# PPV recorded?! (Monsters vs. Aliens)



## klambert (Feb 8, 2008)

We woke up this morning to find three 1080 copies of some horror movie with a $ next to it on our DVR recorded in the wee hours of the morning. Any ideas? We certainly didn't order it.

Are they now pushing content in the hopes someone will accidentally watch it or is our DVR glitching and ordering movies?


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## Webini (Feb 4, 2007)

Same here. I'm not amused...


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## Barry in Conyers (Jan 14, 2008)

Same here. Someone will probably be along shortly to explain that this is a new "feature".


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## patsrule316 (Sep 28, 2006)

Put this in the issues thread, but I had the same thing happen, accept it was Monsters Vs. Aliens....3 seperate recordings.


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## oldfantom (Mar 13, 2006)

It should only charge you if you watch. It is probably PPV that was supposed to go to the reserved portion of your harddrive in the watch now section.


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## pappasbike (Sep 19, 2006)

It"s an animated kids movie which is not too bad for adults either. But that's irrelevant.I got the exact same thing. Three Monsters v. Aleiens. What I'm thinking is that now it will list DTV's PPV picks in the one list where before you tabbed over to see the movies that they had predownloaded to your box or went to menu under On Demand to see DirecTv Cinema and looked under "Our Picks" to see those movies. There always used to be a list of 10 that they had preselected for you. With the update I guess those movies are gradually filling in. But why it would have selected 3 separate showings of the same movie I have no clue. You don't get charged unless you want to watch them. I've used these selections frequently because it saves you from having to wait for the PPV start time. You can watch it, if you want, immediately. An On Demand feature I guess.
John


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Seems like a simple error. Deleting the movies should take care of everything.


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

This seems to have happened since the update to 0x0368 software.
Just delete it.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Hopefully this is a mistake. 

I do not want anything in my List of recorded shows that is not one of MY RECORDED SHOWS!

It has the $ sign there, so I totally understand I am not paying for it, but it is not cool to be spamming my playlist like this.


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## Steady Teddy (Jan 23, 2007)

+1

Both my HR20s recorded Monsters Vs. Aliens 3 times overnight.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

:whatdidid Maybe I'm in the minority, but it doesn't bother me. The hard drive space is already reserved for them to add content. I'd just delete it (if I had got it) & go on.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

I called and teh CSR said it was a glithc they were working on and would not boe continuing going forward. Hopefully that is true.


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## Joe C (Mar 3, 2005)

I miss the extreme customability of the Tivo software. I'm never intrested in Directv's PPV so my Tivo's had the Directv "space" removed and was all alloted for shows that I wanted to record.


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## barryb (Aug 27, 2007)

It's most certainly a glitch. 

The program in question does not have any content, and deleting it is easier than posting about it.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

I guess we should never point out anything wrong? 

Hey, lots of things go right with DirecTV and overall I am happy with my service since we are giving them more than $2,000 a year instead of the cable company, but when something is not right, why should we keep it to ourselves?


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## barryb (Aug 27, 2007)

Lee L said:


> I guess we should never point out anything wrong?


By all means Lee post problems, but once more-than-a-few start posting the same results then (to me) it's been reported. When I saw the "glitch" show up on my two DVRs running the NR I knew this forum would get hammered with posts about it, and that some would be very upset. My response is valid as -it is- easier to delete it than post about it. I am by all means not a DBSTalk policeman. I was just as upset as everyone else.

Nice thing is that this is not the entire movie. Very little valuable hard drive space was compromised.



Lee L said:


> Hey, lots of things go right with DirecTV and overall I am happy with my service since we are giving them more than $2,000 a year instead of the cable company, but when something is not right, why should we keep it to ourselves?


I too am happy with DirecTV these days. Really happy in fact.

I see you found the best place to discuss about this:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=167091&page=3


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## Max Mike (Oct 18, 2008)

Lee L said:


> I guess we should never point out anything wrong?
> 
> Hey, lots of things go right with DirecTV and overall I am happy with my service since we are giving them more than $2,000 a year instead of the cable company, but when something is not right, why should we keep it to ourselves?


The rational thing to do is post here that this happen and ask if anyone knows what is going on. That is reasonable. And that was my first reaction when I saw a recording on my list that I did not schedule. I came here and saw someone else had the problem and DirecTV said it was a glitch they were working on&#8230; a win for me, and a win for DirecTV because I did not have to tie up a CS rep asking the question.

