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Gone!

12K views 70 replies 43 participants last post by  harsh 
#1 ·
After 12 years, I am leaving D*!

Deciding factors include;

-post card received for 'Free HD for 24 months', then noticing credit was off my bill(after 3 calls to CSRs was told each time that Free HD was no longer offered, and an email to 'Customer Advocate Team' who offered 12 months credit for HD on my bill, and then gave me the 'guilt trip' speech for calling about it. Also told me D* didn't have to give me anything.....and that D* 'never promised to be the least expensive service').

-SLOW response DVRs(tried several times to get an upgrade, but to no avail).

-$110 D* each month vs. $39.99 with cable company(with FREE HD, locked in for a year).

Congrats D*! I was your customer to lose, and you succeeded!
 
#29 ·
sdicomp said:
I have ALL the programming we WATCH. So far, the channel line up is comparable to D*. After 2 years, it will go to their 'regular' price, which form what I am told will be an additional $20.00. Still, that will be $30.00 less that I am paying now!

Since my price is locked for 2 years, I will stay where I am. I can, after the 2 years are up, always go back to D*, and get one of those 'new customer' deals that those of us who have been with them for years can ONLY read and hear about!
Well, that's definetly not the same charter cable service in my area! :)
 
#30 ·
inkahauts said:
IS that before or after the add in all the monthly fees for our equipment?
Neighbor here just got rid of DirecTv for Xfinity and also got that $39.95 price, including one HD DVR. I think if they know you are leaving DirecTv (or maybe DISH as well) they are throwing in the DVR free for the year. My bill is also $39.95 ($59.95 second year option) with Free HD, but I already had two lifetime Tivo's, so I never asked them about the box rental to see if I could get that free. Heck, they credit me $2.50 a month for owning my own box :)
 
#31 ·
inkahauts said:
IS that before or after the add in all the monthly fees for our equipment?
$39.99 is with DVR fees. My total bill with 2 HD DVRs, phone and 30mb internet is $129.95(I added the $10.00 Sports Tier for football NFL Net & RedZone). Paying $110 to D* alone, so switching was a 'no-brainer'!
 
#32 ·
inkahauts said:
Well, that's definetly not the same charter cable service in my area! :)
Sorry you don't have what we do! Had it for a week now, and it is ALL they promised when I signed up.
 
#34 ·
cyfman said:
At least you have some choices,when you live outside the city limits you have 2 choices.

Directv or Dish I'll stick with Directv :)
i am a new sub to Directv. just a week old, as matter of fact. yes, i do live in a small, rural midwest community, and, i do wish there was more competition to keep prices down. i love Directv's interface---especially compared to the cable i had (for approx 6mos; i also had Directv's biggest competitor for about 6yrs+ before that). the cable interface was soooo "cheesy"! :raspberry
 
#35 ·
Time Warner Cable in this area, won't even discuss what the price will be after the initial "new customer" deal is over. They just keep pushing how cheap it will be the first year. I was talking to a salesperson at their booth in a mall recently and when pushed all he would say was that it will be "very competitive" which it turns out not to be. I guess they don't want scare people away.
 
#36 ·
I looked at TWC when I found out that they were carrying the Pac-12 network and Verizon FiOS wasn't. Price looked competitive until I got to the DVR and set-top boxes prices at TWC -- something like $60 bucks a month extra for one DVR and one set-top box.

I like my USC football games but no thanks!
 
#37 ·
If one really wants to make an impact, drop all pay TV service :D Enough of us do so, folks would pay attention. Of course, I'm making a few assumptions here, chief among them, antenna HD is fairly widely available, and folks agree with me about the abysmal programming. Those are two pretty hefty assumptions, I guess.
 
#38 ·
sdicomp said:
-post card received for 'Free HD for 24 months', then noticing credit was off my bill(after 3 calls to CSRs was told each time that Free HD was no longer offered, and an email to 'Customer Advocate Team' who offered 12 months credit for HD on my bill, and then gave me the 'guilt trip' speech for calling about it. Also told me D* didn't have to give me anything.....and that D* 'never promised to be the least expensive service').

