Since December 2007, we’ve been in a contest with Comcast, our cable provider, to get cable cards installed and running. The following is a table of the most significant events in the quest for cable cards:
| 12/18/07 | We splurged and bought ourselves a TiVo HD for a Christmas present. Besides being able to record in HD, it could record two different channels at the same time . Or we could watch a channel while recording another. All that was required is that our cable provider install one multi-stream cable card or two single-stream cards in the TiVo. |
| 12/29/07 | Comcast installer came to install two cable cards. Only installed only one single-channel card. He said there was only one on the service order, and, besides, he only had one. So I immediately called Comcast to schedule the second card installation. It was set for January 5. |
| 1/5/08 | Waited 4 hours1 for installer to show. When he was a no-show, I called Comcast to find out what was up. Comcast said appointment is on the 7th. |
| 1/7/08 | After we waited for another 4 hours2 , the installer called saying he didn’t have a card, so he would not be by.3 I immediately called Comcast to schedule another appointment. Appointment set for January 17, 1 pm to 4 pm. |
| 1/17/08 | Again, an hour after the appointment window had passed, installer called and said he didn’t have a cable card.4 |
| 1/18/08 | I again called Comcast to schedule another appointment. They called the local Comcast company and discovered they were out of cable cards. I sang the saga of the cable card and the guy told me he would check every morning except Sunday and Monday and would call me to schedule an appointment as soon as they got cable cards in stock. |
| 2/11/08 | I called Comcast to get an update on the cards and to inquire which HD channels we should be receiving. No cards in stock yet, but agent said we’re not receiving all the channels we are supposed to. He tried to fix the billing codes so we could receive all the channels, but the card that was actually installed in the TiVo was not the one they had on file. He scheduled a tech to come out the next day.5 |
| 2/12/08 | Tech shows up and gets HD channel and cable card mix-up fixed. (He had to request a special person at the office to fix the codes because the usual “operators”6 couldn’t solve the problem.) |
| 3/8/08 | Went to Comcast web site and emailed that I had been waiting since December for a second cable card. I asked what the holdup was and when I could expect a card. |
| 3/9/08 | Received a response to email from Stephanie, Comcast Customer Care Specialist. She said, “I have forwarded your message to your local Comcast office for assistance in resolving this matter. Please be assured we will follow-up with this Department to ensure your concerns have been addressed and resolved to your satisfaction.” |
| 3/28/08 | Having not received a response from Comcast7 and being frustrated with waiting for Comcast to tell me when the cable cards would be available, I made several calls to Comcast. Turns out that everyone who answers the toll-free or local Comcast number are not local. Most are in Ft. Myers. After two calls where the service rep couldn’t tell me if Leesburg (my local office) had any cards, I called a third time. This rep called Leesburg and discovered that they now had cards. We scheduled an installation for the second card. Notice that the installer was schedule for April 4 (5 days hence.) |
| 4/4/08 | Installer showed up on time. Installed the second card and got it working except for now there were some HD channels missing.8 (The person entering the info on the second card screwed up the rate codes again.) In trying to fix the problem, the installer discovered that the card he had installed was a multi-stream card. So he took both cards (the original single stream card and the new multi-stream card) out and installed the multi-stream card in the number one slot. Now we only had one tuner working and were still missing some HD channels. After several hours of frustration, he gave up, recommending I call for tech assistance. Which I did after he left, scheduling an appointment for a service tech visit |
| 4/6/08 | Service tech shows up early—called first. He gets the service person in the office to enter the correct rate codes, so now we get all our HD channels, but the second tuner is still not working. He tried several things including swapping out the multi-stream card to see if that was the problem. None of that worked. His supervisor agreed to call me the next day. |
| 4/7/05 | Supervisor (Jim) showed up on time. Changed multi-card. Still no second tuner. He called the warehouse manager and warehouse manager told him that the multi-cards only work for one tuner, not two. Jim promised to be back tomorrow with another card. |
| 4/8/08 | Jim showed up early. Tried several things. Actually got both cards to work, but we were not receiving all the stations we were supposed to. He left to await a more talented office person, who was on his lunch break, to help. He said he would be back after lunch. Unfortunately, he took the second card with him. He called back later to report that the case has been elevated to Level 2 and he would call back when he learned more. |
| 4/11/08 | I called Jim. Told him we still weren’t receiving all the channels and that one of them was ESPN on which is the Masters. He came out and worked with the central office to get us the channels. He also said he’s going to try to get two single cards from the Orlando warehouse to try to get us both tuners working. At least we were able watch The Masters in HD. |
| 4/22/08 | Have heard nothing from Comcast in the last 11 days. I’ll add more if anything else happens. |
| 5/2/08 | Got my Comcast bill today. There were about $27 added charges for my second cable card which has never been installed correctly. I called Comcast and talked to Erika. She was very nice and took the charges off my bill. After a discussion with her9, it is apparent that I’m not going too get our system working the way it is supposed to. So I’m giving up the fight with the following recommendation: Thinking about buying TiVo HD10 and you have Comcast Cable? Don’t. You’ll only frustrate yourself. I can’t speak to other cable services, but I suspect they have the same problems because the cable card technology is the problem. The best way to get a DVR and HD service is with a satellite company. You can get lots of HD channels, a DVR that will actually have two channels, and spend way less money. |
| 5/9/08 | It’s magic. After much frustration including no progress with Comcast and no replies to emails to TiVo, I decided to look on the TiVo forums to see if anyone else was having issues with cablecards. Lo and behold, I’m not the only who was having trouble. One user suggested to repeat the guided setup.11 In the cablecard installation instructions, TiVo recommends a guided setup before the cable guy gets there. So I repeated the guided setup and, what do you know, both tuners are now working. This closes the Comcast Saga. |
| 5/13/08 | Apparently, we’re not done with the Comcast Saga. Today my credit card was charged for the too-high-bill. I guess Erika didn’t take the extra charges off my bill after all. |
| 5/27/08 | I decided to wait until I got my Comcast bill before I raised another ruckus. Today it came and the extra charges were subtracted from this month’s bill. I guess all is well. |
- The installation window for the appointment was from 1 pm to 4 pm[↩]
- Same appointment window.[↩]
- I politely thanked him for not calling be at the beginning of the appointment window.[↩]
- As this was a different installer, I thanked him, also[↩]
- Amazing how Comcast can send a tech out the next day, but it takes several to get an installer out.[↩]
- I later found out the most of the “operators” in the office doing the computer work for the installations are temps.[↩]
- Obviously no follow-up was done and my concerns were not addressed to my satisfaction.[↩]
- Does this sound familiar?[↩]
- The first person at Comcast who had any idea what the story with cable cards is and why there were delays and why they don’t work properly[↩]
- which doesn’t work with satellite service.[↩]
- A long drawn out process that sets up your TiVo when you initially install it or change service providers.[↩]
