I wanted to call this blahg “Toshiba Sucks” or “Toshiba–To Hell In A Handbasket”. 
It wasn’t that I thought my readers (do I have readers?) would not get the play on words on that last one but rather that I want to give Toshiba some more time to resolve this issue or more rope with which to hang themselves. After all, it’s not my reputation on line here, it’s the good name of Toshiba that’s at stake.
Before I get too far ahead with this blahg, let me clarify that I’m not a pessimist. The glass is neither half full or half empty with me; it’s a glass and that means it can be broken and someone can be injured. I know that in previous blahgs that I’ve been quick to point blame or fault where it is due. In the past I’ve blamed David Letterman for breaking my cookie and cell phone users for ruining my movie going experience. To my own defense, I have also given praise where it is due. I’ve given accolades to Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, and Margaret Ann & The Ja-Da Quartet. I’ve also praised Whirpool for my new washing machine. If you are scratching your head at this point then it’s because you haven’t read my previous blahgs. Do yourself a favor and look back through my archives. There’s some fun reading there. All that aside, I can compliment just as easily as condemn. I wanted to make sure that was straight before I began my latest tirade.
Back in December, on Boxing Day to be precise, I bought a new Blu-Ray Player. I’m not an overly big fan of Blu-Ray and there’s been a great deal of material released on Blu-Ray that is sub-standard. The only reason I made the investment was there are some new materials being released with bonus material or special features that I cannot access on a regular DVD. This purchase is actually the second Blu-Ray player that has come into our home. The first was an inexpensive Seiki player BD660 that I purchased from Walmart. 
My son had been bugging me about getting one and when this one came on sale at Walmart for about $50, I made the purchase and made him happy. He quickly claimed it for his room and occasionally it was allowed to make an appearance in the living-room when he wanted to watch something on the big screen. It really didn’t matter because I hadn’t begun to purchase that many Blu-Ray discs and if I had something, then Noah was gracious enough to lend me back the Seiki that I had paid for.
The Seiki served its purpose until I began to acquire more Blu-Ray discs and the player begand to spend more time downstairs and Noah began to spend more time complaining about the situation. So, to get back to the story, I purchased a new Blu-Ray player for our main room. The source, which used to be Radio Shack, had a sale on the Toshiba Blu-Ray Player BDX2155KC.
It looked liked a decent player and it certainly was a decent price. I enjoyed the player right away because it had a feature that I really wanted in a player. If you take a close look at the back of this Toshiba Player then you will see that there is a USB port where you can connect a USB Flash Drive. This is very important because it allows me to play content that I have downloaded from the Internet.
I don’t want to get into the legality or illegality of downloaded content. I have discussed this all before in my blahg, “The Death of A Big One”. I detailed how I have had to download current TV shows because I live in the country and get 4 channels. Not all current shows air on any of those channels. One of my new favorites,”Smash”, about the struggle to put on a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe, has started airing on CTV2 after first airing on CTV. CTV is one of the 4 channels I do get and when they switched “Smash” to CTV2 then I had to start downloading the new episodes. Shame on you CTV and CTV2 and your parent companies…but that’s another story. I download some new shows like “Smash” & “Psych” and some older classic movies that have never been released on DVD.
The important thing to understand about downloading video content from the Internet is that the content can come in different formats. There is the standard AVI or DivX format that most regular DVD Players can play and then there are the MP4, MKV, WMA, MPEG formats that regular DVD players cannot display. If you don’t understand these formats then research them because I don’t have the time nor inclination to do that in this blahg. My new Toshiba Player has the ability to play all of these formats. All I need to do is put the downloaded content on my USB Flash Drive, plug the Drive into the back of the Toshiba and then we’re away to the races…or the movies in this case.
That’s how it’s supposed to work. I have a normal DVD Player with a USB Port in the front and if just want to watch a TV show or movie in AVI format then I can just use the USB Thumb Drive in this player and watch the content. When it’s any of the other formats, mentioned above, then I have to use my Toshiba. Let me be clear that the Toshiba has no problems playing any of the content in those formats. The problem is that if the show or movie is longer than 30 minutes then the Toshiba shuts down. It powers off right at the 30 minute mark. That’s a pain. Imagine trying to watch an hour or longer show or a movie and, just when things get interesting, the Toshiba turns itself off. Here’s my description of that feeling/experience: arrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhh! Do I make myself clear?
I knew that this wasn’t normal. I can play a DVD or Blu-Ray disc in the Toshiba without a problem. The movie or show on the disc will play from beginning to end without interruption. Use the USB and the Toshiba shuts down after 30 minutes. I checked through the manual and the only thing that I could find that applied to this problem was a note in the section about Screen Saver Duration: “The unit shuts down automatically in about thirty minutes if it remains idle and no activities are made.” I checked the on screen menu settings and the maximum time at which you can set the screen saver is 30 minutes. There is also the option to disable the screen saver. This does nothing. With the screen saver disabled, the Toshiba still shuts down after 30 minutes when playing content from a USB Drive. The only way that I discovered to avoid the shutdown is to pause the show or movie before 30 minutes and then resume play. If the show is one hour then I only have to pause it once but if it’s a two hour movie then I have to pause the Toshiba three or more times. Again, certainly not a normal procedure for a Blu-Ray player.
