Response to Complaint from SideArm Streaming Video "Support"

[OhioClone]

I sent the following email to SideArm customer service today:

Yesterday I tried to watch the ISU/Northern Iowa football game on Cyclone TV. I've been looking forward to watching this game for months. The experience was very frustrating. Multiple times I logged in, typically after long delays, only to soon lose the connection. When I was connected the image quality was frequently poor. I see that I will be receiving a refund for my payment. I want an explanation as to why the service was so bad and whether anything is being done to prevent the problem from recurring? Note, I'm not looking for an apology and I'll feel insulted if your reply is that there were technical problems that no one could have predicted.

They responded as follows:

Hi Gary,
Sorry for the inconvenience, we faced several problems last night and went ahead and issued everyone who bought a 24 hour pass a full refund.
Have a nice day,
Pat

I think this is a poor response. They apologized, but I wanted an explanation to make me believe that this same problem is unlikely to recur? A refund is the minimal corrective action--glad I only paid for one day! If this is the only response that we get from SideArm then the Iowa State Athletics website administrators/Athletic Dept should ask the same question and post the response. If SideArm says the same thing, and the adminstators believe that it's acceptable, then I will not be paying any streaming services from that website again.

 

[KnappShack]

I sent the following email to SideArm customer service today:

Yesterday I tried to watch the ISU/Northern Iowa football game on Cyclone TV. I've been looking forward to watching this game for months. The experience was very frustrating. Multiple times I logged in, typically after long delays, only to soon lose the connection. When I was connected the image quality was frequently poor. I see that I will be receiving a refund for my payment. I want an explanation as to why the service was so bad and whether anything is being done to prevent the problem from recurring? Note, I'm not looking for an apology and I'll feel insulted if your reply is that there were technical problems that no one could have predicted.

They responded as follows:

Hi Gary,
Sorry for the inconvenience, we faced several problems last night and went ahead and issued everyone who bought a 24 hour pass a full refund.
Have a nice day,
Pat

I think this is a poor response. They apologized, but I wanted an explanation to make me believe that this same problem is unlikely to recur? A refund is the minimal corrective action--glad I only paid for one day! If this is the only response that we get from SideArm then the Iowa State Athletics website administrators/Athletic Dept should ask the same question and post the response. If SideArm says the same thing, and the adminstators believe that it's acceptable, then I will not be paying any streaming services from that website again.

Think it's also BS that I bought a monthly pass and didn't get any type of refund.

Ok. Take my $10, but we'll end that business relationship there.

 

[CyCrazy]

I understand that sometimes issues can arise, but for ***** how can you not adequately prepare for the amount of people that wanted to use it on the opening game?

 

[jkclone]

It seems like every time there is a serious game on there they have had some type of issue. I don't get why it keeps happening.

 

[runblade]

Technical school should be able to do it better.

 

[SwirlyBird]

Tshould people went to uni games, can't help it.

It always strikes me that uni has a product on par with iowa state, charges a lot less for tickets and more don't come.

Show the power of media and if repeat something enough times people believe it. Iowa State is big time football and the facts don't matter. People will comer.

Did you have a stroke?

 

[BuffettClone]

It's kind of funny. I keep hearing the ISU fanbase doesn't have enough TV sets for the realignment process, how could the servers not keep up with the few random customers that didn't go to the game?

 

[BoxsterCy]

It seems like every time there is a serious game on there they have had some type of issue. I don't get why it keeps happening.

I don't really think the athletic department gives a rats ass about anyone who does not buy season tickets. They play lip service to their PR and hype to build the brand but when push comes to shove they aren't going to really care about us as individuals. It's just business to them and the admin staff doesn't really seem to care like the coaches and athletes. I'm only a Gold level donor and know for sure they don't care about me.

 

[HiltonSouth]

Maybe a call in to Campbell's weekly show and try to get an explanation from Walters might be a better bet.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I sent the following email to SideArm customer service today:

Yesterday I tried to watch the ISU/Northern Iowa football game on Cyclone TV. I've been looking forward to watching this game for months. The experience was very frustrating. Multiple times I logged in, typically after long delays, only to soon lose the connection. When I was connected the image quality was frequently poor. I see that I will be receiving a refund for my payment. I want an explanation as to why the service was so bad and whether anything is being done to prevent the problem from recurring? Note, I'm not looking for an apology and I'll feel insulted if your reply is that there were technical problems that no one could have predicted.

