My Letter to Chase Carey

[dlma1]

Final thoughts...

Thanks to all who responded. A few final thoughts:
1. I have been D* customer since 1996 and I have been generally satisfied with their service until recently. My letter to Mr. Carey was written because I grew increasingly frustrated by the lack of attention to the premium movie channels. If a customer pays in full for something, then they should receive full value for their purchase. It is particularly galling to get sales calls imploring me to buy HBO or especially Cinemax when D* only supplies a fraction of what is available.

2. D* almost certainly has the capacity to supply these channels. There must be some other rationale for not releasing bandwidth to them. I doubt that Mr. Carey will reveal the reason but I had to ask.

3. As to those of you who question the value of either Comcast or FIOS, at least in the Philadelphia area these two services are extremely competitive with D* today. I receive every possible FIOS channel (around 300 or so) for $ 114.99 which is very competitive with D*. And I bundle in unlimited phone and internet (20 Meg download, 5 upload) for a total about 200 dollars a month. Comcast offers about the same but slower download at 16 Meg.

4. As to those of you who say to use Netflix, I do. But you can’t legally copy DVD’s and some esoteric gems are not on DVD but are available from premium channels. And not all movies are available in HD, while many more are available in HD on Cinemax and other premium channels. So I create a large library of DVDs from my premium channel services that D* doesn’t have; I also archive some really good ones in HD to DVHS (for example, Alien and Aliens are not available in Blu-Ray but I have it on DVHS thanks to Cinemax HD).

5. Premium channels are much more than movies. D* doesn’t carry HBO comedy which has many archived comedy shows in addition to movies.

6. D*’s only advantage for me currently is NFL Sunday Ticket. Maybe someday the NFL will realize that there is a large base of customers who would buy it from their cable (regular or optical!) provider if they could.

7. D* RSN’s always seem to be showing junk that I don’t care about. Maybe it’s just bad timing on my part. Also, any game I do want to watch seems to be blacked out because it is also on one of the premium sports packages (NHL, MLB, or NBA). And Comcast refuses to let D* carry the Flyers or Phillies because Philadelphia is their home turf (or maybe Verizon has better negotiators since FIOS does have them).

Again, thanks for the serious replies, I just had to vent somehow.

 

[markfp-1]

I don't know about Mr. Carey, but it I got a letter that right off the bat called me a cheat, it would go straight into my shredder. If people expect the courtesy of a reply the should show a little courtesy in the first place.

 

[randyk47]

I would have thought an MBA would recognize a straw man argument. This "letter" will get the appropriate Form Letter 1 response of "thanks for your input" and then be ignored.

 

[dlma1]

First of all, it was not an ad hominem attack on Mr. Carey. It was directed at the company. Second, this is not the first time I complained to D*. I realize that the odds are it will be either ignored or I'll get the standard form letter. But sometimes CEOs do respond to folks who take the time to write a real letter instead of email. We'll see. As I said, it was an opportunity to vent more than anything else.

 

[randyk47]

Really? And what is "Why does Direct TV cheat its customers?" if not a straw man? Time for some CEU's.

 

[dlma1]

Sorry to play semantics - I said "Direct TV" NOT Mr. Carey. Carey <> DTV. Carey was not the founder. You may have an argument if I was talking about Ted Turner and CNN.

 

[randyk47]

Speaking of semantics.....I'd suggest you research a "straw man" argument versus an "ad hominen". Yours is a straw man and not a ad hominen.

 

[dlma1]

Sorry, Randy, I was mostly referring to mark-fp1, who was implying that I was making an ad hominem attack on Mr. Carey--which I was not. As to your statement that cheating customers was a "straw man" or a canard, you may be right. Of course, I am not saying that D* is guilty of fraud, it was deliberately meant to be provocative and perhaps get a response.

 

[shibby191]

Actually, my letter to Chase would be that I'm happy that he is not carrying "HBO 13: Repeats of the other 12 HBO channels". I'd much rather them not waste bandwidth on repeat movie channels and use it on unique channels. I'd be pretty upset if they carried Starz 22 HD instead of SciFi HD.

