[TelstraClear] T-Box Issues

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233 posts

Master Geek

#407228 21-Nov-2010 07:28

Getting closer and closer to formal complaint stage too, really annoyed, tryun to watch abs this morning, almost missed first 20min, wrong ssmhow on, luckly i was recording it.
Really think this machine is a bit of a lemmon,

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Russcolli

59 posts

Master Geek

#407272 21-Nov-2010 12:20

Those certainly sound like bigger problem than the two I am seeing. I''d encourage anyone having issues to make them well known to the TC support folk via the TC website or 0800 numbers. Certainly I have emailed all of my issues to them as well as mentioning them here to see if they are widespread or not. I would say that when it's operating okay i do like the product. Good IA for the EPG stuff (minor quibbles aside), and the delivers a good picture when it's not freezing or stuttering.

Fingerscrossed that this software update in the next fortnight resolves the major ones.

Cheers

zenourn

269 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#407881 22-Nov-2010 21:19

I'm still having the constant picture and sound freezing issues... wife is getting extremely frustrated with it (especially as freezes often happen at critical points!) and children go "Daddy, picture not moving, fix please?"

I don't know why I'm paying more each month for something which is effectively still in beta and makes wife angry at me! Given up with Tech Support, just say "Known issue and unknown date for fix".

Also on previous invoice was charged for the install which was supposed to be free. Called up and got told a credit had been applied. However, got next invoice today and no credit anywhere (full amount of previous invoice has also been deducted from credit card).

TelstraClear need to make improvements in several areas!

r2b2

571 posts

Ultimate Geek

#407889 22-Nov-2010 21:37

The freezing is a little annoying but maybe I'm not getting it as bad as others as its not THAT annoying.

I've got two issues which are a bit bigger.

The first is the occasional crash which seems to happen whilst playing back a recorded program and recording. The screen will suddenly go black and I seem to have to power-cycle the box to get it back up and running again

The second, and MOST annoying, is the inability for broadcasters (mostly the likes of TV1/2/3 & Prime) to actually run to time. Is it really that hard in this computer-driven world to keep to time? Prime seems to be the worst (which is funny given its run by Sky) and I've missed the ending of programs 3 times...

riffraff

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#407902 22-Nov-2010 22:18

Well - got new T-box delivered today to fix "faulty" t-box.

took at least 1:10mins on hold this am on phone and then no call back this afternoon. Tech just showed up, so lucky we were home.

New t-box more faulty than last, has frozen at least 10 times since install at 5pm. Also getting black-screen that others talk of. need to power off both modem and unit, wait, power-on and then wait for an interminably long time for it all to start up again. Also regularly getting a message telling us that our connection has been lost.

what is daft is we have another t-box in bedroom which seems to have no problems at all. Techie told us today they are spending more time installing replacement t-boxes to people than first installs.

seems crazy that a company would want to put out such a faulty product.

it is stupid to be paying more for something that doesn't work. I will be emailing again, as i have had no response to my original complaint.

Also, where do people live who are talking of "free installation". we have been quoted $99 in chch. Also, not very happy to pay this until all the issues are sorted.

r2b2

571 posts

Ultimate Geek

#407906 22-Nov-2010 22:21

riffraff: Also, where do people live who are talking of "free installation". we have been quoted $99 in chch. Also, not very happy to pay this until all the issues are sorted.

Free install was offered to those who took up the offer early on. Not sure of the cut-off date but think it was possibly end of September?

Oh and I'm in Kapiti...

Hifarion

40 posts

Geek

#408046 23-Nov-2010 10:24

We're getting our unit replaced this afternoon, after 4 days with no TV - has driven the family mad.

If this unit doesn't function 100% then I'll be dropping it off to the Telstra depot and cancelling my TV subscription and shifting to sky.
Damn, to think I waiting for a year of "It will be 3 weeks away" to finally treated like this.... This is the Telecom XT network all over again!

chiefie

I iz your trusted friend
5877 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#408062 23-Nov-2010 10:43

Free installation was for the October month.

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Hifarion

40 posts

Geek

#408069 23-Nov-2010 10:54

October for free delivery! Typical.... We got an email from Telstra on Oct 1st saying our installation had been booked for Nov 8th, and we didn't need to do anything, they would contact us. By the time the 8th came around we had to ring them and they had no record of our install.
I won't be paying for installation.

darreljnz

20 posts

Geek

#408391 23-Nov-2010 17:06

Same here with the freezes.

So far:

Black screen where blue light is on but unresponsive to channel changes, power button on remote or any buttons on the box.

During freeze if you unplug power, wait 10 seconds and plug back in it still takes 10-15 minutes for picture to come back.

Had one box replaced in case it was an issue with the box but issue is still continuing with new box.

Call to helpdesk to reset the box has worked twice but it takes 10-15 minutes for picture to come back.

Could be related to HDMI recognition. Some freezes have been fixed by pulling HDMI able and replugging.

