# Anyone know how I can contact someone actually at Tivo?



## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

I have been trying to get Tivo to resolve a really simple OTA channel lineup issue for a month and a half, FOUR issue numbers and several "supervisors". I have tried calling them as well as using the web "report a channel lineup problem" page. They keep closing the issue while getting it wrong and the last time or two they don't seem to actually have changed ANYTHING.

I even Emailed them at the "contact us" address with a detailed summary of the issue suggesting they look into the inept support and got an Email response suggesting that I might want to go to the web site and open a channel lineup issue. Geez!!!!

Does anyone know if there is a way to cut through the call center idiocy and communicate with someone actually from Tivo who might actually care?

In the mean time I am at a loss as to how to get this fixed. In frustration, I actually decided to just give up and called to cancel service on the Roamio (a spare Tivo and one I currently use for OTA only). When I told them why I was canceling I was offered three months of free service. I asked for six months and they gave it to me so I have not actually "cancelled" in their eyes. But I'm close to telling them to shove it and really cancel 

Paul


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I think most companies dealing with large numbers of consumers have insulated themselves from providing support at a detailed level that can’t be handled by scripts. In fact I think you are often dealing with bots when your interaction is via text message or email. The absurd response you got smacks of that. I’ve had similarly ridiculous email responses dealing with Google support on YouTube TV issues. There are two key features of bot responses:
1. They obviously ignore details you have already given them.
2. They just keep suggesting irrelevant actions or requesting irrelevant inputs from you.
I think management just doesn’t see an incentive to give detailed responsive support that only helps a tiny fraction of their customers.

Sorry, I can’t help you other than to commiserate and say “don’t feel like the Lone Ranger”.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

keep using the web "report a channel lineup problem" page, and add detailed notes in the space provided - it works, i've used it successfully dozens of times.

repeated failures may indicate tivo is getting no response from the station(s) that have bad data, or you're in a dma market that's relegated to a different market even though you received the channels.

have you tried a nearby zip code that's different from yours to see if the listings are correct?


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

NorthAlabama said:


> keep using the web "report a channel lineup problem" page, and add detailed notes in the space provided - it works, i've used it successfully dozens of times.


*No it doesn't. *At least not in this case. In addition to calling them, I have used the web page *twice *with a detailed description of the issue and each time I get an Email stating the issue is resolved when it is absolutely *not*. Not even close. The last time I called and spoke to a "supervisor" and in the process of talking to her I discovered that the previous agent (also a supervisor) had failed to describe the issue and left out a key detail.... no program data. So around we went again, resulting in yet another "issue resolved" Email with *nothing whatsoever changed*. Missing program data is still missing (totally).



> repeated failures may indicate tivo is getting no response from the station(s) that have bad data, or you're in a dma market that's relegated to a different market even though you received the channels.


No, this is metro Detroit and I have even been in communication with the affected station manager. The "missing" program data is right there on their home page, from a third party. And even if that were the issue I would expect Tivo to tell me that instead of continuing to report that the issue is resolved.

Paul


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

pgoelz said:


> No, this is metro Detroit and I have even been in communication with the affected station manager. The "missing" program data is right there on their home page, from a third party. And even if that were the issue I would expect Tivo to tell me that instead of continuing to report that the issue is resolved.
> 
> Paul


being on the web page and tivo having permission to publish are two different things - have you placed the contact info for the station manager in your online request, along with a link to the website?


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

NorthAlabama said:


> being on the web page and tivo having permission to publish are two different things - have you placed the contact info for the station manager in your online request, along with a link to the website?


Yup. Several times, in fact. Including tonight on the phone. The TV station web site is unfortunately blocked on their internal web so they could not look at it. Oh well.

And in a familiar twist (ie., this has happened before), I got an Email this afternoon stating that the issue (with the case number) is resolved. It is not, and in fact nothing has changed. So out of curiosity I called and asked what was resolved. The answer was.... that case number is *not *resolved. In fact, it is supposedly escalated. How do these people stay in business???

