[BOSTON-HD]

Hi All: I should say that I really like D*TV. I love the remote, DVR & my HR20-700 has a built-in OTA. D*TV started pulling crap with me with a $6.00 a month DVR charge. I was told that I am a "Legacy" customer & I shouldn't be charged. They did credit me & I was to get a phone call from their "Escalated" customer service dept. Never got a call & what happens? Another DVR charge & now it's $7.00 plus my service went up to $5.00 ($114.99 Premier Package/all channels)


Plus on top of that the state of Mass. is charging a tax of 6.25% Now this isn't D*TV fault, but it sucks all the same. Funny...Comcast customers (cable) don't get charged any tax! So...My monthly bill is appx. $160.00+ & it's usually appx. $230.00 with the Football package (6 months out of the year) This is getting out of hand!!! D*TV is pricing itself out?


I'm wondering if any of you have ditched D*TV as of late? I think they are slipping myself. I've been with D*TV before it was even D*TV (@ least 12 years) If so, where did you go to? We don't get Verizon Fios in my town. Looks like Dish Network or Comcast. BTW....I hate Comcast DVR's!!! They suck bigtime!!! The interface is a joke IMHO! Any inisght people?

 

[owine]

You'll regret it. I noticed you did not complain that your service degraded. You will notice far inferior service from Comcast and especially Dish.

 

[BOSTON-HD]

Yeah...That's what I'm afraid of. As I mentioned, the service (or picture quality) is outstanding with my Pioneer 5020 plasma. I love the remote & the DVR interface is so silky-smooth. Maybe I'll scale back to a cheapo package & use my OTA for my locals & of cource keep my Sunday Ticket with HD. I paid $99.00 for the longest time, but now D*TV nickel & dimes you to death & that's what pisses me off!!!!


PS: What are you refering to about "My Service Degraded"?????

 

[taz291819]

If you're a 12+ year customer, I'd play CSR roulette until you get a good deal, I'm sure they'll work with you.

 

[Kingcarcas]

You're screwed, if you don't have FIOS available i think many would agree D* is the best. I would rather just cancel it altogether, hook up an Antenna and save a few hundred bucks and then come back later.


Or switch to Dish and get a sweet new customer deal, thing is you'll be locked in for 1 or 2 years, then come back to D*. Heck you could probably just threaten to cancel and end up with free service from D*.

 

[JimboG]

You cared enough about picture quality to buy a Pioneer 5020 Kuro plasma. You won't be happy if you go for a "penny wise, pound foolish" solution like Comcast or Dish Network.


If you have the option to get Fios, give it serious consideration. Otherwise, don't expect to switch from DirectTV to another pay TV provider and get excellent picture quality. The best the others can offer is "good enough" picture quality for less discriminating viewers.


If you really want to drop DirecTV, you could increase your Netflix subscription to a whole lot of Blu-ray discs at a time and use an over the air antenna for your network HD fix. However, this isn't a reasonable option if you're a big sports fan. Sorry.

 

[Ken H]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingcarcas /forum/post/18194012


You're screwed, if you don't have FIOS available i think many would agree D* is the best.

It all depends on where you are with Comcast.


In many areas, Comcast passes local HD and at least a few HD channels like ESPN & TNT without any additional compression.


DirecTV on the other hand, passes no HD channels without reducing resolution and additionally compressing.


I'd check the HDTV Locals Forum, to see what others in your area think.

 

[Hallow8]

I would say get rid of it now. With the money you'll save each month, you should be able to launch your own satellite in no time......


Seriously though, you'll regret Comcrap. Had them when I lived in Denver for a few months, switched back to D*tv quickly thereafter.

 

[Raymond42262]



Quote:
Originally Posted by owine /forum/post/18192445


You'll regret it. I noticed you did not complain that your service degraded. You will notice far inferior service from Comcast and especially Dish.

I have subscribed to Dish for 8 of the last 10 years and I have never had a problem with them.


It works for me.

 

[wxman]

I was a DirecTV customer since is was USSB and DirecTV. I dropped them over a year ago when they pulled the same garbage on me. I got a letter from them I need to upgrade to new equipment at no extra cost with no strings attached. Sounded good to me, so I called them. Well lo and behold that no extra cost and no strings attached, meant an extra $7 a month for the DVR and a 2 year contract. Now $7 a month is extra cost and a 2 year commitment is strings attached! They didn't even care when I read their letter back to them verbatim. Dropped them at once. They also owed me $49 since I dropped them half way in the month. Took almost a year and several calls to get that money back.

 

[Jedi Master]

Its not just D*TV but all pay TV providers are out of control these days. 14 months ago I dropped Cox cable after being a customer with them for 18 years. The prices were skyrocketing and I felt like I was being picked apart by a school of pirahnas. I now use OTA in HD, DVDs, and some online viewing. I haven't missed much except for a few football games last fall. But for the money I have saved the few football games are just a drop in the bucket. I still got to watch 24 hours of football on weekends with OTA. I also get ESPN360.com with my ISP so I watched Thursday night college football on it.


If you buy DVDs with that $160 a month you can buy any movie or TV show you want and watch it uncut and commercial free. The only thing you will miss without pay TV is a few sporting events. But you have to ask yourself if it is worth paying $160 a month which adds up to $1,920 a year for them. The answer for me was no way.


CBS, FOX, and NBC has the best NFL matchups OTA on Sunday. I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan and I got to see 11 regular season Cowboys games and their 2 playoff games OTA in HD for free this past year.

