Sears tech arrives to service Sony HDTV and asks...

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

...."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.

Having heard so much about how good Sears tech service was, I bought their
3-year warranty along with my Sony KDF-60XS955 TV. Sure enough, it was no
problem at all to arrange to have a tech come out to check out my TV. I had
been told that there was a firmware update for the TV and I also have been
having an occasional "CableCard Error 161-6" problem and a couple of other
little things.

This guy -- nice guy, very earnest, wanted to be helpful -- had to ask me
what a CableCard was. He had never heard of one. Had, apparently, never
seen my model TV before and had no knowledge of it whatsoever. I don't
think there was one thing that we discussed that he knew anything about.

But he did call back to his office, found out that, yes, there was a
firmware update. It comes on a memory stick, which they are mailing to me
and he is going to come back out next week to do the update. I asked him
why we needed to do that, since there are supposed to be on-screen
instructions, so what do we need him for, since he doesn't know any more
about it than I do? He said that, well, if I didn't mind waiting until he
got there, he'd like to watch while I did it. OK. I made him a CD copy of
some .pdf downloads I had of all the CableCard error codes.

As he left, he said, "Thanks for letting me learn on your time." Almost
funny. He gave me a receipt for the warranty visit. According to the
receipt, that visit was $144, which, I presume, gets billed by Sears to
Sony. If Sony is putting up with that, no wonder they're going broke!

mack
austin

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
> As he left, he said, "Thanks for letting me learn on your time." Almost
> funny. He gave me a receipt for the warranty visit. According to the
> receipt, that visit was $144, which, I presume, gets billed by Sears to
> Sony. If Sony is putting up with that, no wonder they're going broke!

I doubt that Sears bills Sony. You did pay for a "Sears" 3 year warranty
right? The warranty program within sears probably pays that $144.

--Dan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Problem is endemic in the whole service business. The manufactures are not
giving appropriate training on their new products and expect the techs to
gain the knowledge by assumption. The employers are just as frivolous about
training on the newer technologies expecting techs to learn at their own
expense on their own time. The question does not surprise me at all, sad to
say. Yea, technicial training manuals and materials can be downloaded for
the manufacturer's respective sites and the techs can read, print, to ignore
that source of information. Again, NOT on COMPANY TIME per many BEAN
COUNTERS!! They just want the total number of completes going up regardless
of the increase of complex nature of the new technologies being introduced
into the consumer electronics marketplace.
"dg" <dan_gus@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:_SeJd.14563$wZ2.2585@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>> As he left, he said, "Thanks for letting me learn on your time." Almost
>> funny. He gave me a receipt for the warranty visit. According to the
>> receipt, that visit was $144, which, I presume, gets billed by Sears to
>> Sony. If Sony is putting up with that, no wonder they're going broke!
>
> I doubt that Sears bills Sony. You did pay for a "Sears" 3 year warranty
> right? The warranty program within sears probably pays that $144.
>
> --Dan
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
> ..."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.

This is the kind of scary story that has got me thinking maybe I should go
conservative and get a CRT-based HDTV until microdisplays are sorted out
better. My 5-year old 36 inch Sony direct view CRT has soldiered on like a
fridge, so I guess I'm spoiled when it comes to reliability.

I'm seeing good things on the AVS forum about the new Samsung 47 inch
tabletop HC-P4752W, which appeals to me because of its height, weight (less
than half of my Sony) and HDMI plug. It's a very new model, but based on old
technology. And at a price a third of my other choice (JVC ILA) I can afford
to throw it away after a few years.

 

[curmudgeon]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Have no doubt you're right, Art...but how sad.
I work part-time at Home Depot and they are obsessed with training...right
down to part-timers.
So...I get 4 hours of training on pressure washers which cost $500(on
company time btw)...and too many electronics techs get none.
Like I said, sad.


