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ehurtley
join:2001-11-24
Portland, OR
| Former DirecTV DSL tech support speaks out.
[UPDATE]: I have been asked by DirecTV's legal department to remove this post. I am sticking with my statement that all of the information I presented had become public knowledge. Until they give me a list of EXACT things they say isn't, I'm only going to remove the parts I think may be borderline. (I will mark where text has been deleted.)
Well, since they already fired me, they can't fire me again. Just so you know, the CEO, Ned Hayes, *DOES* read DSL Reports forums and reviews, daily.
First: I will not say anything that goes against the confidentiality agreement I signed. I will only state facts that are allowed to be public knowledge.
Second: I will answer questions that are polite. I will ignore all flames and trolls.
So, here we go. For those who wonder about the set up of DirecTV's technical support, here it is. (Everything here has been publiclly said by tech support people over the phone, so I feel okay saying it here.)
History: [EDIT] Sorry, some of the stuff here could be considered 'priveledged', so I'm removing the whole 'history' section. [/EDIT]
The present: The current support structure (as of two weeks ago) is: Basic Technical Support (recently renamed to just 'Technical Support') answers the incoming calls. They are supposed to diagnose PC and environmental issues. They are allowed to do 'real' troubleshooting, and do NOT follow a set script. They *DO* have to fill out a form to escalate it to Advanced Support, so they may ask seemingly meaningless questions. Trust me, it makes Advanced Support very happy if they get those answers. If BTS thinks it's a
network or line issue, they call one of their 'mentors' who gives them permission to escalate to ATS. Most BTS techs are very good, but there are some who are, I'm sorry to say, incompetent. If you get someone who seems to be a moron, just hang up, and call right back. Hold times had been averaging under two minutes last month.
Then, they (are supposed to) warm transfer the call to ATS's 'incoming call queue'. ATS is now broken up into four groups. They are B, C, D, E, and F. Usually they are called by their military phonetic alphabet name. Group F (Foxtrot) answers the phone calls. They tech any line or network issues as best as they can. (They have the exact same tools as the rest of ATS.) If it is determined to be a line issue, they will either open a trouble ticket with the LEC, or call the LEC directly (some LECs force DTV to submit a
ticket via a web-based form, then the LEC responds to DTV in 24 hours; some LECs let DTV call them directly to troubleshoot immediately.) If Foxtrot group can't solve the problem immediately (such as an issue where a ticket
has to wait for the LEC to do something) then they assign the ticket to a 'production' group, B, C, D, or E. Unfortunately, the best technicians in this group are starting to get burned out, and are leaving. I would say that in the past two months, half of this group has quit, or been fired; to be replaced with newer, inexperienced technicians. This group used to have the most experienced techs.
Group B (Bravo) handles issues that are deemed to be 'intermittent'. There are WAY too many of these issues. If you get assigned to this group, you WILL have to call them for a status update, they are too overworked to keep
up if you wait for them to call you. They spend quite a bit of their time talking with LECs who refuse to acknowledge the issue.
Group C (Charlie) is a very small group that handles domain hosting and email issues. They set up domains, and fix email problems. They are the most overqualified people in the place. The job market where DTVs call center is located is so bad, that most of Charlie group's members were making 2-5 times as much money for failed dot coms last year. All of them are very knowledgable UNIX admins, who just want to be treated with some respect, since DirecTV doesn't show them any respect.
Group D (Delta) handles 'hard down' LEC problems. When the line goes dead, and Foxtrot group opens a ticket with the LEC, it will be Delta group that follows up to make sure it gets fixed. These people spend almost their entire days on the phone with LECs, setting up truck rolls, and arguing over the results. This is considered the 'easiest' ATS position by most.
Group E (Echo) handles inside wiring issues. If the LEC comes out, and says the connection is perfect to your NID (Network Interface Device. The little gray box on the side of your house where the phone lines come in,) then DTV
has to send someone out to make sure the wiring INSIDE your house is okay. DirecTV doesn't have it's own field technicians. For most of the U.S., they use a company called CTS to do this. For the rest of the country, they use the local telco. (For example, if you have PacBell as your LEC, when the tech comes out to check your NID, if you're home, he'll ask to come inside to check the signal at your wall jack, too.) When people complain about the
$150 DirecTV charges for a 'home run', I only have one thing to say: CTS charges DirecTV $200. DirecTV takes a LOSS on every home run. Echo group has to do alot of arguing with customers who don't want to pay.
