InfiniTV - Terrible quality + No Phone support

[blanco]

Just finishing putting together a new HTPC with fairly high-end components, ASUS z77-Pro motherboard, 16GB corsair ram, i7 3750 process etc., just to make sure that the components wouldn't be the weak link.

Received the InifiniTV yesterday, have spent all day trying to get it to be recognized and while it is recognized by the CETON diagnostic tool, Windows Media Center says "No Tuner Found".

Contacted CETON support, few hours pass, get an email response, ask for diagnostic logs, more hours, more emails, finally they say the card is bad and I need to RMA.

I am looking around the web and here as well and the number of RMAs and problems with this card is amazing. I have to wonder what the QA guys are doing ? Mine is not even a compatibility issue.. just that the card is bad. I can't even see the Host ID, Data ID.

Very very upset. I am still within the 30-day return Window for Amazon. Should I return to Amazon or RMA to Ceton. And why do I need to pay return shipping for something thats CETON's fault.

And lastly, CETON guys, WHY DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY PHONE SUPPORT ??? This email thingy takes days and it is very frustrating when trying to get something to work.

[erkotz]

I found what I believe is your support ticket, and I looked through it. The ticket was opened this morning, and after troubleshooting, we have already offered you a replacement InfiniTV and are awaiting your response. It looks like the longest we took to respond to a message from you was 3 hours, and we responded a total of 5 times today. I understand that you are frustrated that your new toy isn't functioning correctly, however, assuming this indeed the correct ticket, we troubleshoot the issue and offered an RMA the same day the ticket was opened - that's certainly not "days"
Regarding phone support, we perform support through our ticketing system as in most cases, significant amounts of data are sent back and forth, which would not be possible on the phone. Furthermore, ticket-based support is actually more efficient for both parties, as for the customer, you don't have to wait on the line for an hour while we look over data, and for us, as we don't have to wait on the line while the data is collected.

[blanco]

I am NOT paying you for an RMA. I am paying you for a working product. PERIOD. Simple question.. Did you not the test the card before sending it out ? Clearly looking at the 1 STAR reviews on Amazon and here, that seems to be the case. If you are testing the cards, how in the world do I end up with a bad card.

Understand this from your customer's point of view: First of all, for whatever reason, when ordering through Amazon it takes 4-5 business days for processing! Plus 2-3 business days for it to reach me. Thats a week and a half gone, from the time I placed the order till I get the card, and that right there starts you off on a poor relationship with a new customer. So you start off with a customer that has waited way longer than normal for a typical Amazon purchase which takes around 2-3 days with Prime. And after that long wait, it doesn't work.

If I didn't have Prime, I would be out of pocket for the shipping, and likely would have to also pay to ship the old one back (your email doesn't mention any pre-paid return shippping). And then the cherry on top is I now get what is likely a refurbished replacement card when I am paying for a brand new one, and that too on a card thats no more than 2 days old!!! NOT ACCEPTABLE.

So I will ask you again - As the QA Manager, you should be able to tell me if you test these cards before sending them out to customers because I doubt they are getting somehow damaged in transit.

As far as the phone support goes, let customers make that choice. If they want to stay on the phone, then so be it. I have two suggestions that you may want to consider:
1. With the amount of time you guys have been at this, you should by now have automation that can analyze most customer logs automatically and spot common issues. LIkely you will be able to close out the majority of 'card not working' issues in minutes rather than hours it takes for a skilled human to look through dozens of txt logs.
2. Consider using WebEx/LogMeIn to have a tech support agent login to the customer's machine directly. I think you will be able to eliminate a lot of miscommunication a lot quicker.

I am sure you have read the 1/2 star reviews on Amazon about how email exchanges can run into days. I dont know which ticket you looked at, but yes, it didn't happen with me, but it happens with a lot of folks.

At the end of the day, I am still a fan of the CETON InfiniTV, just based on what I have heard, and am still hopeful I can get it to work once I get a new one after the holidays. I am going to return the card to Amazon and then order a NEW one later.

[kingwr]

Wow! I hope this guy never has problems with his cell phone bill or his refrigerator. He will have a heart attack.

[barnabas1969]

@blanco: Ceton's support has been among the best companies I've ever dealt with. When my first InfiniTV card died (possibly my fault), they cross-shipped a new one OVERNIGHT at their expense. You have to understand that every product will have some failures. It's a lot more likely for people to post negative feedback than it is for people to post positive feedback. If you see lots of negative reviews on Amazon, it doesn't necessarily represent the true picture. There are plenty of people who are exceedingly happy with their InfiniTV tuner... and most of them probably never posted a review at Amazon.

Be patient, take a deep breath, and RMA the card. Ceton will take care of you.

[wmcuser1233]

There are plenty of people who are exceedingly happy with their InfiniTV tuner... and most of them probably never posted a review at Amazon.

