DirecTV - Zero Customer Service
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You might feel that way, but I dont agree. I've made extensive use of the BBB and they've always helped me out, and their ratings have always been on target for the businesses I deal with.
Here we have an example of a customer who wasnt serviced by the vendor, because they didnt get what they wanted and should have (eventually) received. How they ordered it or who slipped up doesnt really matter.
In this instance, there are tens of thousands of similar complaints filed with the BBB with the same poor results. So that means its not an isolated instance and those data points support the thesis that something should be done other than flipping the bird at the customer.
I could use trustlinks one out of 5 star rating, amazons one out of five star rating, cnets one and a half star out of five star reviews instead. The majority of those reviews claim the same issues. There is great consistency between sources of information and the conclusions drawn.
Do you have a trustworthy source of information supplied by customers that doesnt come up with the same problems and conclusions? I'd be glad to use one you find more suitable. Do you think I should change any of my other opinions to suit what 'we all' think?
Here we have an example of a customer who wasnt serviced by the vendor, because they didnt get what they wanted and should have (eventually) received. How they ordered it or who slipped up doesnt really matter.
In this instance, there are tens of thousands of similar complaints filed with the BBB with the same poor results. So that means its not an isolated instance and those data points support the thesis that something should be done other than flipping the bird at the customer.
I could use trustlinks one out of 5 star rating, amazons one out of five star rating, cnets one and a half star out of five star reviews instead. The majority of those reviews claim the same issues. There is great consistency between sources of information and the conclusions drawn.
Do you have a trustworthy source of information supplied by customers that doesnt come up with the same problems and conclusions? I'd be glad to use one you find more suitable. Do you think I should change any of my other opinions to suit what 'we all' think?
I wasn't going to get into this but I agree on the BBB, using it for companies like DirecTV or any cable/telco company is useless. Someone gets mad they file a complaint against the company at the BBB, with these large companies those complaints look much bigger than they really are. Add up the #'s they are a small % of all their customers. Using the BBB for a plumber or HVAC guy makes total sense.
Who is at fault in this one I am not sure, but if someone called and said they wanted DirecTV but never once said they wanted HD how is it the fault of DirecTV because they didn't deliver DirecTV HD service. If the customer called up and started complaining to a CSR about how horrible the service was and how mad they were over it I think you're less likely to get the results you'd want. Sounds like this is something for Ellen's office to resolve. Who's right and who's wrong......none of us know because we only see one side to the story. And DirecTV isn't the only company that uses contracts to buy down their equipment most Cell Phone providers do as well. Look at the pricing for Xfinity on their equipment, they charge $17 for each HD DVR and charge more for HD and DVR service than does D* or E*. Plus they charge you that fee for each box you have not $5 like D* does. So in the end it all costs about the same, you go with the service you're happy with.
Who is at fault in this one I am not sure, but if someone called and said they wanted DirecTV but never once said they wanted HD how is it the fault of DirecTV because they didn't deliver DirecTV HD service. If the customer called up and started complaining to a CSR about how horrible the service was and how mad they were over it I think you're less likely to get the results you'd want. Sounds like this is something for Ellen's office to resolve. Who's right and who's wrong......none of us know because we only see one side to the story. And DirecTV isn't the only company that uses contracts to buy down their equipment most Cell Phone providers do as well. Look at the pricing for Xfinity on their equipment, they charge $17 for each HD DVR and charge more for HD and DVR service than does D* or E*. Plus they charge you that fee for each box you have not $5 like D* does. So in the end it all costs about the same, you go with the service you're happy with.
I'll bet the BBB agents jump at the opportunity to help you don't they......hey everyone blah blah blah has ANOTHER complaint..........
But my CAR analogy was simply made to state that most people do their home work when they buy a car, so why not D* or any other service for that matter? Why not ask questions and not "assume"?
Also, I can agree with a few things you say every now and then, like this statement:
"If, as I've mentioned before, directv had a 30 day satisfaction guarantee like they used to, this would have been resolved easily because it would have been in directv's best interest to give the customer what he wanted. Directv would have been out ten bucks a month (that they're probably going to stop charging for soon anyhow), the customer would have been happy, and directv would have gotten $70-100 a month from the guy for many years. Instead he's pissed, went with another provider and will probably make directv earn the $480 etf, if they even can collect it."
but for the most part, I find you really funny. Keep up the good work.
