Will Dazn really reimburse subscribers?
Dazn has already said that he will proceed with the refunds in favor of fans who have complained of inefficiencies. But the procedure is slow and cumbersome. For this Agcom intervened asking for a streamlining or automatic refreshment
Still controversy over Dazn.
As we have already told you, following the many inefficiencies that occurred on the first day of the championship, Dazn, who was awarded the TV rights of the Lega Calcio , immediately declared himself in favor of proceeding with the reimbursements: "In Italy, in compliance of the existing rules – he wrote in his press release -, we will provide compensation to each customer concerned in the manner disclosed in the coming days ".
Not that the platform could do otherwise, given the storm of criticism that was unleashed via social media, so powerful that it broke through the issues debated in the election campaign and, above all, brought Serie A and the Communications Authority into the field, Agcom. However, there is a not insignificant problem: except for new Agcom interventions, the procedure agreed following Resolution 17/22 / CONS remains cumbersome and, above all, of little economic value. But let's go in order.
WHAT USERS MUST DO TO ASK FOR REFUNDS FROM DAZN
At present and, we repeat, without new Agcom interventions (which, as we will see, however, would already be in place) the user who intends to request compensation must submit his request within 7 calendar days of making it available by of Dazn of the playback data related to the event concerned.
Those who manage to complete the not easy and fast procedure (which also imposes an almost diabolical evidential regime on the user) will still be entitled to a refund of just a quarter of the monthly fee, regardless of the type of damage suffered and the number of complained inefficiencies. .
The request must be sent by the holder of the subscription via the e-mail address indicated by the user during the subscription phase (which constitutes the log in of the account) to the following e-mail address: [email protected] or by sending the certified e-mail [email protected] .
YOU NEED A LOT OF PATIENCE (AND ALSO EQUIPMENT THAT NOT EVERYONE HAS AT HOME)
Here, however, the painful notes begin, because despite its nature as an innovative startup and despite the fact that in the guide Dazn speaks of a module "easily accessible from the homepage", the document in question is a simple PDF, one of those that cannot be filled in from a PC. What does it mean? That you need to have a printer with a scanner and a lot of patience, since the document must be filled out (in all its parts, under penalty of rejection of the application), scanned, transformed into a PDF and sent to the platform.
If you do not have a printer equipped with a scanner (but a simple printer) it is still possible to solve the problem by photographing the three sheets of the form duly completed with your smartphone, saving them on your drive (or sending them to your mailbox, if you do not have one). storage in the cloud), download them to your PC, turn them into a PDF – there is a special function, but if you want, you just have to insert the three files as images in a text document, adapt them to the page, then save the file as a PDF.
THE BURDEN OF PROOF ON THE SUBSCRIBER
In short, we often complain about the cumbersome sites of some PAs, but as you can see, this process is no longer streamlined. Also because it is required to fill in each item (including, under penalty of inadmissibility, the values relating to the QoE indicators from which to infer the potential disservice according to the indications of the form) and the user must also attach a screenshot or a photograph in PNG or JPEG formats of the data reported on the Misurainternet test that allows, through the clear identification of the date and time reported therein, to verify the direct correlation with the event for which the Request is sent.
In short, on the subscriber there is also the burden of proving that the disservice does not depend on their connection: under normal conditions it would also be acceptable, but when everyone complains about the disservices it seems only a further obstacle on the way of reimbursements. And that's not all because, as indicated in the form, the user must specify the type of device used and prove that this device is among those registered for the use of the Dazn service.
In this regard, it is worth specifying that: for the purpose of processing the request, only the screenshot or photograph (in the terms specified above) of the data resulting from the device actually used for the use of the event in question will be considered valid; any graphic evidence different from the screenshot / photograph as reported above will not be considered admissible, under penalty of non-fulfillment of the Request; only screenshots / photographs (in the terms described above) will be taken into consideration and will be perfectly legible and indicating all the data mentioned above.
Finally, it goes without saying that the table shown in the form (photo at the bottom) is simply inaccessible to all those who do not have a degree in computer science or who do not spend much of their time fiddling with the settings of their router.
DOES AGCOM ASK DAZN FOR AUTOMATIC REFUNDS?
As we have seen, the one just described is more of an obstacle course than a procedure that could induce most to throw in the towel, considering that the extent of the reimbursements granted by Dazn is equal to 25% of the monthly subscription.
However, since the complaints for the inefficiencies occurred during the Lazio-Bologna, Fiorentina-Cremonese, Salernitana-Roma and Spezia-Empoli matches were numerous and of such magnitude, it could be considered that the damage to users has been generalized and does not therefore require to be tried, having the same Dazn recognized the error and its responsibilities ("Dazn is aware of how important its service is for sports fans, we take this responsibility seriously and deeply apologize to all users who they were unable to access their account during the weekend. An event of an exceptional nature occurred which impacted some users in various markets where Dazn is present ", reads the official press release that the platform has issued in recent days) .
For this reason, the Communications Authority has moved by asking Dazn to provide for a "facilitated" refund procedure. It could perhaps even be automatic, or almost, and concern all or almost all subscribers: about 2 million. We do not know if it will exceed in the quantum the currently foreseen threshold of 25% (hardly) of the monthly fee, but if so it will be a great economic damage for this young but arrembante reality that in a short time has managed to establish itself almost everywhere, ousting the big names.
It is not even known whether the simplified procedure or the automatic refunds that Agcom has requested from Dazn are valid for all matches on the first day: for example, it seems that the complaints have decreased during the postponements on Monday, a sign that, in the meantime , the situation may have normalized and that the work of the Dazn technicians has paid off. In that case, who has been excluded from the use of the matches will have to go through the traditional process?
CALLED THE GOVERNMENT TABLE, SERIE A, AGCOM AND DAZN
In the meantime, as we had anticipated , the table wanted by the outgoing undersecretary of Sport, Valentina Vezzali , has been called for Friday 19 August at 6 pm, which will see Lega Serie A, the economic development department of Giancarlo Giorgetti , Agcom and Dazn.
It will certainly not be a cordial meeting, given that the representatives of the platform will have to explain a lot of things: why, for example, at the most beautiful, the app has prevented everyone from logging into the system, requesting in some cases even of subscribing again and because, although the inefficiencies are certainly not new, simpler and easier alternatives have never been provided with respect to the famous link that Dazn sent to subscribers (not even at all, apparently from social networks) and which was practically useless for those who watch the games from their smart-TV.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia-on-demand/dazn-rimborsera-davvero-gli-abbonati/ on Wed, 17 Aug 2022 10:24:12 +0000.