Refunds for botched Annapolis PPV

[prodigal bari]

Has anyone received any communication from DCI concerning refunding the PPV that was messed up on Saturday? I sent an email to their CS; only to get an automated reply with a purchase order number. There is NOTHING on their website about who to contact concerning this issue. It is almost like DCI is trying to ignore this problem.

Has anyone had any success with them on the refunds? And where can I directly contact DCI without going through voice mail or this email maze? Thanks!

[Long Time Fan]

Generally, because they have to work the weekend of a major show, the DCI offices, and particularly the web team are not in on the following Monday. I'm just as frustrated, but they need a little slack cut here. I'm sure they are wiped out after a major show and traveling to and back. They will start working this on Tuesday I am willing to bet.

[drumcat]

Did you not get the email from Ricky? Maybe it's being sent in batches...

Edited June 18, 2007 by drumcat

[perc2100]

Generally, because they have to work the weekend of a major show, the DCI offices, and particularly the web team are not in on the following Monday. I'm just as frustrated, but they need a little slack cut here. I'm sure they are wiped out after a major show and traveling to and back. They will start working this on Tuesday I am willing to bet.

So, pretty much every employee of DCI travels to shows?!

They _REALLY_ need to improve/overhaul their customer service. They are starting to charge 'big' money for their services, and I really don't think it's too much to ask for quality customer service. If DCI is stepping up their product (which they are, seeing as their charging more for their stuff), then they need to step up their customer service.

We're forgiving fans, and if there's a technical glitch many of us understand that DCI is not in the high tech webcasting business (though, they kind of are since they're selling that). But if there is zero customer service at the first sign of something going wrong, it instills no confidence in the customers: and that is a bad business model.

[geluf]

I got an email telling me they had refunded everything to my credit card.

Good enough for me. :)

[JMS0527]

I'll be ok if they figure out server issues on dci.org...I'd like to be able to actually get on when I feel like it

They also need to provide a clear link to their live feeds...they have some time now (10 days) to rectify that...and they need to...like so many of you, I took forever to find the feed, and I was not happy

and I'm paying $20 less than a lot of you

When I heard about the potential non-broadcast I thought to myself "not a great way to start the season"

I'm not ###### now, but I will be if I continue to have trouble connecting to the website to listen to what I want when I want...live feeds included

I shouldn't have to wait to log onto the Network because everyone and their grandma wants to find out the night's scores

Edited June 19, 2007 by JMS0527

[oldbandguy]

I am confident DCI will take care of everyone that has a refund coming. I think it is very unfair that some are trying to place DCI in a league that they just aren't in. Saturday there were comparisons of DCI's web cast to that of Major League Baseball. Yes, I know the cost comparisons are

similar ($90), but come on...DCI is no where close to MLB in terms of revenue and what they can afford to provide their fans. Try to keep in

mind that DCI's annual budget is MUCH less than the salary of just ONE major league player. (at least most of the stars) I would imagine that

the profit margin on the live web cast is very minimal. I personally am very thankful that they are providing it.

[perc2100]

I am confident DCI will take care of everyone that has a refund coming. I think it is very unfair that some are trying to place DCI in a league that they just aren't in. Saturday there were comparisons of DCI's web cast to that of Major League Baseball. Yes, I know the cost comparisons are

similar ($90), but come on...DCI is no where close to MLB in terms of revenue and what they can afford to provide their fans. Try to keep in

mind that DCI's annual budget is MUCH less than the salary of just ONE major league player. (at least most of the stars) I would imagine that

the profit margin on the live web cast is very minimal. I personally am very thankful that they are providing it.

On many levels I agree with that. But I don't care what your operating budget or yearly profit margin is: if you're selling a product, especially of a technical nature, good customer service is paramount. Right now DCI is failing in the customer service department. Most of the complaints I've read (including mine), are more focused on the lack of customer service DCI has provided. Technical glitches happen, but when there is no one awake at the home office to answer questions, provide tech support, or even drop a letter of apology to the paying customers, there is a problem. DCI has been doing this now for awhile, and poor customer service is not excusable IMO.

I'm hoping DCI proves me wrong, drops a line to all of it's Platinum members to apologize and reassure us this won't happen again, takes steps to improve their customer service, adds tech support in some way, and maybe even throws some sort of bone to the Platinum members (and added webast of a show, a free APD from the first show, or something small like that would go a long way). But right now, more than 48 hours after the fact, there's been little/no word from DCI to customers. When I first signed up for the MLB thing (there goes that comparison again) this season, I had a technical glitch and sent an e-mail to their customer service/tech support. Within a few hours I heard back, their response helped me fix my issues, and I've been enoying my Cleveland Indians from So Cal. every day of the season. I'm not asking for the same amount of technology that MLB provides, but ANY amount of customer service would be nice.

[oldbandguy]

I can agree with your point about customer service and "communicating" with their subscribers. That can be done with almost no additional cost to DCI. I think an earlier post indicated that the DCI office is often

closed or has reduced staff on Mondays. That's fine, but I did notice that the web site WAS updated today and it seems some folks that purchased PPV were sent emails. I still think, overall, they are making progress with they're trying to do and I'm confident they will be taking our comments (pro and con) to heart.

By the way...I'm glad your getting the MLB feeds and hope you got to see my Reds beat your Indians last week...and I don't want to hear about our overall record : (

[jwillis35]

I'll be ok if they figure out server issues on dci.org...I'd like to be able to actually get on when I feel like it

I shouldn't have to wait to log onto the Network because everyone and their grandma wants to find out the night's scores

I completely agree with what you said. I can understand a glitch here and there, and I can understand if the setup on the stadium-side of things prevents them from giving the best web broadcast, but they need to be aware of these things way before hand; but most importantly their own web site [DCI.org] needs to be accessible by all. They knew full well that their site would be flooded with people trying to get scores, watch the webcast, listen to audio and more. It is inexcusable on their part to not have prepared for that and yet to charge what they charge for web content, much of which depends on our ability to log on for the live broadcast. How many people really want to wait until well after a live show has concluded in order to view the video on demand? I am glad they offer that service, but most of the people who are paying for the Platinum subscription do so to see the "live" show.

When I was finally able to log onto DCI's site on Saturday I found out that they were showing the webcast, and I was not happy since I had given up hope and went to do other things. Then I try to log on to see if there are any updates about the show, or write-ups as they have done in the past, and 30 minutes later I am logged on only to find that they are web-casting, and I missed everyone but the last 3. In addition, the server was slow, and I lost the connection several times. Then when I want to check out recaps I lose my connection to the DCI site and it takes me another 40+ minutes to log back on. That is crazy. There is no excuse for this. It's simply called not being prepared for the services you offer and the demand for those services.

As you said though, I will give them a break and just hope that they are putting into place the proper infrastructure to ensure a better experience for fans. They have done many positive things over the years, and we have never had it so good with the Cinecasts, webcasts, APDs, VOD, and much more. Years ago we could not follow the corps in this manner unless we were there live. We simply had to wait for the end of the season and buy LPs or VHS tapes of the top 12 or top 25. They are opening up new markets for themselves, and we as fans are willing to shell out cash to support those markets and to help support the corps providing the service is good; and frankly I think most fans enjoy being able to follow corps this way, but the service must be good and accessible at any time, and what that really means is making sure the LIVE webcasts are fast, reliable, secure, and of good quality. If they can provide this service in the best manner they will make a lot of money, and I think we would all like to see that happen.

JW