As long as he’s doing it with a mask on and 6’ from his keyboard he’s covered. 
What is NPD?
Take your pick, personally I’d go with #3.
Okay, I will own all of that… except “sarcastic”… everybody tells me that I do not understand sarcasm. I find it very hard to tell when others are sarcastic or honest. I accept all the other adjectives.
I bet you wrote that with a sarcastic tone.
A) I wasn’t being sarcastic.
B) It wasn’t in direct response to your post.
It was in response to “djk44883”.
NPD = Narcissistic Personality Disorder
No. I really don’t know when people are using sarcasm. Because of that I don’t use it myself. But the other things he accused me of, I stand guilty, I am sure. Especially in his case. I have often been accused, probably correctly so, of talking down to people… and being incapable of putting myself in the other person’s shoes. We all have our little failings, I guess. I guess I am lucky, because 41 years ago I found a woman who would put up with my foolishness.
I thought you were accusing me of being sarcastic. I never did accuse you of anything… other than defensive behavior, that you were accusing others (including myself, I assume).
In any case, I accept all your criticism, except the sarcasm. I don’t understand it, so I never use it. My opinions are never opaque or hidden… you see my messages, you see what I think. Period. And lots of people do not like that it my character. But you know what, at soon to be 76 years of age, I am all over what other people think of my character. What others think of me, long ago stopped bothering me. I grew my thick skin in the era of BBS systems, which is the wild west compared to these modern forums. So troll along… makes the day more interesting.
I’m sorry for the confusion!
That was intended to read “It wasn’t in direct response to your post”!
It was a typo!
I made the neccessary change.
Then don’t cut the cord, go back to one of the major satellite or cable companies. Then for the 20 times greater cost you can have the 24x7 support they advertise. Good luck in getting any answers their techs do not have a pre-written script to use. You said you were looking for answers to questions about the service after you purchased but before you started using the unit. There is not one of those 24x7 companies I might be referencing that would be able to help you at all. They have pre-sales but you have already purchased and they have technical support that is there to solve problems which you do not have yet because you have not used the service. Cord-cutting just might not be the way to go. Oh, and I am not disagreeing with you that the way you were treated is in any way proper. But you do need to set a few perspectives. When I looked into the Tablo. And I am still a newbie of only two months, it was obvious from the get-go that this was a techie environment. Any company product that has such an extensive user community is a clear sign that the product does not just plug and play. I have been a Telecommunications Engineer for 40 years and I expected to have a learning curve if I planned on doing more than watching a few recorded shows. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, I will be able to contribute to the community.
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I just have to go 100% with @Displeased on this topic. I got my Tablo box yesterday to replace a Tivo I’ve been using for years. The Tivo works great but their $15/month charge for the channel grid was just wearing on me. So thus the change to Tablo. But the Tablo has real issues with pixelation, signal dropping from TV channels, disconnecting randomly from my Roku (all wired via Ethernet) and overall picture quality (when it does work). (Signal strength shows 5 green dots for most all channels) Seeing the bright orange card that came in my Tablo packaging saying “STOP! Before returning this to the store…blah blah blah, please contact our support team”, made me think they must have 24/7 support. But no, their support ends at 4:30p my time and they don’t work weekends. As this was yesterday, which was a Friday, means I have to wait 65 hours before I can even try to get a hold of them.
So I agree with displeased. This is totally unacceptable!
It’s not going to beat the Tivo in picture quality, but it’s still quite good. Pixelation and channel dropping is an individual thing and not common for most users.
The support hours are what they are. It has been like that for the six years the Tablo has been around, so ignorance of it at this point is on the user.
Hello again (heard you missed me😉)…
When I read the post from “escapemia”, I was very tempted to comment…but I resisted, since it would likely be met with only further criticizism and condescension from various contributors here!
“Escapemia’s” advice was that I shouldn’t “cut the cord” if I was “displeased” with Tablo’s (lack of) support! WHAT?? So, in other words, instead of trying to convince them that their phone support is woefully inadequate, I would be better off not using their device (or an alternative OTA box) and resort to using cable instead? That’s a solution??
