Revisit: Black Cloud in 1080p HD

A few months ago I posted my story about buying my new Westinghouse 42" 1080p HD monitor and discovering that it had a lock-up problem that was a known bug in the firmware. Well, almost 3 months after reporting the problem, the "Westinghouse/IAI" contractor finally called me in the 3rd week of October to schedule the upgrade appointment. He ended up coming out on the morning of Halloween and performing the upgrade. So far, no lock-ups. However, the black cloud never fails... now I have a "popping" sound when adjusting the volume. Damn you Black Cloud! Damn you to hell!

DirecTV HD DVR Update

This is a bit overdue, but the installer guy from DirecTV did show up a few weeks ago to check out my HD signal problem. He was later than his 12pm deadline, but I was happy he showed up at all. It was raining and the clouds were working against me. Amazingly the rain stopped and he showed up. After he spent a few minutes on my roof, my HD signal returned. He promised me there would be no more problems. I told him he doesn't know about my black cloud. Then I asked what the problem was. He then reluctantly told me that apparently the dish had fallen or something during transport in the back of his van (he was the same guy who initially installed it a week earlier). When the dish fell, something on the LNBs or the arm that holds them broke and caused the loss of signal. Nice. Since the fix, I've had no signal loss at all.

(I'm knocking on wood right now.)

Fog update

Took back both bad foggers. I found another ground fogger machine at another store and bought it. Same brand as before, but this time it worked. It does put out fog, but unfortunately, it's no where near as much as I really need. The 400w heater doesn't stay hot long enough to really pump out the amount of fog required to fill a small garden area like I want to do. So, I'll use it for one night this year, hope it works enough for people to notice it, and then I'll put it on eBay.

I give up.

I can see the clouds through the fog...

This year on Halloween night, my wife decided to throw a halloween party for our boys and a few of their friends. I've always wanted to decorate the yard for Halloween so I went out and bought some orange/purple mini-lights, a few fake tomb stones, some gates with skulls on them to outline the display and some strobe lights. And finally, the star of the show... a fog machine.

First I bought a fog machine from Target. Later I found out that there are differences and what I really wanted was a ground fog machine. These cool the fog as it exits the machine so that it stays on the ground instead of just filling the entire room with fog. So, I went to Party City and bought one. I should have known the black cloud was looming overhead when I saw that they only had one. But, I bought it.

Got home that night, put in fog juice, plugged it in and there was smoke... but not fog. The smoke was from the motor burning up. Yep, that's right... the damned thing fried itself before putting out one puff of FOG!!!

So, disgusted, I pulled out my other fog machine... the normal one that doesn't specifically do ground fog. I wanted to see some fog! I set it up, put in fog juice, plug it in, flip the switch and NOTHING. The light wouldn't even come on. No fog for me.

So I'm taking both fog machines back to the stores. I'm hoping to be able to locate another ground fog machine at a different party city store. But, I'm not holding my breath.

HR20 Installed, Clouds Looming

The new HR20 DirecTV+ DVR was installed, as scheduled, on September 29th (Friday). Saturday afternoon I lost signal to all the HD channels. And, it was a bright, sunny and clear day. Later Saturday evening the signal came back. Sunday morning the same signal problem happened again and again it was only the HD channels.

Why? Probably because of crappy installation. Called DirecTV and they're sending out a technician to look at it tomorrow (Saturday, October 7th). More time I should not have to waste. Thanks Black Cloud!

DirecTV HD DVR Cloudiness

So after getting my HD monitor, the next step was to get some kind of HD input source so I could actually see some HD content. Being a DirecTV customer, I decided to call them up and see what they had to offer. I've been a customer for many years so I figured I was due for a deal of some sort. I currently had a DirecTV standard definition (SD) Tivo DVR and was looking to upgrade to the HD DVR (HR10-250).

