Help ! 80+ yr old ordered DirecTv, installing SD right now - shouldnt be HD free instead?

[uponthemountain]

Hello all and help please.
80+ year old grandmother ordered tv service for my 60+ yr old mother who has zero chance of understanding any aspect of the install.
The installer is wrapping up ( too late? ) a SD install at her home now i'm an hour's drive away, and been scrambling to figure out what is going on and if they got taken advantage of.
I know very little about DireTV, been DISH subscriber for something near 18 yrs.

Did they get taken advantage of?
Shouldn't they have gotten a free HD install, instead of SD receiver and dish on a pole?

 

[Aridon]

I'd say. Generally they charge for dish on the pole but HD should be done unless she doesn't have a hd tv.

 

[raoul5788]

What was ordered? If she ordered sd, she should get sd.

 

[Teehar]

Yea that's the question.Does she have an hdtv?Did whomever ordered the install specify HD?

 

[ELMWOOD]

Hello all and help please.
80+ year old grandmother ordered tv service for my 60+ yr old mother who has zero chance of understanding any aspect of the install.
The installer is wrapping up ( too late? ) a SD install at her home now i'm an hour's drive away, and been scrambling to figure out what is going on and if they got taken advantage of.
I know very little about DireTV, been DISH subscriber for something near 18 yrs.

Did they get taken advantage of?
Shouldn't they have gotten a free HD install, instead of SD receiver and dish on a pole?

Maybe you should have been there to supervise the install.

 

[uponthemountain]

yes, its pretty obvious i should have supervised, but, like stated, granny did her thing, and didnt tell me what was going on.

now, to trying to move forward.

no idea what was said to my 84 year old grandmother, but what ever was said, i can assure you was not understood.
And my 65 yr old mother, understands tech even less. so blind leading blinder, ... sold to by someone who apparently did not understand that.

Does she have a HD tv? yes ( they both do, and both got the same horrible SD package, im now finding out ). Did she tell them she had a HD tv? prob not, especially if someone said it costs more.

Anyways, thanks for the replies so far.

I think my real question is how to do damage control. How do I get them on HD without busting their ss checks?

 

[raoul5788]

Once installed it's pretty much a done deal. You should try calling customer service and seeing what they can do for her. If all else fails, try emailing the office of the president. ellen.filipiak@directv.com. If it was all an honest mistake on your grandmother's part, they may upgrade her to hd for no extra charge.

 

[Tampa8]

Do they want HD or do you want them to have it? Not kidding, I know of many older people including my in-laws who say SD is fine and don't see spending anymore for HD. (Even if it may not cost more)

 

[navychop]

"... sold to by someone who apparently did not understand that."

Or someone who understood altogether too well!

 

[Claude Greiner]

I do Directv sales every day and im pretty sure nobody took advantage of your grandmother and didn't sell her HD.

I can tell you right now from personal experence, what usually happens in these situations is that the Directv sales people are trained to sell everyone HD/DVR, and if they balk at getting a DVR, then try to sell them HD.

They probably offered her HD, and your grandmother didn't want to spend the extra $10 per month and said something along the lines that she didn't need it.

So instead of the sales person trying to argue with your grandmother and push HD and possibly loose the sale, they probably gave in and sold her the cheapest package and signed her up for the Entertainment package for $24.99 plus a few additional receivers.

Sad, but I see this happen every day. im probably right on this one.

 

[Aridon]

Shouldn't even be an option they need to stop selling legacy SD gear and start upgrading so the MPEG2 bandwidth can be used for bigger and better things.

 

[acostapimps]

Shouldn't even be an option they need to stop selling legacy SD gear and start upgrading so the MPEG2 bandwidth can be used for bigger and better things.

You be surprised how many still have SDTV's in the house, plus they don't want to pay extra $10 or 20 for a HD/DVR.

 

[Claude Greiner]

You be surprised how many still have SDTV's in the house, plus they don't want to pay extra $10 or 20 for a HD/DVR.

It's a fight every day to get people the product they actually need for the price they want to pay.

 

[papalittle]

What we do is install HD equipment anyways but do not have HD programming added so if later down the road if they decide to get HD programming the equipment is already installed so it is just a matter of turning on the HD programming.

 

[uponthemountain]

What we do is install HD equipment anyways but do not have HD programming added so if later down the road if they decide to get HD programming the equipment is already installed so it is just a matter of turning on the HD programming.

That sounds like a wonderful, respectful and customer centric practice!

Anyways, all said and done, they do have what they agreed to accept ( SD ), but they do not have what they expected. Big let down for them, and very confusing for them, and i'm sure for many that are not familiar with what they are being asked. So, at the moment they are stuck with pretty bad pictures.

I haven't been following lately, but was very very surprised that SD was still being installed or sold.

Thanks to all for the feedback.

 

[lparsons21]

Do they want HD or do you want them to have it? Not kidding, I know of many older people including my in-laws who say SD is fine and don't see spending anymore for HD. (Even if it may not cost more)

My mom (age 94) is that way. They have HD into the house, but she has an SD tv and doesn't want HD. She says she doesn't like it.

 

[raoul5788]

What we do is install HD equipment anyways but do not have HD programming added so if later down the road if they decide to get HD programming the equipment is already installed so it is just a matter of turning on the HD programming.

Unless policies have changed, aside the mpeg4 local markets, having hd equipment requires hd programming.

 

[raoul5788]

That sounds like a wonderful, respectful and customer centric practice!

Anyways, all said and done, they do have what they agreed to accept ( SD ), but they do not have what they expected. Big let down for them, and very confusing for them, and i'm sure for many that are not familiar with what they are being asked. So, at the moment they are stuck with pretty bad pictures.

I haven't been following lately, but was very very surprised that SD was still being installed or sold.

Thanks to all for the feedback.

Did you even try contacting customer service to see if anything can be done? What about the email address I provided?

 

[uponthemountain]

Did you even try contacting customer service to see if anything can be done? What about the email address I provided?

Thank you for the suggestion, and I do intend to do so. Unfortunately, this is only one piece of their chaos right now, so I have not gotten to calling or emailing DirecTV yet. I hope to get there after work either today or tomorrow, and call from her home, with her present ... so we can get my name added, get the account info ... etc ...

My original question was in panic mode while trying to figure out what was going on. So anyways, they do at least have tv right now ( even though its bad quality ), and I can relax a little and triage other concerns too.

fwiw, I do appreciate all replies, even the ones i dont like So If I haven't responded directly to you, it is not meant as disrespect or lack of appreciation. This forum is wonderful in that way, you get to see many perspectives and learn a bit and get help you are looking for along the way.

 

[Broe67]

Shouldn't even be an option they need to stop selling legacy SD gear and start upgrading so the MPEG2 bandwidth can be used for bigger and better things.

What SD only Legacy gear? All equipment sold these days, is HD capable. All they have to do in the computer, is flip a switch, and the the satellite sends a signal out, that the receiver then gets authorized to tune to HD channels.

Even CATV companies are doing away with the older SD equipment, due to it is cheaper to support HD equipment only, and make the changes in the computer, whether the customer wants HD or no.