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Glitch cripples DVRs for some Time Warner customers

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Aug 29, 2008 - 01:54:07 pm CDT

About 3 percent of Lincoln Time Warner Cable customers had their digital video recorders wiped clean of memory and settings on Thursday because of a glitch in the system.

But the problem has been addressed, and all affected customers have been notified, said Time Warner spokesperson Ann Shrewsbury.

“Fortunately,” she said, “this happened after the Olympics and before (Saturday’s) Husker game.”

Here’s what happened:

Time Warner services are transmitted to homes via a network of fiber optic cables, with different areas of town served by hubs of fiber optics. Sometimes, if a hub has too many customers seeking service at once, a “bottleneck” can occur, slowing down service. Time Warner can move a group of customers from one hub to another to level out the service across town.   

On Thursday, after Time Warner moved some of its south Lincoln customers from one hub to another, the DVR boxes of those customers rebooted, erasing everything on them.

“For instance,” Shrewsbury said, “if a customer had their DVR set to record a particular program every week, that info was erased.”  

Beth Scarborough, division president of Time Warner Cable, lives in south Lincoln and was one of the customers affected. 

To the uninitiated, DVRs, much like TiVO, allow viewers to record TV shows, movies and programs. A person can program his viewing schedule hours, days or weeks in advance. Time Warner offers DVRs with some of its cable plans.

When Time Warner became aware of the problem, the company notified all affected customers by setting their boxes to Channel 1, which ran a message that explained the situation. Those who had phone numbers listed on their accounts received voicemails.

Shrewsbury said if affected customers call, Time Warner will apply credit to their accounts.

“We realize that DVR has become such a part of some people’s everyday lives,” she said, “that they rely on it for how they watch TV.”

 


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No surprise wrote on August 29, 2008 2:06 pm:
" I had Time Warner's DVR for a couple years. When they switched to a cheap system and increased price, the reliability was terrible. They have "glitches" all the time. I switched to satellite and wouldn't think of switching back. "

 Huh wrote on August 29, 2008 2:09 pm:
" "Shrewsbury said if affected customers call, Time Warner will apply credit to their accounts." Clearly from the other information in the article, Time Warner KNOWS who was affected. I was not, but why should those who were have to call for a credit? Why would it not be automatic?!? Just another example of the extremely poor customer service given by Time Warner. "

 R. SCOTT wrote on August 29, 2008 2:21 pm:
" This should come to no shock to any Time Warner customer. This new system they have forced upon us is horrid and instead of calling it "Mystro" they should aptly name it "Rebooto" There is no evidence of improvement over the long period of time they have subjected us to this new system and if anything it has gotten worse. All this so they could peddle their land line phone system. No thanks to our new Mayor Buetler who promised to do something about this matter when campaigning then blew it off when elected. "

 James wrote on August 29, 2008 2:29 pm:
" Just another glitch in Time Warner's system. Sadly, I think the majority of people in Lincoln are getting used to this type of thing concerning Time Warner's services. At least they are crediting the accounts of those affected by this latest gaff. Since Time Warner has no competition for cable service we are unlikely to see an increase in quality services anytime soon. "

 kjbclg wrote on August 29, 2008 2:31 pm:
" "if affected customers call, Time Warner will apply credit to their accounts." WHY should I have to call and receive a credit??? Just give me my credit and save the phone calls.... "

 politicaljunkie wrote on August 29, 2008 2:32 pm:
" EXCUSE ME -
“Fortunately,” she said, “this happened after the Olympics and before (Saturday’s) Husker game.”
Some of us lost a lot - and the Democratic convention was one thing. So there is NOTHING fortunate about this. This is just another issue Time Warner wants to sweep under the rug - this debacle of the new 'navigator' will continue forever I am sure. I would like to see a complete explanation of what happened and how they will assure it won't happen again. "

 cable customer wrote on August 29, 2008 2:42 pm:
" It might not have happened during the Olympics or a Husker game (which I wouldn't care about missing anyways), but it did happen during the Democratic National Convention. Not having the choice to watch that is worse than missing some of the Olympics or any Husker game. "

 WeeTodd wrote on August 29, 2008 3:23 pm:
" Grow up people, it's just television. "

 bheer n ose wrote on August 29, 2008 3:31 pm:
" Typical TW BS, my in demand channels only work some of the time, i called and the Rep said over and over "sir it is a known problem, we are working on it" he gave me no time frame for getting it fixed, no offer for reimbursment and no reason why they didnt inform anyone of this "known problem", oh and this "known problem" is still happening, its been at least 6 months, not sure why a "known problem" cant be fixed in 6 months, oh wait it is TW we are talking about...i know i know, if i dont like it switch to satellite...that isnt the point though, its a matter of business ethics, i think TW should take a refresher course and get there service and quality up to what it should be for no other reason then its the right thing to do "

 only wrote on August 29, 2008 3:35 pm:
" The article says 3%, but the info channel said south lincoln, and the rep I talked to said everything south of O street was south lincoln. That should be more than 3%. Unless they meant 3% of TWC customers, not TWC Lincoln.

