View Full Version : Does every CSR give you a different story every time you call DTV?? Stories please.
I called DirecTV yesterday because my Sunday Ticket was not turned on like it was supposed to be. I knew it wouldnt be. I had called earlier in the week prior to my service being turned on, and asked if I couldget Sunday Ticket thrown in since it was the last Sunday of NFL. The first CSR AND supposed supervisor both said that was impossible and there was no way they could do it.
I then called back the next day and inquired about the Superfan pack and was told by the CSR that she could add it for free after I told her I was considering getting the Sunday Ticket for this year and next. So I asked if she could also throw in Sunday Ticket, and she said she would and that it would auto renew next year. So she added it in and said both line items were there.
I called back two days later to confirm, after I saw on the website that I only had superfan but did not have ticket for some reason listed. The CSR said ticket wasnt there but she would add it..then said both line items were now there even though it still didnt show online.
So come Sunday morning, all NFL channels said channel not purchased, as I knew it would. So I called in for the third time and the CSR put me on hold, and had to have a supervisor add ticket in. All of a sudden the channels popped on and started working...so it took 3 calls, but I got finally what was supposedly impossible according to the first supervisor.
Now, yesterday, I was told by a CSR that if I wanted to upgrade my HD box to an HD DVR, she would go ahead and give me the rebate and I could get it for 199 plus 20 shipping and tax, and my two year agreement would reset once I activated that box and sent the HD box back...no cancellation fee. I said, let me think about it, and please put notes in my account that it was offered to me and I could still get it if I called back. She said that she would, so I didnt think anything of it.
So of course, I call back today and am told that there are no notes about being offered the rebate, only the Sunday Ticket fix....so after arguing with three CSRs and a supervisor, the bottom line is they cant (or wont) do it. So I told them fine, Ill wait for the upcoming price drop and get it then...and he said "good luck with that sir" and I hung up on him. Now I think there are notes on my account that even if a CSR wanted to offer me the 100, the supervisor put "dont do it"
Am I going to have to go through this on anything I ask them for? I know some people have paid ST and had Superfan thrown for free in by a CSR, however I am sure I would have to call 300 times to get it when I add ST. Even the installer told me off the record that you have to call CSRs sometimes many times to get one thatll do what you want.
Is this the way it is with these people? I would love to hear some stories. Thanks.
Don
88 views and noone else has a story to share? i know i am not the only one, ive read other posts on here.
spartanstew
01-01-08, 10:01 AM
ive read other posts on here.
Exactly. :beatdeadhorse:
are you saying i am beating a dead horse and that everyone runs into this? lol
Upstream
01-01-08, 10:26 AM
are you saying i am beating a dead horse and that everyone runs into this? lol
Pretty much. It's called CSR Roulette, and it is very common when calling DirecTV.
scottchez
01-01-08, 11:23 AM
This has been going on for years.
You should change the topic to something like a Fun New Years topic to pass time while we wait for more HD channels to be turned on or something.
Milominderbinder2
01-01-08, 01:37 PM
That inconsistency is one of the best advantages with DIRECTV. (And my cell company, ISP, long distance, etc.)
Without it we could never get the deals we get.
Always write down the name and ID of anyone you talk to.
- Craig
the problem with this though, is that you get people putting notes in your account that you just called, and then they wont give you something they originally were going to. just like with the DVR..i finally got a CSR from Idaho, and I think she was going to give me the deal until she looked in the notes thaqt were obviously put there by the a$$hole supervisor I argued with. I guess the moral of the story is, just hang up and dont bother with useless "supervisors" that will hold the party line and not give you anything anyway.
and i dont think writing the name and ID down of anyone...i was simply informed by the "supervisor" that even though she said she would give me thw 100 dollars,she would not have been able to anyway even if there were notes in my account. this guy was a real a$$. should have gotten his name and written a letter.
has anyone ever gotten something from a supervisor after being denied by a CSR?
are you saying i am beating a dead horse and that everyone runs into this? lol
It's the norm, we're all just used to it.
