I have been holding off on writing this letter, hoping that the systemic problems embedded across GCI’s new Yukon TV streaming platform would be resolved soon. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
The app frequently crashes and is unreliable. Whenever I turn on my TV, I never know what I’m going to get. I frequently get a black screen with error messages and continuous spooling. Yet I can exit the Yukon app and go directly into Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Peacock with no problems. Sometimes, exiting the Yukon app and reentering it or rebooting the EvoPro box fixes the problem; other times it doesn’t.
Meanwhile, Yukon’s Cloud DVR is hit and miss in recording programs or merely accessing previous recordings. GCI has acknowledged this problem and has encouraged customers to watch missed episodes of their favorite shows on Yukon’s video on demand (VOD). However, their VOD is missing many shows and others haven’t been updated in weeks.
GCI noted in statewide webinars it has a special number set up for Yukon technical support. I have called that number several times this week and contrary to what the company stated, wait times are frequently more than two hours long.
I am familiar with streaming platforms and I have never seen an app with so many problems. GCI’s transition to Yukon has been poorly executed and the end-user experience is terrible. These issues should have been anticipated by the company when it strongly encouraged thousands to transition from cable to their new streaming service by year-end. That deadline has now been extended three months.
Hard questions need to be asked and the company should stop moving customers over to Yukon until all of the issues are resolved.
— Carl Portman
Anchorage
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