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Greetings from the inside

29K views 229 replies 99 participants last post by  turls 
#1 ·
Howdy,


I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Richard Bullwinkle, and while most of you will have no idea who I am, some of you will know exactly who I am. The most important thing for you to know is that I am here because Sonicblue has reversed a policy that prohibited employees from participating in online forums. Moving forward I will try to answer as many questions as I can.


I am also here because I have a wee bit of experience doing this. On that note, let me set some expectations:


1. Sonicblue has undergone great change as of late. The company priority moving forward is to build great products, and also build credibility in our dealings with customers, partners, shareholders, and creditors, maybe even competitors. I don’t mean to say that those weren’t important goals in the past at Sonicblue, but I wasn’t here then, and I only know that I wouldn’t have joined if it weren’t made clear that those would be the priorities.


2. I don’t lie. As far as I know, everything I tell you is accurate.


3. I speak for the company. If I say it is so, you may take it as gospel.


4. Some topics are off limits. I cannot talk about hacking the boxes, other than to warn against it. I will be advised by legal on certain topics that I should be careful what I say.


5. I’m also human. I don’t do the corporate drone very well, so I’ll let you in on my home life, my personal tastes, my experience with all sorts of stuff. I may offend you in the way I say things. I may say something in a way that I’ll need to correct later because it was not read the way I intended it. I won’t answer to personal attacks. I won’t respond to mob mentality. I won’t always say what you want to hear. Please don’t take differences you have with my personality against Sonicblue.


6. Finally, and least importantly, I’ve got history. I was TiVo’s Chief Evangelist for several years, and was an employee at TiVo very early. The fact is, I know the TiVo product better than I know Replay’s, so I won’t badmouth TiVo. Many friends still work there. I also won’t discuss the personal reasons why I left TiVo. I still have a great deal of love for the product and the people there.


So, thank you for having me. I look forward to many late nights on what I would call my side job. I have a real job here at Sonicblue… but that’s a different story. By the way, it is the holidays, and the month before CES, so my rampup may be slower than any of us would like.


Cheers,

-RB
 
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#178 ·
Richard,

I too have no commercial advance. I was told it had to do with my model and the software installed. 4080 with software version 520430300. This is my sixth replay unit I have had in just one year. All have been returned and replaced with another unit that has some other problem. If you can fix this you will have a "King Richard" status.


Thanks for your help.


Jon
 
#179 ·
I've been dealing with FedEx, UPS and Airborne Express for about 7 years (daily) and don't think very little of any of them. None is perfect, most are perfect 99.9% of the time. I've had problems with all three. None likes to pay insurance claims. UPS in my experience is by far the easiest on lost items, about average on damage. FedEx rarely loses things, but never wants to pay insurance when they do. AE is above average but very expensive... But my point is, I don't think UPS is any worse than FedEx. And I seriously doubt that they repackaged an item you shipped, unless your packaging fell apart and they had to.
 
#180 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by scochran666
3. The only way to get your insurance money out of them is with a gun. A big gun. Grenades are also useful. This also applies for shipping cost refunds due to them not delivering your packages on time, although if you ship hundreds of packages a day they are more likely to work with you.


I ship UPS only when I don't care when the package arrives, and it's not worth insuring.
Yep, forgot to mention my original package was insured for $500 (the package contained a $100 gift check from another person who'd also forgotten to bring it to wedding). UPS insurance fee is very cheap (compared to, say, USPS) and would seem to be a no brainer.


But in my damage claim dealing, I discovered that this apparently meant very little or nothing at all. Seriously, I always tried to mention it when talking to them in case that means anything, but the inspection guy didn't seem to care, in fact many hardly glanced at the yellow receipt copy that I kept...


Anyways, I'm still amazed at how confused the whole thing seemed, although I would imagine UPS handles hundreds (thousands) of such cases everyday given their size. As I said, first time they picked up the damaged package for inspection and later dropped it off at my door again, NOTHING was done. They admitted there was some sort of confusion and no inspection was done because they didn't know they were supposed to do that (the people at the local center) -- they didn't even open the package (which I had re-taped because the driver picking it up told me to). Even though they were the ones who sent the driver to pick it up in the first place. And in the confusion, instead of notifying me they just sent it back untouched.


Bottom line, I was lucky I could still return the Archos to the online vendor I'd bought it from (I made it just under the return deadline), otherwise I'd been out a whole lot more $$$. Admittedly though, I didn't raise as much hell as I should've -- I wanted to try all other avenues first before having to come back to UPS...


Also note that I have limited experience sending via UPS, mostly I receive :) It's not like I'm an eBay seller or anything.. I junk or give away my old stuff...
 
#181 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by toots
I've often had those sorts of problems with UPS.


Order something on day 1

On day 2, UPS leaves a note that says "This is our second attempt."

Late on day 2/early on Day 3, try to pick the package up, and they tell me they tried to deliver three times, and returned it to the sender. And those are the times when they bother leaving any note.


My bad experiences with UPS are legion.
Ditto for me! I use FedEx exclusively, whenever possible!
 
#182 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by tycedeano
Ditto for me! I use FedEx exclusively, whenever possible!
Well, it recently happened to me with FedEx. First delivery attempt notice was marked "Third Attempt".
 
#183 ·
UPS admitted to me that they did indeed re-package the cards because they decimated the original box. I've been sending packages out every day for the last 3 years (selling my collections on e-bay) and use mostly USPS. Much easier to collect claims. Receive UPS almost daily with minimum problems......only when I ship out. Can you imagine how many parcels they ship on a daily basis? Acid reflux..........
 
