Rant--I'm done with DirecTV

[orrelse]

To make a long story short, we just bought a house, so we moved. I had an appointment with DirecTV to do the mover's connection, as well as hook up HD service in our home. For some reason, they made 2 separate appointments on the same day, a Friday. One for the morning, one for the afternoon. Fine. Well, no one showed at all for the morning appointment. I had to take off of work to be at home for the appointment. When I called DTV they said it was the local installers problem, nothing they could do. Whatever. Finally at 3 PM an installer shows up and gets an attitude after I asked if he was the morning appointment or the afternoon appointment. I was obviously frustrated, but not out of line at any point, but this guy continues with the attitude after I ask further questions about the job he is there to do. He decides he doesn't want to do the install and leaves.

I called DTV and they said they would escalate the problem. I don't hear anything so I called DTV back the next morning. They don't see a problem with it seeing they have already rescheduled my install. I wasn't satisfied with this, so I spent 4 hours on the phone on a Saturday tracking down the local office with no help from DirecTV corporate. Finally I get the local office to install my DTV on a Sunday morning--just in time for football. Even after the install, I called Customer Retention and explained my problem and asked them to do a complaint against the local office for missing an install appointment. They agreed wholeheartedly and even gave me 10 bucks off of my bill for a year.

Okay, problem solved, right?

The next week I decided I wanted to upgrade my reciever to an HD DVR. I fork out the 300 bones for it, and schedule an install. I specifically wrote this info down, 9 December, 1-5 local. Friday, (the day before the install) I check on DTV online to make sure everything is good to go. MY APPOINTMENT GOT MOVED TO 16 DECEMBER AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO CALL ME AND LET ME KNOW THIS.

I spent another 2 hours back and forth with DTV on the phone trying to figure out what happened, and with them giving me the company line that is now getting famous, "Nothing we can do, the local installer changed it". Again, no accountability from DTV corporate, and once again they could care less about inconveniencing a customer because they know they have the Sunday Ticket monopoly.

Well, I am officially taking the hit and paying the penalty to get out of my current contract. I can't stand the attitude of this company and I'll make sure I write enough letters to the BBB, FTC and Attorney General to create some waves. I doubt anything will ever get done, but....I'm tired of it.
I've been a loyal customer for 3 years, A-list, everything. Is this how they treat their customers?

Am I out of line?

BTW, first post here, long time lurker though.

 

[ScoBuck]

To make a long story short, we just bought a house, so we moved. I had an appointment with DirecTV to do the mover's connection, as well as hook up HD service in our home. For some reason, they made 2 separate appointments on the same day, a Friday. One for the morning, one for the afternoon. Fine. Well, no one showed at all for the morning appointment. I had to take off of work to be at home for the appointment. When I called DTV they said it was the local installers problem, nothing they could do. Whatever. Finally at 3 PM an installer shows up and gets an attitude after I asked if he was the morning appointment or the afternoon appointment. I was obviously frustrated, but not out of line at any point, but this guy continues with the attitude after I ask further questions about the job he is there to do. He decides he doesn't want to do the install and leaves.

I called DTV and they said they would escalate the problem. I don't hear anything so I called DTV back the next morning. They don't see a problem with it seeing they have already rescheduled my install. I wasn't satisfied with this, so I spent 4 hours on the phone on a Saturday tracking down the local office with no help from DirecTV corporate. Finally I get the local office to install my DTV on a Sunday morning--just in time for football. Even after the install, I called Customer Retention and explained my problem and asked them to do a complaint against the local office for missing an install appointment. They agreed wholeheartedly and even gave me 10 bucks off of my bill for a year.

Okay, problem solved, right?

The next week I decided I wanted to upgrade my reciever to an HD DVR. I fork out the 300 bones for it, and schedule an install. I specifically wrote this info down, 9 December, 1-5 local. Friday, (the day before the install) I check on DTV online to make sure everything is good to go. MY APPOINTMENT GOT MOVED TO 16 DECEMBER AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO CALL ME AND LET ME KNOW THIS.

I spent another 2 hours back and forth with DTV on the phone trying to figure out what happened, and with them giving me the company line that is now getting famous, "Nothing we can do, the local installer changed it". Again, no accountability from DTV corporate, and once again they could care less about inconveniencing a customer because they know they have the Sunday Ticket monopoly.

Well, I am officially taking the hit and paying the penalty to get out of my current contract. I can't stand the attitude of this company and I'll make sure I write enough letters to the BBB, FTC and Attorney General to create some waves. I doubt anything will ever get done, but....I'm tired of it.
I've been a loyal customer for 3 years, A-list, everything. Is this how they treat their customers?

Am I out of line?