I’m sorry to report that, if that were the general consensus, customer service would be even worse than it currently is (in general but especially for Tablo)! Oddly enough, the “squeaky wheel gets the oil” and being passive (or supportive of them when it’s innapropriate) doesn’t solve anything in this situation…which, btw, has remained the same (tested and proven just recently)…because Tablo truly cares alot less than their “customer’s are our #1 priority” slogan might mis-lead you to believe!
As for the response from “snowcat”…“The support hours are what they are. It has been like that for the six years the Tablo has been around, so ignorance of it at this point is on the user.”
In reality, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the customer’s “ignorance” and everything to do with Tablo’s “ignorance”! Ignorance of the absolute reality of the situation that “macmcc” is currently faced with!
Thank you for your support, btw, “macmcc”!
The general consensus here is that Tablo is doing everything right and can do no wrong!
Perhaps the blindfolds need to come off!
It’s easy to proclaim that, when you’ve had the unit for some time, it’s working well for you (or the best to be expected, since, it’s inherently, a “glitchy” piece of equipment) and have a greater understanding of it’s overall operation!
However, when you’re sitting in the boat that “macmcc” is in (the same sinking boat that I was in recently), you might not be so anxious to defend the fact that they choose to limit their phone support to such a pathetically early time and eliminate weekends completely… because, let’s face it, none of their customer’s would ever consider setting up their new unit after work or on a Saturday or Sunday (or develop an unanticipated problem on either of those days), …right??
My advice to you, “macmcc”, would be to reach out to them as early as possible on Monday and make certain to (diplomatically but firmly) complain to them about your issue with their lack of proper phone support! They’ll likely tell you that you could have sent a (pointless) email. As if they’re about to respond over the weekend??
Trust me, not only is there a significant problem with their phone support schedule…and the fact that they will hang up on you, even if you’ve been stuck in the cue, at 5:30 (ET)…which is an outrageously poor approach, btw!!
…but it can take them 2-3 days to respond via email each time!
Unfortunately, several contributors here don’t seem to have a problem with this…and are focused only on their own (stable) situations!
That’s certainly their preogative…but let’s try to avoid diminishing the lack of concern on the part of Tablo support and try to have a better understanding of what new user’s (and, in some cases, ongoing user’s) needs may be!..and stop giving them so much (undeserved) credit and taking an “it is what it is” approach!
Issues (in general) almost never get resolved via that level of passivity, trust me!
Good luck, “macmcc” and don’t neglect to air your grievances with their inadequate phone support on Monday!!
Perhaps if less customer’s took that “it is what it is” approach and stopped being so accepting of this nonsense, it might finally wake them up to reality!
First - I never defended bad customer service, nor did I say, “Tablo can do no wrong”. I did say they are a small company, fairly new, and we are facing Covid-19 problems. I have had issues, and I worked with support to get things going again. It did take time (usually within 24-48 hours - except on the weekends).
Every single one of my problems have been addressed.
That being said, it would be great for Covid-19 to be non-existent. It would be great to have 24/7 technical support. It would be great for every call to be answered by a live person on the first ring. But that isn’t reality for most companies.
In fact, just the other day, I had to call AT&T for an issue. First call was disconnected while I was on hold, after waiting 45 minutes. Second call had to be transferred 4 times. After spending almost 3 hours on the calls, I thought it was resolved. Two days later, the bill wasn’t fixed, and I had to call again. Finally, after 5 transfers, and another 3 hours on the phone, it was taken care of. And AT&T is an established company, with many employees, and they had issues. In fact, one person said it was taken care of, and they didn’t even put notes on my account.
There will always be issues with technical support with any company.
Just a few thoughts on your particular issues…
The model/generation of the Roku box that you’re using could potentially be an issue.
A friend of mine was using a Roku 3 and having consistent disconnection issues. He spoke to them and they recommended upgrading it.
That may be good advice…but why would they originally suggest that it was compatible (if it truly wasn’t and they even acknowledged this)??
He upgraded to an “Ultra” and hasn’t had those problems.