"Art" <plotsligt@comcast.net> wrote in message
news😛mdnXLORv1SvmvcRVn-hw@comcast.com...
> Problem is endemic in the whole service business. The manufactures are not
> giving appropriate training on their new products and expect the techs to
> gain the knowledge by assumption. The employers are just as frivolous
> about training on the newer technologies expecting techs to learn at their
> own expense on their own time. The question does not surprise me at all,
> sad to say. Yea, technicial training manuals and materials can be
> downloaded for the manufacturer's respective sites and the techs can read,
> print, to ignore that source of information. Again, NOT on COMPANY TIME
> per many BEAN COUNTERS!! They just want the total number of completes
> going up regardless of the increase of complex nature of the new
> technologies being introduced into the consumer electronics marketplace.
> "dg" <dan_gus@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:_SeJd.14563$wZ2.2585@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
>> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
>> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>>> As he left, he said, "Thanks for letting me learn on your time." Almost
>>> funny. He gave me a receipt for the warranty visit. According to the
>>> receipt, that visit was $144, which, I presume, gets billed by Sears to
>>> Sony. If Sony is putting up with that, no wonder they're going broke!
>>
>> I doubt that Sears bills Sony. You did pay for a "Sears" 3 year warranty
>> right? The warranty program within sears probably pays that $144.
>>
>> --Dan
>>
>>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"dg" <dan_gus@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:_SeJd.14563$wZ2.2585@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>> As he left, he said, "Thanks for letting me learn on your time." Almost
>> funny. He gave me a receipt for the warranty visit. According to the
>> receipt, that visit was $144, which, I presume, gets billed by Sears to
>> Sony. If Sony is putting up with that, no wonder they're going broke!
>
> I doubt that Sears bills Sony. You did pay for a "Sears" 3 year warranty
> right? The warranty program within sears probably pays that $144.

You're probably right. I was also thinking this after I posted my previous
message. But Sears does provide some of the Sony warranty service in some
markets. I wonder if, where they have that arrangement, they could not bill
Sears for warranty work within the first year. Hmmm.

Also occurs to me that if I could also try the local Sony warranty service
center if I had something that I thought they might know more about. As for
this firmware update, sounds as though I could handle that one, once the
update on the memory stick arrives. Stick it in the hole and follow
onscreen directions, according to what the Sears tech was told on the phone.

mack
austin

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Dave Gower" <davegow.removethis@magma.ca> wrote in message
news:fvudnaZHUsnC0mvcRVn-oQ@magma.ca...
>
> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>> ..."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.
>
> This is the kind of scary story that has got me thinking maybe I should go
> conservative and get a CRT-based HDTV until microdisplays are sorted out
> better. My 5-year old 36 inch Sony direct view CRT has soldiered on like a
> fridge, so I guess I'm spoiled when it comes to reliability.

Happily, (knock on wood) nothing serious has gone wrong with my Sony set so
far. The problems I had the Sears tech out about are more annoyances than
anything else. And, within the first year, I could also call Sony for a
service call and hope that their warranty tech knows more than the Sears guy
did.

mack
austin

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
message news:%tsJd.64794$Ta2.40567@fe2.texas.rr.com...
>
> "Dave Gower" <davegow.removethis@magma.ca> wrote in message
> news:fvudnaZHUsnC0mvcRVn-oQ@magma.ca...
>>
>> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
>> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>>> ..."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.
>>
>> This is the kind of scary story that has got me thinking maybe I should
>> go conservative and get a CRT-based HDTV until microdisplays are sorted
>> out better. My 5-year old 36 inch Sony direct view CRT has soldiered on
>> like a fridge, so I guess I'm spoiled when it comes to reliability.
>
> Happily, (knock on wood) nothing serious has gone wrong with my Sony set
> so far. The problems I had the Sears tech out about are more annoyances
> than anything else. And, within the first year, I could also call Sony
> for a service call and hope that their warranty tech knows more than the
> Sears guy did.
>
> mack
> austin
>Sorry Mack, Sony won't service their products if you bought it from Sears.
>Sears buys from Sony and pays less because they do the service. I speak
>from experience. I had one of the early lcd projectors which had bad
>bulbs. Sony was about to send me a replacement bulb but didn't because I
>bought it from Sears. Murray