This. I am one of those people that hasn't posted a review. If i would post one, it would be 5 stars.

[volfan6415]

There are plenty of people who are exceedingly happy with their InfiniTV tuner... and most of them probably never posted a review at Amazon.

This. I am one of those people that hasn't posted a review. If i would post one, it would be 5 stars.

+1

[fiteclub]

I am NOT paying you for an RMA. I am paying you for a working product. PERIOD. Simple question.. Did you not the test the card before sending it out ? Clearly looking at the 1 STAR reviews on Amazon and here, that seems to be the case. If you are testing the cards, how in the world do I end up with a bad card.

Understand this from your customer's point of view: First of all, for whatever reason, when ordering through Amazon it takes 4-5 business days for processing! Plus 2-3 business days for it to reach me. Thats a week and a half gone, from the time I placed the order till I get the card, and that right there starts you off on a poor relationship with a new customer. So you start off with a customer that has waited way longer than normal for a typical Amazon purchase which takes around 2-3 days with Prime. And after that long wait, it doesn't work.

If I didn't have Prime, I would be out of pocket for the shipping, and likely would have to also pay to ship the old one back (your email doesn't mention any pre-paid return shippping). And then the cherry on top is I now get what is likely a refurbished replacement card when I am paying for a brand new one, and that too on a card thats no more than 2 days old!!! NOT ACCEPTABLE.

So I will ask you again - As the QA Manager, you should be able to tell me if you test these cards before sending them out to customers because I doubt they are getting somehow damaged in transit.

As far as the phone support goes, let customers make that choice. If they want to stay on the phone, then so be it. I have two suggestions that you may want to consider:
1. With the amount of time you guys have been at this, you should by now have automation that can analyze most customer logs automatically and spot common issues. LIkely you will be able to close out the majority of 'card not working' issues in minutes rather than hours it takes for a skilled human to look through dozens of txt logs.
2. Consider using WebEx/LogMeIn to have a tech support agent login to the customer's machine directly. I think you will be able to eliminate a lot of miscommunication a lot quicker.

I am sure you have read the 1/2 star reviews on Amazon about how email exchanges can run into days. I dont know which ticket you looked at, but yes, it didn't happen with me, but it happens with a lot of folks.

At the end of the day, I am still a fan of the CETON InfiniTV, just based on what I have heard, and am still hopeful I can get it to work once I get a new one after the holidays. I am going to return the card to Amazon and then order a NEW one later.

Lighten up Francis.

Did you ever think that you may have damaged the card while installing it in your "high end" HTPC?? I really don't see how phone support would be any faster. As erkotz said, they need to see the logs in order to figure out what might be wrong. I do agree that Webex or Teamviewer sessions might be helpful in some cases.

I have had the InfiniTV4 for almost 2 years now and it works flawlessly. Most all of my troubles have to do with the TA which is the responsibility of the cable company.

[erkotz]

Did you ever think that you may have damaged the card while installing it in your "high end" HTPC?? I really don't see how phone support would be any faster. As erkotz said, they need to see the logs in order to figure out what might be wrong. I do agree that Webex or Teamviewer sessions might be helpful in some cases.

We actually do use a product similar to WebEx/Teamviewer to troubleshoot PCs on occasion, when we feel that it would be beneficial.

[barnabas1969]

Most all of my troubles have to do with the TA which is the responsibility of the cable company.

As much as I appreciate the EXCELLENT support from Ceton, I also have to add that almost ALL of my "Tuning Adapter problems" went away when I replaced it with an HD HomeRun Prime. I should also add that I've read that Ceton has released newer firmware/drivers (since I moved to an HD HomeRun Prime 6-10 months ago) that seem to have alleviated a lot of the TA problems for other users, as well as making channel changes faster.

I'll say that I'm much happier with my HD HomeRun Prime tuners (tuning speed is better and TA problems are GONE), but I cannot say that I ever had a problem with Ceton's support. SiliconDust may or may not provide good support... but I don't know... because I've never needed it.

I'll also say that the RECEIVE AND TRANSMIT signal quality/strength to/from your Tuning Adapter are of UTMOST IMPORTANCE. If you don't have good down-stream (receive, or FDC) and up-stream (transmit, or RDC) signal strength and quality... you are fighting a losing battle.

RDC = Return Data Channel (send to the cable company)
FDC = Forward Data Channel (receive from the cable company)

The FDC signal strength and quality (S/N, SNR, or Signal to Noise Ratio) should be the same as that for the tuner. You'll get best results with signal strength between -10 and +10dB (closest to zero is best). SNR should be at or near 35dB (higher is better).

The RDC should be between 25-50dB, but not more than 50dB. I've been told that 40dB is the "sweet spot".

Get these right before you blame Ceton.