Free TV

We replaced the old TV box with one that will record one channel while playing another.  After two days of working on it, I think it is now going correctly. The box wouldn't recognise the hard disk and after many re-assembling attempts with no success I went online for official 'Help'.  I was told that the box worked on USB 3.0 and the HD was USB 3.1 so they incompatible.  Emailed the store who said it was their fault, would refund the money, and I could drop the HD in to the store.  This would not be possible as I am cocooning and the store is well outside my 20km travel limit, to which I stick rigidly!  Further thought on the situation led me to believe that I had been misinformed by the 'helper', so I re-attached the HD, switched on and they talked, the disk formatted, and recording worked. I often wonder how technical the people at 'help' are.