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Review by stev32k See Profile

  • Location: Mobile, Mobile, AL, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
The install was the best I've had. On time and the tech earned his money
Nothing so far
Wish I had switched a long time ago
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Update 3/12/13

I canceled the DTV service. The service was good but the price was too high and we do not watch enough TV to justify the $90/mo they were charging. When I called to cancel I had to put up with a 15 minute sales pitch trying to talk me into staying with the service. They offered to reduce my bill to $60/month, or give me a lower priced package for even less. I told the lady if they had reduced my bill a year ago I might not be cancelling now.

They sent me a pre-paid shipping box to return the receivers. I thought that was a nice touch.

---------------------------------

Everything about DTV has been very good so far. The installation was completed the day after I signed up. The tech that did the install did a very good job. He completely re-wired the whole house. The existing cable was over 15 years old and he replaced all of it (and did a good job) without my asking.

I had Mediacom cable service for 12 years and thought they had pretty good picture quality, but DTV is better. It might be because of the new cable - not sure - but what ever the reason it is better. I love the DVR service. I never had it before now and it has made me enjoy TV as much as I use to. The HD channel line up is much better than Mediacom and the best part is the price is lower than Mediacom. Even after the introductory period (12 months) the full price will still be lower.

Edit April 9, 2012

After a little over a year I still like DTV very much. No problems with the service, picture, or anything else so far. I think there was one outage that lasted for about 5 or 10 minutes during a bad thunder storm. The picture I get on my Panasonic Plasma TV is amazing and several people have commented on it - I think one has since switched to DTV from Comcast.

member for 23.9 years, 7080 visits, last login: 6.1 years ago
updated 11 years ago


UnhappyUser
@comcast.net

UnhappyUser

Anon

Directv Credit Card Fraud

I just want to let everyone know that Directv WILL steal money from you if they so decide.. If you EVER make a single payment via your credit card, they will keep that number and even if you discontinue auto-draft payments or any form of electronic payment (up to and including disconnecting your service or even spaciffically instructing them to remove any payment cards from your account at all), they will not only refuse to remove any cards used to pay with from their records (a privacy act violation I believe), but will draft continue drafting from your account even AFTER you fully cancel and close out your account..

I felt the need to let EVERYONE know what kind of thieves Directv are before anyone decides to actually sign up with this disreputable company. I am currently in proceedings of fileing a payment reversal on over $400 that they took from my account without my approval, knowledge, or even confirmation. I am also going to look into any formal charges I can file agenst the company if at all possible, but doubtful as the courts seem to favor big business.

Furthermore, the company REFUSED to process a return of funds to my account, stating that they do not have the ability.. This was after I was hung up on no less than three times for requesting a supervisor (which i still never got to speak with), and I never even raised my voice or became abusive on the phone (I've worked at call centers before, and I know that's justifiable hang-ups there so I just don't do it). This leads me to drastically question the company's Ethics..

socrates
@sonic.net

socrates

Anon

Nightmare with Direct TV

I had Direct TV FOR 2 YEARS. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE, WITH CONSTANT SERVICE PROBLEMS REGARDING TV SERVICE. THE RECEIVERS WERE CONSTANTLY OUT AND HAD TO BE FIXED BY THEIR SERVICE REP. THERE WERE OUTAGES, BILLING PROBLEMS, FAULTY EQUIPMENT AND IT WAS A DISASTER. I FINALLY CANCELLED AFTER A TWO YEAR CONTRACT. THEY SENT THE RETURN BOXES FOR THE RECEIVERS TO THE WRONG ADDRESS. THEN THEY SAID THEY WOULD SEND THE BOXES TO MY ADDRESS IN A FEW DAYS. THEY LEFT ME A NOTE TO PICK UP AT THE POST OFFICE. I PICKED UP ONE BOX ONLY FOR TWO RECEIVERS, WHICH WAS INCORRECTLY SENT. THERE WERE SUPPOSE TO BE TWO BOXES FOR TWO RECEIVERS. I HAS TO PAY OUT OF POCKET TO SEND THE SECOND RECEIVER BACK AND WAS TRANSFERRED THREE TIMES BEFORE I FOUND A CUSTOMER SERVICE PERSON WHO KNEW ANYTHING, BUT DIDN'T KNOW MUCH. IT WAS THE OLD, "blame yourself for the wrong amount of boxes routine. I did tell them what I needed. Took 3 weeks to finally get boxes. Had to wait in line at the post office then figure out how to send the two receivers back. I paid for one receiver to go back to their facility in Ontario CA. This was a NIGHTMARE and I am so happy to not have to deal with this co any longer. They actually tried to talk me into resubscribing again....I DON'T THINK SO!!

na
@myvzw.com

na

Anon

unprofessional

Directv assholes suck they refuse to accomodate customers and are very unprofessional! Technicians lie and then you end up paying money because they messed up. Don't get directv

stev32k
Premium Member
join:2000-04-27
Mobile, AL

stev32k

Premium Member

Anomymous posters strike again

I love how all these anonymous posters seem to come out of the woodwork after every positive review. Surly they are not competitor employees - naw, they would not do that, would they?
bizmarks12
join:2012-06-05

bizmarks12

Member

Re: Anomymous posters strike again

You sound like a direcTV associate yourself. Why are you so bent on accusing people of being the competition? DirecTV sucks ass and that's that! They are thieves, they are unprofessional and I will never ever get DirecTV again. They accused me of skipping a payment which I never did, so hen I was ready to cancel, they debited $150 from my account. Bunch of assshole thieves and their services suck. Once they get you on the hook for a 2 year contract, they don't give a damn. They get rude and I even had a CSR hang up in my face. That's how much they care. DO NOT GET DIRECTV. Be warned!

stev32k
Premium Member
join:2000-04-27
Mobile, AL

1 edit

stev32k

Premium Member

Re: Anomymous posters strike again

I had a long reply ready, but on second thought I'll just let your post speak for itself.
tomterrfcr
join:2012-06-25
Los Angeles, CA

tomterrfcr to stev32k

Member

to stev32k
Well, I'm not anonymous and my father was launch co-ordinator for Hughes Space and Communications Group which put up the satellites that DirecTV uses.

