Who to contact when CSRs are clueless?

[wilbur_the_goose]

Who should we contact if the CSR's and their supervisors just plain don't know the answer to a question or make one up (DirecTV)?

[HDTVsportsfan]

;) The fine members here at DBStalk.

Sorry....:)

I really don't know other than keep calling back until you get someone you feel comfortable with. I know that's not the answer you were looking for but......

Keep trying to work up the chain.

[boba]

Or as was jokingly answered ASK THE QUESTION HERE. You just might get an answer.

[Pink Fairy]

I am sorry that you have had bad experiences when trying to talk to D* - That can be frustrating.

I hope that all of your experiences are not like that.

[armophob]

What is the question?:confused:

[waynenm]

There are more clear answers here than you're ever going to find with a D* CSR. But, when in doubt, I definitely go for the Supervisor. Or their Supervisor. Typically, the front line is not going to be your best option.

[RAD]

D* has the "Hearts" program to so the CSR's know your customer rating within D*. I wish they'd come up with a "Brains" program so know what customers have one and which ones don't so you don't the CSR and your time for a problem that's not yours. There's been a few times when you call in with problems that are obviously D* issues, such as a local channel problem that occurs on all D* receivers but are fine over the air. All you want them to do is forward the issue to the broadcast center and all they want to do is have you reboot your receivers, change your cabling, etc.

[lwilli201]

Sorry, but without knowing the question or problem, it is hard to determine if it is something the CSR's are even expected to know.

[RobertE]

D* has the "Hearts" program to so the CSR's know your customer rating within D*. I wish they'd come up with a "Brains" program so know what customers have one and which ones don't so you don't the CSR and your time for a problem that's not yours. There's been a few times when you call in with problems that are obviously D* issues, such as a local channel problem that occurs on all D* receivers but are fine over the air. All you want them to do is forward the issue to the broadcast center and all they want to do is have you reboot your receivers, change your cabling, etc.


If they add a "Brains" part for the CSRs, customers should get some additional body parts added as well. :lol:

[Stuart Sweet]

If you do want to stay within DIRECTV's structure, you can ask for a supervisor or tech support.

That being said, the experts here are also here for you and ready to help!

[joe diamond]

I think the CSRs have improved over the years but.......every once in awhile you get a slower one. I just call back and get a different one to begin over with.

It is the CSRs in the HSP system (Philippines) that grind me. They read from a script and there are hold times that will make you old. And they loose the boxes. The receivers have zebra stripe material to allow inventory control.

Just me,

Joe

[wilbur_the_goose]

The question - Why are HD NHL games on RSNs available across the country (CSN-Mid Atl, for example) blacked out to me.

I subscribe to both NHL Center Ice and the Sports Pak.

I get pablum saying that HD rights are restricted to only those in the local market. Another CSR says they don't have the bandwidth and CSN-Mid Atl is not available outside the local area.

It's so frustrating to need to play CSR roulette.

I later sent an e-mail asking what 765-1 (NHLHD) was to be used for. The CSR didn't know, but asked me to be sure I have B-Band converters.

(PS - I'm a 5 heart customer, so you'd think I'd get decent answers from senior folks)

[wingrider01]

The question - Why are HD NHL games on RSNs available across the country (CSN-Mid Atl, for example) blacked out to me.

I subscribe to both NHL Center Ice and the Sports Pak.

I get pablum saying that HD rights are restricted to only those in the local market. Another CSR says they don't have the bandwidth and CSN-Mid Atl is not available outside the local area.

It's so frustrating to need to play CSR roulette.

I later sent an e-mail asking what 765-1 (NHLHD) was to be used for. The CSR didn't know, but asked me to be sure I have B-Band converters.

(PS - I'm a 5 heart customer, so you'd think I'd get decent answers from senior folks)

I pay little attention to sports, but maybe I am under the mistaken idea that blackout areas are under control of the governing body of the sports, and the broadcast companies have to adhere to those rules.

[CCarncross]

Blackout rules are extremely complicated for the majority of pro-sports, thats not really the fault of the D* CSR's, but it would be nice if they had a small group of CSR's that if you called in and asked about blackout rules you would get transferred to that group who would be more up to speed on the issues. I have also read posts on here where people have contacted the sports groups themselves, and still cant get straight answers.

[Upstream]

Your best bet in trying to figure out blackout rules is to start by contacting the TEAM you want to watch. They can usually tell you their blackout rules. If they can't answer your question, ask the LEAGUE. Then go to the Network or specific RSN carrying the game you want to watch. Only go to your provider (DTV or cable company) if they are blacking out a game which you should see.

Note that most blackout contracts are set by county. But DTV blacks out games based on zip code. So if you live in a zip code that crosses a county line, you may be blacked out if part of your zip code is in a blacked-out county, even if you live in a non-blacked-out county. (This is a big problem in NJ, where, for example, Princeton is located in Mercer County and part of the Philadelphia market, but the Princeton zip code covers parts of neighboring Middlesex and Somerset counties which are in the New York market.)

[RAD]

When it comes to blackouts it all falls into a black hole. I tried to track down why I had a blackout last year on NBA-TV. D* could provide no information, all I wanted to know is who requested the blackout, they could not provide that info. I contacted all the local stations and even the station in the nearest DMA next to ours, none of them requested the blackout and one station even contacted the team and they didn't request it. Very furstrating when you read all the rules, check all the factors that would call for one and can't find a match and nobody can tell you way it was blacked out.

[wilbur_the_goose]

But the SD version of the exact same channel was in the clear. The "blackout" thing was a mistake on their part. Somebody forgot to authorize the HD feed to everybody. I'm guessing it's because it's so new (since the D10 service started).

[CCarncross]

Believe it or not, blackout rules for SD are many times different than the ones for HD...there are literally hundreds of threads here about these exact same issues....

[msmith198025]

Or as was jokingly answered ASK THE QUESTION HERE. You just might get an answer.

Honstly thats usually your best bet

[ezimmerz]

Blackout rules are maddening and there doesn't seem to be a universal explaination for all sports.

NHLHD won't be up and running until later this month. (According to a news article I found yesterday.) But it did say that D* has agreed to carry the NHL Network. Now just waiting for it to go live.