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ACape Town - MultiChoice's brand new DStv BoxOffice video on demand service (VOD) launched commercially on Friday has suffered what appears to be major technical failure with heavily irate subscribers fruitlessly trying to access the service to watch movies.
The technical failure of DStv BoxOffice on the launch day has left a red-faced MultiChoice not just reeling, but engineers scrambling to get the system back up and to get additional resources assigned to the new service.
It seems that system overload is to blame for DStv BoxOffice's unexpected technical failure and has echoes of what happened when competitor TopTV launched in May last year.
TopTV were instantly crushed by unanticipated demand when 50 000 decoders sold out within the first weekend and TopTV's unprepared customer care and installation system collapsed. Customer care and installation turnaround times plagued TopTV for months.
In a ''broadcast message'' shown on screen, MultiChoice's new DStv BoxOffice service that was introduced to the South African press on Thursday evening at a glamorous event, now tells subscribers that ''We are aware that you are experiencing a problem using BoxOffice and we are currently attending to it. Please be patient and we will let you know once the problem is resolved. We apologize for any inconvenience".
MultiChoice didn’t immediately respond to enquiries about the nature, extent and cause of the DStv BoxOffice technical failure. "Due to high demand for BoxOffice, some of the customers experienced difficulties with registration and rental,’’ Jackie Rakitla, general manager of corporate affairs for MultiChoice told Channel24 late on Friday night. "We are working to resolve these issues,’’ he said.
System delay
DStv BoxOffice makes a selection of 15 movies available for rent to DStv Premium subscribers by pushing the green button on the DStv remote control to access the new service through new software that was loaded onThursday night.
Outraged subscribers who wanted to test and use the service, that is letting subscribers rent a movie for R25 for a period of 48 hours, are fuming.
On Facebook, DStv is trying to appease angry subscribers who complain about only one movie being available.
Some others complained about being kept on hold while trying to call MultiChoice's customer care centre, and while they were holding, given voice prompts that their calls will only be attended to in 25 minutes' time.
''Response to BoxOffice has exceeded our expectations and resulted in a system delay. We are working to ensure your rentals will be available as soon as possible,'' said MultiChoice on the DStv Facebook page.
''Our engineers have been hard at work to get the systems back up and to ensure that additional resources are assigned to BoxOffice.''
Do your research
Several subscribers voiced their deep disappointment with the new service that wasn't working.
''Waiting over 20 minutes for someone to answer your BoxOffice helpline number, your staff not the friendliest and unable to help because your system is offline,'' fumed Janice Leibovitz.
''Seriously, before you launch a product like this, do your research - make sure it works, assess the demand and ensure you have everything in place before you go live.''
''Systems should be tested prior to going live, this includes load testing,'' said Sheldon Van Vliet.
''Very disappointed in DStv BoxOffice service.'' Madeleine Roberts who says she's been calling MultiChoice since 18:00 while nobody answered the phone says she ''was excited about DStv BoxOffice but not any longer''.
''This is poor service,'' said Vaughan Morrissey. ''I tried to embrace something new, got the pizza and wine but can't get a movie.
"Had to wait 20 minutes for my call to be answered and had to listen to a man telling me how wonderful BoxOffice is, only to be told there are technical issues on DStv.
"Surely new systems should be tested and then tested again.''
Channel24 is part of 24.com, a subsidiary of Media24, which is in the Naspers stable. DStv is a subsidiary of Naspers.
The technical failure of DStv BoxOffice on the launch day has left a red-faced MultiChoice not just reeling, but engineers scrambling to get the system back up and to get additional resources assigned to the new service.
It seems that system overload is to blame for DStv BoxOffice's unexpected technical failure and has echoes of what happened when competitor TopTV launched in May last year.
TopTV were instantly crushed by unanticipated demand when 50 000 decoders sold out within the first weekend and TopTV's unprepared customer care and installation system collapsed. Customer care and installation turnaround times plagued TopTV for months.
In a ''broadcast message'' shown on screen, MultiChoice's new DStv BoxOffice service that was introduced to the South African press on Thursday evening at a glamorous event, now tells subscribers that ''We are aware that you are experiencing a problem using BoxOffice and we are currently attending to it. Please be patient and we will let you know once the problem is resolved. We apologize for any inconvenience".
MultiChoice didn’t immediately respond to enquiries about the nature, extent and cause of the DStv BoxOffice technical failure. "Due to high demand for BoxOffice, some of the customers experienced difficulties with registration and rental,’’ Jackie Rakitla, general manager of corporate affairs for MultiChoice told Channel24 late on Friday night. "We are working to resolve these issues,’’ he said.
System delay
DStv BoxOffice makes a selection of 15 movies available for rent to DStv Premium subscribers by pushing the green button on the DStv remote control to access the new service through new software that was loaded onThursday night.
Outraged subscribers who wanted to test and use the service, that is letting subscribers rent a movie for R25 for a period of 48 hours, are fuming.
On Facebook, DStv is trying to appease angry subscribers who complain about only one movie being available.
Some others complained about being kept on hold while trying to call MultiChoice's customer care centre, and while they were holding, given voice prompts that their calls will only be attended to in 25 minutes' time.
''Response to BoxOffice has exceeded our expectations and resulted in a system delay. We are working to ensure your rentals will be available as soon as possible,'' said MultiChoice on the DStv Facebook page.
''Our engineers have been hard at work to get the systems back up and to ensure that additional resources are assigned to BoxOffice.''
Do your research
Several subscribers voiced their deep disappointment with the new service that wasn't working.
''Waiting over 20 minutes for someone to answer your BoxOffice helpline number, your staff not the friendliest and unable to help because your system is offline,'' fumed Janice Leibovitz.
''Seriously, before you launch a product like this, do your research - make sure it works, assess the demand and ensure you have everything in place before you go live.''
''Systems should be tested prior to going live, this includes load testing,'' said Sheldon Van Vliet.
''Very disappointed in DStv BoxOffice service.'' Madeleine Roberts who says she's been calling MultiChoice since 18:00 while nobody answered the phone says she ''was excited about DStv BoxOffice but not any longer''.
''This is poor service,'' said Vaughan Morrissey. ''I tried to embrace something new, got the pizza and wine but can't get a movie.
"Had to wait 20 minutes for my call to be answered and had to listen to a man telling me how wonderful BoxOffice is, only to be told there are technical issues on DStv.
"Surely new systems should be tested and then tested again.''
Channel24 is part of 24.com, a subsidiary of Media24, which is in the Naspers stable. DStv is a subsidiary of Naspers.