So, there's the current structure. [EDIT] Personal comments removed. [/EDIT]
From my personal experience, I would say that DirecTV is a great deal, with good service. Most of the technicians are competent and honestly try to be helpful. But remember, being threatening won't get you anything. We don't care if you'll report us to the FCC (sorry, DSL ISP's are regulated by the FCC,) or threaten a lawsuit (it only makes us want to hang up on you, not help you.)
But, management has made some decisions that while not BAD for the customer, I don't think they are specifically good, either. But, I feel that those decisions are VERY bad for DirecTV's employees. The environment is getting so that morale among DTV employees is at an all time low. When I was first promoted to ATS, it was a very laid back department. Now it feels like every other call center out there. [EDIT] Some wording in the preceeding paragraph changed to make it clear that it is my opinion, and some direct grievances removed [/EDIT]
I'm sorry for the over-long post, but hopefully it give you some insight into the workings of DirecTV DSL.
P.S. Neither hayward nor smcinsjc are employed by DirecTV. The last time a DirecTV employee posted on DSLReports, the CEO came down hard, and even threatened to hold back a bonus that was coming up until the employee was
found and fired. If either of them ever DID work for DTV, I don't know. In all honesty, I don't think hayward ever did, but I /DO/ think smcinsjc did.
That's only an educated opinion though, I have no evidence either way (his nick seems to reference a department of DTV DSL.) I *DO* know for a fact that other DTV employees post on here, but all posts I have seen from them have been very tame, and are usually not posted in the DTV forum...
(Ironically, it seemed that most DTV tech support employees didn't qualify for DSL from their local telco, so a large number use AT&T Broadband, including myself.)
[EDIT] Corporate structure comment deleted [/EDIT] I only know of four DTV employees who ended up signing up for DTV DSL, one of which actually gave it a bad review, and disconnected, while still working for DTV (you know who
you are!) Most others who had DSL used a local ISP that has a very good reputation, and most had been using that ISP for a long time before coming to work for DTV.
[ADDITION, later edited to remove corporate structure-related comments] Ah, yes... DirecTV sales... Forgot to mention this part. From what I can tell, the incoming sales people are very nice, and very knowledgable. I have tried
many times to catch them in a lie calling 'anonymously', but have never succeeded. The OUTBOUND calls, however, are another story. The outbound calls are made by an outsourced company, and, like the sister DirecTV satellite division, seems to employ very suspicious means. I have caught an
outbound sales person in a lie (I've only been called once.) I really think DirecTV needs to can the outsourced company, and bring outbound calls in house, if they use outbound calls at all. (I have had MANY bad experiences
with companies that resell DTV satellite, who all represent themselves as being DTV proper. DTV as a parent needs to re-evaluate the entire 'service reseller' concept as a whole. They seem to be under the impression that a few GOOD apples will make the whole bunch better. It won't. They have too many bad apples.)
[text was edited by moderator] | |
emjayef4
Mjf
join:2000-10-10
Pleasant Hill, CA
clubs:
| Thanks for the post - it was very informative, and seems to confirm the ideas I had about their support - mostly good, occasionally clueless, but always they have been patient and polite, and tried to help.
--
Marty Fried mjf.public@MyRealBox.com Left Coast, USA -- No one is listening until you make a mistake. | |
kennyt
join:2001-08-19
Hyattsville, MD | reply to ehurtley
Thanks for the info...
I still think Hayward's with the evil ones!!!;) | |
wardo7
join:2000-07-29
Lake Worth, FL |  reply to ehurtley
Yes thanks for the info. | |
Craig3281$
Premium
join:2001-05-01
North Palm Beach, FL |  reply to ehurtley
Excellent background information and post. Mike; you should add this to the FAQ. | |
bmn
? ? ?
Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus
| reply to ehurtley
said by ehurtley:
Well, since they already fired me, they can't fire me again. Just so you know, the CEO, Ned Hayes, *DOES* read DSL Reports forums and reviews, daily.
Beside putting the status pages up, what other things has he taken from the DTV forum ? I'm curious since a lot of interesting ideas have come through the pipe on this forum.
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Mike
Premium,Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA
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| reply to ehurtley
I know management reads and other EX-employees have came through saying "this is read daily by everyone", ect.
