Sky Angel Customer Service Hits New Low

[bonscott87]

what about those who aren't online? They probably have NO idea what is coming!

That would be my in-laws. If not for me being on this forum looking out for them they would have no idea that 3ABN was back online or that they will lose their service within a year (no broadband available to them). And now this. All their channels shut off on Saturday and they are a lifetime sub. Crazy.

I think I may be installing a Glorystar system for them when we visit over Turkey day week.

 

[NYRman1975]

I said it before and I will say it again. What is Skyangel thinking? The common consensus seems to be that customers are just going to drop like flies and head for Glorystar or Dish Family (or both) and Skyangel's marketing department did not see this coming?

Heck, you can get Glorystar for free (just cost of equipment) and they are booming by the looks.

Would love to get into the heads of the Skyangel execs and find out what they think they are accomplishing. But then again, they seem to be very secretive about operations so it is something we may never know, whether is succeeds or flounders (I am hedging my bets on the latter).

I think it is just so irritating to all of us because we truly loved Skyangel and the vision. Now we feel betrayed.

Meanwhile, can't wait to get the Glorystar dish up to help cushion the blow.

 

[jholland]

I think the reality is that with current technology, SA doesn't have any good option, they may as well try to get whatever customer base they can with IPTV. I would be tempted to go with their IPTV just for the convenience, but I can also pretty easily opt to access ministries and music I care about on-line without paying anything. I can use my iPod and an iPod boombox to download podcasts at no cost, listen to them whenever I want. I am inclined not to spend any money on an IPTV receiver simply because I think SA will not be able to make much of a go with it and my investment wouldn't be worth much for very long.

For me, SA radio has been much more valuable than the TV offerings. Does Glorystar offer radio as well as TV?

 

[NYRman1975]

Yeah, it is on their website Glorystar Christian Satellite Systems - Free Christian Satellite TV and Radio - Glorystar.tv - Glorystar Christian Satellite Systems . They seem to have a nice mix of the TV and Radio stations and seem to be adding more. I understand your point about internet access and free downloading and such.

It doesn't help Skyangel any either now that 3ABN made that deal to go IPTV. Now Skyangel will have to face a possible price war of sorts on top of trying to jump into the IPTV market.

I still can't buy that Skyangel could not make it on satellite with proper operating practices however. Especially if Glorystar can make a go of it and charge nothing a month. I have to agree with one of the previous posters that said Skyangel should have explored the same type of thing as Glorystar, or even became partners.

Who knows, maybe if Skyangel craps out on the IPTV front they may even offer their Angel 1, 2, and KTV stations on Glorystar. Maybe they will anyhow just for the advertising of their IPTV service since they would no longer be "competitors" of you will.

Time will reveal alot of conclusions...and I believe sooner than we think.

 

[andrews777]

I am suspecting they aren't really planning for the long run, that they just want to sell the transponders and disappear.

That would seem more likely IMHO.

Brad

 

[NYRman1975]

You could be right. They are making some peculiar choices.

 

[sansha]

If they plan to sell their transponder licenses and disappear, the least they could do is transfer their paid up subscribers, including the lifetime ones, to IPTV for as long as it lasts. That they reportedly won't do even that much for the customers who supported them is truely reprehensible in my eyes. I say reportedly because I only know what others have said, I have not received any answer to my questions to Sky Angel on this subject. Perhaps they're hoping we'll all just go away.

 

[catkoko]

another unhappy, former customer?

I may not agree with everything he said but it seems sky angel could have handled their public relations a bit better. they are tossing the lifetimers and alienating the monthly subs also?!

I mean seriously, bad publicity over $10? Does SA need the $ that bad?

Rip Off Report: Sky Angel Ripoff No Refund of Unused Portion of Service Because of Lost Satellite Signal Naples Florida

 

[Claude Greiner]

The problem is that it costs Skyangel a certain amount of money per subscriber per month to provide the service to the customer, reguardless if the customer is on a lifetime plan or on month to month.