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
message news:%tsJd.64794$Ta2.40567@fe2.texas.rr.com...
>
> "Dave Gower" <davegow.removethis@magma.ca> wrote in message
> news:fvudnaZHUsnC0mvcRVn-oQ@magma.ca...
>>
>> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
>> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>>> ..."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.
>>
>> This is the kind of scary story that has got me thinking maybe I should
>> go conservative and get a CRT-based HDTV until microdisplays are sorted
>> out better. My 5-year old 36 inch Sony direct view CRT has soldiered on
>> like a fridge, so I guess I'm spoiled when it comes to reliability.
>
> Happily, (knock on wood) nothing serious has gone wrong with my Sony set
> so far. The problems I had the Sears tech out about are more annoyances
> than anything else. And, within the first year, I could also call Sony
> for a service call and hope that their warranty tech knows more than the
> Sears guy did.
>
> mack
> austin
>Sorry Mack, Sony won't service their products if you bought it from Sears.
>Sears buys from Sony and pays less because they do the service. I speak
>from experience. I had one of the early lcd projectors which had bad
>bulbs. Sony was about to send me a replacement bulb but didn't because I
>bought it from Sears. Murray

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
message news:%tsJd.64794$Ta2.40567@fe2.texas.rr.com...
>
> "Dave Gower" <davegow.removethis@magma.ca> wrote in message
> news:fvudnaZHUsnC0mvcRVn-oQ@magma.ca...
>>
>> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
>> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>>> ..."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.
>>
>> This is the kind of scary story that has got me thinking maybe I should
>> go conservative and get a CRT-based HDTV until microdisplays are sorted
>> out better. My 5-year old 36 inch Sony direct view CRT has soldiered on
>> like a fridge, so I guess I'm spoiled when it comes to reliability.
>
> Happily, (knock on wood) nothing serious has gone wrong with my Sony set
> so far. The problems I had the Sears tech out about are more annoyances
> than anything else. And, within the first year, I could also call Sony
> for a service call and hope that their warranty tech knows more than the
> Sears guy did.
>
> mack
> austin
>Sorry Mack, Sony won't service their products if you bought it from Sears.
>Sears buys from Sony and pays less because they do the service. I speak
>from experience. I had one of the early lcd projectors which had bad
>bulbs. Sony was about to send me a replacement bulb but didn't because I
>bought it from Sears. Murray

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
message news:%tsJd.64794$Ta2.40567@fe2.texas.rr.com...
>
> "Dave Gower" <davegow.removethis@magma.ca> wrote in message
> news:fvudnaZHUsnC0mvcRVn-oQ@magma.ca...
>>
>> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
>> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>>> ..."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.
>>
>> This is the kind of scary story that has got me thinking maybe I should
>> go conservative and get a CRT-based HDTV until microdisplays are sorted
>> out better. My 5-year old 36 inch Sony direct view CRT has soldiered on
>> like a fridge, so I guess I'm spoiled when it comes to reliability.
>
> Happily, (knock on wood) nothing serious has gone wrong with my Sony set
> so far. The problems I had the Sears tech out about are more annoyances
> than anything else. And, within the first year, I could also call Sony
> for a service call and hope that their warranty tech knows more than the
> Sears guy did.
>
> mack
> austin
>Sorry Mack, Sony won't service their products if you bought it from Sears.
>Sears buys from Sony and pays less because they do the service. I speak
>from experience. I had one of the early lcd projectors which had bad
>bulbs. Sony was about to send me a replacement bulb but didn't because I
>bought it from Sears. Murray

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
message news:%tsJd.64794$Ta2.40567@fe2.texas.rr.com...
> Happily, (knock on wood) nothing serious has gone wrong with my Sony set
> so far. The problems I had the Sears tech out about are more annoyances
> than anything else. And, within the first year, I could also call Sony
> for a service call and hope that their warranty tech knows more than the
> Sears guy did.
>
> mack
> austin

If anybody reading this ever has to call Sony for warranty service, be aware
you need to be persistant. When you call, get an incident number of some
kind. Call the next day for an update. Call again the next day. And the
next. You WILL get service from them, if you are persistant. They fixed my
set after a board failure, JUST after 90 days parts/labor was up. Cost me
nothing-my faith in Sony is restored!

