D* refund / Survey

[rmassey]

I finally received a refund of $1.97 from D* for the service I canceled in June when I switched over to an S3. They included a survey to ask why I dropped service. I simply wrote

" No Tivo = No customer , get the message? "

Ya think I was subtle enough?

[20TIL6]

Good for you. I hope they get the message. But since going to cable and S3 and HD units, I really don't care what DTV does anymore.

[Mark Lopez]

I finally received a refund of $1.97 from D* for the service I canceled in June when I switched over to an S3. They included a survey to ask why I dropped service. I simply wrote

" No Tivo = No customer , get the message? "

Ya think I was subtle enough?


And it's that sort of reply that promptly goes into the circular file. Now had you written a rational letter explain exactly what your complaints are about not having a Tivo branded DVR, you might have gotten someones attention. But then again, no one really yet has come up with any decent reasons other than 'It's not Tivo' (which in it's self is meaningless) as an explanation. <shrug>

[badmonkey]

And it's that sort of reply that promptly goes into the circular file. Now had you written a rational letter explain exactly what your complaints are about not having a Tivo branded DVR, you might have gotten someones attention. But then again, no one really yet has come up with any decent reasons other than 'It's not Tivo' (which in it's self is meaningless) as an explanation. <shrug>

I agree... A more professional, quantitative, non-emotional letter would definitely have gotten more attention. The person reading that response isn't going to give it any attention. Nor should he/she... There is nothing to act on in a response like that.

Perhaps detailing some of the issues you have with the new platform for them. Or maybe providing some constructive feedback... That would have gotten a lot further than simple childish ranting.

[TyroneShoes]

...no one really yet has come up with any decent reasons other than 'It's not Tivo' (which in it's self is meaningless)...
I think if DTV thinks that is a meaningless reason, then that would explain a lot regarding them ending their partnership with Tivo. But I think that's a side issue, and I give them more credit than that.

I think that they, as would anyone who really researches the subject, would realize that whether the Tivo platform is unique or superior or not, there is a large contingent of folks who have that perception, and probably for good reason. All you have to do is cruise 3 or 4 forums to figure that out. An intern could research the issue and come up with that conclusion in half a day.

I think they weighed the obvious negative of ditching Tivo, and figured the positives of not having to pay Tivo $1.25 per sub per month outweighed it, which is why we find ourselves where we are today. I think they are convinced it was a sound business decision, and I really can't fault them for that. It was certainly not in the best interests of a lot of their customers, however, as, sadly, customers always come in a distant second to the bottom line. But to think that the commonly-held perception of Tivo as superior is meaningless would have been foolhardy at best.

[emania]

If your were face to face with an executive, they would dismiss you as a wise a*s punk...BUT.....since these are not initially read by a person, but rather entered into a response corpus for IR processing, the tivo keywork may appear as a hot item. Simple word counts on this one. The analyst - some MBA type, that doesn't even know what a DVR is - will read it and write a report. Some well written "examples" will be included in the report to the higher up types (perhaps they are called product managers at d*). Funny thing is, that returning the survey means you care, and could possibly be 'won' back. They probably do it quarterly, or less often, but there are alot of people responsible for customer churn is a service company -

oh, and tivo tivo tivo tivo probably won't help, although it sound alot like a surprise attack.

[RS4]

It's clear the apologists are at work in this thread. You're just plain wrong if you don't think that D* recognizes people are leaving because they have no current Tivo offerings - and it takes nothing more then the OP's remarks to let them know they lost another customer because of a secon-rate product replacement!!

[Da Goon]

I have a cousin who up until quite recently worked as a retention csr for d*. I asked her how many calls she received where the person was switching providers specifically for tivo. She said she got 1, about 3 months before the S3 was released. They're not bleeding customers because of lack of tivo.

[badmonkey]

I have a cousin who up until quite recently worked as a retention csr for d*. I asked her how many calls she received where the person was switching providers specifically for tivo. She said she got 1, about 3 months before the S3 was released. They're not bleeding customers because of lack of tivo.

