Charter vs Direct TV (Greenville: house, neighborhood, gated) - Greenville - Spartanburg - Simpsonville - Greer - Easley - Taylors - Mauldin - Duncan - City-Data Forum

Gaelcat · 03-18-2009, 11:38 AM

After another half hour conversation with Charter, I've about done. Seriously considering switching to Direct TV for television, keeping Charter for internet, as I have no other choice. It appears that doing so will mean cost savings. Even at regular rates, the Direct TV equivalent is cheaper than my Charter "special" rate, which must be renegotiated every time I turn around. Anybody switched? Opinions??

NoodlesKnowles · 03-18-2009, 12:04 PM

I dunno, I pay around $40 bucks for expanded basic cable and internet through charter, I get my phone through skype costs about $3 a month. Charter sucks for customer service but you can't trust satellite to be good either.
I had dish network a few years back and I will NEVER get their service again. took them two weeks to come and fix my dish once, then they told me I had to pay for repairs because it was damaged. This was after only having dish for around 3 months (with intermittent black outs because of terrible reception). The place I used to work for in downtown frequently lost signal because of rains and/or snowstorms. Anyway this is all with The Dish, not DirectTV. I have no experience with directv personally, they may be much better, it just made me leery of satellite service, I just wish there were an alternative to charter.

jac · 03-18-2009, 03:26 PM

We have DirectTV. Reception is great most of the time. On the few occasions it hasn't been good (extreme rain or snow on the dish) we have just switched over to our antenna. We use ATT for internet service. Well worth not dealing with Charter.

Rapunzll · 03-18-2009, 06:24 PM

My daughter and her husband just got connected to internet service through their elec. company in TN, it is cheaper, faster and my sil is so happy not to have to deal with charter anymore, when their contract with direct TV ends, they will go to them for tv too. I wish we would get that service here!

yeahbuddy · 03-19-2009, 10:06 AM

I switched to directv and have no problems, only delay I had with signal is when it snowed a few weeks ago, had for about 1 year now..same here couldnt handle charter anymore.

ASN864 · 03-19-2009, 11:50 PM

I had a really horrible experience with DirecTV. I really despise them. I had fulfilled my 2 yr. contractual agreement with them and a few months later there was a "software download" error, which they informed me was a programming error on their side. For my "convenience" and to expedite resolution while their programmers were looking into the problem, they offered to send me another receiver free of charge and to just ship the other one back to them. Evidently, they claimed that accepting this "complimentary" replacement receiver obligated me to another 2 years (which they didn't mention until 8 months later)!! I had to suspend service because I have been moving and traveling a lot. At the end of the maximum suspension period of 6 months, they started billing me $120 again and said that I couldn't extend the suspension period. My only option was to cancel, and then they said because I had accepted that other receiver, that I owed an early termination fee of $360! I fought and fought with them. After it was all said and done...and hours of my life lost on the phone, writing dispute letters, etc., I paid around $90 to get out my so-called contractual obligation. They are shady, shady, shady. What's bad is that I probably would have continued using their service had they just allowed me to post-pone the suspension period until I got properly settled in one place. This is a common complaint with DirecTV (search the internet). I always tell people to stay far, far away from DirecTV. Don't get any service that requires a commitment. You don't want to be a slave to your service provider when they offer horrible service.

ASN864 · 03-19-2009, 11:55 PM

Maybe AT&T U-verse will come to Greenville?? That would be great. I'm trying to pick a cable provider now too.

I guess you have to figure out the lesser of the evils.

NoodlesKnowles · 03-20-2009, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASN864

Maybe AT&T U-verse will come to Greenville?? That would be great. I'm trying to pick a cable provider now too.

I guess you have to figure out the lesser of the evils.

At&T has been working on the underground cables in my neighborhood for months now, I wonder if they are upgrading to fiber? that would mean uverse would be possible in my neighborhood, interesting....

carmella32 · 03-20-2009, 12:22 PM

Well, Charter and I had it out a few months ago. I cancelled everything I have with them, got a converter box, and watch my 10 channels. Really, life is much better without dealing with them about my bill every 2 months.

About the internet, I moved my computer to a friends house to use it-- not that everyone has that option.
Did you look into getting internet through your cell phone service?? I heard it works great.. I know a lot of people that have switched to Sprint/Alltel/etc. and say the internet works the same as with Charter.

Gaelcat · 03-20-2009, 12:36 PM

Update. Decided to stay with Charter. Finally went into the actual office. That made a world of difference. I've now got a bundle with phone, internet, HD DVR and Digital Plus TV for a reasonable price. And the price is locked for two years. So I'll have a couple of years before having to fuss with all this again. In my opinion, go into the office in person if you can. Of course I've had a cable guy show up twice today trying to install things I already had and didn't need (modem, DVR). Guess my package change looked like new service to the computer. Sigh, it's almost amusing.