Optik TV Digital Box and Recording is a Disaster/Awful

[Matthew123]

Why is the Optik TV Digital Box so terrible?  Let me bullet point all of the things that every other PVR can do that this one cannot:

1. Cannot set overruns.  The old Telus box would allow you to set a recording time (5 minutes earlier, 20 minutes later) which is especially critical for live sports, news etc.
2. It is wildly inconsistent to record shows that are set as series recordings.
3. The search function for shows is painfully terrible.  For example, with Shaw you press the Mic button, say the show (for example, "Bachelor").  Then it'll show you the program information, and then you can set the recording even if the show isn't going to be on for another 3 months and no time is set.  With the Telus Digital box, it will not do that.  Even if you find the program through the terrible search function, you CANNOT set the recording for the show (let alone any show even if it's on in half an hour).  You have to set recordings through the Guide. 
4. It is riddled with bugs in the cloud.  One of my recordings isn't even a recording, it's a show that I did record but when I click it to play it, it prompts me to record it - but it's in my recordings!  And it cannot be deleted.  So this glitch/bug just sits there.
5. The box crashes constantly.  I disabled the sleep function, but the box will crash and I will get an error code.  This is daily. Daily.  
6. The Android control button is useless for actual navigation of cable.  It barely is useful for the apps.  Why not have a default mic button for cable?  Like "Turn to CNN" and then CNN comes on.  Shaw offers this.

The digital box lacks the most basic functionality that (a) other cable providers have and (b) Telus itself had on old hardware and (c) it is riddled with bugs.  

I'm on pure fibre 1gb.  

I need some clarity here.

[Troy8]

Agree with you 100% @Matthew123. I moved from Shaw to Telus a few months ago to save $40/month. You know the saying “you get what you pay for”, well there couldn’t be a truer statement. TELUS SHOULD BE EMBARASSED THAT THIS IS THEIR BEST TV PRODUCT THEY CAN OFFER. The OptikTV interface is absolute garbage. At this point, I already can’t wait for my 2 year plan to expire, so In can go back to Shaw. I will pay the extra money to have a decent (actually, very good) TV interface.

I could add about a half dozen or more shortcoming, but don’t want to waste my time.

If a Telus rep wants all of the deficiencies and inefficiencies of their interface, I would be more that willing to put together an extensive list.

I am so disappointed with myself for making the move after staying being with Shaw for over 20 years. I feel like I was totally naive in believing there couldn’t be that much difference.

Shame on you Telus!

[Optik-Kate]

Hi @Matthew123, thank you for the feedback. 

For overruns, we implemented an automatic 1-hour extension on all sports and a 3-hour extension on tennis. a while back. That said, it appears there is a bug where the extension isn't being applied to certain games. We're currently investigating this. 

For series recording, this is a known issue that the development team is actively working on resolving. 

For search and setting recordings, we have a recording option available on the content detail page once you click on the show poster. 

For recording errors, I will send you a DM about this, as we would like to investigate further. 

@Troy8 I've been forwarding the issues that have been circulating around this forum to our development team. If you have an extensive list that you'd like to share, I'll most definitely categorize it and pass it on. One thing I would say is the research, development, and testing period of a feature takes time, so the changes may not happen as fast as we'd like. 

Thank you for your patience and valuable feedback as we continue to work on improving the service! 

[jackrabbit000]

Goes for me too. I was with Shaw for over 20 years with no issues. Only reason that I signed onto Telus was they ran fibre to my house and thought that I would give it a try. What a big mistake. Absolutely hate their customer service, Optik TV and their Internet is a joke. So slow that it makes me wonder if they actually have a fibre network other than the fibre they install in my crescent.  Once my contract runs out I seriously considering going back to Shaw/Rogers.

[A-B]

Hello. While it's not the feedback our team strives for, I do want to thank you for sharing it as we're always working to improve our Optik service. @Optik-Kate there is some valuable info in this post that I'm sure would be good to share back with our dev team!

[Dw3]

I totally agree with you that this box is useless. The only good thing is blue tooth but the rest is a big step backwards. I’m sorry I switched over this annoying device

[Gobananasgo]

I also experience similar issues, the device is unusable.
-series recordings default to channels not in my plan
- I update the series recording to use the channel in my plan. It only updated the episodes that show up in the future recordings, usually 1-2 weeks. After that the series recording stops
-I cant start recording a show that is already airing.
- I periodically end up recording a show where the whole episode is black

There are many other issues I have not listed.

[A-B]

Hello. I'll send you a private message to gather your info, thanks.

[Optik-Kate]

Hi, @Gobananasgo Can you provide an example of the show recordings where the episode is all black screen? What was the show's name? 

[Gobananasgo]

This happened recently for Chicago Med. I record on channel 104, but when setting up recordings from the guide it defaults to channels where the show airs but are not in my plan. I have to carefully check every recording to ensure they are setup on channels that I get.

Rebecca

Sent from my iPhone