Paul


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

pgoelz said:


> Yup. Several times, in fact. Including tonight on the phone. The TV station web site is unfortunately blocked on their internal web so they could not look at it. Oh well.
> 
> And in a familiar twist (ie., this has happened before), I got an Email this afternoon stating that the issue (with the case number) is resolved. It is not, and in fact nothing has changed. So out of curiosity I called and asked what was resolved. The answer was.... that case number is *not *resolved. In fact, it is supposedly escalated. How do these people stay in business???
> 
> Paul


does the online lineup on the station's website offer the ability to download the listings, and save to file like a pdf?


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

NorthAlabama said:


> does the online lineup on the station's website offer the ability to download the listings, and save to file like a pdf?


No, but I can always take a screen shot. Note that the program guide on their web site is apparently provided by a third party.... it carries TitanTV and Antennaweb logos.

Since I have in effect canceled service on this Tivo, I am pursuing this mainly out of curiosity. The Roamio sits un-powered at least until this gets fixed. That way I can call them without getting mad 

Paul


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

pgoelz said:


> No, but I can always take a screen shot. Note that the program guide on their web site is in fact provided by a third party.... it carried TitanTV and Antennaweb logos.
> 
> Since I have in effect canceled service on this Tivo, I am pursuing this mainly out of curiosity. The Roamio sits un-powered at least until this gets fixed. That way I can call them without getting mad
> 
> Paul


see if titan will allow download, it might work better than screenshots (or, maybe not), then send an email with the attached file, contact info, and the website link to [email protected].

i've been down this rabbit hole before, so i can sympathize with your frustrations, but something out of the ordinary is happening, and the station manager may be the only one with the authority to find out what it is (and the answer probably won't come from tivo).

with my issue, the statewide pbs program director had to go to nielsen to find out what was wrong, and why tivo would never be able to resolve the issue (software limitations).


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

NorthAlabama said:


> see if titan will allow download, it might work better than screenshots (or, maybe not), then send an email with the attached file, contact info, and the website link to [email protected].


I've done just that, along with a detailed description of "displays *THIS*, should display *THIS*" and they keep on saying it is resolved without changing anything. There is something wrong somewhere but no one seems to be able to take the initiative and realize they need to find out WHAT.

The station manager has been in contact with Tivo in the early days of this debacle. I might try contacting him again. However, his station is a low power VHF (about 6KW) with maybe a 40 mile coverage radius with a good receive antenna and I'm not sure how many Tivo viewers he actually has to worry about.

I have decided the lineup team is incompetent and have given up trying to get them to fix this. My post here was to see if anyone knew how to break out of this Mobius loop and contact anyone who has some functional brain cells. Apparently not. Tivo has very effectively shielded them from us lowly *paying *customers.

My best guess is that Tivo management knows the day of home DVRs is ending and is trying to steer Tivo into the ground as slowly, cheaply and gently as possible. I recognize the symptoms.... I worked for a company like that once. Pissing off the occasional one or two people like me no probably does not matter to them like it once did.

Paul


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

tivo already has guide data built for your market, it's nothing for them to add a channel, they must have hit a roadblock - sorry these avenues didn't help, and hope you eventually find a way to get it resolved.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

NorthAlabama said:


> tivo already has guide data built for your market, it's nothing for them to add a channel, they must have hit a roadblock - sorry these avenues didn't help, and hope you eventually find a way to get it resolved.


Thanks but I'm not holding my breath any more. You would think this would be a five minute job to fix, but for some reason that Tivo is totally unwilling to share, it goes unresolved. My solution was to discontinue using the Roamio on OTA (we also have a Bolt on Comcast), turn it off and cancel service. When I did that they gave me six months of free service, which may have diluted the impact on them of "cancelling".