The minor bad things are that there is never anything to watch, and even though paying a fortune, there still were endless commercials, not only on programs but even on the menu!

The worst thing, though, is how dishonest the company is. They signed a contact with me for $29/mo. They then charged me $67/mo anyway. When I called them and faxed a copy of my contract, they said "So sue us."

I signed up in loyalty to my father and Hughes (for which I also worked for a while), but this is one of the worst and most dishonest companies I have ever dealt with, and is far, far removed from Hughes.
bizmarks12
join:2012-06-05

bizmarks12

Member

DirecTV is the worst!

Just be warned. DO NOT get DirecTV. They are a bunch of liars. At first, I was promised 2 HD boxes, which they did not give me. So when I called in to ask for my HD boxes, they said it was a mix up. Then the next month, they started charging me $10 for HD service that I did not have. Made that account bounce because those funds were set aside for paying bills. I was charged a $30 fee for overdraft and DTV would not pay it, even though it was their fault. Fast forward a few months, they reset my contract because I added some equipment. I was 18 days away from being done with my 2 year contract. Though I wanted to stay with them, this is VERY sneaky. Now am on the hook for 2 more years!
I decided enough is enough, and called UVerse. they offered to pay the early termination fee for me. They did not even demand that I sign a contract with them. This is what I call confidence in your brand!! I decided Ok. I will take that offer. So I called DTV and told them that I wanted to cancel. To my big surprise, they said that i had skipped a payment and that I owed $93 (an extra month)+ early termination fees. I asked how I could fight it but they said that this was something that I owed and had to pay up. They let me know that this amount and the termination fee would be debited from the card that I had on file, regardless. They act like a bunch of crooks/ thugs. I was so pissed that I payed the whole early termination fee+ $93 and I am free of direcTV I hope. They better not send any pamphlets, ads at my house because if DTV was the only cable provider left out there, I would rather do without than pay them a penny. I now moved to Uverse. Installation was quick and professional, I have 12MBps Internet + 360 channels and 3 HD boxes with whole house DVR, all for $104. I thought to myself they must be kidding! And no they are not. My first bill came up and it was $104 for cable TV and very high speed Internet (No contract- I could cancel tomorrow if I wanted to but why should I? service is excellent). Oh and by the way, when i asked direcTV for HD service, they said that I would have to buy HD boxes at $200 a pop AND pay for installation. Need I repeat that HD service is included in my UVerse installation?!
I am not here to glorify UVerse because I know that corporations are all the same. They always try to rape the little guy off of his money but hey, so far am happy with AT&T. So no matter what you do, DO NOT GET DIRECTV!!!! Move to Time Warner cable/ Adelphia, FIOS, DISH, whatever ..... anything but DIRECTV. They are a bunch of thieves with no conscience!
tomterrfcr
join:2012-06-25
Los Angeles, CA

tomterrfcr

Member

Avoid DirecTV like the plague!

Never anything to watch, and even though paying a fortune, there still were endless commercials, not only on programs but even on the menu!

They signed a contact with me for $29/mo. They then charged me $67/mo anyway. When I called them and faxed a copy of my contract, they said "So sue us."

My father was a co-ordinator of the Hughes Satellites which DirecTV uses, and I signed up in loyalty to him, but this is one of the worst and most dishonest companies I have ever dealt with, and is far, far removed from Hughes.

ymhee_bcex
Premium Member
join:2006-04-21
Tarzana, CA
·AT&T Wireless Br..

ymhee_bcex

Premium Member

All are about the same

These over the top accusations in ALL CAPS sound like they are coming from somebody who is unhinged... They are CROOKS! No, they are THIEVES! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!1I1! Frankly, you don't sound very convincing.

I've had DirecTV, Dish, and Time Warner over last 10 years. They are all about the same. Time Warner has a bigger selection of free Video-on-demand; DirecTV is a little cheaper. They also have better technical support folks on the phone than Time Warner. TW was quicker to dispatch a technician (Level 1 support often made these decisions without even getting to L2), those guys were quite knowledgeable but in several cases the problem was on the server, and the trip wasn't really necessary.

TW has better web-based programming tools, but DirecTV has a more liberal watching policies - my wife often watches the shows on her computer at work.

From billing perspective didn't have any problems with either of them. Time Warner requested that I return the receivers to the office (which is next to my daughter's school, so it wasn't a big deal); I did but TW didn't process it properly. So, they put a charge of $50 for technician visit. The first person on the phone didn't have a clue, but the supervisor apologized and reversed the charges. DirecTV sent boxes for DVRs; they didn't need non-DVR receivers. Don't remember what happened with Dish, but didn't have any problems either.

THEY ARE THE SAME!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

upset
@sbcglobal.net

upset

Anon

changing customer policy and hidden fees from Direct TV

Initially the service with Direct TV was good, but we found a better deal with AT&T U-verse.

When it came time to cancel, we asked multiple times if there was a cancellation fee.

Months later we received a bill for a cancellation fee. Now over a year later we are still getting harassed by a collection agency.

How come Direct TV does not listen to all those recorded phone conversations and acknowledge that one of their agents assured us that there would be no cancellation fee?????