View Full Version : Customer service is down
beer_geek
07-07-09, 08:25 PM
I've been trying to swap out a reciever that was on its last legs. I picked up a new one at Costco and have been trying to activate it for the past 4 hours.
Sorry for the inconvenience but we can't access any records. Our computers are being updated. Who in their right mind updates the customer records system during normal business hours? This stuff should be done in the middle of the night.
I bet the folks trying to do installs are pretty pissed by now.
FaderMD
07-07-09, 08:30 PM
Yeah, "our system is updating" during the day is IT-speak for "Something's broken". I've pulled plenty of 10pm-7am update nights in IT basements for clients in my time. I'm sure it's not acutally "updating" in the middle of the day.. on a tuesday... following a holiday.
Mertzen
07-07-09, 08:37 PM
IVR was working fine for me at 1PM and 8PM for activations.
I called twice today to make a change to my package and was told both times to call back.
icethegreat
07-08-09, 04:48 AM
I've been trying to swap out a reciever that was on its last legs. I picked up a new one at Costco and have been trying to activate it for the past 4 hours.
Sorry for the inconvenience but we can't access any records. Our computers are being updated. Who in their right mind updates the customer records system during normal business hours? This stuff should be done in the middle of the night.
I bet the folks trying to do installs are pretty pissed by now.
I called twice today to make a change to my package and was told both times to call back.
Yeah...I don't think Directv's Customer Service has been 'working' for some years now... sorry to hear
beer_geek
07-08-09, 04:52 AM
Looks like it's still down. That's not an update. That's a problem. Somebody's going to lose a job. They should have backup systems to handle a 12+ hour outage.
They just went back up at 7....They were down since noon yesterday.
I had to call the VP of CS's office yesterday for help as the regular number said it was down all day. Called the other number probably 3 times and they were able to look up anything I needed with no problems.
BattleZone
07-08-09, 08:02 AM
Techs were unable to activate receivers (handheld, IVR, or any other method) most of the day, so it was definitely a big system outage.
Kristler
07-08-09, 08:09 AM
I just called at 10:00 EST today and their systems are down again. They asked me to call back in 2-3 hours. Our TIVO died a couple days ago and I am trying to get it replaced or upgrade to HD, but no luck yet. This is a major outage. I would hate to work in their IT division right now!
I was in the same boat as Beer_Geek but had a bit better luck. I had new HD DVR from DirecTV waiting for me on the front porch when I got home from work. I was able to activate it last evening using the automated system on the phone. I just said “activate new equipment”, the computer voice asked the usual questions and it was done in about 2 minutes. I was not able to deactivate the old SD DVR until this morning when I called at about 08:30 and got through. So if the message says that they are still unable to access your account when you call, you can still get the new receiver added to your account and activated just using the voice prompts.
beer_geek
07-08-09, 09:45 AM
I said, "Activate receiver". They put me through to a person who told me to call back later. The automated system was not available to me.
I'm aware of what "updating the system" usually means. If they're going to lie to me, I'm going to take what they say as the truth and slam them for it. Anyway, how can they not have redundant systems for mission critical applications?
Mertzen
07-08-09, 09:51 AM
Techs were unable to activate receivers (handheld, IVR, or any other method) most of the day, so it was definitely a big system outage.
Really, as said above, I activated 3 IRDs ate around 1PM EST and another IRD at around 8PM EST.:confused:
tj177mmi
07-08-09, 10:25 AM
We got 2 HD receivers sent without BBCs....and are waiting for them to be able to order them. 2 hours ago was told to "call back in the afternoon". Just called and its still down.
Mertzen
07-08-09, 10:31 AM
We got 2 HD receivers sent without BBCs....and are waiting for them to be able to order them. 2 hours ago was told to "call back in the afternoon". Just called and its still down.
I know you can order them on the website, can't find where though.
tj177mmi
07-08-09, 10:35 AM
I know you can order them on the website, can't find where though.
Yeah, but I'm not paying for something that was suppose to be a free upgrade (Part of that 72 local swap).
paulman182
07-08-09, 10:38 AM
Yeah, but I'm not paying for something that was suppose to be a free upgrade (Part of that 72 local swap).
I'm pretty sure they are free on the website, or they were at one time.
smileyw
07-08-09, 10:40 AM
I called about an hour ago, and after it said they were down I pressed zero, it sent me to a person, and I activated a HR23.
W
They told me to call back tomorrow! Why would they tell me to call back tomorrow and some of you in 2-3 hours?