If you don't get an incident # to reference during your next calls, you will
likely be generating a new one each call you make. So get a # the first
time you call and use it every time you call back.

--Dan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Funny you should mention this. I called comcast about getting a cable card
for my 62725. It's my first experience with HDTV so I'm learning as I go.
Anyway, the lady tells me that I can pick up the card at my local comcast
office and that I need to subscribe to hd AND digital service from comcast.
Fine. Local comcast office is 1.5 miles away...no biggie. I'll wait until
tomorrow(Wednesday).

I get there and it's total kaos!! I'm standing in line, 6 deep, 2 lanes and
it's come to my attention that they're out of cable boxes!! hehe people are
PISSED. This is 2 days before the weekend and the nfl championships!! Long
story short (sorry to ramble)I finally make it up to the counter and request
my cable card and the fact that I'd like to subcribe to digital and hd tv.
The lady informs me that I don't need to subscribe to digital to get HD and
that they do NOT hand out cable cards. Hmmm...Comcast, a company selling
communication, isn't. You have to schedule an appointment and have one
installed!!! UUUUGGGGHHHHH!! Now I know how the people that left without
cable boxes feel!! I drive home.

I call back. Complain. They say they'll have a tech out by 11am Friday.
I'm there at 10am. Cable truck pulls up at 11:30. Not bad. Guy comes in
and says, "Hi, I'm here to install your cable card. Of which, I only have
ONE and I've never installed any." Damn. I have friends coming over on
Sunday to watch the games and I get a tech that has NEVER installed a cable
card, only has one left and the local comcast is out of cable boxes. Glad I
have a pet rabbit. I rubbed his foot, and showed the guy where to push the
card in on the back of the set. I show him the procedure to initialize. We
then turn it on. It fires up, he calls and gives the person on the other
end a bunch of codes. The card downloads. We turn the set off and
on....BINGO, HDTV.

Sometimes things work out. The games where fantastic. The reception and
the dolby sound blew me away. Unfortunately, my friends are returning for
the superbowl:-(

Don



"Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
> ..."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.
>
> Having heard so much about how good Sears tech service was, I bought their
> 3-year warranty along with my Sony KDF-60XS955 TV. Sure enough, it was no
> problem at all to arrange to have a tech come out to check out my TV. I
> had been told that there was a firmware update for the TV and I also have
> been having an occasional "CableCard Error 161-6" problem and a couple of
> other little things.
>
> This guy -- nice guy, very earnest, wanted to be helpful -- had to ask me
> what a CableCard was. He had never heard of one. Had, apparently, never
> seen my model TV before and had no knowledge of it whatsoever. I don't
> think there was one thing that we discussed that he knew anything about.
>
> But he did call back to his office, found out that, yes, there was a
> firmware update. It comes on a memory stick, which they are mailing to me
> and he is going to come back out next week to do the update. I asked him
> why we needed to do that, since there are supposed to be on-screen
> instructions, so what do we need him for, since he doesn't know any more
> about it than I do? He said that, well, if I didn't mind waiting until he
> got there, he'd like to watch while I did it. OK. I made him a CD copy
> of some .pdf downloads I had of all the CableCard error codes.
>
> As he left, he said, "Thanks for letting me learn on your time." Almost
> funny. He gave me a receipt for the warranty visit. According to the
> receipt, that visit was $144, which, I presume, gets billed by Sears to
> Sony. If Sony is putting up with that, no wonder they're going broke!
>
> mack
> austin
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

You can probably "use" the four hours pressure washer training for the next
10 years, while any training on a particular piece of electronics gear or
even technology will be out of date within months. There's no way for the
techs to be up to speed on every piece, but they should be able to have
quick access to good support. That's where a company like Sony miserable
fails, to get someone on the phone that knows what he's talking about is
impossible. You are just getting stuck pushing buttons on a phone, and
that's all.


