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Home / Business

Rugby World Cup: Spark Sport responds after service criticised again

NZ Herald
2 Oct, 2019 07:15 PM4 mins to read

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One customer sent this image to the Herald showing his experience last night. Photo / Supplied

One customer sent this image to the Herald showing his experience last night. Photo / Supplied

Spark Sport is facing another round of complaints of poor performance after the All Blacks' 63-0 demolition of Canada last night.

However, the telco says it had no system-wide issues with the game.

READ MORE:
β€’ 2019 Rugby World Cup: World media react to All Blacks win over Canada
β€’ 2019 Rugby World Cup: All Blacks cruise past Canada
β€’ 2019 Rugby World Cup: Rate each All Black after their victory over Canada

"Last night was very quiet for the Spark care team. We saw lower numbers of people contacting customer care than we had expected, relative to the number of people watching the match," a spokeswoman said.

"Key performance measures tracked well and the vast majority of customers had a great viewing experience. There were no system-wide, device or service-specific issues last night."

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Viewers have contacted the Herald and taken to social media to vent their frustration over a broadcast that was described as "super laggy", with others taking the broadcaster to task for audio issues including a "buzzing noise".

One customer wrote on Twitter: "Sigh. Still stuttering every 2 or 3 seconds."

Another described issues which saw the commentary running at normal speed while the picture slowed to slow motion.

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​

Sigh. Still stuttering every 2 or 3 seconds. Same problem if I switch to "watch from start". pic.twitter.com/iPY2JIGNS9

— James T Guthrie (@James_T_Guthrie) October 2, 2019

And then this πŸ€¦πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈπŸ€¦πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ come on @sparknzsport pic.twitter.com/Pjfp0sFY8m

— Anthony Galland πŸ‡³πŸ‡ΏπŸŒͺ 🦁 πŸ€ βš½οΈπŸ€πŸ‰πŸπŸ₯Š (@antz_hoki) October 2, 2019

READ MORE:
β€’ 2019 Rugby World Cup: Spark Sport offering free devices, home visits as streaming issues continue
β€’ 2019 Rugby World Cup: Spark Sport axe website feedback after complaints
β€’ Spark Sport helps 'modest' number of customers with faulty streams
β€’ Mike Hosking on Rugby World Cup 2019: Spark Sport is crap, they've failed abysmally

Spark Sport confirmed yesterday that they are offering additional "customer care measures" in a bid to tackle ongoing streaming issues during the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

However, the telco-turned-sports-streamer has rubbished social media claims that it would be offering Google Chromecast and Apple TV devices to select customers.

Discover more

Sport|rugby

Spark Sport axes website feedback after complaints

01 Oct 03:47 AM
New Zealand

Consumer interest for streaming devices skyrockets

01 Oct 07:11 PM
Rugby World Cup

Spark Sport offer free devices, home visits ahead of ABs clash

02 Oct 05:40 AM
Rugby World Cup

'Emotional' fightback: All Black who gained the most from Canada win

02 Oct 05:25 PM

According to a statement, some customers would receive Freeview SmartVU devices and home visits to troubleshoot their streaming complications.

Spark Sport has had a rocky start to the World Cup with complaints over the quality of the streaming continuing to flood in.

On Monday the Commerce Commission said it had received 13 complaints since the All Blacks match against South Africa on Saturday, September 21.

The commission had received six further complaints since then.

Spark Sport has been plagued by problems. Photo / Supplied
Spark Sport has been plagued by problems. Photo / Supplied

Before last night, the most recent issues came during Wales' victory over Australia on Sunday night, which was slammed by thousands of customers online after problems including multiple commentaries running simultaneously, delayed audio, and a spell where pictures were seemingly lost all impacted their broadcast.

Yip #sparksport taking their foot off the gas once the game is done... pic.twitter.com/He7YllDUD3

— Nick Fraser (@nicholas_fraser) October 2, 2019

The biggest issues had struck during the All Blacks' first game against the Springboks, where streaming problems saw the game put on to free-to-air channel Duke. However, the multiple complaints in the Welsh win on Sunday night caused just as many complaints from customers on social media.

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After the game, Spark explained the blunders, pushing the blame for the early audio problems on to TVNZ, though not explaining the issues later in the game.

I've already missed a try #SparkSport #RWC19 pic.twitter.com/lIIlrZXU5Q

— Hamish McMurdo (@hamishmcmurdo) October 2, 2019

"As previously commented on by TVNZ, at the beginning of the Australia vs Wales game there were some production issues with the audio feed from TVNZ during the first few minutes of the match," the company said in a statement.

"However these issues were quickly resolved."

Asked if those unhappy with Australia-Wales or Uruguay-Georgia could get refunds, a Spark Sport spokeswoman told the Herald: "In line with our standard refund policy, customers who feel they have had a poor experience with Spark Sport can contact us. We will work through their issue with them and in some cases provide them with a partial refund."

Spark has been offering 15 per cent refunds on Tournament Pass for those who had a poor experience with an individual game, plus an option for a full refund.

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