Hi,
Myself Arun Vijayan, I am a BigTV customer from April 2010, my Smart Card no.: 20 0739 3469 86 (reg. phone 9400137344).
After numers interaction with BigTV Call Center (BCC) & almost a month waiting, I write this with great regret & contempt for not just wasting time talking to BCC but for USING BigTV.

I will endorse my experience with this mega Fraud Company.

* Free Promo Fraud.
Many of you might have noticed that from November 1st onwards (in my case) BigTV started offering free channels for one month viewing, in my case it FX & FX Crime. It’s good, if you like these channels you can continue viewing these by subscribing to these after one month of free viewing.

“But this is where the master planners have kept a secret weapon, what if you don’t like these channels & you don’t want to subscribe these channels.”

To know more about this I called BCC, after going through all regular hurdles, this is what I came to know, BigTV makes a false notion that you are given free channels for viewing for one month, after one month these free channels will not be deactivated automatically and if you don’t deactivate these channels by manually calling to BCC, BigTV starts reducing amount from your account.

And if you ask for deactivating the channels before one month, the reply will be “it’s not possible – call after one month” or “there is a technical complaint – call after one month”.
The major advantage of using Set Top Box, (STB) was that the viewers had the right to custom select channels for viewing. This free promo offer, forces the BigTV customers to watch channels. This is a direct neglect to the very basic importance of STB and the Law and Court in this country. In Simple words, this is called looting.

* The Select Button (in remote) – picture in picture function, Fraud.
Live TV channels are grouped into movies, news, sports etc, each group contains 12 channels, and these channels are shown in a single screen - tune in to any selected channel in one click is the main use for this button.

This worked fine for almost two months (from purchase), later when you press select button only one group Movies with content was shown. There is no option to select or navigate to other groups.

When enquired about this select button function, the BCC representative first told me to reset the STB to factory default setting and try after 30min. so that the STB returns to normal settings. Trusting this BCC representative, I followed the instruction but the function didn’t work. So I called BCC the very next day and after almost 15 – 30 min. of waiting, he informed me that it’s a technical complaint and will be cleared within days.

It’s almost 3 months since I have complained; still the select function is not back in business.

* The Complaint Number or Ticket Fraud.
Normally if your complaint is genuine and needs to be corrected, all standard companies will give you a Complaint number or a Complaint Ticket, with this you can track your complaint status and is very helpful when you talk to Call Center representatives after a period of time.

Now trying call the BCC for any of the above complaints, even if the free promo channels have been activated without your concern and for deactivating this the BCC representative says there is a technical complaint it can only be deactivated after one month, it’s not your fault, so you ask him to give a complaint request number he will not, saying there is no provision for this.

Now try with the select button complaint, it’s not your fault that the select function is not working, it’s a standard function for all good DTH operator. Ask the BCC representative for a complaint request number, he will say there is no provision for this.

My Question to BigTV is - these are not problems created by us, it’s your technical complaint that means your men have created it. The only mistake we have done is we took BigTV Service.

* The HD + DVR Fraud.
“Digital video recording
Record up to 200 hours of video – that’s like an entire season of your favourite show!
Enjoy trick functions like pause, rewind, fast forward – catch up with shows at your leisure
Recorded content preview – Get a snapshot of the programme before viewing
Set-top box with 160 GB hard drive – superior performance“

These are sentences directly taken from the BigTV HD + DVR Website.
Source: http://www.bigtv.co.in/hd_dvr.html

If you are an existing BigTV Customer, you will be forced to view Channel 100 – the preview channel, each and every time you power on your STB. At times in this Preview channel, advantages about BigTV HD + DVR is Shown, listen to its carefully. The advertisement says you can record up to 2.5hrs of video but the website says you can record up to 200hrs of video, which one is correct.

Since I have already made up my mind to change my DTH service in April 2011 as my subscription end, I didn’t have the energy and mind set to talk to the very responsive BCC.

So if you are an existing BigTV customer jump away from it, it will surely loot you. Try switch to any DTH operator where you can use your cell phone to activate and deactivate channels.

If your are going to be a BigTV customer, Please please for God and Heaven sake don’t jump into this mess. If you still plan move ahead with BigTV, you will regret, and once that stage comes, kindly post complaints like this so that at least one will be spared.

It’s for Sure that if attitude & conditions remains the same, BigTV Bolt out is not so far.

Regards,
Arun Vijayan