The service, launched in January 2005, has been unavailable since June 1, 2019. Those who had subscribed to Mediaset Premium, approximately 500,000 in June 2019, were informed of the closure and of the related Premium Play and Premium Online services, while the Premium channels, the few still active, were diverted to Infinity , an exclusively online video content platform.
In this article, we’ll look at what happened to Mediaset Premium subscribers, how the transition from one platform to another was handled, what procedures users had to follow to cancel the Mediaset Premium service , and what happens if you decide to stop paying for a subscription service without complying with the terms and conditions set out in the contract.
Summary
How to cancel Mediaset Premium.. 1
How Mediaset Premium services and contractual terms have changed.. 1
How to cancel your Mediaset Premium contract without additional costs 2
Cost differences between Mediaset Premium and Infinity. 2
Deactivate your Infinity account. 2
How did the Mediaset Premium deactivation procedure work?
You are not satisfied with the service received. 3
Cancel Mediaset Premium before the annual expiration date.
Cancel Mediaset Premium when your contract expires.
How Mediaset Premium services and contractual terms have changed
In April 2019, subscribers to Mediaset Premium services received a message: “ There is important news for your subscription .”
The message was intended to warn that the Mediaset Premium channels, available via digital terrestrial, would be moved to the Infinity platform .
The change primarily concerns the broadcast channel, no longer cable, but the Internet . The primary consequence was the inability to continue watching Mediaset Premium without an Internet connection and a Smart TV.
Furthermore, football fans also saw DAZN suspended as it was not included in the transfer to the Infinity platform.
How to cancel your Mediaset Premium contract without additional costs
During the transition period to Infinity, Mediaset Premium offered the option to cancel your subscription free of charge , provided that the request was received between May 1, 2019 and May 31, 2019. Three methods were offered:
- By filling out the request within the customer area;
- By calling the dedicated telephone number 02.37.045.045;
- By registered mail with return receipt to Reti Televisive Italiane SpA, Post Office Box 101, 20090 Monza (MB).
Those who did not use one of the aforementioned methods of canceling the service have received new credentials to access Infinity.
Mediaset also urged its subscribers to check the adequacy of their Internet connection, which is now essential for using its services.
Cost differences between Mediaset Premium and Infinity
Mediaset Premium included a series of subscription packages: movies, sports, and TV series. The costs of accessing these services have changed over the years. Recently, the following offers were available:
- Cinema, TV series, Serie A (football): €39 activation fee plus €19.90 for the first 6 months and €29 for the following months;
- Cinema, TV Series: €39 activation fee plus €10 per month for the first 6 months and €20 thereafter.
Alternatively, you could sign up for a prepaid subscription, which had the advantage of not having to commit to a one-year contract .
With the switch to Infinity, costs are significantly lower and in line with similar platforms. Currently, the subscription costs €7.99 per month.
Deactivate your Infinity account
Mediaset Premium users, if they have not deactivated their contract by the end of May 2019, will therefore find themselves subscribed to Infinity.
The video streaming platform, created in 2013, inherited some channels belonging to Mediaset Premium:
- Cinema 1 HD
- Cinema 2 HD
- Cinema 3
- Crime HD
- Action HD
- Stories
The offer is integrated with: TV Series and Films.
Deactivating your Infinity account is very simple and does not require sending any paper materials, complying with any specific conditions, or returning any electronic devices: simply:
- Visit the official website: https://www.infinitytv.it/
- Click on the “LOGIN” button at the top left
- Enter your credentials on the site
- Go to the “ Manage Account ” area
- Click on “ Subscription Details ”
- Click on “ Edit ”
- Select “ Pause automatic renewal ”.
Deactivation does not take effect immediately but becomes effective upon expiration of the remaining days on your subscription.
In other words, if your subscription is monthly and you signed up on January 1st, for example, and you cancel your subscription on January 15th, the service will continue to be available until the end of that month. The same applies if your subscription is six-monthly (Semi-annual Infinity Plan).
How did the Mediaset Premium deactivation procedure work?