Months ago, I remember they said in the call center, my name and this forum came up once. heh
Anyhow.. now if Mr. Hayes reads this (hi)... could you at least send one of your people (or you yourself) to at least check up on the information I have posted in the header? It's getting old... but is anything incorrect? If all these people think this website is like a support group... are we supporting with the right information?
Here is something that might be interesting.
I know that Covad, Cox, Optimum Online, Verizon, Worldcom ISPs (in the WC forum), New Edge Network ISPs, SBC, Bell South has an entire division here (TSG), and the VP of Communication with Speakeasy makes posts actively assisting customers officially that we know of. I also think AT&T or Comcast (one of them) is also considering it.
Thus something to look forward to, a new new DSLR feature. You'll soon see people with "VIP" tags to clearly identify people that are heavily background checked that are official reps from a company. I know PapaSmurf (Cox Tier 3 Supervisor Engineer something or other) and Bob Carrick (PPPoE guy) currently have them (test run).
Something to consider. If not actively, at least be a 'big brother' to know that official people are watching so one of the poster can post a trouble ticket or an order number. Or at least let me know the forum colors match the DTV colors...  | |
swanboy
join:2001-01-22
Hollywood, FL | reply to ehurtley
Thanks man.
What else can i say?
-C
PS- sorry to hear that you lost your job.
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Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL | reply to ehurtley
Just curious if it doesn't violate your CA, was that by chance the Seattle call center?.... that seemed to be the first to improve.
--
»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West) | |
ehurtley
join:2001-11-24
Portland, OR
| Responses
hayward: Nope. There is no call center in Seattle. You're probably thinking of Oregon. Which would be correct. (I'm not going to give out the city name, I'm not sure if the city was ever made public.) P.S. we all got a kick out of your side-by-side dissection of the X1s.
Mike: Well, I had volunteered myself (quite a few months ago) to do 'out of band' support, i.e. answering questions on newsgroups, answering questions on here. I brought it up with the manager of technical support, and never heard an answer back. (Admittedly, I never followed up, either.)
badmagicnumber: I don't specifically know of anything that was implemented BECAUSE of DLSR, I do know of some policy things that changed because of happenings on DSLR, but I can't talk about those.
And, for the record.... DirecTV offers the following services, through the following LECs:
PacBell: ADSL, 1.5Mbps/128kbps
SWBT: ADSL, 1.5Mbps/128kbps
Ameritech: ADSL, PPPoE (transparently handled by the gateway), 768kbps/128kbps. (Some customers were 'migrated' from Rhythms, they have a dry line (no dial tone), but it's still ADSL.) I've seen some lucky ones who are 'accidentally' provisioned by Ameritech at 1.8Mbps/ 256kbps.
BellSouth: ADSL, 1.5Mbps/256kbps
Verizon (East, formerly Bell Atlantic): ADSL, 768kbps/128kbps (some older subscribers have 640/90)
Verizon (West, formerly GTE): ADSL, 768kbps/128kbps
Qwest: ADSL, 640kbps/256kbps
WorldCom (formerly Rhythms): SDSL up to 768kbps (most seem to get 384kbps), IDSL and RADSL for VERY old customers (inherited from pre- Telocity companies), new 'trial' customers can get ADSL through WorldCom. (I feel very sorry for the great guys I used to talk to at WorldCom. They're going through their second major upheaval in less than a year, after the whole Rhythms thing.)
Mike note - edited the wrong damn thing
[text was edited by moderator] | |
Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
| OK I forget the city, I just remember it came up in a call to them once and it was in the NW there somewhere.
I do remember a significant change in tech support quality shortly after finding that out.
--
»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)
[text was edited by author 2002-07-01 03:38:19] | |
DocDoo
join:2001-07-08
Florida
| reply to ehurtley
Re: Former DirecTV DSL tech support speaks out.
Good stuff!
said by ehurtley:
The last time a DirecTV employee posted on DSLReports, the CEO came down hard, and even threatened to hold back a bonus that was coming up until the employee was found and fired.
I bet I know the situation. It was when an employee posted that company letter (it was in the form of a picture). If I remember correctly it was about the "newsgroups." I tried like mad to get that picture after it was deleted from the forum (I offered to host it on a web page), I gave up for 2 reasons...mostly because I "do" have respect for Directv (very happy with ALL their services).
quote:
Group B (Bravo) handles issues that are deemed to be 'intermittent'. There are WAY too many of these issues. If you get assigned to this group, you WILL have to call them for a status update, they are too overworked to keep up if you wait for them to call you. They spend quite a bit of their time talking with LECs who refuse to acknowledge the issue.
