Remember a post that I put up three days ago which talked about how TWC was giving one of their customers hell? Well, the individual (John) who was having a tough time with TWC sent me another email letting me know that TWC did stop by and that his Series 3 TiVo is now up and running. What follows is the email that John sent me detailing what the experience was like.
Hi Alex,
It was a very trying experience… but the CableCARDS are installed (Saturday) and (as of 1:30pm Sunday) working! The installer (to TW’s credit) showed up on time, but seemed quite confused by the Tivo. I left the instruction sheet out for him, but he didn’t read it. He also didn’t read the big letters “use lower cablecard slot first” written both onscreen and on the back of the Tivo – although it didn’t seem to matter. After popping the cards in (in the wrong order), he seemed very confused about what to do next, so I sat down and read the instructions to him. After he was satisfied that we *really* didn’t need to sit through the guided setup together, he tried to call in the CableCARD info…
I live in an area with poor cellphone reception and the installer was insistent on trying to use a push to talk phone. It didn’t work. He tried over and over to call in the CableCARD ID and Host ID. They couldn’t hear him. I offered to let him use the phone, he said no. So, my fiance and I sat there while he fought with his phone for 30-40 minutes. After he *thought* he had closed out the job, he left. Then we actually tried to use the box and, sadly, none of our subscription channels were available. We called in to TW but there was a big local outage and gave up waiting after spending 30 minutes in the queue.
Today I called TW and got through. They reprovisioned the cards on their end, and within 5 minutes, everything was showing up, just lovely. So… it is possible to get this working through TW, but just be aware that they will have no experience with the unit and seem to have a general dislike for dealing with CableCARDs at all.
One note that *may* help people – During the process of him trying to get these things activated, he went through the same “what kind of TV is it” problem with the people he was trying to get to activate the card. When they asked the question, he looked at the front of the TV and said “Samsung”… (not realizing they really meant what kind of DEVICE are the cards being installed in). They accepted that and moved on… So, if TW gives anyone a problem, I’d say just tell them the kind of TV the Tivo is connected to and feign ignorance when the installer arrives.
Best wishes,
— John
I really hope TWC and the rest of the cable industry learns that a CableCARD capable Series 3 TiVo is available and that some consumers are willing to pay the $800 price tag to get a far superior product (I only wish I had $800 right now).
Just telling them the cards are going into a TV may not work well financially.
There are cases where the cable company CSR’s realized that both cards are going into one device, Tivo, and only charge one outlet fee for both cards. And if a customer is getting Tivo S3 to replace their current cable DVR as their only cable STB, then he/she gets both cards for free, as the included 1 STB for digital cable package.
If the cable company counts the cable cards separately, as they might think if they hear that the cards are going into TV’s, then a customer would get the first card free as the 1st STB, and have to pay a second outlet monthly rental fee on the second card.
Hey, In regard to your cablecard problems with TW; I would like to relay my opposite experience with Comcast Seattle. It may be because I am in Seattle, but Comcast here has always (to me) been super. I called them last week when I ordered my Series 3 and they said, “just come on into the office and get the cards. They’ve got loads of ‘em” Then today, I went in braced for the worst, and they were like, “you’ll need two? Okay.” And within 5 minutes I was outta there. My TiVo arrives tomorrow. Cross sticks all goes well with my self install.
Running into similar situations with Adelphia (now Comcast, though the bill still says Adelphia) in Maryland.
Spend half a day on the phone with them, even got Jason from Tivo conferenced in to help explain thing to them, without much luck (kudo’s to Jason at Tivo for his patience and assistance).
At one point, they told me to come into their office to get the cards and install them myself, then after driving to their office (half an hour away), told me that I have to schedule a tech to come out.
I managed to get them to send a tech out, but when he went to activate it and told the guy on the phone that it was a Tivo, they just refused to proceed.
Excuses I’ve been given include:
1. It cuts into their DVR set top box business.
2. They don’t support “3rd party hardware” (huh? isn’t *any* cablecard ready TV 3rd party hardware – Comcast doesn’t sell tv’s…)
3. Their billing system “doesn’t support this device”(!?!? does that mean I can only use TV brands and models that are approved by Comcast and in their billing system?)
