[jklipa]

Greetings,

DirecTv screwed the pooch in February when they launched their new guide with HD channels... They totally fubar'd the functionality of the pause, dash and previous channel buttons while in List or Guide...

It's taken me nearly 5 months and as many calls to finally get a supervisor to admit that you can no longer PAUSE live tv from the list or guide...

While in the list, if you hit pause, it does not pause your live session...!
In fact, it actually STARTS PLAYING the entry that your cursor is sitting on when you hit pause...

And, when finishing watching something from the list, you return to the list and live tv resumes (presuming you had paused it before) so the only way you can pause it again is to exist the list and hit pause again...

I was told several different stories in the months since February.
1.) You should write to The Office of the President, you'll have better luck getting this fixed.
2.) You're right sir, that is not right, I'll escalate that issue for you and make a note of it in your account.
3.) One technical support agent actually hung up on me.
4.) One technical support agent insisted that this is not a problem, the functionality is not broken.
5.) Finally, I asked to speak to a supervisor and he eventually told me the real truth... They broke this functionality when they launched the new guide in February. The way they're doing things now, there is no way to pause live tv from the guide or list and they would have to totally rewrite their software in order to restore that functionality... He said he could escalate my issue, but frankly, they're not going to fix it... "You would be better off posting a form on the web page... We can't delete those..."

I've been a loyal Dtv customer since 2003. I watched in horror as the relationship between Dtv and Tivo disintegrated, I suffered through the first release of the Dtv dvr, and now they pull this blunder...!!!

This might seem like a minor issue, and to most people it probably is...
However, to me this is a tell tale sign of Dtv taking a course that leads away from customer satisfaction not towards it... The worst part is the cover up... It always is, just ask Nixon...

SNAFU - seems to be the order of the day at Dtv...

Please tell me I'm not the only one frustrated by this turn of events...!
AT&T Uverse has been hounding me relentlessly to try their package...
This just might get me to take that step...
I will certainly NOT be recommending Dtv to any of my friends...

If I've posted this in the wrong forum, please forgive me and direct me to the proper site...

Thanks for letting me vent...

PS - You used to be able to hit a double dash to delete things from the list...
Can't do that any more...

 

[Shades228]

You could have saved a lot of hassle if you came here in February. These changes are by design and are not broken.

 

[jklipa]

Well, that's a really poor design...! IMHO

They obviously didn't ask anyone who actually uses the pause button if that was a good idea... It is extremely irritating to have to leave the list or guide to pause live tv...

Focus groups are a great idea when implementing design changes like this...
They certainly did not make that design change with my convenience in mind...

 

[jimbo56]

I think that the people you spoke with at DirecTV may have been passing the buck (instead of simply saying "I don't know why it's like that; let me find out and get back to you.."), but, truthfully the "problem" you describe is so minor that it probably bothers about .00001% of DirecTV's subscribers. If thousands of people were complaining about that loss of functionality, the reps would have a prepared response and the engineers would be working on a fix.

Don't think that if you jump ship and switch to another provider that you will necessarily have a better Customer Service experience. I switched to FIOS a few months back and, while I'm generally happy with them, their CS department has been a nightmare (check some of my previous posts). For the most part I've found DirecTV's CS reps (and tech support) to be polite, friendly and helpful.

As to your specific problem, can you simply hit "pause" before you go to the guide or list? Since I no longer have DTV, I can't check it out myself, but it might be a workaround to your problem.

 

[jklipa]

Thanks for the reply...
What inspired you to switch to FIOS (I could read your previous posts later if you prefer).

Of course, I can use pause before I go into guide or list...
It's just an irritant when I am in the list or guide and I have to exit to pause...

 

[jimbo56]

Thanks for the reply...
What inspired you to switch to FIOS (I could read your previous posts later if you prefer).

Of course, I can use pause before I go into guide or list...
It's just an irritant when I am in the list or guide and I have to exit to pause...

I had FiOS Internet for a couple of years and was very pleased. I always was getting offers to bundle with FiOS TV but never did so because they didn't offer MSG in HD until late last year (I needed to watch my Buffalo Sabres in HD!). Once MSG-HD arrived it was an easy choice. With promotional pricing, I'm actually getting TV, phone and internet for less than what I was paying for DirecTV alone. While there are pros and cons to each provider, I'm not unhappy I switched. That's not to say I won't switch back in a couple of years if the right opportunity presents itself.

If you read these forums regularly you will find some posters will defend DirecTV at every opportunity. I'm not one of them. DirecTV is good, so is FiOS and probably some other providers as well. They all basically provide the same service. Sure, there may be some channels or features that differentiate one provider over another, but for the most part it's just TV.

 

[dpeters11]

If you do go to Uverse, suspend your DirecTV service and then decide which is best for you, pause functionality aside. Depending on the Uverse profile t least, there can be other downsides.

 

[MarkG21]

Thanks for the reply...
What inspired you to switch to FIOS (I could read your previous posts later if you prefer).

Of course, I can use pause before I go into guide or list...
It's just an irritant when I am in the list or guide and I have to exit to pause...

You may or may not know this already, When you leave the guide/menu/list, etc, Hit the left arrow and it'll bring you back to the exact place where you exited.
(It's not really a direct solution but works for me)

 

[HoTat2]

Greetings,

DirecTv screwed the pooch in February when they launched their new guide with HD channels... They totally fubar'd the functionality of the pause, dash and previous channel buttons while in List or Guide...

It's taken me nearly 5 months and as many calls to finally get a supervisor to admit that you can no longer PAUSE live tv from the list or guide...

While in the list, if you hit pause, it does not pause your live session...!
In fact, it actually STARTS PLAYING the entry that your cursor is sitting on when you hit pause...