Sometimes the box incorrectly reports it's on/off status. The box will be on (blue light) with picture showing. Press the power button and the picture goes but the blue light is still on. Push power again and picture comes on with blue light still on. Push power again and picture goes off and (finally) power button turns red.

Another issue last night where lots of vertical lines appeared. Power on off didn't help. Unplugging HDMI and plugging it back in with a restart fixed it (which is why I think it is an HDMI problem)

I'm using the HDMI and power supply that came with the box.

Some other gripes/missing features:

We explicitly asked two separate salesmen whether our TV shows would be saved if our box was faulty and had to be replaced. The answer was yes provided it wasn't a hard disk failure. When we got our box replaced for this issue and are told our shows won't be transferred and (word for word) "that must have been salesman lies".

When you play a partially viewed show it defaults to "play from start" rather than "play from last point" - so annoying, "play from last point" should be the default.

When you set the recording buffer you have to re-book all of your recordings as they won't pick up the new setting (very annoying when you book 10-20 series and have to do it all over again)

Recordings don't list a recorded date in the planner so you can't tell if a recording is from last night or last week

Recordings are listed in chronological order. It should be reverse chronological as most recent recordings tend to be the most relevant.

EPG is quite unresponsive with noticeable delays both between channels, times and days.

There is fast forward/rewind but there are no "skip x minutes forward/back" buttons. The chapter forward/back buttons could easily be used for this. It should skip a configurable number of minutes and seconds so you can tune it to your average ad break.

The retrieval of series link data is slow when booking a recording.

I have a Sony Bravia EX4-400 TV if that helps.

Some things I really like:

The interface to record is good

I like the favourite channels feature

I like the "nows good" features - booking and watching a pay per view movie is easy.

I'm not quite at the stage where I'll return the box but I'm advising my friends not to get the service until the issues are sorted. I'm also going to seek a refund for Novembers fees as this issue has been ongoing.

riffraff

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#408568 23-Nov-2010 21:44

The saga continues - but some good news.

The tech who delivered 2nd t-box gave us a direct number for Downer EDI (contract company). We could ring this within 7 days.

Called last night and today the same tech (poor guy - so not his fault) was back again. 3rd T-box installed, had it running since 3pm and only one very minor freeze (lasted about 2 secs). So, fingers crossed. It is generally a great thing - but only so long as it works properly.

I'm a bit grumpy about the installation thing however, we have had our name down in chch since march. Got booked for the 16th november installation and now have to pay.

We have stayed loyal and waited patiently and now in chch they are also paying free installation and contract fees if people switch from sky.

Might have to have a word with them.

Good luck to others with issues - we found don't wait, just call again and say it is faulty. The tech reckoned that at least 50% of the t-boxes he had installed were faulty. so just gotta hope for a good one and keep trying if wifes/husbands/kids can cope.

The dog doesn't nag much at my house.

KaroriPete

96 posts

Master Geek

#409200 24-Nov-2010 22:00

Hi all, here's one I haven't seen reported:

While watching live TV the T-Box glitched briefly and then started playing from the beginning of the buffer (took me a few seconds to figure out what had happened). I think this may have coincided with a recording starting on another channel.

When I went to watch the recording I found it was corrupted - lots of long pauses and skips. Trying to fast forward past the pauses would cause the box to crash completely and require the power to be cycled. It would however eventually get through them if played at standard speed.

I also strongly support whoever suggested sorting recorded shows with the newest at the top. If you have recordings that you want to keep for a long time it's a real pain to have to keep scrolling past them to get to something you want to watch from last night.

Cheers,
Pete.

sub

358 posts

Ultimate Geek

#409263 25-Nov-2010 06:03

KaroriPete:
I also strongly support whoever suggested sorting recorded shows with the newest at the top. If you have recordings that you want to keep for a long time it's a real pain to have to keep scrolling past them to get to something you want to watch from last night.

Yep - I'd have to agree with that. We've got the box connected to a TV the kids use, and its full of recordings of iCarly, Hannah Montana etc, and they always wants to watch the latest recording. Its an exercise in frustration paging down (at a couple of seconds per button press) to get to the bottom of the list where the new recordings are.

Also, unfortunately the 'Recorded' category at the top also includes the recordings with the 'Viewed' status, so that doesnt really help this problem. If it has only included recordings with the 'Recorded' status, then it could have been used to get a list of the new recordings.

It'd be useful if the either the sort order could be changed to default to newest first, or some new category introduced to only include the 'recorded' recordings (not 'viewed').

Prytax

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#410266 27-Nov-2010 19:44

Anyone having problems with the EPG not properly updating?

On mine TV2 has "program information unavailable" for many days of this week or "Confidential". All other channel listings are ok.

Dawg

233 posts

Master Geek

#410332 28-Nov-2010 09:05

Well at least my T Box has manners -Today it waited till the end of the rugby then dutifully locked up.

Rebooted it and the modem now nothing but a black screen.

Time for a phone call - and a credit me thinks - Think I've been patient enough.

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