violentsalvation: Then go with Dish you jackass, its way better than DirecTV

and so the stupid begins...

1 Find friend or relative in other part of the country to swap DirecTV receiver boxes with

2 Order MLB, and NFL packages

3 Watch your local team without blackout restrictions

spleef420: violentsalvation: Then go with Dish you jackass, its way better than DirecTV

and so the stupid begins...

I rather liked Dish myself. Not a sports fan so DirecTV can suck it for all I care.

/has U-Verse now
//TV sucks, torrents ftw.

Just go with your local cable provider, it's more reliable than any "dish" service out there. I used to do the satellite thing until I got fed up with bad weather killing my reception. Sorry to all you dish-heads out there, but unless you simply cannot get cable in your area, it's a frakking waste of money to go any other route.

I'm amazed the Consumerist has time to post this. After all, I believe they're organizing a massive boycott of Home Depot.

I'd only go with satellite if you are living in the southwest or something. I personally enjoy it because it never rains in AZ and is hardly ever cloudy, making it worth it to have.

Would think he could get with the management company that had the dish put up there and talk them into filing a police report for trespassing and vandalism against the installer for putting the damned thing on their property... bet he would get a FAST reaction after the installer was arrested.

Where is Caturday??

lisarenee3505: Just go with your local cable provider, it's more reliable than any "dish" service out there. I used to do the satellite thing until I got fed up with bad weather killing my reception. Sorry to all you dish-heads out there, but unless you simply cannot get cable in your area, it's a frakking waste of money to go any other route.

Out here in California the weather only kills it when it gets horrific - such as pouring rain. Comcast is a far worse choice than any satellite service.

/disapproves

APE992: lisarenee3505: Just go with your local cable provider, it's more reliable than any "dish" service out there. I used to do the satellite thing until I got fed up with bad weather killing my reception. Sorry to all you dish-heads out there, but unless you simply cannot get cable in your area, it's a frakking waste of money to go any other route.

Out here in California the weather only kills it when it gets horrific - such as pouring rain. Comcast is a far worse choice than any satellite service.

Comcast is a worse choice then dropping the goddamn tv on my head. fark them.

My Mom died in January. She had DirecTV. Guess what I've been going through since then? The bastards are still billing her even though I've sent in THREE death certs and the bloody farking 'eye' of the dish. Nasty, rude, arrogant people, most of whom have a real problem with speaking/understanding English.

Never, ever will I do business with a 'dish' tv provider again. And all these years I thought Comcast were the real pr**ks of the industry.

I'd like to hear DirectTV's side of the story. For all we know, Chris is an idiot and gave them the wrong address.

Between Hulu, Netflix, and a few other sites, I get more TV and movies than I have the time or inclination to watch and with no commercials with Netflix, and one Hell of a lot less commercials with Hulu. All for thee price of my internet service. which I would be paying for regardless.

/Oh, and having a projector is nice too. I especially love it when people brag about their 40 in High def TVs and I tell them, "yeah, that's nice. Its also about the size of my picture in picture."

mrjared: Comcast is a worse choice then dropping the goddamn tv on my head. fark them.

Yeah, I've had DirecTV for years now and the service has been excellent in every way. Had Comcast before that and would rather smash my balls with the Tivo than go back. Additionally, I'd rather saw my dick off with a spork than go with AT&T's U-Verse. If they didn't provide the most affordable and ultra reliable DSL, at my house at least, I'd never send those assholes another dime.

I got into it with ComCast one night over a "planned outage" of my internet service. I said if it's a farking "planned outage" you should have farking informed me. So I had Dish come out and they couldn't place it anywhere that I wouldn't have to first get permission from the HOA....a week later I get a call saying they're coming back over for my appointment. I didn't schedule another appointment and now that you've taken it upon yourselves to do it for me, I'm not going to.

I also couldn't get over the fact that they required a 2-year contract. If the service is any good they shouldn't need a contract.

...and people wonder why "fark it, i'll just download and/or stream it later" has become a detriment to the industry...

vrax: mrjared: Comcast is a worse choice then dropping the goddamn tv on my head. fark them.

Yeah, I've had DirecTV for years now and the service has been excellent in every way. Had Comcast before that and would rather smash my balls with the Tivo than go back. Additionally, I'd rather saw my dick off with a spork than go with AT&T's U-Verse. If they didn't provide the most affordable and ultra reliable DSL, at my house at least, I'd never send those assholes another dime.

I tried to sign up with Comcast for a deal they were offering when we had the big "digital switch"...24.95/month for basic cable and internet. Cool. Sign me up. The guy comes out and can't install my internet because I live in an apartment. ???. Ok then...fark internet, just give me the cable. They had a deal for $10/month for 1 year of basic cable. He wouldn't do it. So they come out a week later for an appointment I never scheduled and set up the cable. I looked at the "receipt" and it didn't say anything other then they installed cable. First bill was 80 bucks. WTF??? I call them, they said they fixed and would be sending a new bill. New bill was for even more. Called again, they said they had no record of me ever calling...they send me to collections for a bill of over $200...this is just under 3 months of service. I had to sick my farking assemblyman on them to get them to correct their error. They finally cleared out the supposed debt, set me up for the $10/month basic cable. 1 month later...bill for $57 dollars. farkKKKK Comcast!