They responded as follows:

Hi Gary,
Sorry for the inconvenience, we faced several problems last night and went ahead and issued everyone who bought a 24 hour pass a full refund.
Have a nice day,
Pat

I think this is a poor response. They apologized, but I wanted an explanation to make me believe that this same problem is unlikely to recur? A refund is the minimal corrective action--glad I only paid for one day! If this is the only response that we get from SideArm then the Iowa State Athletics website administrators/Athletic Dept should ask the same question and post the response. If SideArm says the same thing, and the adminstators believe that it's acceptable, then I will not be paying any streaming services from that website again.

Be happy (for the lack of a better word) that you got your 24-hour subscription refunded and be done with it. They're not going to spell out every single detail for you as to what went wrong - they're not going to risk a competitor getting ahold of that information and embarrass them even further than they already were last night, between poor performance and having to refund everyone.

 

[Bryce7]

Sidearm performed like our oline on rushing

 

[OhioClone]

I don't really think the athletic department gives a rats ass about anyone who does not buy season tickets. They play lip service to their PR and hype to build the brand but when push comes to shove they aren't going to really care about us as individuals. It's just business to them and the admin staff doesn't really seem to care like the coaches and athletes. I'm only a Gold level donor and know for sure they don't care about me.

BoxsterCy, I too am wondering what the Athletic Department does and what they care about? For most large operations there are probably hundreds, or more, things that need to be done in order to successfully achieve objectives. We don't normally see what is being done or know the level of effort that is going into the work. The streaming video service is an exception in that fans do see the performance close up. There is nothing complicated about determining how well the streaming provider (SideArm) is performing its service. If no one in the Athletic Department is monitoring this, or cares about the outcome, then it makes one wonder about all of those other things that we don't normally see?

 

[ISUguy]

Sidearm performed like our oline on rushing

Was thinking the same thing...that was pretty par for the course for the night.

 

[StClone]

Was thinking the same thing...that was pretty par for the course for the night.

Which of these three is not like the others?:

1. Subpar football program.
2, Dismal media game broadcast experience.
3, Enthusiastic, widely supportive fan base filling stadium and online venues.

 

[benjay]

I did the math, and the best deal was to buy a 4 month pass for $35. That gives you access to Cyclones.tv through December, which catches all of the basketball games expected to air on it. No refunds of course. This is what I get for being smart.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I'm not going to hang this one on the athletic department. You contract a service expecting them to live up to their promises. They obviously were concerned enough to change companies, so they're listening. Sidearm needs to get their **** together.

 

[runbikeswim]

I couldn't even get on.

Everyone pizzed and moaned about the old system so much - Neulion they changed it. The new system isn't near as good as what we had.

Sometimes you get what you asked for. I never had any trouble in like 8 years with the old system.

If VB streams and WBB streams are bad I am going to be really pizzed off.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

I couldn't even get on.

Everyone pizzed and moaned about the old system so much - Neulion they changed it. The new system isn't near as good as what we had.

Sometimes you get what you asked for. I never had any trouble in like 8 years with the old system.

If VB streams and WBB streams are bad I am going to be really pizzed off.

You would be the first. The new system is better looking, easier to navigate, and faster when it actually works. We will see what happens next time, but Saying the old system was better is far from true.

 

[ArgentCy]

I certainly have no specific knowledge on the subject but from the comments it seems pretty clear what happened. The app and software work fine, with a few glitches here and there. However, they CLEARLY underestimated the peak demand for a LIVE game and didn't have the server capacity.

Pollard clearly had a bad night. The one football game is probably the biggest single event / Revenue for the whole year for Cyclones.TV. To have to refund a bunch of the money is a disaster. Hopefully the contract states that Sidearm has to eat most of the loss .

 

[Gunnerclone]

I wish cyclones.tv was an AM radio station. All the same stuff, all the games, shows, etc...just no video. I'd listen to it all of the time.