Archive through August 20, 2002
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TV ClubHouse: Archive: USA 2002: All Things Technical for BB 2002 (computer stuff): BB on the Mac: Archive through August 20, 2002

Jesse

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 03:57 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
More lies . . . "it's a CBS problem, I can't get the feeds either so who's up for nomination, my name is _____, it will probably be fixed in about 2 hours" . . . ad infinatum.

Woebegone

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 04:15 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I found this email interesting in the fact that they OFFER a refund.... my consensus is that they don't have a clue what to do. Look at the bottom.

Hello!

Thanks for contacting RealNetworks Technical Support.

My name is Mohan Velu. I am a RealNetworks Support Engineer and will be interacting with you on the problem you are reporting.

I apologize for the difficulty you have experienced. I understand that you are unable to access bigbrother content using RealPlayer.

The problem you are experiencing is due to a temporary Technical difficulty with the sign-in service. Please try accessing the premium contents and features at a later time and check. If you still experience the problem, follow the steps given below:

Step A: Clear Temporary Internet files.

1. Open the MSIE browser.
2. Choose the "File" menu.
3. Under the "File" menu, choose "Preferences".
4. Click on the "Advanced".
5. Click on "Empty cache" in the "Cache" section.
6. Click OK.

Step B: Remove RealPlayer cookies.

1. Close RealPlayer.
2. Click on the Apple menu.
3. Click on the 'Sherlock' option and enter 'Cookies.txt'. This will search for the file. Once the file is found. Delete the same.

----------------
If you want a refund, then you need to contact our customer service department. You can use our Web site at http://service.real.com/faq/contcs.html for step-by-step instructions on how to get assistance from our Customer Service department.

----------------
I once again apologize for the inconvenience caused. Please let me know if you need any assistance with RealNetworks' products.


Regards,

Mohan Velu
Talisma Corporation
RealNetworks Authorized Support Provider

Fuddyduddy

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 04:43 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Mohan must be the only person out there as an Authorized Support Provider.

I received the same email yesterday, WITHOUT an offer of a refund....so things have gotten worse, I think.

Real has made NO attempt to alert people of this specific problem on their many support pages. At least I have not seen them. And I have asked repeatedly for them to do this.

Checked the home page for company info so I could directly contact the "big suits". There does not seem to be a way to do this. How ridiculous!!! Everytime I click "contact" it goes back to the stupid customer/tech support page!!!

I could probably get hold of George Bush easier than trying to get in contact with Real.

Am going to call now and cancel. At least I saw and heard enough the last two weeks that as I read the LFPs, I can "SEE" them in my head and know where they are, etc.

My first experience with Real.....not a good lasting impression....

Cwoody222

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 04:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
S'funny...yep, my first email from Mohan also is the exact same EXCEPT for the mention of refunds.

A agree...must be worse...

I also find it completely rude, arrogant, stupid, distrustful and any other negative adjective that Mohan would send the SAME email TODAY that he sent me on Friday.

Why?

'Cause I replied to him Friday saying "Um, isn't this actually a problem with XYZ..." to which he REPLIED acknowledging I was right.

What complete and utter bullshit...

Keep slinging the same crap like we're completely ignorant...

Bastable

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I don't think it means the Support phone operators know what's going on and are trying to hide anything.

I call about twice a day, just to be a pill and pressure them, and I have learned that the programmers have sealed themselves off from the people who answer the phones. There is very little contact. The phone supervisors are begging the programmers to be forthcoming and explain what's going on, but to no avail. The phone folks are getting slammed, and the reason they're being cagey is because, basically, they know about as much as we do.

How sad those programmers are. They're getting six-figure salaries to be clueless, uncommunicative, and set the subscriptions of Real back to a new low. Talk about putting the cart before the horse! I thought coddled brain trusts like that went bust with the stock market.

Cwoody222

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Plus...TOMORROW night is the Sheryl Crow LIVE performance. You'd think you'd want to get their act together for what will NO DOUBT be the BUSIEST night on the cams!

Cwoody222

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:08 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Bastable:

But, it's still unacceptible that Mohan answered me with Answer A.

Then I replied to him and said "Isn't is really Problem B?"

He replied "Yep, sorry, I'm wrong, you're right."

Then...TWO DAYS LATER he's telling people that the it's Answer A again.

Can he not REMEMBER what happened two days ago?

Cwoody222

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:14 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Well, I just called for my second time.

Customer Service knew nothing at all. They acknowledged the problem and asked if I had cleared my cache. Duh. They transfered me to Tech Support.

