Sometimes I wonder if the right hand knows what the left hand is doing at DircTV. When first learned that D* was going to offer locals in my DMA by midyear, I sent them an E-mail using the feedback form on their web site. Asking if my UTV and DirecTivo were capable of receiving the locals which are going to be broadcast from their new 119 satellite.
A few days later, after not getting any response to my E-mail, I phoned *D at the customer service number that is on my bill. Surprisingly, I got through to an entertainment specialist right away. After putting me on hold two or three times to research my questions, the lady I spoke with assured me that my receivers were just fine, but I would need to replace my round dish with an oval one.
She said if I committed to the "Total Choice Plus with Locals" at $39.99/month for a year, I could have an oval dish for $43 which included instillation. Or I could get a free dish if I committed to "Total Choice Premier with Locals" at $85.99/month. I told her I'd take the $39.99 package and pay for the dish. Trouble was her system was down and she couldn't process my order. But she assured me that as soon as the problem was corrected, she would call me back.
That evening they called while I was at work. They called again the next morning while I was at the library. The following day I was home when they called for the third time. Guess what? The calls had nothing to do with placing an order for the oval dish. It was in response to my E-mail.
The lady who called told me that all I would need is an oval dish. And I should keep an eye on their web site. Because she was sure that as the launch date for my locals approached, they would be probably be offering some kind of upgrade. She didn't seem to know about the upgrade the other csr tried to sell me one the phone. So I decided to play dumb and see if I could get a better deal later on.
I'm not trying too be critical of D*. I've been with them for almost five years. And have been perfectly satisfied with the service. They must value my business to make the effort they did to contact me. I just find it amazing that such a big company doesn't have all their people working from the same play book.