When I called it also had an automated, "Please be advised that our agents do not currently have access to any account information as our system is down."
ARGH!,
Dawn
I know you can order them on the website, can't find where though.tj177mmi, here is where you can order the BBC's:BBC's (http://directv.qrs1.net/bbc/bbcForm.jsp)
Good Luck!
tj177mmi
07-08-09, 11:51 AM
tj177mmi, here is where you can order the BBC's:BBC's (http://directv.qrs1.net/bbc/bbcForm.jsp)
Good Luck!
Says 10-14 days...and that doesn't help me.
PowerStrokeHD
07-08-09, 12:02 PM
Still down... :( I tried to use the automated system as suggested above to activate a new HR23 and was transferred to a human who said no can do at this time as they are doing a system update which started about a hour ago. :rolleyes: Was told that there is no ETA at this time and to try back later.
Says 10-14 days...and that doesn't help me.Sorry, it was worth a shot. Have you tried calling your local HSP to see if you could get a couple from them?
I've called 5 times in the last 2 days trying to activate a new receiver, and each time I get the recorded message about the agents not having access to account info and are unable to assist. When I say "activate receiver" it transfers me to a human who can't do anything.
How do I get to the automated system to activate? I don't hear any option on the phone menu, or see anything on the website for this.
I guess that since I had ordered the DVR from DirecTV that they had my information. There was a place on the start up screen to enter my order number.
DogLover
07-08-09, 01:36 PM
Says 10-14 days...and that doesn't help me.
That's a canned estimate. At one time, it was only taking 2-3 days, even though it said 10-14. I doubt the CSR's can give you a guarantee of less time than the website.
curt8403
07-08-09, 02:04 PM
Redacted My sources say it went back down
curt8403
07-08-09, 02:10 PM
:((
Jaytee946
07-08-09, 02:20 PM
According to my DirecTV source, the system went down yesterday, and today they are inputting all the info that wasn’t able to get done yesterday, but they are working hard to get everything up and running again.
INfield420
07-08-09, 03:39 PM
Its working right now just came up at 4:30 central
beer_geek
07-08-09, 03:49 PM
It is down right now. I just hung up with them.
hdtvfan0001
07-08-09, 04:18 PM
It is down right now. I just hung up with them.
Interesting...I just spoke with a CSR regarding a change of programming 20 minutes ago.
Cust Service wasn't down when I called them, and the change I requested is already showing up on my online record.
SledDog
07-08-09, 04:41 PM
I just activated another HD DVR with Customer Service. No problems...
Flyingcow
07-08-09, 05:10 PM
I just activated another HD DVR with Customer Service. No problems...
What number are you calling because I just keep being told they cannot do anything yet. I am calling every half hour (trying to catch them during the up time I keep hearing about).
beer_geek
07-08-09, 05:17 PM
Does it only work for fanboys and employees? Calling 1-800-DirecTV says they cannot access customer records.
Flyingcow
07-08-09, 05:19 PM
Does it only work for fanboys and employees? Calling 1-800-DirecTV says they cannot access customer records.
I have like 3 different numbers that all lead to the same conclusion via CSR. I am curious to know what numbers these people who got stuff done are calling because I am being pretty persistant (I want my HD damnit).
Does it only work for fanboys and employees? Calling 1-800-DirecTV says they cannot access customer records.Are you calling from your phone number of record or another phone number?
beer_geek
07-08-09, 05:22 PM
Are you calling from your phone number of record or another phone number?
Phone number of record.
Shades228
07-08-09, 05:39 PM
Ignore the message systems are up.
beer_geek
07-08-09, 05:40 PM
I did ignore the message. I have done that. Each and every time the person I speak to says they are down.
Flyingcow
07-08-09, 05:43 PM
I did ignore the message. I have done that. Each and every time the person I speak to says they are down.
Maybe its discrimination against those of us from GA.
I just tried 2 more times and both times I was told there was nothing they could do, and refused to send me to anyone else or supervisor.
*Sigh
beer_geek
07-08-09, 05:46 PM
Still down. At least now they are willing to write down information to enter it when the system comes back up.
Why do you guys keep saying the system is up when it is not?
Flyingcow
07-08-09, 05:48 PM
Still down. At least now they are willing to write down information to enter it when the system comes back up.
Why do you guys keep saying the system is up when it is not?
They told me it was just a "call list" to call you back when the system came back up but that I would be 24-48 hours out when they started it.