"curmudgeon" <curmudgeon@buzzoff.net> wrote in message
news:ILtJd.20272$Gj.4831@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> Have no doubt you're right, Art...but how sad.
> I work part-time at Home Depot and they are obsessed with training...right
> down to part-timers.
> So...I get 4 hours of training on pressure washers which cost $500(on
> company time btw)...and too many electronics techs get none.
> Like I said, sad.
>
>
> "Art" <plotsligt@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news😛mdnXLORv1SvmvcRVn-hw@comcast.com...
>> Problem is endemic in the whole service business. The manufactures are
>> not giving appropriate training on their new products and expect the
>> techs to gain the knowledge by assumption. The employers are just as
>> frivolous about training on the newer technologies expecting techs to
>> learn at their own expense on their own time. The question does not
>> surprise me at all, sad to say. Yea, technicial training manuals and
>> materials can be downloaded for the manufacturer's respective sites and
>> the techs can read, print, to ignore that source of information. Again,
>> NOT on COMPANY TIME per many BEAN COUNTERS!! They just want the total
>> number of completes going up regardless of the increase of complex nature
>> of the new technologies being introduced into the consumer electronics
>> marketplace.
>> "dg" <dan_gus@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:_SeJd.14563$wZ2.2585@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
>>> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote
>>> in message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>>>> As he left, he said, "Thanks for letting me learn on your time."
>>>> Almost funny. He gave me a receipt for the warranty visit. According
>>>> to the receipt, that visit was $144, which, I presume, gets billed by
>>>> Sears to Sony. If Sony is putting up with that, no wonder they're
>>>> going broke!
>>>
>>> I doubt that Sears bills Sony. You did pay for a "Sears" 3 year
>>> warranty right? The warranty program within sears probably pays that
>>> $144.
>>>
>>> --Dan
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Hasenpfeffer" <hasenpfeffer@triad.rr.com> wrote in message
news:mqAJd.54168$fE4.7077746@twister.southeast.rr.com...
> You can probably "use" the four hours pressure washer training for the
> next 10 years, while any training on a particular piece of electronics
> gear or even technology will be out of date within months. There's no way
> for the techs to be up to speed on every piece, but they should be able to
> have quick access to good support. That's where a company like Sony
> miserable fails, to get someone on the phone that knows what he's talking
> about is impossible. You are just getting stuck pushing buttons on a
> phone, and that's all.

At least the guy who came out from Sears had someone he could call back at
the office, which he did. But the first guy he got on the phone obviously
knew as little as he did so he asked for someone else who he thought would
know more. The second person he talked to at least knew how to look up my
TV set's model and serial number to find out if they had a firmware update
for it, how to get it etc.

Still, by now, you would think that they would be past the point where a
service tech would have to ask the customer, "What's a CableCard?" A
ten-minute orientation in one of their stores, looking at the back of TV
sets, would have gotten him beyond that level.

mack
austin

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Hasenpfeffer" <hasenpfeffer@triad.rr.com> wrote in message
news:mqAJd.54168$fE4.7077746@twister.southeast.rr.com...
> You can probably "use" the four hours pressure washer training for the
next
> 10 years, while any training on a particular piece of electronics gear or
> even technology will be out of date within months. There's no way for the
> techs to be up to speed on every piece, but they should be able to have
> quick access to good support. That's where a company like Sony miserable
> fails, to get someone on the phone that knows what he's talking about is
> impossible. You are just getting stuck pushing buttons on a phone, and
> that's all.

I assume you are referring to Sony support from a consumer's perspective.
As a servicer, I find that Sony has some of the best support for techs.
Most companies don't do much training at all anymore and have tech support
that knows less than we do about the equipment and technology. Sony,
Mitsubishi, and Hitachi have some of the best. As a consumer, however, you
are stuck with the telephone answerers who just read from a flowchart or a
script to address FAQs.

As I have said many times, the quality of service on any particular brand is
going to depend most on the local service provider. A good tech who keeps
current on the technology and most frequently services your particular
product, and who is a factory ASC will usually be your best choice. Better
yet, but more rare, is to have a dealer with this capability.

