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GZ_GUY's avatar
GZ_GUY
New Contributor

On Demand shows

I have Contour 2 from cox and have issues with On Demand listings and with the Contour 2 service in general.

I really don't understand your On Demand listings for shows.  

I was told that if I miss a show I can watch is on demand.  Your commercials state "get caught up with shows on demand"  but you don't list all the episodes so I cannot get caught up.   

I understand why a show which is running for the first time is not listed, not the problem.  I have several complaints and to be honest it seems the providers of the programming would as well,

HERE are the top two

Example of issue one:

I had not begun to watch the Expanse for several reasons but hear it is a good show.  Season two is starting soon so this would be a good time for me to watch every episode so I understand what is going on with the plot to date.  I have this available on two media types one is on a Roku TV in my office but I only watch that on occasions because most of the time I am in my office I am working.  I also have Contour 2 from Cox.  The show is listed and so I can watch it, cool, I like that.  the problem is that for season ONE it does not list the first episodes, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10.  Note here that episodes 1 and 2 are not available.  I figured I can sort of figure out what is going on with those but then i get to episode 9 and it is not there.  Episode 8 and 10 are there but not 9???  That makes NO sense to me.  how is one to get "caught up" if you must skip episode 9 and go directly to 10.  What is so special about episode 9, is it unnecessary?  Does it have some illegal content?   did the advertisers decide that particular episode was not worth sponsoring?  Please enlighten me on that.

Example of issue two.  

I like to watch ZNation and that airs late on Friday and I tend to fall asleep during the airing.  I used to be able to watch it on demand on Saturday.  Sometimes It is not available ON DEMAND until after the NEXT episode has aired a week later.  So now I am a week behind unless I happen to turn on my TV when you re-broadcast it. Unfortunately that happens as odd hours through the week and I cannot normally watch those either.  I will remain a week behind until I find a way to get caught up.  I purchased your service with the intent of watching shows on demand.  If I am going to be behind on a show then why am i paying for Contour 2?  I could cancel cable all together and watch the same show on Netflix the next season.  Yes i would be a season behind but I am not current anyway with the listing issue.

ISSUES WITH THE CONTOUR 2 BOX (or service)

The unit constantly raises errors and prevents me from watching shows On Demand and sometimes while they are airing as well.  Then I cannot watch the show or movie. This can go on for days on end for a particular show or episode and then go away again.  I get error codes but am not listing those here, and to be honest I have stopped recording them.  

When watching a show and I must stop it for a bit to perform a task, or because an error was raised as above.  I expect the resume button to show up when I return.  Many times when I return to the show the progress bar will show how far I have advanced in watching it but the RESUME will not show as an option.  My only option is to start over and of course i cannot fast forward to the place I left off because (unlike HULU) you require me to watch the commercials over again.  i would be frustrated but would also find it acceptable if i could at least fast forward to the commercial, watch the ding dang commercial and then fast forward again to the next one until I reach the place I left off.  that is not an option.  Other times when this happens (same show different episode) I get the Resume button.  So that issue is intermittent. 

I called in about these errors, one ERROR code in particular and they sent a technician to my house.  he admitted that he has the exact same issues with Contour 2 and there is nothing he can do to help me.  

I asked why they sent him out if that was the cases, he said they do that as a courtesy to me.  It is not so courteous to expect me to set time aside to be home when you already know the issue is not resolvable.  It is actually counter productive as far as customer relations are concerned.  

Of course that is NOT why you sent him out, here is what he said next.  He then told me that if i had the recorder option I could record my shows and watch them any time.  Of course that cost $15.00 a month.  I believe his call was a SALES call not a SERVICE call as I received no service but did get a sales pitch for another product.  I don't NEED to record my shows, I want to WATCH my shows and was told i could do so with the package I purchased.   He did show me how to restart the unit without having to unplug it etc, which he said the installer should have done. He thought that would help with the error I was getting, it did not.

I will cancel all my business with cox before I spend more money to get what i was told i would have with what I purchased.  I explained my desires to the sales person in detail and was told i can watch mu shows any time On Demand.   That was a bold faced lie.  I do not expect to be lied to and don't handle that too well.  I spend a lot of money with Cox and have been a customer for many years and am looking into cancelling ALL my services and going with a satellite service in stead.  I have  the premium internet and full home security which i will also cancel.

Please FIX your issues with Contour 2 and list the shows.  I will watch the episodes and the commercials and you will continue to be paid by ME and your advertisers.  I Pay you for a service each month and only get part of what I pay for because of all the errors and the listing problems. 

I really wish I had used another service when I last moved, then i would not have these issues.  You all could take a few lessons from HULU as to the user interface, they have it together where you DO NOT.

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  • GZ_GUY's avatar
    GZ_GUY
    New Contributor

    WOW, things just keep getting better.  I note that on the SyFy app for my ROKU TV they did list Episode 9 so I watched it in my office last night.  The name that Critical Mass/Leviathan Wakes.  I logged on toe Contour 2 today while on a break from my work and though I would watch the first part of episode 10 and then finish it tonight when I had time.  I started watching it and noted that I had already seen what I was watching.  On Contour 2 Episode 10 is named Leviathan Wakes.  WTF?.  Can you all count?  I mean you can use your fingers if you want.  I am totally confused.  When I look at the guide I see there are 10 episodes for Season one but you only list 9 on Contour 2.  SyFy only lists 9 on their App. 

    So, the reality is there are NINE (9) episodes and the last one has two names and a different episode number on each app.  This does not seem like brain surgery but I can see it goes much deeper than your service, looks like the whole industry is nuts and needs to learn to number in sequence, it is a tough thing to learn, I know, it takes most first graders a bit of time to get it down.  1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9  not 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10  With either system of confusion you go through there are actually NINE episodes of the first season.  I guess your systems simply dont know how to handle a long episode of a given show without adding an extra number to the count.  

    But, wait!  You also show movies (when there is no error generated) and those each consume amounts of time.  Man, talk about the need for QA on a system before you release it to the public.  Well shame on US for believing you and spending our money on such a hosed system, the service, the Contour 2 hardware, and the providers are all working against one another and the only answer you have is for ME to PAY MORE money each month for a recorder.

    If you cannot deliver on the service I am paying for now what in the heck would make me believe you would do so on a recorder.  I GIVE UP.  I will start to work on finding other ways to entertain myself and save the expense of dealing with COX.   I am going to look into Sling as per Danny Trio and see if that offers a better solution for less money.

    I am old and I remember Customer Service, you need to familiarize yourself with that ancient concept and incorporate it into your services..

  • Becky's avatar
    Becky
    Moderator
    Hi GZ_GUY,

    We add new episodes to our On Demand library as soon as we receive the content from the responsible network. Some networks are very good about getting new episodes to us 24 hours after the original air-date, while other networks are not. Since the broadcast networks own the content in our On Demand library, they can dictate what we are allowed to offer and how we are allowed to offer it. This means we are required to load the content in the way it was received, commercials and all. I, too, get frustrated by not being able to fast-forward some content when watching shows via On Demand, but these are requirements set by each network.

    The episode names and numbers are also provided by each network, and on occasion may contain errors. I recently watched several episodes of the new SyFy series Incorporated via SyFy On Demand, and noticed that the episode lengths provided in the descriptions are incorrect. I found the same problem on Rovi and Contour devices, indicating that SyFy provided us with incorrect source data. I've submitted a ticket to our content team to correct these discrepancies. We are always open to feedback regarding any errors you find, so please feel free to post here or email our team at cox.help@cox.com.