So… anyone have any tips or pointers to get around all this. I’m guessing that if they just plug them in, enter the Tivo’s info into their system, it’ll just work, and that this is a policy issue in that they just don’t want to allow a competing DVR, rather than a technical issue – after all, cablecard is an FCC mandated standard, right?.
just had same issue with cox now suddenlink com. in new bern nc. tech refused to install 2 cable cards in my brand new series 3. called tivo. had 3 way conference call with my cable company who was informed by tivo that it is a fcc law that the cards can be put into the tivo. he refused to budge. so the tivo person told him the tivo legal dept. would be sending a fax to him. within 2 hours cox called me back and said there was a “misunderstanding” and they will be happy to come and put the cards in free of charge. Tivo rocks!
see my earlier post–anyone having difficulty with getting cable cards installed-DONT call the cable company–CALL TIVO and they are more than happy to help. they are 100% confident and prepared to take legal steps to ensure you get the cable cards.
Today Comcast Atlanta refused to install CableCards in my newly purchased Tivo Series 3 HD DVR, claiming “Comcast Atlanta doesn’t support 3rd party devices.” To compound the absurdly, two weeks early their sales representative when I described that the request was in fact for a Tivo Series 3 DVR assured me that “yes this was supported” and placed the service order for 2 CableCards to be installed on Saturday (9/30). Today, the field installer arrived and at first questioned their support of Tivo Series 3 DVR, contacted their manager who after a few minutes of my protest permitted the field installer to proceed.
The installation began and was successful within the Tivo device to a point. Tivo recognized the 1st CableCard just fine and the “plug and play” software booted up as expected to provide the Host and Unit # needed for the technician to call in to someone else in their offices to perform the activation step. That’s when the wheels came off. The field technician was told on his mobile phone the 3rd party device wasn’t supported and refused to proceed. The technician went out to their truck. I received a call on my home phone from a very polite but insistent customer service representative apologizing saying “Comcast doesn’t support 3rd party devices” and “the sales agent who took my order was mistaken.” Next, the Comcast field technician came back inside, removed the CableCard, and left very suddenly.
I continued to voice my complaints over the phone to Comcast saying that the FTC mandated that I legally must be provided a CableCard. The Comcast Customer Service Representative said they couldn’t troubleshoot the Tivo device not knowing that the CableCard had previously been installed in the Tivo box and was working. I said I wasn’t asking for Tivo support only that Comcast provide me with a working CableCard. The Comcast representative said they would gladly install the card in my Samsung TV (Comcast doesn’t sell TVs right) but claimed the Tivo was a 3rd party unsupported device. Puzzling.
Next, I contacted the Tivo’s support center. Then, we had a 3 way conference call with someone from the Comcast Atlanta’s Executive offices, a Tivo level 3 support representative, and myself. After a few minutes of discussion, where the Tivo representative typed up meticulous notes and attempted to clarify the FTC “Plug and Play Ruling” that mandated that CableCards be provided, the Comcast representative held firm to their “not supporting 3rd party devices” and excused himself from the call.
Lastly the Tivo representative assured me that the notes will be escalated to their corporate offices on Monday and since it was the weekend, to expect phone calls at the beginning of the week. Tivo assured me that this was supported and that the field offices were ill informed.
Stay tuned to see if Comcast Atlanta relents or I have to return this $800 device to Tivo. BTW, I am a Tivo early adaptor having purchased a Tivo Series 2 DVR several years ago directly from ATT Broadband who was bought by Comcast. Strangely, the Comcast Executive Offices agent on the phone tried to give me false hopes talking up a Comcast branded Tivo Motorola unit that was available in other markets. My retort was, “I was very aware of this box and tried to order that from Comcast over a year ago.” But, it wasn’t available in Atlanta and so I purchased this Tivo Series 3 HD DVR. I wanted this one working which fell on silent ears.
Net net: An impasse for now! Comcast Atlanta refuses to budge and Tivo level 3 support is escalating to their corporate offices. Hopefully, pressures will come to bare and the consumer gets satisfaction.
