DTV has gone insane-24 month for changing programming???

[jcrandall]

Just to make sure everyone is clear, since this thread is muddy,

THERE IS NO EXTENSION TO CHANGE/ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMMING.

There is an extension if DirecTV gives you new hardware, such as upgrading to HD, DVR, etc. Sometimes they do this at the same time as adding programming, such as a Sunday Ticket negotiation. In that case, there would be an extension of 2 years due to the hardware.

There should NOT be an extension to replace LEASED dead/defective equipment with equivilant equipment.

 

[ronss]

Hey Jason:

Great day yesterday, wasn't it?

GO BLUE!

 

[Jimbo]

Just to make sure everyone is clear, since this thread is muddy,

THERE IS NO EXTENSION TO CHANGE/ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMMING.

There is an extension if DirecTV gives you new hardware, such as upgrading to HD, DVR, etc. Sometimes they do this at the same time as adding programming, such as a Sunday Ticket negotiation. In that case, there would be an extension of 2 years due to the hardware.

There should NOT be an extension to replace LEASED dead/defective equipment with equivilant equipment.

Isn't there something to do with the PP with this, like if you have it, no commitment, if you don't there is ?

 

[Jkauf55]

people are flipping out about the 24 mnth commitment. Do you think they also gripe and complain to the cell phone company when they upgrade their cell phones. thats a new 24 month commitment..

 

[Jimbo]

people are flipping out about the 24 mnth commitment. Do you think they also gripe and complain to the cell phone company when they upgrade their cell phones. thats a new 24 month commitment..

For some reason people are more comfortable with that.

 

[goaliebob99]

For some reason people are more comfortable with that.

Thats because people are more inclined to keep their cellphones with the same provider if they get the right phone such as the Iphone, If att had a great network with the iphone, people would care less.

Where as tv is tv. People change Tv providers like they change underware. My feelings is if you can get your cable box from the cable company for free, and only get charged the monthly fee, then satellite should do the same. Heck Uverse only charges 5 buck per additional outlet, and the box is free. Sorry, its just apart of the buisness and the way there competitors are doing things. If they cant keep up then change your buisness plan. I know if I wanted to I could get uverse for less than any other provider and can leave at any time with no commitment.

 

[Jimbo]

Thats because people are more inclined to keep their cellphones with the same provider if they get the right phone such as the Iphone, If att had a great network with the iphone, people would care less.

Where as tv is tv. People change Tv providers like they change underware. My feelings is if you can get your cable box from the cable company for free, and only get charged the monthly fee, then satellite should do the same. Heck Uverse only charges 5 buck per additional outlet, and the box is free. Sorry, its just apart of the buisness and the way there competitors are doing things. If they cant keep up then change your buisness plan. I know if I wanted to I could get uverse for less than any other provider and can leave at any time with no commitment.

Touch base with me before you do something like this.

 

[Jimbo]

Thats because people are more inclined to keep their cellphones with the same provider if they get the right phone such as the Iphone, If att had a great network with the iphone, people would care less.

Where as tv is tv. People change Tv providers like they change underware. My feelings is if you can get your cable box from the cable company for free, and only get charged the monthly fee, then satellite should do the same. Heck Uverse only charges 5 buck per additional outlet, and the box is free. Sorry, its just apart of the buisness and the way there competitors are doing things. If they cant keep up then change your buisness plan. I know if I wanted to I could get uverse for less than any other provider and can leave at any time with no commitment.

How is AT&T's network, we don't show a hundred people on our commercials, I don't hear anything about how the network is.

 

[Jkauf55]

How is AT&T's network, we don't show a hundred people on our commercials, I don't hear anything about how the network is.

It sucks and i hate it! only thing that keeps me is the roll over minutes and since my wife and mine cell phones are as well as our home phone that feature comes in handy!!!

 

[goaliebob99]

Touch base with me before you do something like this.

Ok , The only thing wrong with uverse is the pq and stream limit, I had it before and the programming is not bad, aside from the technical issues.

 

[Jimbo]

Ok , The only thing wrong with uverse is the pq and stream limit, I had it before and the programming is not bad, aside from the technical issues.

Have they updated the HD stream there yet, so you can have more HD channels up ?
They've done that in a lot of areas now.

 

[cfb]

people are flipping out about the 24 mnth commitment. Do you think they also gripe and complain to the cell phone company when they upgrade their cell phones. thats a new 24 month commitment..

I think the difference is that for the most part, you're clearly told when buying a cell phone that there is a 24 month commitment. Having just bought a new phone last week, every ad I saw had an asterisk next to the price with the footnote 'with 2 year contract' written on the same page.

I just looked at several directv advertisements and there was plenty of splash and ad space shown for all the stuff you get for free or discounted. Nothing about a two year commit. Closest thing I found even in the fine print on one ad was "New customers only, lease required, must maintain programming, DVR and HD Access".

I guess an inquisitive customer might ask what the 'lease' means and what 'must maintain programming' involves.

