Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[GC_Super]

I admit I'm a little slow with new technology, but we just bought our first High Def TV. Actually had one before, but never had HD service to it.  We currently have service with Direct TV, so I called to upgrade to HD.  First, it seems like an hour of waiting to finally talk to a person, so I tell them I just want to upgrade to HD service.  So the girl tells me we need a new dish, new this and new that, and it all totaled almost $300, plus 19.95 S&H.  I said, you have a technican coming out to install, why do  I have to pay S&H ?   They then transfer me to the S&H dept, who after my rant, tells me that they can wave the S&H charges. Well, that's a start. He goes thru the charges again and asks me do I want the High Def service also ? WTF ??  Why would I want a HD dish and not want HD service ?  Now I'm getting a little pissed.  I know our one year contract is coming up soon, so I ask the guy the exact date, thinking they will offer me a great deal to stay with /direct.  But instead, after I confirmed our expiration date, they didn't offer chit. So, I told him that I would be looking for a new satellite supplier.  He then said he was sorry. Well. I am too, but now we're in the dirver's seat as new customers always get the worm.  So, my question to youz guyz is, who is offering a good deal on HD service?  Our contract is up on the 12th of Nov. so our timing couldn"t be better. 

Thanks for any info you guys have.

[RedDevil]

I admit I'm a little slow with new technology, but we just bought our first High Def TV. Actually had one before, but never had HD service to it.  We currently have service with Direct TV, so I called to upgrade to HD.  First, it seems like an hour of waiting to finally talk to a person, so I tell them I just want to upgrade to HD service.  So the girl tells me we need a new dish, new this and new that, and it all totaled almost $300, plus 19.95 S&H.  I said, you have a technican coming out to install, why do  I have to pay S&H ?   They then transfer me to the S&H dept, who after my rant, tells me that they can wave the S&H charges. Well, that's a start. He goes thru the charges again and asks me do I want the High Def service also ? WTF ??  Why would I want a HD dish and not want HD service ?  Now I'm getting a little pissed.  I know our one year contract is coming up soon, so I ask the guy the exact date, thinking they will offer me a great deal to stay with /direct.  But instead, after I confirmed our expiration date, they didn't offer chit. So, I told him that I would be looking for a new satellite supplier.  He then said he was sorry. Well. I am too, but now we're in the dirver's seat as new customers always get the worm.  So, my question to youz guyz is, who is offering a good deal on HD service?  Our contract is up on the 12th of Nov. so our timing couldn"t be better. 

Thanks for any info you guys have.

Wow, that's amazing.  I've been a DirecTV customer since 2000 and have always gotten great customer service out of them.  When I upgraded to HD, it cost me $99.00 for the new 5-LNB dish, and new receiver.  When I wanted to upgrade my old HD DVR that I bought at Best Buy, they upgraded it to the new HD DVR for, again, $99.00.  Maybe because I have the $5.95 monthly maintenance agreement, that I get things cheaper.  I don't know.  But when the wind knocked my sat dish out of alignment enough that I couldn't get the "new" HD channels, they came out and re-aligned my satellite for no cost, and I had an HD receiver replaced at no charge also....DirecTV has been great with me...don't understand why you're having problems with them.  The only other alternative is to go with Dish network...they are probably just as good, but for me, they didn't offer the NFL Sunday Ticket Program and that's what originally brought me over to DirecTV.

Cheers ,
 

[MJZ]

I've had Direct TV since they were originally only offered through Sears quite a few years back and I can tell you I've gone a bunch of knockout rounds with them. What I have found over the past few years, it comes down to the luck you get with the representative that takes your call. I now know when I get an answer I don't like, I hang up and call back until I get a rep that speaks intelligent English or ask to speak to their supervisor, that 99% of the time works great. My suggestion would be to call back, ask for a supervisor in customer service, then you will get a much better response but get in a comfortable position because you may have to wait a long time on hold.