-$110 D* each month vs. $39.99 with cable company(with FREE HD, locked in for a year).
Am I reading correctly? One of your reasons for leaving was because you were offered a discount? Since cost is a factor I just figured... nevermind.

Just to throw it out there, make sure they define price lock. If it is anything like Dish Network, the programming price was locked but they could still raise the charges on anything else and then make up the lack of cost increase as soon as the 2 years are over. Make sure to protect yourself.
 
#39 ·
goinsleeper said:
Am I reading correctly? One of your reasons for leaving was because you were offered a discount? Since cost is a factor I just figured... nevermind.

Just to throw it out there, make sure they define price lock. If it is anything like Dish Network, the programming price was locked but they could still raise the charges on anything else and then make up the lack of cost increase as soon as the 2 years are over. Make sure to protect yourself.
Not the fact I was offered a discount, just the way it was offered("Mr. ****, D* doesn't 'owe' you anything").

Cost factor? Absoloutely!! $120.00 for tv/internet/phone vs. $110 for D* alone.....YOU be the judge!

.....and, as I said, I AM protected, in writing for 2 years!
 
#41 ·
To the OP, if your happy with your new deal, good for you. Everyone has to do whats best for them. And sometimes you have to make providers appreciate your business. Or miss the fact that you left and then bombard you with "Come back" offers.

Fortunately, DIRECTV has taken care of me and I'm happy with the service they provide. For instance, I'm still getting the $10/mo HD credit and they gave me an HR34 with WHDVR all for no cost. And I'm sure glad they do take care of me. Although I could go to cable or Dish, they don't have the most important programming I desire.

Neither of them have NFL ST or NHL CI with all my teams games in HD. Not to mention, Time Warner doesn't even have NFLN, NHLN or the Red Zone channel. Pretty pathetic and the reason I left them 3+ years ago and never looked back.

Although this year, I did sign back up with TWC's internet, because the have the highest speeds in my area. So between both services, I'm probably paying a bit of a premium @ $133/mo (DIRECTV $92, TWC Internet $41). Although its really just $92, because the company I work for reimburses me for my internet, since I work from home when I'm not traveling.
 
#43 ·
midd said:
Even though you are "gone" it must be hard for you to let go...

:grin:


Groucho:
Hello, I must be going.
I cannot stay,
I came to say
I must be going.
I'm glad I came
But just the same
I must be going.

Margaret Dumont:
For my sake you must stay,
For if you go away,
You'll spoil this party
I am throwing.

Groucho:
I'll stay a week or two,
I'll stay the summer through,
But I am telling you,
I must be going.
 
#44 ·
midd said:
Even though you are "gone" it must be hard for you to let go...

:grin:
.....just answering questions that have been asked.....sorry if I offended you!
 
#45 ·
APB101 said:
Which channels are sdicomp gaining in high definition?
No gains, but NO losses on what we watch........
 
#46 ·
No one should fault a person for making a change that they feel is better for them. The owners of the place I worked most of my life used to get mad when someone quit and went to another place to work. I had to remind them that this is how they started their business was by quitting where they were working and trying something different.
Long before I was with DirecTV I was on TWC. Back then times were tight, like now, and we were laying off people and a raise was out of the question. It had been 3 years since we had a raise and TWC raised the cable TV rate 3 times in 12 months. I dropped them at that point. I started renting movies and used the OTA for TV.
Then my son discovered DirecTV. His boss where he worked had it and he had been to his house to see it. That was when we tried it and been here ever since then.

When it comes to programming, I only have 84 channels in my favorites list and probably only watch 30 of them at the most.

I recently told my son how much we could save in the first year if we changed to the other company. He looked at me like I was nuts and told me to put his charge card on the account and get the other company for myself if I wanted it. I again reminded him of how much we could save. He said "So what. If you save and do not have what you want, what good is it ?". I stopped at that point.

