WdnUlik2no

My cable company has pissed me off for the last time. My cable has been out since this time yesterday, and eventhough the first time I called I got an automated message about a region outage, the live people I spoke to keep telling me I'm the only person in my area who called about the problem....BS. Even my next door neighboor says his cable is out as well.

So anyway eventhough I hate the contract DirectTV requires, I am sick of giving Charter Communications over $100/month for crappy cable and customer service. This incident is the latest in a string of incidents I have had with them over the past year or so.

I hear bad things about DishNetwork (which my phone provider uses), but I really haven't heard anything bad about DirectTV.

Any pros and cons before I take the plunge into Satellite TV?

timmahh

Love DirecTV.. Everything I watch is in HD now..

Our bill is about $130 a month and includes:
- Premier choice channels (every channel including sho/hbo packages)
- DVR Service
- HD Service
- Equipment protection service
- DirecTV On Demand (Hook the HD DVR up to ethernet and it will download shows/movies from DirecTV, as well as connect to a media server and let you access audio/video/photos)

Their customer service has always been great, I had a failed HDD in the HD DVR once and they sent me another one, which was lost by UPS/FedEX.. They could have easily told me to go screw my self and assume I was trying to scam them [the shipper conveniently missed a scan so it never made it past the pickup] but they rushed me another unit [this is when they first came out and were back ordered for a few weeks]. I've been very happy with them.

Moog-Type-S

I have no troubles with DTV.

The Hr-21 DVR's were problematic upon their debut, but the latest software update in July really "fixed" alot of the flaws.

Mine have been running like a clock since then. *knocks on wood*

jupitersolo

Cox Communications pissed me off over four years ago, DTV has been good, but they have the faults as well. As with all it's the DA's answering the phone, most of the time I have to tell them to stop and let me speak to a supervisor.

I will be switching as soon as FIOS has added more HD channels, the rain fade sucks and we get major Tstorms here.

timmahh

Really? I don't think I've had to escalate anything before but i'm an A list customer so maybe I get smarter people ? hehe

Type Sun

I haven't had cable in over 10 years, so I couldn't talk you out of getting DirecTV. I had DirecTV from 1997 til this year, then switched to FiOS. Though I recommend FiOS over DirecTV if it is available in your area, I would without hesitation recommend DirecTV over cable. My reasons for recommending DirecTV over cable have changed over the years. It used to be that DirecTV was digital and cable was analog, but that has changed (for the most part). Now it's mostly about customer service. Cable just plain sucks in this area. Also, I never liked the menu/guide systems that Cox cable uses. DirecTV and FiOS are MUCH nicer in this respect.

jupitersolo

I've been on that "A" customer list for three years, it doesn't mean shit.

jupitersolo

The menu they have looks like it's done with windows 3.1, I still have their highspeed.

WdnUlik2no

thanks yall, I just checked and I don't have FIOS in my area, so it looks like DirectTV is my best option.

On another note my cable is STILL out. I find it funny that the reps told me Tuesday night that that hopefully I will get my cable back BEFORE the tech comes; but how in the hell will I get it back if their not even doing anything?! Its going to feel so good getting rid of these people. If they ask why I'm cancelling I'm going to tell them the truth about how much they suck!

Scrib

I've been pretty satisfied with DTV. I have three of their new HR20/HR21 HD DVRs and am pretty pleased. As previously mentioned, they had their issues initially with software, but have come a long way in recent months.

Whiskers

And you can get Sunday Ticket

paz840

iTrader: (2)

what is rain fade?

...and how common are weather related outages? It may just be a misconception, but that is the one thing that worries me about getting satellite.

Scrib

Rain fade occurs when there is a massive thunderstorm between your dish and the satellite. The hydrometeors disrupte the satellite signal and you lose the picture. However, the outage is only as long as the weather is between you and the satellite. Once it clears, your picture is back.

And I will note that the new dishes are much less prone to rain fade versus the older dishes due to their size. If your dish is aligned properly, rain fade should be the least of your issues.

timmahh

Correct-o; we did have a MASSIVE windstorm that moved our 5LNB dish a bit and for the life of us we could not get it realigned; I ended up buying a new dish off ebay thinking ours was somehow bad.. Called DTV to schedule an appointment and due to the crazy winds it was 17 DAYS OUT!! NO TV FOR 17 DAYS?!!? Thankfully they called the next day [maybe the 2nd day?] and a tech was already in our neighborhood.. fixed it in about 15 minutes.

So if anyone needs a Slimline 5LNB HD Dish... I have one!

My dad has Dish and has had it for years; I remember when I was a kid i'd have go out and wipe the snow off the dish to get the signal back sometimes, but they have heaters for the dishes so that doesn't happen

03bl AC k CL

i would only get dtv for sunday ticket... oh how i want that...

WdnUlik2no

I think DirectTV has a promotion going with NFL Sunday Ticket I may look into getting that, but I am not sure of the details just yet. I called them today to to see how long will it take for them to get out here to install the stuff when I place an order, and they told me they can do next day installation. Their sales staff sure is pushy though, I just called to ask a question she she was trying to get me to sign up right then.

