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Removal of BBC iPlayer from Smart TV

(Topic created on: 15-09-2017 09:41 AM)
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IWP
Student
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On 25th April 2011 we purchased a Samsung TV from John Lewis Partnership in Stafford. It is a 32inch Smart TV and cost £599. I have the receipt. 
The only reason for buying the SMART version was to view BBC i player.
When we now access BBCi Player a caption comes up to say you will be removing the BBC player on 17th October.
We have visited John Lewis and they say this is happening a lot. They are taking no action against you.
 
I have report this to the Trading Standards as an abuse of supplier power.
We purchased an item which has functioned well for 6 years in good faith that the functionality would remain the same and have no reason to think it will not continue. But to remove a key piece of functionality which we have paid for seem illegal if not unfair and poor in terms of customer relations.
It seems a cynical use of supplier power to force customers like us to go out and purchase a new television with no technical reason offered and no compensation towards a new Samsung TV. How could we purchase a new Samsung TV with this experience of cavalier support.
 
I would appreciate if you could investigate this sharp practice and advise us on our options.
Ian
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AntS
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PJ1968
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My family consumes all TV content via the iPlayer, but iPlayer will no longer work on my Samsung TV from 17th October. Effectively this makes my television obsolete. This TV is only six years old, was an expensive top-of-the-range model and is wall mounted with all cables chased into the wall.

When the BBC switched from analogue to digital there were many months (if not years) of warnings, public service briefings and even financial support for some. When the BBC switched from VHF to UHF TV broadcasting, the BBC VHF signal continued for many years to ensure very old TVs were not obsolete. We have had just six weeks notice. This is not public service broadcasting.

I suspect that iPlayer will no longer be supported as some TVs will not allow the new sign in process, meaning that if it continued, some people would be able to consume iPlayer content without paying the licence fee. If this is the case, people are being penalised for all those who do not pay for a TV licence.

I'm very surprised that there has not been a huge outcry, the BBC should reverse this decision or give us all a £40 licence reimbursement to pay for Amazon Fire Sticks (or similar).
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IWP
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I have to support your position with regard to the withdrawal of BBC iplayer. I too have a 6 year old TV which is now obsolete. I see the French have a law against deliverately making a product obsolete. I think we need it here in the UK.

The distributors like Currys and John Lewis do not care about this reduction in functionality as they are the benficiary in new sales. They seem totally unconcerned and say the problem can be fixed by a dongle. The TV manufacturers invented the idea of a Smart TV which, like you, means to us everything in place and one remote control.  Now they want to destroy it. The BBC needs to hold on to audience not alientate them and have stiven hard to make iPlayer easily available. Now they seem set to destroy this easy access. This makes no sense from a customer retention view. In all this is a daft policy whoever is driving it and there should be more uproar.

So reluctantly I have just ordered a Sony after the Samsung I purchased failed to tune. The salesmans attitude was we would need to replace this in 3 years I we persited in out view that a Smart TV means access to iplayer via the same  remote control.

Thanks for raising this as I did a couple of weeks ago.

Arthur3
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BBC are removing iplayer V2 from service, This has nothing to do with Samsung. I am told that there is an in line device  available which solves this problem as it appears the models of Samsung TV we have are not compatible with other versions of iplayer. I am seeking advice as to what this device is, where it can be bought, and how much it costs, advice of this nature would be of more help to us than starting of on a legal route whicih is unlikely to succeed or indeed solve our immediate problem which has to be done by Oct 17 2017.

 

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PJ1968
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Thank you for confirming that this is not a Samsung issue.  An Amazon Fire TV Stick should solve the problem, but these cost £40 why should we have to pay for this on top of the TV licence if the BBC chooses to stop supporting some devices with just six weeks notice?  A TV licence rebate should be given to all affected.  I've requested this, but TV licencing appears to be a separate entity.  If enough people complain, perhaps the BBC will do something about this issue.

 

Please contact BBC You and Yours (Radio 4). The rest of the BBC are not listening - I've spent hours contacting Complaints, the iPlayer team and TV Licensing - they all direct me to each other.


Please also email Dan Taylor-Watt, head of iPlayer. His PA's email address is *****.

 

(MOD Edit: email address removed upon request.)

 

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Nanette
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I am absolutely disgusted by the lack of responsibility taken on Samsung's part in this withdrawal of the IPlayer Service. I too purchased the exact same model from John Lewis in 2011 and have since spent a small fortune having this TV cabled in to a new kitchen extension... I then had to pay a vast fee to an electrician to resolve a cabling issue 2 years ago, having to seek my neighbour's permission to gain access from their garden to the back of my kitchen wall. To now find out that IPlayer will no longer be available on my Smart TV?
Surely something has to be done about this to bring the service back. I am astounded that there hasent been a backlash and uproar against the major retailers to take part responsibility? I only discovered this tonight by chance... and in a few hours the service is gone??

Outrageous behaviour and Samsung should be penalised for breach of contract in withdrawing an obligation to provide a service that was promised upon purchase.

Contractual lawyers should be all over this... surely this is a clear contravention of the Consumer Act of 2015?

I shall never purchase a single device from Samsung ever again.
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PJ1968
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I think that the responsibility probably lies with the BBC not Samsung. My guess is that our TVs cannot cope with the new iPlayer sign in process. The BBC should continue to support these televisions, six weeks notice is definitely not ok. We had years to prepare for the digital switch over.

 

I have made numerous complaints to the BBC and so far have only been referred to other departments or sent stock replies. I have now logged a formal complaint and have made contact with You and Yours. I hope everyone else can do the same. 

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Totoro
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I would just like to add my voice to the thread of disgruntled and disappointed people.  My 32" Samsung TV has been working fabulously for 5/6 years and still looks sharp. In fact I bought a larger samsung TV this year 55" for the PS4 and I swear the picture is not as good as my older samsung. However I digress... It's a real shame this feature has been removed as I use catchup TV a lot for the BBC.  I blame the BBC and Samsung jointly.  Surely Samsung can issue a firmware update to allow us to keep watching iPlayer on our TVs?  I've never had a problem with BBC streaming quality over this time and my router is some questionable distance from the TV.

 

C'mon Samsung give is a firmware to allow tens of thousands if not a magnitude more people to keep watching iPlayer. Or give us a showstopping technical reason why it can't be done!

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PJ1968
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The BBC will not tell my exactly why this has happened (the coding of the iPlayer content has not changed).  Samsung customer service does not care.  I've taken this issue to the highest level with the BBC including a slot on the Radio 4 You and Yours consumer programme.  None of the answers given are satisfactory.

 

I will almost certainly never buy a Samsung product again based on the complete lack of care from the customer service team.

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