Tech Support just said "Yep, we're still having SOME RealPlayer8 issues and OS X won't work at all. We know about it and we're working on it. Please be patient; hopefully soon."

(I'm paraphrasing)

So...nothing new...

Jesse

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:18 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Here you go:

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
RealNetworks, Inc.
PO Box 91123
Seattle, WA 98111-9223
U.S.A.
Tel: 206-674-2700 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Rob Glaser, Chairman & CEO
Larry Jacobson, President and Chief Operating Officer
Brian V. Turner, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Phillip Barrett, Senior Vice President, Consumer Products
Kelly Jo MacArthur, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary
Martin Plaehn, Senior Vice President, Media Systems
Carla Stratfold, Senior Vice President, North American Sales
CORPORATE OFFICERS
Alex Alben, Vice President, Government Affairs
Steve Banfield, Vice President, Strategic Relations
Ricardo Cidale, Vice President, Sales and Strategic Relationships
Susan Coskey, Vice President, Human Resources
Scott Ehrlich, Vice President, Programming
Erik Flannigan, Vice President, Music Services and Programming
Mark Hall, Vice President, RealOne Services, Europe, Asia/Pacific and Latin America
Brad Hefta-Gaub, Vice President, Product Development, Media Systems
Bob Kimball, Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs
Nagesh Pabbisetty, Vice President, Real Broadcast Network
Dave Richards, Vice President, Consumer Systems
Tom Romary, Vice President, Consumer Marketing
Dan Schwartz, Vice President, Advertising Sales
Dan Sheeran, Vice President, Media Systems Marketing
Joanna Shields, Vice President, Europe
Steven Snell, Vice President of North American Infrastructure and Enterprise Sales
David J. Yuen, Vice President, Asia Pacific

Therlin

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:20 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Just to defend "those programmers" as you call them. You can consider me one of them (I don't work for real). We have a call center where I work and to be honest, if the phone agents started transfering calls to me or would be able to get a hold of me to ask me questions I would never have time to do my job. Of course we actually communicate with them if we have information for the agents to relay.

Also, keep in mind that you probably aren't calling Real. You are calling a company, most likely not even in Seattle, that has been contracted by Real to provide support. Usually that same call center will provide support for more than one company. For example, the people who take calls for us also take calls for the Microsoft X-Box and SBC DSL.

Having said that, I also wish we had a more definite answer because I want my feeds back!

Bastable

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Here's another goodie that someone else posted. It's the CBS office number of the PR rep for the show.

Diane Ekeblad (LA) 323/575-2029.

I just called her on behalf of TVCH (and MSNBC.com, since I write for that from time to time--never entertainment, but she doesn't need to know that) and left a message asking for a comment/status report from CBS. I used to have some dealings with her when I wrote for an entertainment magazine and never found her very helpful, but it's worth a try.

I'll let you know if she calls back. Even if she doesn't, it lights a fire under CBS' heiney. It will make the PR office feel that this is about to blow up.

Bastable

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:27 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I don't mean to impugn all programmers, Therlin. But it's pretty clear that the ones at Real have screwed up pretty majorly, and it's pretty clear that they don't have close ties with the people they've farmed out to help the customers. Their ineptitude and lack of communication is well demonstrated at this point.

That said, I'm sure you're a lovely fellow and that your company follows a much healthier customer-support model. I also hope that you're making six figures!

Fuddyduddy

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:27 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
It's getting even worse!! Just called to cancel and the poor uninformed rep tried to tell me I could download Realplayer 8!!! I told him I was on a Mac OSX and I had Realone....he said that was not available!!!!

Told him I had the Beta version, that it had been working and asked him if he really knew for certain that 8 would play on OSX...

Asked him what he would tell people if they called as new customers and wanted to download Realone for their Mac OSX. We went in circles again...

Then he wanted to read to me from a script what I might do to fix things. I told him they were BROKEN!!!!! ON THEIR END!!~!!~! (He was clueless) How pitiful.

Told him I bet he was getting lots of cancellations....and he said, no, not really. Hmmmmmm

Oh well, I have been credited with my full amount (supposedly) and I have just gone through and trashed every thing I could find re: Realone and all those darn rd.7,8,9,10rxml's or whatever that were all over my desktop!!

If and when they get their act together and I note that you all are getting the picture on realone for the Mac, I may sign up again and download the player.

What a day!!!

Fuddyduddy

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 09:28 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Jesse: I did not see your post re: Corporate Headquarters officers when I came here to poat at 5:20p.m.

Thank you so much...now to figure how whom to write.....

Strategic Relations? Nope, they have no strategy for Mac OSX

Maybe Consumer Marketing? Egads, this company seems top heavy to me.....