Comcast is really trying to get my install right. Comcast has send a tech out twice, spent the good part of the day on the phone with the “try it now, try it now” stuff. I am receiveing the standard/digital/HD cable channels, but they cannont send the update to receive the pay(HBO, Showtime) channels on both cards. So far they have only been able to get one of the card working for the pay channels, which is a problem since you cannot tell tivo which cable card to use when recoding a season pass. Thanks for letting me vent!
Comcast Support of Series 3 HD. Adam, What area of the country do you live in that they are being so proactive with getting it right? The Tivo support rep said that different Comcast affiliates differ on what they support.
Comcast Support of Series 3 HD DVR: Success!! Comcast Atlanta came back out today (after a 6 day delay for escalation by Tivo Corporate to Comcast Atlanta – see my 9/30 post) and installed two CableCards in my Tivo Series 3 HD DVR in about an hour. The techican, who was the original technican from last Saturday (9/30), came back in to continue the work where she left off before she had been stopped. She was excellent and was able to quickly call in both Host Id and Data numbers which we found under Messages & Settings>Settings>Remote,CableCards,&Devices>Cable Card Decoders. Then we picked which card (card 1 or 2) and selected CableCard Menu>CableCard Pairing (had to select pairing a couple to times and wait a few minutes) which brought up the information Comcast field technican needed to call in to activate the card. She also told the person on the phone to do a “hard hit” afterwords to push the activitation process along more quickly.
Lastly, we had to continue the Tivo Guided Setup that took another 30 minutes to download the channel guide over the Internet.
Everything is working perfectly and I am now recording two HD shows at the same time while watching another previously recorded show.
Is this stuff great or what?
Thanks Tivo for busting through the logjam with Comcast Atlanta. The technican said I was the first in the area and they were unaware of the product in the field. That still doesn’t excuse Comcast’s behavior over the past 6 days of resisting my request for a CableCard. Fortunately, Tivo Corporate was able to press Comcast to supply the card. Apparently, the logjam broke through more than just my stalemate – the technican said there were 3 other installations in metro Atlanta of the Tivo Serier 3 HD DVR that were done yesterday.
The issue is closed and I am a happy Tivo customer. Comcast has once again tarnished their image with me having put me through unneccessary hoops to get a service that the FTC said they have to provide. After pressure being the first one in Metro Atlanta, only then did they comply. The next Atlantian to request service will sail right through said the technican.
I’m still in TWC hell here. The first cableguy was a contractor, said he couldn’t touch a Tivo, and left in a hurry. Cableguy #2 was at the house for about 1.5 hours. The CableCards were installed per the instructions and “activated”, but would not work. Doing the “Test Channels” step produced a blue screen with a revolving black and gray ball, and the message that Tivo was trying to get information from the CableCard. I had to remove the CableCards in order to watch TV at all. Cableguy #3 arrived with NO Cablecards, and attempted to arrange an appointment for two days later with “Victor” who he said was, “really good with CableCards.” Victor (hey it might have been Victor) arrived two hours earlier than I expected him, and thus I was not home. Cableguy #4 showed up a few days later with ONE CableCard which he did not attempt to install at all. He said that he’d only seen two out of 30 attempts with CableCards actually work. So he left a TWC Motorola dual-tuner HD DVR and its joke of a remote for me to use. This is NOT a user-friendly machine. In fact, the optic audio died and the RCA audio is occasionally intermittant. Cableguy #5 will be coming over tomorrow between 10 and 12 to replace it.
Meanwhile, I got on a three-way with Dana (Tivo rep) yesterday and the TWC people. She says that one of her customers was a cableguy who bought a Series 3, and he said that the installation problems with the CableCards was solved by someone at TWC changing things at the “head end”. I’m currently waiting for a call from another technical guy at TWC.
Suggestions, anyone?
I always liked DirecTV b/c Tivo rocks and the Comcast guide and DVR functionaly are horrible. Well, I was just about to switch to Comcast b/c of the current state of Tivo. I figured I could get an S3 Tivo with 2 cable cards and then I would be able to use the Tivo guide and recording SW. Also, the DirecTV HD DVR with Tivo has plenty of its own problems.