BTW, first post here, long time lurker though.

My opinion - if they miss an appointment, you should be compensated somehow. When a similar thing happened to me, I asked for the customer retention department, they took care of me to my satisfaction.

And no, I don't think this is the way they INTEND to treat their customers (and same for DISH, or cable, etc). I just think that when you have so many people (and some are outside 3rd party contractors) - this will happen as unfortunate as it is.

 

[Robert NTSC Archivist]

I have to agree. Weather it be DirecTV, Dish Network or the cable company they unfortuantly cant control what a third party installer did or did not do.

No company intends to treat is customers that way. What will happen is possibly the guy who was supposed to do the install will get fired. Unless of ourse he is the only one in the area doing them then he can possibly get a way with stuff like that as he knows there is no one to take his place.

 

[charper1]

Agreed; the current system of contracted installs leaves a lot to be desired. These companies need to have more background checked and quality accountability;maybe DBS providers need to have only their own employees, but then it would be near impossible to offer free basic installs and they would likely never have enough installers to go around and all subscriber cost would go up to cover those costs. The process is a damned if they, do damned if they don't. Too much heat is falling on the signal provider and not nearly enough onto the local install company. File a BBB and DirecTV complaint, and get something worked out.

 

[FlyingJ]

Sounds to me like you are getting worked up a bit to much . Yup, your were screwed by that local installer...yup, D* probably didn't do enough for you to rectify the situation. But....with all of the hours you say you put into this and the future time with letters etc... no, do something fun with the family instead because the system will not be fixed by your actions anytime soon. Just my opinion, and what are ya gonna do when a similar thing happens with your local cable co. or E*?

 

[T_N_T]

To make a long story short, we just bought a house, so we moved. I had an appointment with DirecTV to do the mover's connection, as well as hook up HD service in our home. For some reason, they made 2 separate appointments on the same day, a Friday. One for the morning, one for the afternoon. Fine. Well, no one showed at all for the morning appointment. I had to take off of work to be at home for the appointment. When I called DTV they said it was the local installers problem, nothing they could do. Whatever. Finally at 3 PM an installer shows up and gets an attitude after I asked if he was the morning appointment or the afternoon appointment. I was obviously frustrated, but not out of line at any point, but this guy continues with the attitude after I ask further questions about the job he is there to do. He decides he doesn't want to do the install and leaves.

I called DTV and they said they would escalate the problem. I don't hear anything so I called DTV back the next morning. They don't see a problem with it seeing they have already rescheduled my install. I wasn't satisfied with this, so I spent 4 hours on the phone on a Saturday tracking down the local office with no help from DirecTV corporate. Finally I get the local office to install my DTV on a Sunday morning--just in time for football. Even after the install, I called Customer Retention and explained my problem and asked them to do a complaint against the local office for missing an install appointment. They agreed wholeheartedly and even gave me 10 bucks off of my bill for a year.

Okay, problem solved, right?

The next week I decided I wanted to upgrade my reciever to an HD DVR. I fork out the 300 bones for it, and schedule an install. I specifically wrote this info down, 9 December, 1-5 local. Friday, (the day before the install) I check on DTV online to make sure everything is good to go. MY APPOINTMENT GOT MOVED TO 16 DECEMBER AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO CALL ME AND LET ME KNOW THIS.

I spent another 2 hours back and forth with DTV on the phone trying to figure out what happened, and with them giving me the company line that is now getting famous, "Nothing we can do, the local installer changed it". Again, no accountability from DTV corporate, and once again they could care less about inconveniencing a customer because they know they have the Sunday Ticket monopoly.

Well, I am officially taking the hit and paying the penalty to get out of my current contract. I can't stand the attitude of this company and I'll make sure I write enough letters to the BBB, FTC and Attorney General to create some waves. I doubt anything will ever get done, but....I'm tired of it.
I've been a loyal customer for 3 years, A-list, everything. Is this how they treat their customers?

Am I out of line?

BTW, first post here, long time lurker though.

Ok, this isen't just directv, I have had stuff like this happen with Comcast and Time Warner Cable. They have both changed install/repair stuff on me and failed to notify. Yeah its annoying, but every company has stuff happen like this.

 

[grydlok]

To make a long story short, we just bought a house, so we moved. I had an appointment with DirecTV to do the mover's connection, as well as hook up HD service in our home. For some reason, they made 2 separate appointments on the same day, a Friday. One for the morning, one for the afternoon. Fine. Well, no one showed at all for the morning appointment. I had to take off of work to be at home for the appointment. When I called DTV they said it was the local installers problem, nothing they could do. Whatever. Finally at 3 PM an installer shows up and gets an attitude after I asked if he was the morning appointment or the afternoon appointment. I was obviously frustrated, but not out of line at any point, but this guy continues with the attitude after I ask further questions about the job he is there to do. He decides he doesn't want to do the install and leaves.

