Beware adding a new component to an existing system. Nothing is standardized. Let me be more specific. I own a Panasonic DVD Recorder easily using it until I changed my ISP (Internet Service Provider). It primarily converted my family videos on VHS to DVDs. I also recorded programs. This was a handy feature as I watched shows, usually at bedtime, from a comfortable prone position. I guess TIVO is like that. Verizon offers a DVD Recorder for which they can charge more. I refuse to give in to that kind of marketing after years with Microsoft that kept forcing me to buy their new version or go without.
When changing Internet providers was 'a fait accompli', I ran into this proprietary system in Verizon that will not allow the Panasonic unit to download the TV Guide, which it uses for scheduled recording. Instead, I am limited to recording 'live' only. (I haven't figured a way to shut off the recording once started...it is like the salt machine; now more pages of another manual to read). The tech from Verizon, who was wonderful, made it clear this was an issue beyond his province. He did, however, scan the manual and said I should have received an accessory that would, when installed, allow the two units to talk to one another and I would get my TV Guide back. He suggested I find it as it was probably sent with the unit.
After hunting through years of accumulated cords and accessories heaped in a box, I failed to find it. The cord is an IR Blaster. My next move, which seemed logical at the time, was to go online to see if I could order one. Impossible! The accessory order site kept telling me they had no such accessory (though the part number was listed in the manual and the unit is only 18 months old). The telephone maze was polite. A pleasant feminine voice informed me she was automated but could answer my needs if I spoke my answers. I thought, "I can do that". My choices were invariably none of the ones mentioned. Eventually on my second or third tour through the maze, I reached a tech support woman named Mary. She was also polite and took down my problem painstakingly. I'm not sure whether she wrote it down or typed it painfully with arthritic fingers. It took her several minutes and I had to repeat and spell everything several times. It then became apparent she did not plan to do anything with the information. Shegave me a case number then connected me to tech support. After that time-consuming triage, I was told if we were cut off, all I had to do was call in again...meaning that I would have to go through the telephone maze again! Morally, I cannot enter my thoughts and fantasies here.
Miraculously, my call was answered by 'Teluneus' of tech support, who said, "Oh, if you already have a case number your problem must have been solved." I informed him that I had been transferred to him because my problem had NOT been solved. On the first run through he agreed there was a part that could do that. After being given the model number again, he told me the part number did not agree with the one I gave him. At this point, after insisting I had the correct number, answering his question , "Where are you getting it?" I told him I am reading it on the accessory page of my manual. I discovered he had written the wrong model number down. He suggested a couple of places where the part could be obtained. "They probably have it is stock'. I told him 'probably' was not good enough. Both places were not in my state so I asked if I could order the part from Panasonic. In a tone which implied, "Why would you want to do that?" he told me it would take a bit of time to get it. He then pointed me to yet another transfer that would take my order. Before I lost him I asked him what do I do with it when I get it. He said, "Plug it in" I asked, "Into what?" After several minutes of this sort of dialogue, he informed me I would have to call tech support back to go through the 'escalation form'. I said, "Do you mean this is not something I can do myself?' He said, "Oh, no we will have to walk you through it." The 'we' was a tip-off that he would not have to do it himself as he seemed ill-equipped and informed about the process. Score one for my team?
This example is probably not unfamiliar to anyone who owns a computer or any piece of computerized technology. Be prepared for the hours of life this procedure, too often repeated, steals from you.
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