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SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt

Premium Member

[HD] Lost "SportsPass" Channels

Clicking through the channels this AM - hit Universal Sports HD - channel didn't pop up - but instead got a splash page for the "Sports Pass" channels.

Said it would cost "$0.00" more - so I clicked to Activate. beIN HD comes in, but Willow HD doesn't...

Channels always showed up previously...strange to think something on my account was altered - but I remember seeing posts here quite regularly about this happening.

Within 5 minutes, they're back on.

Greg2600
join:2008-05-20
Belleville, NJ

Greg2600

Member

Yes Activating will fix the problem.
tennisman94
join:2010-02-18
Palm Harbor, FL

tennisman94 to SeattleMatt

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Re: [HD] Lost "SportsPass" Channels

Does Verizon not have to pay for subscribers that haven't activated the channels? That's the only reason I can see to keep deactivating them.
tnsprin
join:2003-07-23
Bradenton, FL

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Re: [HD] Lost "SportsPass" Channels

Willow HD is extra cost. IT was up for a long time as a free "preview".

nycdave
MVM
join:1999-11-16
Melville, NY

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Re: [HD] Lost "SportsPass" Channels

Yes. 'Deactivated' channels lower the # of active customers per channel....
blue_trooper
join:2007-04-17
Exton, PA

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I just filled out a survey for Verizon asking me about activating channels like this. Most of the questions dealt with how long I'd expect the re-activation to take and how much time should elapse between viewings of a channel before it should be deactivated. The survey never provided an upside to me of having channels deactivated. If they had referenced cost control (or better yet bandwidth/PQ enhancements) I'd have been more positive in my answers.
webcobbler
join:2013-03-09
Rumson, NJ

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Re: [HD] Lost "SportsPass" Channels

I as well went to Universal Sports HD channel, when I read your post. I as well had to "re-subscribe" to it.

I did have to do this process a few months ago. So I guess, every few months, it will have you do the process again for Ultimate Customers.

I am still glad it says, "for $0.00 dollars." lol.

matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

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Re: [HD] Lost "SportsPass" Channels

said by nycdave:

Yes. 'Deactivated' channels lower the # of active customers per channel....

So is Verizon intentionally doing this every few months to everyone? What about all the calls from people who are outraged that it keeps happening and the phone reps who are unaware of what to do? Is this so Verizon can pay less to those channels? Are they lowering the bills on the customers they are deactivating? I don't understand why this keeps happening to certain people.
robertf390
join:2011-04-16
Nesconset, NY

robertf390

Member

This has been an on-going issue for some of us - when you try to reactivate the system blocks it and you end up with losing access for periods of time until they figure out what is happening. I personally have wasted many hours with CSR's etc who appear clueless about these issues.

There has to be a better way of handling this - how many people just assume they lost access and don't do anything - even though in the end they are paying for it. Very poor customer service.
ansky
join:2009-05-18
West Orange, NJ

ansky

Member

said by robertf390:

There has to be a better way of handling this - how many people just assume they lost access and don't do anything - even though in the end they are paying for it. Very poor customer service.

Or how many people don't even notice? I know I get Universal Sports as part of Ultimate but I can't say I have ever tuned to that channel, so I don't even know if I'm receiving it right now or not.
blushrts
join:2001-01-06
New Cumberland, PA

blushrts

Member

FYI, anyone using cable cards who has this happen to them; go straight to Verizon direct. If you call you'll probably get reps who will tell you the sports pass channels aren't part of the ultimate package.
blue_trooper
join:2007-04-17
Exton, PA

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said by ansky:

Or how many people don't even notice? I know I get Universal Sports as part of Ultimate but I can't say I have ever tuned to that channel, so I don't even know if I'm receiving it right now or not.

Which is kind of the point. If Verizon has an opportunity to cut costs and hopefully hit their margin targets without raising rates, who cares if they deactivate a channel they never watch? I'd actually be happy if those channels then got removed from the guide. I had not heard of any of this until I got the survey request earlier this week.

They do need to make the reactivation screens less ambiguous and should ensure that the process is close to instantaneous. It was regarding these expectations that most of the questions on my survey dealt.

matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

matcarl

Premium Member

said by blue_trooper:

If Verizon has an opportunity to cut costs and hopefully hit their margin targets without raising rates, who cares if they deactivate a channel they never watch? I'd actually be happy if those channels then got removed from the guide.

They wouldn't get removed from the guide though. Also who's to say someone will never watch a channel just because they haven't watched it in a week, or month? If it's in my plan, I should have access to it non-stop. Why should I have to reactivate something and call in to customer service if I have a cable card because they took away something I'm paying for? What if I suddenly see a program on that I'm interested in and decide to tune to that channel and then miss that program because it took awhile to reactivate it? This is the problem people are experiencing, and it's happening frequently to people in this Forum, so imagine all the people not looking at this Forum. If Verizon wants to offer me a refund for channels I don't look at, I might let them know which ones they are, but for them to take them away without my knowledge and not reimburse me, and then I have to call once a month, is that worth it? Did you put that in your survey??
It just seems like another underhanded thing they are doing here. They are telling the channels that they only have X number of people subscribing to them, when in fact it's more.
robertf390
join:2011-04-16
Nesconset, NY

robertf390

Member

Completely agree. Couldn't have said it better!
ansky
join:2009-05-18
West Orange, NJ

ansky

Member

I wonder how they choose which channels to deactivate. Maybe channels that are expensive to carry relative to low viewership? I could see that being the case for Universal Sports.

Rick4769
join:2012-11-21
Buffalo, NY

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I subscribe to Ultimate HD and the Sports Pass channels are included. At times, I will go to them and it says I have to activate them. It is a pain in the neck but the only two channels I care about are the Longhorn Network and NFL Redzone that airs in September.
NYHeel
join:2009-03-12
Bergenfield, NJ

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said by blue_trooper:

said by ansky:

Or how many people don't even notice? I know I get Universal Sports as part of Ultimate but I can't say I have ever tuned to that channel, so I don't even know if I'm receiving it right now or not.

Which is kind of the point. If Verizon has an opportunity to cut costs and hopefully hit their margin targets without raising rates, who cares if they deactivate a channel they never watch? I'd actually be happy if those channels then got removed from the guide. I had not heard of any of this until I got the survey request earlier this week.

They do need to make the reactivation screens less ambiguous and should ensure that the process is close to instantaneous. It was regarding these expectations that most of the questions on my survey dealt.

I assume this is a joke. These channels are some of the few differentiators between the Ultimate and Extreme packages and it's most definitely not ok for Verizon to just take them away all the time. If you're paying for them you should have them.

I have only a cable card and it was a really big pain even using the Verizon Twitter support guy to get it back on. I ended up missing out on the stuff I wanted to watch on that Red Zone type channel they have for college basketball (and football) on 571. It was also a pain in the neck getting red zone turned on before the season. I think I still don't have all those channels activated. I just gave up after awhile since last time they tried to get it back on they managed to unpair my cable card and I lost HBO for about 30 minutes until they figured out how to get that repaired.