When customers are paying a monthly bill, its easy to track because the customer is either paying and watching TV, or not paying and have cancelled the service.

When you have a lifetime subscription, you do not know if the customer still even has the service anymore. If the customer switches to Cable, moves, Dies or no longer wants the service anymore they do not call anyone to cancel. The service simply continues on and costs skyangel money each month to maintain.

The lifetime subscription option was a bad move, it did help pay the bills and keep the service viable in the early days, but as the lifetime subscriptions went on, and the market got saturated (Less new activations) The lifetime subscription became more of a burden to maintain.

I feel the post cards where a great idea to help weed out the customer base to see how many are still watching!

 

[JeffH]

The problem is that it costs Skyangel a certain amount of money per subscriber per month to provide the service to the customer, reguardless if the customer is on a lifetime plan or on month to month.

When customers are paying a monthly bill, its easy to track because the customer is either paying and watching TV, or not paying and have cancelled the service.

When you have a lifetime subscription, you do not know if the customer still even has the service anymore. If the customer switches to Cable, moves, Dies or no longer wants the service anymore they do not call anyone to cancel. The service simply continues on and costs skyangel money each month to maintain.

The lifetime subscription option was a bad move, it did help pay the bills and keep the service viable in the early days, but as the lifetime subscriptions went on, and the market got saturated (Less new activations) The lifetime subscription became more of a burden to maintain.

I feel the post cards where a great idea to help weed out the customer base to see how many are still watching!

I concur.

It's good to read a reasonable post.

 

[Wescopc]

I might add, when they go to IPTV there will be bandwidth costs for each viewer. While with the satellite service the cost of transmission didn't change for each viewer, it will change with IPTV. Hence, they can't repeat their mistake of the past by offering to continue the free for life subscriptions.
Bob

 

[ShaneLinder]

Well, like I said before, if Sky Angel couldn't be successful in the DBS market, where they had little competition, I don't see how they can be successful in the IPTV market where they will eventually have a lot of competition and a small market.

Basically, in the DBS market was big and they had little competition. The IPTV market is measurably smaller and also limited to Christians. The equipment costs are similar but the monthly costs are significantly more when the cost of the DSL are included.

Glorystar just needs to get the word out through advertisement on the Internet and Christian media such as magazines and such.

 

[BabaLouie]

The problem is that it costs Skyangel a certain amount of money per subscriber per month to provide the service to the customer, reguardless if the customer is on a lifetime plan or on month to month.

When customers are paying a monthly bill, its easy to track because the customer is either paying and watching TV, or not paying and have cancelled the service.

When you have a lifetime subscription, you do not know if the customer still even has the service anymore. If the customer switches to Cable, moves, Dies or no longer wants the service anymore they do not call anyone to cancel. The service simply continues on and costs skyangel money each month to maintain.

The lifetime subscription option was a bad move, it did help pay the bills and keep the service viable in the early days, but as the lifetime subscriptions went on, and the market got saturated (Less new activations) The lifetime subscription became more of a burden to maintain.

I feel the post cards where a great idea to help weed out the customer base to see how many are still watching!

Again, as I recall, the letter did NOT state that lifetime members would have their WHOLE SERVICE shut off if they did not return the information--only that HGTV, Fox News and the two Hallmark channels could be lost. The latter were stations I did NOT want to keep anyway (if I had to pay extra for them). If I had thought my whole package was at risk, I certainly would have contacted SA with the requested info. I can't see how any of you can defend a strategy that simply shuts the whole service of lifetimers off WITHOUT WARNING (and can't restore it for 24 hours)! That way of dealing with customers who have never been a problem is just deplorable!

 

[RedSavina]

The problem is that it costs Skyangel a certain amount of money per subscriber per month to provide the service to the customer, reguardless if the customer is on a lifetime plan or on month to month.

