Tata Sky - A conspiracy ???

[svenkateshsmart]

First, just like you, I really think Tata Sky is definitely better than the other providers in the market. And I too think that their customer care and user experience (atleast until now), has been good with me. But this is just a discussion about the policies in general, which these providers impose, in our country.


Common, I really dont think that makes any sense. Wht would Tata leave the dish & cabling in the same place when I have vacated my house, expecting that the other tenant will also opt for Tata Sky (if in case he opts for a cable TV in the first place)



Ofcourse its subsidized. One of the reasons for that is they order in bulk, so their per unit cost will not be too big.



What ???:lol: You can get a basic phone for 1000 rupees or even less today, depending on the brand.



Yes ofcourse, they will make money out of monthly subscriptions ALSO, in addition to making money out of the intial ownership & installation charges. Its a business at the end of the day, and they should & will try to make money in every stage of the service offering. not only monthly subscriptions.



The direction of the dish is definitely not a big issue, as the satellite receiver has to definitely face the satellite to get the best reception, I mentioned it because that blog had a point about it. But your comparison with Gillette is really funny.:lol:

Enjoy your TV with Tata Sky just like I do, atleast as of now.

Hi,

+1 to the above post. I think basically here no one is trying to degrade Tata Sky's reputation here, but rather discussing about the policies that are not in favor to its costumers.

Even the starter of the thread admits that he is using Tata Sky's services and admits that it is better than others.

Of course, there were some exaggerations, which is to be expected - everyone wants to add spice to their articles! It is good that lot of us chipped in and clarified those exaggerated points and thanks for that.

So, I think it is better that we discuss what is favorable and beneficial to us and its customers rather than justifying their business strategies. I don't care what strategies they use so long as it is beneficial to the public.

Cheers!

 

[asliarun]

Harrydv, first I wanted to clarify that I didn't mean any offence in any of my replies If any unintentional mistakes happended, I apologize.

Not sure who wrote the article, but it sounded quite one-sided so I felt compelled to provide some counter-points so that the overall discussion can be balanced and fair.

As per my understanding, when we move from a place, Tata Sky does NOT dismantle the existing dish. Disclaimer: this is based only on my personal experience.. I could be wrong here. If they're trying to make money out of installation, why will they not take back their dish?

Another thing: If you remember the BSNL and MTNL days, they used to charge a good sum of money to install telephone wiring from the pole to your house. Do you expect them to return the wiring to you when you move?

There is a big incentive for Tata Sky to leave the dish and cabling as it is. They may gain a new customer as the new tenant might go for Tata Sky instead of Dish because the dish/cabling etc is already in place.

Anyway, i think that's a minor point.

The most worrisome issue about Tata Sky is the privacy issue. One thing is not clear.. how does Tata Sky collect usage information? The STB and dish antenna setup to my knowledge is a one-way transmission of information. Information is broadcast from the satellite to the dish and the STB decrypts the signal. No data or signal is actually sent back to the satellite or to Tata Sky. The only possible way they can collect individual usage information is if they take back the STB and physically extract the stored usage information, if any.

Nonetheless, the privacy clauses in most companies nowadays is really sad, and customers are treated very badly by Indian companies when it comes to privacy or cancellation.

One thing I want to add: I mentioned business strategy only to illustrate that there is nothing remotely unique in what Tata Sky is doing. Of course we should fight it and have a healthy discussion about it. But let us be fair about it. Tata Sky uses and misuses your personal information (or is as ethical) as much as Dish TV or ICICI or Shopper's Stop or Airtel or Bajaj Allianz.

By the way, Gillette is far more vicious a company. Not only have they locked in users to force them to keep buying overpriced blades only from them, they have actively prevented other companies from creating clones. On top of it, they're a clear monopoly not just in India but throughout the world. In India, they have systematically destroyed all competition over the years. It is no wonder that Warren Buffett loves to invest in Gillette.

If you remember the days before twin blades and Mach 3, there were multiple Indian companies making standard sized razor blades. Now, you only see them in barber shops. Most of them have shut down as well.

 

[hemantwaghe]

By the way, Gillette is far more vicious a company. Not only have they locked in users to force them to keep buying overpriced blades only from them, they have actively prevented other companies from creating clones. On top of it, they're a clear monopoly not just in India but throughout the world. In India, they have systematically destroyed all competition over the years. It is no wonder that Warren Buffett loves to invest in Gillette.

If you remember the days before twin blades and Mach 3, there were multiple Indian companies making standard sized razor blades. Now, you only see them in barber shops. Most of them have shut down as well.

