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TiVO lineup "specialists" are trying hard to make cancel TiVo service
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Posted by: samo

Short summary (details in this thread http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-v...&threadid=44705 )
After 2.5 years out of the blue last Thursday TiVo decides to change my lineup. Nearly all channels are wrong. Well, things happen. I sent linup fix request to TiVo and got autoresponse that it will be fixed in 5-7 days. Today I get e-mail that my problem has been fixed and I need to to GS and select fixed lineup.

quote:
Thank you for your patience and understanding while we resolve your lineup discrepancy. We sincerely apologize for the length of time it took for us to resolve this issue. Thanks for choosing TiVo!

Best Regards,

TiVo Lineup Specialist

Stupid me, I believed it! Instead of checking Zap2it first, I started GS. And what do I find an hour later? NOTHING WAS DONE. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! All the choices for cable providers are EXACTLY THE SAME as before with ALL the channels in the same wrong places. Now my TiVo is out for another 6 to 8 hours till it populates all the wrong choices and then I need to spend another hour to delete all the Dish locals from my channels I receive because delete all option doesn't work for some stupid reason.
I been using TiVo for 2.5 years and I been on this board nearly as long. I know that TiVo didn't single me out and I know that eventually things get fixed. But I hate than people lie to me. I hate than people waste my time and I hate to pay them to do it.
Over the years I read a lot of horror stories about TiVo CS and I was glad that it wasn't me who got into infinite loop of talking to the walls, but now I can appreciate all the screaming by people who been wronged by TiVo.
Ok, now is the time for TiVo faithful to step in and tell me that I have to be patient, that TiVo can do no wrong and that if I don't like it I should sell my TiVo on e-bay. To respond to forthcoming advice:
1. I like my TiVo and I always did.
2. I'm happy to pay $10/month for CORRECT TV guide.
3. I just want to get my service restored to what it was for last 2.5 years.

Posted by: foo monkey

Settle down. Tivo didn't change your lineup. Your cable provider did. Here's how it works:
1) For some reason, your cable company decides to change their lineup.
2) The cable co. determines the new lineup and sends that data to Tribune with a date when the changes are supposed to go into effect. Two things can go wrong here. The lineup info can be incorrect and/or the effective date can be incorrect. Often what happens is, TMS gets the new lineup after it's already been implemented and the effective date has already passed.
3) Tribune puts the new lineup into their system on the effective date given to them by the cable provider.
4) Tivo picks up the data from Tribune in a daily download.

In a best-case situation, when your cable provider makes a lineup change, your Tivo won't reflect it for up to 24 hours. Worst case, which is what usually happens, is the provider messes up the data or effective date and it can take several days to straighten the mess out. That's just the way it works.

Oh yeah, I want a pony.

Posted by: GBL

Having experienced a few fouled up lineup changes myself, I have come to the conclusion that TiVo should give the user an option to approve or decline a lineup change before it takes effect; ideally, on a per channel basis.

TiVo's current approach just does not handle lineup errors gracefully and it takes way too long (and too many tries) to get them fixed.

Of course it is not TiVo's fault that lineup errors occur but they can mitigate the damage it does. It is just very infuriating to lose control over what you want your TiVo to record ("What you want to watch, when you want to watch it").

Posted by: Philosofy

Samo,

I haven't checked my TiVo's in a day or two: is this a cable or a Dish issue? I know you get Dish, and I get all my stations through Charlie & Co. (No cable for me!)

Thanks!

Posted by: samo

quote:
For some reason, your cable company decides to change their lineup.

Unfortunately this is not a case. Cable company never changed the lineup nor do they intend to change the lineup.

quote:
is this a cable or a Dish issue?

It is a cable issue. I do get both - Dish and cable. Dish lineup is fine.

Posted by: Convert

quote:
Originally posted by samo
Cable company never changed the lineup nor do they intend to change the lineup.

When you say "cable company", do you mean the locals who provide you with the signal, or do you mean the national originator of the signal?

I know for a fact that Charter changes lineups. Frequently. TiVo has not had a problem with that, to date. TiVo also gives me the choice of which Charter option I think I have.

Posted by: Breacagan

This problem really needs to be escalated to whatever level it takes to get it solved. I've been following the other thread, and it's absolutely ludicrous.

Could someone from TiVo please step in and get this fixed ASAP? I live two thousand miles away, so it won't affect my service, but it will affect the way I and others see the company. Someone from the TiVo team needs to step up to the plate and hit a home run here.

Posted by: rasheed

Couple of other things to try:

-Try other zip codes that have the same lineup at tv.zap2it.com. Look for same cable company, but maybe different region name. It is common to have the lineup in many areas and have separate lineups made available.

-Email via tv.zap2it.com feedback link (be sure to include cable provider's phone number). Send a feedback note via GIST and tv.yahoo.com -- include entire correct lineup.

-Did you fax lineup (official looking one that you had cable provider send to you) to the number given to you in the 1st autorespond email?

Rasheed

Posted by: FlashingTwelve

karma

Posted by: samo

quote:
-Try other zip codes that have the same lineup at tv.zap2it.com. Look for same cable company, but maybe different region name. It is common to have the lineup in many areas and have separate lineups made available.
-Email via tv.zap2it.com feedback link (be sure to include cable provider's phone number). Send a feedback note via GIST and tv.yahoo.com -- include entire correct lineup.

-Did you fax lineup (official looking one that you had cable provider send to you) to the number given to you in the 1st autorespond email?

As I posted in Help forum (see link at the beginning of the thread), I tried all lineups within 20 miles. I been on this board for 2 years and read dozens of threads with lineup problems. I did ALL THE RIGHT THINGS already!
What is most frustrating - TiVo lied to me. They sent me e-mail telling me that problem was fixed, made me go thru hours of GS for absolutely nothing. THEY HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING to fix lineup.
And it is not a new lineup they have to create. I been using a same lineup for 2.5 years without any problem. All they have to do is just restore what they screwed up.
As an old customer I have more patience, but I can only imagine what new customer feels in situation like this. If you do search on lineup, you'll find people trying to fix their lineups for months. It is hard to believe until you experience dealing with TiVo "lineup specialists" firsthand.
I can testify from my own experience that TiVo CS went down a drain over the years. I had my first lineup problem back in Sep'99. It was a minor problem with 2 channels. I called TiVo (no 45 minutes hold times back in 1999) and reprted the problem. Somebody called me next day and told me that problem has been fixed. Compare it with service you get today and you can understand why TiVo doesn't sell.

Posted by: mitchrc

quote:
Originally posted by samo
Compare it with service you get today and you can understand why TiVo doesn't sell.

Right! TiVo doesn't sell because new customers are psychic and know that TiVo has bad customer service.

Mitch

Posted by: samo

No they are not psychic, but most stores have 30 days return policy.
Just to make it clear, I KNOW that I will get my lineup problem resolved sooner or later. I'll send e-mail to RB and Marcel if I have to. But somebody who just bought TiVo doesn't know how to handle these kind of situations. There is no excuse for changing lineup out of the blue, there is no excuse to not fix it right away, and most importantly there is no excuse for sending customer e-mail that problem has been fixed without verifying it first.