As we’ve seen, the Mediaset Premium service and the complex procedures for canceling your subscription are now a distant memory.
For completeness of information, we report what a user had to do to cancel the service .
The complexity of the procedures consisted mainly in a series of obligations which, if not followed scrupulously, entailed the payment of unpleasant penalties .
Traditional Pay TV services, such as Mediaset Premium, required the use of a decoder and other devices to access the service. These devices had to be returned, or rather, sent back to the sender, within a specific time frame defined in the contract.
The possible scenarios that a Mediaset Premium subscriber could encounter were the following:
You are not satisfied with the service received
To protect consumers, Legislative Decree no. 206 of 6 September 2005 ( www.gazzetta ufficio.it) , which came into force on 23/10/2005, provides for the cancellation of any subscription purchased remotely (telephone, Internet) within 14 days.
It follows that the Mediaset Premium subscription could be canceled without any additional costs or penalties by taking advantage of the “Right of withdrawal”.
In order to exercise the aforementioned right, there was a specific form which, once completed, had to be sent by registered mail (together with a copy of the identity card) to: RTI SPA Casella Postale 101, 20900 Monza (MB), while the decoder and the Smart Card had to be sent to the address: Selecta Spa – Viale della Resistenza 47 – 42018 San Martino in Rio (RE).
Cancel Mediaset Premium before the annual expiration date
Mediaset Premium subscribers who wished to cancel their service before the expiration date set forth in their contract had to follow the same procedure outlined in the previous paragraph. The difference was that canceling the contract before its expiration resulted in an additional monthly fee.
Furthermore:
- If any monthly payments had been made in advance, they would not have been refunded.
- If any discounts on the activation fee had been provided during the contract subscription period, these would have been removed from the contract and consequently charged together with a deactivation fee of €8.34 or €11.10.
- The subscription had to be paid regularly until confirmation of cancellation was received, which generally arrived within 30 days of sending the request;
Cancel Mediaset Premium when your contract expires
For annual contracts, subscribers had to notify their intention not to renew the service. This was a mandatory procedure at the time, aimed at avoiding automatic renewal.
Cancellation was always made in writing by completing the form provided and downloadable from the then-active dedicated website and, in any case, required the return of the decoder and any additional devices.
Another precaution was to communicate your desire to cancel your Mediaset Premium contract at least thirty days before its expiration.
This procedure did not involve having to pay any costs for deactivating the service.
Furthermore, registered mail was not the only way to cancel the service.
Pursuant to Presidential Decree no. 68 of 11 February 2005 ( SG ), it was also possible to send the communication via certified email (PEC), in any case attaching the cancellation form and arranging for the devices to be sent via registered mail.
To avoid incurring a 50 euro penalty, the devices had to be returned within 14 days of the end of the contract to the following address: Selecta Spa – Viale della Resistenza 47 – 42018 San Martino in Rio (RE).
What risks did you run by not paying Mediaset Premium?
What if a user decides to stop paying for the service, without any communication? Since Pay TV subscriptions like Mediaset Premium require a contract, failing to comply with the terms and conditions means defaulting.
Failure to pay for a service, be it Pay TV, electricity, or a phone bill, will result in the user soon receiving a reminder, and if payment is not made, the service will be suspended.
However, it’s wrong to think that the matter can be settled this way. When a company doesn’t receive payments, being formally a creditor, it behaves in two ways.
- The company turns to a company specialized in debt collection, which will contact the defaulting user and ask him to settle the debt and also pay the late payment interest .
And if even this attempt fails
- The company can take legal action, contacting a judge and requesting formal recognition of the debt through a payment order . If this order fails to resolve the situation, the judge may, at his request, lead to forced recovery of the debt through asset seizure.
Conclusions
In conclusion, former Mediaset Premium subscribers, if they have not communicated their intention to cancel the service as described in the article, now have a contract with the Infinity platform.
The good news is that canceling your Infinity subscription is very simple, unlike with Mediaset Premium, where the procedure required you to send a written request within certain deadlines.