As for their business plan, it obviously works for them since they keep growing, 300+K just the last quarter while most other providers are losing subs. DirecTV has *never* carried all the movie channels and it has never hurt them. It continues to not hurt them. For every person like yourself that leave there are 10 more right behind you wanting to sign up. No carrier has every channel, choose the one that carries the channels you want.

 

[dlma1]

Technically you are right about D* not carrying everything. But in USSB days, they carried ALL of the Cinemaxes...
And for HBO, they "cheat" subscribers out of HBO Comedy and Zone. For Cinemax, they are the worst offender with only 3 channels! Starz/Encore is not too bad, although D* doesn't carry Encore HD, Retroplex, Indieplex, or Movieplex. Showtime/TMC is not bad although some channels are missing. As you can tell, this is pet peeve of mine. A bit of history, this whole "campaign" started when I was on the HBO/Cinemax web site, found several movies I wanted to see, and found that they were only on Action Max. I then started a complaint "campaign" which culminated in my defection to FIOS and the letter to Mr. Carey.

 

[JosephB]

They don't cheat anyone. They are very clear about what channels they offer and the price. If you don't like the offering, you are not forced to buy it. It's called capitalism.

 

[dlma1]

The "cheat" is in quotes. I know that. Thanks for stating the obvious.

 

[Joe Diamond]

I love it when you kids use the big words. It makes me want to rub something. I know you are just kidding about being angry with each other and even being unhappy with Big Brot....... Mr. Carry.

Now make nice and go to a movie together.

Joe

 

[Joe Diamond]

Thanks to all who responded. A few final thoughts:
1. I have been D* customer since 1996 and I have been generally satisfied with their service until recently. My letter to Mr. Carey was written because I grew increasingly frustrated by the lack of attention to the premium movie channels. If a customer pays in full for something, then they should receive full value for their purchase. It is particularly galling to get sales calls imploring me to buy HBO or especially Cinemax when D* only supplies a fraction of what is available.

2. D* almost certainly has the capacity to supply these channels. There must be some other rationale for not releasing bandwidth to them. I doubt that Mr. Carey will reveal the reason but I had to ask.

3. As to those of you who question the value of either Comcast or FIOS, at least in the Philadelphia area these two services are extremely competitive with D* today. I receive every possible FIOS channel (around 300 or so) for $ 114.99 which is very competitive with D*. And I bundle in unlimited phone and internet (20 Meg download, 5 upload) for a total about 200 dollars a month. Comcast offers about the same but slower download at 16 Meg.

4. As to those of you who say to use Netflix, I do. But you can’t legally copy DVD’s and some esoteric gems are not on DVD but are available from premium channels. And not all movies are available in HD, while many more are available in HD on Cinemax and other premium channels. So I create a large library of DVDs from my premium channel services that D* doesn’t have; I also archive some really good ones in HD to DVHS (for example, Alien and Aliens are not available in Blu-Ray but I have it on DVHS thanks to Cinemax HD).

5. Premium channels are much more than movies. D* doesn’t carry HBO comedy which has many archived comedy shows in addition to movies.

6. D*’s only advantage for me currently is NFL Sunday Ticket. Maybe someday the NFL will realize that there is a large base of customers who would buy it from their cable (regular or optical!) provider if they could.

7. D* RSN’s always seem to be showing junk that I don’t care about. Maybe it’s just bad timing on my part. Also, any game I do want to watch seems to be blacked out because it is also on one of the premium sports packages (NHL, MLB, or NBA). And Comcast refuses to let D* carry the Flyers or Phillies because Philadelphia is their home turf (or maybe Verizon has better negotiators since FIOS does have them).

Again, thanks for the serious replies, I just had to vent somehow.

I was pretty serious about my own non serious reply. I thought you were playing or a DTV customer who found her bottle before noon.

You been to graduate school?...Damn!

It is only TV!

Joe

 

[dlma1]

Joe Diamond: you continually say “it’s only TV”. If you don’t care about TV, then why are you a member of satellite guys? What are you using your dish for – serving flapjacks or what? As for my complaints, I just want to maximize my entertainment dollars and D*’s lack of attention to the premiums just really irritates me.
As for your question about my education, yes I have a BSBA and a MBA. What are you implying by saying “damn, you’ve been to graduate school”? Educated people can enjoy quality TV programming just like everyone else. Only snobs and liars among the intelligentsia claim that they don’t watch TV.