[RJ749]

I just did the DishNetwork upgrade and they had charges, but almost equal rebates.

www.dishnetwork.com

[9 1/2 Beers]

I've had Direct TV since they were originally only offered through Sears quite a few years back and I can tell you I've gone a bunch of knockout rounds with them. What I have found over the past few years, it comes down to the luck you get with the representative that takes your call. I now know when I get an answer I don't like, I hang up and call back until I get a rep that speaks intelligent English or ask to speak to their supervisor, that 99% of the time works great. My suggestion would be to call back, ask for a supervisor in customer service, then you will get a much better response but get in a comfortable position because you may have to wait a long time on hold.

it's funny that you say this, with the high winds in so.cal. i lost reception, the key is to call customer service and not tech support.  went a few rounds myself

[ultrafxr]

I'm probably the odd man out here but I've stuck with my cable through thick and thin.  Had Time Warner for years and years but due to the re-alignment necessitated by their purchase of another provider (I forget the name) they 'swapped' some territories with Comcast.  Have had a few problems over the years but nothing that would drive me away.  Never had to wait very long on hold for customer service, but did have to wait half hour to exchange defective cable box a couple months ago.  Looked at the satellite systems but really did not find anything better or cheaper.  Plus I have the Comcast high speed internet.  Know that the dishes offer that now also but never heard how good it is (or isn't).  Anyone have experience with that.

[RJ749]

I'm probably the odd man out here but I've stuck with my cable through thick and thin.  Had Time Warner for years and years but due to the re-alignment necessitated by their purchase of another provider (I forget the name) they 'swapped' some territories with Comcast.  Have had a few problems over the years but nothing that would drive me away.  Never had to wait very long on hold for customer service, but did have to wait half hour to exchange defective cable box a couple months ago.  Looked at the satellite systems but really did not find anything better or cheaper.  Plus I have the Comcast high speed internet.  Know that the dishes offer that now also but never heard how good it is (or isn't).  Anyone have experience with that.

I have Comcast at my lake house and likewise have for years.  Just can't get it at the other place, but I agree that the Comcast with internet has been great.

[GC_Super]

Thanks guys.

I had a little time at work today, so I called Direct and got a real person. When I reminded that real person that our service contract was less than two weeks away from termination, the real person said they need to transfer me to the " continuing service special " person who had access to all the special incentives. This person was great, spoke english, and offered me a basically no cost way to upgrade to HD if I signed up for two years. I've been real happy with direct TV and hated to change service, so I took the deal. Like ya'll said, you just have to be patient and get the right person. 

[grandpadoc]

A few years ago I found a HD dish and receiver at the swapmeet for $50 and installed it myself. I already had been a subscriber so they let me use the p4 card from my old receiver and everything worked great. From what I understand this system will soon be obsolete and I'll have to get the upgrade to keep receiving HD. What happens around here is the folks are told everything is free and when they get their first bill the stuff ends up at the flee markets. I've been looking for a excuse to go the swapmeet again and now I have one.

[grandpadoc]

Hey it is free. Signed up for the new stuff yesterday. They have to replace my 3 LNB with a 5 LNB and install the new receiver.  Doc

[reo]

Thanks guys.

I had a little time at work today, so I called Direct and got a real person. When I reminded that real person that our service contract was less than two weeks away from termination, the real person said they need to transfer me to the " continuing service special " person who had access to all the special incentives. This person was great, spoke english, and offered me a basically no cost way to upgrade to HD if I signed up for two years. I've been real happy with direct TV and hated to change service, so I took the deal. Like ya'll said, you just have to be patient and get the right person. 

If you need to upgrade equipment with directv when you call you want to ask for "customer retention", they are the only ones that can offer the best deal. I have heard of people calling three times to get there best deal so every deal is unique it seems. They will go on there computer and look at your account. I've been told that you will be represented by a series of hearts showing how good a customer you are, it can be from one to five hearts telling them your score. This score of hearts is dependent on how long, what kind of packages and what kind of pay per view record you have.

