Fuck DirectTV

[BanginJimmy]

So, yesterday I went out and bought me a new HD TV. Obviously the first thing I did when I got home was to call Direct TV so I could get my new box to go along with it. This is where the problems started. Direct TV wants $200 fucking dollars and another $5 a month to RENT an HD DVR. You cant even purchase them anymore either.

So after a bit of research and about an hour on the phone with Comcast, I decided to cancel Direct TV and pay about $360 in cancellation fees. I did some quick math, and with the plan I went to I will only spend an additional $70 over the next year to go with comcast. That $70 includes the $360 cancellation fee and I dont have to pay shit for an HD DVR from Comcast.

I think this pretty much seals the deal for me as I will NEVER use Direct TV again. $200 for the receiver will pretty much put them out of contention.


/rant

[drpepper14]

been there and dealt with that before.

Now just wait for your Comcast to start pixelating and doing all sorts of crazy stuff and then you will be begging for U-verse. I'm waiting on u-verse to be available at my house so I can finally drop comcast as well....

[Revmaynard]

Now get ready for multiple problems and terrible customer service. Comcast is the largest company in the US to be excluded from the BBB.

[green91]

Man you should have priced DISH network instead. But yes directv is very annoying especially if you want to upgrade in contract. Its stupid they will make such good deals to new customers but aren't willing to work with existing customers at all hardly.

[BanginJimmy]

Both of my brothers in law have comcast HD and neither has had issues with pixelating but I will keep an eye for it. There is also supposed to be an issue with the video and sound sync with the TV, but most of the reviews I have seen say that it corrected with 120hz. HDMI cables.

[punkr6]

Direct tv in my house and I love it. No issues with the reception and the most HD channels. I had comcast and charter before and the both sucked. Best customer service I've ever had is with Direct tv. I had them come out and change my dish for Hd tv and they not only did it for free, they called me when it was done and several times after to make sure it was working ok...just saying

[MR. 200SX]

When I got my HD equiptment I also called Direct TV to hook me up with all the HD hardware and the dude came to my house barely got out of his car to tell me He couldn't do it because I had too many trees around and blah, blah, blah. I called cancelled on their ass (I didn't have to pay any fees) and the next day Dish came hooked everything up with no problems at all.

[yogi08]

i have direct tv and i love it... also dvrr... my roomates bought it and i just pay my 1/4 of the bill

[BanginJimmy]

I was happy with Direct TV's service, but the simple fact that they were going to charge me $200 plus rental fees for the damn HD DVR was BS. I have had comcast in the past also and never once had an issue with customer service. The guy I talked to was great and got me a better deal than the one I thought I wanted.

[DemonEyez]

hrmm directv.. already with em

wanted HD called em up they said same thing. upgrade fee's of 50$ per room. 5$ reciever + extra cost for HD channels.

so what i did is go to retentions.
threaten cancellation.
Got 6 months free HBO starz etc.
Free hd for a year.
free upgrades to all rooms inc receiver. (one receiver was a dvr)

oh and curse out DTV all you want but its the same if you were with comcast and trying to get direct tv. or with dish trying to switch etc.

heck its the same with ur cell phone companies too. Its not direct tv's fault. its generally the consumers fault for allowing programs like this to continue. People want a "upfront" deal and sign a contract thinking nothing of it. then they wanna change something because lets face it, 2 years is quite a long time and then they screw themselves.

[green91]

^^ Bingo!! youve def gotta talk to retentions..

i did the same thing with sprint, and got a free airrave, new phone & waived activation fees lol.

[BanginJimmy]

I talked to retentions and they went as far a to cut the price of the receiver in half, but even with the cancellation fees they were more expensive over the next year than Comcast.

This isnt my first go through with this. I have threatened cancellation before with Comcast before I eventually went to DTV and got a free DVR upgrade, along with a free premium channel. DTV just wasnt really willing to deal with me though so I said screw em.


Anyone that isnt with Comcast right now, Comcast is offering HD, phone and internet for $99 a month and they give you a dell laptop. It is a 2 year contract that also locks in the second eyars price at only 10 more a month.

[DemonEyez]

I talked to retentions and they went as far a to cut the price of the receiver in half, but even with the cancellation fees they were more expensive over the next year than Comcast.

This isnt my first go through with this. I have threatened cancellation before with Comcast before I eventually went to DTV and got a free DVR upgrade, along with a free premium channel. DTV just wasnt really willing to deal with me though so I said screw em.