 

[dlma1]

Response Received from Office of the President

Well, at least it wasn't form letter but it might as well have been. I received a phone call today from one of Carey's minions. She expressed Mr. Carey's regrets but refused to give any guidance on when if ever, D* will add any more of the premium channels or HBO/CInemax on demand. Well, at least I had the opportunity to vent. All I can say is if you have access to FIOS, you should definitely consider it, especially if you like movies and series in HD. And if you live in the Philadelphia area and are a fan of the any of the local pro sports teams, FIOS or Comcast is the way to go since D* can't show home games provided by Comcast. D* is still a good choice for those in the following categories:

1. Those folks who love sports and don’t care about skimpy premiums.
2. Those folks who want NFL Sunday Ticket and don't want to have two services.
3. Those folks who live in a remote area with no cable or bad cable.

 

[satjay]

Well, at least it wasn't form letter but it might as well have been. I received a phone call today from one of Carey's minions. She expressed Mr. Carey's regrets but refused to give any guidance on when if ever, D* will add any more of the premium channels or HBO/CInemax on demand. Well, at least I had the opportunity to vent. All I can say is if you have access to FIOS, you should definitely consider it, especially if you like movies and series in HD. And if you live in the Philadelphia area and are a fan of the any of the local pro sports teams, FIOS or Comcast is the way to go since D* can't show home games provided by Comcast. D* is still a good choice for those in the following categories:

1. Those folks who love sports and don’t care about skimpy premiums.
2. Those folks who want NFL Sunday Ticket and don't want to have two services.
3. Those folks who live in a remote area with no cable or bad cable.

I cant speak for all states that have comcast, but in my area of Michigan it has the following:

1. Very few HD channels (maybe 15-20 or so)
2. 9.00 a month for an HD box for each box!!
3. 10.00 a month for a DVR box (each box)
4. Very high prices comapred to Directv compared to Choice plus HD/DVR you are looking at close to100.00 a month

Premimums may not be for everyone, my personal thoughts are that many of the movies are repeats from the 80 and 90's I also think you dont have to be a Sunday ticket fan to enjoy Direct TV. I cant compare FIOS becouse we dont have it in our area, and in comaparion to Dish for two HD/DVR TV's there price is about 15-20 dollars more a month.

I do wish that direct had more "lower packages" for the spring/summer months where we dont watch as much TV, but overall I am happy with their service

 

[sundude90]

What exactly did you write to him?

 

[dlma1]

I cant speak for all states that have comcast, but in my area of Michigan it has the following:

1. Very few HD channels (maybe 15-20 or so)
2. 9.00 a month for an HD box for each box!!
3. 10.00 a month for a DVR box (each box)
4. Very high prices comapred to Directv compared to Choice plus HD/DVR you are looking at close to100.00 a month

Premimums may not be for everyone, my personal thoughts are that many of the movies are repeats from the 80 and 90's I also think you dont have to be a Sunday ticket fan to enjoy Direct TV. I cant compare FIOS becouse we dont have it in our area, and in comaparion to Dish for two HD/DVR TV's there price is about 15-20 dollars more a month.

I do wish that direct had more "lower packages" for the spring/summer months where we dont watch as much TV, but overall I am happy with their service

Thank you for your thoughts. A few corrections - I only mentioned Comcast for Philly sports fans, not in general. But FIOS, to me, is the best choice because of the virtually unlimited capacity of fiber optics. And as for premium movie choices, there are esoteric gems not found elsewhere and many are in HD; D* simply doesn’t offer enough in my opinion. My main complaint with D* is that they seem biased towards the sports fan while FIOS and Comcast offer a more balanced approach by offering a wider selection of both movies and sports. And FIOS and Comcast (plus other cable companies, I'm sure), offer instant on demand while D* makes you wait at least 5 minutes for downloads to start. D*’s all too few claims to fame include the truly impressive (and equally expensive) NFL Sunday Ticket and the 101. To each his own, but D* has really disappointed me lately by their indifference to the requests of many customers who want more premiums and on demand choices. I’m glad that I live in an area where I have choices like FIOS and I only wish everyone did.

 

[dlma1]

See beginning of thread for my letter. I at least got a call - I only wish that they would listen and do something to address my concerns.