UPC just switched off the BBC radio stations without any notice!

They just have not changed at all from the old NTL days. They continue to treat their customers with contempt.

I went to listen to BBC Radio 4 today to find nothing. Apparently, they have switched off he some analogue channels without notifying their customers



You are now chatting with 'Kirstie' Kirstie: Hi, my name is Kirstie, Welcome to UPC, home of the TV OnDemand, how can I help you today?
you: Brendan Burgess
you: Hi Kirstie
you: Where is BBC Radio gone?
Kirstie: Hi Brendan, we have no outages at present, if you are having problems give us a quick call on 1908 and select option 2.
you: While waiting for you, I found this
you: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056794730
you: YOu have apparently switched off analogue radio
Kirstie: I apologize I thought that you were on digital. Due to the Digital Switch over we have switched off a number of channels on Analogue
you: And, in typical, ntl/upc style, no question of telling customers that you were going to do it? Or did I miss the letter?
Kirstie: The Digital Switch over was National. However if you would like to switch to Digital You can avail of all of the Radio stations, and 50 channels, with the ability to pause, rewind and record it would be €26.50 per month
you: It's much easier for me to just cance my account and move to Saorview. Thanks for prompting me to do it.
you: I understood that the digital switchover was for RTE. You told us nothing about you stopping providing these channels
Kirstie: I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful for you.

I dunno. Contempt would imply some degree of higher cognitive functioning.

I rang UPC just now. I was intending to complain to them if they were planning not to restore BBC analogue, but while I was on hold their automated phone system threw back an announcement that they are currently working to resolve a "fault" whereby BBC radio stations are currently not working. It even included an apology for the inconvenience.

Either they've had to do an about-turn on their plans or else Kirstie gave the wrong information above. I suspect the latter, given that we are still receiving RTE (and other Irish) analogue signals today via our UPC cable so they've not switched off analogue radio across the board. And when I checked their website they make no mention of anything to do with analogue radio, that I can find, although that's not a reliable indicator of anything admittedly.

When you say you went to listen to BBC Radio 4 - do you mean through the tv?

truthseeker said:

When you say you went to listen to BBC Radio 4 - do you mean through the tv?

Click to expand...

The cable also carried analogue radio, you could plug that in to the aerial inout of a decent radio to receive BBC and other radio channels clearly.

The stations are back now. I'm being made painfully aware of this by the annoying sound of The Archers in the background!

Leo said:

The cable also carried analogue radio, you could plug that in to the aerial inout of a decent radio to receive BBC and other radio channels clearly.

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Thanks Leo - I didnt know that.

Gave up on the lot of them (Sky UPC et al) and got myself a FreeSAT box in the UK. You need a dish of course (sky one is fine). Button flick to radio (including RTE) and a full 7 day guide for the TV end of things. Saorview through the TV and bobs your uncle.
Of course if you have a decent BB supply then you can wifi radio from all over the world to your phone, internet radio etc., both of which I find great, then I have overseas channels in the garden too!

That is great news.

I have started the process of switching to Saorview as a result of this. I have just had enough of UPC.

Brendan

You could buy an Internet Radio as an alternative. You can access hundreds of stations around the world via an internet connection.

One of their staff cut me off in the middle of a phone conversation this week because I dared to question what they were saying to me.

Don't even need an internet radio. Any internet connection can give you access to the BBC stations plus 000's of others. Also there is a very good app for android phones which I use to access world radio.

Tintagel said:

One of their staff cut me off in the middle of a phone conversation this week because I dared to question what they were saying to me.

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It happened to me as well. After listening to the menu options on the phone I pressed item 3 on their "sales" selection which was Bill Enquiries. A very snotty lady said that she didn't do Bill enquiries only Sales. When I pointed out that I had pressed the Bill enquiries option as asked and that she answered the phone she said that I was mistaken and disconnected my phone call.

You should complain and them to check their recording of the phone call.

Tintagel said:

One of their staff cut me off in the middle of a phone conversation this week because I dared to question what they were saying to me.

Click to expand...

Bronco Lane said:

It happened to me as well. After listening to the menu options on the phone I pressed item 3 on their "sales" selection which was Bill Enquiries. A very snotty lady said that she didn't do Bill enquiries only Sales. When I pointed out that I had pressed the Bill enquiries option as asked and that she answered the phone she said that I was mistaken and disconnected my phone call.

Click to expand...

I must say that I found it extremely frustrating to even get them to answer the phone. It must be doubly frustrating if they then hang up on you.

Brendan