AUSTAR Digital

Too many ads! – Well these big companies take and take, people are sick of the ads, more and more are creeping in and we pay for this services! Well I am over it. I now have over 800 channels from all over the world free by an app from android and I can stream until my hearts content! I don't have one ad. I don't even have to pay austar as I have had it. So… Read more

this greed austar of getting people to pay for tv then fill up the air ways will be your undoing. People if you think you need Austar, DON'T!Anyone on the planet can get free tv and I am angry I never did it sooner, goodbye ads! Angry Austar!

Shame, shame Austar – A month ago my Mums service was affected by snow. Since then her service drops out EVERYDAY around 1030-11. It then takes from 40mins to an hour to reboot. The guy asked me to ring tomorrow if it happens again. Or they could provide a technician in 3 weeks??? At my 88year old mums expense. Even if its their equipments issue. Mum has been a customer for 20+ years. I just don't understand.

Haven't we repeated ourselves enough for you yet??? – When I moved to Australia I was horrified to see they were repeatedly showing episodes of home and lifestyle programs that I'd seen a year or more before in NZ! Oh, I thought, Aus is just a bit backward. But no, they're STILL showing them! They have to be laughing at us really, really hard. They must also think we have the memory of an ant. … Read more

A lot of people pay for this product because they're house bound and watch a lot of tellie. How depressed must they be. I am sure new episodes of some of these shows would not break the bank. You MUST know if you had competition you would have no customers left, so stop being greedy and laissez faire and treat your customers with some respect.

We Are Loving Austar!! – From start to finish we have had Excellent service from Austar. Installation was arranged for 16th April and we received a phone call that morning at 8am to confirm they would be there in approx 10 minutes which was great. Installation took around 2 hours and the guys were great explaining things to my hubby as they went. We now are enjoying so… Read more

many channels and we love our movies so can't wait to relax on the weekend with a good movie. Great Service, Prompt & Friendly

Excellent – Austar will change your life! Having all the variety at your finger tips means you can watch what you want when you want, which really means you own your own TV station. Owning your own TV station would be something that you're interested in, wouldnt it? Watching sport without ads and getting the footy LIVE as opposed to Channel 9 Cost

Good – Austar Digital is almost the country equivalent to Foxtel Digital in terms of viewing options but it does come up a little short on programming and a distant second best in customer service an public relations. I discovered early in my subscription is that they have a ZERO tolerance for overdue bills. My bill was one day overdue and sure… Read more

enough they disconnected my service. I was able to sort the problem out quickly as I called them and explained the bill had been simply overlooked. However, they refused to reconnect the service until my bill was paid. I have never come across such a strict policy regarding overdue accounts. Obviously has a much wider range of choices than free to air TV a lot of repeats, especially on the children's channels where the same episode of some show is repeated 4 times in one day (twice on 2 different channels)

Terrible technical support – I called Austar technical support last night as the system seemed to have "frozen", screen was stuck on "reset" mode. A message appeared on TV screen asking if we were experiencing heavy rain - no, we weren't, and the message below advised if the weather wasn't the problem, the matte was a technical issue and to reset the Austar box by pressing… Read more

the reset button. So I did that, still no picture. Called technical support, spoke to a pleasant chap, who went through some troubleshooting options, e.g, unplugging leads etc. Then he told me that he can't advise me as I pressed the reset button and almost terminated our phone call. I told him the on-screen message directed me to press the reset button, so he continued to help me. What is the point of having a reset button if you're not supposed to touch it???? After 38 minutes on the phone, he scheduled a visit from a technician between 7am and 5pm. I asked if he could specify a time, or even morning or afternoon - no, that wasn't possible. My husband has the day off that day but will now have to spend it stuck at home waiting for the technician. A wasted day off, when he could be doing other things. After reading other reviews here, I am very tempted to cancel the service altogether. So many channels to choose from but nothing to watch! It was great when we first got Austar as the children were very small and so many channels for small children was wonderful. Now though, so many repeats, not just two hours later, but day after day. I will post another review after the technician has been next week.

Garbage – Save your money because it's not worth it. They can at least go out and get some better customer support for the price you pay for this mediocre product. Another thing that chaps my ass is they make you pay an extra ten dollars a month for HD. That should already be included for the price you pay. Bunch of crooks

Having Austar Isn't worth the money anymore – It's obvious that Austar aren't Interested In providing decent television anymore. Their channels are flooded with commercials and repeats nowadays and let's be honest,who's going to tolerate that. I moved Into my new house and an Austar spokesman knocked on my door wanting me to re-connect to the Austar service.......I said no way I wouldn't… Read more

watch Austar these days even If It was for free.

