Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., April 21, 2008 Nisan 16, 5768 | | Israel Time: 01:48 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Hot under the collar By Rina Rozenberg Tags: Israel Unless you're happy watching over-the-air television or have a yen to buy your very own satellite dish, you have to make a choice. Will it be HOT (cable) or Yes (satellite)? Either will cost you thousands of shekels a year for the pleasure of multichannel television. But which is better? TheMarker looked into the matter together with MarkeTest, using a customer-experience index. The mission: to find which company had more satisfied customers. However, we were unable to make a clear distinction. The results indicate that no matter which company you choose, you'll be frustrated. Each averaged 6.7 on the customer-experience scale, which is not good. Yes can use the excuse of disruptions to its transmissions that plagued it in September 2007. Thousands of households throughout Israel were unable to watch TV for hours on end. Finally, the government helped Yes track down the source of its troubles, which turned out to be foreign ships using the same frequencies. To compound the frustration, customers couldn't call to complain; due to the sheer overload of calls, they couldn't get through. On the other hand, once the technical problem had been solved, Yes took action to improve its image and opened all its channels to all its subscribers regardless of the service package they'd chosen. Advertisement The Public Trust organization says that the main problem is the sky-high price of the minimal ("basic") package of channels, and the absence of competition. The main problems people complain about are the removal of channels, content seeping from the basic package to channels that cost extra, and, in short, deprivation of content without lowering the price of the basic package. People also complain about service issues: languishing on hold when you call, poor technical service, charges that differ from quotes and disconnections. These and other problems seem to be behind the general sense of dissatisfaction among customers of both companies. The survey found only two parameters that significantly distinguish one company from the other. The first is customer satisfaction regarding the waiting time before speaking to a service representative. Yes scored 5.5, which is pretty pathetic, but HOT was even lower at 4.9. In fact, the wait for a representative is the parameter in which both companies scored the lowest points. Neither company did well in the second item distinguishing them, either: customer satisfaction regarding the value customers feel they get for their money. Here, the results were flipped: HOT had the advantage, with a score of 6.4, while Yes was just 5.8. Their average of 6.1 is, again, pitiful. Clearly, people do not feel they're getting true value for the cost. The root of the evil lies in the absence of competition. A report by a team headed by telecommunication expert Prof. Reuven Gronau says the duopoly is the reason the basic package costs so much. The basic package in Israel costs NIS 196 a month, if you commit to two years. In the U.S., for instance, you can get a basic package of channels for the equivalent of NIS 59 a month, in Belgium for NIS 77 a month and in Britain and Germany for NIS 61 a month. In another category, "customer expectations from service before calling," the companies scored 8.3, which isn't good or bad. But it's a far cry from their overall average mark for customer satisfaction, which was just 6.3. That indicates people subscribe with very high hopes, and feel badly let down. To judge how people feel about HOT and Yes, in March the Customer Experience survey contacted 300 people who had called either company for service in the last six months. The respondents were asked for their views on nine parameters. The general average was comprised of six parameters: customer satisfaction with the wait for a service representative on the phone, satisfaction with the representative's courtesy, satisfaction with the service's professionalism, would they recommend that friends subscribe, satisfaction with value for the money, and willingness to remain a customer of the company. The average age of the respondents was 45.7 years old and the margin of error is plus-minus 5.65%. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Passover in Damascus Syria's 100 remaining Jews say they feel free to celebrate Passover openly. Shanghai surprise A Jewish couple in Shanghai weds inside a synagogue for the first time since WWII.

Read & React Editorial: Israel can't demolish all of Gaza Responses: 343 IDF troops do nothing as Hebron settlers threaten German MPs Responses: 326 Carter meets Hamas leader, sets out plans for Israel-Hamas truce Responses: 299 Barak: Hamas will pay for attack on Gaza crossing Responses: 437 More Headlines 00:39 Assad confirms trading messages with Israel 21:01 At least 6 Gaza militants killed in IAF airstrikes 21:39 Report: Hamas rejects Egyptian plan for truce with Israel 00:13 IDF launches formal probe into Gaza killing of Reuters cameraman 00:16 Obama slams Bush, former pres. Clinton's mideast diplomacy 01:42 Abbas says will discuss peace agreement with Bush Tuesday 19:33 Jordan's Abdullah to Carter: Israel must lift blockade of Gaza 23:37 Armenian, Greek worshippers come to blows at Jesus' tomb 23:18 Syrian Jews celebrate Passover at only synagogue in Damascus 17:00 Barak: Hamas will pay for attack on Gaza border crossing Previous Editions Select Day 20 apr 18 apr 17 apr 16 apr 15 apr 14 apr 13 apr 11 apr 10 apr 09 apr 08 apr 07 apr

Special Offers Advertisement Learn Hebrew online with Israel's best teachers Sign up for a trial lesson today Pardes Institute Summer Sessions Study Jewish texts and issues in Jerusalem, Co-ed, All Levels Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved