Ubc Now Has Pvr

[jm49er1]

UBC has been touting their PVR in their magazine for a couple of months - last week i received an email it was now available - when i lived in California i used Tivo which allows you to record programs for future viewing, pause live TV etc which i used extensively - when i moved here to Thailand i missed this service especially for viewing live sports which often only shown in the middle of the night. So when i saw the purchase price of 14,990 baht i called and ordered. UBC sent two people out Tuesday and they installed the unit - according to them this was the first unit thay had installed - in a previous life i had tested software for a living and this raised red flags with me immediately. Anyhows, later that afternoon i chose a few programs to record to test it out. If you have used Tivo before you will be disappointed with this unit - Tivo allows you to search and record all programs for any combination of search functions - actor, subject, sport, etc which is very useful.. For this unit you can only schedule series, like CSI to record for you automatically or you can find individual programs or you can tape a certain date and time. No where can you look for programs that match a search word.

OK so be it, but now the good part - Being that this is Thailand, the unit does not work - it did record a couple of programs but then when i tried to watch them, they disappeared from the screen. Others simply failed to record at all . So i call the office to complain and they send out someone this afternoon to check. The guy they sent had never been trained on this new product and i had to show him how it was supposed to work. So he makes a couple of setting changes and said it should work in a day or two. HUH????? I insist we call the UBC office as i want the unit replaced and he finally makes the call reluctantly. They cannot make this decision in the local office ( remember TIT) and tell me they will call Bangkok and let me know later. They just called back and will replace the unit but not until next Tuesday.

To be continued..........

[patsfangr]

Sorry to hear about your problems, JM. But I thank you very much for the report. As you said, the problems with any new technology, and the lack of training to support it, are certainly no surprise here.

Like you, I had a cable company equivalent of TIVO when I lived in California (Orange County); and I, too, miss it terribly. Since the PVR has just been introduced here, I may not, at age 65, live long enough to see it become dependable enough to pay for. But I hope I'm wrong.

I hope to see more, and increasingly positive reports on it from you, and others, here on this thread.

[rixalex]

There are a number of different threads concerning PVR and it seems that many people who had the system installed first had these sorts of teething problems which were apparently rectified by a software update of the equipment.

[jm49er1]

update from today: UBC made an appointment to come out and replace the non working PVR at 10:30 this morning - they finally showed up at noon and put a new box in - the installer had never used one before but told us that many people were having the same problem with non working boxes - we tried to test this new box and sure enough it does not work!!! - the tech was more interested in getting onto his next victim ( sorry, service call) but we had him contact the office to get some resolution - alas, another waste of time and i was told to call back to the office after lunch to speak with them - did that and insisted they either fix this box or return my money ( fat chance but will see) - was advised they would have to call Bangkok for resolution and would call back today or tomorrow

to be continued..................

[patsfangr]

update from today: UBC made an appointment to come out and replace the non working PVR at 10:30 this morning - they finally showed up at noon and put a new box in - the installer had never used one before but told us that many people were having the same problem with non working boxes - we tried to test this new box and sure enough it does not work!!! - the tech was more interested in getting onto his next victim ( sorry, service call) but we had him contact the office to get some resolution - alas, another waste of time and i was told to call back to the office after lunch to speak with them - did that and insisted they either fix this box or return my money ( fat chance but will see) - was advised they would have to call Bangkok for resolution and would call back today or tomorrow

to be continued..................

No matter how many times it happens to me, or I hear about it happening to someone else, I continue to be amazed by the complete lack of good business practices applied by the vast majority of Thai businesses, whether for products or services. It is simultaneously sad, frustrating, and infuriating.

Why can't they understand that they will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER achieve significant success in dealing with the western world if they continue to ignore the basic principles of good business?! It seems that they are content with "one time sales", and no referral business. I know that I, and many other falang I speak with, buy only what I absolutely need here, and very rarely repeat business with anybody. I'd rather keep taking single shots with other suppliers, in the hope that I can find ONE that I can trust.

[thaimate]

i know its a bit of thread ,but i like so many others here have had terrible service .

now we only buy electrical goods at numchai,great service ,anytime we have had a problem they solve it straight away.

hope this helps .