1) Gillete themeselves are not independent company but bought by P&G
hyeah:
2)There is some indian brands still surviving Like Laser by malhotra blades
Malhotra Shaving Products
3) Laser and other people make 2 & 3 blade systems...
4) BUT GRAET THING ABOUT GILLETE IS THEIR PRODUCTS ARE ABOVE ORDINARY !!! i HAVE UPGRADED FROM BLUE( SATA-SAT) TO VECTOR TO MACH 3 TO FUSION (NOT RELEASED IN INDIA - FROM GREY!) I can say every upgrade is far better hat previous one and it is difficult to downgrade! Fusion is so good that I do not feel like using Mach3 in my other home!hyeah:

 

[zervinb]

1) Gillete themeselves are not independent company but bought by P&G
hyeah:
2)There is some indian brands still surviving Like Laser by malhotra blades
Malhotra Shaving Products
3) Laser and other people make 2 & 3 blade systems...
4) BUT GRAET THING ABOUT GILLETE IS THEIR PRODUCTS ARE ABOVE ORDINARY !!! i HAVE UPGRADED FROM BLUE( SATA-SAT) TO VECTOR TO MACH 3 TO FUSION (NOT RELEASED IN INDIA - FROM GREY!) I can say every upgrade is far better hat previous one and it is difficult to downgrade! Fusion is so good that I do not feel like using Mach3 in my other home!hyeah:

Great. So now, this thread has been converted into an Official Gillette Thread.

Anyways, let me first say, that I do love the quality of video that Tata Sky offers. I have a Tata Sky+ connection and love that service.

My only grudges against Tata Sky are they do not allow the customer the freedom to select channels and forces them to buy "Channel bouquets" when all we want are "individual flowers", not the whole damn bouquet.

As of now, Ten Sports is the ONLY a la carte channel offered by Tata Sky. As a customer, I feel it is my right to demand and say, that I want these channels, and to hell with the rest. I don't want to pay for receiving the channels I'm never ever going to watch. For eg. I've never even once tuned into the South channels, or the other regional channels. I'm not saying that Tata Sky should discontinue these channels. All I'm saying is, "GIVE THE CUSTOMER A CHOICE AS TO WHICH CHANNELS HE WISHES TO SEE AND DOESN'T WISH TO SEE".

Some of you might argue, that there are bouquets which cater to such needs, and I can order the bouquet I want. But let me tell you, that even in the most basic bouquet, there are many channels which I don't need, and the specific channels I want are part of another bouquet for which I have to pay Tata Sky a premium price, just for receiving 1-2 specific channels from that bouquet.

I wish Tata Sky adopts the same policies as the Cable Distributors i.e. offer all the channels as a la carte and let the customer decide. The only reason I'm sticking with Tata Sky, is that I know that they DO offer the best in terms of video quality, and just hope that they scrap the bouquet system.

Another minor issue: WHEN THE HELL IS HIGH DEFINITION PROGRAMMING COMING TO INDIA? Sun TV is already offering National Geographic HD. And Fox HD is coming to India soon. When will Tata Sky be supporting HD Programming? I'm sure, that if a few channels start HD, the Indian channels (like Star, Zee and Sony) will follow suit, and upgrade their channels to HD (or at least give an HD option for those who wish to use it). HD has arrived in the US, Canada and UK for quite some time now. And with the penetration of HD Ready and Full HD LCDs at least in urban parts of India, Tata Sky should now seriously consider getting High Definition to India. They have the expertise in SKY. They just need to channel that expertise into providing a viable HD solution over here, in India.

Sorry for the excessively long post. But I just went on and on, couldn't stop.
(BTW, this is my 1st post here)

 

[harrydv]

Harrydv, first I wanted to clarify that I didn't mean any offence in any of my replies If any unintentional mistakes happended, I apologize.

Common Arun, it is just an active discussion, and no apology required.

 

[nirrej]

If what the DTH companies are doing is fair why has the court
ordered them to change their monopolistic ways?

The author of the blog has mentioned some really valid points or rather rights of the consumer. In India we're ignorant of these rights and we are all victims without even knowing we're being taken for a ride.
The reason is we're just growing as an economy. Maybe after 15 years when India becomes a mature economy we will be more vigilant about our rights.

 

[confused]

I have two dth services at home,Dish Tv and Tata Sky!
Recently bought samsung lcd tv 32b450,though pic quality was good wit dish tv,today decided to switch to tata sky to lcd tv and use dish tv for bedroom tv.
Called our local dealer to do the necessary things and his service men kept Dish's dish with changing its direction and used tata sky STB and thats it! I was viewing more better quality pic or i must say stunning quality pic on my lcd and i called the customer care of tata and in just min my package was upgraded even when i had very little balance!
The point of such long post is that being subscriber of both services,i find tata more customer friendly,better quality pic and ease of channel upgradation! Only minus point is no audio services!
Harry i agree with ur points raised in ur post,i must add that at present tata is better customer friendly service as per my knowledge!