JLucPicard
01-01-08, 02:50 PM
the problem with this though, is that you get people putting notes in your account that you just called, and then they wont give you something they originally were going to. just like with the DVR..i finally got a CSR from Idaho, and I think she was going to give me the deal until she looked in the notes thaqt were obviously put there by the a$$hole supervisor I argued with. I guess the moral of the story is, just hang up and dont bother with useless "supervisors" that will hold the party line and not give you anything anyway.
and i dont think writing the name and ID down of anyone...i was simply informed by the "supervisor" that even though she said she would give me thw 100 dollars,she would not have been able to anyway even if there were notes in my account. this guy was a real a$$. should have gotten his name and written a letter.
has anyone ever gotten something from a supervisor after being denied by a CSR?
:beatdeadhorse: as in we've all seen it, read it, wrote it in some form or another ad nauseum. I think a lot of the reactions this thread would get is "oh, goodie, here we go again".
There was a time when CSRs had much more leverage to hand out deals than they do now. With the higher demand due to HD rollout, changes-in-ownership situations that force people to step back and look at how things are run overall, and just the fact that they were giving away way too much for a while, all that has changed. They've even updated the CSRs computer systems so the front-liners don't even have access to a lot of those deals anymore. There've also been reports of CSR promising things that are beyond their level to authorize only to have it reviewed and reversed/rescinded by higher-ups.
Call them whatever names you want, but I have read, too, that they are taking a different line of reasoning with abusive customers than the standard "the customer is always right". If someone calls up and goes off on a CSR or starts cussing them out, there will be notes made of that on the account and there will be a reluctance to reward that type of behavior with deals and credits. That's the reality of how things are now. Read some of the "how do I get a deal" threads on here and the common vein through all of them is to be polite and respectful.
As a supervisor (I'm not, don't work for DirecTV at all, but I've had supervisory positions in the past), if someone working under me is making unauthorized deals or making promises that they are not in a position to make, there may be times when I would need to go back to the customer, explain that the person who made that deal or promise was not authorized to do so, and unfortunately, the company cannot honor that. On the flip side, the CSR would also get a stern warning, a refresher on what they ARE authorized to do, and if this is a pattern of their behavior, they could be terminated. It's business.
As to your last question - yes, people have sometimes been escalated to a supervisor who may (a) be in a position to understand better what the complaint/problem is and be better equipped to handle it or (b) actually have more available systems-wise to actually provide a deal or credits or whatever may be necessary that the front-line CSR does not have avilable to them. Yes, it does happen that a supervisor may be able to offer something that a CSR would be restricted to saying "no" to.
bonscott87
01-01-08, 03:34 PM
Always talk with retention. I don't deal with front line CSRs.
kathymoore
01-01-08, 03:41 PM
Always talk with retention. I don't deal with front line CSRs.
same here... I always go straight to the retention dept. even if the problem
is technical(like when my dish was knocked out of alignment during a storm),
the retention dept always seem to have more power to solve problems very
quickly.
well a forum member here who works for D* has helped me out on the issue and i appreciate it. i will go right to this person in the future if i run into problems. since i have only been a customer for 4 days, i doubt that retention would do anything for me since i cant really threaten to cancel with a 400 dollar cancellation fee hanging over me.
and to tell you the truth, i would like it best if no deals were given out to anyone period. make the price be what it is. that way i wont pay 360 bucks for ST and Superfan, then I wont have to come to this forum and have someone post that a CSR gave them ST for 200 bucks and threw in SF for free. that would piss me off more than me paying 360 bucks for it. pick a pricing structure and stick with it, no retention deal crap. same with Warner cable. they gave me 40 bucks off a month for the next year to stay as a customer, and threw in faster roadrunner and showtime for free for the same time period. i dont like that it can be done, but im not going to argue if they give it to me. i say, dont give it to ANYONE. now credits on an account for disrupted service or a bad install, thats another thing.
hdtvfan0001
01-01-08, 04:38 PM
CSRs respond to questions based on the information they are given, as well as training on various topics. Each CSR has different experience levels.
As with any other Customer Service Center, I would expect to get similar/same responses to most questions, and different responses to others, as it depends on specifically how the questions are asked, what information is conveyed, and what background/experience the CSR has on the topic.
I don't believe this is unique to DirecTV's CSRs.
In the 15+ years I have dealt with DirecTV and its CSRs, I've only experienced curtious and professional CSRs. In some cases, I was handed over to a more senior CSR or Supervisor when addressing a more complex situation, but again, this is not unique to how other companies do things.