Bottom line, if you are getting the channels you want, a good picture and saving money be happy with your decision. If you find in the future that it is not all that you thought then come back to be with us again.
 
#47 ·
sdicomp said:
No gains, but NO losses on what we watch........
My nearby Charter is in the process of adding 56 HD channels (the residue of removing 7 or 8 analog channels). They will be carrying HD that DBS doesn't offer.

If there is a crime, it is believing (and castigating those who believe otherwise) that DIRECTV can be the one and only logical choice for everyone.
 
#48 ·
harsh said:
My nearby Charter is in the process of adding 56 HD channels (the residue of removing 7 or 8 analog channels). They will be carrying HD that DBS doesn't offer.

If there is a crime, it is believing (and castigating those who believe otherwise) that DIRECTV can be the one and only logical choice for everyone.
Out of the 47 responses to the op, some were his. A grand total of TWO responses could be construed as "a crime", as you so eloquently put it.
 
#49 ·
harsh said:
My nearby Charter is in the process of adding 56 HD channels (the residue of removing 7 or 8 analog channels). They will be carrying HD that DBS doesn't offer.

If there is a crime, it is believing (and castigating those who believe otherwise) that DIRECTV can be the one and only logical choice for everyone.
I hear it's nearly a crime to have Dish subscribers give DirecTV customers any advice about anything DirecTV when they don't actually have the service themselves.

Oh wait...some people probably already know that.
 
#50 ·
midd said:
Even though you are "gone" it must be hard for you to let go...

:grin:
sdicomp said:
.....just answering questions that have been asked.....sorry if I offended you!
Exactly. I don't recall being the sole requirement for posting here as being a current satellite sub.

Like the OP I recently canceled DirecTV. In my case I had been with them since 1998. Switched from TWC. It wasn't as big a deal for me as some, but TWC has done a great job off adding HD channels and that was something I needed to see from them before switching. I have a TiVo HD with an upgraded 500GB HdD that I pay a grandfathered rate that's less than half the DirecTV DVR rate. I do have to pay for a Cable Card, but that's only $2/mo. so it's still less than DirecTV. The major thing is TWC provides a quality High Speed Internet option, DirecTV does not. In '98 that wasn't the priority for me and now it is.

When I called to cancel DirecTV didn't go out of their way to stop me. Just as well since I didn't want to make a new commitment. I like the fact that with TWC I can bring my own equipment. When the DirecTV tuner card for WMC was canceled, I was truly disappointed. And as far as rate hikes go, they all do it. Difference is with Cable I'm not under commitment and, if need be, I can scale down to Internet only.

I was happy with DirecTV, but the constant two year shove any time you want something better gets old IMO.
 
#51 ·
Ranger12 said:
Good luck. I will never go back to Charter for my TV. Horrible customer service and their price and HD selection can't match DirecTV. I wish I had another way to get high speed internet in my area, or I would not have Charter at all.
I said that too. But Charter has made a dramatic turnaround in my neck of the woods thanks to SDV. They added about 60 HD channels in just a few months and now have more than satellite and better PQ. I get 12-18Mbps data rates on MPEG4, which is better than I had with DirecTV. And I can use my own DVR, saving a ton of money. Since I went back to cable, my bill has dropped by about $50/month and will stay that way for 2 years. I realize they'll gouge me after that, but by then I can give satellite another look, if they ever catch up on HD content.

As for service, that's changed dramatically too. They have a great online presence like Dish (I wish DirecTV would catch up in that regard as well). I often get a response within a couple of hours and service appointments right away.

Bottom line is, while I enjoyed satellite for many years back when they had the best service on the market, times have changed, and cable is a much better deal than it used to be (depending on your location of course).

So bravo to the OP for having the guts to make a change and not just accept DirecTV's empty promises (24-month free HD fiasco). If more of us did the same, DirecTV would have to step up their game. As it stands now, they can do whatever they want and most people just accept it.

Peace
 
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