Who wants to be bombarded with adds and repeats for the duration of what little T.V watching leisure time that you have?.....Not me.

My sister and mother are both contemplating cancelling their Austar service too.

They say that paying $80 a month for a basic service that doesn't entertain Is pointless.

Really really unreliable mystar box. Will be happier without it – This is not worth the money. I wish so much that we had checked the reviews before getting it. We are also on our 3rd decoder (like everyone else, it seems). Each decoder has had a totally different problem. The first one just ran painlfully slowly, and deleted all our recordings at random... The second one had an older interface and did all sorts… Read more

or random things like get stuck on mute which required a hard reset, and now this one which is alot faster (yay) but has faulty sound, one minute its fine then the next minute the audio cuts in and out, sometimes quiet and sometimes really loud, and sometimes silence. Dodgy.

If they could get a new decoder instead of this inferior, and obviously cheap unit made by thompson, maybe this would be a better service, but then, as others say, you just get to watch as many ads as free to air, and the movies are just repeated over and over...

Going back to free-to-air > t-box was fantastic, and we were always happy with it, we're looking forward to going back to that.

At the end of the day it's a waste of money, there are much better options available this day and age with the internet. This would have to be at the bottom of the list, and i'm sure most would agree.

Do not bother – You already pay for their product yet they also gain revenue from advertising, which can sometimes be 5-10 mins long on every channel. Random channel jumping when using the remote, random mute and menu also. Constant repeating of movies and tv shows. You can't choose which channels to include in your package so you end up with numerous… Read more

un-watchable channels. The one that gets me the most is charging you, then also making money off the ads, which are probably the same (if not more sometimes) length as regular television. Nothing good to say, not worth the money they ask for such a faulty, weak product. Just too many for the price that they ask.

Won't remove paid debt from credit report – I had Austar while I was still serving in the Australian Army. Just after I installed it my ex and I wen't through a long and painful breakup, with her share of the bills not being paid and me being stuck with it all because it was in my name. So I left Townsville for 2 months in September 2008 and returned on November 2008. At this stage I… Read more

was still going through the process of kicking my ex out and organising her to pay the bill. She returned the Box to the post office and informed me the bill was paid and I dusted my hands of it. On return I had not had any letters from 21/11/2008 until I left the address in April 2010.

It is only just recently I have found out about the whole lie from my ex and am now suffering from it because Austar say they left messages, with her. They will not remove the debt from my credit file, despite it only remaining for another 6 months now and think that their messages that never got to me, their letters that never got to me and their numerous calls to a disconnected number ( No idea why it was disconnected) are room enough to state

"The debt will stand on debtors credit file"

Try calling the mobile number I gave you that I have had for 8 years

Not worth paying for – Far too many repeats now running with the same show being run at least 3 times weekly, not able to choose individual channel & have to purchase a package just to get the 1 channel you want even tho you will not watch 90% of the remainder of that package. Trying to cancel starts a nightmare of pressure to stay with them. Not happy to pay $67 per… Read more

month only to watch the same shows time & time again as well as having to endure the heavy advertising they have.

I am going to cancel this & look for another source of entertainmnt Convenience of not having to go out to hire dvd's Repeat after repeat makes it an expensive service for little return

Paying a hundred plus for repeats – Does anyone else find that the television programs on austar are always repeats? I have, many times. Currently they have replayed the same episode of the Simpsons four times today. Two times makes sense but four, really? Not to mention the constant old episodes. I plan to leave your service at the end of this month. It shows what you can't view on normal TV. Repeats.

Do not care about their customers...Do not provide a service as promised – We have had Austar now for over a year. What a joke of a service it is. You pay an extra $15 a month for a digital MyStar box to record shows. When you record them, it is a constant battle of ensuring the end of the show is recorded. i.e. Their programming guide is all wrong. This leaves you with a pile of shows that you have recorded, but… Read more

don't get to see the end of.

The robots (and they act like robots with their uncaring standard replies) will reply to you and tell you that you need to record 15 minutes after your show is meant to finish. Too bad if you are trying to record two other shows after this show is supposed to finish. Guess what happens then? You end up with not 1, but 3 failed recordings.

Austar/Foxtel do not care about their customers, and I have a history of complaints in my email inbox to prove this point. I am just waiting for someone else to start up a rival company, as I want paytv, that works. Austar/Foxtell doesn't work.

Will I be renewing my contract? Probably not. Depends on if I get another robot drone reply from their so called management. Great shows Do not provide a consistent service, Customer service doesn't give a toss about you.