ThomasM
01-01-08, 08:28 PM
That inconsistency is one of the best advantages with DIRECTV. (And my cell company, ISP, long distance, etc.)
Without it we could never get the deals we get.
Always write down the name and ID of anyone you talk to.
- Craig
+1
I actually don't mind it when DirecTV goofs up (like they did in November by not shipping the RF remote I ordered even after calling in to complain). On the second call, the remote got shipped and I got 3 months of Showtime!!
It's almost as fun dealing with DirecTV as buying a new car. I actually like it. I'd never go to CarMax where you can't dicker around for a better deal!!
News Junky
01-03-08, 05:09 PM
Only one problem. A few years ago I had an issue with a distant market network waiver. I'd gotten permission to get distants but because I was with *D and more markets were available with E* I thought I'd switch, give E* a try to compare differences and get more markets. Unknown to me at the time getting distants was something that was highly frowned upon by everyone in the industry and multiple barriers were set up to make it as difficult as possible. Botton line, my letter of authorization for distants I had while with D* was not valid for E*. I stayed with E* for a while but to be honest liked D* better so switched back. In the process of moving back I was promised by D* that since my service with them was only inactive for less than 6 months my distant market waivers were still valid. However after switching back they would not reinstate my waivers as promised. I called to get an explaination and it happened to be at a time CS calls were being forwarded to India. The India CSR said he could not reinstate me but offered to reapply for me and promised me that all of his requests for waivers are approved so I won't have a problem, just a slight delay. This turned out to not be true and was seemingly just trying to get me off of the phone. I called back to follow up and and the new CSR appologized and said most waiver request are denied.
I don't blame D* for this as the anti-waiver culture was not something any of the satellite services want but the local TV station lobby having to do with preserving market exclusivity of the most popular programs. If you live in Springfield, the local TV station in Springfield wants to be the only place where you can see the Superbowl. Collectively they've lobbied Congress and if D* or E* as much as accidentally give you network TV from a city other than your own they face fines into the tens of thousands so obviously D* and E* would rather be safe than sorry.
But you can't stop technolgy and CBS television is helping to lead the way in offering network programming a day delayed bypassing the local affiliates. NBC's USA Network is in position to be the primary network if and when its popularity eclipses affiate dependant NBC. The affiliates themselves are begining to offer their own local content over the Internet on demand as well as live. Its only a matter of time before Internet video quality rivals or surpasses broadcast PQ. Slingbox is offering a way for people to take their local TV markets anywhere. HD is bringing in the possibilty to see markets up to 70 miles away. The NFL is leading the way in offering nationwide broadcast of all games. I'm betting 5 to 10 years from the the local terrain only rule dinosour will be in the museum along with the 8-track tape player.
SDizzle
01-03-08, 05:24 PM
Only one problem. A few years ago I had an issue with a distant market network waiver. I'd gotten permission to get distants but because I was with *D and more markets were available with E* I thought I'd switch, give E* a try to compare differences and get more markets. Unknown to me at the time getting distants was something that was highly frowned upon by everyone in the industry and multiple barriers were set up to make it as difficult as possible. Botton line, my letter of authorization for distants I had while with D* was not valid for E*. I stayed with E* for a while but to be honest liked D* better so switched back. In the process of moving back I was promised by D* that since my service with them was only inactive for less than 6 months my distant market waivers were still valid. However after switching back they would not reinstate my waivers as promised. I called to get an explaination and it happened to be at a time CS calls were being forwarded to India. The India CSR said he could not reinstate me but offered to reapply for me and promised me that all of his requests for waivers are approved so I won't have a problem, just a slight delay. This turned out to not be true and was seemingly just trying to get me off of the phone. I called back to follow up and and the new CSR appologized and said most waiver request are denied.
I don't blame D* for this as the anti-waiver culture was not something any of the satellite services want but the local TV station lobby having to do with preserving market exclusivity of the most popular programs. If you live in Springfield, the local TV station in Springfield wants to be the only place where you can see the Superbowl. Collectively they've lobbied Congress and if D* or E* as much as accidentally give you network TV from a city other than your own they face fines into the tens of thousands so obviously D* and E* would rather be safe than sorry.
