Bon tardi Btalkers,
Wonder if anybody doesn't have the same problem. we had no NBC, ABC or CBS channels since early this morning.
There was some warning on those channels for the last few weeks, surely it was meant for Flamingo TV people or are we supposed to pay extra guilders to get those network channels back?
Normally we just go diving and forget about watching TV but hubby wants to watch NCAA final four and he would go berserk soon.
Called FlamingoTV and there's no answer

For many of the first yrs of Flamingo TV (7, 8?) there were no networks (ABC, NBC & CBS) at all. We had around 20 channels, and that was it (fls 50/m). I've been here since '90, so it's all a blurr. He'll have to find a bar, like Karel's, where there's satellite tv, to watch the games.

Hello Juni!

Sure not an 1 April-joke, Flamingo just makes a mess of it.
Please take a look at the thread "Flamingo-TV", some threads earlier on Local Items.
And join the group of people that don't want to pay the full 100% they ask, when they just offer 60%.

If enough people do so, they will wake up.... (I hope).

And of course the helpdesk is not available, try to send them an e-mail, they will open it in 30 days or more......

Harrie

The advice about the e-mail, was an April-fools-joke....

Harrie

For a few days there was a message that starting March 31 channel 22 would end service. It was on my tv for days...that's it for US TV I guess...

Ok time for change...what is the cheapest and best option if I do NOT have a land line for a phone..I need hi speed internet..thanks..and US TV channels are important..

chec out www.packet8.com and then stop in..

(Message edited by gmichael on April 2, 2006)

I am cyberspace challenged...so my questions may seem really stupid...but here goes...what are the options for television other than Flamingo... I currently have Flamingo Cable along with their internet service...can I get another TV service and keep the internet? Can we get Flamingo TV and internet and still use another TV service provider? I also have dial up Telbonet for internet back up (when Flamingo fails as it often does)...if I get Telbo's new ADSL can you get television over that? Is Dish Network the only other available television service...how reliable is it? Too many questions, I know...guess the basic question is....what other TV service is available...or should I just pay more visits to One Stop Video in playa?!?!

Jim & Jane.
At the risk of repeating myself, you can get satellite TV packages at UTS.

Installation is a few hundred guilders and the basic package is about the same cost as Flamingo. You can add on packages at extra cost if you desire.

I have had a few problems with a few stations but it seems to be OK now

Hi folks,

Last night ESPN showed the NCAA ball games in vivo so hubby got to watch them and was content even though the teams he likes did not win.

This is what I understand about satellite TV/cable TV and broadband/DSL connection. Please correct if my info is not accurate

To have broadband internet service from FlamingoTV, you have to take their cable service also. They cannot separate the services. The cost for both services is 160 naf per month

To have satellite service it will cost 300 plus naf to connect and the basic package is 65 naf/month without any HBO, Cinemax or Showtime. Additional channels offered in extra packages cost more money.

To have DSL service from Telbo, you must have land-lined phoneline. The DSL internet connection is extra and cost 110 naf/month. I don't know if they still require 3-year contract.

Questions to folks having satellite TV and Telbo DSL service: Do you have any problem with the services? Not functioning, too slow, erratic, bad pictures etc?

I just hate to jump out of the frying pan to the fire if the customer service attitude is the same in all these companies

Thanks Antony (and Juni, too) for your input...looked at the UTS website and it looks like an option. Will see if Flamingo improves at all...looks like an e-mail campaign would be fruitless as Harrie indicates they don't even open their e-mail for 30 days...maybe partial payment for partial service is the answer...we'll see...the networks that we lost were switching to digital broadcast only so maybe Flamingo can't handle the digital feed...can't they find another satellite feed? Ah, well, maybe just have to plan night dives.

Hi Jim & Jane,

Well some time ago Flamingo lost some channels too, (good ones, with old movies, don't remember the names), and they switched to "The Food Channel", wasn't a good deal according to me, especially because I am on a strict diet....

Those kind of switches I am not looking for....

Harrie

My husband notices the same thing, they replaced channel 38 TCM (Turner Classic Movies) channel with a channel for football (soccer) games. Problem is the same game usually shows at the same time on ESPN.

This morning he called Flamingo TV to complain about the missing main network channels and the customer service clerk replied "She was unaware of the problem and will inform the technical service manager"

(Sigh!!!!)

Juni,
I also called and was met with the same response. Mentioned that losing 5 channels over the weekend before the bill was due wasn't good timing. I am sure she missed my sarcasm....

Did anyone actually think that Flamingo would handle the satellite switch without losing the channels for a few months?

Sometimes Kevin, all you have is faith!

I just spoke with FTV and was told that the technicians were working on it and that the networks would return "sometime this week". We shall see....

CBS and ABC are back. ABC is from Denver, so it is running one hour delayed from the East Coast feed. That means the prime time will be 9PM to midnight in the summer, and 10PM to 1AM in the winter. I haven't found CBS's source yet, but "The Price is Right" is showing at 12:30, so that looks like a two hour delay (which I don't understand: East Coast and Central should be no delay, Mountain should be one hour, and Pacific should be three). This means CBS prime time will be from 10PM to 1AM in the summer, and 11PM to 2AM in the winter.

Maybe we will get a Hawaiian feed of NBC so we can all watch ER during breakfast.

It would appear they are both from Denver. Great that they are back. Now if they can just get NBC and the other missing channels (A&E, History and who knows what else) and keep the picture on HBO and Showtime from breaking up, we'll be all set.

Sheesh...and we thought we had cable problems in New Jersey with a monopoly/one cable company to choose from. (In our area, at least.) We had to upgrade here in NJ and now have access to some 800 channels or something obscene like that but the price went up, too.

Funny thing is .....there is still really "nothing" on that's great to watch! LOL. Well, there are some good ones.

Hope your cable issues improve quickly for you on the island....I know it is important to keep in touch with the world out there and also just to enjoy some good programming. Hang in there....Carole

the fees on Bonaire make my Comcast bill look like a bargain & I have digital cable (HBO & Showtime), two DVRs, on-demand for lots of shows & movies and high-speed internet with multiple hookups.