Why assume ANYTHING? Customer calls, orders, and you fill the order the customer placed. It's not the CSR's job to make assumptions. If I go to McDonalds and place my order for an order of Chicken McNuggets and a drink, should the cashier assume I want a McFlurry as well, and just add it to the order?
This isn't McDonalds. The two are not nearly the same. Perhaps if you bought a big mac and didn't read the fine print only to find you actually got a double cheese burger and by eating it you agreed to buy one every single day regardless if you want it or not and have to pay up.
Anyway.
Ultimately the failure in this SD vs HD thing is that of the sales rep. They are after all supposed to educate the customer and offer services. The first question on a new sign up should be:
"Do you want HD with that?"
Next
"Do you want a DVR to record shows?"
Answer questions, then go over package, pricing and ETF. What is so hard about that?
End of story. Its not the customer's job to be fully fluent with the ins and outs of the service like some of the no lifers / geeks here. Just because we might have better knowledge because we are the <1% that visit a satellite forum doesn't mean the general population and every new customer shares said knowledge.
The burden should be on the representative and the last line of defense should be the installer.
D could make a happy customer by giving him what they are already giving everyone else. Its was a reasonable time frame and understandable ommission on the part of the sales rep. So why piss in the guy's cheerioes? Its not a material amount and your own sales rep screwed it up by not being clear and educating the client. People here screw D* out of far more every year repeatedly. They should just give it to him and let it be, note the account for no further discounts so long as that credit is in place and in the long run they probably would save more. Instead if he gets a single person to go with Dish or any other provider besides DirecTV they get even less. Pretty stupid IMO.
Anyway.
Ultimately the failure in this SD vs HD thing is that of the sales rep. They are after all supposed to educate the customer and offer services. The first question on a new sign up should be:
"Do you want HD with that?"
Next
"Do you want a DVR to record shows?"
Answer questions, then go over package, pricing and ETF. What is so hard about that?
End of story. Its not the customer's job to be fully fluent with the ins and outs of the service like some of the no lifers / geeks here. Just because we might have better knowledge because we are the <1% that visit a satellite forum doesn't mean the general population and every new customer shares said knowledge.
The burden should be on the representative and the last line of defense should be the installer.
D could make a happy customer by giving him what they are already giving everyone else. Its was a reasonable time frame and understandable ommission on the part of the sales rep. So why piss in the guy's cheerioes? Its not a material amount and your own sales rep screwed it up by not being clear and educating the client. People here screw D* out of far more every year repeatedly. They should just give it to him and let it be, note the account for no further discounts so long as that credit is in place and in the long run they probably would save more. Instead if he gets a single person to go with Dish or any other provider besides DirecTV they get even less. Pretty stupid IMO.
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Sounds to me as if they took care of the HD programming problem, but the OP's big problem was D* not applying a new customer promo after the fact. Morally, could they have tried to do something to make a new customer happy? Maybe. If he asked to speak to a supervisor, they may have. Are they under any obligation, legally, to do so? No. It seems to me as this was a drive by posting in a effort to make D* look bad to people that may be considering switching. I dunno.
Bzzzzzzt! Wrong, but thank you for playing. I didn't say the salesman shouldn't have attempted to upsell and ask the proper questions. What I said was specifically in response to vurbano's remark about assuming HD. Which you would have known had you read my post more closely. When someone places an order, you don't just add different equipment to the order because you think that deep down, that's what he really wants. There were a lot of failures here, and as a tech, I see at least 3. 1. The salesman should have asked more questions. 2 technician should have confirmed the equipment with the customer before starting work. That is standard procedure. But most importantly, the customer should have not assumed as much as he did. He should have asked more questions and made sure of what he was getting. Along with looking at what he got and how it worked after it was installed. You don't need to be a geek to do that. That's just being a responsible consumer. I've been in this job too long to take this at face value. Something doesn't sound quite right.
This kinda happened to a co-worker/friend of mine....