Leonard

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

What you describe here was pretty much the situation when I got a CableCard
from Time-Warner Austin. They sent a tech out to "install" the card. He
showed up with one but had never installed one before, so he and I learned
together, using the manual. It took two days and two more techs plus
whoever was working on it back at the office for them to get the CableCard
(well, a second one, actually) and their equipment back at the office
synchronized enough to get the HD up and running. Then more tweaking a week
later to get it right. And there are still occasional drop-outs and
CableCard errors.

mack
austin



"M-Tech" <mechtechllc@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Y8ydnXhHaYDjbmvcRVn-ow@comcast.com...
> Funny you should mention this. I called comcast about getting a cable
> card for my 62725. It's my first experience with HDTV so I'm learning as
> I go. Anyway, the lady tells me that I can pick up the card at my local
> comcast office and that I need to subscribe to hd AND digital service from
> comcast. Fine. Local comcast office is 1.5 miles away...no biggie. I'll
> wait until tomorrow(Wednesday).
>
> I get there and it's total kaos!! I'm standing in line, 6 deep, 2 lanes
> and it's come to my attention that they're out of cable boxes!! hehe
> people are PISSED. This is 2 days before the weekend and the nfl
> championships!! Long story short (sorry to ramble)I finally make it up to
> the counter and request my cable card and the fact that I'd like to
> subcribe to digital and hd tv. The lady informs me that I don't need to
> subscribe to digital to get HD and that they do NOT hand out cable cards.
> Hmmm...Comcast, a company selling communication, isn't. You have to
> schedule an appointment and have one installed!!! UUUUGGGGHHHHH!! Now I
> know how the people that left without cable boxes feel!! I drive home.
>
> I call back. Complain. They say they'll have a tech out by 11am Friday.
> I'm there at 10am. Cable truck pulls up at 11:30. Not bad. Guy comes in
> and says, "Hi, I'm here to install your cable card. Of which, I only have
> ONE and I've never installed any." Damn. I have friends coming over on
> Sunday to watch the games and I get a tech that has NEVER installed a
> cable card, only has one left and the local comcast is out of cable boxes.
> Glad I have a pet rabbit. I rubbed his foot, and showed the guy where to
> push the card in on the back of the set. I show him the procedure to
> initialize. We then turn it on. It fires up, he calls and gives the
> person on the other end a bunch of codes. The card downloads. We turn
> the set off and on....BINGO, HDTV.
>
> Sometimes things work out. The games where fantastic. The reception and
> the dolby sound blew me away. Unfortunately, my friends are returning for
> the superbowl:-(
>
> Don
>
>
>
> "Mack McKinnon" <MckinnonRemoveThis@tvadmanDeleteThisAsWell.com> wrote in
> message news:XseJd.65447$Z%.32532@fe1.texas.rr.com...
>> ..."What's a CableCard?" I kid you not.
>>
>> Having heard so much about how good Sears tech service was, I bought
>> their 3-year warranty along with my Sony KDF-60XS955 TV. Sure enough, it
>> was no problem at all to arrange to have a tech come out to check out my
>> TV. I had been told that there was a firmware update for the TV and I
>> also have been having an occasional "CableCard Error 161-6" problem and a
>> couple of other little things.
>>
>> This guy -- nice guy, very earnest, wanted to be helpful -- had to ask me
>> what a CableCard was. He had never heard of one. Had, apparently, never
>> seen my model TV before and had no knowledge of it whatsoever. I don't
>> think there was one thing that we discussed that he knew anything about.
>>
>> But he did call back to his office, found out that, yes, there was a
>> firmware update. It comes on a memory stick, which they are mailing to
>> me and he is going to come back out next week to do the update. I asked
>> him why we needed to do that, since there are supposed to be on-screen
>> instructions, so what do we need him for, since he doesn't know any more
>> about it than I do? He said that, well, if I didn't mind waiting until
>> he got there, he'd like to watch while I did it. OK. I made him a CD
>> copy of some .pdf downloads I had of all the CableCard error codes.
>>
>> As he left, he said, "Thanks for letting me learn on your time." Almost
>> funny. He gave me a receipt for the warranty visit. According to the
>> receipt, that visit was $144, which, I presume, gets billed by Sears to
>> Sony. If Sony is putting up with that, no wonder they're going broke!
>>
>> mack
>> austin
>>
>
>