Re: TiVo Experience

From: Craig Stewart [MVP] (craig_at_mvps.org)
Date: 10/27/04 

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 17:37:51 -0500

Well, I actually ended up getting the DVR working. Right before I took it
back, a friend called (the friend who told me to buy this thing) and had
found the article below on the internet. Following the steps below, setup
actually went pretty smooth. Had things gone that well from the start, I'd
probably have a very favorable opinion of TiVo now. However, it is going to
take a while to recover from the lack of support TiVo provided - from not
telling me what I needed to know to providing inaccurate information. It
turns out you can do what so many of them insisted you couldn't do: complete
guided setup via broadband connection even after trying to complete guided
setup w/o broadband connection.

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http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2003/07/how_to_setup_a_.html#c2081373
Posted by: dusty at September 6, 2004 10:20 AM

more information: I followed the directions with the ",#401" dialing prefix,
but was still having problems with tivo recognizing the network. Then I read
on another source that the adapter must be plugged into tivo before any of
the initial setup has begun. Since I was already in the setup, this seemed
to be an impossible requirement. Here's how I restarted the setup:

I "arrowed" back to the beginning of the setup and noticed the option for
"demo" setup (for retailers.) I chose that. The tivo then sets itself up to
play a video loop of a commercial for tivo. After that was done
initializing, I then immediately powered off/on the tivo and a new set of
prompts were listed. I then chose to reconfigure this "demo" unit for
consumer use. After that completed, the initial setup that I had previously
started was gone; the setup was again clean. I plugged in the adapter,
restarted the tivo, and started the initial setup along with entering the
dialing prefix ",#401" and everything worked perfectly.

I used the linksys 200M with the toshiba sd-h400.

Thanks so much for the great information you all and good luck to those who
are still working out issues with network functionality.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

