[VOOM] Food for thought

[Bob Mankin]

I'm beginning to wonder if the expectations are a bit high for a relative
newcomer to the Satellite wars......

Show of hands; how many of you were there during the first year of DirecTV
or DISH? Do you recall any of the issues that so many are complaining about
today?

I wasn't there, so can't comment on specifics. But I would go out on a limb
and suggest they probably went through some of the same teething with
software glitches, limited programming and topped off with a few customer
service horror stories. Difference between then and now is the Internet and
groups such as this are a convenient medium to rant over your displeasure
for all to read.

-- I like the fact there is a new competitor in the space. Makes everyone
work harder for new customers and retention of existing ones.

-- I like the fact that senior people from within the company are listening
to the complaints to one degree or another and making effort to improve the
situation.

-- I like the fact that new programming is coming onboard and recognize that
it will NEVER be at a pace that keeps everyone happy.

-- I like the potential networked DVR solution and won't rant if it doesn't
make it to market this year as hoped/planned. Being in the tech field, I
recognize the technical obstacles involved and understand that engineering
schedules, more often than not, do slip.

I think airing the gripes is all good if offered as constructive criticism,
but the demands of immediate changes to suit ones personal desires/situation
is asking a bit much at this stage of the game, IMO. If you don't have a
reasonable amount of patience, this may not be the sat service for you.
There are two other companies to choose from, but each of those come with
their own set of issues.

Bob



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[vurbano]

nope, D* transmits at higher power. Has a better dish design with less rain fade. Boxes that work. And better HD Picture quality. They avoid horror stories by not supplying antennas. If you want local HD OTA you install the antenna yourself. The problem with D* is that there are only 6 HD channels I can recieve at this time.

 

[Dvlos]

vurbano man you are all over the place now, Dish has HORRIBLE PQ on SD Channels, you have to pay more for HD service on Dish and don't get as much as you do with Voom. The ONLY HD picture that does look better is HDNet I will give you that.. that is the ONLY one. Also I have DIsh nightmare billing stories as well, and their menu system flat out sucks a nut. It seems obvious that the true reason is that Dish and DTV alott higher bandwidth for HDNet, which I hope Voom does...

Hmm, let's recap, Voom is upgrading to better codecs, adding transponders, working on a DVR solution, and trying to bring in new channels. Hmm looks to me like we got a company that's doing something. Oh, and Wilt who replies to my emails and other peoples email PERSONALLY. Yeah what a bunch of crap DISH ROCKS.

Last year my folks had a problem with DIsh billing, they called and said they weren't paying it, because they never authorized those channels. Dish shut them off for like 2 days until they finally got a hold of a supervisor and complained... My In-laws want out of DirectTv they were outraged that they wanted more money and to BUY the STB to watch like 10 HD channels... they said when they're contract is up they want to go to Voom.

Result, CSRs in both cases have fallen over themselves and they've fixed issues that each was having (one had a bad STB they wanted to charge them for the service call, the other wanted a new room installed again they wanted to charge). Both results fixed free of charge. Point is, even if you sit there and cry and whine and bite your pillows at night over every issue Voom has (vurbano, I'm looking at you man), I think having a 3rd kid on the block MOST definately means better service for everyone from every company.

Even if Dtv has 10 million subs now, I am SURE they are not fine with having 9 million by end of next year. Voice your opinion constructively, and to the right people, at least Voom execs are LISTENING...

 

[berockin1]

[VOOM] Re: Food for thought

I feel it's better than nothing VOOM supplying an OTA antenna.
People should know what to expect going into the OTA situation.
Next people will want VOOM to install a 50 ft. tower to mount the
antenna on.

--- In VOOM@yahoogroups.com, vurbano <vurbano.19ehzy@n...> wrote:
>
> nope, D* transmits at higher power. Has a better dish design with
less
> rain fade. Boxes that work. And better HD Picture quality. They
avoid
> horror stories by not supplying antennas. If you want local HD OTA
you
> install the antenna yourself. The problem with D* is that there are
> only 6 HD channels I can recieve at this time.
>
>
> --
> vurbano



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[Technut]

Long live VOOM

viva vavavoom !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kentstater72]

VIVA VOOM also

I had voom installed a month ago and made up my mind at that time that patience was needed.
I am very satisfied when I am in front of the TV, less satisfied when I am reading this forum.
We are pioneers, we are going to take some arrows, but in the long run we will have the best damn HD service available.
My frustration is that I see a stagnant web site at Voom. I do not expect everything now, but it would be nice to see small increments, and roll outs regularly. We get worked up in the forum talking about software updates, PVR, and new programing, but it only exists in this forum, i see no mention of future plans on the Voom site.
Anyway I just turned my cheer leading for Voom into my personal negative rant.
Please disregard.

 

[Robert Heitner]

Well said.

