Charter Sues DirecTV Over Bankruptcy Ads > Now this...

Now this...

reply to Antonlm
I can hear it now, Direct TV (and Dish Network) file suit claiming their service does not go out every time it rains out.

It would not surprise me if at least one of Charters Customer Service Reps indicated as much.

reply to BF69
The fact that losing service when it rains has been alluded to in some cable ads and more recent than when sat service first came out. So I find this suit from a cable company pretty funny.

Um,... no one said "every time" it rains, for one, and two, it's a fact that heavy storms DO interfere with low powered satellite services. So, now you're sitting here trying to make a fact a non-fact.

Rain fade happens and is proven. Even satellite acknowledges that it happens but states it happens only in heavy storms and is rare which is becoming more and more true. Bankruptcy is always based on individual facts and each case is different.

Unless DirecTV has a crystal ball and knows the outcome of Charter's bankruptcy, even before the judges do, then in this case, I stand by Charter on this one. DirecTV should be getting their check books out for this one and should be ashamed of their downright dirty tactics.

This is about the same a saying that you have skin cancer and are going to die. You might, you might not, but should the estate auction begin now? ... many people survive cancer and don't always die. Many companies make it through bankruptcy protection and do survive. However, rain-fade DOES happen.

Oh, and the amount of times cable has "eluded" that storms affect satellite reception hasn't recently gotten stronger.. it was, however, pushed VERY hard by cable a decade ago.

reply to AMDUSER
Where was an ad placed that said "every time"... ?

reply to fiberguy
Agreed. Besides customers won't lose their TV/Internet/Phone service. Someone will always take over. Rain fade is a fact. Satellite service goes out during storms. Anyone saying this is not true is full of shit.

Satellite can go out during very HEAVY storms, unless your dish is mis-aligned. In that case it'll happen more often.

Back when I had cable TV, I lost their signal during rainstorms a lot more often than I've ever lost my satellite signal.

Plus cable companies clean out the Jerk Store every time they go hiring for customer "service" reps...

My cable service is not affected by storms. So what's your point?

My satellite service isn't affected by storms, either--the only exceptions were a tropical storm and a hurricane, in both cases the power went out about a minute after the dish lost signal.

If you have a properly aligned dish, rain fade is a very rare occurrence. If you've never lost cable service in bad weather, you're an exceptionally lucky (and rare) cable subscriber. Good for you.

reply to Anonymous
Our old Comcast connection was frequently affected by rain storms. Unless the dish is not aligned for cap, it take quite a storm to knock out sat TV. And there is no rain fade either.

reply to Anonymous
Gonna put my 2cents in here. As a cable subscriber from 1994-2001 and a DirecTV subscriber from 2002-now, my experience has been that cable outages were far worse. I had TWC and every time the wind got over 30 MPH, the cable went out. Every time there was lightning, the cable went out. Every time it snowed more than 5 inches, cable went out. It would be out anywhere from 2-12 hours. This was not at one residence, just to put that thought to rest. This was in 3 different apartments in three different parts of town. Has my DirecTV gone out? Sure, but with DirecTV, I have lost my signal for no more than 15 minutes at a time. It takes a MAJOR storm to roll through and block the signal(sideways downpour, thunder/lightning, 50 MPH winds all at the same time). You could add up all the minutes lost and still not come up with more than the average cable outage I had(7 hrs).

reply to Antonlm
Does anyone have a link to these commercials, they sound very funny.

reply to fiberguy

reply to fiberguy

reply to Flibbetigibbet
Great for you, however YOUR experience does not set the status quo for the technology itself, but nice try.

It's a known fact that cable is not typically affected by rain or heavy cloud covers. It IS a known fact that Satellite is.

Now, you're coming in here and saying "If you've never lost cable service in bad weather, you're an exceptionally lucky (and rare) cable subscriber." which is completely different. If you want to talk about "bad weather" now, that opens up the definition broadly to include tornadoes and hurricanes. Point your finger to Florida or anywhere in the Tornado alley and I'll show you where "BAD WEATHER" will take down cable.. oh, and phone, and power, and... but, if you want to get back on topic and talk about heavy rain and snow, then we'll all be on the same page again.

But, if you think that bad weather takes down cable and you're "exceptionally lucky (and rare)" then you are totally misguided, or simply trolling.

You've obviously not worked for any dish company like some of us or are simply cheer-leading for your cause. Either way, you're not even close to correct with your post.

reply to cdru

Re: Now this...

reply to ChrisDG74
I agree completely. I've had DirecTV in the past and now have DISH and I have never lost signal unless the storm were to the point we had to go in the basement and take cover. So, at that point, if your TV isn't working, what's the big deal when you're not watching it anyway (taking cover)? I've had bad experiences with Charter in the past, it would start drizzling outside and I'd have snow all over my TV screen and they failed to resolve the issue. Poor service nonetheless.

reply to fiberguy
Cable has a long history of misleading adds. Like their "Twice as fast as DSL" that has 3.0Mb Cable compared to 1.5DSL buried in the fine print.

Then again how many of us have actually seen the add in question? Can any of us who have not seen the add really make a good call on who is right or wrong?