 

[BOSTON-HD]

Guys...I appreciate all of your replies. I'm thinking I'll dump D*TV. Maybe just go with OTA & yes...I have a 3-DVD/BR subscription with Nexflix already. D*TV has been good to me over the years, but it's way too expensive now. If they didn't nickel & dime me then I wouldn't have even posted this thread.


I'll try & give it one more chance w/ an CSR @ D*TV, if they don't play ball, then I'll leave. What pisses me off is I spend well over 2K for D*TV hardware over the years. Now my receivers sit in my basement!


WXMAN: that's it...I was paying 2 bills. One to USSB & then D*TV. When was that? Like 1996 or 97'? I should mention that like 3 or 4 months ago, D*TV gave me a $10.00 a month credit for 6 months & they didn't mention why. Now...I know, they started charging me for the DVR service!!!! Have you ever heard of that saying "The Straw that broke the Camels Back"??? Well...That pretty much sums up how I feel.

 

[Home2stay]

Long time D* customer as well, but just dumped them for Comcast HDTriple

Been OOC for 2 years, been waitning for the return of the Real TiVo and hopefully room2room

Was trying to get some equip to by some time till it returns, Do you think I could cut a deal, NO WAY, tried for 3 months and every channel

Was paying $170+mo for D* In SD w-1 DVR/Tele/1.5mg DSL

Upgrade pkg would cost $300 out of pok, and 2 yr commit

and then Tivo comes back would have to rebuy equip and recommit


CC deal was HD- 2 DVR's'/1 HD box/ HBO& Stars/DigiTele/ HSI 22mg down w/ Doc3 modem> Even Norton Security Suite for 7 comps> NO COMMITMENT> NO OUT of POK cost

and saving $30-40 mo and did I mention NO commitment?


So far has been "respectable", no signal issues, no dropouts, no reboots, no internet probs,

If things go down hill I go back to D*

 

[rad]

Boston-HD, I agree with you and the nickle and dime comment. DirecTV used to include the DVR fee in Premier but unbundled that a couple years ago, but if you kept Premier they grandfathered you on that fee. However that finally ended so you got hit with the $6/month DVR fee which this year they increased to $7/month. Looks like that trend will also continue with the rumored $3->$4/month charge for the coming Multi Room Viewing feature. But as others have said, try calling DirecTV, if you're a 'good' customer they might be able to offer you some discounts to keep you as a customer. If you do decide to try something else you might just want to suspend your DirecTV account and not outright cancel it to make sure you're happy with what you go with.

 

[Ken H]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rad /forum/post/18196774


But as others have said, try calling DirecTV, if you're a 'good' customer they might be able to offer you some discounts to keep you as a customer.

Good advice, and you may have to call more than once to get someone who can help you.

 

[mjones73]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken H /forum/post/18194912


DirecTV on the other hand, passes no HD channels without reducing resolution and additionally compressing.

Proof other then we know they re compress in MPEG4? The HDLite crap went out the door when the new sats came online..

 

[Beerstalker]

If you had the premeir package with DVR built into it, and have never changed your package, then you should be able to get rid of the DVR charge again. You just need to keep calling back, or asking for supervisors until you find a person who knows how to do it.


If you dropped Premeir at any time and then went back to it you are out of luck as it no longer includes the DVR fee.


If you originally paid the Lifetime DVR fee when you bought a Tivo, then you should also be able to get them to remove the DVR fee once you find a CSR who knows how to do it. If this is the case it does not matter what package you have.


D* only trains their CSRs on current packages etc. (if they actually train them at all), so sometimes it is hard to find someone who has been their long enough to know about the old packages and how to set some of the older stuff up.

 

[BOSTON-HD]

Hi everyone. Ok...Update: I spoke with a higher CSR (good guy) & I never have changed my package since I've been with D*TV. I started with them in October of 1997 (so they say) In short...here is what they offered me 2-$20.00 credits (why not one $40.00???) for 12 months & they would grandfather me with no DVR charge. Also, they offered to give me 1 free PPV movies a month for 12 months & in addition they wouldn't charge me for that $99.00 HD Sunday Ticket Charge for a year. The PPV I could care less about because I have Nexflix. The hook is a couple of things, 1st: 2-year contract 2nd: I can never be late (even one day) on my payment. Not worried about the payment scenario because I have D*TV on auto payment. If I was late, deal would be cancelled.


I said fine, lets do it. This guy was very cool! He said he agrees with me on the "Nickel & Dime" scenario. I think it was a soild deal & what I do appreciate about D*TV is that they play ball! Comcast would never, ever work out any type of deal to keep a customer. I was on the phone with him for close to an hour & again I really liked him! Told my wife a few minutes ago & she thrilled as well. I think what helped me is that I'm a longtime D*TV customer & I pay on time every month.


So...In the end, I'm happy enough & I'll be D*TV for @ least another 2 years.

 

[McDonoughDawg]

I'm glad you like DTV, but Comcast has given me discounts to keep me onboard. I occasionally go into the local office and ask the nice ladies what I can get....they will work with customers....you just have to go about it the right way..sort of like you did...I noticed you weren't satisfied in the beginning of your quest either.

 

[HawkbyKO]

I'm glad it worked out for you Boston. I was with D* for the last 8 years. They were good about offering discounts and incentives.


However, two weeks ago, I switched to Fios. I was tired of the D* snow/rain fade, the loss of ESPN Classic, Versus and no Fox Soccer Channel. I get all of those channels w/ Fios plus the best HD pq and VOD (Multi-Room dvr). The bundle price (all 3 services) is a much better deal that I had before. D* offered me $20 off/mo. for the next year but I declined.


Best of luck!