Austar never again – When Austar was installed, they removed our antenna plate and installed an Austar plate. We disconnected due to getting our house demolished, we had about a month of normal TV but could not get normal TV because of the Austar plate - at least 6 phonecalls later we were told don't worry send it when we knock down our house. I received a letter… Read more

today from a debt collector with a $500 fine - so tomorrow I will spend another 30 minutes on the telephone with yet a different operator - time I will never get back. When we get our new house we will Not get Austar - Never Ever Again. Loved the shows they offer - live Football is the best! Terrible after service, operators tell you a different thing every time and no-one has details of what the previous person has told you

Mystar why bother! – We are on our 3rd decoder and 11th master reset, Mystar might let you pause and rewind but don't bother recording anything you might want to watch later as it will be erased everytime you have to reset. I'm tired of the call centre talk, yes I've tried turning the power off and yes I've tried the standby button on the remote and no I don't have… Read more

anything sitting on it so it gets hot and yes I know your really sorry that I can't watch anything for another 5 to 7 business days while yet another box is sent out. God forbid you credit my account for the time I can't even use Austar. Last chance Austar, free to air is looking better these days anyway.

Always breaks!!!!

Austar More like Anal Star – Worse customer service ever !, rude and smug , over priced and repetitive , they charge huge late payment fee's like 16 dollars !! just for being a few days late, The high cost of repetitive TV usually old re-runs played over and over again like buffy , gets old very quickly , No up to date shows like greys or fringe .. pathetic service across the… Read more

board . Misleading TV ads's they say they dont repeat and that they are always putting on new up to date tv shows but they DONT !!, they also dont mention how bad their SD looks on a HD LCD TV .. Threy also charge you for HD which i find is offensive since the TV is a HD tv .. and you can get better shows and service from Free TV , Basicly save your money people rent a DVD or stick to free view these guys are CON ARTISTS ! Their management staff are in no way interested in their customers views or satisfaction and they are very condescending !

EVERYTHING !

Adstar - 1 million ads a week - advertising hell – Austar is full of ads that breaks up the repeats of shows. Don't do it. They play over 1 million ads a week by my calculation. Total rip off. Signed up at one of those shopping centre stalls. You know the ones with multiple tvs. none that play ads though. Didn't i get a nasty shock when it was connected. I went to six channels all playing… Read more

ads. I am starting to loathe the products that i see repeated several times a day. enough already

advertising hell

Bad – Have been with AUSTAR for 11 years in Australia and 5years in England - Because of the lack of competition here in Australia we have to put up with incredibly bad customer service - yes paying for adds and more to come I'm sure - very annoying prompt calling service,heaven forbid if you have technical problems,you'll be talking to someone from the… Read more

philippines that will keep telling you that they :appreciate your call(if they appreciate the call then why not show appreciation by getting some service to you within a suitable time frame, not -- one week to get somebody around and then another week for them to fix the problem they recognized from there first visit and that's not guaranteed ,longer if its raining . Competition is needed for large companies to appreciate there customers.They provide this kind of service,why? because they can get away with it. Question is - if one doesn't like it why pay for the service -Answer, because a bad service is still better than none. FREE TV IS LOOKING BETTER AND BETTER especially know Austar has given me no choice but to watch it.Austar is expensive considering now I have to spend time watching what THEY WANT me to watch with the stations advertising ,adds and other stuff I didn't subscribe for. Austar was better value back in the UK 11years ago , I'm wondering whats its like NOW! being able to watch a wide selection of programs all the above and more ....

poor – i have to agree with some of the other review there is no competition at all in australia and because of this the companies can charge what they like and if you want the service then you have to pay a lot for it. The service is bad and they often mess up your bills and overcharge you. It really annoys me how many repeats they show it is just… Read more

constant. There never really seems to be anything on and often i find myself watching free to air tv hence why we have now cancelled our subscription. I will never buy pay tv again.

expensive

Box degrading over time – I find I am having to reset my HD mystar box more and more over time. There is also an increasing lag time between pushing remote control buttons and the box responding. Quite often now when playing a recorded show there is no sound for 5 seconds or more and sometimes i am forced to pause, slow reverse, and play to get the sound to sync properly.… Read more

Remote reset by tech support has no effect beyond my manual reset and within a few days all the old symptoms are back. Pre-recording series linked shows and being able to fast forward the massive number of adverts is good. The service is very expensive. The HD box is unreliable and getting worse as described above.