It is absolutely absurd to suggest someone should not have posted this problem here, this type of thing is exactly what the forums are for.


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## Scott Corbett (Jan 27, 2006)

Me too.


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## acer505 (Nov 14, 2007)

We are her to help each other not to put people down.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Folks, as has been pointed out .. this appears to be a glitch. In fact, I'm doubtful it has anything to do with software update. Regardless, simply delete the program or save it for future viewing if you want to watch it.

You will not be charged for the PPV unless you actually go through the purchase screens to buy the program.

It is my understanding that DIRECTV has no intention of "spamming" your playlist.


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## FrostyMelon (Dec 22, 2007)

...from other thread - this happened to me on the HR22's last night.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Doug Brott said:


> Folks, as has been pointed out .. this appears to be a glitch. In fact, I'm doubtful it has anything to do with software update.


Just a data point. I have 4 DVRS. 3 have 0368 (two received it last night, one a couple of nights ago.) The 3 that have 0368 got the PPV the one that does not have it did not get the PPV.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

I was going to delete it but I thought "hey this might be a free Movie from Directv to show off the 1080P picture to everybody!" Figured I would wait until today to read if it was really a free movie or some sort of error. Question Answered.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

dreadlk said:


> I was going to delete it but I thought "hey this might be a free Movie from Directv to show off the 1080P picture to everybody!" Figured I would wait until today to read if it was really a free movie or some sort of error. Question Answered.


You can always watch the first five minutes for free to test out the 1080p


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Lee L said:


> Just a data point. I have 4 DVRS. 3 have 0368 (two received it last night, one a couple of nights ago.) The 3 that have 0368 got the PPV the one that does not have it did not get the PPV.


Understand, but I'm sure there is more going on than just that. Whatever the issue is, DIRECTV is aware at this point.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

And this glitch has happened before on both the HR2x series and the R15. Most likely some flag is not set right and when the movies are pushed down they are going to the user portion of the harddrive instead of the reserved portion.

- Merg


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## shedberg (Jan 20, 2007)

Interesting that when I deleted the 3 copies of movies, the percent free stayed the same.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

The Merg said:


> And this glitch has happened before on both the HR2x series and the R15. Most likely some flag is not set right and when the movies are pushed down they are going to the user portion of the harddrive instead of the reserved portion.
> 
> - Merg





shedberg said:


> Interesting that when I deleted the 3 copies of movies, the percent free stayed the same.


Sorry, my mistake. I meant to say that when they are pushed down the flag is incorrectly set to display it as if it is on the user portion of the harddrive and not the reserved portion. Since it thinks that the movie is on the user portion, it displays it in the PlayList.

- Merg


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## RACJ2 (Aug 2, 2008)

I haven' received 0x368 and no phantom PPV movies added to either of my HR22's.


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

showed up here (not on 368) 2 days ago and disappeared on its own. was gone when I checked this morning.
was only on one unit though.


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## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

I only had two copies on my HR21 and both showed up as 0 minutes. I hit play and it went straight to the keep/delete screen.


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## MarkN (Jul 13, 2007)

why do I have monsters v aliens recorded on all my DVR's when I didn't order it?


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

It was an error on DirecTV's part, you won't be charged for it unless you view it, if you don't want it just delete it.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

Thanks for the thread. I had it twice on mine. Thought I fell asleep on the the remote. This place saves so many CSR calls.


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## my1423 (May 16, 2009)

Got 3 copies of it on one dvr but not the other.


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## ChrisPC (Jun 17, 2003)

Got it here, too.


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## Stryker412 (Jan 22, 2009)

Odd, I tried to play it and it went to a black screen then just asked me if I wanted to delete it.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Stryker412 said:


> Odd, I tried to play it and it went to a black screen then just asked me if I wanted to delete it.


Apparently it also didn't take up any space on your HDD 

The solution is to delete the program from your listing. It was a glitch which caused this to happen.


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## FrostyMelon (Dec 22, 2007)

^It didn't on mine, said length was 0 minutes.


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## Shanew1289 (Oct 28, 2006)

3 zero length Monsters vs aliens here too.

Nothing like your daughter "I DIDNT DO IT! I SWEAR!" ...


