[Archived] Setanta Sports

[Paul]

I'm thinking of getting this on a monthly subscription for my lad who is at college. Two questions:

Is it any good? - Especially is there plenty of football, doesn't have to be PL

Once set up will it be just like selecting any other channel? Tom can't deal with anything more complex.

[Flopsy]

probably, have you popped into comet and asked? The one near us is pretty good at explaining things

Also you had a typo in the following

Once set up will it be just like selecting any other channel? Coz i'm old, I can't deal with anything more complex

[roversWASmylife]

We've got it, there's plenty of football on. Premier League, the other leagues, Scottish, had the Old Firm game on yesterday and has Bundesliga games on as well.

Once you've got it, it's like any other channel that you can watch

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Setanta Sports is pretty cool as it has a lot of football on throughout the year (English, French, German, Dutch league etc) and also it shows domestic cups, Internationals, Friendlies which is great. Aside from the football, they also have stuff like major boxing/UFC events. When you subscribe to Setanta Sports, you also get a few other channels chucked in as well such as Liverpool/Arsenal/Rangers/Celtic TV, Racing TV (all the horse racing), Golf TV & the impressive NASN which shows all the top American Sports such as Baseball (Go Mets!).

The only downside to Setanta is when you want to cancel the channel. When the football season has finished, they demand that you write in to cancel and refuse to do it over the phone and pretty much kick up a huge fuss as to why you're getting rid of them. The good thing about that is you can usually get them knock a few quid off the subscription fee.

Last year I read about the goings on at Setanta post-football season and I ended up ringing up and getting my subsciption down to 7.99 a month.

[AussieinUk]

Monthly is a very good option.. great flexability.

Football-wise, you get at least one game a week from Germany, Italy, Scotland, France and the Netherlands

Btw - Very easy to get setup (I did mine over the phone in 5 mins) and it was unlocked on the channel listings

[Flopsy]

i think they have some rugby and the ipl plus fa cup and england games

[Hasta]

If the satellite dish has been up for a while just be wary about picture quality. Early installations of dishes only point directly at the 'Sky' satellite. In order to get a perfect picture the dish should be aligned to point in between the Sky satellite and the 'other' satellite. If it's not then you'll get Setanta fine in clear weather but the slightest rain and it breaks up badly.

Easiest way to check is to see if the free Setanta Sports News channel works in heavy rain.

[Paul]

probably, have you popped into comet and asked? The one near us is pretty good at explaining things

Also you had a typo in the following

I have to admit it was Tom he showed us we could do live playback and deferred viewing om the digibox!!!!!!

Thanks for all the comments guys

[AndyNeil]

Setanta is good if you like a variety of football ..... Setanta Sports News is just like SSN, just not as professional and their version of Soccer (hate that word) Saturday is a bit rubbish to be honest - still they don't seem as caught up in the BIG FOUR.

[Al]

As far as I am concerned Setanta are a pain up the rear end. I already pay for BBC and Sky and now the barstewards want £10 a month plus installation for what I used to be able to pick my matches for at £7 a time. I don't want to watch all the matches on there. I only want to watch Rovers away matches. There are enough other games on Sky and terrestrial to keep me happy (and in the wife's good books).

Setanta are parasites and if we all stop subscribing they will have to go away and let things get back to the way they were.

[Tris]

Remaining PL / Conference / England / SPL fixtures on Setanta are listed here (they haven't announced the final March-April-May live games yet) - Setanta. ... along with details of their FA Cup coverage and French / German / Dutch leagues.

[Tris]

As far as I am concerned Setanta are a pain up the rear end. I already pay for BBC and Sky and now the barstewards want £10 a month plus installation for what I used to be able to pick my matches for at £7 a time. I don't want to watch all the matches on there. I only want to watch Rovers away matches. There are enough other games on Sky and terrestrial to keep me happy (and in the wife's good books).

Setanta are parasites and if we all stop subscribing they will have to go away and let things get back to the way they were.

Unfortunately it's not Setanta's fault - blame the meddling idiots at the EU who decreed that the PL weren't allowed to let one broadcaster have everything. If it wasn't Setanta it would be someone else - and we'd still have to pay extra for it (none of the terrestrial broadcasters can justify the outlay).

[T4E]

As far as I am concerned Setanta are a pain up the rear end. I already pay for BBC and Sky and now the barstewards want £10 a month plus installation for what I used to be able to pick my matches for at £7 a time. I don't want to watch all the matches on there. I only want to watch Rovers away matches. There are enough other games on Sky and terrestrial to keep me happy (and in the wife's good books).

Setanta are parasites and if we all stop subscribing they will have to go away and let things get back to the way they were.

I bought Setanta for the boxing, with that, UFC, NASN, SPL and the foreign league, I'd still keep it even if the didn't have Premier League football.

[Grabbi Graeme]

I think it's worth it if your a football fan as you have different league's to choose from, plus the boxing is very good as well.

