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They were once a good company with good customer service. They've since gone down hill and deserve to go out of business fast. Don't sign up with them. If you already have them in your home and wish to switch to another company, be prepared for the hundreds of dollars cancelation fee and the claim that you agreed to a contract you never saw,...a contract that they only have on their website and you never signed. My initial contract was for 2 years and that was more than 5 years ago. But in their eyes, each time you add or change out a receiver, you've agreed to renew your contract. Bull S**T. Below are two links with examples of what I'm talking about. I was once a loyal DirecTV customer. Never again. I ask that you please copy this topic and email it to all your friends and family as well as posting it on any other message boards you visit. [SIZE=3]http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/10439/directv-cancellation-fees-complaints.html[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cable_tv/directv.htm[/SIZE]
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sailordave,
I agree with you about D-tv. You have to really be careful signing a contract with them. The problems is; where do you go? It seems that all entertainment companies are operating in same deceitful manner and cable is the worst of all. I have had Charter cable in two different areas and both times their signal was degraded that I was getting a better picture with an antenna prop up against the wall. I have been ripped off and dissatisfied with satellite and cable tv. My complaints to the FTC fell on deaf ears. I normally watch network tv anyway and I invested in a good antenna and a tv with a digital tuner. I now get all the network stations and PBS in high definition. My picture is nothing short of phenomenal and I also get 5.1 surround sound. The best part: it doesn't cost me a cent! If you are fed up with pay tv I urge you convert to antenna, but check to see if you are in area that can receive over-the-air, (OTA), signals. You will also need a tv with a digital tuner.
Fed up with pay tv, don't get mad, do something about it.
Don
Don, I was under the impression that after February 2009, no one will be able to access free TV. Am I wrong? Educate me, please!
To receive over the air TV you will need converter which they have talked about forecver or TV set with digital tuner.No over the air is not dead.Any tv will operate with satellite provider.
If you sign up online, it clearly tells you that if you accept the promotional rate, you do so at the tradeoff of not being able to cancel without a termination fee.
If you sign up over the phone, the rep clearly tells you that the promotional rate is saddled with a termination fee during the promotional period.
I don't see the problem. If you don't want to pay the fee, don't accept the promotional rate.
As far as hardware exchanges, you have to ask yourself why you keep switching boxes. If you just wanted to "sample" the service, you should have "sampled" the service at the full rate with no term agreement. Otherwise there should be no need for frequent changing of the box. If there is an issue with the box, and you contact support to troubleshoot the problem, you need to make sure they go through all of their steps. If they roll a tech, and the tech decides the box needs to be swapped, you don't get a fee or an extension on the agreement. If you just call up DirecTV asking for new hardware, you're probably going to get an extension...and they still tell you about it. And if they don't it should be one of the first questions you ask: Is this going to change my service or plan or pricing in any way?
I'm not saying by any means that DirecTV is all giggles. I've had a couple of issues with them, mostly having to do with principle (a contract for TV service is simply ludicrous in this day and age, and the idea that you own the dish but not the receiver is laughable, since the dish becomes useless if you leave DirecTV). However, the quality of the programming is top notch and far superior to Time Warner and Cox.
We've had Direct TV for 11 years now. Never had a problem with any aspect of our service or customer service. When we moved last year, we were going to switch it Time Warner, since they were going to do our phone and internet, but they could not touch the price we get with Direct TV with all 4 receivers, HDTV and DVR on 2 tvs!
sirron,
TV stations will stop broadcasting analog and broadcast only digital signals in Feb 09. Over-the-air, OTA, TV is free. People who have older tv's without digital tuners will
not be able to receive the new digital signals unless they have a converter box. Converter boxes are available at most electronic stores. If you have cable or satellite tv you will not be effected. Only people using antennas, indoor or outdoor, will be affected. Those who have a current digital TV with a digital tuner will not be effected either. Once again, over-the air tv, which means receiving a signal with the use of an antenna, is free.
Hope that helps,
Don
We've also had DirecTV for a few years now and not a problem.
Agreed that some companies are usually good starting out,then when they get too big they become careless but haven't seen that yet with them.
The hard drive of our DirecTV DVR broke and we could no longer watch DirecTV from this receiver. The phone jack connection was also broken. Since DirecTV now charges an arm and a leg for service calls we calculated that it was cheaper for us to buy our own new DVR receiver and install it ourselves. Little did we know that it would result in us committing to another 2 years to them. Same for when we had to have them run another line to a spare bedroom for my 83 year old father-in-law. Once you've satisfied the obligations of the initial contract and continued the service uninterrupted then you should be under no further contract obligations for early cancelation fees. The quality of their service techs has also gone way down. Kind of sad that I, the customer, had to explain to the tech what audio/video connections the receiver had as well as how to access the menu setup features. He did know how to splice the coaxle cable properly which is very easy with the right tools.
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