What about us Charter Members!

[geekygizmo]

I have to say that I am a little (well alot) pived over this switch over thing, us charter members layed out a grand or more up front and with out receiving even two years service I have figured out I have payed an average of $120/mo and did not even have the vava package. I feel voom owes us some $ back on our stb's and/or something better then what I will get by just going e*.

Come-on charter members, add up your monthly and upfront bills and divide by the number of months you got service you will be shocked how much you paid. I expected to spread the upfront out over years not months.

If voom won't make good on this then I think we need to band together for a class action suit.

GG

 

[klen]

I bought my receiver, too. It sucks. Get over it. Next time, lease- as I will be doing with Dishnetwork's 942. In retrospect, if I would have waited longer for Voom, I might have talked myself out of it. Buying the equipment at the prices they were charging didn't make sense- especially the way technology changes almost daily. We were in a very small group that got suckered in. They gave us a bunch of free programming, and we can still use the receivers for OTA. Life goes on.

-k

 

[Ilya]

Come-on charter members, add up your monthly and upfront bills and divide by the number of months you got service you will be shocked how much you paid.

I am not shocked.
1. We were given four-five months of free programming initially.
2. We were then given another few months of free programming as a partial credit for the initial equipment purchase.
3. We didn't have to pay rental costs.
4. At least some of us kept the low charter-member pricing till the end and saved on that.
5. We were all given a chance to convert to lease, but we accepted the risk.
6. We get to keep the OTA receiver, antenna, dish, etc. I know, it doesn't cost much today, but back in 2003 I was prepared to pay several hundred dollars just for an HD OTA receiver...

No regrets on my part!

Charter member since November 2003.

 

[SAEMike]

You knew the risks when you signed up, you chose the service even though there were risks. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Welcome to reality.

 

[geekygizmo]

Ok, so everyone here just wants to suck up and continue to pay for more equipment and programming. I did the math and even with all the so call perks along the way it still costed $120 a month for the basic package and one plus pack, No one here feel slighted at all??

I feel sold out with the xfer of all assets to e* with no mind to us voomers that helped get it started in the first place.

GG

 

[jnardone]

I feel slighted. The VOOM receiver was warranted to work for two years and it no longer can receive the programming from the VOOM satellite. I fully expect Voom to compensate people who purchased their receivers. I was willing to take a chance by purchasing the VOOM receiver but only a chance that it might break or not work AFTER TWO YEARS OF GUARANTEED SERVICE. As far as taking a chance that Voom would go out of business - the fact that the receiver came with a two year warranty covered me in that instance.

 

[Tvlman]

JNARDONE: "The VOOM receiver was warranted to work for two years and it no longer can receive the programming from the VOOM satellite."

That's because DISH bought the VOOM Satellite. Your receiver still works in accordance with the warranty. Hook it up to OTA and test it. Mine still works. Good to have around in an emergency if your sat/cable goes out.

 

[JimP]

I still think a tar and feather party at the next Cablevision board meeting would be appropriate.

As a charter member from Oct 2003, I remember hearing/reading that Voom couldn't go under as Cablevision with their deep pockets would keep it afloat. Now realistically, you do have to cut your losses at some point, but to kill the venture after a year and a half of service only shows a lack of committment and short sightedness.

 

[geekygizmo]

Us Charter Members were Ripped Off!

Please all charter members that feel they were robbed by CVS, band together here- we have a real issue and I for one am sure unless we let CVS know in numbers we will be swept under the carpet.

GG

 

[dlm10541]

Please all charter members that feel they were robbed by CVS, band together here- we have a real issue and I for one am sure unless we let CVS know in numbers we will be swept under the carpet.

GG

What kind of numbers? There were only 40,000 or so subs at the peak compared to 25,000,000 D* & E* subscribers and all 40,000 were not enough to save VOOM. What good will a band of 50 do?

Be upset if you wish but you have already been swept under the carpet.

 

[madpoet]

I've already tried to fight this fight, and there was little interest. So I sold my boxes. Yes, there is a warranty. No, they are NOT honoring the warranty (they have ceased all service calls, so if your box breaks you are screwed). Yes, you could probably threaten them with letters to their legal department and get some sort of refund. I encourage you to do so in fact. This entire shutdown has been a farce, start to finish. And those of us who owned the boxes were bent over the table prison-style.

 

[voombot]

Best you can do to show it NOT signing up for dish network or ordering the voom package.

I feel that voom withheld alot of content because they knew they were going to dish. There were lists of movies on kungfuHD that never aired, alot of concerts, animation, rushHD specials etc. They screwed paying voom subscribers by repeating year old content saving new stuff for dish subs.

 

[socalpanman]

I'm glad this has come up. I have mixed feelings but if anything is to be done it seems clear a class action would be the only practical option.

Los Angeles, Charter subscriber since 12/03.