When customers are paying a monthly bill, its easy to track because the customer is either paying and watching TV, or not paying and have cancelled the service.

When you have a lifetime subscription, you do not know if the customer still even has the service anymore. If the customer switches to Cable, moves, Dies or no longer wants the service anymore they do not call anyone to cancel. The service simply continues on and costs skyangel money each month to maintain.

Claude,

I understand and follow your logic on the cost, etc. but one thing baffles me... E* does not authorize the channels until SA gives them the thumbs up. That being the case, I find it highly suspect that the information does not flow back from E* to SA. For example, I'm certain E* can produce a list of all customers subscribing to package XYZ. The evidence suggests that SA does not have access to this information, which is very troubling...

• If SA did not include a provision to pull data in their contract with E*, then this would serve as further proof of how SA bungled the contract with E*.
• Even if the info was not available as per the contract, it should be available for a fee. Apparently SA does not know this or is unwilling to pay the fee. Seems that this is something one would need as part of a reasonable business plan.
• Of course, E* may not make this info available to SA at any cost...

I am at a loss for a reasonable explanation why SA would not have any customer data. Anyone have an insight?

 

[RedSavina]

All of this illustrates why I did not send in the post card. I paid for the service and continue to receive what I paid for. They offered me a chance to subscribe to additional channels that were previously included in my lifetime package. Since I declined to send in the card, I really have no beef if they de-authorize those channels for me. However, I'm betting they do not have the necessary info to pull those channels from my account.

And why, exactly, would I be inclined to help them out? They have changed the terms of my original contract several times and continue to do so. I enjoy a lot of their programming and would be willing to lend a hand if they made an appeal. However, I see no evidence of their needing or requesting assistance. Rather, I see a complete departure from their original vision, values, ethics, integrity, and so on.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter - just deeply disappointed. I will continue to enjoy my lifetime subscription as long as it lasts. After that, Glorystar!

 

[catkoko]

It doesn't matter if the lifetimers are actually WATCHING or even reading their mail. if they are ALIVE , skyangel is supposed to broadcast what they PAID for!

There have been 2 different statements mad, one says that SKY ANGEL pays per VIEWER for DBS, another said they only pay a transmission fee.

whatever they pay skyangel knew it had LIFETIME viewers (also 10 year subs) as well as monthly subscribers. If they couldn't AFFORD to broadcast to all viewers then they shouldn't have offered the "special 4" at all! furthermore how do they justify the fact that they DID broadcast to the lifetime members for OVER 1 YEAR?

why expand the uplink facilities that they won't use once they switch to IPTV? they are either very unorganized or scrambling to make more $ fast, maybe both. either way, not an incentive to shell out more money for IPTV

 

[BabaLouie]

An update for y'all:

Today I get my bill from Dish Network. Normally it is $5.99 -- my local network package. There has never been an access fee because I have been a SA subscriber. Well, guess what? Because SA discontinued my subscription for that day last week, Dish automatically nailed me with a $6.00 access fee for the coming month, PLUS a $3.79 access fee for the rest of this month.

I feel like sending the bill on to SA.

Now I have another little mess to try to clean up, thanks to the wonderful folks at SA.

For the rest of you lifetimers who also get only locals from Dish, watch out. Your turn is probably coming soon.

 

[catkoko]

late fees for prepaid year

I got an email from someone who prepaid for a year and were supposed to get a discount for prepay. The next month they got a bill for the difference between the offer and the prepay price. they called Sky Angel and they refused to adjust it, next month they tacked on a LATE fee besides!

 

[Pepper]

Well I guess I must be dead

My Sky Angel channels just disappeared.

Of course, customer service is closed until 8am on Monday.

 

[catkoko]

after midnight?

Isn't it nice to leave you without Christian broadcasting on SUNDAY? Sky angel won't answer, but DISH might!

did you send in your paper? Just wondering if anyone got shut off that DID send it in? I still haven't lost mine but expect to any time now