DirecTV: any good?

Dionysus

Dionysus

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We have Comcast Cable and I don’t really have any issues with it, but Sam’s Club has a DirecTV offer for members and we were considering it. I did some searching on reviews about DTV and I’m seeing a lot of negative stuff, especially about their customer service and dishonest sales & billing practices. But this could just be heavily tilted towards the vocal discontents out there and less noise from the satisfied customers.

Any suggestions/thoughts about DirecTV?
 
I've had DTV for almost 13 years now. It's generally very good, though signal is lost when big storms are in the air between my dish and the satellite.

I suppose that in any 'relationship' that long a few bumps in the road are to be expected. When I upgraded to HD, the billing got screwed up due to poor record keeping at DTV; the office thought one thing and the installers thought something else regarding equipment returns. It got worked out but it took a couple of monthly phone calls. On the positive side, the SD and HD channels are the same so I didn't have to adjust my "learning."

If you buy NFL Sunday Ticket they will automatically renew and it takes a call or two to resolve but they do resolve it. I don't do movies through them so I can't comment on that aspect.

I had Time Warner/Comcast/Xfinity too but I dropped it. They simply didn't work as well as DTV, in my experience. Good luck!
 
I had Comcast for years and just recently went back to DirecTV and don't think I could go back to regular cable.

I think you get more for your money with DirecTV vs. cable (i.e. Comcast). Even the small stuff like menu/guide graphics are worth going to DirecTV for. On my old Comcast system I could never watch NBC in HD. Always froze. Comcast replaced my box and it still didn't work (only channel with issues). Also having to go stand in line whenever I wanted to exchange or update my Comcast box was a pain. Also DirecTV box records up to 100 hours of HD. Comcast box would do about 20 hours. Frankly I don't know why anyone would want to continue use Comcast, Cox, or Time Warner... they are fine for internet but really seem like they suck for TV.
 
Thank you! Appreciate the input, I'm going to look into it a little further. My Internet with Comcast is quite good, getting 30Mb down and 5 up, but I thought we could save a few bucks every month with the DTV channels. I was mostly interested in getting the DVRs for all rooms which they are offering.
 
I think a lot of the problems with the billing and unethical sales practices you see is from them offereing free services for limited time periods. A Directv rep calls me from time to time offering me a certain package of channels free for 3 months, but I start getting billed for those channels after the 3 months if I don't cancel them. I never accept these offers but they have always been honest with me in these situations.
 
Back in the early 90s Direct TV was the bomb. Customer service was the best I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Flash forward 20 years and its 180 degrees. Customer service is quagmire of drones fighting to reach mediocrity. Over the past five years I've had receivers just crash and require replacement, which is typically two or three days away. That never happened prior.

However bad it gets though, I will never, ever go back to Time Warner, Comcast or any cable outfit. No f*cking way.
 
Love DirecTV, especially the premium since it has some nice new features. I would honestly say that on balance I probably haven't had that much more picture issues with dish. And basically the service has always been better IMO. The next cable company I deal with that is responsive, innovative and practical will be the first.
 
I guess I've been lucky with Comcast thus far because we haven’t had any problems with them at all. Thanks for the info everyone, I may give DTV another look.
 
Uverse. Fios if you can get it, because of LHN. I hear it's comparable, and uverse blows DTV and Time Warner away. Trust me. Had em all.
 
Comcast is a GD disaster. I could write half a book on the screwups I've had with Comcast but, I'll just write one.

Last year we switched to DirectTV. I ended my Comcast service and returned all the equipment to the service center. (We kept Comcast internet.)

Anyway, our internet service gets cut off a couple of months later - past due bill. Turns out, they continued to bill us for cable a full two months after cutting off service and returning the equipment. I went to the office and explained myself; HOWEVER, they wanted us to pay something like a $50 reconnection fee. This back and forth went on for 3 weeks. The whole time, we didn't have internet.

Suffice to say, when I finally made it back to the service center (I was student teaching so I couldn't leave school) it got a tad ugly. The security guard heard my tone and came and stood behind me. And, for someone that has worked in retail and as a waiter, I never, ever lose my temper when dealing with stuff. This was just surreal.

I love my DirectTV.
 
DirecTV does the job- like many posters above I am more anti-cable. I f'ing hate Time Warner and Comcast. Cable to me is a crappy monopoly that rips you off with over-priced service and no customer service.

So with that in mind- I put up with occasional loss of service during a storm for the smug feeling that I'm not supporting cable monopolies.

I'd probably switch to FIOS or Uverse if they ever came to my neighborhood- and yes I know, I know- ATT/Verizon are different monopolies but I'd love to have quadruple play bundle discounts with my cell phone.
 
Rupert Murdock owns Directv. My other whine is that if the weather gets bad you lose your signal.

Grande has the Longhorn Channel.
 
I spoke to my cable provider to get their unbiased opinion on direct tv. They told me that the weather disruptions are bad enough, but the real killer is the massive solar flares that are heading towards earth which will decimate satellite tv service and could change life on our planet as we know it. They suggested that I watch "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage.
 
Third Coast, it’s nice they were willing to share an unbiased assessment like that. And a movie recommendation to boot!
 
My experience with directv was horrible. terrible customer service and poor reception during any rainstorm. I would echo the Uverse recommendation.
 
We very rarely lose DirectTV in storms these days. Ironically, the one time we did it almost saved our lives. Fell asleep watching tv last summer. Woke up realizing I wasn't getting a picture and my ears were popping. Turns out, a Category 1 tornado was blowing through about 100 yards from my house.

/cool story
 
Wow, people sure watch alot of TV. I have the basic of all basic cable packages and a fully loaded internet package, pay less than $60/month and watch maybe 2-3 hours of TV a week outside of Sports.
 
I had Directv for 12 years and it was great. But I dropped it the second they told me they won't carry the Longhorn network and got Verizon Fios. So now I sit in my comfy chair watching LHN for hours on end.
 
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