As I said, the post here was to see if there was any way to make contact with anyone at Tivo that doesn't read a script for a living. If I was a Twitter user, maybe I could Twit at them?

Paul


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Can you post what information you are sending TiVo and/or posting on the lineup page? I assume this is due to the frequency changes so old and new frequencies for the station?

Scott


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

I have twice filled out their web page with appropriate information for the three channels that do not display channel names (channel x-yy displays *this*, should display *this*). I have at the same time filled out the missing guide data section for the one channel that has no guide data. I then finish by verbally describing the issue and include a link to the station web page (which has the channels and listings on the home page). I have now done all this twice. When I call and talk to someone (which I have also done at least twice), they seem to understand me, but the last time around when I later asked them to read to me what was actually communicated to the lineup team it turned out that they had totally omitted the part about no guide data.

I had given up and put this to bed but when I got the Email yesterday stating the issue was resolved I called to tell them it was NOT resolved and ended up with a supervisor who swears she will call me today with an update. We'll see. She was the one who told me that in spite of the Email, it is not yet resolved but I could not get any more information out of her.

Again, I am not looking for more input on how to better use the tools Tivo makes available.... I have used all of them and the issue is still not resolved. I am trying to find a way past the firewall to get this issue in front of someone who gives a damn. And in spite of how it might look, I'm not trying all that hard. I find that once I called to attempt to cancel service it is much less stressful to keep the Roamio turned off and ignore it  For now, at least.

And in the mean time I'm toying with the idea of trying the Amazon Fire TV system for OTA.

Paul


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## keithg1964 (Feb 2, 2006)

Mail an letter restricted delivery to an executive of the company. That person must sign for the letter.

When you use Restricted Delivery, the recipient of your mailpiece must positively ID himself before the USPS carrier will relinquish possession of the mailpiece.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

keithg1964 said:


> Mail an letter restricted delivery to an executive of the company. That person must sign for the letter.
> 
> When you use Restricted Delivery, the recipient of your mailpiece must positively ID himself before the USPS carrier will relinquish possession of the mailpiece.


Interesting idea but A) I don't know who to address it to and B) I'm not sure it is worth that kind of effort. If there is not a more conventional avenue of communication, Tivo can sink under their own weight as far as I am concerned. I'll move on to Amazon if I decide to continue my interest in OTA. It was a "research project" to see if cable cutting was a viable option.

Paul


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

*TiVo Corporation*
2160 Gold Street
San Jose, CA 95002
United States
408-519-9100
http://business.tivo.com

Sector: Technology
Industry: Software-Application
Full Time Employees: 1,450

*Key Executives*
*Name* *Title* *Pay* *Exercised* *Year Born*
Mr. David Shull Pres, CEO & Director 2.15M N/A 1973
Mr. Wesley Gutierrez Chief Financial Officer 593.26k N/A 1978
Mr. Matthew W. Milne Sr. VP & Chief Revenue Officer 1.49M N/A 1968
Mr. Michael Hawkey Sr. VP & GM of User Experience 1.44M N/A 1965
Mr. Arvin Patel Exec. VP & Chief Intellectual Property Officer 1.58M N/A 1972


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

Thanks Joe, if I get pissed off again I may use that information. It would be interesting to drop a dime and see if I could reach Mr. Hawkey (for example). Right now, if Tivo has no other more normal ways around the firewall, I'm weary of fighting them and frankly a bit embarrassed at how much fuss I have caused myself and them. This does not bode well, though, for the next time I have a channel lineup issue on our primary Bolt (on cable). The last time that happened, it also took several tries before they got it right. But they did eventually get that one right. 

Between fighting with Comcast and Tivo, I'm tired of having to shout to get anything done  

Paul


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

keithg1964 said:


> Mail an letter restricted delivery to an executive of the company. That person must sign for the letter.
> 
> When you use Restricted Delivery, the recipient of your mailpiece must positively ID himself before the USPS carrier will relinquish possession of the mailpiece.