I said no thanks I will call later.
Shades228
07-08-09, 05:49 PM
Because I just confirmed it so the only thing I can say is that some centers might still be experiencing a problem however I know some centers are online.
Online should be working as well now.
beer_geek
07-08-09, 05:50 PM
Who knows what the truth is about the list.
beer_geek
07-08-09, 05:51 PM
Because I just confirmed it so the only thing I can say is that some centers might still be experiencing a problem however I know some centers are online.
Online should be working as well now.
How do we get to your special, working call center?
Viper56
07-08-09, 05:52 PM
800-531-500 systems are up
Viper56
07-08-09, 05:52 PM
whoops 800-531-5000
beer_geek
07-08-09, 05:53 PM
800-531-500 systems are up
Not for me. Just hung up with a CSR.
beer_geek
07-08-09, 06:11 PM
Still down. CSR said they were up for about 10 minutes around 2PM today and have been down the rest of the time. Interesting.
Viper56
07-08-09, 06:12 PM
I just got off the phone with them dropping hbo and they were able to get into my acct
tpayne105
07-08-09, 06:20 PM
I think what I hate about this is we have NO "official" information from them at all. None on the site, no email....pretty ridiculous....
Shades228
07-08-09, 06:22 PM
What are you wanting to be official? If you want to wait until they're officially up then call once the IVR isn't saying that agents don't have access. As long as something doesn't happen again that should be within the next 30 minutes.
hdtvfan0001
07-08-09, 06:28 PM
Based on what I was told....some of their systems are up and others down.
Billing and account services issues are up, while other parts are not.
That would explain how I got a service change processed, while others have not gotten through on other items.
On phone now with rep, says it came back up at about 7:15pm
Shades228
07-08-09, 06:31 PM
When dealing with systems where you have thousands of people who are going to attempt to access it you don't let everyone try at once. I'm sure that they're phasing centers in to ensure that they don't bring a system down by everyone attempting to access it at one time. I had many clients make that mistake before after I had come in to fix something.
HDJulie
07-08-09, 07:04 PM
I just called 5 minutes ago & was told it was still down.
cdavis0720
07-08-09, 07:10 PM
I just called 5 minutes ago & was told it was still down.
Same here.... just tried about 5 minutes ago and was told 2-4 hours before they are back up...... Been trying to get a replacement HD-DVR activated since 2:00 this afternoon.
Carl
beer_geek
07-08-09, 07:34 PM
I was just told to call back tomorrow morning. She "hoped" it would be up by then.
beer_geek
07-08-09, 07:37 PM
Based on what I was told....some of their systems are up and others down.
Billing and account services issues are up, while other parts are not.
That would explain how I got a service change processed, while others have not gotten through on other items.
One would think getting the part that actually lets people use the service would be the priority.
hdtvfan0001
07-08-09, 07:40 PM
One would think getting the part that actually lets people use the service would be the priority.
If they could control that....I'd agree.
By working for a business unit that has a 350 employee call center which rarely ever goes down...when it happened for 1/2 day last month...we would have thought it was the end of the world to some folks. :eek2:
Unfortunately, its the price we pay today for the convenience of having almost everything based on computers.
On phone with a CSR right now, she says system just came up and I'm getting an activation.
hdtvfan0001
07-08-09, 07:54 PM
On phone with a CSR right now, she says system just came up and I'm getting an activation.
Thanks for sharing that info to those others here who want to / need to know for their activities.
beer_geek
07-08-09, 08:17 PM
Still down here. I wish I was as lucky as you guys.
beer_geek
07-08-09, 08:19 PM
If they could control that....I'd agree.
By working for a business unit that has a 350 employee call center which rarely ever goes down...when it happened for 1/2 day last month...we would have thought it was the end of the world to some folks. :eek2:
Unfortunately, its the price we pay today for the convenience of having almost everything based on computers.
As a database administrator who is responsible for all of the power in the state of Georgia, I have redundant systems. I can't believe that DirecTV doesn't have the same.
I'm an IT guy too. Redundant systems, or a rollback to the "last good" version of their software, should certainly have been an option available to DirecTV's IT folks. It's pretty ridiculous to have an outage like this for most of 2 days.
hdtvfan0001
07-08-09, 08:29 PM
As a database administrator who is responsible for all of the power in the state of Georgia, I have redundant systems. I can't believe that DirecTV doesn't have the same.
