I have never been pushed to the point that I felt the need
to voice a negative feeling about poor service/support received from an
electronics manufacturer. I had a stereo
that lasted for nearly 10 years (can’t complain about that), and an amateur
radio that is still going after 20 years (minor maintenance required). So that tells me that I generally take good
care of major purchases, or the items are well built.
On February 28, 2011, I exchanged a blu-ray player that I
had purchased from Wal-mart for a more expensive Vizio VIZIO_VBR220A
player with built-in apps.
It is used primarily for the apps to access Vudu, Netflix, and Pandora,
all requiring no moving parts of the player (except for the remote). We have enjoyed the experience it provided,
that is, until last Saturday, April 6, 2013.
None of the apps were working, and I got error messages for each of the
following streaming apps:
Netflix: “Software update failed. Please check your connection and try again.”
Vudu: “Failed to connect to the network. Connection failed.”
Pandora: “Sorry, this player is not authorized to use
Pandora. The application will now exit.”
I am very familiar with troubleshooting, and performed all
the expected steps of Vizio before contacting their online tech support,
including resetting the device to factory settings and disabling all the associated
accounts, disconnecting from the wifi network and restoring it, disconnecting
power and waiting a few minutes before restoring it, all to no avail. I then pulled up Vizio’s website to access
their technical support. Following is
the dialog from my first online chat with a representative:
Elena
Patrick Sutton
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Elena http://www.vizio.com.
Elena
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Elena
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Elena
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Elena http://www.vizio.com.
Elena
Now, at this point the ball was left in my court. Elena wanted me to test hardwired, and there
was nothing else that she or Vizio would do until I could complete that, what
seemed a reasonable troubleshooting step. My network connections and computer are in
the bedroom, the blu-ray player and TV are in the living room. Too long a distance to connect with what I
had. It was going to be the next day before
I could gain access to a long enough Cat5 network cable to connect.
My wife was extremely frustrated at this, as Netflix to us
is like cable TV or satellite to everyone else.
Cable is not available where we live, and we gave up satellite 6 years
ago because it was just too expensive for the amount of time we were home and
watching it. This frustration led to her
inspiration. While I resisted the
initial idea, she suggested bringing the Vizio blu-ray player into the bedroom,
which required bringing a television in here also, and connect directly to the
modem, just like Elena asked. So, I
moved a more sturdy (and sizable) 25 inch tube-type TV from my son’s room, and
the Vizio blu-ray player from the living room, and wired the blu-ray directly
to the modem. Just as I suspected, it
connected properly, and after several attempts, I got the same error message
from each app. This led to my second,
and final online chat with a Vizio representative. Following is that transcript:
New Question: Previous chat session representative Elena
required that I establish a wired connection for my Bluray player as part of
troubleshooting, even after successfully connecting to my Wifi. Brought the Bluray and TV into the bedroom
where my modem is and connected directly from my modem, bypassing the wireless
router. Same problem as before:
Widgets/apps not working.
Gil: Thank you for contacting VIZIO
Live Chat, the home of Entertainment Freedom for All. This is Gil in South Dakota. Have you ever
contacted us before?
Patrick Sutton: Yes 30-45 minutes ago. Representative Elena requested that I connect
my bluray player through a wired connection, and after lugging a TV and Bluray
into bedroom to be nearer the modem, I did it and got the same result as
through wifi
Gil: Here at VIZIO we pride ourselves in
providing best in class customer support and all of our support is U.S. based,
and I can assist you with that. Unfortunately then it does sound like the
player would need to be replaced I apologize. You could also check with local
electronics repair shops to see if any may be able to take a look at it and
determine what specifically is causing the problem.
Patrick Sutton: There's no software reload or
anything like that???
Gil: No unfortunately.
Patrick Sutton: The apps are visible on the
homescreen but I get an error message when I go into each one saying either
software update failed or device not authorized for Pandora. etc...
Gil: At this time there aren't any updates
available for this model, nor would there be anything else that could be done
for further troubleshooting.
Patrick Sutton: That's disappointing,
considering the device is only 2 years old and has been sitting in the same
spot, not abused or moved. That being
the case, it has negatively affected my impression of Vizio, and will further
influence my decision to purchase any type of appliance carrying the same name,
I'm sorry to say...
Gil: Is there anything else that I can assist
you with today?
Patrick Sutton: Definitely not....
Gil: Thank you for contacting VIZIO Chat
Support! If you need our assistance
again in the future you can contact us by Chat, Email, and Phone service. That information is found on http://www.vizio.com. Have a great day!
Gil has disconnected.
I was extremely frustrated and disappointed, to say the
least. I take great care of my
appliances, and to have the apps, which are software controlled, to fail when
the hardware itself functions fine (Yes, the disc player works properly.), it’s
a hard pill to swallow. I performed all
the tests, jumped through all the hoops that Elena required that I do, and for
Gil at Vizio to say there’s nothing more that could be done, I just can’t
accept that. I have a Nintendo Wii in
another room used for Netflix (from the evolution of requiring the disc to
load, then the app, and updates for the app), and that game system has more
moving parts, and is used more often,
and yes, has outlasted the Vizio blu-ray player that plays 1/5 as many discs as
streaming content.
I didn’t let the matter lie.
I posted on Twitter an attempt to seek some type of additional
review. I found it hard to believe that
that was all that could be done.
Following are the tweet exchange between me and @Vizio and
@VizioSupport:
@VIZIO @VIZIOsupport Very disappointed... I feel as if
you dropped the ball with support and service...
4:03 PM - 7 Apr 13
@patricksutton72
@VIZIO Do you have a case number we can look
into?
@VIZIOsupport @VIZIO Case No. 3405655
5:28 PM - 7 Apr 13
@VIZIOsupport @VIZIO Did u forget me? I replied on Sun 4/7
w/Case No. 3405655 as u requested. I'm giving u a chance 2 review 2 make
right...
2:27 PM - 11 Apr 13
@patricksutton72 @VIZIO I did take a look into your case and
there is nothing on our end that we can do. I do apologize for the troubles.
3:04 PM - 11 Apr 13
I have had friends contact me and ask for recommendations,
and up to now, I have recommended Vizio because of the video quality of their
TVs, the remotes with full-Qwerty keyboards, and the great experience we’ve had
with their product. I had recently even
considered purchasing a new Vizio 3D blu-ray player with a full keyboard, all
the apps I currently have PLUS several more, including YouTube, but that is now OVER!
Now, while I’m not at all suggesting that you never purchase
another Vizio item again, I feel it my duty to relay my experience with Vizio
and Vizio Support, and let you be the judge.
If you are reading this, I thank you for your patience with
my ramblings, and I hope you find my experience useful in your future purchasing
decisions. I, for one, am going to do
exactly like I said, and find another manufacturer to satisfy my streaming
audio/video needs.
Sincerely,
Patrick Sutton
@patricksutton72
Wow I experienced the same exact problem with my Vizio blu ray player, it wasn't even two yrs old before all the apps completely stopped working...I recieved no help from their reps, I couldn't believe how clueless they were about this product..so disappointed in Vizio, never again...
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