But you can't stop technolgy and CBS television is helping to lead the way in offering network programming a day delayed bypassing the local affiliates. NBC's USA Network is in position to be the primary network if and when its popularity eclipses affiate dependant NBC. The affiliates themselves are begining to offer their own local content over the Internet on demand as well as live. Its only a matter of time before Internet video quality rivals or surpasses broadcast PQ. Slingbox is offering a way for people to take their local TV markets anywhere. HD is bringing in the possibilty to see markets up to 70 miles away. The NFL is leading the way in offering nationwide broadcast of all games. I'm betting 5 to 10 years from the the local terrain only rule dinosour will be in the museum along with the 8-track tape player.
We have all had to play CSR roulette, it's just gotten too old to always post the issues. However, to clarify, D* does not have call centers in India. We had a full thread on this a few weeks ago, where D* employees verified that for fact. Are there Indian people that live in the US and work for D*? I would assume so.
the call center in india is for activations of new service by installers, not for customer service.
SDizzle
01-03-08, 05:48 PM
the call center in india is for activations of new service by installers, not for customer service.
Hmmm. The D* folks that posted in our thread denied any operations in India? But, if it is for installers, then News Junky would not have spoke to them.
News Junky
01-03-08, 07:18 PM
We have all had to play CSR roulette, it's just gotten too old to always post the issues. However, to clarify, D* does not have call centers in India. We had a full thread on this a few weeks ago, where D* employees verified that for fact. Are there Indian people that live in the US and work for D*? I would assume so.
This was several years ago and at the time they did use an Indian call center but apparently not anymore. A US CSR personally acknowledged this to me and apologized for inaccurate information they shared, not that I have a problem with Indian call centers, just being given the run around. Nevertheless, they were very apologetic so what more can you ask for? I do not hold this against D* and think they offer a great service that helps keeps prices lower even for cable customers. Nobody beats them in terms of variety of options and channels. I think they're great and I'm considering switching back to them once I complete my research on their PQ, if my home owners association can't stop me from putting up an HD long range antenna and 2 dishes (one for international) and if my new HDTV will be safe from lightning strikes. I can assure you however that 3 to 4 years ago D* was using call centers in India after hours. I also didn't have a problem with this. I just remembered I did call recently and got someone with an accent and thought they were Indian so if that's what you're talking about (from a different thread) I apologize and thought I already confessed to that being plausible and besides wouldn't have a problem with it anyway.
The Indian guy I got 2 days ago couldn't activate my new HR20. Finally said he'd have to mail me a new card which means no TV for a week. I forced him to send me to a tech who immediately activated it. Said, "He didn't set the mirroring on the activation--yes sir, he failed to follow proper procedure." Wasted 90 minutes of my life.
Then yesterday got "Corey 411781". Who said, and I quote: "Yo cain't get no local stations in HD with no HR-20! Ahm tellin you, it ain't got that cape-ah-bilty! That juss ain possible!"
"Uh, sir, I'm getting them right now, I'm looking at them. It has OTA-HD tuners built into it."
"No suh! You ah incoh-rekt! Yo cain't got no local HD in dat you-nit!"
Sigh. Between Mohinder and Corey, who needs terrorists to attack America? We're terrorizing ourselves just fine, thank you.
The center is in the phillipines, not india
The Indian guy had all kinds of American voices blabbing in the background so he was definitely at a US call center.
Pink Fairy
01-06-08, 06:27 PM
The Indian guy I got 2 days ago couldn't activate my new HR20. Finally said he'd have to mail me a new card which means no TV for a week. I forced him to send me to a tech who immediately activated it. Said, "He didn't set the mirroring on the activation--yes sir, he failed to follow proper procedure." Wasted 90 minutes of my life.
Then yesterday got "Corey 411781". Who said, and I quote: "Yo cain't get no local stations in HD with no HR-20! Ahm tellin you, it ain't got that cape-ah-bilty! That juss ain possible!"
"Uh, sir, I'm getting them right now, I'm looking at them. It has OTA-HD tuners built into it."
"No suh! You ah incoh-rekt! Yo cain't got no local HD in dat you-nit!"
Sigh. Between Mohinder and Corey, who needs terrorists to attack America? We're terrorizing ourselves just fine, thank you.
~rofl~ I actually laughed out loud at that one!