I know, tl;dr.

mud_shark: I got into it with ComCast one night over a "planned outage" of my internet service. I said if it's a farking "planned outage" you should have farking informed me.

Check your contract, there is such a thing as a maintenance window.
I work at a NOC for an ISP (which is why I am awake at this insane time of morning).

Obamas Fark Czar: mud_shark: I got into it with ComCast one night over a "planned outage" of my internet service. I said if it's a farking "planned outage" you should have farking informed me.

Check your contract, there is such a thing as a maintenance window.
I work at a NOC for an ISP (which is why I am awake at this insane time of morning).

Hah! Like when you order Comcast you actually get a contract. I suppose it's probably buried deep on their site.

I don't really have a choice of ISPs anyway - well, there's always dial-up, satellite or hacking one of the neighbor's wireless.

Who the hell needs cable tv when the internet exists?

mutorrent man, unless you're a retard who thinks sports are entertaining to watch.


guy should remind the neighbor's condo management to recycle the dish.

guy should also remind the neighbor's condo management that their building will have to be torn down as it is less than 15 feet from his building.

I don't get it. I have had Direct, since day one. Never any "reception" problems, except in heavy rain, and then only for a few minutes, at best.

I do see a lot of mediocre installations in my travels, though. Dishes pointed at clumps of trees or buildings. Makes me wonder how they even work on a clear day, let alone during a thunderstorm.

If you absolutely cannot miss 2 minutes of TV during a thunderstorm, buy a larger dish. That will solve your rain fade problem.

lisarenee3505: Just go with your local cable provider, it's more reliable than any "dish" service out there. I used to do the satellite thing until I got fed up with bad weather killing my reception. Sorry to all you dish-heads out there, but unless you simply cannot get cable in your area, it's a frakking waste of money to go any other route.

Your dish was misadjusted when it was installed, or you had some other technical problem. Yeah, the reception goes out if there's a storm, or if too much snow falls on the dish. In case #1, it never lasts that long, and in case #2, take a broom and go out and sweep the snow off. We are among the many people who can't get cable, and I wouldn't want the cable bills of people I know who have it.

I'm pretty sure they ask you where you would prefer to put the dish when they come to install... sounds like this is yet another Consumerist whiner where nothing could possibly be his fault. Odds are pretty good this is a case of some bag of blubber who couldn't be bothered to get his fat ass off the couch for the 5 seconds required to point out where it should go- opting instead to tell the installer "put it wherever, hurrrrr."

I would shove a knife in my eye before I would ever agree to getting DirecTV again. They claimed I re-upped my service on the day I canceled it. I kept on asking them to show me a signature or let me listen to a recording of me saying I agreed. They couldn't.

/Still had to pay them $350 to get it off of my record so I could buy my house.
//I'm not going to use an acronym. I hope everybody that works there Dies In A Fire.
///No, I'm not bitter.

mrjared: [...] I had to sick my farking assemblyman on them to get them to correct their error. [...]

Okay ... But why did you eat your assemblyman in the first place?

Mr. Potato ass.

Will You explain further this swapping of receivers? Or point me to a resource? My husband biaches daily about the mlb blackouts and how they are killing their own fanbase. We are a 14 hour drive from his home team yet it is still blacked out.

Well I had D-TV for over five years - never had an outage longer than a few minutes even during two hurricanes. Never had an issue with customer service. Liked the line up, liked the DVR package. When I moved two years ago to an area that pretty much required ATT for internet I sadly switched from D-TV to U-verse to get the "bundle price". Now I love U-verse for many reasons.

I think people are generally stupid and do not know how to work through issues with companies they have issues with.

lisarenee3505: Just go with your local cable provider, it's more reliable than any "dish" service out there. I used to do the satellite thing until I got fed up with bad weather killing my reception. Sorry to all you dish-heads out there, but unless you simply cannot get cable in your area, it's a frakking waste of money to go any other route.

My head asplode. In the case of Time Warner, this statement is patently false. My neighbor's cable has been out more than my dish in the past year, and that includes some pretty nasty weather. The wonderful "digital phone" is down during power outages. Oh, and guess where cable gets its feeds? Satellite.
The cable bill has gone up three times; the dish, once.

/Time Warner Cable can suck my @$$, IOW

I had DirecTV for five years, dropped them without hassle when my DirecTiVo wasn't good enough for their new encoding. Outages totalled about 30 minutes (at hurricanes' peaks), whereas neighbors with cable were out for weeks afterwards.