#185 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by RandyL712
Perhaps it's different when a company uses UPS, as I've seen no problems to speak of. Are you shipping UPS at a place like Mail Boxes Etc?
That's a whole other rant. I almost used MailBoxes Etc. once when I was in a hurry and didn't want to drive to the UPS depot, but they quoted me over $120 for 3 (largish) packages, 2 ground and one 2-day. The packages were already prepared, all they had to do was take my money and hand them to the UPS driver when he arrived.


I took them to the UPS depot and paid about $45 for all 3, 2 of them 2-day. One of the worst rackets I've run up against to date. If I ever want to feel like that, I'll visit a proctologist and pay a professional instead.
 
#186 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by scochran666
That's a whole other rant. I almost used MailBoxes Etc. once when I was in a hurry and didn't want to drive to the UPS depot, but they quoted me over $120 for 3 (largish) packages, 2 ground and one 2-day. The packages were already prepared, all they had to do was take my money and hand them to the UPS driver when he arrived.


I took them to the UPS depot and paid about $45 for all 3, 2 of them 2-day. One of the worst rackets I've run up against to date. If I ever want to feel like that, I'll visit a proctologist and pay a professional instead.
MailBoxes is now owned by UPS and has been renamed "The UPS Store." I *think* they lowered their rates. I'm not sure if they took it all the way down to UPS depot rates, but they might have.


But yes, MBE was quite a racket.


-Brian
 
#188 ·
Hmm, I never tried one of those 3rd-party shipping stores either. Why, well, there's a local UPS depot center (the humongous building w/ a gazillion brown trucks in parking lot) less than 5 minutes away from home...


Anyways, to close my own rant, I'd guess one's experience can differ based on how competent the *local* UPS people are?


And it's true, aside from attempted delivery run-arounds and pick-up delays, I haven't had lost packages when receiving, but now I'm somewhat wary when I have to send. I'd use the UPS center near work more often, but they're 20 mins away by car...
 
#194 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by Replayer
Still no Richard, eh? I guess we scared him off.:(
i believe he's caught up in one of those strange west coast customs.


i think they call 'em "Christmas Vacations", or something like that.


;)
jmoak types this post from work, where he's been every day since 12/23!!
 
#196 ·
Richard,


I own a Showstopper and recently purchased a RTV5040 for Christmas that I plan to return.


Comparing the 2 units, I was hoping for enough change to justify the $500 unit+subs fee. Here are my quick observations and maybe you can have some of these addressed in future releases:


1. The component video output was marginally better than my SVideo. Both cables are Monster Z300's into my Mitsubishi 1080i big screen.

2. The channel changing was too slow. I'm not talking about surfing (anyone that would do that is insane...imho), I mean just the time from hitting select in the channel guide until it displays.

3. Fan is too loud. Sounded like an old PC running in my family room.

4.
 
#197 ·
Ugh...I hit return by accident...


4. Used to be if I was watching live tv, I could select a recorded show, hit stop then the channel up and and return to live tv. Now, you display a menu that allows me to continue with the recorded show, delete it or go to the replay guide. The only way I could do what I initially described was to delete the show and that's not always something you want to do.

5. The new remote does NOT have a TV input button and you removed the SAT and DVD buttons. Would be nice to at least put the TV input back. And, what's up with the small play and stop buttons? They're hard to hit with my fred flinstone fingers. :)

6. Minor thing but having the light that shows the unit has recorded a program for you was a nice quick visual way to see w/o having to turn on your tv and replay unit.

7. I love the new options you get if you try to schedule 2 shows at the same time!


If I didn't already have a showstopper, I'd keep the 5040 in a second but, for now, think I'll watch for improvements and give you a try in the future.


Jeff
 
#198 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by vosian
7. I love the new options you get if you try to schedule 2 shows at the same time!
Just make sure you know exactly what happens (and doesn't happen) when you choose an option...



Basically, if both the old recording and new recording are recurring (e.g., Friends and Survivor), if you choose to have the new recording "win" the conflict, it will only temporarily "win". The Replay will remove the upcoming scheduled recordings for the old show for as far out as you have guide data. But as new data arrives, the old show will most likely wind up "winning" the conflict based on the old conflict rules .
 
#200 ·
I am stuck with two RCA DRD430RG sattelite boxes. I just moved to a new house last june and had the DirecTV installed, all new stuff.


So I get the Replay 5040 unit a couple days ago. Have been wanting either this ir a Tivo, and after much consideration decided the network features of ReplayTV are too much to pass up.


Anyway I cannot control the RCA boxes with the serial input. It just says "missing signal" if I try and change channels. If I use the RCA box remotes the picture comes through just fine so it isn't some cable issue.


Also I have not found any code that will get the IR blaster to work either.


Has anyone had success with these boxes and if so what code did you use?


Also if there ISN'T any code that works with the IR stuff and my RCA's, WHAT are my choices as far as using this ReplayTV?


Do I have to buy OLD sat receivers just so I can use my NEW 5040?


Please respond if you can help. I have called the ReplayTV customer support lines and ALWAYS get the "too much call volume" message.


BTW that is just plain horrible for professional customer service! Nothing pisses off a customer more than having a problem and not being able to get any help from customer service.


I guess if there is no solution the Replay goes back. It will be another of the many open box buys at Best Buy already.
 
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