In other news, as what has happened already with CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS wasn't enough, the fucker missed his appointment today to fix my cable with no call or anything. My wife stayed home all morning waiting on them to show up between 10 and 12 and he was a no show. I got them on the phone and they called my wife and said that he would be there between 1 and 3, but she had somewhere to go so they ended up rescheduling it for tommorow between 1 and 3. The lady told me that they would credit my account $20 for the inconvenience but at this point it doesn't matter anymore. Once they get my cable back on (that's IF he even shows up tommorow) I will cancel them as soon as I get a set day for directTV to come out. Charter has really gone down hill since I first signed up with them in 03.

timmahh

Ok.. Tell DirecTV I referred you; they'll give us both $50

WdnUlik2no

PM me your name so I can tell them when I sign up!

timmahh

pm sent!

jupitersolo

I have a brand new dish and it's worse, the HD channels are the first to go. They have been out twice to adjust and it's in the perfect spot.

jupitersolo

The Sunday Ticket was great the first year they had it in HD, for $225, the next year they wanted $245 for the Sunday Ticket part and another $99 for the channels that carried the games in HD.

I didn't have it last year and didn't miss it.

WdnUlik2no

Cable people came by today, but now say they need a line tech because there has been an outage in my area (and that's what I've been trying to tell them since Tuesday). Now they say they won't be able to fix it until Monday.

Anyway DirectTV has a special going on where I purchase NFL Sunday ticket for 74.99/month for 4 months, and I basically get my regular service free for four months. When the four months expires, I still have NFL Sunday ticket and then I will pay regular price for my service.

Scrib

Perfect spot as in location? What is your signal strength, especially on the 103 satellite?

jupitersolo

I have very high signals on all bands, the storm clouds we get here in the summer are thick, big and slow. They were just here about four weeks ago, the H20 box I had stopped getting the "new" mpeg 4 HD channels in the FR, worked fine in the bedroom. Both BR and FR getting high signals on 103. They gave me this new "black box" the new one that doesn't get local channels. :sucks:

WdnUlik2no

Cable STILL out. Supposedly Charter fixed the Line problem today, but still no cable to my house. They are scheduled to come out and give me another excuse on Wednesday. THEY FUCKIN SUCK!!!!

I signed up for DirectTV this past weekend, but they are pretty backed up right now so my installation is 3 weeks out. If DirectTV could have come sooner, today I would have told Charter to forget it about fixing it because I'm cancelling their service.

yunginTL

dtv is badass, if only there was a way to own the newer boxes though..

timmahh

Did you get HD?

jupitersolo

I had a similar problem with Cox, they gave me credit for six months 1/2 price when I told them I was calling DTV, because I was sick of their song and dance. The gave me the credit and I still went to DTV. Didn't have to pay a HighSpeed Internet bill for a year because of the credit.

Moog-Type-S

What's your troubles with leasing them?

Doom878

I'd have switched to DTV but they wanted a $200 deposit. Rain-fade scares me because we get tons of rain/storms/hurricanes. But they're quality has caught up to cable and they own them in # of channels in HD. Bill was going to be $99/mo forever which was like $30 less than cable with way more channels.

yunginTL

i'd rather pay $100 bux for the hd box one time than pay 100 bux plus $5 bux a month for the box...

Doom878

I think the HD DVR is no cheaper than $220 (on sale) that supports mpeg-4 if I'm not mistaken.

Moog-Type-S

I've never paid for a box.

I always talk to a few people in costomer retention and get the fee waived.

timmahh

The HD-DVR was $299 [.. which is what I paid], but recently dropped to $199. There is no monthly lease fee, but there is a monthly DVR fee [unless you have premier choice in which case it's waived], and an additional receiver fee of $5 for each unit over 3 I think.

WdnUlik2no

Just got DirectTV set up today! Kind of feel strange not being on cable for the first time in...well forever. I had him put another line in so he wouldn't completely cut off the cable as I am still waiting on Charter to come and bury this ugly orange cable that's running through my yard. So right now I have cable and DirectTV in the living room. As soon as charter buries their cable, I will officially cancel them. I still don't like the directTV contract, but I think it's better than dealing with this overpriced cable with 2nd rate service.

CorvettePoor

Before you pay your next cable bill, make sure you prorate your bill. Don't pay them for the days you had no service.

STL+3.0CL

I have had nothing but problems with Charter Communications. I LOATHE Charter Cable, but feel stuck because of the Internet. For those of you who use DTV for tv, what are you using for high speed internet?

WdnUlik2no

ahhh another fellow Charter hater, they really DO suck. Luckily I don't have Charter for internet; I have AT&T FastAccess DSL.

I thought about switching over to Charter for internet servce a few months ago but I never got around to doing it; I'm very happy I didn't now.

STL+3.0CL

If you dont mind me asking, what does the fast access dsl run you, and do you use AT&T for land line service?

timmahh

Out here in Nor. California i'm using DirecTV & Comcast Cable Internet