He switched from Cable to DirecTV a year ago at my urging, he asked for at least one HD receiver for his new HDTV. His local cable company did not offer any HD at the time.
After the install he ended up with 4 SD receivers, he didn't realize that mistake until after the tech left and I came by to check out his new install, he had never had HD programming before.
He called back and they wanted almost $200 to send a tech back out with a HD dish and receiver.
He was very disappointed, I ended up calling DirecTV for him from his house, saying that I was him, after some time on the phone I was able to get him what he asked for in the first place at no charge. Now he is a happy customer
Most of the time the average new subscriber don't know exactly what to ask for, or navigate the system, etc, we don't get Stonecold everytime we call DirecTV.
He switched from Cable to DirecTV a year ago at my urging, he asked for at least one HD receiver for his new HDTV. His local cable company did not offer any HD at the time.
After the install he ended up with 4 SD receivers, he didn't realize that mistake until after the tech left and I came by to check out his new install, he had never had HD programming before.
He called back and they wanted almost $200 to send a tech back out with a HD dish and receiver.
He was very disappointed, I ended up calling DirecTV for him from his house, saying that I was him, after some time on the phone I was able to get him what he asked for in the first place at no charge. Now he is a happy customer
Most of the time the average new subscriber don't know exactly what to ask for, or navigate the system, etc, we don't get Stonecold everytime we call DirecTV.
This kinda happened to a co-worker/friend of mine....
He switched from Cable to DirecTV a year ago at my urging, he asked for at least one HD receiver for his new HDTV. His local cable company did not offer any HD at the time.
After the install he ended up with 4 SD receivers, he didn't realize that mistake until after the tech left and I came by to check out his new install, he had never had HD programming before.
He called back and they wanted almost $200 to send a tech back out with a HD dish and receiver.
He was very disappointed, I ended up calling DirecTV for him from his house, saying that I was him, after some time on the phone I was able to get him what he asked for in the first place at no charge. Now he is a happy customer
Most of the time the average new subscriber don't know exactly what to ask for, or navigate the system, etc, we don't get Stonecold everytime we call DirecTV.
Yeah customer dont understand you all have 14 days after install to correct hardware mistakes after that full cost.
Some times the system plays nicer then others . This really does seem like a one post wonder unfortunately and if he has simple called in with in the first to weeks and told us what happened I wont say I could snap my fingers and everything would be find but if I did a hardware correction order ( which if his original order was with in the free hd for life and had fulfilled all other requirements it something we could of corrected there on the spot.) Problem is that I have to be honest to too many customers who call in 4 months after the fact and have to tel them you missed the time to report it 3 1/2 months ago.
Maybe it´s just my luck but I was a DTV subscriber for 12 years and I never had an issue with them...
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Sorry for the folks who missed the boat on my initial comment, I'll try and slow it down for you though I thought I was pretty clear. The assumption of whether I thought I was getting HD or not is NOT the issue. Yes, you can blame the customer and say you didn't due your due diligence. Great! Fine! I'm fine with that, I was moving at the same time lots going and should have paid attention. OK are we good with this so far!
So, what's the point? If you're going to offer "New Customers" free HD for Life, why shouldn't the guy who just signed up with you only 2 weeks ago get the same benefit? Why wasn't I considered New! Two weeks by any other measure of standard, business specifically, is NEW!
Also, why doesn't DTV offer 30 money back guarantee as does Verizon and Comcast? So that customers can in fact pull out if the service SUCKS as it did! The CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKED!
To respond to one of the threads, yes, I spoke to three customer representatives including a supervisor. Two of the CS people simply said, "Sorry" that's our policy and the supervisor said "You had 24 hours to evaluate". Are you kidding me, what JOKE!
And to further clarify for those a bit slow on the take... Comcast provided me a promotion that included TV, Phone and Internet that was by far cheaper than what Verizon was providing, and since this all started with Verizon anyway, and I'm happy to say that what I have currently is a bargain. But to compare apples with apples the TV portion of it compared to DTV is slightly cheaper, but the caviat is I have full HD plus 3 movie channles. Now, I'm not doing a one for one comparison of whose better, so don't go crazy trying to compare the two, I'm simply stating that when it comes to satisfying your customer, YOU SUCKED AT IT! and what's more you wanted to charge me $408 for early cancellation.
