Channels & viewing

[SteveGuard148]

Hi, I subscribe to This Old House (TOH) channel through my Roku Express. Recently I had to change my TOH password when trying to view the channel on my laptop. Now when I try to view on Roku I just get the TOH splash screen and nothing else happens. I'm guessing that it no longer recognizes the password but there does not seem to be an option to update the password. I would have expected a message to come up asking me to login again but nothing happens. I've tried removing and re-adding the channel and I've tried a factory reset of my Roku Express but nothing has worked. Any ideas please?

[RokuJechealR]

Hi @SteveGuard148,

Thanks for posting here in the Roku Community!

Getting help from our account billing team may be more effective for these issues. Please contact them directly through our Account-Billing Support page. Choose the options for "Account, payments & subscriptions," and they are the best ones to help you out with that matter.

If you need any additional help, we'll follow up to continue assisting you.

Best regards,

Chel

[makaiguy]

@SteveGuard148-

I don't have a known solution for you, but here's what I would try if faced with this problem.

Log into your TOH account using your laptop.  Change your password back to what it was before.

Load TOH back up on your Roku - hopefully it will load and log you in as before.  If it does, while viewing on the Roku, see if you can find a way to change your password.

[Strega2]

I’m guessing he doesn’t know his old password.  I think when you use Roku pay, you get a random password created on a Roku server.  (I think???)

[SteveGuard148]

Hi Chel

Thanks for your reply. I have been in touch with the account billing team as suggested but after trying various things - removing/reinstalling the channel; clearing cookies; device restart; factory reset - the problem is not resolved. They suggested that it could be a channel software issue and said to contact This Old House support. So I'll wait to see what response I get from them.

regards

Steve

[Strega2]

If nothing else works, I would cancel with Roku, wait a bit to make sure it is truly cancelled, and subscribe directly with TOH.  Essentially, I think that by logging into TOH and doing a password reset/forgot, you’ve essentially broken the Roku link to your account, and since you have a working account with TOH (only) now, you could just fund that account directly, and log in with these current credentials on the Roku.

I did a similar thing with a different channel:  I had subscribed on Roku, but decided I wanted to subscribe directly.  So I: cancelled on Roku.  Waited until well past the end, and past the next billing cycle to make sure I wasn’t going to be billed. Then I “forgot password” with the content provider and set up my payment info there.  Of course, I did things in a different order, and I’m not sure all these back-end interactions with Roku and various content providers all work the same way.

[SteveGuard148]

Hi Strega2

Thanks for the reply. I had thought about doing that if all else fails. Luckily I have a monthly subscription and the current period expires at the end of the month.

regards

Steve

[SteveGuard148]

Hello again, I still have my problem. I contacted This Old House (TOH) support but they were next to useless as all they could do was to tell me how to change my password - which I already knew and was at the heart of my problem.

I have now let my subscription lapse in the hope that this would solve the problem but it hasn't made any difference... I received and email from TOH inviting me to reactivate my subscription but when I try it doesn't work because I'm not in the US or Canada - I'm in the UK.

On my Roku Express I have done (another) factory reset and added the TOH channel but the same thing happens in that when I play the channel I just get the launch screen and nothing else happens. I've looked at the Roku support help but that just says go to the channel and select the subscribe button but I can't get to that point...

Any more ideas/suggestions please?

Thanks

Steve

[renojim · Accepted solution]

I'm just grasping at straws here, but I'd suggest trying an alternate network like at a friends house or your phone's hotspot.  Since you've already factory reset it, you may as well do it again, but this time create a new Roku account and link it to that.  Hopefully you have another email address you can use for the new account.  When you create the new account, make sure you either clear your browser cookies or use a private or incognito browser window when you do.

I realize that neither of these is a solution, but if one or the other works it may lead to one.

[SteveGuard148]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have created an new Roku account with a different email address, done (another) factory reset and used the new email address to login. I was then able to add the This Old House channel and when it launched it took me to the screen where I could subscribe again. It's now working perfectly again. Once again many thanks for your help.

Steve