[TelstraClear] T-Box issues continued

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233 posts

Master Geek

#540558 3-Nov-2011 07:35

Woke up to a padlock symbol today and the message "service unavailable". Have rebooted 3 or 4 times and still no change. I can get in to my planner to see recorded programmes but nothing is showing in the TV Guide. Any quick ideas how I can fix this while I wait until 8 am to ring them?

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TelstraClear

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#540583 3-Nov-2011 09:00

ChristineNZL: Woke up to a padlock symbol today and the message "service unavailable". Have rebooted 3 or 4 times and still no change. I can get in to my planner to see recorded programmes but nothing is showing in the TV Guide. Any quick ideas how I can fix this while I wait until 8 am to ring them?

Hi Christine, the broadcast team has prodded your T-Box and it should now be OK. Please let me know if it's not. Cheers, Gary

MikeB4

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#540589 3-Nov-2011 09:17

When is the post RWC update being released?

BarTender

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#540597 3-Nov-2011 09:38

KiwiNZ: When is the post RWC update being released?

You didn't think it was going to be this RWC... it the NEXT RWC that the fixes are going to be released. :)
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ChristineNZL

233 posts

Master Geek

#540699 3-Nov-2011 13:07

TelstraClear:
ChristineNZL: Woke up to a padlock symbol today and the message "service unavailable". Have rebooted 3 or 4 times and still no change. I can get in to my planner to see recorded programmes but nothing is showing in the TV Guide. Any quick ideas how I can fix this while I wait until 8 am to ring them?

Hi Christine, the broadcast team has prodded your T-Box and it should now be OK. Please let me know if it's not. Cheers, Gary

Thanks Gary. My husband said it came right before he could ring and now I know why.

ChristineNZL

233 posts

Master Geek

#540702 3-Nov-2011 13:14

ChristineNZL:
TelstraClear:
ChristineNZL: Woke up to a padlock symbol today and the message "service unavailable". Have rebooted 3 or 4 times and still no change. I can get in to my planner to see recorded programmes but nothing is showing in the TV Guide. Any quick ideas how I can fix this while I wait until 8 am to ring them?

Hi Christine, the broadcast team has prodded your T-Box and it should now be OK. Please let me know if it's not. Cheers, Gary

Thanks Gary. My husband said it came right before he could ring and now I know why.

Just checked it myself and the only thing that is wrong is all my series links have gone now but thankfully nothing was missed and can reprogramme them all.

vdrum

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#541103 4-Nov-2011 12:00

Called TelstraClear today to advise we're moving and to enquire about what’s involved. The person on the TC desk said they would charge us $50 to move our services to the new property - I find this a tad ridiculous given the new property has the cabling in place and all TC has to do is clck a few buttons/flick a few switches etc. Told the person about our tbox and account billing woes implying we don't want to pay a cent more and that we’ve already written a letter to management… he said he would put us through to the retentions team. The retentions team was “unavailable”, perhaps talking to other customers about their tbox issues or even incorrect accounts where they’ve received statements for nearly a grand (we’re at least in that situation!), so had I not reminded the person of our frustrations we would have had to wait 1-2 business days for a call back…. He’s apparently escalated the request for a call back to the team leader or someone but I don’t know if there’s going to be any follow-through.

Really fed up with the sub-standard customer service/lack of follow-through, the time it has taken – 3 months – to speak with a number of different people about our incorrect bills with the aim of getting the final figure adjusted, not to mention a tbox that doesn’t work the way we expect it to and the feeling we’re just testers for TC’s product which they’re not publicly acknowledging there’s major problems with, let alone no sign of a real action plan… Compensation, although it sounds nice, would probably be too much to expect from them too I guess.

Will TC ever resolve our incorrect billing issue? Maybe they will now, given we’ve written to management. Will TC ever resolve the technical- and customer-related issues with the tbox that everyone complains about? Maybe they will once they hear from FairGo.

TelstraClear

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#542068 7-Nov-2011 15:26

vdrum: Called TelstraClear today to advise we're moving and to enquire about what’s involved.

vdrum, please email me with your account number and contcat details if you need further help.

Cheers, Gary

TelstraClear

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TelstraClear

#542110 7-Nov-2011 17:12

Hi everyone. Here is an update on the next release of T-Box software.

The planned update is progressing. The European software developers have found further ways of reducing the load on memory and they are incorporating these into the new build. This will ensure that the performance (speed of response) of the T-Box will improve, as well as address some of the other issues that have been raised.

As has been noted by many posters here, and as is common with any technology that’s used to its limits, customers who are intensive users tend to notice more issues. We have asked the European software developers to ensure that they take this into account in the new build. The software update should bring improvements for all customers although we expect, as with any technology, that heavy users will still report more issues than others (although fewer overall than before). We hope that you will continue to provide feedback so that we can log these for future updates.

We can’t give a definite date for the release of this build. The update does remain a priority for both us and the developers and many hours both here and in Europe are being put into getting it right.