-- 
Craig Stewart, Microsoft MVP (MSN Client)
======================================
"Craig Stewart [MVP]" <craig@mvps.org> wrote in message 
news:uNSuZowuEHA.228@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
> For anyone who might be considering MS Windows MCE vs TiVo: I can't speak 
> to much of anythng about MCE, but I'll share my very frustrating TiVo 
> experience with you.  I know a lot of people think TiVo is great, but I 
> can't imagine ever giving TiVo another change.  I guess if I had a 
> land-line phone and everything worked out of the box and I'd never had to 
> call support then I might possibly have a favorable opinion of TiVo right 
> now.  However, as it is, I think I may have found a corporation I despise 
> as much as Comcast.
>
> ============================================================================================
>
> Monday, October 25, 9:45 PM
>
> This is a follow up to the letter I sent you yesterday regarding my TiVo 
> experience.
>
> Shortly after 5:00 this afternoon I called TiVo to cancel my service.  The 
> representative said he would transfer my call, but my call got 
> disconnected.
>
> Shortly after shortly after 5:00, I called back again to cancel my Tivo 
> service.  This time I made it to the guy that could cancel the account. 
> The representative I was transferred to asked about my situation, and I 
> explained it to him.  He said that contrary to my previous phone calls it 
> was indeed possible to set up TiVo service without a land-based phone.  I 
> told him that on my first call Tina said if I had not already begun guided 
> setup there would be a work-around, but that since I had turned the device 
> on the only option I had left was to use a land-based pone.  He repeated 
> that this was not correct.  He said I should enter ,#401 as the dial 
> prefix (and gave me a couple of other settings as well).  The catch is 
> that I was going to have to get a wired (USB Ethernet) adapter to complete 
> the initial setup, and then setup the wireless connection after completing 
> guided setup. Not wanting to buy a wired adapter just for one time use, I 
> told him I would proceed with canceling my account.  He cancelled the 
> service for me.
>
> When I went to Circuit City to return the device, I explained my 
> situation. They said that they would not mind if I bought the wired 
> adapter for one time use and returned it, so I figured I'd give this a 
> try.  I exchanged my Wireless G adapter (not supported by TiVo) for a 
> Wireless B adapter and a wired adapter to complete initial setup.
>
> I called TiVo support back to let them know I was going to try this and to 
> request that my account be re-opened.  The promptly reopened my account. 
> I asked to be transferred to a technician to verify the steps given to me 
> from my call earlier that afternoon.  I was transferred to Glen.  Glen 
> said that the ,#401 code should work.
>
> I got the device on my network and could actually ping it from my 
> computer, but I could not proceed through the setup process even with the 
> ,#401 code, so I called back.  I was given a new case number (2216654) and 
> transferred to Chris.  I explained the situation to Chris.  Chris said 
> repeated what Tina told me the night before: If I had not already started 
> the setup process then the ,#401 work-around would work.  However, he said 
> that since I had already begun the process that the only option left was 
> to use a land based phone.  I told him that Tina had told me that last 
> night, but that the first guy I spoke to today said that was wrong.  His 
> response was something to the effect of "Let me see who you spoke to 
> earlier - it was probably someone in Arizona.  Yep - Scottsdale.  I don't 
> know why they transfer any calls out there.  We pretty much just ignore 
> anything they say."  At some point in the conversation he asked how much I 
> had paid for my device.  Odd question, but I told him.  His response was 
> something to the effect of "Really?  You paid that much?  Well, it is an 
> 80 gig drive so I guess it isn't that bad of a deal."  I asked if there 
> really no way to reset the device to make it again like I was turning it 
> on for the first time.  He insisted no.  I still find this hard to 
> believe.  I asked if there was another level of support I could talk to. 
> He said they'd just tell me the same thing he was telling me.  I asked if 
> he would transfer me to someone who could close my account again.  He said 
> yes, and transferred me to a number that said something to the effect of 
> "our department is closed".
>
> I called back and told the first representative that I spoke to that I 
> wanted to cancel my service.  This rep said he'd transfer me to a 
> department that could do that and then and transferred me to a number that 
> said something to the effect of "our department is closed".  I guess I 
> can't cancel my account for good until tomorrow.
>
> I will say that most all of the people I've talked to at TiVo have been 
> polite and sympathetic.  Now I am going to print this email so that I can 
> put a stamp on it and send it to you.
>
> Sincerely,
> Craig Stewart
> ------------------------------------------------------
> Monday, October 25, 2004; 12:10 AM
>
>
> Today I purchased a T800 HUMAX TiVo DVR from Circuit City.
>
> Regarding case #2213204: I spoke with Tina twice while wanting to get my 
> TiVo setup.  She was very professional, and repeatedly apologized for the 
> limitations of the setup process.  Assuming all of the information she 
> provided me was accurate, I believe Tina did all she could to to assist 
> me. Unfortunately, however, TiVo is not yet ready for me.  I am sharing my 
> complaints with you to help you improve the products and service.
>
> Complaints:
> 1) Service requires a land-line phone to activate.  I don't have a 
> land-based phone.
> 2) No where on the box does it state that a land-based phone is required. 
> The box does actually state that after the TiVo is set up it can connect 
> to either an existing phone or broadband connection.  If anything, this 
> suggests that the broadband connection should suffice for initial setup as 
> well.
> 3) I'm told by support that if I had not already started guided setup, 
> there might be a trick I could do to execute the setup with my broadband 
> internet connection.  However, since I've already started setup this is no 
> longer an option.  There is reportedly no way to reset the process.  If 
> this is true, this is a poor design... hard to believe.
> 4) I'm told that my only option is to take the DVR to someone else's house 
> to use their TV and phone to get the DVR setup.  Obviously, I'll have to 
> find someone with a land-based phone.
> 5) I'm told that I'll have to spend 6 hours taking up this person's TV and 
> phone line to get through the setup process and indexing and updates and 
> whatever else the phone line is required for.  What do you guys have 
> against broadband?
> 6) The voice-controlled menu system for TiVo support doesn't seem able to 
> understand a word I say.  I would suggest that instead of expecting the 
> customer to say "Setup Issues" or "Activation Issues", that the menus work 
> as "Press or Say 1 for Setup issues, Press of Say 2 for Activation 
> Issues". The numbers will give the user a choice of using the buttons on 
> the phone, and the numbers should make the system's voice recognition more 
> accurate. On the three times I called the support number, getting through 
> the crazy menu was very frustrating.  It mis-interpreted most of what I 
> said, and because of the "wordy" answers that the system required the 
> navigation process was too time consuming as it named all of the options. 
> On a positive note, however, once I got through the menu the wait time was 
> not too long.
> 7) Do your products not support Wireless G Network adapters?  None are 
> listed on your website 
> (http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2006.htm); I never 
> got far enough along in the setup process to be able to test this.
> 8) After talking to TiVo support, I tried HUMAX support.  Tina (TiVo 
> support) provided me with the HUMAX number, which matched the number 
> published on your web site (http://www.tivo.com/5.9.4.asp).  When trying 
> to call HUMAX support, I selected "technical support" as my menu option 
> and then the computer gave me the TiVo support number to call.  I called 
> TiVo support back and found out that I needed to choose "hardware issues" 
> in order to talk to HUMAX technical support.  It would be nice if the 
> HUMAX menus were clear enough for the customer to know which option to 
> select to talk to someone at HUMAX.
> 9) When I called HUMAX back and selected "hardware issues", I found out 
> that "the T800 technical support guy" (the rep made it sound like there 
> was only 1 guy) was not available.  He took my number and said he'd have 
> the guy call me back after he assisted the callers who were ahead of me. 
> He didn't want to say how long it would be before I got a call.  I'd 
> rather get a callback than be on hold for two hours, but is this really 
> 24-7 support?
> 9.1) Two hours later, I have not received a call back.  I asked them to 
> not call back after midnight.  They may have written down my phone number 
> wrong; the support guy that took the message asked for my area code three 
> times and then said he really wanted my zip code.  Anyway, I've got the 
> TiVo all packaged up so that I can return it tomorrow for a refund.
> 10) Tina (TiVo support) tells me that there is nobody there who can cancel 
> the service I activated earlier in the day but can't use.  I'll have to 
> call back tomorrow for this.
>
> If you send me an email when enough of these issues have been resolved to 
> allow me to get the service setup in a convenient manner, then I would be 
> glad to try TiVo again (assuming I haven't found another provider by 
> then).
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Craig Stewart
>
> PS > #11) I can't find an option on your website to email customer 
> relations or anything similar, so I'm printing out this email so that I 
> can mail it to you US Postal Service.
>
> ============================================================================
>
>
> -- 
> Craig Stewart, Microsoft MVP (MSN Client)
> ======================================
>
>
>