I struggled with this problem for a few months. I tried searching the Internet for a solution but to no avail. I was resolved that the Toshiba was not functioning properly. Finally, when I had some time, on April 4th, I telephoned Toshiba support for the first time. I wish I had had the foresight to record all of these conversations or to document the names of all of the people I spoke to at Toshiba. The first time I called, I spoke to someone who didn’t really understand what I was trying to tell him. I’m sure it was a language issue because Toshiba has clearly outsourced their technical support as everyone I spoke to subsequently, with the exception of Al (who will come up again later), had a foreign accent. I’m not knocking that. I worked for Hewelett Packard for a while troubleshooting their printers and some of their technical support was outsourced to India and The Philippines. There were many great technicians in those countries handling complex issues. The problem lies with Toshiba, in this case, in making sure their agents are qualified or well-trained in technical troubleshooting and appropriate customer service.
The first agent, as I said, had a hard time grasping the technical problem I was having with his company’s product. He put me on hold three or four times to check with his supports and each time he came back he would reiterate my problem but he would keep saying that my problem was that the Blu-Ray player would shut down after 30 minutes whether I played Blu-Ray discs or USB content. I kept having to clarify that the problem was only with the USB content. After the last time he had put me on hold, he came back and told me that they had determined that this Toshiba Player was malfunctioning and that they would need to replace it. They had all of my contact information and the serial number of the Player and there was no conversation about the Warranty. I never questioned the Warranty anyway because the manual clearly stated there was a full one year Warranty on the unit. The agent explained that I would receive an email detailing how they would be replacing the BDX2155KC. That was the end of the conversation I had with that agent other than that he provided me with a reference number.
More than a week passed and I received no emails from Toshiba. On April 13th, I phoned Toshiba once more and had to explain everything all over again to a new agent. When you first speak to these agents, they want the serial number of the Player to determine if the product is still in Warranty. This was the same procedure we used at Hewlett Packard. I learned early on however to just quote my reference number so they could quickly pull up my file. With this second agent, I did have to explain the problem again and to explain that a previous agent had told me the unit would be replaced but I had not received an email communicating any of the necessary details. It was clear that the first agent had not put any of this in his notes because the second agent could find no reference to a replacement. He put me on hold to speak to his Supervisor and then came back and told me they couldn’t help me because my Player was out of Warranty. I explained that I had only purchased it at the end of December and with a full one year warranty, the unit could not be out of Warranty. I had even gone online and registered the Blu-Ray player shortly after purchasing it. Why didn’t they have a record of this? Surely, they could look up the manual themselves and see what I could see about the Warranty: 
There was not question in my mind about the Warranty.
The agent had to put me on hold a few times as he tried to update the Warranty. I offered to fax or email a copy of the receipt from The Source but he told me it was not necessary. Finally, after numerous times of putting me on hold, he told me he was escalating my case to a Supervisor and that I would receive a callback to resolve this issue. I should have started balking at this point but I didn’t have any reason to suspect I would not receive a return call from someone higher up at Toshiba.
Jump ahead a week. It’s now April 20th and no one has called me back and still no emails and still the Player is shutting down after thirty minutes when playing content from the USB Drive. Again, I get a new agent and have to provide the case number and I have to detail the problem again and the previous conversations with previous agents. This new agent does not question the Warranty so I assume the Warranty issue has been resolved. This time I’m only on hold once before he comes back and says he will be escalating me to a Supervisor and that I’m to hold the line for the Supervisor. While transferring me to the Supervisor, the call disconnects. I wait an hour and no one calls me back. I call again and get yet another agent and provide my reference number and a back story detailing my issues with the Blu-Ray Player and my issues with all of the previous agents. I am immediately connected to a Supervisor and the call does not disconnect. I have to provide all details and history again to this Supervisor. I am told by this Supervisor that his records indicate that they have already replaced this unit. What!? Previous agents couldn’t find anything in the notes about a promise to replace the Player yet this Supervisor tells me they have a record that they have already replaced the BDX2155KC. I am very insistent that the unit has not been replaced and that I’m very disappointed with the customer service that I have received to this point. The Supervisor apologizes, like every agent before him has apologized, and promises that he will get this resolved by escalating my case to Customer Service. Again I’m assured a callback. Again, the callback never comes.
April 27th, a week later, three weeks since I started calling Toshiba, I place a call to Toshiba and get yet another Agent who is unfamiliar with my case. This time, I begin recording times, names, and what I’m being told. Here’s the timeline from April 27th:
1:15pm: I speak to Phil and provide my case number, explain the problem with Player, detail my frustration with Toshiba and the lack of support I have received to date. I ask for a Supervisor. Phil says it will be a ten minute wait on hold for a Supervisor. I am placed on hold at 1:30pm.