However, we prefer to take extra time and make sure that this update does everything that it should and does it well. We are taking great care to ensure this and it is taking time. We can tell you that work is on track.

The release won’t be ready in Europe for some weeks yet. We will also thoroughly test it here before it is released.

If all real-world tests are successful it will be uploaded to T-Boxes. If not, if will be re-worked. In a perfect world the update could be ready in a few months. Because it’s not a perfect world and because we want to make sure that this update does everything that it should and does it well, it could take longer. We appreciate that this probably isn’t what you want to hear, and apologise that we can’t be more specific. However it is all we can say for now.

As soon as we have more to tell we’ll update you.

Gary

DonGould

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#542200 7-Nov-2011 19:41

TelstraClear:
The release won’t be ready in Europe for some weeks yet. We will also thoroughly test it here before it is released.

If all real-world tests are successful it will be uploaded to T-Boxes. If not, if will be re-worked. In a perfect world the update could be ready in a few months. Because it’s not a perfect world and because we want to make sure that this update does everything that it should and does it well, it could take longer. We appreciate that this probably isn’t what you want to hear, and apologise that we can’t be more specific. However it is all we can say for now.

Gary

Hey Gary,

What an awful post to have to write... :(

Perhaps I've got the wrong end of the stick, but I read this as saying that the TBox is just under powered for the feature set and was over sold (to TCL.nz as much as the consumers).

I find it sad and distressing at the same time. Last week, as some know, I was on site hooking up a new Telstra service, but after the months of following the threads on this product, I wasn't going to suggest they bundle the TV service and helped them just transfer their existing Sky service.

Is Telstra going to look at sorting out another hardware solution to just give the software the power it clearly needs? The impression your post gives is that if it was coupled with more hardware the software would work better, it is just under powered for anyone with any degree of familiarity with the product and flicks though the controls to quickly.

I'm sure by now that this product must be hurting margins but also hurting the Telstra brand. Effectively while Telstra has a network that will go head to head with Sky, it doesn't have CPE.

Will the company eventually just step away from this product such as Telecom and TVNZ did with TiVo?

Will the company offer customers some sort of alternative to step off this train wreck while at the same time keeping a 'single bill' package with Telstra?

Chatting about TV with a friend over the weekend, who has just returned her Telstra TV decoder, she says her 'treat' for next winter will be MySky.

Your post today doesn't make it look like there will be a Telstra product in the market that can compare by next winter. Can you comment?

D

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MikeB4

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#542207 7-Nov-2011 19:59

DonGould:
TelstraClear:
The release won’t be ready in Europe for some weeks yet. We will also thoroughly test it here before it is released.

If all real-world tests are successful it will be uploaded to T-Boxes. If not, if will be re-worked. In a perfect world the update could be ready in a few months. Because it’s not a perfect world and because we want to make sure that this update does everything that it should and does it well, it could take longer. We appreciate that this probably isn’t what you want to hear, and apologise that we can’t be more specific. However it is all we can say for now.

Gary

Hey Gary,

What an awful post to have to write... :(

Perhaps I've got the wrong end of the stick, but I read this as saying that the TBox is just under powered for the feature set and was over sold (to TCL.nz as much as the consumers).

I find it sad and distressing at the same time. Last week, as some know, I was on site hooking up a new Telstra service, but after the months of following the threads on this product, I wasn't going to suggest they bundle the TV service and helped them just transfer their existing Sky service.

Is Telstra going to look at sorting out another hardware solution to just give the software the power it clearly needs? The impression your post gives is that if it was coupled with more hardware the software would work better, it is just under powered for anyone with any degree of familiarity with the product and flicks though the controls to quickly.

I'm sure by now that this product must be hurting margins but also hurting the Telstra brand. Effectively while Telstra has a network that will go head to head with Sky, it doesn't have CPE.

With the company eventually just step away from this product such as Telecom and TVNZ did with TiVo?

Will the company offer customers some sort of alternative to step off this train wreck while at the same time keeping a 'single bill' package with Telstra?

Chatting about TV with a friend over the weekend, who has just returned her Telstra TV decoder, she says her 'treat' for next winter will be MySky.

Your post today doesn't make it look like there will be a Telstra product in the market that can compare by next winter. Can you comment?

D

I agree wit this post. Whilst I have not had the same level of faults as others have to date it does seem to me somewhat unacceptable that we now have a time frame of what seems months possible 6 -12 until a fix is released.

r2b2

571 posts

Ultimate Geek

#542214 7-Nov-2011 20:12

I'm a little confused - wasn't the performance upgrade supposed to be basically ready just before the World Cup? I'm all for enhancing the performance further but perhaps an incremental change is better than none at all?

DonGould

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#542232 7-Nov-2011 20:57

r2b2: I'm a little confused - wasn't the performance upgrade supposed to be basically ready just before the World Cup? I'm all for enhancing the performance further but perhaps an incremental change is better than none at all?