I have been with directv since 97 and I own three boxes two hd with one being a tivo. The new technology that was put in place this summer with all the satellites they launched will give them the ability to broadcast up to 150 hd channels. The problem with this is the mpeg2 format that they had been using since day one of there existence will change to mpeg4 making the old boxes obsolete. What will happen with you old box (were talking hd reception only here) is you will only be able to receive the original channels (about 15) not the new ones launched this year.

Without making this a complex long winded story I will briefly just tell you directv has changed their new equipment a couple times with the newest equipment eliminating what they call off air (from your antenna) reception. You can still buy your equipment but I makes more sense to lease with a two year contract. Because of the lost features and change in equipment and current prices, I for the first time am looking at changing to dish. I still am working on this as now directv cant even guarantee what kind of receiver you will get.

Now I don't want to scare anyone off here from directv as their football "package" and nascar "hot pass" are great features that nobody else has. I'm talking about the high end hd dvr's available, direct is in the midst of having problems and seems with a bad direction of eliminating off air reception.


Roy.....

[VAZHOG]

Thanks guys.

I had a little time at work today, so I called Direct and got a real person. When I reminded that real person that our service contract was less than two weeks away from termination, the real person said they need to transfer me to the " continuing service special " person who had access to all the special incentives. This person was great, spoke english, and offered me a basically no cost way to upgrade to HD if I signed up for two years. I've been real happy with direct TV and hated to change service, so I took the deal. Like ya'll said, you just have to be patient and get the right person. 

Check out this site under the tab Direct TV    http://www.highdefforum.com/

I have D*TV since 1996 and went to HD in 2005 Now that they have turned on over 70 HD channels I can use my HD TV - NFL Super FAN is the greatest thing in the world that I have found all the games without Commercials!!!! All Action. The Picture is perfect!!  Enjoy Reading up I suggest getting the permier package (all the channels) the price includes DVR @ no charge per month (normal $5.99 ) a Month additional. They have upgraded there service for (ON DEMAND)-Not pay per veiw, but you can select what you want to see when you want to see it. You will need a lan connection to get that on your HR20-100 .

[FR8TRN]

I admit I'm a little slow with new technology, but we just bought our first High Def TV. Actually had one before, but never had HD service to it.  We currently have service with Direct TV, so I called to upgrade to HD.  First, it seems like an hour of waiting to finally talk to a person, so I tell them I just want to upgrade to HD service.  So the girl tells me we need a new dish, new this and new that, and it all totaled almost $300, plus 19.95 S&H.  I said, you have a technican coming out to install, why do  I have to pay S&H ?   They then transfer me to the S&H dept, who after my rant, tells me that they can wave the S&H charges. Well, that's a start. He goes thru the charges again and asks me do I want the High Def service also ? WTF ??  Why would I want a HD dish and not want HD service ?  Now I'm getting a little pissed.  I know our one year contract is coming up soon, so I ask the guy the exact date, thinking they will offer me a great deal to stay with /direct.  But instead, after I confirmed our expiration date, they didn't offer chit. So, I told him that I would be looking for a new satellite supplier.  He then said he was sorry. Well. I am too, but now we're in the dirver's seat as new customers always get the worm.  So, my question to youz guyz is, who is offering a good deal on HD service?  Our contract is up on the 12th of Nov. so our timing couldn"t be better. 

Thanks for any info you guys have.

Looks like your near DFW, is FiOS available in your area??  If your not sure contact me via PM and I'll check it out for you.  It's a much better option than cable or satellite.

[Coolbreeze]

Oops, just went over my head.....    What is FiOS?

I just went plasma and discovered that all my old (4 years) HDTV stuff is obsolete and driving the signal that I really want to exercise the new tv, so...   I'm looking at all the options that I can find. 

[Fired00d]

Oops, just went over my head.....    What is FiOS?

I just went plasma and discovered that all my old (4 years) HDTV stuff is obsolete and driving the signal that I really want to exercise the new tv, so...   I'm looking at all the options that I can find. 

Google and Wikipedia to the rescue - Verizon FiOS (Fiber Optic Service).

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d