_____

From: Dvlos [mailtovlos.19ej5m@nobody.satelliteguys.us]
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 3:53 PM
To: VOOM@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [VOOM] Food for thought



vurbano man you are all over the place now, Dish has HORRIBLE PQ on SD
Channels, you have to pay more for HD service on Dish and don't get as
much as you do with Voom. The ONLY HD picture that does look better is
HDNet I will give you that.. that is the ONLY one. Also I have DIsh
nightmare billing stories as well, and their menu system flat out sucks
a nut. It seems obvious that the true reason is that Dish and DTV alott
higher bandwidth for HDNet, which I hope Voom does...

Hmm, let's recap, Voom is upgrading to better codecs, adding
transponders, working on a DVR solution, and trying to bring in new
channels. Hmm looks to me like we got a company that's doing something.
Oh, and Wilt who replies to my emails and other peoples email
PERSONALLY. Yeah what a bunch of crap DISH ROCKS.

Last year my folks had a problem with DIsh billing, they called and
said they weren't paying it, because they never authorized those
channels. Dish shut them off for like 2 days until they finally got a
hold of a supervisor and complained... My In-laws want out of DirectTv
they were outraged that they wanted more money and to BUY the STB to
watch like 10 HD channels... they said when they're contract is up they
want to go to Voom.

Result, CSRs in both cases have fallen over themselves and they've
fixed issues that each was having (one had a bad STB they wanted to
charge them for the service call, the other wanted a new room
installed again they wanted to charge). Both results fixed free of
charge. Point is, even if you sit there and cry and whine and bite your
pillows at night over every issue Voom has (vurbano, I'm looking at you
man), I think having a 3rd kid on the block MOST definately means
better service for everyone from every company.

Even if Dtv has 10 million subs now, I am SURE they are not fine with
having 9 million by end of next year. Voice your opinion
constructively, and to the right people, at least Voom execs are
LISTENING...


--
Dvlos


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[gonzalez6653]

I would not have bought a HDTV at this time if it wern't for VOOM due to the lack of HD programming offered by "any" other delivery service. I guess I'm lucky here in the Ft.Lauderdale area as both Broward & Palm Beach County OTA network comes in clear,
crisp & w/great audio ( better than Adelphia Cable & DTv which I also still have as backup, just in case) I always have a choice of about 12 HD broadcasts to choose from and am watching stuff I never use to watch cause it looks so good on HD VOOM... I got on board with Tivo when it first came out and had my share of problems with Tivo in its infancy, I now can't live without Tivo... I feel the same about VOOM,
bitch & grip all we want, but there is nowhere else to enjoy this much HD programming with any other provider and thats why, I assume we have HDTVs... I believe VOOM will be the leader in HDTV Satellite Broadcast Market and I'm willing to put up with what mounts up to a hill of beans in the overall benefits VOOM offers HDTV owners.

Then again thats my opinion, I could be wrong...!!!

 

[vurbano]

vurbano man you are all over the place now, Dish has HORRIBLE PQ on SD Channels, you have to pay more for HD service on Dish and don't get as much as you do with Voom. The ONLY HD picture that does look better is HDNet I will give you that.. that is the ONLY one. Also I have DIsh nightmare billing stories as well, and their menu system flat out sucks a nut. It seems obvious that the true reason is that Dish and DTV alott higher bandwidth for HDNet, which I hope Voom does...

Hmm, let's recap, Voom is upgrading to better codecs, adding transponders, working on a DVR solution, and trying to bring in new channels. Hmm looks to me like we got a company that's doing something. Oh, and Wilt who replies to my emails and other peoples email PERSONALLY. Yeah what a bunch of crap DISH ROCKS.

Last year my folks had a problem with DIsh billing, they called and said they weren't paying it, because they never authorized those channels. Dish shut them off for like 2 days until they finally got a hold of a supervisor and complained... My In-laws want out of DirectTv they were outraged that they wanted more money and to BUY the STB to watch like 10 HD channels... they said when they're contract is up they want to go to Voom.

Result, CSRs in both cases have fallen over themselves and they've fixed issues that each was having (one had a bad STB they wanted to charge them for the service call, the other wanted a new room installed again they wanted to charge). Both results fixed free of charge. Point is, even if you sit there and cry and whine and bite your pillows at night over every issue Voom has (vurbano, I'm looking at you man), I think having a 3rd kid on the block MOST definately means better service for everyone from every company.

Even if Dtv has 10 million subs now, I am SURE they are not fine with having 9 million by end of next year. Voice your opinion constructively, and to the right people, at least Voom execs are LISTENING...

for your information D* is commonly used to denote Directv not dish. ANd I think everyone is aware that SD sucks on Dish (E*)

lemme know when Voom adds transponders. We all know they have some additional leases starting in October.

As well as the PVR

O and the new codec.

FYI, D* or DTV has over 12 million subs. I think they added over 400,000 last quarter. D* has launched one sat this year and plans 2 more launches next year with plans for HD local in local in 30 markets over the nxt 3 years. You cant be serious about D* losing a significant number of customers to Voom? A million or more? It will be 3 years before voom has a million customers total. its kind of funny predicting David slaying goliath when david cant even afford a sling yet (ie no spinoff yet, doesnt have enough cash to be considered a viable company)

All of it is lipservice at this point.