[jm49er1]

update from today : after i posted yesterday we did receive a call from a very courteous man from bangkok ( spoke only thai so my wife took the call) he apparently works in the testing department and was the first person that actually understood what the problems were that we were describing - said he would call back after hearing our story - this morning i called the local office for an update and was advised they were bringing back the first PVR that they had picked up yesterday and that it had been fixed - ok, sure........... anyway the man came as scheduled and put it back in. They actually fixed a few of the problems - we can now select and record a program from the TV guide and it saves into memory and we can replay it - HOORAY!!!! - one issue still unresolved is that you cannot record at a specific time - i.e. you want to record channel 73 at 4 am tomorrow morning and stop at 5 am - it lets you program this in but does nothing when you want to confirm

the man from Bangkok called again and we advised him of this issue and are waiting for a call back - leaving tomorrow for Udon Thani to escape the madness that is Songkran here in Pattaya so will continue this saga when we get back in a couple of weeks but at least i can record the Masters golf tournament when i am gone

to be continued............

[miksguevara]

No matter how many times it happens to me, or I hear about it happening to someone else, I continue to be amazed by the complete lack of good business practices applied by the vast majority of Thai businesses, whether for products or services. It is simultaneously sad, frustrating, and infuriating.

Why can't they understand that they will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER achieve significant success in dealing with the western world if they continue to ignore the basic principles of good business?! It seems that they are content with "one time sales", and no referral business. I know that I, and many other falang I speak with, buy only what I absolutely need here, and very rarely repeat business with anybody. I'd rather keep taking single shots with other suppliers, in the hope that I can find ONE that I can trust.

quite right maybe that is why Thailand lags behind....repeat business seems to be diregarded in favour of a quick buck;doesn't matter what line they are in...

[recycler]

I have the same problem, had mine installed April 9.

Was also the first unit that the technician ever saw...

I made many attempts to record, but sofar nothing has recorded.

The only thing that works is the delay function, you can stop the program you watch, have a pee and start watching again when you're done.

Tried to contact UBC/Truevision by email and phone and no reply..... I'll post my progress here.

Unbelivable how they actually sell a product that apparently has not been tested at all....

[ThaiAm]

Not much chance I will try PVR with the experiences I have had of late with the basic True Satellite coverage. Been renting the box etc from them for years and finally had to call for service. They came out and moved the antennae to a new location and for the first time I had some decent reception but had no way to know it was bad antennae location and an installation problem that was making my reception so poor. Charged me 500 baht for the service even though it it their box and I merely rent it. A few months later I started having problems with the box quitting completely and another service call resulted in them replacing the box and charging me 500 baht again. After about two weeks the new box started failing in several different ways and again I was charged 500 baht for service on their box and this time all they did was insert a new smart card.

I think it is to their advantage to put junk equipment out since they are charging such a rediculous rate for fixing their own boxes and the more service calls you have the more expensive the True becomes. I have sent an email to them telling them that if they charge me one more time for fixing their box that I will cancel the service completely. For sure this does fall into the category of not knowing how to do business with integrity and I am fed up enough that if they do it again I will refuse to pay and cancel them from my life.

So with the basic service so troublesome little chance that I would add another box from them to my life.

[rixalex]

update from today : after i posted yesterday we did receive a call from a very courteous man from bangkok ( spoke only thai so my wife took the call) he apparently works in the testing department and was the first person that actually understood what the problems were that we were describing - said he would call back after hearing our story - this morning i called the local office for an update and was advised they were bringing back the first PVR that they had picked up yesterday and that it had been fixed - ok, sure........... anyway the man came as scheduled and put it back in. They actually fixed a few of the problems - we can now select and record a program from the TV guide and it saves into memory and we can replay it - HOORAY!!!! - one issue still unresolved is that you cannot record at a specific time - i.e. you want to record channel 73 at 4 am tomorrow morning and stop at 5 am - it lets you program this in but does nothing when you want to confirm

the man from Bangkok called again and we advised him of this issue and are waiting for a call back - leaving tomorrow for Udon Thani to escape the madness that is Songkran here in Pattaya so will continue this saga when we get back in a couple of weeks but at least i can record the Masters golf tournament when i am gone

to be continued............

Any more updates or progress reports?