I have to wonder how that would work in a typical company office building where USPS delivers to one point then mail is distributed internally. Does the USPS person take the elevator and walk the halls to reach the office of the recipient?

And what if the recipient is out of the office? Does the USPS person have to keep trying delivery day after day?

My guess: someone just signs for the intended recipient, thus raising the question of what advantage Restricted Delivery really offers.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

It is moot at this point. I have given up. The Tivo "supervisor" to my surprise actually called me back last evening as promised..... and then simply read back to me the same incorrect information she read to me the day before. When I asked about the missing guide data, she said I would have to open a new lineup issue. At that point I said NO, this is ridiculous, I'm done.

Interestingly, the "lineup team" provided a new explanation of why three of the 12 WHNE subchannels are not labeled with their channel name. The reason given was that "those are local channels", whatever that means. The three channels in question are "The Bob Channel", Drive-In" (ie., movies) and "Fun Roads" (all about cars and travel). They are no more local than any of the other 9 subchannels of that station (that ARE correctly labeled). But she was just reading from an Email and was unable to expand on that. And neither she nor I can actually talk to the "lineup team". So over and out.

In summary, there is absolutely no way of reaching anyone higher than a CS "supervisor". And the "supervisors" have been utterly unable to resolve the issue or even tell me why it continues to be un-resolved after numerous tickets reporting the same simple issue and several "escalations" (whatever that really means). If you press for more information, you get a robotic "I perfectly understand you" and then just get the same information read back to you. The CS people you speak to have no information or intelligence to add beyond what they read from Email communication with the "lineup team". The "lineup team" is totally isolated and does not take phone calls from customers or even the CS people. They communicate entirely by Email and seem incapable of explaining anything in written form so there we are. A broken system with no way to signal to the mothership that it is broken. I tried my damnedest to get this resolved and failed. The only thing I can think of is to call Tivo corporate at the number Joe provided but I'm weary of this and I'm done. I will *never again *pay for service on the Roamio now that its only use to me is OTA and Tivo can't be bothered to fix a dead easy OTA lineup issue. I dread the day I have to go through this on the Bolt (on Comcast with with cable card). The last time that happened, it took at least two attempts but they did eventually get it fixed.

I should add that I have run into this before, with HP. Like Tivo, the CS people at HP have a script and troubleshooting flow chart. But if they get to the end of the chart there is nothing there. There is no place to send the call and there is no way to proceed further. The only option is to give up with the problem unresolved. And that generally means the customer solves the problem the only way possible..... by discarding the product and trying a different brand.

Paul


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## pfiagra (Oct 13, 2014)

pgoelz said:


> It is moot at this point. I have given up. The Tivo "supervisor" to my surprise actually called me back last evening as promised..... and then simply read back to me the same incorrect information she read to me the day before. When I asked about the missing guide data, she said I would have to open a new lineup issue. At that point I said NO, this is ridiculous, I'm done.
> 
> In summary, there is absolutely no way of reaching anyone higher than a CS "supervisor". And the "supervisors" have been utterly unable to resolve the issue or even tell me why it continues to be un-resolved after numerous tickets reporting the same simple issue and several "escalations" (whatever that really means). If you press for more information, you get a robotic "I perfectly understand you" and then just get the same information read back to you. The CS people you speak to have no information or intelligence to add beyond what they read from Email communication with the "lineup team". The "lineup team" is totally isolated and does not take phone calls from customers or even the CS people. They communicate entirely by Email and seem incapable of explaining anything in written form so there we are. A broken system with no way to signal to the mothership that it is broken. I tried my damnedest to get this resolved and failed. The only thing I can think of is to call Tivo corporate at the number Joe provided but I'm weary of this and I'm done. I will *never again *pay for service on the Roamio now that its only use to me is OTA and Tivo can't be bothered to fix a dead easy OTA lineup issue. I dread the day I have to go through this on the Bolt (on Comcast with with cable card). The last time that happened, it took at least two attempts but they did eventually get it fixed.
> 
> Paul


so take what you just wrote here, put it in a respectful, but direct, handwritten letter addressed to TiVo's ceo and snail mail it to their corporate office.

most people want to take the shortcuts and just send an email, but the only way to cut through the clutter is to go old school.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

pgoelz said:


> ...........
> I should add that I have run into this before, with HP. Like Tivo, the CS people at HP have a script and troubleshooting flow chart. But if they get to the end of the chart there is nothing there. There is no place to send the call and there is no way to proceed further. .........


