Digitical Cable Shootout Problems

[Knave]

Who had digitical cable shootout problems on 10/4.

I had problems with my shootout on Adelphia. I'm expecting a call-back on Monday (we'll see) with more information but as far as they could tell yesterday InDemand never sent them a schedule for the weekend so they never programmed in any games.

I've see that Time-Warner cable (at least in some areas) had problems as well.

Did anyone else on digital cable have problems with the shootout this weekend?

(And please don't tell me to switch to satellite - a really tired comment anyway. I'd have to move to get a dish.)

[TheMutts]

yea none of the games worked for me either. I will see if i can call comcast today.

[footiegrrrl]

I could only see one game last night thru Time Warner digital (MLS shootout). We have channels 252-256 listed as shootout channels and for some reason channel 256 has NEVER came in. It only shows promos for PPV events. 2 of the games were listed as showing on 256 (which is marked as ESPN PPV 5) that were never shown. We've gone around with TW about this and NO ONE in the Ohio office is able to tell us why that one channel won't come in.
Howver, we are finally able to receive local channels thru Direct TV now, so before next spring, we are switching.

[Tmax]

I'm on Adelphia, and the Columbus/DC game was live and came ontime without a problem.... I think the rest were all tape-delayed which I'm starting to get annoyed with.
There are, what, 10 NBA & 10 NHL ppv channels that aren't in season? Can't they shift some games over there??

[FlashMan]

I got 3 games:

DC v. Clb - live
Chi v. LA - on same channel as DC game, tape delayed
NE v. Dal - was supposed to start at 8pm pdt (delayed) but didn't start until about 8:20 due to college football game doing into overtime on same channel.

still, got to see most or all of all 3 games.

scheduling is always strange once college football season starts.

[Knave]

Originally posted by Tmax
I'm on Adelphia, and the Columbus/DC game was live and came ontime without a problem.
Interesting. But from my previous conversations with Adelphia I take it Vermont is on an entirely different system than most of the rest of Adelphia's customers. I wonder if Adelphia customers got the games in other parts of the country.

[chayes]

Here's the schedule for October I got from Cox. I hope it helps...

Wed, 10/01/03 21:30 Chicago Colorado 601
Sat, 10/04/03 19:30 D.C. United Columbus 605
Sat, 10/04/03 22:00 Los Angeles Chicago 605
Sat, 10/04/03 23:00 New England Dallas 603
Fri, 10/10/03 21:00 Columbus Chicago 601
Sat, 10/11/03 19:30 Dallas MetroStars 605
Sat, 10/11/03 20:00 D.C. United New England 604
Sat, 10/11/03 20:00 Los Angeles Kansas City 603
Sat, 10/18/03 19:30 New England MetroStars 605
Sat, 10/18/03 20:00 Dallas Kansas City 604
Sat, 10/18/03 22:00 San Jose Los Angeles 605
Sat, 10/25/03 16:00 MetroStars New England 605
Sat, 10/25/03 19:30 Kansas City D.C. United 605
Sat, 10/25/03 22:00 Los Angeles San Jose 604

[JuanMa]

I just got digital cable 2 weeks ago. I called COMCAST (Montgomery County-MD) last night and they couldnt tell me what was showing when or where for the MLS Shootout. I also asked if the fee would be prorated given the season is almost over. I was told that is not the case. you pay the whole thing...

Did I just get a clueless rep or os this thing poorly managed? or both?

[Jasonma]

Originally posted by JuanMa
I just got digital cable 2 weeks ago. I called COMCAST (Montgomery County-MD) last night and they couldnt tell me what was showing when or where for the MLS Shootout. I also asked if the fee would be prorated given the season is almost over. I was told that is not the case. you pay the whole thing...

Did I just get a clueless rep or os this thing poorly managed? or both?

That's about par for the course for Comcast. I had nothing but problems from them until I got the direct line of a helpful customer rep in my area. I used her for 2 seasons before she moved on.

I just moved so I had to cancel my Shootout subscription with Comcast. I asked if I could get part of the fee back, as I cancelled before the end of the season, but they wouldn't do that. I'm now with COX and I asked them if I could sign up for a prorated amount for the rest of the season and they wouldn't do that, so I passed on playing $50 for a month and a half of games. I'll get it again next season.

