Want Dish Network (I think) phone & internet? (Howe: tax, living) - San Antonio - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

abner463 · 01-30-2008, 02:54 PM

I promised myself that I would switch to Dish Network or DirecTV before the baseball season begins this year. I am tired of paying $160 + tax for 5 months of national ML baseball, based on somebody else's choice. Seems like most recommend Dish over DirecTV, is this true? I was inspired by the "what do you pay for TW" thread.
I now have Time Warner (cable, dig tel, cable modem) and have never been impressed w/ TW's so called customer service. What is Dish Network's customer service like? I don't have DVR yet (believe it or not) and would add that to the pkg, is Dish Network DVR good? Easy to figure out?
Also, if I do switch from cable, what does anybody recommend for my phone and internet connection. The cost for each of those would most likely go up when I remove the cable from the package, which is okay to a certain extent, but if there is a better provider, I would love to hear about it. Thanks!!!

abner463 · 01-31-2008, 06:00 AM

Bump! Doesn't anybody have something to say about this? Thanks!!!

LookingtoLeave · 01-31-2008, 11:48 PM

I have Dish now for satellite only and I can't stand them. So with that being said, I would never use them for any other service. I've experienced god awful cust. serv. since I have been with them. One example that had me boiling: The guy who installed the Dish input my address wrong in the system and I never got a bill for almost 3 months. I called to remedy it, but of course they couldn't find anything since my address I gave them wasn't in the system. Well not long after that I started getting pop-ups on my tv saying my bill was past due. Duh! I called again and finally got a guy who somewhat knew how to fix the address issue. I asked if my satellite would be cut off and he said it would not be and that he would mail me out a bill (after he changed my address) so I can review it and pay it. Lo and behold, the very next morning it was cut off. I called fuming and told them I would only pay for one month until I can view the bill the guy the day before sent arrived at the now updated address. The new rep said my address was never updated though. WTH?!!! So I again updated it for a second time. Two weeks went by and I still didn't receive a bill so I called again and guess what?! You got it-they didn't update my address correctly either. Sorry for the long rant, but that is one of MANY issues proving they are morons!

Oh and they nickel and dime you just as bad as cable does. I'm getting charged and extra fee for not having a phone line hooked up to my DVR when I was never told I had too. I am presently fighting this issue. Plus, I have HD service which goes out frequently so I feel like I'm paying extra $$ for nothing. Their bills are very ambiguous and don't reflect your package in a clear, precise manner.

My bf was very unhappy with Dish and switched to DirectTV and is so much happier. Her whole family has as well and they prefer it over Dish. I promise you I am counting down the days until my contract with Dish is up.

I know plenty who are happy with Dish, but my experience has led me to believe they are just not as good as they probably once were-which frequently happens when companies get a lot of customers. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe DirectTV is not as common as I only know a few who have it, but that may be why their service is allegedly better.

Again, sorry for the rant, but hope this helps.

Lindsey_Mcfarren · 01-31-2008, 11:53 PM

I have directv and have for more then 10 years now. I recommend them highly.

However I do prefer the Tivo DVRs that are no longer sold by Direct, they have developed their own and they simply aren't as good. You can pick up the Tivos that work with Directv from Ebay for reasonable prices, I just did this and had no problem activating it.

Just make sure your search on Ebay has both words, Directv and Tivo in it. Not all Tivos work with Directv.

I have a Tivo in my daughters room, one in the living room and a regular reciever in my bedroom. One of these days I will set that room up with a Tivo as well.

abner463 · 02-01-2008, 07:03 AM

Thank you Looking to leave and Lindsey for your input. Yeah I am concerned about the customer service issues you told me about, Looking! Yikes. Time Warner is pretty lame as well. For instance, my tel # of record is the one I gave them when I signed up before I moved to SA over 2 yrs ago, and I have given them my new # numerous times, besides the fact that THEY are the ones providing my digital tel service! During the baseball season I had to call TW all the time because of some issue, and it was supposedly out of their hands. The MLB package is something they are the middle man in, it seems. I guess the bottom line is that customer service is not what it should be, anywhere. I will be taking a deeper look into DirecTV now. Thanks!!!

nrlatsha · 02-01-2008, 07:13 AM

I have Dish and I love them, I think the interface was voted the best, but anything over TWC's interface is gold, their interface is straight out of the movie War Games (the 1983 movie). The 30 second forward skip is a button I may not be able to live without.

I have two HD-DVRs running 4 tvs.

I haven't had that many problems with customer service, these days, it doesn't matter who you call, they're all bad (except USAA).

LookingtoLeave · 02-01-2008, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nrlatsha

I haven't had that many problems with customer service, these days, it doesn't matter who you call, they're all bad (except USAA).

Amen to that. Dish like many others outsource their customer service-although I don't know if Direct does. I have a problem getting different answers every time I call and as I have already pointed out, they are highly incompetent.

I will say my regular Dish channels work and looks just fine. Although my bf w/ Direct looks about the same. My main beef is with their HD service going out a lot, billing, and their cust. serv.

nrlatsha · 02-01-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LookingtoLeave

Amen to that. Dish like many others outsource their customer service-although I don't know if Direct does. I have a problem getting different answers every time I call and as I have already pointed out, they are highly incompetent.

I will say my regular Dish channels work and looks just fine. Although my bf w/ Direct looks about the same. My main beef is with their HD service going out a lot, billing, and their cust. serv.

Have you had some problems with your HD, but only some channels?

I can get most HD channels fine, but sometimes my TBS/A&E/TNT/Food Network HD channels are sporadic. I chatted online (I find its easier to not get upset that way, and you have a record of conversation easy by copy and past) but they couldn't fix it, said they'd have to send someone out, for 29.95. I argued with him about it for 10 minutes, but eventually hit the close button, it's not quite the same as hanging up though.

And when are they going to put NBC HD out there. There's talk of a new satellite getting launched, but I'll believe it when I see it. (Maybe they're $29.95 short on the launch bill...)

LookingtoLeave · 02-01-2008, 11:55 AM

Lol, yes which is why they probably charge me for stupid things. And yes, only some HD channels don't work, but to be honest I only stick to a select few HD channels such as HBO, TLC, FOX, TNT, and the History Channel on a rare occasion. I can pretty much tell you that out of all those I listed, only TLC works almost always. The others like you said are very sporadic, but my problem is that it's ALL the time-even in beautiful weather.

I may be wrong, but I think I saw an ad saying Direct's HD service was only $9.95 compared to Dish which is $20. So at least if it went out just as much I wouldn't feel as ripped off, but that's just me.

nrlatsha · 02-01-2008, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LookingtoLeave

Lol, yes which is why they probably charge me for stupid things. And yes, only some HD channels don't work, but to be honest I only stick to a select few HD channels such as HBO, TLC, FOX, TNT, and the History Channel on a rare occasion. I can pretty much tell you that out of all those I listed, only TLC works almost always. The others like you said are very sporadic, but my problem is that it's ALL the time-even in beautiful weather.

I may be wrong, but I think I saw an ad saying Direct's HD service was only $9.95 compared to Dish which is $20. So at least if it went out just as much I wouldn't feel as ripped off, but that's just me.

Buy me a ticket on that boat. Clear, sunny, nice days, still can't get it. Now I'll have to check satellite guys to see if there are other reports. I won't pay for them to fix it if its a problem for everyone...