Yes, as per post #2 in this thread. I forgot to add that another favorite shielding tactic is a company-run forum where users, if one is lucky, may help each other. TiVo had such a forum, which was mostly worthless. AFAIK it no longer exists. TiVo does have FaceBook and Twitter portals. I've not used them but I predict they would provide the same kind of satisfaction as the other methods you've tried.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

Just for grins I had a look at the Tivo pages on Twitter and FB. As far as I could see, there was zero user << >> Tivo communication so I fear you are correct.

The "supervisor" who called me back last night did say that in spite of the Email I received stating the issue was resolved, it is still showing as open and escalated. So I guess there is always the possibility it could still resolve.

I am actually toying with the idea of calling corporate today "just because". I'm a retired engineer and I am hardwired to find it difficult to let go of a problem  However, in my mind I have given up on Tivo and decommissioned the Roamio so any further contact efforts are mainly out of curiosity.

I've also spent some time looking at the DVR offerings from Amazon and Tablo. Tablo looks very interesting with provision for a replaceable internal HD as well as USB and SATA external drives and players for Fire TV and Roku (we have a Roku TV). If Tivo would get off their butts and release a Roku player I might keep them in the mix but without it, this lineup issue killed TIVO for me for OTA.

Paul


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## vaquero (Jan 14, 2020)

pgoelz said:


> I'm a retired engineer
> 
> Paul


I was wondering what your problem was. Now, I know. You expect things to work properly.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

vaquero said:


> I was wondering what your problem was. Now, I know. You expect things to work properly.


Not exactly.... stuff happens. But as an engineer, I expect to be able to find a *solution *when things don't work 

Paul


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

Prior to the sale of TiVo customer service was much better. Since RiVo bought them customer service went to hell. Though software support after getting update to 4.5.x streaming from stand alone TiVo Stream device wrong twice did to my surprise get it fixed relatively quickly. I really was shocked at how quickly they responded. 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

pgoelz said:


> ...... I'm a retired engineer and I am hardwired to find it difficult to let go of a problem  .......


LOL. I understand perfectly since I are one too. Only someone who has the time (is retired) and obsessive technical curiosity (an engineer) would pursue what is obviously a lost cause.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

dlfl said:


> LOL. I understand perfectly since I are one too. Only someone who has the time (is retired) and obsessive technical curiosity (an engineer) would pursue what is obviously a lost cause.


The challenge is determining exactly when it has become a lost cause 

Paul


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

pgoelz said:


> The challenge is determining exactly when it has become a lost cause
> 
> Paul


You've reached my threshold for that, but keep us posted on how your contact with corporate management goes. Even if you finally get satisfaction, your case is an example of why i'm glad i'm not dependent on TiVo support for anything of much importance.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

I decided to just chill for a while since I am not using the Roamio any more. In a week or so I may call corporate if nothing else happens. 

Paul


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Earlier (a few years back, maybe 3-4 or more?), various people had posted something like an "executive relations" contact point (I don't recall if it was a telephone number or email, or both) here at TCF that "ordinary people" could and did use to get better resolutions.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

pgoelz said:


> I have twice filled out their web page with appropriate information for the three channels that do not display channel names (channel x-yy displays *this*, should display *this*). I have at the same time filled out the missing guide data section for the one channel that has no guide data. I then finish by verbally describing the issue and include a link to the station web page (which has the channels and listings on the home page). I have now done all this twice. When I call and talk to someone (which I have also done at least twice), they seem to understand me, but the last time around when I later asked them to read to me what was actually communicated to the lineup team it turned out that they had totally omitted the part about no guide data.