Yes.... I can see how there would be some confusion as well.

I asked about the 'contract release' policy because I'm wondering if you guys are sticking by this product because you're on contract to it?

There's a whole bunch of really obvious fair trading issues.

As a seller for goods and services as well as a consumer... I am quite confused about trade practice in terms of this sort of problem.

Should the product still even be in the market?

Sure, as Gary points out, for new users, who won't be power users until they get up to speed, it might be an ok product. But is that ok to sell the product when you know it's under powered and you know that once the users get up to speed the wheels will fall off for them?

Is this type of thing also holding up the market for competitors? For example, other providers may have a product idea they might bring to market but know that they can't compete in the current market while Telstra has this product out there, at the current price point, that 'sort of works...'?

Sorry guys, I don't know what the price point is on this product at all. Nor do I know what the price point on TiVo was either. But is that the problem? Are these guys trying to bring an under spec'ed product to the market at a price point that is simply to low and then holding players out that do actually have a quality product? I don't know... I am interested in others view on that one.

r2b2 when I first read the post I was left wondering if this is just 'string them along vaporware' because like you I was sure I read that there would be an improvement update just following the RWC.

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MikeB4

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#542256 7-Nov-2011 21:54

DonGould:
r2b2: I'm a little confused - wasn't the performance upgrade supposed to be basically ready just before the World Cup? I'm all for enhancing the performance further but perhaps an incremental change is better than none at all?

Yes.... I can see how there would be some confusion as well.

I asked about the 'contract release' policy because I'm wondering if you guys are sticking by this product because you're on contract to it?

There's a whole bunch of really obvious fair trading issues.

As a seller for goods and services as well as a consumer... I am quite confused about trade practice in terms of this sort of problem.

Should the product still even be in the market?

Sure, as Gary points out, for new users, who won't be power users until they get up to speed, it might be an ok product. But is that ok to sell the product when you know it's under powered and you know that once the users get up to speed the wheels will fall off for them?

Is this type of thing also holding up the market for competitors? For example, other providers may have a product idea they might bring to market but know that they can't compete in the current market while Telstra has this product out there, at the current price point, that 'sort of works...'?

Sorry guys, I don't know what the price point is on this product at all. Nor do I know what the price point on TiVo was either. But is that the problem? Are these guys trying to bring an under spec'ed product to the market at a price point that is simply to low and then holding players out that do actually have a quality product? I don't know... I am interested in others view on that one.

r2b2 when I first read the post I was left wondering if this is just 'string them along vaporware' because like you I was sure I read that there would be an improvement update just following the RWC.

I was one that was lucky to attend a meeting at Telstra Clear. We were told at that meeting the update release would be made soon after the Rugby World Cup. Telstra did not wish to risk disruption of the Cup coverage.

The latest briefing, here =, by TCL is contrary to what the advice was we received in that meeting.

RobertT

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Master Geek

#542265 7-Nov-2011 22:05

DonGould:
r2b2: I'm a little confused - wasn't the performance upgrade supposed to be basically ready just before the World Cup? I'm all for enhancing the performance further but perhaps an incremental change is better than none at all?

Yes.... I can see how there would be some confusion as well.

I asked about the 'contract release' policy because I'm wondering if you guys are sticking by this product because you're on contract to it?

There's a whole bunch of really obvious fair trading issues.

As a seller for goods and services as well as a consumer... I am quite confused about trade practice in terms of this sort of problem.

Should the product still even be in the market?

Sure, as Gary points out, for new users, who won't be power users until they get up to speed, it might be an ok product. But is that ok to sell the product when you know it's under powered and you know that once the users get up to speed the wheels will fall off for them?

Is this type of thing also holding up the market for competitors? For example, other providers may have a product idea they might bring to market but know that they can't compete in the current market while Telstra has this product out there, at the current price point, that 'sort of works...'?

Sorry guys, I don't know what the price point is on this product at all. Nor do I know what the price point on TiVo was either. But is that the problem? Are these guys trying to bring an under spec'ed product to the market at a price point that is simply to low and then holding players out that do actually have a quality product? I don't know... I am interested in others view on that one.

r2b2 when I first read the post I was left wondering if this is just 'string them along vaporware' because like you I was sure I read that there would be an improvement update just following the RWC.

Well I'm kind of pissed to put it mildly. I along with 4 or 5 others was taken for a tour of the Telstra facility and we discussed the issues with Gary and his folk. I really thought they were pulling out all of the stops to get the Tbox working as it should. We were shown an updated version of the firmware that was running at the sort of speed it should have. We were also told that they were doing what they could to get it out before the RWC. Instead they released the additional features firmware and not the performance update. So I was hoping that the performance update would be released just after the RWC. Instead we are realistically looking at another 3-6 months.

And to top it off, my T-box had died tonight and failed to record Mad Dogs.

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