This doesn’t affect me since I live in the U.S. but where is this information on the main Plex website? Is it described somewhere when you signup for a PlexPass so you know you aren’t getting an EPG and can’t use LIveTV & DVR without signing up for a monthly service and what that monthly fee will be? How soon before Plex drops all EPG services?
FWIW I have been using the IceTV EPG for some months now and it has worked perfectly for me.
The Gracenote EPG was too inaccurate, didn’t cover my area well, and didn’t have last minute changes. Maybe Gracenote are now uping the cost of supplying the EPG for Plex and it just wasn’t sustainable in this area. They wouldn’t be doing it for free.
I would be careful about complaining about the loss of the free EPG to any consumer organisation or government body. Knowing how the Australian Government has been on a site banning crusade lately, you don’t want to call attention to what Plex actually does for us.
Thanks for taking time to provide some transparency.
Fact is this is a major failure of the product for Australian customers.
A good or product has a major failure if:
- the consumer would never have bought it if they knew about the problem
- it’s dangerous to use
- it’s very different from a description, sample or demonstration model
- it’s broken and can’t be repaired easily, which means they can’t fulfil
- their usual purpose
- the purpose that the consumer bought it to do (as long as they told you first).
If there is a major failure with goods, the consumer can choose to:
- get a refund
- swap them for an identical replacement (if you can reasonably get one)
- swap them for a replacement of similar value
- keep the goods and be compensated for any drop in value.
Re: IceTV
- The offer/pricing does not appear to be limited to Plex customers at all as implied
- IceTVpricing is worded to suggest it is temporary
- Fails to mention what the normal price was
- The size or type of discount being offered
- How long the offer is for
- What the normal pricing will be following the promotional period
Suggested remedies for Plex
- Keeping current EPG provider for Australian customers or;
- Provides IceTV EPG for life time customers at Plex’s cost or;
- Offers a refund
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Followed by a targeted Plex Pass discount for users in these countries being screwed by Plex, I suggest ?.
Make no mistake, this was within your control, do not try blaming a third party, it is your product after all, nothing makes me angrier than seeing someone blame someone else for their own failings.
This is just another case of the rest of world being second class to a US focused company. Another example is Movies Anywhere ( US only ) by Disney.
I ask, why should a US citizen pay the same as an AU citizen and get less for the money?
I’ve cancelled my plex pass after years of paying monthly for the service. In feedback I’ve written the following;
Live TV guide Australia issues amongst others
I’ve been a monthly subscriber for I guess a few years…I really don’t want to leave but the email above is the straw that broke the camels back.
You don’t seem to monitor or certainly answer the forums much, feels like we have been railroaded in Australia to pay for EPG data even though there are other options that you do not even mention.
Really this is a heartbreaking decision
If you want further feedback or discussion I would be happy to assist. I really hope a more suitable decision is made for us Australian customers
Regretfully,
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So I think that FreEPG would be a great option for us in Oz as a replacement. I had a quick play with it last night and found a couple of issues.
The main one being that the channels have different names in the EPG data to what is being broadcast OTA. This means you have to manually map them. When I did this only about half appeared in the list on plex.
It would be interesting to see if anyone else has this issue.
Also I’m in the ACT and their station bundle is missing 9HD which is quite annoying.
I could probably build a little script to suck down the ACT and SYD files, pull the 9HD data across and rename the channels then I suspect it would work.
Has anyone else got it going?
I would play with this more but I only have the one production Plex build at the moment so I have limited opportunity to test without risking a master chef recording and in turn my relationship. 
Just so we are clear, you will be providing current Plex Lifetime Pass holders access to IceTV EPG data for life at Plex’s own expense, correct?
I didn’t see that in your message an explanation as to why Australians are being screwed over come 30 June despite the significant Southern Hemisphere support of the Plex bank balance!
Why doesn’t your new EPG data provider work on an Australian solution by 30 June.
This has been a major stuff up by Plex and we are awaiting news about Plex now paying our lifetime access to “your friends” at IceTV. Oh, and for the record, if you’ve had a previous trial of IceTV you don’t get three months to which you refer.
@DaveBinM will also be responding, yes?
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Yep, another user with Lifetime Pass and already used up IceTV trial from years ago…
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The issue is not just affecting lifetime customers. Monthly subscribers who have been on board for some years are paying and will be paying significantly more, but with the flexibility of dropping out if they feel they’re not getting value. However, the service simply isn’t worth $AU10 per month, which is what it will cost if icetv is added in there.