I was actually asking for the real information on what you posted (station names, channels and frequencies). 

Did this station change frequencies as part of the repack (and if yes, did you provide the new frequencies)?

Scott


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

Yes to all. Here's a synopsis as best I can remember. This involves our Roamio which had been retired from cable service and was being used as an experiment to see if it was feasible to cut the cable.

1. When I first reported the issue, local station WHNE was on virtual CH14 (not sure what RF channel) and their CH14-6 was shown as "Movies!". In fact, the "Movies!" channel had moved to another local station some time back and WHNE had replaced it with "Drive-In" (a classic movies channel). All other channels were correct.

2. After I reported the issue, I got an Email from the WHNE station manager that advised me they would be moving from virtual CH14 to RF and virtual CH3 due to the re-pack. He also mentioned that he was in contact with Tivo to straighten out the channel description.

3. After WHNE came back up on CH3, I got a message on the Roamio that my channel lineup had changed but WHNE was still shown as being on CH14 so I opened a new ticket.

4. Tivo finally moved WHNE to CH3 but CH3-6 was now simply shown as TBA (ie, no guide data). They also removed the descriptive names from CH3-3, 3-6 and 3-11 which now read WHNELD3, WHNELD6 and WHNELD11 respectively. So I opened ANOTHER ticket pointing out that there was no guide information for CH3-6 and asking why the other three channels were not named like the rest of the WHNE channels. At this time I included a link to the WHNE web site which has descriptions for all their channels as well as an up to date program guide.

5. Several tickets and many calls later and the only thing that has changed is that the guide for CH3-6 now simply says "Classic movies" 24/7 with no movie titles so it is STILL not possible to record anything. The reason the channels 3-3, 3-6 and 3-11 were not called by their descriptive names has been stated variously as "per Tivo policy, they can only be called by their internal names" and "they are local channels". Neither answer makes sense and no one can elaborate.

As I have said, after all this fuss I simply gave up, turned the Roamio off and called to cancel service. When Tivo offered six months free I accepted but I am treating it like it is cancelled for now. It is off and disconnected. A very sorry state of affairs for a company that expects us to pay them monthly for this awful service.

I just now fired off an Email to [email protected] (found it on Reddit). Lets see if anything happens. At least it has not (yet) bounced.

Paul


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

pgoelz said:


> I just now fired off an Email to [email protected] (found it on Reddit). Lets see if anything happens. At least it has not (yet) bounced.
> 
> Paul


And in an unexpected development, someone from the Tivo Executive Relations team just called me in response to my Email. So the *[email protected] *address is indeed valid (if un-published). He says he will be looking into the unresolved issue and why it remains unresolved after all this time. Based on some of his questions, I am not holding out a lot of hope, but lets see what happens next.

Paul


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

Well, here we are a week later and the Executive Relations person never called me back with a promised status report. However, I just noticed this morning that half of the issue is now resolved.... there is now guide data for the movie channel that was missing. Success... I guess. Too bad it took so much effort. Sadly, that sub-channel and two other sub-channels of that station are still only labeled with the TV station call letters and multichannel, not the description of the channel. I can live with this although I find it odd that no one at Tivo has been able to give me an intelligible answer why these three sub-channels are so special that they cannot be labeled with their descriptions like all the other channels. In fact, I did some digging and found one of them is also carried on a Francisco area station.... and IS labeled with the channel description. Go figure. But at least it doesn't prevent me from watching or recording. 

While I was waiting for Tivo to re-contact me I did some research on the Amazon Recast OTA DVR. Specifically, I tried to find out how one would report a missing channel. There may be a way but I was unable to find it, so as bad as Tivo has become they may still be better than Recast. But I'm afraid that isn't saying much. 