1:55pm: Someone named Victor comes on the line. I ask if he is a Supervisor. He explains that he is not a Supervisor and it becomes apparent that after 25 minutes on hold I was routed back to another front line technical support agent. I provide the case number and case history so he doesn’t have to read through all of the notes. Victor explains that he only troubleshoots issues and customers from the United States and that because I am in Canada, he cannot help me. I request a Supervisor. Victor becomes belligerent and says I cannot speak to a Supervisor because he does not provide support to Canadian customers. I become belligerent and complain about the poor support and service I have received from Toshiba. Victor does not apologize but maintains he cannot help me because I am Canadian. I demand his employee #. He tells me his ID # is 1326932. I have requested this number because I want to report this agent and make sure he is properly trained in Customer Service etiquette. I then demand to be transferred to someone who can help me.
2:06pm: I am transferred yet again to a front line agent but this time to someone who services Canadians. His name is Karl. Again I offer up the reference number and case history and overall dissatisfaction with Toshiba. I also explain the inappropriateness of Victor, the US only support agent and that I would be happy to provide his ID #. Apparently this is not necessary. I don’t push the Victor issue. I ask for a Supervisor. Karl tries to be helpful and wants to troubleshoot the original issue about the unit shutting down after 30 minutes. I thought this might be useful because no one else had tried to do that since the first agent back on April 4th. Karl does not place me on hold but his answers are not helpful and are not correct. He explains that the BDX2155KC does not support playback of any video file formats other than MPEG files. I read to him from the manual: 
Again, I fail to understand why Toshiba agents do not have access to the same information as I. It’s in the manual. Nowhere in the manual does it say that MPEG files are the only supported USB content for video files. I thank Karl for trying and request a Supervisor. I am placed on hold again.
2:23pm: I have been on the phone for more than an hour and have spoken to three different people and been transferred three times. A female voice comes on the line this time. Her name is Karen. I explain all problems and frustrations. Again, I receive apologies. She explains she is escalating my case to a Case Manager. I know about Case Managers. We had them with Hewlett Packard. When a Supervisor cannot resolve a case then it is escalated to a Case Manager. I am asked to hold the line. Here we go again.
2:37pm: It’s the old waiting game. New voice. Another man. This person identifies himself as Al and that he is a Case Manager. This is the first time I’ve spoken to someone without an accent. Again, not an issue. I detail everything to Al. I don’t press the Victor issue. Again, I receive an apology. I’m a little snippy with Al and tell him that apologies don’t mean anything if the same things keep happening again. I ask him if this is how customer service is supposed to be. He says “no”. I tell him that’s the correct answer. Al asks if he can call me back in ten minutes because he has to review the manual and find out why the unit is shutting down after thirty minutes. I refuse the callback. I explain that Toshiba’s track record with callbacks is very poor and I’m not going through that again. Al says he has to have time to review the manual. I ask him what does he need to know because I have the manual in front of me. I cite passages about the screen saver and the shutdown feature. I explain about supported content and tell him where he can find it in the manual. He still presses for the callback because he needs to investigate this himself. I concede. He promises me it will only be ten minutes. I’m off the phone with Al at 2:47pm.
3:12pm: Al calls me back. It’s been 25 minutes. Another promise not kept. Al explains that he can find no reason to explain why the unit is shutting down during USB content playback. He says that Toshiba will replace my BDX2155KC with a newer BDX2300.
Again, a promise of replacement. Al says that he doesn’t currently have any of the BDX2300s at his location in Toronto and would I wait for them to be shipped to Toronto from Vancouver. This is the first time I realize I’m speaking to another Canadian. I tell him that I can wait. I’ve waited this long. I’m off the phone with Al by 3:17. I think that I’ve finally reached a resolution.
3:25pm: Al calls me back. Will wonders never cease? Two callbacks from this guy and only one was expected. Bad news. Al says that they cannot send me a replacement because my BDX2155KC is out of warranty. I wanted to blast Al about this but he’s been nice up to this point. I explain to Al that I had already gone through all of this before and my receipt shows I purchased it on December 26th, 2011 and the manual says I have a full one year warranty. He asks if anyone had asked me to fax a copy of the receipt. I tell him no, but that I offered and was told that it wasn’t necessary. Cut to the chase. Al asks me to fax a copy of my receipt to him and he will update the Warranty. He also promises to send the BDX2300 directly to me from Vancouver by UPS rather than having to wait for it to arrive in Toronto and then relayed on to me. I get off the phone, fax the receipt to Al, and that’s the last I hear from anyone with Toshiba.
It hasn’t been a week yet but I’ve heard nothing from Al or Toshiba. I’m assuming everything is fine and the Warranty has been updated and I will soon receive the BDX2300. Stay tuned.
Tags: False Ducks, Scott Henderson, Toshiba