I bought everything knowing Voom was a sart-up and there would be risks.
But because being an early sub seemed more like being a Beta tester at times the breaks in free programming and keeping the original prices on packs seemed like only just compensation. I with two receivers, went through I think 8 boxes and 3 OTA antennas total until things all worked. Remember when HDN was just weather, and there were REAL rotation problems with the other originals? I couldn't get any OTA the first part of last year, even missing the Emmy's (Voom big promotional give away to all recipients), but got at least the Super Bowl to see the costume failure in HD. So there were trade offs.

Making it to 2006 was my goal. Voom seemed over the hump and real growth immediately ahead. BUT We fell short. We truly had the best equipment boxes and sat and were prepared for the new mpeg world. Our problems were more for mismanagement reasons and that's what burns me most. Everything done this first quarter was so irresponsible.

With all that said though, looking at my new options, D,E or TW in retrospect my Voom deal was a great one. Up to January 2005 Voom was at least leading me to believe they were earnest in solving problems and committed to the future. (DVR was always only just another plus I was hoping for)

We, as early adopters, were the next biggest valued investors in this venture after the share holders. So l want to read more great arguments either way here.

 

[voombot]

we don't even want an apology, just an explanation. Pulling the plug one day just upset alot of us. it was like saying thanks for trying to make voom work and oh yeah, F U!

 

[kanderson]

I've already tried to fight this fight, and there was little interest. So I sold my boxes. Yes, there is a warranty. No, they are NOT honoring the warranty (they have ceased all service calls, so if your box breaks you are screwed). Yes, you could probably threaten them with letters to their legal department and get some sort of refund. I encourage you to do so in fact. This entire shutdown has been a farce, start to finish. And those of us who owned the boxes were bent over the table prison-style.

madpoet or anyone, how did (do) you sell your Voom boxes? What can they sell for? Thx

 

[FrankJo]

forget a lawsuit

You have no case.

When companies go out of business, it's just tough luck. It may not be best for the consumer, but we live in a market economy and the market dictated that voom, as a satellite provider, just didn't cut it. Cablevision lost hundreds of millions of dollars trying to make it work. No court in the land would say that they "cheated" their subscribers in any way. Your just whining because you took a risk and shelled out a lot of money, instead of waiting. I got voom installed for nothing, because I waited until they were offering a better deal.

 

[RocketRay]

back in 2003 I was prepared to pay several hundred dollars just for an HD OTA receiver

The best price I saw for an HDTV OTA receiver a couple months ago was $250. So yeah, I shelled out about $500 for the Voom receiver & dish, but I've got no regrets cause I did have Voom for over a year and I don't need to spend any extra money to watch OTA HDTV.

 

[geekygizmo]

Voom Did not go out of business!

Cablevision never separated VOOM from their business, they simply pulled the plug and ya did an f-u to us charter members, It is time to re-read the terms of agreement and get a lawyer involved, by numbers even a few hundred of us can make it happen, perhaps even a few dozen, all I want is to rightly have paid what the service should have cost and $120 per month for 16 months and only getting the basic + one plus pack is too much, I may only be owed a few hundred dollars after all is said and done but I am still owed that and hundred's of you other charter members are in the same boat.

I am really mad that CVS started such a project and did not even have a 2 year plan, let all of us believe it would continue for years! I expected to amortize the cost of my equipment (about $1200.00) over at least 3 or more years and did not even get half of that.

Ya there is room to be mad and all you that just say suck-it-up please go to the e* forum that’s the service you have now right?

GG

 

[jnardone]

You have no case.

When companies go out of business, it's just tough luck. It may not be best for the consumer, but we live in a market economy and the market dictated that voom, as a satellite provider, just didn't cut it. Cablevision lost hundreds of millions of dollars trying to make it work. No court in the land would say that they "cheated" their subscribers in any way. Your just whining because you took a risk and shelled out a lot of money, instead of waiting. I got voom installed for nothing, because I waited until they were offering a better deal.

I would say every court in the land would disagree with you. There was a purchase agreement (contract) in writing between Voom box purchasers and Cablevision. In exchange for our money Cable vision gave us a box and a two year in home service agreement. Cablevision has not gone out of business and they have now failed to provide the in home service portion of the agreement. Box purchasers did not take a risk at all - they were guaranteed service by Cablevision (a large public company) for at least two years. Cablevision will eventually make good on their agreement (within two to three weeks according to the CSR's) not because they are doing anyone a favor but because they are required to by the law. Refunds to box purchasers one of the expenses associated with shutting down the VOOM service.

 

[riffjim4069]

I would say every court in the land would disagree with you. There was a purchase agreement (contract) in writing between Voom box purchasers and Cablevision. In exchange for our money Cable vision gave us a box and a two year in home service agreement. Cablevision has not gone out of business and they have now failed to provide the in home service portion of the agreement. Box purchasers did not take a risk at all - they were guaranteed service by Cablevision (a large public company) for at least two years. Cablevision will eventually make good on their agreement (within two to three weeks according to the CSR's) not because they are doing anyone a favor but because they are required to by the law. Refunds to box purchasers one of the expenses associated with shutting down the VOOM service.

This is correct. CVC is still in business and those who purchased a receiver are entitled to a prorated portion of the purchase price. Let's just see what CVC has to say about purchased and leased receivers. We should hear something in...oh, about two weeks.