Should Tivo sue Comcast?

[bmgoodman]

I'm not a big advocate of lawsuits in general, but I'm REALLY getting tired of the stories I keep hearing from Comcast technicians. The latest one is that in my sister's new apartment, she's continued to have issues with her cable, particularly her cable box. The latest problem is the cable box keeps going into the mode for ordering video-on-demand and not letting her watch any channels. She's spent a good amount of time on the phone with Comcast, with the usual, things of unplugging it, plugging it back in, etc. And of course they always want to roll a truck. Her last truck roll this past weekend, the tech mentioned something about Tivos causing all kinds of problems in Comcasts households, and, while he was swapping out her cable box, he "helped" her by removing the signal splitter and no longer feeding a signal to her Tivo. She didn't know he had done this until the next day when she tried to watch Tivo and found hours of blank recordings. Oh, and of course, the replacement cable box is still stuck on the VOD screen.

Doesn't it seem VERY common to hear these techs going on about how Tivo either "doesn't work" with Comcast or "causes problems" with Comcast? Worst of all, they usually offer their own DVR up as a substitute (though I'm not sure this latest tech did).

Is there NOTHING to prevent these guys from making these statements? Are they really just "innocently" uninformed, or is this another Comcast effort to maintain their control? :mad:

[ZeoTiVo]

actually in this case I think TiVo has some bug about going to channel 1,the cable box needs a very specific way to change back off the on demand channel. For once Comcast may be correct in what they say

of course the tech was completely wrong in removing the feed to the TiVo.

[RoyK]

Actually if she's controlling the comcast box through her TiVo and it's switching to channel 1 the on demand channel and her TiVo has V9,1 or 9.2 software then its one of a slew of known TiVo problems with the software, not comcast's problem.

see http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370557

[ACraigL]

of course they always want to roll a truck.

I'm telling you right now that this is the last thing they want to do. Nothing costs them more money than rolling a truck. However, if something cannot be resolved remotely, what choice do they have?

Remember that they are not required to support a TiVo. If they tech feels that the split is reducing signal to a point where it is disrupting the cablebox, he's probably in his right to try it. I'm not condoning his incorrect judgement or "secretive" changes in this situation, but keep in mind who he works for and what his primary objective is.

The techs are the biggest wildcard for Comcast. A lot of them are subcontractors and it's the few (like the sleeper) that cause the biggest credibility hit for Comcast. I've been lucky -- all my visits have been with skilled courteous and communicative techs -- so far.

[bicker]

And that's really the point. There is no smoking gun, showing that Comcast trains its techs to do things to disrupt TiVo service, so therefore a lawsuit would hurt TiVo, not Comcast. In reality, Comcast is perhaps TiVo's savior, as they've agreed to offer TiVo service as a premium level of service for their own leased DVRs. That's, at least, almost assuredly profitable, while what TiVo's been doing otherwise has not been.

[ZeoTiVo]

Remember that they are not required to support a TiVo. If they tech feels that the split is reducing signal to a point where it is disrupting the cablebox, he's probably in his right to try it. I'm not condoning his incorrect judgement or "secretive" changes in this situation, but keep in mind who he works for and what his primary objective is.

His primary objective is to make the customer happy with Comcast service. he may have thought signal to the box was causing a problem but to remove a connection without first fully discussing it with the customer is just completely wrong. That is basic common sense and customer service 101.

Either the tech did it maliciously to get back at the company causing him service hassles or he forgot he did it whne troubleshooting. Both are bad service.

[bmgoodman]

Actually if she's controlling the comcast box through her TiVo and it's switching to channel 1 the on demand channel and her TiVo has V9,1 or 9.2 software then its one of a slew of known TiVo problems with the software, not comcast's problem.

see http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370557

Thanks for the link, but in her case, the Tivo was hooked up to straight analog cable. The box is hooked into the TV on another input.

[lundberry]

besides if the tivo wasn't hooked up to the cable box it wouldn't be changing channels on the box.

[pdhenry]

Thanks for the link, but in her case, the Tivo was hooked up to straight analog cable. The box is hooked into the TV on another input.In that case there should be no connection between the TiVo and the cable box. Unplug the IR blaster (or serial cable) from the back of the TiVo and put it in a box.