What does it take to get MS or Zap2it to fix guide data?

I used the connect.microsoft.com site to fill in a missing channel report (btw, that site has some of the worst navigation I've seen in a site.  Hire a User Interface designer please) .  That was report 678808 back on the 7th.  Looking at the "Open Feedback" this seems to be an issue for many people.

I've contacted Zap2it on Jun 25th and finally again on Jul 13th and have just gotten the "Thanks, we've given it to our lineup team" response.

I'm starting to regret spending all the cash to build out a Media Center machine.

And this is just guide data issues.  Nevermind the fact that last weekend I had to wipe the tuner configuration and resetup MC because the tuners "vanished".

There are people who have waited for years without getting any response whatsoever. (I'm one of them) For some reason they just don't care

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the reply on 7/9 I posted a problem on their site about zip codes 33445 and 33483 missing about 60 channels on Comcast analog. I also sent trouble tickets to Zap2It and Tribute. Zap2It sent me a form and did nothing, but Tribune was veyr responsive. Followed up the next day...and when I supplied the information she told me when it had been fixed. The data is now correct on Zap2It, but as of last night it was not correct with a fresh EPG download from Microsoft.

From the looks of the site linked to from here...it has been almost two weeks since anyone from Microsoft has responded to any reports on that site.

Basically, anyone using MC in Palm Beach County, FL is being limited to the major networks until this issue is corrected in the guide.

I just put feedback about the HD flags being wrong on 9 channels here.  I had posted about it for a few channels on the old TGB back in 2008, but nothing came of it and I've found more since then.

A lot of the required fields on the feedback form either don't really apply or don't have a choice that makes sense, so I put things like an end date of 12/21/2012.

So how long should it take to get errors corrected in the EPG for Media Center? I have submitted my requested for the link at the beginning of this topic.

My wife just informed me that she can't schedule any recordings on Discovery channel, because the guide says "No Data Available" for this and several other channels.

This is "Shark Week" people!  :-)

I tried to manually prompt WMC to download.  Hasn't worked so far.

I wouldn't hold your breath if you're having issues with QAM everyone- I submitted a bug when Verizon changed their QAM channel numbering and no longer mapped to the existing Zap2It listing data- this is the response that I received from Microsoft:

Posted by Microsoft on 5/24/2011 at 1:26 PM

Closing the issue since the USA data providers currently do not provide option of listing QAM channels.

MS can't/won't force the providers to publish correct QAM data, and Zap2It doesn't care. It's either Manually map your channels or nothing.

I submitted a ticket becuase I'm getting an invalid headendID error, resulting in no guide data for anything except local channels.  Looking at the feedback site, it appears that the most recently submitted issue that has been addressed is from 7/7/2011.  Am I to believe that it takes a MONTH for them to fix anything?

That's retarded even by Microsoft's standards.

While individual cases will vary, most of the EPG issues reported need to be handled by our partners and are not direclty fixable by us.  We try to provide this info to partners ASAP but do not have ultimate control over the time to resolution.  There are of course also issues that we need to address and for those I'll try to make sure they get traction if needed.

Thanks Paul.  I appreciate the response.  I understand that Microsft is partnered with different providers and that sometimes it isn't Microsoft's problem (I believe that is the case in my situation in fact) but my understanding is that posting in the Feedback section with my issue is the "proper" channel for resolving it, and I just think it would be nice if the MS folks could follow up on these issues just so we know what's going on.  If I got an email or a follow-up post saying "we're looking into it" or something just to let me know that somebody read the post that would be great.   I can't recall ever submitting a trouble ticket anywhere with out getting any sort of follow-up resonse within a day.

I got a E-mail several weeks ago from zap2it tech support that they will have QAM listings by the end of this year.

Strange-

This was the exact response I received from Zap2it about their FIOS listing data at the end of May:

---------------------------------------------

Dear Zap2it user,

Thank you for your email.

We are sorry you are experiencing difficulties with the site.

We currently support only whole number positioning in our cable/satellite lineups so Qam channels are not included.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for being a Zap2it user.

----------------------------------------------

Hopefully things are changing for the better. I don't actually blame Microsoft at all for guide data issues, as they're the consumer, not the producer, and could just as easily make Media Center users subscribe to 3rd part data. It's nice to see that Zap2it might be making a change though.

I will keep my fingers crossed about getting a better EPG in Media Center. I am just frustrated (like other people are) that we have paid money for Windows Media Center (that has been around for a long time) and the contents of the EPG come from zap2it.com and there is only a "gentlemans agreement" that zap2it.com will provide accurate listings.

+1.  Really wish one could plug in different EPG providers, even if those providers required a subscription/fee.  The guide inaccuracies from zap2it are really pissing me off... I'd pay to have correct information.

webminster

+1.  Really wish one could plug in different EPG providers, even if those providers required a subscription/fee.  The guide inaccuracies from zap2it are really pissing me off... I'd pay to have correct information.