Look out... You're now squarely in RS4's sights as one of those 'apologists'! People seem to ignore that DirecTV is net ADDING subscribers. Not losing them. But, then again, RS4 also ignores the fact that he's never even used the HR20. It seems almost like a religious war to him... and the HR20 is the infidel!

Back on topic... I agree that the TiVo keyword may be of value in this case. However, the childish approach will cause the sentiment to be ignored. In my opinion, the HR20 is significantly better than the HR10. That said, however, I am all for competition and I also sympathize with those who truly feel that the TiVo had the features that are important to them. I just don't see how a childish, emotional, insubstantial comment is going to get anywhere.

[emania]

Every response counts - the scenario is that someone is in charge of retention, and gets paid to keep people from leaving. the individual entry most likely looks like

Customer|What they Had|Tenure|Why they left|Retention Offer List

then make a nice report, and people moving to where they cann't have an antenna, or it costs too much will probably dominate the list.

I would venture that the tivo issue falls into a category called 'not happy with new equipment offering' - and there is a script that the retention people follow, which outlines the "superior" features of the HR20. It isn't until someone does the lower level processing of the comments, tossing out the move/cost issues, and then pivots out to the forums that the tivo issue would see light.

The emotional comment will be read, and ignored, but it contributed to elevating the tivo keyword. The ones that were thoughtfully written, with clear comparisons, will contribute to the final report.

Lets just look at HD:
With information from a few other members, ebonovic particularly, the HR10 crowd has lost 1/3 of their peak base. From reading these forums, it would appear that half have converted to HR10->HR20, half have left (some added a receiver too) - so 50,000 tivo users over the last year+ with 200,000 left, out of 16.5M us customers. Project out another year - and say the HR10's useful life ends (sic) you now see .15M/16.6M .9% over 2+ years. (.04% per month) Lost in the noise. Something like 1/10th of the population moves every year. Now that is a problem (yes, i know, it counts students and military)

My Result: Currenty, complaining about tivo interface will not do a thing in any short timeframe. It just isn't a big enough problem for them at the moment.

Other Factors not analyzed:
1. SD DTivos are a bit more prevalent, and the price of HD tv sets is coming into line with consumer pocketbooks, there 'might' be more push-back. But then again, these are not early adopters, and may be less critical of the new box. (vcr still blinking)

2. Is not having Tivo a barrier to obtaining new customers? well, if you live in a place with no cable, no (I don't feel like researching that.) If you dislike your cable company more than the new DVR, no.

3. do the Tivo customers have higher tenure? Higher value packages? We are onto something here.

4. Should there be a paradigm shift where Tivo sells the dtv box and tivo subscription separately from the dtv subscription (get the tivo mba types working on that!)? Is there money to be made. Is tivo interested?

Aside: Well, D* has to keep paying them even if every dtivo is retired, since they own the IP rights to controlling access to a ring buffer with a tv remote control. Tivo may be in too many other ventures now (comcast/amazon....) that they are providing competive products - damn S3HD looks nice with amazon delivering rentals..if only i could get food channel hd there.

no apologies here. these are not small companies. big $$ are committed and spent with a plan. d* plan hasn't had enough time for them to judge its results. New satellite and all, then first holiday season.

Should be interesting "to watch" ;)

[rmassey]

Let me ask you all this....

Just how much 'constructive/professional' information can be conveyed on 2 lines of a post card?

Wow, so far I've been called/accused of
-emotional letter
-Childish ranting
-wise a** punk

you are all just so endearing...... SO sorry I even brought up the topic. Just trying to show a little support for our preferred DVR UI and this it the thanks I get.

Enjoy your HR20/21 and have a nice day. ;)

[emania]

Attempted to explain that your note counts, since the first response(s) was that it would be quickly dismissed into the trash. It just will not be the one attached to the executive summary. I would venture that they do random follow-up phone surveys too....