Disappointed – Hopefully Austar is a reasonable service... for those lucky enough to be connected. I called Foxtel initially to inquire but was told I am in an Austar area. So called Austar and they were very happy to sign me up way back in early Feb for a service to be installed March 30 for the new house of my partner and I. Charged me for 1st month fee and… Read more

told me about all the AFL games I would get to see and how many exclusive to Austar involving my team.

Time rolls by and on Thursday the 29th mid afternoon I get calls confirming the installation appointment the next day. We confirm and look forward to our new service to begin the next day. Just after 5pm that Thursday I get a call from someone in installation telling me a technician can not come and install our service and I must call customer service to reschedule.

I called CS and they were unaware the appointment had even been cancelled. I tell them I desperately want the service installed asap for the footy season as promised. Am assured they will sort it out and call me asap. In around 30 mins I receive an SMS message telling me a technician is no longer available for my appointment and a 'back up appointment' has been scheduled for APRIL 17th (19 days after it should have been done) and Austar are 'waiting to hear back from Managers in that area on traveling tech to pick up job and when advised of outcome we will call to bring install date forward.' For those wondering our house is in Clyde Nth/Cranbourne East.

Was more than a little bit disgusted as being a new house we did not have an antenna (this is what Austar was for!!) I had to arrange for one to be installed the 30th as I had no idea when Austar would be in and 3 weeks was not acceptable. Someone was around from AIT the Friday and was also disgusted with me Austar story and said was a shame I was just out of Foxtel range as he does them.

Called Austar that afternoon and told them all about the story and the SMS I received after being told I would be called the day before. I told them I will wait no longer than the 5th for my service to be installed before I cancel. They said I was moved into a priority queue.

Have one more day to connect me and if they do (appears doubtful) one month I have already paid for is all they will get unless I get a few months for free to make up for the antenna I had to have installed and footy I have missed.

Appalling customer service apparently not that interested in connecting new accounts.

Not installed on time and in no hurry to connect me

Worse time of my life..... and I haven't even got it yet – Signed up for Austar 28th March 2011 and paid first months instalment. Here we are in February 2012 and it is yet to be installed. They either can't find me or it's raining in Robina and they don't work when it rains. I did want the sport but now all I want is my money back............ Take your money and nothing happens

OK – Apart from the annoyance of now having to wait for a technician to come and fix/replace a brand new box i am quite happy with the programming. i am glad i had it installed and the people at Austar did try to help me over the phone. I love the fact i can watch alot of my favourite TV shows/movies/music videos that i would never get on free to air… Read more

TV especially as i've just moved outside of Sydney. They actually have some really good programming and if you missed something you wanted to watch the programs do get repeated. I am personally happy with my packages and i found the staff including the installation guy helpful. Just had it installed 5 weeks ago and has been working perfectly til last night when the transmission dropped out and now can't get it working. It is frozen on the searching channels page and the box itself says 'scan'. I rang technical support and I have been told the problem is within the (brand new) box and a technician will have to come and replace it. Álso it's not a cheap service.

Terrible – I am actually disliking austar alot. We have had alot of issues and i have emailed to complain but no one ever responded. They are very unreliable, it should have been a hint when they kept cancelling to initially install austar, it took them over a month to come out and do it. The price is ridiculous, way to expensive especially for the bad… Read more

service. i do however like the channel variety but i think we may be cancelling once our contract runs out I like the variety of channels but that is about all We constantly have issues with get proper reception, the picture is not great at all, they do not respond to emails, very unreliable, expensive

Horrendous – Moved to NQ so had no choice but to switch from foxtel to Austar. After 14 years brilliant service with Foxtel, we now have to put up with Austar's inferior My star box which continually freezes, resets itself sometimes twice daily, won't record shows that are in the planner, deletes shows in the planner, records one and at times, two shows… Read more

preceding the show I wish to record, freezes during fast forward & rewind, does not display program information, chops off the beginning and end of programmes despite setting the start & end record function 5 minutes either side etc ad nauseum. Austar staff don't care, just want to keep on sending me replacement boxes - I am on my third & demanded a tech for this last one who kept on saying he was only a contractor and wouldn't answer my questions. I keep a log of all the times this piece of junk quits on me and how many times I have rung Austar - who have told me that 'these problems are expected' - reading this forum, she was telling the truth. Contrary to Austar's bleatings, the Mystar box is NOT the same as Foxtel IQ2.