Exactly. :beatdeadhorse:
I thought the picture was a cow at first.. And I'm like.. beating a dead COW?!!? wtf?!
OneOfOne
01-06-08, 07:04 PM
do you really think the 'csr's' are competent? I personally dont believe they are customer service reps as much as they are generic call center reps reading from scripts. they certainly dont seem to know much and this has always been the case since I have been a customer starting in 1998. this thing about 'always calling retention' is just going to kill it for everyone. acting like babies because you have to pay full price or trying to screw dtv for some piddly thing is just going to make them make it harder to access. of course you probably think you are that important right? youre still going to ruin it for everyone.
an example: last year when I was looking for an hdtv I was in the forums at avsforum.com reading how so many people were essentially trying out tvs bought from costco 'because you can always just take it back at anytime... its their policy'. except that now they have amended it to being 90 days instead of infinite. and for what? because some lame asses decided to abuse the privilege. I believe thats what is going to happen here with 'deals'. its already happened with the hd dvr and with 'perks' for programming. smarten up and dont kill it for us.
JLucPicard
01-06-08, 07:16 PM
Plus they already discontinued the phone number that used to go directly to retention in an attempt to stem that tide. May come a day when you say "cancel" at the prompt that you still get a front-line CSR anyway.
OneOfOne, you're right about the fact that if there is bleeding, DirecTV will determine where the bleeding is and do something to stop it. I believe that's a fair part of the reason we now have the two-year commitment thing. All the 'shop-arounders' that bounce from here to there to there just taking advantage of whatever deals there are at the time and don't stick around long enough for DirecTV to even break even on them.
And the Costco deal is STILL the best thing going! You guys are right, we got substandard CSRs who are ok for simple stuff like ordering packages (though they seem to know almost nothing about them) but the minute things get tricky, as with the HR20 OTA tuners issue, fahgeddaboudit. Even many of the techs are really uninformed how to handle the simplest issue.
Costco's solution was pretty good: instead of punishing folks for taking advantage by reverting to some punitive Best Buy-style return and service plan, they came up with a very fair and reasonable one that beats everyone but copycat Sam's Club.
DTV rewarding only squeaky wheels and non-customers is creepy. It's basically unfair and cynical. The average well-meaning customer is always treated the worst. If they kissed our butts like they do the "new" customer, we'd be happy. Instead, we have to kiss theirs.
I need say only two words as to why DTV behaves in this irrational manner: Rupert Murdoch.
paulman182
01-07-08, 08:20 AM
I had always gotten good CSRs until recently.
When DirecTV started charging new Premier subscribers for DVR service, those who already had Premier were grandfathered. But the fee started showing up on my bill. An email did not fix it, but my first phone call did.
When I called to add the HD Extra pack, for some reason the CSR dropped me from Premier to the lower package that includes HD and DVR. I did not tell him to--in fact, my base package was not discussed at all. He just did it. I called later that day and got Premier back, but...you guessed it, the DVR fee is back on my bill.
This makes me feel like dropping down to the HD DVR package for a while and save some money, but my wife wants to keep the movie channels. My second choice is to "suck it up" and pay the DVR fee, because I really don't want to have to call those people again and explain their policy to them.
My monthly bill is about $140 and I have Sunday Ticket plus Superfan. You would think I could get better service than this.
OneOfOne
01-08-08, 01:55 AM
the best deals came when murdoch was in charge. not its that cheap ass john malone and liberty media. a stupid ham fisted cheap dumbass money grubbing douche. and thats being kind. there was no good reason to dump tivo and no good reason to make their own hardware. its asinine. farm it out and reap the benefits of a: working hardware, b: better hardware: c: licensing fees and competition d: HAPPY CUSTOMERS. also pay your customer reps decent wages and train them regularly. stop hiring dumbasses who are working for the money only because its more than the local quik mart.
The Malone takeover is stuck on a conflict-of-interest charge from the FCC against Malone. Tivo wouldn't let Murdoch buy them out...who would? So Rupert took his ball back and wouldn't play anymore.
Tivo was brilliant. DTV boxes are crap. Never the twains shall meet.
shandrew
01-08-08, 06:12 PM
I had the same problem. I'm a new customer, had directv installed in mid-december, and i was supposed to get the last couple weeks of nfl sunday ticket, but it didn't show up on the list of services.