Paul


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

pgoelz said:


> Well, here we are a week later and the Executive Relations person never called me back with a promised status report. However, I just noticed this morning that half of the issue is now resolved.... there is now guide data for the movie channel that was missing. Success... I guess. Too bad it took so much effort. Sadly, that sub-channel and two other sub-channels of that station are still only labeled with the TV station call letters and multichannel, not the description of the channel. I can live with this although I find it odd that no one at Tivo has been able to give me an intelligible answer why these three sub-channels are so special that they cannot be labeled with their descriptions like all the other channels. In fact, I did some digging and found one of them is also carried on a Francisco area station.... and IS labeled with the channel description. Go figure. But at least it doesn't prevent me from watching or recording.
> 
> While I was waiting for Tivo to re-contact me I did some research on the Amazon Recast OTA DVR. Specifically, I tried to find out how one would report a missing channel. There may be a way but I was unable to find it, so as bad as Tivo has become they may still be better than Recast. But I'm afraid that isn't saying much.
> 
> Paul


You could log into your Tivo account and chat with a customer service representative and cut and paste your issue. Then there will be your written documentation instead of what the customer service representative heard over the phone. You could do it every day for a while.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

shwru980r said:


> You could log into your Tivo account and chat with a customer service representative and cut and paste your issue. Then there will be your written documentation instead of what the customer service representative heard over the phone. You could do it every day for a while.


No way. I have had my fill of inept support and I have found the chat people are even more worthless than the phone people.

I called the guy at the Executive Relations direct number to ask about the channel names (the unresolved portion of the current issue). Got his voicemail and a day later he has yet to return my call. At least I can record movies now. But I'm done with this nonsense. This has been one of the all time worst customer support experiences I have had to date. With any company.

Paul


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

pgoelz said:


> ........ This has been one of the all time worst customer support experiences I have had to date. With any company. ..........


You can have that bad an experience with just about any company's tech support if your problem isn't one of the common ones covered by their scripts. I had an interaction with TiVo's Executive Relations several years back when the issue was incorrect time settings. My impression was their mission is to sooth your feelings by giving you the impression you have reached the top with your complaint. However it didn't appear the guy even actually understood the technical aspects or that talking to him actually made any difference.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

Well, Lez at Executive Relations actually called me today to tell me the issue was resolved. When I told him they had (once again) only resolved 50% of the issue and that three channels still did not show the network names, he told me to repeat guided setup in spite of the fact that I reminded him that TivoOnline shows the exact same thing. I refused to run guided setup and stressed that this is a Tivo database issue. I pointed out that my local WHNE carries "Fun Roads" on CH3-11 and that channel is labeled WHNELD11 (one of the three channels that do not show the network name). However, KOFY in the bay area (area code 94016) carries Fun Roads on their channel 20-8 and it IS labeled as "Fun Roads". At that point he said he was going to "assign a technical expert" to the case who will call me on Sunday.

I'm just responding to Tivo at this point if they contact me. I'm done making a fuss and opening new tickets. The most important part of the issue (missing program listings on one channel) is in fact resolved so at least I can record that channel now (almost two months after starting this process). The missing descriptive channel labels half of the issue is more annoying than anything else.

Paul


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

Well, here I am again. Just reporting on the total and complete inability of Tivo to even *understand *a simple issue, let alone *resolve *it. I have long since given up on this issue but the "Tivo channel lineup team" Emailed me today to inform me that they had assigned a new ticket number to my issue (this would be number five or six.... I've lost count) and asked if I could supply them with three examples of "wrong program guide data" on channel 3-3. Say what?? I have NEVER reported an issue with guide data on CH3-3. The issue with 3-3 (and two others) has always been that the network name is missing. It has been like that through maybe four ticket numbers, without resolution. No idea why they suddenly think I am reporting bad guide data. No way I'm going to go around again on this and try once again to explain something that simple. Been there, done that, got the T shirt. Several of them, actually.