So using the example, I'd say that the difference is that the cell companies are actually more up front about the contract than directv is. The cell company also doesnt want your old phone back at the end of your contract.

 

[Stargazer]

Eh, they do some dumb stuff. Had a guy on the news last night, his house burned down in a big wildfire we had in the area and when he called dish to tell them about it, they said he'd still have to keep paying for it.

The newsrooms consumer hotline called dish and after a bit they decided they didnt want the bad publicity and told the guy he could cancel his service...

I have heard of stuff like this when it came to hurricanes and Dish Network advertised how they went out and replaced people's satellite systems for free. Besides, homeowner insurance should cover them. It is not Dish Network's fault that the storm or fire came.

This is different than extending a contract just because you get a replacement receiver. Dish Network does NOT do that.

 

[Tyralak]

Well just called and they still had my December 24th 2008 H20 defective receiver replacement showing as a contract extension till December 2th 2010, this is the same receiver that after it was replaced the technician ordered $200 in porn on. Took a while but its now corrected but the listed the reason for the extension as my having upgraded to a dvr but I've been on an H21 since December.

!!!! Ok, you have to tell us this story.

 

[Tyralak]

Thats the business model. Pretty sad when you have to keep customers like prisoners. Quality should keep them, not contracts. One year should be the max contract by law for any TV service. The government should be regulating this kind of crap instead of screwing up important things.

vurbano, Did I just hear this crap come out of your keyboard? You're not starting to drift left on us, are you?

 

[Claude Greiner]

Ok, here is my 2 cents on this issue...

This very much reminds me of what Nextel used to do, everytime you changed your plan it was automatically a 1 year contract. It took me like 3 years to finally get rid of them without paying a cancellation penalty because I finally just left my account alone.

All I can really say is that the customers brought this on themselves if its indeed true. You all thought it was bad before and had to complain to the state attorney generals, and forced both Dish and Directv to each pay around a 5 million dollar settlement, and because of it both DISH Network and Directv have a guideline set by the state attorney generals of what they can and cannot do when it comes to this kind of stuff.

For all the people who got on Dish Networks case and forced them to settle with the attorney generals, look what happened. Dish raised the cancellation fees from $240 to $300, and now to $360, in addition now they have become real strict on holding customers to their contracts where as before they where letting people out for any lame excuse.

As far as Directv, I think they got tired of people calling in every 5 minutes and threating to cancel if they did not get some sort of adjustment on their bill. So customers force Directv into giving them an adjustment to stay, and still end up cancelling when the contract is over.

So now people are literally locked into a contract FOREVER, unless they want to keep 1 package and stick with it for 2 years

 

[Claude Greiner]

Since the introduction of Social Security numbers to get service by DISH, Directv and now even cable, I have a feeling that there is going to be a big meeting of the minds with DISH, Directv and a few of the larger cable operators in the next few years.

The big companies are going to start sharing their customer data and really start looking at where a customer goes after they disconnect...

Think about it, you leave DISH Network and they put your name on a black list, you try to get service from Directv and your offer is based on what type of customer you where when you had DISH Network.

Churn is a big issue today and for a customee to save their $10 switching to Cable or DISH this money, costs the providers several hundred dollars by the time you cancel your old service and get the new service.

 

[Claude Greiner]

One thing I should mention is that I get calls all day from customers wanting to know when their contract is over. What those types of calls generally mean the customer is looking for a better deal and is considering switching at which point you need to start asking questions.

Extend contracts out on these people, it leads to less churn!

 

[Jimbo]

I think the difference is that for the most part, you're clearly told when buying a cell phone that there is a 24 month commitment. Having just bought a new phone last week, every ad I saw had an asterisk next to the price with the footnote 'with 2 year contract' written on the same page.

I just looked at several directv advertisements and there was plenty of splash and ad space shown for all the stuff you get for free or discounted. Nothing about a two year commit. Closest thing I found even in the fine print on one ad was "New customers only, lease required, must maintain programming, DVR and HD Access".

I guess an inquisitive customer might ask what the 'lease' means and what 'must maintain programming' involves.

So using the example, I'd say that the difference is that the cell companies are actually more up front about the contract than directv is. The cell company also doesnt want your old phone back at the end of your contract.

IF you look to get a recvr at BB you'll see a sticker at the D* location that say "lease " with explanation, also on EACH box when you pick it up shows you are buying a leased product.


fwiw, me being with Sprint for Cell service ALWAYS give you a discount when returning your old cell phone.

 

[Jimbo]

One thing I should mention is that I get calls all day from customers wanting to know when their contract is over. What those types of calls generally mean the customer is looking for a better deal and is considering switching at which point you need to start asking questions.

Extend contracts out on these people, it leads to less churn!

There use to be a place on D*'s website (it use to be the main page once you were logged in) that would clearly tell you if you were in a commitment and how long, but unfortunately I can no longer find it.