Direct TV got the ultimatum..

[frostbitetwice]

Hear is my review of Direct TV...6/12/07 1:11 PM
We decided to try an alternative to cable and in the process selected Directv. The Good: Firstly, the picture quality is very good. Moreover, no more being ripped-off by your local city government for that franchise (monopoly)fee. The concern about satellite interference due to weather is only a minor problem.

THE BAD: Service become a problem right from the start. For unknown reasons we had a problems with a very unprofessional service representative. She was so bad that one of the Directv supervisors had to complete the order. It took a month to have the service installed because someone at Directv continued to cancel the order. After the third attempt, it was determined that the original female representative had been the one who was canceling the install order.

Shortly after the installation, I noticed the cables running from the front of the building to the back had not been buried. Again it took three calls to get someone out to put them underground.

See the pictures of this in the forum. The cables from front to back of the house, was maybe 120 feet long and only about ten feet was buried.
Later the dish came loose (thank you third world roofers) and we began to have reception problems. Because we were out of warranty period the service call was $70.oo. We made the repair ourselves. Unlike cable, it is only a matter of time before your dish will require to be serviced and if you own it you will pay to have it serviced.

You would think that this Robert Murdock company would try and distinguish itself from cable by providing better service. Ha! Ha! Directv is every bit as bad as your local monopolizers. In fact, when our contract expires we will more than likely leave, Directv.

Lastly, when calling their customer service line it not usually to wait ten to 15 minutes before you get a live operator.

Who should buy this service? I would only recommend
this product where cable is not available. I am extremely disappointed with their level of service.

Lastly, they cannot even calculate the correct state sales tax !!

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We could continue to have customer disservice problems with this company..Three months ago the reception began to give us problems..They keep telling us that it was our equipment and we would have to pay for any service calls..Its belonged to the previous tenant..We threaten to quite after the contract expired and they finally relented and sent out a contractor, with no charge..

The next month we received the invoice and we were bill $72.oo for a service call..One of the problems you will experience with them is setting on the telephone for minutes on end..It is not usual for Linda to spend twenty to one half an hour with there disservice department. The previous month she told the operator to note that if there are anymore incidents we shall cancel service..

This time, at my urging, Linda request that the next two months be comp. She was transferred to the retention department. They agree with the condition that we accept a new one year contract..Absolutely no we said..They did not compromise so my wife told them to cancel the service at the next billing cycle.

Two days later, too our surprise, we received a return call from the detention....department who apologized and offered a DEAL OR NO DEAL..Yes, my children two free months and $10.oo bucks off for the next twelve months with no contract..

Now mind you, this is more about principals rather than cash savings..Good service is every bit as important as is pricing. It would have cost us $20.oo more with concast but it was never about price but service.. Today our satellite service is free and in the third month it will cost $41.oo per month..

I hope, that interim the service will improve or else we will move to another vendor..Let this be a reminder, that if consumers get fierce with their provider, you can generally get things resolved to your satisfaction..

Forgot that ole Rolling Stones' hit, I can't get no satisfaction...

[Georgia in MS]

If you other choice was comcast, you'll be glad you stuck with DirecTv. See this website http://www.comcastmustdie.com/

[frostbitetwice]

Originally Posted by Georgia in MS

If you other choice was comcast, you'll be glad you stuck with DirecTv. See this website http://www.comcastmustdie.com/

I agree that Concast is not without problems themselves but one problem that is eliminated is bad reception...It does not helf when companies are given a monopoly by the parochial government..

[Jalen]

Reception, particularly with digital, isn't always great with Comcast either.

On-Demand's sometimes unusable with all the artifacts and stuttering.

[EXreaction]

Direct TV just plain sucks.

Dish Network was many times better, and, though I hate supporting cable monopolies, Time Warner does have a pretty nice deal around here (but their receiver keeps breaking on us, but every time it breaks my dad just goes down to the TW office down town and gets a new one)

[shawnwmodel]

Why do us as customers have to get fierce? Service should be provided in what we pay for. Frost's situation will definitely keep me away from direct tv. I worked in a broad spectrum of fields from electronic retail to medical insurance, and I have to say, dishonestly among coworkers to customers makes me sick (from making a quick buck to just having a bad day and taking it out on someone)!!

I just plain out cancel any service when my contract is up, but that’s just me...