So in a fit of pique, I replied that they can put their ticket number where the sun don't shine and they can kiss any further revenue from my Roamio goodbye. I'm done with this foolishness. Been done with it for a while, actually. I just responded in this case because they contacted me out of the blue.

My contacts with "Executive Relations" have been equally ridiculous. All they do is read back what the lineup team writes. They can't add any intelligence or information to the process. I got passed on to a technical expert who could not help because this was not his field of expertise. And he passed me back to my initial contact at Executive Relations.... who was to be on furlough until June 8th as I recall. Who knows.... that may have been the cause of the new (and incorrect) issue report.

If this was truly a serious issue I would probably try contacting corporate. But this does not rise to that level so I've decided to let it drop unless they contact me. Re-purposing my old Roamio for OTA was just an experiment to see what was available on OTA. I got six months of free service on it for all my troubles with the lineup issue early on (they offered) but I won't be resuming paying for service on it after the free service runs out.

Paul


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

Why would you expect Executive Relations NOT to repeat what the lineup team tells them on a lineup issue.

You’re asking Executive Relations to solve a problem they know nothing about.

You just want to complain to a big wig.

You’d be better off going thru the proper channels and dealing with employees who are there to handle your type of problem.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

Excuse me? Have you actually read this thread or did you just read the last post?

If you would read the thread you would see that I contacted Executive Relations as a last resort specifically because "the proper channels" were unable to resolve two very simple issues. The hope was that Executive Relations would be able to go beyond the inept handling by the channel lineup team and find a solution. At some point, the missing guide data issue WAS resolved (but only after a major effort). However, for the network name issue all they do is repeat back to me almost verbatim what the lineup team writes (they can't even talk to them), without providing any additional intelligence. And what the lineup team writes does not make sense when the same network IS properly named on Tivos in another market (just change the zip code and re-run guided setup).

In any event, this remaining issue is a rather minor one now that the missing guide data has finally been resolved. I have given up and am no longer pursuing a solution. I only respond to Tivo (and report here) if they contact me. I am just perplexed that it remains an issue *at all *and that there are *NO *additional "proper channels" if the one contact point we have with Tivo fails to resolve (or even understand) a simple issue.

For a cable card DVR, as far as I know Tivo is the only 3rd party game in town. But for OTA, they have competition and support experiences like this will definitely affect my future purchase / subscription decisions. As for "Executive Relations", I was primarily hoping it might be a way into Tivo to help them learn how they are failing their customers. Doesn't look like it.

Paul


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Nobody enjoys an obsessive nitpicker continually posting outrage about something because they don’t have the wisdom to accept that which they cannot change. I know because I am such a nitpicker myself — in fact that is probably the only reason I am one of the few still reading this thread.


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

Throughout this episode I have constantly tried to figure out at what point I am nitpicking vs. trying to solve a valid issue. In my opinion, I passed that point long ago and actually gave up on both issues (before either was resolved). To that end, I actually called to cancel service on the Roamio. When Tivo offered six months free if I did not cancel, I accepted with the intent to fully cancel when the free six month period ended. At that time I decided to only respond to Tivo and post here if Tivo contacted me. Which they (and I) did a couple times. 

Anyone who is bored by all this is free to ignore. I post it only to document what I have gone though in the event it might help someone in the future. But I would like to point out that without users reporting problems.... and the lack of resolution.... it is foolish to expect things to improve. That was part of my motivation when I contacted Executive Relations. 

I will now go silent since this is apparently not productive. 

Paul


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## Mrquebecusa (Sep 25, 2018)

I have the same problem. two Candian stations I receive changed frequencies and I can not get the one, CKSH, that we watch all the time. I will use the executive address you posted, so they wont be getting emails just from you. BTW I also have Silicon Dust's HD TV tuner and that one does not get CKSH either.


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