Yeah, I can imagine. I've spoke with this group and I'm currently in this file. There is one "guy" there that has called me back and he is very determined even though he is stuck-in-the-middle (with TELCO).
MESSAGE TO MANAGEMENT: Customers like and give more respect to a company that publicly comes forward with seemingly "secret" information (this should not be secret). I feel that if a current worker were to speak freely like ehurtley just did, that person would be seriously reprimanded (or even fired). While its obvious sensitive data is certainly understandable, information like this goes a long way in "customers trust." Unless they have something to hide (ala Adelphia) 
Now, Lets hope I don't get fired for this...
[text was edited by author 2002-07-01 09:18:56] | |
DocDoo
join:2001-07-08
Florida
| reply to ehurtley
said by ehurtley:
When people complain about the $150 DirecTV charges for a 'home run', I only have one thing to say: CTS charges DirecTV $200. DirecTV takes a LOSS on every home run. Echo group has to do alot of arguing with customers who don't want to pay.
Also, in certain situation if tech support feels that a "home-run" would solve the current issue, but doesn't...the customer does not need to pay the $150 price (free). I applaud Directv for taking this expensive responsibility. I was offered this but declined it since I knew I could do a better install
Now if only I could get them to "swap-pairs" | |
jgtdragon
join:2000-12-30
San Jose, CA | The city for the call center is Beaverton, Oregon. I just called them yesterday. | |
DocDoo
join:2001-07-08
Florida
| reply to Mike
ehurtley... More importantly, I'm sorry to hear you have lost your job during a tough economic time. I wish you well in your search for a new job! These are hard times to be unemployed.
said by Mike:
Months ago, I remember they said in the call center, my name and this forum came up once. heh
Ohh come on, you know darn well they were talking about your avatar identity crisis. | |
DSReaper
join:2001-09-28
Beaverton, OR
| reply to DocDoo
said by DocDoo:
MESSAGE TO MANAGEMENT: Customers like and give more respect to a company that publicly comes forward with seemingly "secret" information (this should not be secret). I feel that if a current worker were to speak freely like ehurtley just did, that person would be seriously reprimanded (or even fired). While its obvious sensitive data is certainly understandable, information like this goes a long way in "customers trust." Unless they have something to hide (ala Adelphia)
The problem comes from the potential for employees to incorrectly decide what information should be secret and not secret. I didn't read the post closely enough to see if ehurtley was a regular tech, a top-tier tech, or even a supervisor, but it certainly appears clear that he is not an executive or manager, someone who would be in a position to know what kind of information is privvy to the public. While their cute little military-style naming scheme probably wouldn't raise any hairs, the fact that they apparently created their call center from a now bankrupt one and continue to contract out their tech support really isn't information that the public needs, IMO... | |
DocDoo
join:2001-07-08
Florida
| said by DSReaper:
The problem comes from the potential for employees to incorrectly decide what information should be secret and not secret.
Visit the BellSouth forum to get an idea how an ISP should be providing feedback to the paying customer. They have a good system going and makes the customers feel "connected." The fact that everything is laid out publicly, makes an ISP (in this case, BellSouth) want to "make it right" for the customer. I think they are setting the standard and other ISP's better take note!
I've learned lots from BellSouth and I've never gave them a dime. Only thing I've learned from DirectvDSL is information that was "leaked" or what little I've gotten from the tech calls (besides other users on this forum).
PS. Also, any really juicy info gets locked, but that is another story 
[text was edited by author 2002-07-01 13:57:01] | |
SMCinAZ
Premium
join:2000-11-29
Glendale, AZ
clubs:
| reply to ehurtley
For the record: I have never worked for the company. I was offered a job as a regular employee there many years ago but turned it down for a better job elsewhere.
Good info. Thanks.
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mjf
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New Orleans, LA
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| said by smcinsjc:
I was offered a job as a regular employee there many years ago but turned it down for a better job elsewhere.
Now that is good news!
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SMCinAZ
Premium
join:2000-11-29
Glendale, AZ
clubs: | Especially when you consider what he had to say about the company and it's treatment of employees. | |
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