Anyone that isnt with Comcast right now, Comcast is offering HD, phone and internet for $99 a month and they give you a dell laptop. It is a 2 year contract that also locks in the second eyars price at only 10 more a month.

the trick to getting stuff free is.. being a good customer aka

being with them a while. ive been with direct tv 8 years now.
i forgot to mention i just got my nfl sunday ticket for 100$ instead of the monstrous 250 or whatever it was.

[tony]

been there and dealt with that before.

Now just wait for your Comcast to start pixelating and doing all sorts of crazy stuff and then you will be begging for U-verse. I'm waiting on u-verse to be available at my house so I can finally drop comcast as well....

What part of town are you at? I'm on the team that paves the way for Uverse, it really depends on the equipment in your neighborhood as well as your distance from facilities.

[BanginJimmy]

What part of town are you at? I'm on the team that paves the way for Uverse, it really depends on the equipment in your neighborhood as well as your distance from facilities.


This is why I would never use DSL. I have friends that have it and they say it is almost as slow as dial-up during peak times.

[drpepper14]

I'm in kennesaw off barret....i keep checking the availability website like twice a week....no luck yet.

Rest of kennesaw has it for the most part, and even my parents 5 min up the road, but not us.

Uverse is the best thing out right now, and i'm stuck with the lesser of 2 evils imho

[DemonEyez]

This is why I would never use DSL. I have friends that have it and they say it is almost as slow as dial-up during peak times.

you can say that but ill never have cable.

cable = shared bandwidith. so depending on who has in on your node and how much they are torrenting = how fast you can go

dsl speed = hops to main server.

I'd normally bet on having a lower "peak" speed but a overall more consistant speed. aka dsl than have to worry about what times my neighbors are using the internet.

altho i am also waiting for u-Verse to hit my neighborhood. they said soon, but not how soon.

[BanginJimmy]

I have seen alot of good with Uverse, but I never get brand new products. By the time this contract runs out all o the bugs should be worked out of Uverse and I will look more closely into it.

[DemonEyez]

So far i havnt heard of any bugs with u-verse. this isnt like a new computer or anything its just a new way to x-fer the signal. fiber to be precise. better data rates = better internet, phone and tv quality. altho so far the verizon FIOS service has been getting the best picture quality, unfortunately they dont offer it in GA.

[tony]

So far i havnt heard of any bugs with u-verse. this isnt like a new computer or anything its just a new way to x-fer the signal. fiber to be precise. better data rates = better internet, phone and tv quality. altho so far the verizon FIOS service has been getting the best picture quality, unfortunately they dont offer it in GA.

Verizon's FIOS is over Fiber Optic cable, you'll never have issues with that and it is by far the best system out there to date.

[BanginJimmy]

got a call from Direct TV tonight and I will probably be switching back to them.

Free HD DVR
I can keep my regular DVR for free
locked in at about $55.00 a month for 12 months
$100 credit on my account.
Free install of the HD box.

Now I just need to get them back on the line and tell them I want it. TV gets dropped off tomorrow so I need to get the ball rolling.

[DemonEyez]

Verizon's FIOS is over Fiber Optic cable, you'll never have issues with that and it is by far the best system out there to date.

yeah i know. i wish it was avail here. but its not.

[Kason23]

Damn I just ditched Charter cable to go to Direct TV.

I pay 90.00 a month for my cable service and to be honest the HD content SUCKS ASS I only get maybe 30 HD channels at the most

Direct TV offered me 250+ channels (130 HD) for 5 months for 50$ then it is to be switched over to the 74.99 package. All my hardware and installation was free and even got a 100$ off a new tv purchase at best buy along with a 50$ gift card there also.

That was with a HD DVR to use on our 1080P LG tv in the living room and and standard HD reciever for our bedroom (where our new tv will go)

[btstone]

I have u-verse at my house. its got SO MANY issues. they are constantly at my house fixing shit because it always fucks up

[drpepper14]

care to elaborate?

[con]

lolz, I'm ditching the DTV too. I just ordered Dish Network, only had 3 months left in my previous contract with DTV. New service with an alternate is always cheaper than the upgrade. Also DN has the receivers that provides service to two different rooms. So my kids now have access to all channels too instead of just basic cable.

I hate that Comcast isn't available in my area though. Charter is much higher and kicks you in the ass for installation and setup fees to initiate service. I only use their cable internet.

