TiVo : Beware VM help

[Fred Fish]

Hi all

I recently upgraded to a tivo system and as part of the deal it was agree that I could relocate my V+ box upstairs. This was really important to me as I had many hours of recordings that I wanted to keep.

So - really happy with the tivo system (getting used to its quirks and all that!) but the V+ box that was relocated to upstairs worked fine for general use but the + facilities (pausing and accessing my old recordings) didnt work. So I contacted VM help. The first lady I spoke to wasnt sure what was happening but said she would send some signals down my line to resolve my issues. She did this - trouble is not only did it not resolve my problem the moment she sent the signal down the line my tivo service stoppes saying that I had an invalid card. At this pint the lady I was talking to was obviously out of her depth so said she would have to refer me to someone in the technical department.

And what was the solution suggested by the technical dept.? That I would have to reformat the v+ box. I pointed out that the only thing that had happened was that the box had been moved from downstairs to upstairs, but no I was told it must be to do with the box anf the only thing to do was to reformat. I said I wasnt prepared to do that as there we 80+ hours of recordings I didnt want to lose. And any way the fact was that the tivo had also stopped working!!

At this point I was passed on to the tivo suppor team and the lady I spoke to there at least could see why I didnt want to just format my HD. So she had a look and it transpires that when the first person tried to resolve my V+ problems she got the cards wrong and as a result my tivo card thought it was connected to a V+ and visa-versa. This person reset all of that and as a result my tivo now works as does my V+.

So yes happy outcome.

My point is that if I had followed the first persons advice and reformatted the HD I would have lost all my recordings and the system still wouldnt be working!!
Why cant VM get people who know what they are talking about to man their help lines.....

The last person I spoke to was execellent - but if I had followed the advice of the firat 2 people I would have lost many, many hours of recordings.

[Russ]

This is the difference between an agent blindly following a script and an agent who knows what they're doing.

[andy_m]

It's also the difference between a customer prepared to accept second best and one who isn't. What's really wrong is that there are less forceful people than you who will end up with less good service. Squeakiest wheel, etc...

[Russ]

Originally Posted by andy_m

What's really wrong is that there are less forceful people than you who will end up with less good service.

Good point. We all know there are some great VM employees that are a credit to the company but unfortunately we only tend to remember the useless ones. Some are so adept at wearing customers down that they get away with it because the caller can't/won't take things further.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Russ

This is the difference between an agent blindly following a script and an agent who knows what they're doing.

Spot on

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Russ

This is the difference between an agent blindly following a script and an agent who knows what they're doing.

No, it's an agent not following the script. I've checked the relevant script and it is spot on. Nowhere does it say to reformat, nor does it say to disconnect the wrong box.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

No, it's an agent not following the script. I've checked the relevant script and it is spot on. Nowhere does it say to reformat, nor does it say to disconnect the wrong box.

Either way, it's what happens when someone with a little bit knowledge but no understanding of it is let loose on unsuspecting customers.