I can agree about Setanta Sports News, there coverage not as good as Sky but they do have Charlotte Jackson

[stuwilky]

As far as I am concerned Setanta are a pain up the rear end. I already pay for BBC and Sky and now the barstewards want £10 a month plus installation for what I used to be able to pick my matches for at £7 a time. I don't want to watch all the matches on there. I only want to watch Rovers away matches. There are enough other games on Sky and terrestrial to keep me happy (and in the wife's good books).

Setanta are parasites and if we all stop subscribing they will have to go away and let things get back to the way they were.

Sadly Al, its the Eu at fault.

Of course France are at liberty to have a monopoly of coverage - but as you say Ive gone from paying £45 a month for Sky and Prem Plus to over £50 for Sky and Sultana (good for the consumer? No chance).

[pksrover]

just a quick question while we're on the subject of pay-tv..

Through my NatWest account I get 50% off on Sky the first year if I sign up before 31st December...but I don't want the internet and phone, is there a way to get only the TV? Did find anything on their website about that..

[Tim Southampton Rover]

just a quick question while we're on the subject of pay-tv..

Through my NatWest account I get 50% off on Sky the first year if I sign up before 31st December...but I don't want the internet and phone, is there a way to get only the TV? Did find anything on their website about that..

Up until last week. We only had the TV and no internet and phone as we had those with someone else. Give them a call and ring up with any questions you've got or go to a shopping centre where they usually have a Sky man on a stall and ask him.

[The Gull]

just be careful with setanta as i have had a lot of hassle with them.

Initially signed up for £5 per month, £15 every 3 months, they then, without any notice they made it £15 per month and when I queried it they were very rude.

I decided to cancel it and that was the biggest nightmare ever!

You can sign up to Setanta through various methods yet only one method is accepted for cancellations, a specific email address.

This address was used several times by myself as well as sending numerous letters of complaint and they still did not acknowledge the cancellation and tried to take out a subscription fee 5 weeks after my cancellation was sent in.

They say you need to give 30 days, which I more than did on several occasions, luckily enough I then cancelled the direct debit, this didn't make them happy and within the space of 2 weeks I received approximately 40 text messages/phone calls/emails and eventually a threatening letter. The text messages and emails asked me to call them. I had spoken to 10 different people and had to repeat myself over and over again.

I eventually spoke to someone and vented my anger and disgust at my treatment who then told me I should not receive any more messages as my account had been cancelled and he had made notes of my complaint.

I have not heard from them since.

Out of principle I will not subscribe to them again and I have had every single channel that has shown football since having my own house 8 years ago, including pay per view season tickets.

Their coverage is quite good, but as mentioned earlier their presentation could be better, maybe that is just because I am used to sky.

Rant over!

[Tim Southampton Rover]

The best way to cancel them is to write a letter to them directly stating that you are giving your notice of 1 month and you are canceling your direct debit as of whatever the date is after the 1 month notice. Then send it by special delivery so it can be traced and so they can sign for it and then you'll have no trouble canceling with them and proving evidence in case they kick up a fuss.

[Jim J]

If the satellite dish has been up for a while just be wary about picture quality. Early installations of dishes only point directly at the 'Sky' satellite. In order to get a perfect picture the dish should be aligned to point in between the Sky satellite and the 'other' satellite. If it's not then you'll get Setanta fine in clear weather but the slightest rain and it breaks up badly.

Easiest way to check is to see if the free Setanta Sports News channel works in heavy rain.

I subscribed to Setanta for the England qualifiers, and it worked fine for the 1st away game, but by the time the 2nd game was on, I just got a message saying "no signal being received". Setanta told me to ring Sky, and Sky couldn't fix it, as they needed to change the dish, which was a communal one on an appartment block.

I just cancelled my direct debit to setanta, and when they phoned to ask why, I said I wasn't paying for a service I couldn't get.

[Gav]

Must admit to really enjoying Setanta, and the NASN channel that comes as part of the package.

Only down side is the customer service which is inept at best.

[American]

Is NASN the one that shows a lot of American sports? Is it only available as a part of the Setanta package?

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Yeah. NASN is the North American Sports Network with live coverage of Major League Baseball, the NHL, NFL, CFL, NASCAR, NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball 24 hours a day. In February it's to become ESPN America.

I think it's only part of the Setanta package. You used to be able to purchase the channel separately but I think that was before they signed up with Setanta.

[stuwilky]

I believe that Setanta have recently changed their cancellation policy to become nothing short of an expensive farce.

[Alan75]

I've had 2 months, a Reader Offer, free trial of Setanta, and found that I didnt use it enough to warrent the £10 a month subscription.

My big problem now is trying to get them to stop the service - as others here have stated, their customer service is terrible. Nearly 30min yesterday waiting for them to answer the phone and then getting moved from one department to the next.