Now, in the 21st century, Hulu Plus + Netflix streaming = teh win. Total monthly bill, $26, compared to $100 for satellite.

rico567: lisarenee3505: Just go with your local cable provider, it's more reliable than any "dish" service out there. I used to do the satellite thing until I got fed up with bad weather killing my reception. Sorry to all you dish-heads out there, but unless you simply cannot get cable in your area, it's a frakking waste of money to go any other route.

Your dish was misadjusted when it was installed, or you had some other technical problem. Yeah, the reception goes out if there's a storm, or if too much snow falls on the dish. In case #1, it never lasts that long, and in case #2, take a broom and go out and sweep the snow off. We are among the many people who can't get cable, and I wouldn't want the cable bills of people I know who have it.

The fallacy with this approach is if you live in tornado alley. If the sirens are blaring and you want to see if your home is about to be blown to bits, the last thing you want to see from your satellite is "searching for signal". Of course, it does beat cable that goes out every time a dog wizzes on the box in the subdivision...

I am about to get satellite. Who has the better package at this time, DirecTV or Dish?

I called Comcast yesterday and got them to lower my bill because AT&T now offers U Verse in the neighborhood. I told them they could apply those promotional rates for new customers, or I would switch providers. They asked a couple questions about contracts and instal fees, and then went ahead and gave me better rates. No up-sells or haggling.

So, if there is actual competition in the area, and the other service is cheaper -- just call. Have all of the facts, and be polite about it. They would rather give you a deal than lose you to a competitor.

Pick: I don't get it. I have had Direct, since day one. Never any "reception" problems, except in heavy rain, and then only for a few minutes, at best.

I agree. I had DirecTV for over 10 years and the weather really was a nono-issue. It would drop for a couple minutes every now and then.

It was the incredibly bad Customer Service that made me finally tell them to f-off and ship the box back to them. And I had to fight with them for 5 months to get them to drop an ETF that I didn't owe them. Never again will they see a dime of my money.

/DirecTV-free for 8 months and I don't miss it.
//i go to bars for Sunday Ticket now, it's cheaper

My local cable company (CMA) sucks. They're rude, channels are messed up and they refuse to fix it (tried to tell me it was my new TV - no it wasn't) and they don't even offer HD. I love DirecTV. It hardly ever goes out even in the rain (and even when it does, the locals off my antenna are messed up so I find it hard to believe it's DTV'a fault) and I can watch a ton of sports. DTV > Crappy cable.

From personal experience, DirecTV does NOT take ANY responsibility for their installers. Some loosely-associated contracted company is performing the work and DirecTV has no idea the type of people ultimately end up in your home.

You buy the DirecTV name, but you have no idea who will be performing the installation. You cannot withhold subscription payment as leverage or they will send you to collections. You cannot cancel service without an early termination fee because of installer problems.

They do not stand behind their installers. A few bad apples spoil the bunch. You could end up with the criminally insane (or worse) installing the dish on your neighbor's roof.

While I'm sure that contractors that receive regular complaints will eventually get some pressure from DirecTV, a dirtbag can just start a new company or go work for another one.


/but terrestrial cable providers will fark you JUST as hard.

wagnerism

Actually they have taken direct control of some markets because of all the problems. Thankfully mine was one of them.

My neighbor had DirectTV installed at his home back in April. Unfortunately, the installer put the dish on my side of the property line. It may only be by a couple of feet, but that dish is definitely in my yard.

The neighbor is never around, and we don't talk much. So my first call was to DirectTV, who told me my neighbor would have to call himself and get the dish moved. Well like I said, I don't see the guy much. Maybe 4 times since April, and each time I've asked him to call DirectTV about the dish.

Short of sitting there and watching him call, there's not much I can do to make him. Basically DirectTV has created a really awkward situation between my neighbor and I. There's always the option of ripping the dish up myself, or calling the cops, but I'm not trying to start a feud here. I like my neighbor, and know it isn't his fault DirectTV didn't show regard for my property. He rents, and would have no reason to know where the property line is, even if the installer had asked (which he didn't).

This article definitely gave me a kick, etc. Guess I'll have to get back to work on fixing this mess. fark DirectTV for making my life more complicated than it needs to be.

I know people rag on cable tv, but honestly since we switched from dish network to Sudden Link Cable tv(for the internet)we have had much better experience with customer service. When we lived in town the company was owned by Cox communications and sucked donkey balls, so bravo to them for making it much better by selling to suddenlink.

I informed DirecTV customer service of this issue, in response to which they were very apologetic and offered to have the dish reinstalled correctly at no cost to me, credited my account for the charge and set up the appointment.
===================================

Emphasis mine.

I'd be pissed if they charged me twice, but it quite clearly says that he got his original 50 back again, so he's still only being charged once.

Yes, it sucks they aren't doing it free after they botched it... but oh well.

/Why people are willing to pay 50 just to install satellite blows my mind.
//Though, satellite is cheaper.

Then change providers, is it really that hard to figure out?

My cable internet was disconnected recently because my neighbors moved away and the wrong node was shut off. Once that was detected, I was hooked back up and give a week's credit on my bill.