[stillaneon]

so what i did is go to retentions.
threaten cancellation.
Got 6 months free HBO starz etc.
Free hd for a year.
free upgrades to all rooms inc receiver. (one receiver was a dvr)

oh and curse out DTV all you want but its the same if you were with comcast and trying to get direct tv. or with dish trying to switch etc.

heck its the same with ur cell phone companies too. Its not direct tv's fault. its generally the consumers fault for allowing programs like this to continue. People want a "upfront" deal and sign a contract thinking nothing of it. then they wanna change something because lets face it, 2 years is quite a long time and then they screw themselves.

This is what is wrong with all services like satellite and cell phone companies. Customers like you have figured out that instead of just sticking to a contract that YOU signed, you bitch to a department that was put in place to solve real issues.

I work for Sprint. And if I had a dollar for every person over the last 2 years who has told me that they will just call and threaten to cancel to get what they want, I wouldn't have to work for sprint.

The contract is in front of you, you sign it. Hell, most companies even give you a tial period where you can return the equipment. So while I feel your pain, there are people who get paid a lot of money to ensure that everything you bitch about whether it be cell phones or satellite service, is in that contract.

[DemonEyez]

This is what is wrong with all services like satellite and cell phone companies. Customers like you have figured out that instead of just sticking to a contract that YOU signed, you bitch to a department that was put in place to solve real issues.

I work for Sprint. And if I had a dollar for every person over the last 2 years who has told me that they will just call and threaten to cancel to get what they want, I wouldn't have to work for sprint.

The contract is in front of you, you sign it. Hell, most companies even give you a tial period where you can return the equipment. So while I feel your pain, there are people who get paid a lot of money to ensure that everything you bitch about whether it be cell phones or satellite service, is in that contract.

And this is what is wrong with people like you who dont read the entire thread.

I have been with direct tv for 8 years now. So my contract ended 6 years ago.

the only reason i threated to cancel is that new customers, instead of someone loyal for so many years, was getting a deal that saves them about 400$ compared to me. which is BS. and thats something wrong with companies, not people.

[Kason23]

Just got my Direct TV installed. I LOVE it. Def better then the shitty cable I had. The HD channels indeed look better and there are literally 100 more of them and a shitload of sport channels. I even got the NFL network stuff for free for 5 months. Man I am going to watch a assload of football this season.

[BanginJimmy]

This is what is wrong with all services like satellite and cell phone companies. Customers like you have figured out that instead of just sticking to a contract that YOU signed, you bitch to a department that was put in place to solve real issues.

I work for Sprint. And if I had a dollar for every person over the last 2 years who has told me that they will just call and threaten to cancel to get what they want, I wouldn't have to work for sprint.

The contract is in front of you, you sign it. Hell, most companies even give you a tial period where you can return the equipment. So while I feel your pain, there are people who get paid a lot of money to ensure that everything you bitch about whether it be cell phones or satellite service, is in that contract.

I was actually perfectly happy to pay the early cancellation fee for my DTV because it would save me money over the next year. I have been mostly happy with DTV for the time I have had them. I just know that raping people for $200 for a piece of equipment they could not keep is crazy. I would have paid the price if I got to keep the box when/if I canceled, but since i couldnt, paying for it was out of the question.

[stillaneon]

And this is what is wrong with people like you who dont read the entire thread.

I have been with direct tv for 8 years now. So my contract ended 6 years ago.

the only reason i threated to cancel is that new customers, instead of someone loyal for so many years, was getting a deal that saves them about 400$ compared to me. which is BS. and thats something wrong with companies, not people.


yep, because it take a lot more money to get a new customer than to keep one.

And I am sure you got some deal when you signed up as well

[stillaneon]

I was actually perfectly happy to pay the early cancellation fee for my DTV because it would save me money over the next year. I have been mostly happy with DTV for the time I have had them. I just know that raping people for $200 for a piece of equipment they could not keep is crazy. I would have paid the price if I got to keep the box when/if I canceled, but since i couldnt, paying for it was out of the question.

I understand. Just irritates me to see people give the advice to talk to retentions. I used to do that. and 99% of people when I started the cancellation process would back out.

[BanginJimmy]

I understand. Just irritates me to see people give the advice to talk to retentions. I used to do that. and 99% of people when I started the cancellation process would back out.


Hell, I already called and had comcast set up. I didnt think twice about it until DTV called me back the next day and made me an offer.