As I enjoy doing lots of research as to what is the best product to get, I started watching forums on the web like www.tivocommunity.com and www.dbstalk.com. I quickly learned that the new version of the HD DVR (HR20-700) was due out very soon, but that it had been delayed many times. Because of the delays, the release date was a big mystery. Also, local channels were an issue. With the HR10, I can't get my local channels because they're coming off the satellite in MPG4 format and the HR10 can't decode it. The HR20 can decode MPG4 and will get locals in HD. The only option I had right now was an HR10 with an off-the-air antenna for HD locals. The decision now became whether I should wait to see what happens with the HR20 or just go for the HR10.

I didn't want to wait much longer, so I just called DTV and asked them what the current deal was on the HR10. Their response... $399.00 plus $19.95 handling charge. I just about laughed in their ear. Are you kidding me???? That doesn't even include an OTA antenna (another $49.99). I mentioned that I knew there was a new DVR on it's way and asked why they weren't offering any deals for the HR10. All the CSR told me was that they were $399 and they couldn't do any better. I hung up.

After chatting about this with one of my friends, he mentioned that I should call the DTV customer retention line. I searched the web for the phone number, found it, and called. I got a friendly CSR on the phone immediately (no menus, no waiting). I told her my situation (new TV, want to upgrade DVR, etc) and asked what kind of deal they had. She told me $399. I was now getting a little annoyed because I know many other people have gotten these HR10 DVRs for free in recent weeks. I kept my cool and started asking about the HR20. She explained that the HR20 was in an L.A. test market rollout and that it would be available soon, but no exact date was available. She offered to put me on the notification list and did. After a few more minutes she offered me the non-DVR receiver for $49.99. I simply asked her, "Do you have a DVR at home?" She said she did. I asked, "Would you give it up?" She quickly realized that I had no desire to accept a non-DVR receiver.

A few minutes more of talking about options went by and finally just said, "Okay, so if I wanted this HR10 today, what is it going to cost me? Give me a total dollar amount." She replies, "How does $19.95 sound?" I almost fell out of my seat. Why did it take 15+ minutes for her to offer it to me for free. The $19.95 was for the handling fee so the DVR was actually a free upgrade. The installation was scheduled for 4 days later (on a Friday).

By now you're probably thinking, "Well, that's not too bad... so what... you had to deal with a couple CSRs, big deal!" It ain't over.

After I hung up the phone, as happy as can be, I suddenly had a sinking feeling in my stomach... I forgot to order the OTA antenna. So, I call back and get a different CSR. She tells me that it would be no problem to add the OTA antenna, but that I may lose my install date/time because she had to recreate the order. She did and I ended up with an install date of one day later (Saturday). I was still happy. UNTIL I GOT THE CALL...

The next day I get a call from the local installer's office telling me that they will be out on Friday. I ask them to confirm and they see that the order has been cancelled. Then I said that they were supposed to be scheduling me for Saturday. This woman laughed at me and said that they didn't have any install dates open for almost another month. WHAT?

I call DirecTV customer retention again and I get another different CSR. I explain what's going on and they look at my order only to see that it's in some strange unconfirmed state. This CSR was really baffled by this. She tells me that 1) the previous CSR should not have cancelled the order to add an OTA antenna, and 2) she has to cancel it again to get it back in the system. When she does all this, she tells me that even the OTA antenna (normally a $49.99 charge) is coming up free. Okay, that's a plus... but the install date isn't available for almost 1 month away. Oh come on!!!!

I ask her to do what she can and she calls the local office with me on the phone. They say that they'll try to get something worked out and call me back within the hour. I never heard from them.

Completely fed up, I decide to just take a break from it for a day. The next day, I call again. DirecTV customer retention CSR answers, I explain the entire story again, and she starts to grill me as to why I am getting everything for free? She keeps saying, "Normally this DVR is $399. Why are we giving it to you for free?" How was I supposed to answer this? "Because the other CSR liked me?" I don't know their resoning, but they are. And the OTA was supposed to be free too! So, after getting a little pissed with this CSR, she finally shut up and did her job. She got me scheduled for about 5 days later on the following Tuesday.

