Any experience with DirectTV?

[widebody911]

We got waylaid yesterday at the Home & Garden show by a sales rep, and my wife was all gaga over it because the rep claimed that with the NFL package, none of the games would be blacked out (which in and of itself is a retarded practice). So, she wanted to sign up to have them replace our TV service (currently AT&T) and try it for a year. Besides the programming, they claim it will be a lot cheaper than AT&T.

Note: this is just to switch the TV programming & DVR - our internet and phone will remain with AT&T.

The first "interesting" thing I noted was the guy was magically able schedule an install on the spot without having any sort of means to check on actual tech availability. I asked about that, and the answer was "we have a lot of techs" but I think the medical term is "talking out his ass" Sure enough, bright and early we got a call to re-schedule for late in the week; the tech couldn't get his car started. So what about all of those other techs? And don't they have company vans? I know I've seen them parked at residences overnight here and there.

For S&G today, I did some google searches on them, and there are literally thousands of complaints about them. One of the most insidious practices complained about is how they parlay any sort of a service call into a contract extension by way of easter eggs buried in the fine print. After reading page after page of complaints, I want nothing to do with them.

My wife is all excited about getting this NFL package at some screaming deal for a limited time, which of course reverts automatically at the end of the promo period to something like $300 a year. The tech suggested we call them at that time and threaten to leave and they will extend the promo period.

I really want to pull the plug on this whole deal right now, but she wants to try it for a year, and she promises to keep track of when the promo periods expire so we don't take it anally with all of the automatic up-charges.

AT&T hasn't been without its issues; they've been slowly ratcheting up the price from the original promo of $60/month to a hair under $200, so I'm open to some sort of change. Personally I would just ditch the TV subscription altogether but that won't fly with the wife.

Thoughts? Experiences with DirectTV?

[id10t]

We're much happier with Dish. Costs and HD content.

[JavaBrewer]

Just made the deal with ATT, their DSL and Direct TV for cable. So far really happy with picture quality...appears better than Time Warner. DSL sucks but was our only option.

Sent with Board Express

[strupgolf]

Its the worst company I've ever dealt with, bar none. Period, exclamation point.

[LakeCleElum]

I'd advise to ABORT, but they won't let you now.......Heard lots of complaints. I've had Dish since 1994.

[Nostril Cheese]

Only thing worse than DirecTV is Comcast.

[nota]

goes out when it rains
every time it rains

make the salesman write on the contract any ''promised'' deals
I bet he will not

[stomachmonkey]

Had the same crap 2 weeks ago.

Her "deal" was going to save me some serious coin.

Get home and there is an email from them detailing my package.

Less channels than FIOS, all the savings were really just equipment rental discounts for the 1st year. In year 2 it would have cost me more than my current FIOS and that was before pulling the TV from my FIOS Triple Play which as we all know when you remove any one of the three the price of the other 2 go up so net/net 1st year I might have saved $10 a month. Year 2 would have been $50 a month more.

Called her up and gave her the exact numbers for my FIOS plan, told her the year 2 DTV pricing had to come in less. She promised to work it out and call me back next day.

2 days later no call so I cancelled. They never cancelled the tech though, found that out when he called to say he was running late. Told him don't bother coming.

You can cancel before they install. Once they install you are on the hook for the 2 years. After that you pay a fee which is something like $20 for each month left on the contract so if you cancel right after installation it's $480.

If your wife just wants to try it for a year and you do decide to cancel you are on the hook for $240.

[pete3799]

Had Direct for a while.....they sucked.
Got Dish Network now.....they suck less.

[MDH]

Time Warner.........kept raising prices......gone.
Direct TV........heavy rain/snow...no service.....gone.
Local teleservices company........raising cost, bundle packaging, broken promises.......mostly gone....the innernut service is good....so I increased to 10mbs and told them to get rid of tv and phone service.
Antenna, roku for entertainment, and watchsportsinhd.com for streaming NFL and auto racing........and rugby
Saving $1000+/year and enjoying it more.......
Mark

[JavaBrewer]

Good thing we don't get snow and very little rain

[Tobra]

I have had it a few months. If the game is blacked out, the game is blacked out. If your gal is a Raiders fan, be advised that if the home game is not sold out, it is not on TV. I got the free NFL network, or whatever it is, free for this season. Don't know how much for next year, moot point, that will get cancelled just like the free trial on the movie channels.

Have had some problems, they were not particularly responsive. Had a box go bad. I don''t get deliveries at the house, only at the office. Took them a few weeks to figure that out. I have no idea who ended up with the first two replacement boxes they said they sent out. Like the DVR thing, but those are probably all the same.

If it were up to me, I would not have anything. Do the ghetto HD antenna out of cut up coat hangars and netflix. The wife was not hip to that. Was going to just get one box, but it was only $5 more a month for two.

Holy crap the weather has been beautiful lately.

[Evans, Marv]

We have Direct TV. The thing I hate most about it is all the useless infomercial channels and programs. Out of the hundreds of channels, we only watch a few. We down graded our service to the basic last year because we wanted to pay for fewer useless channels. It used to go out for short periods of time during storms, but they came & upgraded the equipment a year or more ago & we haven't had any episodes after that. I read somewhere (Consumer Reports, AARP ??) Dish network is the worst employer in the country. We're considering getting rid of any TV service & possibly trying an antenna since news is about all we watch. As far as the company is concerned, we don't have any specific complaints and figure most companies supplying these services are about the same.

[quattrorunner]

I like it. I've had it or 10 years. Much better than cable around here.

[masraum]

We got DirecTV about 2 years ago. Got a screamin' deal, 2 year contract, first year was dirt cheap, second year was somewhat cheap and now we are at regular price which is comparable to what we had before. I haven't had any issues or problems with them in that time to know if their customer service is bad. Actually, I take that back. I ordered a movie and had an issue that was my own fault, I called them and they fixed it pretty easily. I will probably be cancelling soon just to get out from under a $110 a month bill (2 HD receivers with whole home DVR, no movie channels and no extra packages).

[porwolf]

Another "direct TV" solution: Receives any HD programs on the air, no distortions. And zero cost per month!

[ChemMan]

Switched from direct tv to dish a few years ago. Very happy with dish. Love the Hopper.

[Hard-Deck]

I hate Time Warner and DTV. Run away.

[red-beard]

I switched to Dish after Hurricane Ike. It was cheaper than Comcast/Infinity and has more HD channels.

We do lose signal a few times a year in really bad storms. I need to upgrade to the Hopper system.

[R K T]

We started way back with Dish and a few years later switched over to Direct. Six months later we moved and I went back to Dish. Direct was awful. Customer service was non existent and the whole system was not user friendly. Very happy with Dish.