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## pacific85 (Mar 28, 2008)

More importantly, no charges for the movie that we didn't order. 

rt


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

I have deleted it twice now. Not real fond of it showing up like that either especially since its a PPV.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

It's nothing but a title. There is no content there. At least not on my DVRs.


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## Rob77 (Sep 24, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> Apparently it also didn't take up any space on your HDD
> 
> The solution is to delete the program from your listing. It was a glitch which caused this to happen.


That's a very simplistic response Doug..... "a glitch", I don't think so. The REAL question is.... why did it happen, and who in the organization allowed it to happen. The fact that this can happen to a vast number of subscribers should be of concern, and not swept under the carpet in the typical Directv engineering way of doing things.


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## joed32 (Jul 27, 2006)

Rob77 said:


> That's a very simplistic response Doug..... "a glitch", I don't think so. The REAL question is.... why did it happen, and who in the organization allowed it to happen. The fact that this can happen to a vast number of subscribers should be of concern, and not swept under the carpet in the typical Directv engineering way of doing things.


Sounds like a job for the FBI.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

Rob77 said:


> That's a very simplistic response Doug..... "a glitch", I don't think so. The REAL question is.... why did it happen, and who in the organization allowed it to happen. The fact that this can happen to a vast number of subscribers should be of concern, and not swept under the carpet in the typical Directv engineering way of doing things.


The "real" concern would be if it *didn't* happen to the vast majority. If it's a "simple" glitch on their end, independent of the receivers, then it is quite easily understood, fixed and most importantly, prevented from happening again.

Doug's response may appear simplistic, but that's exactly what is called for, if the problem matches, which it appears to. Ever heard of Occam's Razor?

Given all the issues I've seen surface in 3 years of using these DVRs, this has got to be one of the most innocuous and easily remedied problems I've ever seen. Let's not make a mountain out of a mole's hill.


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## facerw (Feb 1, 2005)

Had the same problem on mine as well. It was some sorta bug in their system. First time that happened because I don't order PPV movies. They said they fixed it.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Rob77 said:


> That's a very simplistic response Doug..... "a glitch", I don't think so. The REAL question is.... why did it happen, and who in the organization allowed it to happen. The fact that this can happen to a vast number of subscribers should be of concern, and not swept under the carpet in the typical Directv engineering way of doing things.


Well, considering I don't work for DIRECTV, I don't get postmortem reports that would have this kind of information.

As for "swept under the carpet?" Uh, what makes you suspect that DIRECTV didn't take corrective action on this? Do you think that DIRECTV wants something like this to happen? No, it was a glitch or if you prefer, something went wrong in the process and the result was that an empty recording of Monsters and Aliens ended up on a lot of folks HDD.


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## carlsbad_bolt_fan (May 18, 2004)

Saw the same thing on one of my HR20's, but not on the other. Deleting it was simple. As long as we weren't charged (which we weren't), NBD.


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## Joe C (Mar 3, 2005)

I did not have it on my HR22-100. This thread did remind me to check Redbox for Monster vs Aliens though:lol:


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Monsters vs Aliens didn't show up on any list here. We saw the movie with my 13-year-old nephew last spring on an IMax screen. It was much better than I thought it would be.


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## johnp37 (Sep 14, 2006)

I know I'm going to get flamed for this but here goes. According to some people in this forum nothing is ever Directv's fault. Every "glitch, issue, or problem is something that "happens" and "corrective action" is taken. Yeah, right. It should not have been allowed to happen in the first place. It was mentioned that "I don't work for Directv". But, would certain members of this forum have access to new hardware for the "First Look" threads if they were openly critical of D*tv's shortcomings as we of the rank and file have every right to be?


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

johnp37 said:


> I know I'm going to get flamed for this but here goes. According to some people in this forum nothing is ever Directv's fault. Every "glitch, issue, or problem is something that "happens" and "corrective action" is taken. Yeah, right. It should not have been allowed to happen in the first place. It was mentioned that "I don't work for Directv". But, would certain members of this forum have access to new hardware for the "First Look" threads if they were openly critical of D*tv's shortcomings as we of the rank and file have every right to be?