It could be conveyed in two lines. "Its not Tivo" is a reason - called consumer preference. It does not require written rationalization. (CP doesn't require any rationalization:))

Crap below here.......Some Crap above here too!

ya think opening with the "punk" line set the wrong tone for digesting the balance of the post??? hoping that the bold conjunction would create an emotional pivot. Works better when speaking in front of a crowd, since a dramatic pause can be inserted, and a switch from the Kirk to the Spock voice..blahblahblah...

perhaps the napkin calculations with summary were a bit much? just disseminating some information for all to chew on since the retention/priority question surfaced.

[RS4]

Let me ask you all this....

Just how much 'constructive/professional' information can be conveyed on 2 lines of a post card?

Wow, so far I've been called/accused of
-emotional letter
-Childish ranting
-wise a** punk

you are all just so endearing...... SO sorry I even brought up the topic. Just trying to show a little support for our preferred DVR UI and this it the thanks I get.

Enjoy your HR20/21 and have a nice day. ;)

It's really quite a paradox - here we are in a Tivo forum with rmassey feeling the need to defend his remarks to DirecTV because they no longer offer the product (or follow-on) that many of us like, especially compared to what DirecTV has come out with.

You would think more folks would say 'thanks for letting DirecTV know how we feel'. Instead, we get the apologists out saying what a bad dude you were because you weren't polite.:confused:

Get with the program, folks - competition is good for all of us - whether its DirecTV's products or Tivo.

In the first place, the remarks were succinct and to the point - on message. There was nothing childish or offensive in them. In the second place, DirecTV gets the message. I applaud you for making them. In the third place, they need to hear more of it - the only way they get a pulse of what people think is when they get communications like these.

I for one am glad rmassey took the time and effort to let us know what happened. Good luck with your new service, rmassey.:o I'm sure more of us will be joining you if it appears there are not going to be additional choices after the new ownership takes over.

[sjberra]

It's clear the apologists are at work in this thread. You're just plain wrong if you don't think that D* recognizes people are leaving because they have no current Tivo offerings - and it takes nothing more then the OP's remarks to let them know they lost another customer because of a secon-rate product replacement!!

seems that the documentation points to the fact that TIVO is losing more subscriptions the DirectV is.

[badmonkey]

seems that the documentation points to the fact that TIVO is losing more subscriptions the DirectV is.

That can't be right!? RS4 has repeatedly pointed out that masses of TiVo users are leaving DirecTV and running to some other provider to keep their beloved TiVo!

I believe that the quarterly reports speak for themselves. TiVo is net LOSING subscribers while DirecTV is net ADDING subscribers. Apparently the switch from TiVo to their own platform hasn't hurt them so much.

[parzec]

And it's that sort of reply that promptly goes into the circular file. Now had you written a rational letter explain exactly what your complaints are about not having a Tivo branded DVR, you might have gotten someones attention. But then again, no one really yet has come up with any decent reasons other than 'It's not Tivo' (which in it's self is meaningless) as an explanation. <shrug>

Actually, the long-winded letters are the ones that usually get ignored and the short and concise ones are read. The OP wrote an easy to understand explaination for why he chose to leave DTV. Why is "Its not Tivo" not a valid reason when this is precisely the reason the OP cancelled? It doesn't matter if his reasons makes sense to you or not since your opinion is irrelevant to his decision to cancel.

[Scott D]

I agree... A more professional, quantitative, non-emotional letter would definitely have gotten more attention. The person reading that response isn't going to give it any attention. Nor should he/she... There is nothing to act on in a response like that.

Perhaps detailing some of the issues you have with the new platform for them. Or maybe providing some constructive feedback... That would have gotten a lot further than simple childish ranting.

Not meant to be crude, but even if you gave a detailed reason in a professional way, would it really matter? Maybe. But I wouldn't hold my breath on it though.:D