beIN CONNECT (MENA‪)‬ 4+

Shameful Product and Service

Words can't describe how terrible this company's customer support is, let alone their technology! It really is unfortunate that companies like this, which are meant to be leaders in our region, are so terrible at what they do, and further compounded by sub-standard, immoral, and even offensive customer support practices.

I signed up to watch the Eurocup and the service simply didn't work. it wouldn't work on Wi-Fi, so as per their customer support, i switched to mobile data which worked for a few seconds and then the entire app just crashed and closed. I got the same problem on both Wi-Fi and mobile data across 3 separate devices. As if the frustration from the technical issue wasn't enough, i ended up spending at least 30mins on long-distance calls with different agents to find a solution but to no avail.

At that point, I had accepted the fact that I missed the game, as these things happen. Given I didn't get what i paid for ($57) due to no fault of my own, I thought I'd simply request a refund and move on. It is common sense that when one doesn't get what they paid for, they get their money back.

Apparently not to beIN, it isn't! It seems they're very well aware of the terrible service they provide and already have specific no-refund policies in place designed specifically to rip customers off! "We do not provide refunds due to technical issues", is the explanation i kept getting. There is absolutely no rationale that can logically explain such a senseless and selfish "policy".

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that such a company-centric policy, which may save the company a $57 refund from a customer like me, would end up costing them so much more in lost business from myself and everyone I know! And, it doesn't take a marketing guru to realize that a happy customer (which is what i would've been had they refunded me) WOULD actually come back. If it's the monopolistic position that beIN is banking on, again, wake up, there's this thing called the internet that magically democratizes content and makes it available through many other, better, and even more cost-effective channels.

Instead of adopting global best-practices, and following the customer-centric lead of the likes of Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and many others that PUT THEIR CUSTOMER FIRST, they choose to claw back whatever pennies they can at the cost of growth. beIN is the perfect example of the short-sighted practices that hold back such brands from becoming global leaders.

What a shame...