Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
Ron_in_New_City

Malcolm,

Is my guide "broken"?  If I hit "guide", the channel that is centered, and has info displayed, is two channels lower than the show I'm watching!

And if I hit "guide" twice, I can't make out the text, because it's a small black font on a shiny blue background.  Who thought that was a good idea?

How about a preference in "set-up" to let you pick the menu you prefer?  You don't need to design a new one - just give us a choice between the new one and the old.

0 Likes
Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
deadcowboy
Enthusiast - Level 1

Hello,

    I am a new customer, just a few days now. and I can not agree more, I have never seen such a horrible,

poorly designed guide. I wonder if the people who designed it actually looked at it or used it !

    I am not going to list all the things I hate about it, I just do not have the time, ( its Thanksgiving )

   The guide is so distracting that it affects my enjoyment of my new services. I can not even find a user guide for it, Yes I need a user guide to learn how to a use the Guide.

    

    Have a great day.

Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
Justin46
Legend

@deadcowboy wrote:

Hello,

    I am a new customer, just a few days now. and I can not agree more, I have never seen such a horrible,

poorly designed guide. I wonder if the people who designed it actually looked at it or used it !

    I am not going to list all the things I hate about it, I just do not have the time, ( its Thanksgiving )

   The guide is so distracting that it affects my enjoyment of my new services. I can not even find a user guide for it, Yes I need a user guide to learn how to a use the Guide.

    

    Have a great day.


As a long time user of FiOS TV ( 7 years), I find the Guide to be just fine. I encourage you to give it a fair chance, I think eventually you will find it to be quite good.

I don't think you will find any written documentation from Verizon on using the Guide, but here are a couple of sources that might help you:

1) Verizon shows videos on using the Guide (really the entire IMG) on Channel 131 in the DFW area. I think it is the same channel in all areas, but if it is not you should be able to find the channel in the Guide itself with a channel listing of FIOS TV.

2) Here is a link to a document I wrote that covers the entire IMG, which includes the Guide:

http://forums.verizon.com/vrzn/attachments/vrzn/IMG19/1989/2/FiOS%20TV%20IMG%20Getting%20Started_201...

While I wrote it for the 1.9 level of the IMG and the current level is 1.9.1, nearly all of what is in the document is still valid.

Hope the above helps.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.1
Keller, TX 76248

0 Likes
Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
bobbo527
Specialist - Level 3

@Justin wrote:

@deadcowboy wrote:

Hello,

    I am a new customer, just a few days now. and I can not agree more, I have never seen such a horrible,

poorly designed guide. I wonder if the people who designed it actually looked at it or used it !

    I am not going to list all the things I hate about it, I just do not have the time, ( its Thanksgiving )

   The guide is so distracting that it affects my enjoyment of my new services. I can not even find a user guide for it, Yes I need a user guide to learn how to a use the Guide.

    

    Have a great day.


As a long time user of FiOS TV ( 7 years), I find the Guide to be just fine. I encourage you to give it a fair chance, I think eventually you will find it to be quite good.

I don't think you will find any written documentation from Verizon on using the Guide, but here are a couple of sources that might help you:

1) Verizon shows videos on using the Guide (really the entire IMG) on Channel 131 in the DFW area. I think it is the same channel in all areas, but if it is not you should be able to find the channel in the Guide itself with a channel listing of FIOS TV.

2) Here is a link to a document I wrote that covers the entire IMG, which includes the Guide:

http://forums.verizon.com/vrzn/attachments/vrzn/IMG19/1989/2/FiOS%20TV%20IMG%20Getting%20Started_201...

While I wrote it for the 1.9 level of the IMG and the current level is 1.9.1, nearly all of what is in the document is still valid.

Hope the above helps.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.1
Keller, TX 76248


Justin, I agree with you to a point. I think the Guide design is just fine, in fact I rather like it. My issues are two fold though:

1) It loads too slowly and if you have a 7232 it's really bad (see the other complaint thread on that). Maybe if they weren't trying to cram useless advertising nobody cares about down our throat it would improve.

2) The guide program content is HORRENDOUS, I mean truly BAD. So many errors, lousy program descriptions, wrong programs. It makes it tough to use the DVR sometimes it is so bad.

0 Likes
Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
Justin46
Legend

@bobbo527 wrote:
.......
Justin, I agree with you to a point. I think the Guide design is just fine, in fact I rather like it. My issues are two fold though:

1) It loads too slowly and if you have a 7232 it's really bad (see the other complaint thread on that). Maybe if they weren't trying to cram useless advertising nobody cares about down our throat it would improve.

