Phone & TV Stuff
You'll recall I cancelled Dish Network because of their price increase(s). Their customer service gal kinda talked me into not completely cancelling service but going with their Pause Dish program. That means they keep all your programming and all you have to do to start again is hook up their box. That's not likely to happen.
I specifically asked if this would cost anything. She assured me- at least as best I could understand it- that, no, it wouldn't. I'd get a bill each month but it would be a credit, or some such, for $5.00. About the only way that makes sense to me is if they don't want to refund my last month, so take $5.00 from the balance they owe me. Whatever. I figured that money was gone, anyway.
As it happened I got a bill from them this morning for $0.00. Can't argue with that.
I'd also cancelled ATT Long Distance last month. I wasn't sure if that would show up on my latest bill because, unlike Dish, they charge you after the service period is over. Nope, it didn't show on the bill I received for $57 plus change. Next month it should be about $10.00 less. That will be nice. Then I'll have to struggle with whether or not to cancel our regular phone, too.
Then there's Suddenlink, which I unexpectedly signed up for a day or so before Christmas. They hooked it up the day after xmas. Worked fine for 2 or 3 days, then the remote stopped working right. The guy who sold us the plan said to call him if there were any problems. I did. He said to go to their office and get another remote.
I did, except the new remote doesn't work right either- same problems as the original one. So I'm thinking it's the box itself which probably requires one of their guys to come out and replace it. I e-mail the salesman again, update him on the situation and ask who should call their service guy, him or I?
He doesn't reply. Oh well. I kinda figured that pitch about him being the guy go to for problems was just that: a sales pitch. So now we're stuck with a remote that doesn't work right and I guess I'll have to call them Monday and see if they'll send someone out.
I'll have to admit, though, aside from not being able to use their system's TV guide, everything else is just fine. I might be willing to cut them a deal: Keep the price discounted to the $31.00 teaser price we started out with and I'll stay with Suddenlink. Even if we're not getting perfect service it's good enough for me at that price.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:21 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I have the TiVo through Suddenlink and that remote is VERY VERY sensitive. If you do not have direct line of sight, it won't work. If something is slightly blocking it, it won't work. Even if your aim is close but not direct to the box, it won't work. I don't know if that is the problem, but it appears to be a fact of life with their remotes. Anyway that is TiVo which you probably didn't get but try that perfect aim technique and see if it works better. Their tech installers are pretty good and they should have fully tested out the remote before they left your location.
Good information. Thanks!
"Their tech installers are pretty good and they should have fully tested out the remote before they left your location".
Everything worked fine after he hooked it up, although the wife complained the on/off button on the remote didn't work for her the first night. I tried it and it worked fine for me the next day. Since then, it's been spotty. Last night I couldn't get the on/off to work at all. No biggie as I just used the remote for the television instead.
Hmmmm...I just got to thinking and went in to check the box. Power was on. Not sure if it's supposed to be that way, or not. I'm guessing remote didn't turn it off. I just turned it off manually and their remote won't turn it on. So it doesn't seem to work.
The other main problem is the Guide and Settings buttons don't work at all and stopped working after about day 3, even after getting the new remote. That means you can't use their programming guide that shows up on the TV screen. I can get the Guide manually by using the button on the box, but the remote still won't let you scroll up or down through it.
That's annoying, but we just use the TV Guide that comes with the paper. You can still select stations by pressing the numbers on the remote. Volume control also works, although as you pointed out you have to point it directly at a certain spot.
And all that no matter where you point the remote. I've walked right up to the box and pointed it, waved it all over the place. No matter what you do those buttons don't seem to work anymore.
batteries in remote
We replaced the batteries in the first one. Seemed not to help much. Brand new batteries in the new remote. Problems persist.
Suddenlink Update: Lo and behold, in the mail today was our first Suddenlink bill. The sales guy said it might be around $50.00 because it takes time for the teaser deal to kick in (doesn't make sense to me, but that's what he said). The first bill is for $65.60, five dollars above Dish after their latest increase.
If it's the same next month, we'll have to bail and find an alternative quicker than I'd thought.
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