I don't think it was stated that this wasn't DirecTV's fault. Obviously a glitch/bug did occur, but since it was not nationwide, I think it was appropriate to call it a glitch. Should it have happened? No, but DirecTV in the past did take corrective action to correct the issue. Did it happen again? Yes, but we don't know if the cause was the same as last time or if some new circumstance caused it. One thing different this time from last time is that the shows were all 0 minutes in length. Last time, the shows could be purchased and watched from the PlayList. That would lead me to believe that this issue, although similar to before, is actually a different issue.

I think what needs to be looked at is how DirecTV responds in correcting issues that occur. NR 0x034C had some big issues and DirecTV quickly came out with another NR (0x0368) to attempt to correct those issues. Is it perfect yet? No, but no software is perfect and can always have room for improvement.

- Merg


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## alaskahill (Jul 15, 2007)

All I can say is good thing I saw this before I blamed my wife for recording Monsters vs Aliens 3 times


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

johnp37 said:


> I know I'm going to get flamed for this but here goes. According to some people in this forum nothing is ever Directv's fault. Every "glitch, issue, or problem is something that "happens" and "corrective action" is taken. Yeah, right. It should not have been allowed to happen in the first place. It was mentioned that "I don't work for Directv". But, would certain members of this forum have access to new hardware for the "First Look" threads if they were openly critical of D*tv's shortcomings as we of the rank and file have every right to be?


:shrug: Uh, glitch or no glitch, who's "fault" would it be other than DIRECTVS? Clearly something went wrong and in a perfect world it would never happen.

I am who I am with regards to my comments. You can choose to believe me or not. My point of saying I don't work for DIRECTV was that they do not provide me with information that could answer the question that was asked.

The good news is that was simply the appearance of a title in your playlist .. that's it. This has got to be the most easily remedied problems that's ever occurred on these boxes, just delete and the title goes poof!


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

johnp37 said:


> I know I'm going to get flamed for this but here goes. According to some people in this forum nothing is ever Directv's fault. Every "glitch, issue, or problem is something that "happens" and "corrective action" is taken. Yeah, right. It should not have been allowed to happen in the first place. It was mentioned that "I don't work for Directv". But, would certain members of this forum have access to new hardware for the "First Look" threads if they were openly critical of D*tv's shortcomings as we of the rank and file have every right to be?


Of course not, you can't get overly negative with the company and then get the new toys to review. It's expected that certain people, mostly mods etc will be cautious with what they say, its not because they work for D* but that's part of the game and without them doing that we would all suffer. so no problems there.

What I really dislike is the 2 or 3 people in this forum who pretend like they don't work for Directv when they really do, they are the ones who jump down on every negative post and they always want all negative posts closed as quickly as possible
.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

johnp37 said:


> But, would certain members of this forum have access to new hardware for the "First Look" threads if they were openly critical of D*tv's shortcomings as we of the rank and file have every right to be?


Yes, they would... I have been critical of them on several fronts, but I do it in a respectful and constructive way... I think they respect peopel who respect them.. I think they ignore people who are rude...

And yeah, I don;t see how anyone could say this one wasn;t directvs fault...


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Rob77 said:


> That's a very simplistic response Doug..... "a glitch", I don't think so. The REAL question is.... why did it happen, and who in the organization allowed it to happen. The fact that this can happen to a vast number of subscribers should be of concern, and not swept under the carpet in the typical Directv engineering way of doing things.


Wow. Sounds like you are ready to build a federal case about this. I guess my first question is did you materially suffer? In other words did you get billed for this? If not, what is the big deal? I sure don't see one--your playlist has an extra folder or a couple extra items. That sure ain't no big deal here.

Yes, there are defects in the HR2x code still. They are being fixed. And other cool things are happening to make the DVR experience the best possible. They ain't there yet. 

But in the scheme of things, does this really warrant this much angst? I remember in the old days when I had to walk three miles uphill in the snow, without shoes, to get to the HR2x...  

Cheers,
Tom


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

dreadlk said:


> ...
> What I really dislike is the 2 or 3 people in this forum who pretend like they don't work for Directv when they really do, they are the ones who jump down on every negative post and they always want all negative posts closed as quickly as possible
> .


Ummm... I'm very curious who you are certain works for DIRECTV. Why don't you PM me your list--I'm pretty certain you are wrong. 

(I know most of the DIRECTV employees that post here. There aren't many left who are permitted to post and they are not huge "rah-rah" DIRECTV posters--they don't post enough to be.) 