2) The guide program content is HORRENDOUS, I mean truly BAD. So many errors, lousy program descriptions, wrong programs. It makes it tough to use the DVR sometimes it is so bad.


1) That problem is gone for me. I had it in spades for months, but Verizon has apparently delivered a fix to VHOs 1 and 3, and my 7232 is pretty much back to the way it was when I first got it a couple of years ago. So while I understand that most of the country still has this problem, I think Verizon is moving forward on delivering a fix (at least I hope they are, because the performance issue is really, really bad if you have it).

2) I agree that the Guide data is inaccurate at times, but I think describing it as "horrendous" is really too strong a term. Yes at times they most certainly do have the wrong program listed, or the wrong episode, or maybe other stuff wrong, but I guess maybe it depends on what channels and programs you watch. For me, I find the listings wrong only occasionally. And maybe I am just a dinosaur, but it really doesn't bother me that much when it is wrong, I just go find something else to watch on another channel, or I watch something I have previously recorded.

I went so far as to send a complaint email to the Verizon CEO several years ago about the poor Guide data supplied by FYI Television, Inc. of Grand Prairie, TX (just about 20 miles from where I live). I had lots of interactions with a number of Verizon people about the issue for about a month, and absolutely nothing good happened. But later supposedly Verizon put together a process to improve the content accuracy and, at least from my perspective, the data quality did improve some. But for some reason, maybe a long term contract or something, Verizon doesn't seem willing to change data providers, which I think is a shame, there are better providers than FYI.

Anyway, I think there is hope for solution for everyone soon for the DVR performance problem, and while there are still Guide data issues, the accuracy is better now than it was several years ago, and I am hopefull it will continue to improve.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.1
Keller, TX 76248

0 Likes
Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
bobbo527
Specialist - Level 3

Justin, the guide data is HORRENDOUS, it is the WORST I have ever seen!!!! Just this past weekend I came across at least 2 dozen errors, wrong program descriptions and in one case the listing two channels were wrong, that is, the guide said a movie was on a certain channel but was really on the channel next to it and the description for that channel was for the movie being shown on the first channel. AND THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. It is mind boggling how AWFUL it is and has been since 2008. Ive been a subscriber since 2008 adn while I love my FiOS the guide is a huge blackeye. It's as bad now as it was in 2008.

0 Likes
Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
Justin46
Legend

@bobbo527 wrote:

Justin, the guide data is HORRENDOUS, it is the WORST I have ever seen!!!! Just this past weekend I came across at least 2 dozen errors, wrong program descriptions and in one case the listing two channels were wrong, that is, the guide said a movie was on a certain channel but was really on the channel next to it and the description for that channel was for the movie being shown on the first channel. AND THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. It is mind boggling how AWFUL it is and has been since 2008. Ive been a subscriber since 2008 adn while I love my FiOS the guide is a huge blackeye. It's as bad now as it was in 2008.


OK. I am not trying to argue with you, I am just saying that from my perspective as a FiOS TV customer since 2005 I have seen improvement in the Guide data quality, and I do not see at all what you are describing. I do see an occasional error, but I don't go looking for errors, I just look through it to find something I want to watch, and then I watch it, and rarely do I find something wrong.

Unfortunately Verizon does not provide any easy way to report Guide data problems. I was once told to report each error I found via the FSC, that is, call for each error and report it. Yeah right! Another option is to report the errors to FYI Television directly, I did that once or twice, never got any response, so I gave up. Verizon really needs to create a web page specifically for reporting Guide data errors, and then maybe we could get some visible action. But I doubt they are going to do that, it would be admitting that something is wrong, and Verizon just hates to do that it seems.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.1
Keller, TX 76248

0 Likes
Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
Plinky
Enthusiast - Level 2

I've had Verizon for less than a week and I am going crazy.  Can't read the screen so I'm often scrolling past interesting options.  I need to push a lot of buttons to find basic information.  Search isn't helpful - especially if you are looking for something in Spanish.

0 Likes
Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
topdog
Specialist - Level 2

If you think the guide is awlful, wait till they start using their detection device in our homes so they can see what we are watching and doing.   Here is their patent application for the device.  Hopefully, Americans will not stand for this!!!

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-...

0 Likes
Re: Channel Guide is Simply AWFUL
Deuce3
Enthusiast - Level 3

Since the "software upgrade" on our Cisco STB, the channel guide is this awful black background with white print.  Both my wife & I find this way to contrasty and preferred the old blue background.  We now look upon the need to use the channel guide with disdain and a necessary evil that we must tolerate... or change to another provider for our tv/home phone/internet bundle.

0 Likes