[Tmax]

Adelphia customers be aware--
When I got my bill yesterday, I had to call them to remove $15 in 'ESPN Gameplan PPV' charges. The only thing I've been watching is the shootout of course. While I was on with them, they also saw another $12 in MLS Shootout PPV charges, even though I already have paid for the season. They gladly took my explanation that I only watched the MLS games and no others, and wiped all charges off my bill.

So, my point is.. watch your bill when you get it. Something seems a bit off kilter with their billing while all this funky scheduling is going on.

[Knave]

That's interesting Tmax. I just checked my bill online and it looks normal. What's the billing period with the errors?

Adelphia this weekend is 50/50. The supervisor I talked to had a terrible time tracking down the schedule but claims she was eventually able to see where it's programmed in. Hopefully it'll work.

But I do get the impression that Adelphia has been letting the Shootout slip through the cracks. The supervisor I've been dealing with lately is quite good though. Her name is Courtney and she's there in the afternoon and evening. She actually looks into things, understands the problems and (miracle of miracles) returns phone calls. She even tolerated my droning on about how incompetant Adelphia has been in regards to the shootout for the last several years. She acknowledged that there's clearly been a problem - something perhaps best described as utter neglect.

She said she was going to talk with the guy at Adelphia who's in charge on Indemand programming today to make sure there aren't any problems in the future. I requested that he call me too.

[Tmax]

Originally posted by Knave
That's interesting Tmax. I just checked my bill online and it looks normal. What's the billing period with the errors?

It would be for the bill for October but the charge was from Sept. The new ones that she told me about on her billing system are from October, but will show on the November bill. Confused? ;)

[caddisfly]

Here in Portland, OR we can't get a single Shootout game today. I was really pissed that last night I came home to watch the Chicago game on my TiVo and all it had was two hours of a black "Not Authorized" screen. The only good piece of news was the customer service rep said they were having the same problems with the baseball PPV package this year so perhaps they might actually take some steps to prevent this from happening for us soccer fans as well.

[odg78]

I don't know if this happened to others, but I was recording the DC v NE match and the screen started to pixel around the 70th minute and then it jumped straight to the end of the game. It still recorded for the amount of time it was supposed to, but it was just the blue screen you get at the end of Shootout games.

[Knave]

Originally posted by odg78
I don't know if this happened to others, but I was recording the DC v NE match and the screen started to pixel around the 70th minute and then it jumped straight to the end of the game. It still recorded for the amount of time it was supposed to, but it was just the blue screen you get at the end of Shootout games.
My broadcast was fine. So that was probably a local problem. I'd call your cable company if only to report it.

Well, I got all the games this weekend except for the late addition on Friday night. (Adelphia has never been able to deal with those.) The great thing was the supervisor I talked about above - Courtney - actually called me right after the first game was supposed to start to make sure that I was getting if OK.

I plan to stop by the local Adelphia office this week to find out how to write to her boss to let him or her know what a great help she's been. Everyone in Adelphia's call-center should be responsive and responsible as Courtney. She's really gone way beyond what I'd come to expect from them.

[Kraze]

I had some issues with Time Warner last year, but amazingly, no issues at all this year in Orlando other than individual station problems (audion problems, or the game starting later because of college football).

[Red Card]

Check your bills if you exchange your cable box. When I exchanged one digital cable box for a newer model, I had to have Shootout reset. And guess what, they charged me another $49. I straightened it out. So check your bills.

[Bambule GK]

I signed up for the Shootout on Saturday, came home from a dinner party to catch the 2nd half and Comcast couldn't tell me why my order wasn't taking... MoCo, MD.

I sat on the phone for 45 minutes while this dude checked and kept entering codes and resetting my converter.... nothing.

I told them to wipe the shootout off my bill. I was, and remain, pissed.

[Knave]

Congratulations on your first authentic digital cable shootout experience.

For future reference the first rule to coping with the digital cable shootout is never spend much time talking to the guy who answers the phone. If there’s no progress within a few minutes don’t hesitate to ask for a supervisor.

[FlashMan]

Yes, definitiely Bambule. EVERYONE goes through hassles with the Shootout. When you have problems you must get beyond the initial technician/salesperson and find someone who knows what's going on. There is usually someone who does, it's just a matter of finding them.

Although it's pretty late in the season to be buying the Shootout. Hopefully you get FSW so you can see most of the playoff action.