How was I signed up to Boost without being asked!

[pfgpowell]

When I first signed up to Now, we still had to use the Now player. Because I own several iPads and Macbooks, I opted to pay a little extra so that I could view Sports on several devices withouth having to delete one etc.

Then Now dropped the player and we now watch on a browser. Fair enough, but I am - was as I've just cancelled my Boost payments - watching only on my latptops and iPad and don't want or need advanced super-duper high-res viewing.

More to the point and what irritates me is that when the player was dropped, I was not asked whether  I wanted to transfer to Boost - I was simply charged for it.

Well, sod that for a game of soldiers. Why wasn't I asked or even informed. It might just be £6 a month but I don't like paying for crap I don't need and not even being consulted on the matter.

Someone from Now / Sky please explain yourselves!

[gavs82008]

@pfgpowell 

You absolutely won’t get staff on here explaining it. Go onto live chat and request/demand answers.

Make sure to be signed in and use the ‘How to get in touch’ drop down.
https://help.nowtv.com/get-in-touch/tv/feedback-complaints

Then put a payment PIN on your account, which will stop anything starting without your say so.
https://help.nowtv.com/article/change-pin-settings

[RoyB]

@pfgpowell 

Does not compute 😢

You had Boost already, so you were never asked if you wanted to transfer to it, because you already had it.

And nor were you asked if you wanted to stop it, because when the player was dropped, it didn’t make any difference to any of the reasons people might have for using Boost.

e.g. (although Now had no idea what particular Boost features were important to you) you were using the ‘three streams instead of one’ feature, and dropping the player on the MacBook made no difference to your usage. And even if it had, the player wasn’t dropped on the IPad, so just to use a couple of those at the same time, you still needed Boost.

So, nothing for Now to explain.

Though if I’ve misunderstood what you are saying, please explain further.

[pfgpowell]

There's everything for NOW to explain and you are on the wrong tack. This is the FIRST time I have been aware of Boost and the FIRST time I realised I was paying for the service.

When I signed with NOW several years ago, it was for the Premier League football. A little later I added Entertainment to the services. I wasn’t informed that either would include Boost and certainly not that I would be paying an extra £6 a month for it.

ALL I added was to extend the number of devices I would use so my family (and I on different machines) could us NOW. If Boost was part of that added service - IF - it wasn’t made clear at the time at all. And when the player was driopped there was again no mention of Boost.

Anyway I have cancelled it - why would I want 4K on a laptop / iPad screen - but I am miffed and feel I have been taken for a ride (and frankly Sky which and run NOW has form).

On a slightly different tack, I detect a dismissive, censorious, even slightly hostile note to your response. Why is that?

[RoyB]

@pfgpowell 

My tone often reflects the tone of the posting I am replying to 😢

And I don’t think you have a complaint, so I was puzzled why you think you do.

But I think I have bottomed it now. When you said ‘I opted to pay a little extra so that I could view Sports on several devices without having to delete one etc.’ then I thought that little extra could only be a Now Boost pass. As it’s the only thing that Now offer that I could envisage doing that, namely the three simultaneous devices that Boost lets you have instead of only one.

But if you got it some other way, please do explain what that was; I’m always anxious to learn.

So you had Boost but didn’t quite realise it, I conjecture; but then after the switch from player to browser-only on your MacBook, you suddenly noticed it, and erroneously though that Now had foisted it upon you.

(There are ways that Now can foist Boost on people, but, as above, I don’t think you got caught by one of those).

Anyway, now you have cancelled it, you have stopped the possibility that you can ‘extend the number of devices I would use so my family (and I on different machines) could use NOW’ (at the same time, which I think is what you intended).

Something which the switch from player to browser makes not a blind bit of difference to.

TLDR: I think you have cancelled Boost because you don’t need HD/5.1, without realising that it is the thing that was bringing you three simultaneous streams. And if that is the case, it explains why you think you have a complaint against Now, and why I don’t think you do.

Is this summary accurate?

[pfgpowell]

The extra I paid was 100% to double the number of devices my NOW account could use. No more, no less. There was no ambiguity at all.

If it included a bump-up in video quality - IF - there was no mention of it at all anywhere. It was specifically to double the number of device I could use.

The word or notion or concept of 'Boost' was not mentioned anywhere and is completely new to me. And I would remember if I would like to pay extra for better video quality (and would then have declined).

As for your 'tone often reflecting the tone of the posting', I suggest you revisit that policy. Yes, I was (and still am) irritated by discovering a monthly £6 charge I knew nothing about,  but there's no reason whatsoever you to do come on like some bachelor schoolmaster.

Frankly it makes you sound like a supercilious know-all. If that's fine by you, go for it, but . . .

[RoyB]

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@pfgpowell wrote:

The extra I paid was 100% to double the number of devices my NOW account could use. No more, no less. There was no ambiguity at all.

If it included a bump-up in video quality - IF - there was no mention of it at all anywhere. It was specifically to double the number of device I could use.

No-one is disputing what you bought it for. But Boost does several things; it’s a package of enhancements to the Now offering, and it’s the only one that increases the number of devices you can use at once.

As you said that’s what you wanted it for, I presume what you bought there was Boost.

But it’s terribly simple to check; just go into your account settings to see when you first bought it, and whether that coincides with you wanting double the number of devices, or with the change from player to browser on your MacBook.

And kindly let us know…

The word or notion or concept of 'Boost' was not mentioned anywhere and is completely new to me. And I would remember if I would like to pay extra for better video quality (and would then have declined).

As above, the better video quality is part of the Boost package. You can’t have one without the other; though you have no need to use those other features.

As for your 'tone often reflecting the tone of the posting', I suggest you revisit that policy. Yes, I was (and still am) irritated by discovering a monthly £6 charge I knew nothing about,  but there's no reason whatsoever you to do come on like some bachelor schoolmaster.

Frankly it makes you sound like a supercilious know-all. If that's fine by you, go for it, but . . .

I suggest you stick to playing the ball, and not the man.

But thank you for your suggestions. I shall lose no time in implementing them.

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[Tompo]

Hi @pfgpowell 

You are far from the first person to not realise they are paying for Boost or exactly what it is, but as with all the other people who have complained on this forum NOW certainly made you aware of what you were buying, however it was likely - by design - in small print to trip up the non-diligent, so I'm afraid you probably missed it.

On your first point regarding the NOW Player, @RoyB's point is there are dozens of ways to watch NOW (PC, Mac, iOS/Android apps, TV, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, Fire Stick etc. etc.) and these change over time so the retirement of the NOW Player was just part of this evolution and there was no 'transfer' as you refer to it occurring and therefore no need for NOW to contact you at that stage. It is merely coincidental that you noticed you were paying for Boost at this time.

Before NOW invented 'Boost' a number of years ago you could watch simultaneously on two devices for no additional cost, but since then the only way to watch simultaneously on more than one device is by purchasing Boost. To be clear Boost brings all the following benefits, it is not possible to pick and choose it is all or nothing... three simultaneous streams, 1080p, 50fps on live sports channels, DD5.1 audio, no in-show adverts on demand.

How NOW choose to promote Boost to customers varies, they often don't mention upfront all the benefits and may just state 'upgrade to three simultaneous streams' or 'upgrade to full HD', then when you read the terms & conditions you will get all the information. This is probably why you didn't realise you were subscribing to Boost, but that is indeed what you were buying.

I think many would agree NOW operate as close to the line as they can legally get away with in regards to upselling, but this is the world we live in, maximising profit is all that matters to companies however much they pretend otherwise. The lesson here is always read all of the small print.