Finally, Tuesday arrives... that morning the DTV install tech calls and says he'll be there. What should have been about a 1 hour install ended up taking over 3 hours. All because of a previous problem caused by my first ever DTV installer. The dish was misaligned from day 1. This guy, however, took the time to install everything correctly and made sure all was working (so I thought). He left and I was happy (for now).

That evening I sat down to watch some HD programming on my local channels over the OTA antenna. It was barely viewable. Constant breakups in the signal and loss of audio. How annoying! I called DTV and they didn't seem to give a crap. Since then, the signal has been good and bad. Sometimes I can go all night with no issues. Other nights it's just unwatchable. To top it off, last week I sat down to watch the Baltimore Ravens vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers season opener only to find out that it's not being broadcast in HD. Turns out, my number one reason for wanting local HD reception isn't even being broadcast in HD. Gotta love CBS.

And it doesn't end there... like I've said before, even though the black cloud looms overhead, things do always seem to work out in the end. About 2 weeks after getting the HR10 installed, I come home from work to find a hang tag on my front door from DTV. They were at my house to do an install? WHAT? I have everything. I call DTV and they tell me that it looks like a duplicate order had been placed. I ask them to cancel it and reverse any charges that may have been added to my account. The CSR tells me that she sees a $49.99 charge for the OTA antenna and a $19.95 charge for handling. She reversed them. I checked my account online and I had a $0.17 balance. Turns out, I ended up getting everything (HD DVR, OTA Antenna, and handling) for free.

Last week, after only about 3 weeks of having the HR10, the HR20 was announced as being available all throughout the country. Unbelievable. I figured after just getting the HR10 such a short time ago, there's no way I'll get a deal on the HR20 and I'd have to pay the $299 that was listed on their web site. But, I called to find out. Amazingly, right off the bat the CSR said that I can get the HR20 for $99 plus $19.95 handling. I took the deal. Seems that the black cloud has taken a vacation on the HR20 so far, but it's not even here yet.

Scheduled HR20 install date: September 29th.

Black Cloud in 1080p HD

The normal, non-technical, person shopping for a high definition television would probably do a little research or talk to someone at an electronics retailer like Best Buy to help them make a decision. Not me. I do TONS of research before spending a dime. In the end, I do usually end up with the best deal for my money that I can find.

A few weeks ago, I finally took the plunge and purchased a Westinghouse LVM-42w2 1080p HD LCD Monitor. It's beautiful. And, that's without even turning it on. I've wanted a flat panel TV for quite some time and couldn't pass up a great deal plus 18 months no interest financing. I ended up buying it from Crtutchfield.com and had a great experience. However, the black cloud was looming overhead.

A few days after receiving the monitor, I noticed that it seemed to be stuck off, or locked up. No buttons on the OEM remote or on my Harmony 880 would wake the TV. I ended up searching the web to find that there's a problem with the firmware that potentially causes this. So, I called Westinghouse support and they said they'd send someone out to fix the problem. That was over 2 weeks ago and I still haven't heard from this place that supposed to do the upgrade. I called Westinghouse support again a couple days ago and they told me that they can't give me a timeframe for the repair company to call me but that I am on the list.

The lock-up is still happening every now and then. I'm still patiently wait to hear from the repair facility. More to come as this story unfolds.

What is Bob's Black Cloud?

For some reason, I seem to have a lot of bad luck. For as long as I remember, everytime something seems to be going right for me, some mysterious force counteracts the good and makes everything difficult. Things always seem to work out in the end, but after I have endured a lot more stress and anxiety than should be required.

For this reason, my co-workers at a previous job joked that I always had a "Black Cloud" hanging over my head. They experienced many of my stories first hand, and even participated in one (an eBay DVD player purchase gone bad). It's not just a figment of my imagination.

I have decided to document these experiences here. I'll revisit some old stories as time permits, and post new stories as they happen. Usually something happens about once every two weeks. Sometimes more frequent, sometimes less.

Anyway, I hope this makes some people laugh. After all, I can usually laugh at the situation once it's over, why shouldn't you? Enjoy!