UverseTV STB update without notice & drastic changes to On Screen TV Guide!

I don't like the new menu either.  As soon as I grab my remote I always hit the up arrow to start my surfing.  It would show what's on and what's coming on next on the bottom right and I would keep hitting the right arrow to see what's on after that, now I can't do that anymore. It is really annoying.  Can we please have back what were used to? 

I don't like the new menu either.  As soon as I grab my remote I always hit the up arrow to start my surfing.  It would show what's on and what's coming on next on the bottom right and I would keep hitting the right arrow to see what's on after that, now I can't do that anymore.  When I hit the up arrow it talks about saving favorites or something.  It is really annoying.  Can we please have back what were used to? 

I was concerned about the new format of the guide on Uverse which lists channel numbrs horizontally acroos the top of the page and times vertically.  We prefrrred the old grid pattern an was able to change to that format.  No help from tech support - found out how to do it on my own.  But the bottom part of Guide now shows the A,B, and C icons.  Is there any way to delete those?

On the Guide screen press ZOOM/ENTER (remote button) to Channel Shortcuts.

Menu>Options>Primary Guide Style

No option to hide A, B, C icons.

Misery loves company.  Everyone has their knickers in a twist (as my momma would say).

 HERE IS THE CONTENT OF MY CHAT A FEW MINUTES AGO. BOTTOM LINE RE NEW CHANNEL GUIDE? THERE HAS BEEN SUCH A PROTEST THAT SUPPOSEDLY WITHIN 48 HRS THEY PREVIOUS VERSION WILL BE RESTORED. SORRY FOR THE UPPER-CASE....VISION DISABILITY..