Cheers,
Tom


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## islesfan (Oct 18, 2006)

klambert said:


> We woke up this morning to find three 1080 copies of some horror movie with a $ next to it on our DVR recorded in the wee hours of the morning. Any ideas? We certainly didn't order it.
> 
> Are they now pushing content in the hopes someone will accidentally watch it or is our DVR glitching and ordering movies?


I did notice that when I deleted it it didn't change my available drive space, so if that is the case I don't really mind.


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## Paul E Fox II (Jul 6, 2008)

Wow...

I'll have to look and see if this is in the lists somewhere.

As long as I didn't get charged for it, I don't see the issue...I'll simply hit the Red Button and it goes away.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Paul E Fox II said:


> Wow...
> 
> I'll have to look and see if this is in the lists somewhere.
> 
> As long as I didn't get charged for it, I don't see the issue...I'll simply hit the Red Button and it goes away.


You are right, as long as it is a glitch, no problem at all. However, if they ever get the idea of doing this all the time, then it becomes a problem.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Lee L said:


> You are right, as long as it is a glitch, no problem at all. However, if they ever get the idea of doing this all the time, then it becomes a problem.


No, as I stated earlier, DIRECTV has no intention of pushing things into your playlist in this manner.

What will happen, though is if you "record" something from the DTV Cinema list it will move instantly from the reserved area into your playlist, though. This is by design. It should only happen if you choose to take the program, though. You will not be charged for a PPV by simply recording it. You must actually buy it before (1) you are charged and (2) the 24-hour timer starts.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

Lee L said:


> You are right, as long as it is a glitch, no problem at all. However, if they ever get the idea of doing this all the time, then it becomes a problem.


Why would they want to push unplayable titles to your playlist all the time?


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## Paul E Fox II (Jul 6, 2008)

I had the PPV in the list on the HR21 but didn't have a chance to check to two HR22's downstairs. 

Red Button - Gone now.


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## Bretman (Jul 30, 2008)

It showed up on my HR20-100...

To verify that I'm not being charged for these as PPV, I hit the following on the remote:

MENU > Manage Recordings > Purchases

It displayed:

Purchases: None

You may want to do this to verify no purchases on your receiver...Just a thought....

I also looked at the results of: 

MENU > Manage Recordings > History

and it does not show these programs as ever being recorded.

Hope this approach helps...


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Bretman said:


> It showed up on my HR20-100...
> 
> To verify that I'm not being charged for these as PPV, I hit the following on the remote:
> 
> ...


That's because the programs were not purchased. They are only being listed in the PlayList. And they are not in your history because they have not been recorded. They were just pushed down to your receiver for use with DirecTV Cinema.

- Merg


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Bretman said:


> It showed up on my HR20-100...
> 
> To verify that I'm not being charged for these as PPV, I hit the following on the remote:
> 
> ...


PPV programs all have a 5-minute preview. You will not be charged for any PPV until you go through the actual purchase screens. This is true of any PPV, so you can record the program and decide later if you want to purchase it or not. If you choose to not purchase the program, simply delete it and the PPV will be gone .. no charges. The same is true in this case even though the title erroneously appeared in some peoples playlists. In this case, though there was also no content associated with the title so you couldn't even watch the program if you wanted to.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

Tom Robertson said:


> Ummm... I'm very curious who you are certain works for DIRECTV. Why don't you PM me your list--I'm pretty certain you are wrong.
> 
> (I know most of the DIRECTV employees that post here. There aren't many left who are permitted to post and they are not huge "rah-rah" DIRECTV posters--they don't post enough to be.)
> 
> ...


Wish I could but it would get my friend at D* in trouble, certainly with his fellow employee's. He might be changing jobs soon, if so I will ask him if he has a problem with me letting you know.


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## Paul E Fox II (Jul 6, 2008)

Checked both of the HR22 last night and neither had the PPV listed.

Non-issue I guess.


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## Sneezy (Dec 18, 2006)

I had 3 copies (or so it said) on both of my DVR's and now I have something else. It's annoying. I don't want it, and frankly if one of my kids were to see it in the list they might watch it, then I'm stuck paying for it. At least my kids don't use the remote without my permission but still.......

Fix the freaking thing already!


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