 

[Timothy fouts]

So what's your point?

On Jul 14, 2004, at 8:25 PM, vurbano wrote:

>
> Dvlos Wrote:
> > vurbano man you are all over the place now, Dish has HORRIBLE PQ on
> SD
> > Channels, you have to pay more for HD service on Dish and don't get
> as
> > much as you do with Voom. The ONLY HD picture that does look better
> is
> > HDNet I will give you that.. that is the ONLY one. Also I have DIsh
> > nightmare billing stories as well, and their menu system flat out
> sucks
> > a nut. It seems obvious that the true reason is that Dish and DTV
> alott
> > higher bandwidth for HDNet, which I hope Voom does...
> >
> > Hmm, let's recap, Voom is upgrading to better codecs, adding
> > transponders, working on a DVR solution, and trying to bring in new
> > channels. Hmm looks to me like we got a company that's doing
> something.
> > Oh, and Wilt who replies to my emails and other peoples email
> > PERSONALLY. Yeah what a bunch of crap DISH ROCKS.
> >
> > Last year my folks had a problem with DIsh billing, they called and
> > said they weren't paying it, because they never authorized those
> > channels. Dish shut them off for like 2 days until they finally got
> a
> > hold of a supervisor and complained... My In-laws want out of
> DirectTv
> > they were outraged that they wanted more money and to BUY the STB to
> > watch like 10 HD channels... they said when they're contract is up
> they
> > want to go to Voom.
> >
> > Result, CSRs in both cases have fallen over themselves and they've
> > fixed issues that each was having (one had a bad STB they wanted to
> > charge them for the service call, the other wanted a new room
> installed
> > again they wanted to charge). Both results fixed free of charge.
> Point
> > is, even if you sit there and cry and whine and bite your pillows at
> > night over every issue Voom has (vurbano, I'm looking at you man), I
> > think having a 3rd kid on the block MOST definately means better
> > service for everyone from every company.
> >
> > Even if Dtv has 10 million subs now, I am SURE they are not fine
> with
> > having 9 million by end of next year. Voice your opinion
> > constructively, and to the right people, at least Voom execs are
> > LISTENING...for your information D* is commonly used to denote
> Directv not dish. ANd
> I think everyone is aware that SD sucks on Dish (E*)
>
> lemme know when Voom adds transponders. We all know they have some
> additional leases starting in October.
>
> As well as the PVR
>
> O and the new codec.
>
> FYI, D* or DTV has over 12 million subs. I think they added over
> 400,000 last quarter. D* has launched one sat this year and plans 2
> more launches next year with plans for HD local in local in 30 markets
> over the nxt 3 years. You cant be serious about D* losing a
> significant
> number of customers to Voom? A million or more? It will be 3 years
> before voom has a million customers total. its kind of funny
> predicting
> David slaying goliath when david cant even afford a sling yet (ie no
> spinoff yet, doesnt have enough cash to be considered a viable
> company)
>
> All of it is lipservice at this point.
>
>
> --
> vurbano
>
>
>
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[krose_59]

[VOOM] Re: Food for thought

While constructive criticism is usually helpful, your incessant
diatribe again Voom is getting to be a bit tiresome. If you don't
like Voom, fine, but just go away and watch your five whole HD
channels on the provider of your choic3e.




--- In VOOM@yahoogroups.com, vurbano <vurbano.19ehzy@n...> wrote:
>
> nope, D* transmits at higher power. Has a better dish design with
less
> rain fade. Boxes that work. And better HD Picture quality. They
avoid
> horror stories by not supplying antennas. If you want local HD OTA
you
> install the antenna yourself. The problem with D* is that there are
> only 6 HD channels I can recieve at this time.
>
>
> --
> vurbano



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[owlbox]

Amen!

 

[gutter]

I may not agree with Vurbano on every issue but I am thankful he is saying it. he and others who are pushing VOOM to keep their promise of outstanding PQ (which it is not at this time) . I agree that VOOM is young and has growing pains. Perhaps that's why we got such great deals right now. But consider yourself a tester and this is your report forum...good and bad. But don't try to shut down anyone's right o express that opinion. Debate him on the points but don't ask him to shut-up. This or any other forum was not created to be a "yes" man to any company. In this way we get a better product and help VOOM survive.

 

[gammadude]

I subscribed to Dtv 10/94, rollout year.

Similarities to Voom rollout:
Equipment expensive (approx. $600) and only avail. at Sears
PQ was horrible
- MPEG1 was used for several months before switch to MPEG2
- Channels had severe pixelaton problems and Music Choice was distorted and
dropped frequently

Differences:
Self install was always an option with purchased kit
Pro-install was not free
No option for integrated local channels

I never had a problem with the original RCA receiver. It was SLOW compared to today's standards. I am surprised by the problems with the Motorola receiver not with the changing PQ. Hopefully both will stabilize soon.