Anyway, I started by calling 1-800-comcast to make sure my market has cablecard support. The guy told me they could only give me 1. I suggested he ask someone else and he said he’s positive. So, I called a local comcast office directly. They said no problem. The first card is free and the 2nd costs $1.50/mo. Big whup. But then the girl said that with the cable cards, I’d be missing out on some features.
1) the onscreen guide (no thanks! next?)
2) PPV and ondemand (I’ve seen it and it’s a joke. Next?)
3) I’d get locals in HD but nothing else. No ESPNH, SHOH, HBOH, etc.
WTF? It’s the oppposite problem with my HD DirecTivo. I live in the mountains and can’t get line of sight to use the offair antenae. But if I got the non-dvr receiver I’d get the entire HD package including locals. But the DVR box only decodes overair HD locals. Strangely, it gets the rest of the package. Sounds like stupid DRM politics getting in the way but whatever. I’m anxious to get a decent HD content solution and nobody seems willing or able to provide it.
Had a problem pairing the second card on my Tivo3 with Charter cable and a Motorola cablecard. After a second tech came out, I suggested activating the card on my TV. After he left I put the activated card in my second slot and I know how both working properly.
Jeez…. this is getting scary! I just ordered a TiVo S3 (from Weakknees w/ 750GB HD so I can store HD movies, too…)and reading all these horror stories is giving me pause. I live in the Nashville, TN area… when I called Comcast last week the guy I spoke to was clueless… promised me a call back which of course I haven’t gotten. I’m trying to decide if I should go to the Comcast office here and get the Cablecards and install them myself, or if there is any merit to having them installed by a field tech — who, I suspect, will be as clueless as the CSR guy.
When I talked to the CSR guy, he tried to sell me off the S3 — sounded like he was reading from a script when he said he’d tried the S3 himself (uh-huh…).
Anyway, I’m still doing research and I’m anticipating a fair degree of frustration before I get the S3 operating correctly with the Comcast cablecards, HD subscription channels, etc etc.
Should be interesting.
–PS
In case there is anyone in Louisiana wanting to buy a TIVO series 3 and have Cox Cable, Don’t waste your time just yet. COX CABLE IS A JOKE! They are currently trying to REWIRE my cable b/c they claim that is the problem. Even though they ran a cable dircetly from the outside box and it still didn’t work. I think TIVO needs to hold a conference with all major cable companies and get them all on the same page. This has been the biggest hassle that I have EVER been through.
I have Comcast in CO and mine is installed and working fine. Here are some things that might be useful to those who take the plunge…
During the install, it walks you through the cablecard activation. It displays a screen of information including “host, node, etc” after each cable card. It also clearly says “the following information is for your cable installer”. But my installer blew it off as unnecessary. He said the cable cards were activated so he didn’t need this info. But we couldn’t get the 2nd cable card to work. He left and came back saying he has to use that information (that he previously dismissed) to pair the 2 cards. This is something they’re not used to b/c they don’t do a lot of 2-cable-card-installs. The process involves calling the main office with the info on the screen and the pairing is done from there.
I’ve gotten a lot of different information regarding which channels I’ll get in HD if I use the cable cards. The truth is that my particular region only gets the 4 networks in HD. That’s all. 30 miles south and 30 miles north, they get 16 HD channels. But I know it’s not b/c of the cable card (as I was previously told) b/c they gave me the channel lineup and it clearly states that our market only gets the 4 networks. Oh well, 30 of my 33 wishlists are on these 4 channels so I’m getting a lot more HD through comcast than I was through directv. And the real Tivo is way better than the bastardized DirecTivo was anyway. Though, I have to admit, I’m using my leftover DirecTV contract to continue to get the cable channels in HD (ESPN and SHOH mostly) too. So, now I have 4 Tivo tuners and 6 very heavily used HD channels (and a few not so used HD as well).
Based on all the misinformation I got from Comcast, I was skeptical but I’m very pleased now that I have it. When Comcast in my area gets more HD, I’ll pay the cancellation fee to DirecTV and never look back. Until then, having both is a pretty good solution.