We have redundant systems in our call center (over 20 systems), as well as full Classe III disaster recovery...but despite all that, it simply takes time to diagnose and relaunch recovery systems - with the 20 we use, 6 hours is the norm to get back to "normal" with a full backup restart.
LOCODUDE
07-08-09, 08:48 PM
WOW.. This was exactly how my day went yesterday...... Wasn't able to get anything done until 8:03 this morning.
gatightlines
07-08-09, 09:31 PM
Beer_geek... my power just went down can you get that back up??? I have been trying to call since 5:30 yesterday with no luck. I am also in IT. All production server have failover systems and all of the systems have redundant hardware and RAID 5. If my systems ever did go down the down time could only be 4 hours max and that would cost my company $$$$$. I did not know that DTV was such a mom and pop shop. And they put a satellite in the sky??????
Shades228
07-08-09, 10:02 PM
One company that was a client of mine did manufacturing of credit cards. They had a dedicated fiber line to AMEX directly. It was their only way to get data to create new card numbers. Someone doing construction cut it and it took 3 weeks to restore the service. Sometimes there are things that just can't be an immediate fix. This is the last thing any company wants. This is the first experience with customer service for a lot of people who are wanting to activate. The happiness and excitement of getting something new just turned into a scenario they're second guessing.
So any company no matter who it is doesn't want this to happen and will do everything they can to get it resolved as soon as they can. It sucks that it's happening and hopefully you can get someone who can activate the receiver for you. Have you tried using the automated system to activate the receiver?
carlsbad_bolt_fan
07-08-09, 10:58 PM
I'm not trying to activate any receivers or anything, just reading this thread.
If it's certain call centers that are hosed, then it should be a simple matter to re-route calls to one that is up & running.
Lovin_It
07-08-09, 11:17 PM
Well it would be that simple and I'm sure they normally do that, but ALL center's are down.
paulman182
07-09-09, 04:04 AM
As a database administrator who is responsible for all of the power in the state of Georgia, I have redundant systems. I can't believe that DirecTV doesn't have the same.
Perhaps keeping the electricity on in an entire state is deemed more important than making changes to DirecTV subscriptions.
BubblePuppy
07-09-09, 05:00 AM
Perhaps keeping the electricity on in an entire state is deemed more important than making changes to DirecTV subscriptions.
Ya think.:lol:
beer_geek
07-09-09, 05:16 AM
Silly of me to think a company with millions of customers would have redundant systems for their core applications. It's not important to DirecTV. It's only their customers.
HDJulie
07-09-09, 07:21 AM
I just tried calling AGAIN & they are still down. How can their system be down for 2 full days & going into a third? Even after Hurricane Katrina took out our data center, we had all of our critical systems back online in 2 days. And the IVR tells me that I can do some stuff online. I guess activation is out but how can the online & IVR systems get to account information but the agents can't?
BubblePuppy
07-09-09, 07:23 AM
I haven't checked yet, but can one still pay the bill online, or is that not working also?
tekie99
07-09-09, 07:29 AM
the IVR can be misleading... it told me also my account was not accessible, and I zero'd out and got to a rep... all I needed to do was make a subscription change.. and he said he was accessing my account with no issue and added what I needed and everything looked good... dunno.. seems a little odd, though activations seem to be the underlying process affected by this 3 day outage.
AntAltMike
07-09-09, 09:48 AM
I can't get through on either of their SMATV fax numbers to send them a receiver list. I've tried 800-472-0469 and 800-933-4631.
I just opened a new hotel account yesterday by faxing them the first twenty receivers info, and am trying to add the next 12. They did take a phonecall from me in the interim to confirm that the list of twenty had been received and was being processed. .
Is the website down also or is just the phones?
can't get on the website (could be my work blocking - not sure)
mobandit
07-09-09, 11:04 AM
I was on the website earlier this morning to check on adding an HD receiver to my stable...had no issues accessing the general site or my account info.
beer_geek
07-09-09, 02:59 PM
Finally got through and activated.
I spoke with a DirecTV CSR yesterday and asked why they couldn't access my account info. She said that she had heard that the company that handles DirecTV's CS software (she said they call it "Real" or something like that) was hit as part of the wave of 'cyberattacks' that are hitting the federal government servers. She said this same company handles some government CS duties and also handles Walmart's CS and that they were down, too. I don't know how much of this is true. However, once I started complaining about my problem, she said that she was just notified that "our system just came back up" and she could now help me. How lucky for me that it was repaired just in time...
vBulletin® v3.7.6, Copyright ©2000-2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.