Like these jokers from Visa/Chase...
http://www.resellerratings.com/forum...d.php?t=124845 (Credit Card Scam By Chase/Amazon)

[aveneyer]

I worked for DirecTV customer service for years, even though I am no longer with them. If you get all of the information before going in, it's possible to get what you want from them... but if you just expect everything to be fine, they will pass by with the bare minimum.

Installs are done by local companies: Less than 5% of DirecTV technicians are actual DirecTV employees. The majority of them, are licensed dealers and technicians who earn a (unimpressive and quite easy to achieve) certificate to become a dealer. There is no restrictions on who they hire to do these free installations as well. The dealers get paid based on how many installations they do in a day, so most of them pressure their techs to do as little as they can to get out to the next call as fast as possible. Unless you get it in writing from the local installer, they will not bury wires, cosmetically set the dish, or anything that could possibly cause damage to your home (i.e.: Drilling, rewire, reset etc). If you sign up for DirecTV, you should NOT go through Best Buy, or a store like it, because they as well use these companies. The best way to get a real tech, is to call DirecTV customer service, and even then, its not 100% guaranteed you will get one.

Even if you do call DirecTV though, customer service is mostly outsourced call centers. You can hope you get someone at a Convergys call center, or an actual DirecTV employee, but even then its quite possible you are speaking to someone with no experience who is relying on scripts to stumble through each call. The "Searching for Satellite" script alone can take 20 minutes, but we were required to spend less than eight minutes per call average for the day. One mention of disconnecting, and they are at right to offer you three months free of a premium movie channel, a reduction in your bill (not much), as well as a few other things. The answer is quite simple: Supervisor. They are required to have worked in the job for a set period of time, have a very low "incompatible" record (recorded phone call mistakes), and can offer you a lot of things the grunts can't.

IF anyone offers you a free service call, demand that a comment be placed on the account confirming so. The comment system is no joke to them, and people can get fired for not doing placing one on every call. 95% of the time, the service charge will still show up on the bill, where you have to call back to get it reversed. I would actually tell customers strait up to watch your bill, take down my name and the date, and to call back with that information for an immediate reversal. If you want peace of mind, just order the Protection Plan ($5.99 mo for the entire house) and all service calls, receiver (including remote) replacements, and dish re-adjustment are all covered.

Also, don't think that the dish will never need a realignment. My girlfriends house needed an alignment because the technician installed the dish to wood over the side of the roof, which cracked and gravity did its job. If people only understood just how easy it is to align. Put the satellite on the signal strength meter, loosen the one bolt and move the disk slowly on its vertical pivot. The higher the meter goes, the better reception you will have. 70ish on a clear day, means 60ish (see: Problems) on a cloudy day, and worse if it rains or snows. If you get 90's on a clear day, only heavy snow will distort your picture. Normally while adjusting you'll be able to see the scratched area where the bolt used to be, if it slipped.

Lots of random information- but like it was written before... Threaten them a little, and they'll do what it takes to make you happy. Understand your system and just how easy it is to remedy if you take a few minutes to troubleshoot. Also understand based on area, cover, and conditions, sometimes its just not possible to be 100% pleased with them.

[frostbitetwice]

Originally Posted by shawnwmodel

Why do us as customers have to get fierce? Service should be provided in what we pay for. Frost's situation will definitely keep me away from direct tv. I worked in a broad spectrum of fields from electronic retail to medical insurance, and I have to say, dishonestly among coworkers to customers makes me sick (from making a quick buck to just having a bad day and taking it out on someone)!!

I just plain out cancel any service when my contract is up, but that’s just me...

Thank you for your support, shawn...Frankly, I would only get satellite if I lived in a rural area..Their customers service is as bad.... as the local cable companies, minus having to maintain ones equipment..

[frostbitetwice]

Aveneyer, thank you for your insights...Your post is the definitive answer as to how this company works..I just spoke with the person who got the dish installed which we are using..They told him that there would be no installation charge and when the installer got done, he told him he owned another $60.oo, for additional work..Rather than taking him to task he just paid the him...

I hope every one reads your post so they are prepared from any upcoming problem, which is likely to happen...

I would rather have paid for two or three hours of installation rather than get it free and then have all the problems with such fast and inferior service..

[lenjack]

Been with them for 11 years with several installations and updates, without a hint of a problem.