To the thread that spoke about the bill; it is currently being disputed, I'll let you know if I had to pay a penny!
So, what's the point? If you're going to offer "New Customers" free HD for Life, why shouldn't the guy who just signed up with you only 2 weeks ago get the same benefit? Why wasn't I considered New! Two weeks by any other measure of standard, business specifically, is NEW!
Also, why doesn't DTV offer 30 money back guarantee as does Verizon and Comcast? So that customers can in fact pull out if the service SUCKS as it did! The CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKED!
To respond to one of the threads, yes, I spoke to three customer representatives including a supervisor. Two of the CS people simply said, "Sorry" that's our policy and the supervisor said "You had 24 hours to evaluate". Are you kidding me, what JOKE!
And to further clarify for those a bit slow on the take... Comcast provided me a promotion that included TV, Phone and Internet that was by far cheaper than what Verizon was providing, and since this all started with Verizon anyway, and I'm happy to say that what I have currently is a bargain. But to compare apples with apples the TV portion of it compared to DTV is slightly cheaper, but the caviat is I have full HD plus 3 movie channles. Now, I'm not doing a one for one comparison of whose better, so don't go crazy trying to compare the two, I'm simply stating that when it comes to satisfying your customer, YOU SUCKED AT IT! and what's more you wanted to charge me $408 for early cancellation.
To the thread that spoke about the bill; it is currently being disputed, I'll let you know if I had to pay a penny!
i will say this for a company like DTV and Verizon that are supposed to be working together the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.
ive done installs that the work order says VZN meaning they get the DTV through Verizon and also the bill.
almost every time something is wrong.
ive done a reg 3 box install only to find out at the end of the job the customer THOUGHT he was getting HD.
no they have to set up an upgrade take another day off and so on.DTV or Verizon should fix it for you.
now ANY time i get a work order that says VZN i call the customer and ask them what type of programming hd dvr ect.. they order and bring irds with me and change the work order on site.
i even had a VZN customer tell me"if i wanted DTV i would have ordered it" he lived in a condo that didnt allow sat dishes.
now for the free hd part for there screw up you should get it.
i would cancel for the fact they screwed up.
you should get it escalated and get a dtv supervisor to fix it right.
ive done installs that the work order says VZN meaning they get the DTV through Verizon and also the bill.
almost every time something is wrong.
ive done a reg 3 box install only to find out at the end of the job the customer THOUGHT he was getting HD.
no they have to set up an upgrade take another day off and so on.DTV or Verizon should fix it for you.
now ANY time i get a work order that says VZN i call the customer and ask them what type of programming hd dvr ect.. they order and bring irds with me and change the work order on site.
i even had a VZN customer tell me"if i wanted DTV i would have ordered it" he lived in a condo that didnt allow sat dishes.
now for the free hd part for there screw up you should get it.
i would cancel for the fact they screwed up.
you should get it escalated and get a dtv supervisor to fix it right.
I think the OP and this one as well is simply trolling for cable. Full HD with Comcast? This is a joke post for sure.
:haha
:haha
Just passing through, but after reading this entire thread, I am left with one thought. Okay, assuming the customer did screw up, it was 100% his fault and he should have known, what is the problem with extending the customer a little courtesy and making him happy? There was a day and age when customer service mattered and things were not based off of scripts or inflexible policies. Sure, might have cost DTV a bit more in the short term, but a long, term happy, bill paying customer who tells his positive experience to others is worth much more. I had a situation recently where I rented a condo on the Gulf Coast and 3 days after I rented, they started including 6 free tickets to a concert over that weekend. I called and asked nicely for 4 tickets, and guess what? They said sure, but instead, we will give you 6. Cost them a few dollars, but I was very happy and told everyone I know that Meyer Realty is a great company and they should rent from them. They could have said "No," and technically been within their rights, but spending that little bit of money has been returned to them 10 fold. Companies no longer invest in service, and it is a shame.
You know, I think he could have gotten what he wanted. Sometimes getting what you want takes patience with other people. There is information missing I think. No matter, he is happy.
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