VF again again proves it has no point. "We are bad (but we have TV!)" becomes "We are bad".

Hope the new Sky box offers same  / similar channels as the existing VTV box without needing a stupid dish on my roof.

sansom:

01EG: ukoda: mclean:

Or this one https://freeviewnz.tv/stream-freeview/.  Doesn't include full Sky, of course, but it does have Spark Sport.

I started with a VTV then brought one of those as it was cheaper that the VTV and what Freeview is promoting.  Turns out it was basically useless.  No Ethernet connection and was unreliable

Same here, except I sold mine. Will not recommend it.

I bought one of those to check it out... tiny! It worked for me but, man, it sure did get hot!  

Steve113: Any more info on the refund?
I bought my Vodafone TV just 2 months ago from JB Hi-Fi and paid the full price at $180.
Now I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Can Vodafone legally hold me from getting a refund from the retail store I purchased from?
Without Vodafone specifying the refund amount or process I feel like I may be lose out if I just wait or don't act quickly.

I hope they don't pull anything silly like partial refunds.

It’s all pretty much covered in this thread.

eracode:

It’s all pretty much covered in this thread.

Steve113:

eracode:

It’s all pretty much covered in this thread.

Only available information so far is that the refund is being 'worked on' and more information will be available in March/April.

Doesn't really fill me up with confidence or provide certainty having paid $180 just two months ago. I'm sure there will be others in my position.

Steve113:

eracode:

 

It’s all pretty much covered in this thread.

 

Only available information so far is that the refund is being 'worked on' and more information will be available in March/April.

Doesn't really fill me up with confidence or provide certainty having paid $180 just two months ago. I'm sure there will be others in my position.

Reading the email that was sent, I think the issue some of may be feeling is around who will be entitled to a refund. The email specifically says entitlement to a refund  is 'depending on when you purchased and activated your vodafone TV'. To me this implies that older ones may not be entitled to a refund, so looks to be very much based on dates.

I remember with Tivo or Igloo, they didn't provide a refund because of the age of them, where most were over 3-5 years ago or longer and they seemed to think that was how long such a device should be expected to last for. However I still returned my igloo to the retailer, think it would have been about 3 years old, and got the Tivo chipped to keep it going and it is still going today. I think I purchased one of my Vodafone TVs just over 2 years ago, so by September next year it will be about 3 years old. The other I got earlier this year. So whether they will say that I have had 3 years use out of it by next September, by that time they may consider is reasonable, when I could return it now to the retailer, when it is still just over 2 years old and request a refund.

I now have to break it to my parents that they are going to find yet another another streaming freeview option, after the one Freeview promotes failed, and their UHF service is rubbish after the electrician mucked up the TV cable installation in their new house, as well as living in a poor Freeview reception area.

I just wish Freeview provided some decent quality streams for media device makers to tap into and provided more device options with high reliability.

I found my welcome email Sept 2019. That will make it around 3 years old when shut down date arrives.

My Apple HD TV is 5 years old and still going strong. Both box’s with no moving parts.

Be interesting to see cut off age to not be valid for some refund. At least I only brought one.

Arkayne:

 

I literally bought one in July to turn my parent's dumb TV into a smart one.

 

I thought of the purchase more like an appliance, than as a service. It didn't even occur to me it could be "shut down".

 

IMO this is where Freeview needs to come in. This is now the third NZ TV product where this has happened, where all offered freeview with the ability to offer purchase movies from pay TV providers (Sky TV movies in the case of VTV and igloo)

The thing is that Vodafone provided the best streaming freeview product in NZ and filled a hole in the market, and they should be commended for that.  It shows that Freeview need to do something, as the market is calling for such a device with quality TV streams which is reliable.

The freeview store certainly has a range of products to replace the VF box.

I wonder why the freeview recorder only connects via a dish or UHF aerial - they dont record streaming TV.

Steve113:

eracode:

 

It’s all pretty much covered in this thread.

 

Only available information so far is that the refund is being 'worked on' and more information will be available in March/April.

Doesn't really fill me up with confidence or provide certainty having paid $180 just two months ago. I'm sure there will be others in my position.

Everything that’s currently known is in this thread - plus some speculation. There’s not much point coming here and asking “Any more info on the refund?“ because if it was known, it would already be here.

In this thread VF have said: “we are preparing a box buy back process for all customers who purchased these via a Vodafone retailer.  The process will be available from around April on vtv.nz and we will be in contact with all these customers at that time.”

That sounds pretty clear. Assuming you bought it from a VF retailer, why does this not “fill you up with confidence”? If you bought it on Trademe you’re likely to be OOL.

mattwnz:

 

The thing is that Vodafone provided the best streaming freeview product in NZ and filled a hole in the market, and they should be commended for that.  It shows that Freeview need to do something, as the market is calling for such a device with quality TV streams which is reliable.

 

Won’t the new Sky box meet this criterion - albeit that the Freeview streams probably won’t be free?

I guess Dish would claim this for their two boxes too.

For those only using the box for watching Freeview there are plenty of replacement options - both off the shelf and DIY. With virtually every Freeview channel available as a HLS stream it's a 10 min job to turn an old PC or Android box into something for watching and/or recording live TV.

sbiddle:

 

For those only using the box for watching Freeview there are plenty of replacement options - both off the shelf and DIY. With virtually every Freeview channel available as a HLS stream it's a 10 min job to turn an old PC or Android box into something for watching and/or recording live TV.

 

 

 

The difference is that the VTV box provided a 1080p stream of the freeview channels where as the legal streams are normally provided in 720p or worse. Also the difference in WAF is night and day between the VTV box and a PC/Android box.

I only have 1 VTV Gen 2 box and I've had it since launch back in Oct 2019. By the time it becomes obsolete I feel I would have gotten my $99 of value out of it. If I get a refund it would just be a bonus. I'm more concerned about adding to the e-waste issue unnecessarily than getting a refund. Would be a different story if bought more recently or had I paid full RRP.