"AT&T: Hello! Thanks for choosing AT&T Chat.
Steven: Thank you for cont

acting AT&T U-Verse Technical suppo

rt. my name is Steven. How I can help you today?
MRS. W: HI STEVE, SORRY FOR THE UPPER-CASE BUT HAVE SEVERAL DISABILITIES INCLUDING VISION
Steven: Sure! No problem.
Steven: How I can help you today?
Steven: I have not received any response from you. Please let me know if you're receiving my chat messages so that we can continue.
MRS.W: SOMEONE IS HELPING ME TYPE WHILE I DICTATE THESE COMMENTS. STEVE, THE NEW CHANNEL GUIDE FOR TV UVERSE IS SO UNFRIENDLY, SO COMBURSOME, SO (PARDON THE EXPRESSION) "STUPID" THAT I'M FLABBERGASTED AS TO WHY IT WAS IMPLEMENTED! IT WAS PERECT BEFORE AND JUDGING FROM AT&T COMMUNITY FORUMS, MOST PEOPLE HATE IT. IT IS PARTICULARLY UNFRIENDLY TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
MRS. W: GIVE US A CHANCE TO TYPE OK STEVE?
Steven: Sure!
Steven: These are automated responses to keep the chat alive
MRS. W: WE ARE LONG-TIME AT&T CUSTOMERS, HOWEVER WE ARE GOING TO SWITCH TO ANOTHER PROVIDER IF THIS NEW GUIDE SETUP ISN'T CORRECTED.
MRS. W: GOTCHA.
Steven: I understand that this is a great inconvenience
MRS. W: WHOMEVER MADE THIS CHANGE IS A MOR__AN.
Steven: I understand this concern MRS. W
Steven: Can you help me with your name and phone or billing account number?
MRS. W: IT REQUIRES A TON MORE WORK BOTH MANUALLY AND VISUALLY.....FOR PEOPLE WITH THOSE TYPES OF DISABILITIES IT IS UNWORKABLE. IS THERE ANY WAY IN MY SYSTEM OPTIONS TO REVERT BACK TO THE PREVIOUS GUIDE SETUP?
MRS. W: (.....DELETED FOR PRIVACY REASONS)
Steven: Thank you for the details.
Steven: Mrs. W I completely agree that it is a great inconvenience.
Steven: Our Internal team is constantly trying to improve customers user experience and they bought in this update.
MRS. W: OOOPS....MOR__ON....:)
Steven: However I can see that you are not satisfied with it and disappointed.
Steven: We are getting a lot of negative feedback from our customers.
MRS. W: THANK YOU FOR AGREEING....IT SHOWS YOU HAVE GREAT INTELLIGENCE!
Steven: Thank you.
MRS. W: NOT SURPRISED....
Steven: We have already passed on this tremendous negative feedback to our internal team and they already working on it to get the old Interface back.
Steven: We value our customers feedback and we certainly do not want to lose you as a customer.
MRS. W REALLY? WHEN? MAYBE WE WON'T JUMP SHIP AFTER ALL. BUT CERTAINLY WE WILL IF IT IS NOT DONE VERY VERY QUICKLY.
Steven: I can assure you that the process of getting back the old interface will happen very shortly.
Steven: The Internal team is already working on it.
MRS. W: I'VE BEEN AN AT&T PHONE CUSTOMER FOR OVER 25 YEARS....SINCE BEFORE THE DIVESTERTUE (SP?). i ACTUALLY WORKED FOR 1 OF 2 VPS IN CALIFORNIA. AND WE HAVE BEEN UVERSE CUSTOMER FOR A VERY LONG TIME. OUR BILL IS NEARLY $200 PER MONTH.
Steven: Yes, Mrs. W. You have been a very loyal customer to AT&T. We appreciate your loyalty.
MRS. W: THERE IS AN UPRISING ON THIS MATTER IN THE COMMUNITY.
Steven: Yes, I see that the new update has not gone well with most of the customers.
MRS. W: OK....SO WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT IN TERMS OF GETTING THE OLD CHANNEL GUIDE BACK TIME-WISE...
Steven: Rest assured that It will happen very shortly
MRS. W: OK....I UNDERSTAND YOU PROBABLY HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING THE SPECIFIC TIME FRAME. NONETHELESS, WE ARE RESEARCHING OTHER TV SUBSCRIPTIONS SO WE ARE AT THE READY TO QUIT U-VERSE AND SIGN UP WITH ANOTHER CARRIER. WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS.
Steven: Rest assured that It will happen in less than 48 hours
Steven: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
MRS. W: NO THANKS STEVE......YOU JUST DID US A SOLID! 48 HRS? WE CAN WORK WITH THAT. TAKE CARE....
Steven: Sure!
Steven: It was my pleasure assisting you."

NOTE TO COMMUNITY FORUM: I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO SEE IF ANYONE ELSE HAS OPENED A CHAT TO VOICE THEIR PROTEST. ALSO, IF THIS "48 HR" CHANGE DOESN'T HAPPEN. I'M IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BY THE WAY. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!! 

MRS. W.

Once I get to Channel Shortcuts, it only has All Channels, doesn't give you options live Variety, Sports, if you click on it it just goes to guide again.

A concern that I have with the new format is that whenever I choose a show to record or even select to get details it returns me back to the top of the list.  Previously, I was able to work my way through my "Favorites" channels on a daily basis choosing what to record, etc. without having to re-locate my place every time I made a selection.

Bottom line - My family and I would be happy to return to old format.

I AM CURRENTLY IN THE MIDST OF A CHAT WITH A SO-CALLED TECH SUPPORT SUPERVISOR "BRUCE" WHO IS PRETENDING THAT HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT A NEW MENU/CHANNEL GUIDE SETUP FOR UVERSE TV....I WILL UPDATE THIS AT THE END OF THE CHAT. BECAUSE IT WILL EXCEED THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS ALLOWED, I WILL SEND AS PART 1 AND PART 2.. IF ANYONE KNOWS OFF-HAND WHO THE HIGHEST RANKING PEOPLE ARE IN CORPORATE OFFICES IN CALIFORNIA, I WOULD APPRECIATE HAVING THAT INFO SO I CAN SEND THE CONTENTS OF THIS CHAT TO THEM.