Additionally (again based upon my friend’s experience), it seems that the tuners used in the Tablo’s may not be as sensitive as certain other devices. He, too, decided to switch from TiVo.
He had next to no problems whatsoever with reception issues using the TiVo but had various reception problems with the Tablo.
He needed to change his antenna in order to accommodate the (perhaps signal hungry) tuners in the Tablo.
I’m uncertain as to which unit you purchased but he has the “Quad”. It’s unlikely that the tuners would vary depending on the model but anything is possible.
There’s always the possibility that you have a defective Tablo unit. He needed to exchange his! His results were considerably worse on the first unit (numerous channels were completely unacceptable)! It was at the point where he was going to “call it quits” (assuming that the Tablo’s tuners had general issues) but persistence paid off. Turns out that, while there were still some reception related issues with the replacement, it was far better than the first one!
Makes you wonder about the quality (and quality control), as it relates to the tuners that they’re using in these units!
If you were having some reception problems with the TiVo, it could be potentially worse with the Tablo. Ask them to look at your tuners from their end. When he spoke to them (after connecting the replacement), they were able to test the tuner results that he was getting. It may provide some insight into how questionable your antenna signal is and/or if you may have an issue with that particular unit.
The type/age/position of your antenna can make a considerable difference (along with the cabling/splitter/connectors). If you’re using an indoor antenna, you may need to change it.
In my friend’s case, he was using an indoor antenna (as he’s very close to the transmitters). He needed to switch antennas with the Tablo.
Additionally, an amplified antenna (or seperate amplifier) can potentially create problems. Passive signal can often provide better results. Especially with some amplifiers (that inject noise into the signal). Unfortunately, there are a wide variety of issues with OTA reception. Some tuners are more forgiving than others. You can’t assume that you’ll get good results with another OTA device because you had good results with your TiVo.
OTA signal issues can be a major PITA!
Some units/tuners work well with a paper clip hanging out of their inputs!
Others need far greater signal to produce good results. In many cases, it’s often the epitome of “trial and error”!!
Don’t give up on the Tablo just yet!
However, their approach to phone (and email) support leaves alot to be desired!!
Insofar as the Covid-19 situation is concerned, in some cases, it’s (unfortunately) being exploited!
By both business owners and their employees!
I’m not in any way diminishing the seriousness and significance of the virus!..but they’re doing quite well up north (and I’m extremely pleased about that)!
Therefore, we can eliminate Covid-19 in this situation (as it would only serve as an excuse)!
Their inadequate and poor approach to customer service (especially phone support) was established long before this crisis!
BTW, your experience with AT&T is typical for them!..but personally, I would sooner expect poor customer service from a giant like them (not that it’s justified) than a company like Tablo, that keeps insisting that their customers are the “number one priority” (and is supposed to be trying to grow their business based upon their reputation)!
Sorry!..“number one priority” doesn’t include limiting your phone support hours so drastically, keeping customer’s waiting 2-3 days (or longer) for an email response…and then hanging up on customers (that have been on hold for quite some time) just to suit your own selfish needs!!
Thanks for the responses, @Displeased. You hit a lot if issues right on the head with this well written response. Thanks for that!
I was only switching from Tivo to Tablo because of the monthly fees that Tivo charges for their programming guide, which I feel are outrageous. Other than that, I have had no issues with the Tivo at all. It has been rock solid with great reception and picture quality. Also one of the reasons I was going with Tablo over the other Tivo competitors was that I already had all of the required infrastructure in place. (I already had Roku 3’s for each TV in the house and a spare laptop drive) So, if I had known that the Tablo was (maybe) not compatible with the Roku 3 I would not have purchased the Tablo in the first place.
All of what you and I have both been through from a quality control and (lack of) support perspective makes it seem to me that the company itself is not reliable; making it a company I would rather not do business with.
As I don’t want to, or now see any need to, reset my antenna, use an amplifier to boost the signal, or upgrade my Roku’s, staying with the Tivo seems the right choice now because it works perfectly with what I already have and the Tablo does not. (even though I meet or exceed all the requirements listed on their website). But what bothers me more than anything, is their lack of any weekend support. Since they are adamant that you not return the unit back to the seller if you having any problems, and that you contact them first, you would think that they should be Johnny-on-the spot with their support. But, as we both know, this not the case.
