Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With DISH, we pay about $45 per month for the 'two tuner' option and DVR. This allows us to record one show while watching another. This is less functionality than you get with TWC for the same price. The cable itself functions as an always-on tuner--with $45 TWC we could record two shows while watching a third.
Interesting - I've never had a 3-tuner option available from TWC. Every box I've had from them offers only two tuners. I can record two shows at once, but I can't watch another channel at the same time - it has to be one of the two I'm recording.
I have had Dish, Direct and TWC. Out of the three, I disliked Dish the most. Customer Svc. was a pain, my bill amount was always changing and my service would go out if there was a sprinkle of rain. I was calling every month asking for a explanation of the change in price and usually being told that I asked for something new, which I never did. After a while, I realized my time was worth way more than their service. I like Direct the most. Rarely had any problems with actual service, billing or customer service. The only complaint I have about Direct is that I've never been able to get everything hooked up by them in one visit. I've moved several times in the last 10 years and EVERY TIME I moved, they had to return two and three times to get everything connected. The last time I moved, I told them that they had one chance to get it right. Guy showed up without a satellite dish...Told him to get out of my house and don't bother coming back. That's when I decided to try Dish. I know the setup guys are usually outside contractors, but I hate waiting all day for someone who isn't prepared. TWC is what I have right now. That is due to the fact that I was able to get a better price for wireless with them than Direct and wanted wireless and TV with the same company. I just started usuing wireless in November and was able to get a better price for being a "return TWC customer." So far, so good. I've been told by many people that if they raise the price, just call "customer retention" and they will continue you at the same rate. Who knows. When it happens, I'll call and see. If they don't, I'll go back to Direct. As long as the person who comes out to install will actually bring the satellite dish.
When you do your pricing comparison, make sure that you project out until the end of the contract.
I did a side by side with Dish, DirecTV and TWC. DirecTV was cheapest first year, and the most expensive for the second year. I figured it wasn't worth it and stayed with TWC.
We did have DirecTV about 2 years ago. The picture would go out whenever a storm rolled through (even though they have commercials saying it doesn't). We wanted an HD box with DVR and they wouldn't give it to us so my wife cancelled. They promised her the HD/DVR box, reduced bill, etc, so she said "let me call my husband and see if he minds that we don't switch". Of course I said we'd stay, it was too good of a deal. Then the customer service rep said "you had to decide at that time, we won't hold the offer while you contact your husband".
Since then, I've had a bad taste in my mouth for DirecTV and all of their "Please come back" mailings go DirecTLY to the trash.
I've had DirecTV for 3 1/2 years. I was leery because I had never used satellite but I'm satisfied. I rarely have outages - only if the weather is severe. I have one box, which is free and my monthly bill is $65.25 for the Choice package.
My only experience w/customer service was to suspend my service while I was out of the country for 5 months, which was easy.
Last year I got $100 off my bill because my parents switched from Dish to DirecTv using the referral system. Read the fine print, on the referral system, because you can do it wrong and be out $100.
BTW - the College Game Day package sucks. They play games from sucky conferences - and if you don't call them to cancel, they'll automatically sign you up for the next season.
Thank you to everyone for their input. I promise to give back in other boards where I can help.
I wanted to post that today we had Direct TV installed. Thank you for the info on the referral credit. This was huge, and my neighbor loves me for it. I had an excellent experience with the installer today. He was very knowledgeable and informative. I feel like I made the right choice. I know my bills will go up next year, but I will work hard to keep them down, even if I have to down-grade. It is still a better deal than Time Warner.
I am bringing up this thread again as I just received our renewal notice from Time Warner. They are trying to increase our price by 11%. We have had non-stop issues with periodic outages of the phone, cable and internet. They told us we had a weak signal and gave us a power booster. The problems still come up. When looking at the cost increase and the past service issues, I think it is time for a change. The big concern is switching to DSL. For those that switched from cable to something else for internet, did you notice much of a difference? Any other options to suggest for service here in the Raleigh area?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