When I called customer support, they bounced me around a few times, then after a couple more calls they told me that they could not help me, since this was an installation issue, and they could not give me sunday ticket since there were only two weeks left. They offered me a year of showtime instead, but it turned out that they could not actually offer me that since i already had the 3-mo free premiums. So, after wasting all this time, i got nowhere.
It's not a huge deal to me, as I really just wanted to check out sunday ticket so i could see if it is worth getting in the future, and didn't care too much about the last two weeks of the season. Now i'm sure i won't get it next year. I also learned that directv customer support is very inconsistent, often wrong, and to get everything in writing (even if done over the phone). I hope to never have to deal with them ever again...I've had far better dealings with Comcast CSRs!
Screw-ups aside, the offers for new customers are great. I called the referral order line, and they offered me a deal that was $100 better (not including the $50 for referral) than the standard HD/DVR deal on the web site.
OneOfOne
01-09-08, 01:58 AM
shandrew if you are really a football fan then sunday ticket is DEFINETLY worth it. and the super fan is too.
After my recent experience with directv, I can firmly say that there has never been a ship of idiots packed so tightly.
Eventually their reputation is going to sink the boat.
20+ phone calls and I had to email the corporate office to get someone with a clue on the phone.
I am astonished these people can dress themselves and make it to work each day, or wait, maybe they work from home ??
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Ext 721
01-10-08, 02:19 AM
get 2 experts and you get 3 different stories.
get 100 page-reading clones, and you get one story. No variations.
If there's inconsistancy I would think that means they're not reading from a page.
am I wrong?
get 2 experts and you get 3 different stories.
get 100 page-reading clones, and you get one story. No variations.
If there's inconsistancy I would think that means they're not reading from a page.
am I wrong?
Or maybe the pages dont exist...
Or the page-reading clone doesnt read the page correctly (as in, they dont understand what they're reading...)
menkelis
01-10-08, 03:17 PM
I like the fact that they don't know about there own equipment!
In December I ordered on-line a second HD-DVR, and was sent a HR20-100.
My current HR20-100, was installed by a service tech, and came briand new in
the box, so I know what should be there.
The 'new' unit was a refurbished HR20-100, and came with the power cord, remote & manual
but no (required) RF ant . needed for remote control operation and any cables.
The 1st CSR I talked too said that they no longer send the remote control's RF ant. and if I needed one
to go out and buy it on my own.
The 2nd CSR (same call) said that the HR20-100 did not need a external RF ant to work
and would walk me through how to enable this function.
The 3rd CSR (still same call) said that they can't send out RF ant and cables to me, but will replace the DVR.
wo days later arrived the next refurbished DVR (HR20-700) with all parts.
BTW this unit had a disk full of "showcases" that expired in November, and I had to do a "reset-all"
to erase the disk drive.
DawgLink
01-11-08, 01:20 PM
The only big "flip-flop" problem I have had dealt with whether Sunday Ticket Auto-renewed or not
I was told 3 times it did and twice it didnt.....at one point I kept asking whenever I would call just to see how much I could get back/forth answers
I like the fact that they don't know about there own equipment!
In December I ordered on-line a second HD-DVR, and was sent a HR20-100.
My current HR20-100, was installed by a service tech, and came briand new in
the box, so I know what should be there.
The 'new' unit was a refurbished HR20-100, and came with the power cord, remote & manual
but no (required) RF ant . needed for remote control operation and any cables.
The 1st CSR I talked too said that they no longer send the remote control's RF ant. and if I needed one
to go out and buy it on my own.
The 2nd CSR (same call) said that the HR20-100 did not need a external RF ant to work
and would walk me through how to enable this function.
The 3rd CSR (still same call) said that they can't send out RF ant and cables to me, but will replace the DVR.
wo days later arrived the next refurbished DVR (HR20-700) with all parts.
BTW this unit had a disk full of "showcases" that expired in November, and I had to do a "reset-all"
to erase the disk drive.
The latter CSR was actually most correct. If you dont receiver a power cable/connection cables, theres no way to order that inparticular item, they have to send an entire replacement.
In regards to the RF Antenna, which is required on that unit, D* is not obligated to send it to you, just as they are not obligated to send you an RC64R* remote.
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