Appalling to say the least

Terrible – My austar picture quality is very inferior when compared with free to air and attempts to have this rectified through the help line have led nowhere. The picture quality has definitely gone downhill over several months or more, and I wonder if this is intended to encourage more subscription to HD service. Overall very dissatisfied with product and… Read more

service, and disappointed there are no alternative providers. if you persist when calling the help line, after 15 mins or so you get a free lesson in deciphering foreign accents Frequent re setting of the mystar box is required - we continue to lose reception on all channels except the one being watched and sometimes the Free to Air. Picture quality is second rate with colours over accentuated and no sharpness of image - so much so that I thought my plasma was packing it in, but I have a separate set top box and the difference in picture quality using this is exponentially better. Nothing wrong with the screen. It's austar's poor image quality thats the problem. Have requested a technician attend but every time they tell me they will fix it remotely and of course this makes no difference.

its good some times – it was OK for wile then the shows kept repeating over for about a month its got a great c.i. Chanel comedy Chanel the most thing that was OK doc. butt came to relies i can watch on my internet so i had it removed it was ok some times i hate it when they hasel you out to join them and then treat you like a idoit no better then eney over copany

Excellent – Having Austar is realy great as you are not at the whim of the free to air channels that change programmes at the drop of a hat.There is such a plethora of programmes that are not seen unless you have pay tv.I love watching the food channel for the cooking programmes as well as the how to channel ,life style,discovery and movies.Our son loves nick… Read more

jnr and boomerang so there is a great choice of channels.I hope they have my star soon as then you can time shift programmes like iq on foxtel. Leaves free to air dead in the water does not have my star yet

OK – I didn't want Austar, but my Husband and kids won. I thought we argued enough over 6 channels! My toddler likes Nick Jnr and Playhouse Disney which isn't in the basic package, but SHOULD BE! At least one of them. The kids channels that are in the basic package are aimed at school age children, WHO ARE AT SCHOOL! Not the pre-schoolers who are… Read more

actually at home to watch it. VERY limited sport with the basic package, and if you want movies, you have 2 movie options to choose from and pay for separately (in addition to basic package). If you choose Showtime, whatever is on Movie One you can't watch and vice versa. You cannot get a discount for subscribing to both. Bit of a bummer. Also, they tell you its per MONTH, but it's 30 days, regardless of the days in the current month. I don't mind Austar, but think it's alot to spend for telly. Good for those who hire alot of movies. (tho you STILL have to pay for BOX OFFICE - which shows the BRAND NEW DVD releases.) Lots to watch, great reception, +2 channel option allows you to watch the same show 2 hours later. Too many shows in the basic package that most would NEVER bother with, and any movies worth watching, you need showtime or Movie channel, which you need to pay extra for.

Good – I would never go back to having just free to air. The is more to watch. I love the food channel and the music.Even if bored of watching tv shows you just hang and listen to any of them. the variety of shows and channels.The reception.There is always something on and it doesnt revolve around sport. The convenience of being able to pick a movie and… Read more

have the whole day to watch it The repeats everything that is on has been on and will be on again.It needs to be overhauled bring in new seasons of loved shows.

Bad – I subscribed to Austar thinking it would be great, with the free installation and movie package for one month, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Regretfully I was not happy with the service, even though they have switched to digital, I have found that the service gets interupted, usually on the kids cartoons and or movies. Not having Movie… Read more

channels and Kids shows in the basic plan is stupid, as this is generally the reason people want Pay TV. Having to pay extra for repeats does not work out cheaper than hiring movies at your local Video Store.

When my contract ran out..I chose not to continue and found that I was saving heaps of money and actually getting the Movies I wanted when I wanted..most Video Stores now have $2.00 new releases on Tuesdays..some even have $1.00 Tuesdays!..I'd rather pay that than $75.00 per month for Austar to have movies and cartoons that are just repeats all the time. Sorry Austar but I am sure you could do better...especially now as there is also Select TV. which I hear is alot cheaper! Good for Kids I suppose. Now that Select TV is up and running I would have thought that AUSTAR would have improved on their service especially with all the movies there are you think they would have a better variety, but no...usually the same movies repeated over and over sometimes featuring on the same channel 3 or 4 times in one day!

Good – I got stuck with an old austar box which is a lot slower than the new boxes. Every two years you can get a new remote for free so you always have the latest remote, this is especially good if your remote breaks you don't have to pay for a new one. Overall it is great, especially the movies. Great movies and shows. Has box office so you can… Read more

purchase new release movies on to your box so you dont have to go and hire a movie from the movie store. There is always either too many good shows on to choose from or no good shows at all on. Too many repeats, especially on the movie channels.

reapeats!!! – I wouldnt mind paying and even seeing a add here and there but the repeats are sickening.....total rip off....I would rate 0 stars if possible