But really, I don't want credit for free premium channels for 6 months. I want my programs back! After the phone lines settle down I'm going to ask how to 'backup' my DVR to an external drive. If I can't trust the drives/software/operators of my DVR I'm going to have to start backing up that too. Rumor had it that if it's got a firewire cable that it's supposed to put out video on HD boxes (some federal rule I think). "

 Chris wrote on August 29, 2008 3:37 pm:
" Another side-effect of our city council giving Time Warner a monopoly. These incidents would be far less frequent if we had competition in Lincoln. But since we don't, I recommend TiVo for your DVR, well worth the money. "

 Jay wrote on August 29, 2008 3:41 pm:
" Luckily I switch to FREE DTV 6 months ago. I get 18 channels including Fox and ABC, CBS Omaha in better quality than Time Warner had. Best of all it is FREE. Good riddance Time Warner and Dish Network! "

 Husker wrote on August 29, 2008 3:46 pm:
" Good to hear that TW is still having problems. I switched to DISH Network SAT last year and I've had no problems like TW had. Only drawback to Sat systems is the rain/snow interference but that is rare. I had no problems missing the Democratic Convention since I'm a Repubican. HA! Now I hear they may have to postpone/move the REP Convention due to Hurricane Gustav. I would suggest those who are tired of TW's monkey business, give Dish Network a try!! Go Huskers!! LJK, "

 Comm UnSense wrote on August 29, 2008 3:54 pm:
" Some things never change. My parents used to complain about grasshoppers and dust storms. Now we complain about losing the recording schedule on our DVR's. Its a tough life, no matter what generation you're part of. "

 Glitch Headache wrote on August 29, 2008 3:58 pm:
" I was one of the affected ones. I lost some cool documentaries that I will now have to wait to be run again on PBS and the History Channel. I can get current movies off of HBO and Starz. But this was an incredibly stupid incident. I fired off an email and I have to give TW credit, they called me today and did offer me 3 months of free dvr rental. But it does not make up for ongoing issues with their software. I am so very disappointed in their service. But I keep giving them more time to fix things. "

 JT wrote on August 29, 2008 3:58 pm:
" Well I was one of the 3%. Thanks Time Warner for your awesomely terrible service. "

 EthicalONE wrote on August 29, 2008 4:16 pm:
" Moved to Omaha and got COX cable. Best thing as far as cable service around here, period. Better service, equipment, guide, HD channels and selection, (almost 40 HD channels now) and price. TW was a complete joke. "

 Worthless Cable wrote on August 29, 2008 4:46 pm:
" There can't be a single person in Lincoln that is happy with Time Warner, and that's not good. Usually that means something needs to happen, but I'm sure nothing will. Time Warner has been a problem since I moved to Lincoln in 2004. "

 CS wrote on August 29, 2008 4:54 pm:
" Since you don't own the equipment they are not going to give you information on how to take the unit apart to get to the hard drive. If you want that kind of functionality you should buy your own DVR or build one using an old computer and a TV card. Its not that hard. "

 TG wrote on August 29, 2008 5:13 pm:
" When you TWC customers learn? I switched to cable a year ago after the last bout of DVR problems and Time Warner excuses. I couldn't be happier! And I pay less for more! In fact, most of my neighborhood has gone to cable. Maybe TWC customers need to get a clue and find a TV service that will actually provide you with service. "

 Network Savvy wrote on August 29, 2008 5:50 pm:
" Well now. Due to congestion on their pipes TWC moved traffic from one hub to another. This resulted in setting my DVR box configuration to defaults and erasing all my recorded programs. Not possible, commands were issued from TWC to the DVR boxes causing this situation.

TWC underbuilt their infrastructure. They then sold, and continue to sell, services they can't deliver. Public Service Commission, Mayor and City Council, are you paying attention? "

 Yea Right wrote on August 29, 2008 6:28 pm:
" Just Rebooting the dvr won't factory default the system - they were testing out a patch and it backfired - oh well who needs customer service?
Thanks again Time Warner! "

 Steve wrote on August 29, 2008 6:34 pm:
" I've got DirecTv - I own my DVR (and thus can back it up to an external harddrive if I so choose), don't have any of these "glitches" I keep hearing about from TWC, and pay less than TWC for the same stuff. Kind of a no-brainer to me... "

 TW Customer wrote on August 29, 2008 9:03 pm:
" I realize that this is quite an inconvenience for everone, but there really is no need to call and yell at Time Warners employees! They have no control over it and I'm sure have had to take all kinds of people yelling at them and being extremely rude for something THEY can't control! "

 Same stuff wrote on August 29, 2008 11:33 pm:
" i got tired of Time Warner constantly having "problems" and charging more. I switched to DirectTv, i pay the same amount but get five times the number of HD channels and three times the number of channels. My dvr works great. "

 lp wrote on August 29, 2008 11:40 pm:
" Big surprise with the "cheap" TW DVR's. We have had many problems throughout the years, but have been problem free for some time now. For all of you Direct TV people...I will not de-value my home and property with the installation of 1...2...3...4 dishes on my roof or in my front yard. Personal choice I guess, but in my eyes...I might as well have an El Camino on blocks in front yard. So I will continue "knocking on wood" that my cheap DVR performs when called upon. "

 Get a clue whiners wrote on August 30, 2008 12:54 pm:
" Hey TG... Time Warner IS cable. DVR is just a box that offers digital video recording. I've had TW cable for years and have rarely ever had any 'glitches'. Every company is going to experience a glitch some time or another, Lincoln just has a lot of people that like to complain about the first little thing that goes wrong, weather it's cable service, dish service, or cell phone service. "

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