This baseball season I elected to pay a premium for Telus' MLB Extra Innings ($200 vs $130 for MLB.tv). To date I've been mostly satisfied with Optik TV, and thought the convenience of having it on the TV box would justify the extra $70. Instead this has been easily the worst experience I've had to date with a premium sports package.
I'm a fan of the Detroit Tigers, and purchased this package primarily to watch their games. In the first month of the season there have already been at least 6 Tiger games not included on Extra Innings. Tonight, May 6th the game is listed in the guide, however when selecting the game I get only a message that there is no game in progress. As I type this the game is in the 3rd inning with Houston enjoying a 3-2 lead. I know this from reading the box score on MLB.com and not from watching the game live despite paying Telus $200.
In all instances of missed games, I can confirm that there were no other channels showing the games in question. They were however all available on MLB.tv, Major League Baseball's own streaming product, which in hindsight is quite a bargain, and highly recommended.
If you've read this far you may be thinking that while this certainly sounds unfortunate the use of the word fraudulent seems a little inflammatory. If this is where the story ended you would be correct.
HOWEVER....
Given the inadequacy of Telus' Extra Innings, I thought it reasonable to request cancellation, with a full or partial refund offered. To my surprise this was not an option, and in fact the agent seemed almost taken aback that I would even request this. This was so far out of the question that the computer system would not even give the support agent I spoke with the option of issuing even a refund.
The reasoning behind this? The package that, despite costing over 50% more than the competing product is missing a quarter of the games is..... a PREMIUM service. Classified as such, it is non refundable.
That's right, despite a lack of warning that it is an incomplete package. Despite not even having all the games that are listed on the guide. A premium service. Meaning once they have your money, you're own your own with no recourse.
So fair enough, you got me Telus. You've got me for another year or two between my home and mobility contracts, then we're done. I've been a customer for 15 years and prior to this would have been happy staying on for the next 30. Spend my $200 in good health.