"

The elimination of channel shortcuts for my Uverse TV STB occurred @10:25pm Thurs Oct 20th while I was watching a live movie.  The screen went blank for 5 minutes followed by a message "No video signal."  It was a STB software (NOT firmware) update for which I nor anyone else was informed.  Not only did it interrupt live TV watching in prime time, but it totally changed the on screen tv guide and eliminated the Channel Shortcuts.  

The local Uverse tech manager was NOT aware of this.  Neither was my contact at the AT&T Office of the President.  There was no email, USPS, twitter or other social network notice of this drastic change.  Oh yes, it also deleted all my Favorite channels which I had to manually restore- 1 by 1!

To get Channel Shortcuts back you have to:

1.  Press Menu

2.  Press Guide

3.  Press ENTER (lower right corner of remote to the right of 0 button)

4.  Press 1 of the 5 options

5.  Select the category of channel you want to see what's on right now

Even after that the channel category is incomplete.  For example, Sports only displays the 24/7 sports network channels.  If an NBA game is on TNT it won't appear under Sports.  If a MLB American League playoff game is on TBS or a local channel it won't appear under Sports,etc, etc, etc.

On this AT&T Uverse forum , the answers (not questions) submitted by the so called ACE's are often an insult to one's intelligence to the ultimate degree/infinity power!  For example, adding more Favorites is not a substitute for being able to view channels by category, unless you make multiple Favorite lists- 1 for each channel category you're interested in.  

Many of the ACE answers are misleading and/or counter-productive!

HI THERE....GOOD TO KNOW ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL AGREES IT SUCKS. HOW CAN ONE CHAT AGENT (STEVEN DURING MY FIRST CHAT) ACKNOWLEDGE THE CHANGE AND EVEN STATE THAT IT WOULD REVERT TO THE PREVIOUS USER-FRIENDLY MENU, AND THEN IN A DIFFERENT CHAT SESSION SHORTLY AFTER THE FIRST, 2 SEPARATE AGENTS (1/GERARD; AND THE OTHER/BRUCE... A "SUPERVISOR") PLEAD TOTAL IGNORANCE THAT SUCH A CHANGE EVEN EXISTS! FINALLY, AT THE END OF THE CHAT, "BRUCE" FINALLY COPPED TO THE CHANGE WHEN I COPIED HIM ON THE POSTS FROM THE COMMUNITY WHO VOICED THEIR NEGATIVE OPINIONS ON THE CHANGE.....

I'M SURE NEITHER OF THE LAST 2 AGENTS NEVER EXPECTED A 74-YR OLD LADY BATTLING CANCER/HEART AND KIDNEY FAILURE TO HANG IN THERE AND TAKE THEM TO TASK AS WELL AS FOLLOW THROUGH WITH COPYING THE CHATS TO CORPORATE, WHICH I FULLY INTEND TO DO STARTING WITH THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.....'YA NEVER KNOW WHERE YOUR RUDENESS AND LIES TO CUSTOMERS WILL TAKE YOU.....

GOOGLE THIS QUERY: AT&T CEOS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND YOU GET THE HIGH MUCKY-MUCK LIST OF EXECS. HOWEVER THIS INFO LOOKS LIKE A WINNER RE COMPLAINTS: 

Executive Customer Care Contact

If you've contacted Customer Service and require additional support, click "HERE" to contact Carmen Nava, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience. 

"HERE" SENDS YOU TO A FORM WITH ROOM FOR 2000 CHARACTER MESSAGE. LOOKS LIKE I'M GONNA HAVE TO DO A 3-PART MESSAGE TO GET IT ALL IN, BUT I'LL BE HAPPY TO DO SO. WITH ANY LUCK, THE CHAT AGENTS JUST MIGHT GET NOTICED FOR THEIR HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

TO BE CONTINUED....

WHAT A MESS....