And, when finishing watching something from the list, you return to the list and live tv resumes (presuming you had paused it before) so the only way you can pause it again is to exist the list and hit pause again...

I was told several different stories in the months since February.
1.) You should write to The Office of the President, you'll have better luck getting this fixed.
2.) You're right sir, that is not right, I'll escalate that issue for you and make a note of it in your account.
3.) One technical support agent actually hung up on me.
4.) One technical support agent insisted that this is not a problem, the functionality is not broken.
5.) Finally, I asked to speak to a supervisor and he eventually told me the real truth... They broke this functionality when they launched the new guide in February. The way they're doing things now, there is no way to pause live tv from the guide or list and they would have to totally rewrite their software in order to restore that functionality... He said he could escalate my issue, but frankly, they're not going to fix it... "You would be better off posting a form on the web page... We can't delete those..."

I've been a loyal Dtv customer since 2003. I watched in horror as the relationship between Dtv and Tivo disintegrated, I suffered through the first release of the Dtv dvr, and now they pull this blunder...!!!

This might seem like a minor issue, and to most people it probably is...
However, to me this is a tell tale sign of Dtv taking a course that leads away from customer satisfaction not towards it... The worst part is the cover up... It always is, just ask Nixon...

SNAFU - seems to be the order of the day at Dtv...

Please tell me I'm not the only one frustrated by this turn of events...!
AT&T Uverse has been hounding me relentlessly to try their package...
This just might get me to take that step...
I will certainly NOT be recommending Dtv to any of my friends...

If I've posted this in the wrong forum, please forgive me and direct me to the proper site...

Thanks for letting me vent...

PS - You used to be able to hit a double dash to delete things from the list...
Can't do that any more...

Main thread topic was discussed here at the time;

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=201827&highlight=PIG

And the the HD-GUI did not "break it," but was intentionally removed beginning with firmware update 59C that bought the Pandora feature back in 2/2012. But before since late last year the HD-GUI worked just fine with it.

Also you will read in that thread that no other service provider has this functionality for the PIG. And in fact FiOS is the worst with no PIG feature at all.

 

[tonyd79]

And in fact FiOS is the worst with no PIG feature at all.

Funny, I am looking at PIG right now on Fios. In fact, you can configure the size and location of the PIG.

 

[HoTat2]

Funny, I am looking at PIG right now on Fios. In fact, you can configure the size and location of the PIG.

Sorry, my bad;

Was skimming over some of the posts and didn't read carefully.

Specifically what bobcamp1 wrote in his post #222 of that thread in response to the loss of PIG functionality while tuned to a TV-MA program was;

But here's the problem: the majority (if not most) of their competitors don't have this functionality either. FIOS and TWC definitely don't, I don't know about Dish. So they all could have that same problem. Also, that scenario can be fixed by fixing parental controls. On my FIOS DVR, the PIG comes up blank if a TV-MA show is in the PIG (even the title is replaced with the text "adult title" and the description is blank). ...

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2971972#post2971972

 

[RunnerFL]

Well, that's a really poor design...! IMHO

They obviously didn't ask anyone who actually uses the pause button if that was a good idea... It is extremely irritating to have to leave the list or guide to pause live tv...

Focus groups are a great idea when implementing design changes like this...
They certainly did not make that design change with my convenience in mind...

It was a design change because there are 2 new remotes out that have a single button for pause and play. They had to make the UI work with the new remotes.

 

[Marty999]

but, truthfully the "problem" you describe is so minor that it probably bothers about .00001% of DirecTV's subscribers.

I must be one of the .00001%. However, until recently I've had so many larger D* problems with the guide and list taking 20 or more seconds to come up or locking up completely, I hadn't had time to inquire about this one. I find it annoying that I can't pause from list or guide. I now realize I did it often.

By the way, the guide and list problems have finally been fixed for me. It seems funny being so grateful for basic functionality to be restored.

Between this, viacom dropped channels, it's probably time to complete the FIOS triple play. All my other FIOS services work great.

 

[Richard]

It was a design change because there are 2 new remotes out that have a single button for pause and play. They had to make the UI work with the new remotes.

Seems like a stupid reason for the design change.

 

[RunnerFL]

Seems like a stupid reason for the design change.

Having to change because people with the new remotes wouldn't be able to use them otherwise is stupid? Ok....

 

[hdtvfan0001]

Having to change because people with the new remotes wouldn't be able to use them otherwise is stupid? Ok....

Well said...

 

[tonyd79]

Sorry, my bad;

Was skimming over some of the posts and didn't read carefully.

Specifically what bobcamp1 wrote in his post #222 of that thread in response to the loss of PIG functionality while tuned to a TV-MA program was;

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2971972#post2971972

No problem. There are no functions within the PiG on fios.

Wonder why he gets blank. Must have parental controls on.

 

[tonyd79]

Having to change because people with the new remotes wouldn't be able to use them otherwise is stupid? Ok....

Uh. Yeah. It is.

First. The new remotes are stupid.

Second. It would be quite easy to a) design the new remotes do the conflicting codes are different so the buttons actually work differently or b) detect or set the remote type.

It is dumb. No way around it.

 

[Blurayfan]

Having to change because people with the new remotes wouldn't be able to use them otherwise is stupid? Ok....

The new remote design is what is stupid. The remotes should had been designed to operate the UI. The UI should not need to be redesigned for the remotes.

 

[RunnerFL]

The new remote design is what is stupid. The remotes should had been designed to operate the UI. The UI should not need to be redesigned for the remotes.

Yes, but guess what? The remotes are already out there, it's water under the bridge. People need to move on because the ship has sailed.