They probably don't even know what's going on down in the boiler room...

Well, I know it is wasted time and effort on my part, but I am going to write a letter to SOMEONE on that list and vent. (Nicely)

Why don't they have a Public Relations exec? Am I that old? What are they called these days? I will just send copies to several on the list.

Bastable: thanks for calling CBS At least you are trying to do something! Why can't someone get hold of a publication or news source and open this wide up?

Biggusbrotherus

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 09:33 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
One more address for complaints (since Real is based in Seattle, WA):

Better Business Bureau of Oregon and Western Washington
http://www.thebbb.org
Email:info@thebbb.org
Phone: (206)431-2222
Fax: (206)431-2211
PO Box 1000
DuPont, WA 98327

Freydnot

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 10:13 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Are any of the effected people able to access other premium real content?

I use RP8plus on windows XP. It used to work great. I refuse to install RealOne because its major bloatware that (even though you tell it not to) will leave threads running in the background to police the file extensions it has taken over. Try installing winamp after RealOne to see the ugly truth.

Back on topic... My primary XP box is stuck in the endless loop with RP8. I have a laptop running win98 which is still working just fine. Go figure.

My primary machine is also unable to view other premium content. I went to http://home.real.com and tried to see if I could view anything there.
I was able to view some music videos, the video clip on American Idol, the "free preview" of Anna Nicole, but not the "gold pass" exclusive video of Anna Nicole or any other videos with a gold * next to it.

This is my experience on a windows machine. Is the Mac experience the same?

Bastable

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 10:13 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Eureka! A little...

If you run Virtual PC in Mac OS 9 with a cable modem and download RealOne for Windows, you can get a dial-up Monet version of the feeds with tinny shortwave radio sound. Changing channels takes forver and isn't worth it. But I'm getting something.

It's no solution. A Band-Aid on a cannonball wound. But it's SOMEthing.

Jesse

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 10:32 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Bastable . . . you are sooooo easy to please . . .LOL

Bastable

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 10:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
No, I'm still mad as mercury.

Jesse

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 10:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Freydnot . . . I love the term "bloatware"

Poed

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 07:35 am EditMoveDeleteIP
i was told by a real tech that cbs changed their server so as to keep people from stealing their feeds

those with mac's & win95 are unable to pass good cookies to real (cookie being written improperly)

of course, cbs could have gone back to the previous configuration to get paying mac & win95 customers back in but since that would allow some to pirate the feeds, their decision was to allow us to twist in the wind

if enough people let them keep their money without getting what they paid for, i can't see them fixing the problem

i'm going to insist on a refund this a.m.

Poed

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 07:57 am EditMoveDeleteIP
they were very cool about it

i got my refund, have you gotten yours?

send 'em a message they understand

(you can always sign up again later if they fix it)

pass the word, maybe they'll change the system back

if they don't, at least you've gotten your money back

Fuddyduddy

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 08:16 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Bastable, because you have already called Diane at CBS, please call the appropriate person at Real for us! See Jesse's info above.

I am still going to write a letter, but I am in NC and it will take a day or two to get there. I sense that you would know exactly what to SAY on the phone.

Maybe we should all call the corporate number and just swamp them!! (Wish it was toll-free)

Or if we had an email address for the Corporate office. Can anyone find that?

Someone here on the board has a friend working at Real. Can you get us the email address for the Big Boys?

Bastable

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 08:41 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I'm not going to call the Real Suits... I called Diane because I had some distant contact with her before. She hasn't called back, anyway. I wouldn't know what to say to the Real Suits and I don't want to stretch my professional credibility too far.

Here's another way to apply pressure: Sign up for a second account and call up to cancel it the next day--making sure to tell them it's because you can't get into the feeds. It gives the appearance that Real is losing customers, while at the same time you can keep trying to access the feeds on your old account. Repeat as necessary. Costs you nothing.

Sunrisedd

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 08:53 am EditMoveDeleteIP
(I am a Mac user)
Ok,called Real Player again, this time a tech named Amy told me everything was fixed (I knew better) but I let her do her job :-p and she walked me through signing in. Of course the loop was still there. So, she said I would have to be transferred to a tech with Mac experience. That Tech refused to be connected. Amy came back on the line and said she was wrong the problem is not fixed. It should be soon (haha,heard that before). I let her know that, we are talking about Real Player techs in TVClubhouse using their names and our biggest complaint is the Techs not being informed and this wastes her time and ours. But, we also tell each other not to take out our frustrations on the Techs. She laughed and she also was 'ready to go' due to not being informed by Real Player.

So,to make a long story short,they are still fixing the problem.