There could be a chance of keeping some of the affected monthly subscribers on board by dropping their monthly fees by $2.99 per month to cover the icetv subscription cost so they can re-evaluate the service. That’s assuming the icetv xmltv price is fixed as long as the subscription is held. I know from past experience that the icetv guide service will be significantly superior to what we’ve been experiencing lately so it might be tempting.
And a discounted Lifetime membership for existing subscribers if they find the icetv solution effective and decided to keep it longterm, but would also require a partial refund to affected lifetime members.
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So essentially you lied to me back in April DaveBinM???
Are Plex aware that taking payment for a service in Australia and then removing (or reducing the scope of) that service is illegal under Australian consumer law?
If Plex are going to force me onto an EPG subscription service after I paid for a service that include an EPG at no additional cost then I will be looking at legal options.
I can’t even get the IceTV trial because I took out the trial back in April with your original email that said Australia was losing the guide which was apparently a mistake, but now the company you have been working with for aver a year suddenly decides not to support Australia.
Frankly I smell a rat - I strongly suspect the only mistake with the original email was that you let it out too soon.
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Cancelled my Plex monthly subscription because of this. Very bad form Plex…
I too am based in Australia and am also disappointed that the new EPG supplier for Plex will drop support for several countries including Australia. However I have been reading this post with interest and, with recent posts, feel the need to add my 2c worth in the hope that we can agree on some facts:
- The standard price for an IceTV XMLTV subscription is AU$3.99/month
- @DaveBinM was stating what he believed to be true back in April, as has been stated previously by @kinoCharlino - things changed between then and now with the selected supplier. Thus it would be reasonable to state that @DaveBinM did not lie (which implies intent to deceive), and he has always been helpful and reasonable in my experience.
When I first purchased my nVidia Shield TV and started using Plex I purchased a lifetime Plex Pass membership and, at that time, the PVR was in beta and the EPG supplied by Plex then was not very good, so I signed up for the IceTV XMLTV feed at $3.99/month. Near the end of 2017 Plex switched to Gracenotes and I decided to stop IceTV and revert back to the Plex supplied EPG and it worked well for a while. However back in the latter half of 2018 the performance of that EPG dropped to unacceptable levels with refreshes taking too long and often timing out, so I renewed my subscription with IceTV and am currently using that. I was considering reverting back to the Plex EPG prior to my receiving the email from Plex about the change to their EPG supplier. Yes, it is disappointing but surely this is a first world issue?
Please understand that I am not downplaying the frustration that so many of you are experiencing and certainly changing the service levels with little notice is not good practice, but to threaten legal action is probably a knee-jerk reaction and probably impractical without having a signed contract from which you can prove breach of contract.
It would be nice if Plex were in a position to reconsider the EPG supplier to use one which does support Australia, or consider subsidising IceTV subscriptions for those of us who are Plex Pass members, but even if not the other features of Plex are sufficient to keep this user on board.
May all your skies be blue fellow Plex users!
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ive got a feeling it will be an issue with all services as i believe it is the australian channels stopping this? i heard from court order?
this is bad for us lifetime plexpass members, but surely we will find a free service oneday, try not to jump the gun people and hope for a free alternative. well said paulblueskies.
together we will find a way!
You might be picturing something different to reality regarding ‘legal action’ being ‘impractical’. It doesn’t involve a team of lawyers, a jury, testimony from witnesses or a court room.
You lodge a form, go to mediation (via phone), get refund.
Even then one is assuming these changes do go ahead and Plex support weren’t able to resolve customer complaints directly satisfactorily.
Keep in mind other users have converted to a paid subscription just for the DVR service including the EPG. Frustration amplified with hardware costs and home cabling/wall plates being installed for the project as well.
go for it, I bet you don’t.
The number of people that use this line like it’s been taught to them in kindergarten , it amazes me, maybe that’s why we behave like children sometimes, we we’re taught in kindy the Australian rights of consumers!!
Just one problem with your knee jerk reaction. Plex is not an Australian company and has no Australian office. , for that reason Plex has no obligation to follow the law of Australia.
Time to take a chill pill and simply write that we’re upset, that’s all that needs to be said.
You too, chill pill needed.
Or prove this by doing it, otherwise stop being a baby.
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Name calling and misinformation.
Great post.
well go on, i want to see you get a refund, with the help of Australian consumer law to back you up
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This is Gracenote’s fault for charging too much.
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