Channels & viewing

[avedail]

@njt @RokuKarla

I would have to agree with that. I am a fairly new user of Roku (since December) and it looks like I made the wrong choice. I may change yet. But Roku should have consequences for this. The programming is part of what we pay for. How absurd it is that they are still thanking us for our patience and making excuses. Two weeks ago, that's what I got from Roku - thanks for the additional info, and your patience and understanding.. Nothing since then. 

For me it has been about two months since this problem started and there were others posting here about the same problem before that. Roku are you going to repair this or do we need to go outside Roku to get resolution?  

[gmrenfro]

I am a retired global IT director from what was at the time the second largest consumer electronics company on the planet.  I have a PhD in physics and have been involved with computer systems since punched card days.  I am having exactly the same problems as all these people who have posted here, and I have tried every suggestion posted here plus several more including replacing ALLof my network hardware.  I am sick of being patronized by people who weren’t born yet when I was responsible for global network and computer systems.  It is not possible to make the argument that these problems are anything other than a system error at Roku.  Every other option has been checked out. This is without doubt a product liability issue with the Roku system.  And the fact that Roku has no technical support telephone number is nothing short of abominable.  I will continue to use my Roku stick because every other content provider works perfectly well, but as far as I’m concerned the “Roku Channel” is mere vaporware and is a hopeless joke.

[gmrenfro]

If your team can’t replicate the issue then you are cordially, but maybe not too sympathetically, invited to my house for a full and technical demonstration!

[avedail]

@gmrenfro 

Thank you for confirming from a position of expertise, what seems to be the only explanation for this fiasco. And you are absolutely right - it is ridiculous that there is no technical support telephone number. The fact that they hide from their customers says a lot!

[gmrenfro]

Well Halelujah!!  This afternoon for the first time I can finally watch the “Roku Channel” on my smart TV using a Roku stick, on my iPad using the Roku app, and on my iPad using a web browser.  None of these have worked before.  So, Roku team, congratulations.  It is my fond wish that this isn’t an accident, that you actually found the problem and fixed it, and that it won’t recur.  It would be a courtesy if you would respond and confirm that.  Anyway, I hope that everything works properly for your other customers now

[avedail]

@gmrenfro 

Well, you are very fortunate! But I still cannot watch anything Roku and I'll bet that's the case with most other customers who've experienced this problem.

ROKU, perhaps you can use this sudden change in gmrenfro's situation to figure out what's going on and get this same result for all of us.

If not, what is it going to take? Do we have to complain to your regulating agencies? 

[gmrenfro]

So sorry to hear that.  I confirm that all my access methods are still working this evening.  Is anyone else still having problems?  Roku — still no comments?  Well here’s a clue.  Compare my account activity with that of avedall during the last 24 hrs.  Are we both accessing the SAME software on your server?  If not, why not? Are both of our accounts up to date?  I’m testing my access by trying to load and run “Meet Me In Paris”. At first it didn’t play.  Now it does.  To eliminate any red herrings, I suggest we all try accessing that same movie so that we are sure this isn’t dependent on what content we are watching.  You don’t have to watch the movie if you don’t want to.  Just see if the movie will play or not.  Roku — you already know that these problems are not caused by what local browser or app or computer hardware or telecom carrier your customers are using.  So how does your server app work?  Do different users get directed to different servers?  Is the software on different servers IDENTICAL?  Is the server hardware IDENTICAL?  Are you going to be willing to inform your users “mea culpa” when you finally figure this out, or are you going to continue to remain silent or to blame your customers?  I sincerely hope that as a company you can learn some valuable corporate lessons from this experience.

[gmrenfro]

Post Script — Why did your server keep telling us to turn off our VPN before connecting when, in fact, we did not have any VPN software installed on our machines?  Many of us have reported this issue.  It is a crystal clear indication that something has been wrong with your server software.  That problem has now disappeared for me.  Why?  Is anyone else still getting these VPN errors?  If so, then Roku is clearly directing us to different servers which do not have IDENTICAL software.

[MarkRichards]

It's still not working for me in Canada.

[avedail]

@gmrenfro 

Well, someone pick me up off the floor!! I just tried "Meet Me in Paris" and it actually ran, then I tried several other options randomly. They all loaded and played. Roku is actually working!!! Now, after about 2 1/2 months with no Roku. 

@gmrenfro maybe Roku picked up on something based on what you passed along to them. Thanks so much for your efforts!! I'm cautiously hopeful that this is the end of the problem. Not so sure because there are still customers who have no Roku access so there is still work to be done.

But maybe Roku, you are figuring it out. I must say it's about time. Although it's most appreciated that you are making progress, the length of time we've gone without service is hugely unacceptable. I was looking yesterday at some of your competitors' devices because I don't choose to give my money or loyalty to a business that has no more concern for their customers than this outage - and your huge lack of communication about it - would lead one to believe is the case. I'll give Roku some more time and hope that you prove it's warranted. It would be appreciated if you'd let us know what you have found to be the problem.