Best of luck to you!
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Thanks very much “macmcc” for your support and understanding!
The lack of open-mindedness (insofar as Tablo’s lack of support) here can be frustrating (at best)!
What certain contributors fail to realize is that I became (very) upset with Tablo’s nonsense because I actually wanted to adopt it as my favorite OTA DVR (and recommend it to others)!
This wasn’t a convenient excuse to abandon ship with Tablo and go the TiVo route. Not at all.
…but having such limited access to their support and then getting hung up on (after waiting in their cue for a considerable amount of time) simply isn’t acceptable! Period!
Weeks later, after announcing here that they would potentially reconsider this (very poor) approach, they’re still doing this!
My friend was the only person in the cue this week, waited on hold and then was intentionally disconnected at exactly 5:30 PM (ET)!
That’s 2:30 PM (PT)! Give me a break!
They obviously feel that this method of treating customers is justified and warranted!
If you’re going to have the audacity of hanging up on your customers (or potential customers), you certainly shouldn’t take that liberty at such an early time (and when there’s zero phone support over the weekend)! It’s just plain wrong!
At the very least, shut down the phone lines for additional calls and allow existing calls to be answered! Anything less is pathetically rude and very discouraging!
Insofar as your situation is concerned, regardless of what you may have read, I’m sorry to say that the Roku 3 isn’t truly compatible! If it’s your intention to avoid upgrading the Roku(s), you should probably forget about the Tablo!
It’s too problematic and annoying with the “3”.
In contrast, even though it’s not perfect, the results using the “Ultra” are vastly superior!
There are other advantages that go along with upgrading to an “Ultra” and they’ve recently been on sale for $70.00. Just something to take into consideration, that’s all.
Insofar as the reception issues are concerned, you may want to consider exchanging the unit just one time (as in my friend’s case).
There’s the possibility that you may have issues with the original one (especially if it’s a “Quad”, as the potential is doubled due to it using four tuners).
In all fairness, the Tablo has very good potential…but it’s “buggy” at times and needs certain (simple) features added.
Such as a “one-touch” record option (just as an example). The current method can be maintained
…but a “one-touch” record option is warranted!
They did this for playback. What about record??
Access to the program guide (especially beyond one day) can be much too slow! Once you advance the guide several days, it’s annoyingly
slow! I’m sorry, this shouldn’t be the case!
…and it seems as if they’re not addressing it!
Not to mention that the “commercial skip” function (that adds an additional monthly subscription fee, no less) isn’t at all reliable!
It can work (almost) flawlessly at times. Yet at other times will actually skip through portions of the show (while maintaining playback of the commercials)! This can be very frustrating!!
The potential for commercial skip is good and it’s an attractive option. Real improvements (without having to wait perhaps another year for a major firmware update) is a whole other story!
So far, it’s been quite dissapointing!
Considering the fact that these units are far from new to the market (and after spending enough time using them), you’ll wonder why they’re still not fully baked by now?? To their credit, they seem to be trying to make improvements…but perhaps it’s time to consider speeding up the process!
…and taking the needs of their customers (such as implementing a simple feature like a “one-touch” record option and having much faster access to the full 14 days of the program guide) into far more serious consideration!
BTW, the reason for that notification that comes with the unit (not to return it to the dealer) is because there’s a high percentage of user error with devices such as these…but (as in your case), don’t be so stingy with your phone support (if your intention is to have customers avoid returning them)! It truly defeats the purpose if your customers work for a living and need to contact you in the evening or over the weekend, doncha think??
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You’ve “hit that nail directly on the head”, “macmcc”!
Seems like the level of understanding reality (and being civilized) perfectly matches the spelling ability (and ability to form sentences)!!..LOL😁
I wasn’t aware that just taking your $$ and “going elsewhere”, along with being condescending and abusive to others, completely solves existing problems?
Who knew?? I just learned something!
I suppose that I haven’t “grown up” enough to understand that concept!
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