I called DTV and they said they would escalate the problem. I don't hear anything so I called DTV back the next morning. They don't see a problem with it seeing they have already rescheduled my install. I wasn't satisfied with this, so I spent 4 hours on the phone on a Saturday tracking down the local office with no help from DirecTV corporate. Finally I get the local office to install my DTV on a Sunday morning--just in time for football. Even after the install, I called Customer Retention and explained my problem and asked them to do a complaint against the local office for missing an install appointment. They agreed wholeheartedly and even gave me 10 bucks off of my bill for a year.

Okay, problem solved, right?

The next week I decided I wanted to upgrade my reciever to an HD DVR. I fork out the 300 bones for it, and schedule an install. I specifically wrote this info down, 9 December, 1-5 local. Friday, (the day before the install) I check on DTV online to make sure everything is good to go. MY APPOINTMENT GOT MOVED TO 16 DECEMBER AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO CALL ME AND LET ME KNOW THIS.

I spent another 2 hours back and forth with DTV on the phone trying to figure out what happened, and with them giving me the company line that is now getting famous, "Nothing we can do, the local installer changed it". Again, no accountability from DTV corporate, and once again they could care less about inconveniencing a customer because they know they have the Sunday Ticket monopoly.

Well, I am officially taking the hit and paying the penalty to get out of my current contract. I can't stand the attitude of this company and I'll make sure I write enough letters to the BBB, FTC and Attorney General to create some waves. I doubt anything will ever get done, but....I'm tired of it.
I've been a loyal customer for 3 years, A-list, everything. Is this how they treat their customers?

Am I out of line?

BTW, first post here, long time lurker though.

You where right to be upset about being missed, but it's more to it than the installer getting "attitude. IMO I think you grilled him like all this was his fault, and he rolled out. I would have left also. You can complain all you want but don't assume it doesn't happen everywhere. Call verizon and see how much of a run around they give you.

 

[srs913]

And you think Dish Network will treat you any better, no offense but they operate the same way direct does when it comes to customer service. Dish doesn't care about you anymore then direct does, bottom line is is that they want your money and thats it. As a former installer for dish, and im glad to say former installer, Dish is an Evil empire and they will always continue to be.

 

[scotsmanron]

Sounds to me like you are getting worked up a bit to much . Yup, your were screwed by that local installer...yup, D* probably didn't do enough for you to rectify the situation. But....with all of the hours you say you put into this and the future time with letters etc... no, do something fun with the family instead because the system will not be fixed by your actions anytime soon. Just my opinion, and what are ya gonna do when a similar thing happens with your local cable co. or E*?

I disagree. Unless we rise up and tell these customer service people that we aren't happy and make them pay the price, in other words hit them in the wallet, nothing is going to be done and it perpetuates.

I had a repair appointment today and no one showed up two hours past the time. I called D*. $100 credit right on the spot. This is on top of the of all the other credits that they've given me over this.

They called the install company and they got someone here about 4:30. The guy was as nice as could be. Did the job, fixed everything and I was satisfied. I'm sure the problem isn't him, it's Bruister. This isn't the first time I've had jerks on the phone with them. It's their job to make me happy, within reason, not the other way around.

 

[vurbano]

I disagree. Unless we rise up and tell these customer service people that we aren't happy and make them pay the price, in other words hit them in the wallet, nothing is going to be done and it perpetuates.

I had a repair appointment today and no one showed up two hours past the time. I called D*. $100 credit right on the spot. This is on top of the of all the other credits that they've given me over this.

They called the install company and they got someone here about 4:30. The guy was as nice as could be. Did the job, fixed everything and I was satisfied. I'm sure the problem isn't him, it's Bruister. This isn't the first time I've had jerks on the phone with them. It's their job to make me happy, within reason, not the other way around.

I agree with you. Ignore the D* spin people on the forum.

 

[ScoBuck]

I agree with you. Ignore the D* spin people on the forum.

And that HAS TO INCLUDE YOU ALSO. You are the ultimate NEGATIVE D* spin person.

 

[Seabow]

It sucks that your local installers treated you that way. Sounds to me though, that D * tried to make ammends by giving you 10 bucks off a month for a year. Rather than cancelling D* why not just ask for more credits? Because what happened to you with D* can happen to you with E* or cable or the phone guy, etc.

In fact I recently had a similar experience. I bought two sofas earlier this year. I was told it would be delivered on a specific date. Two days before I was to receive my new sofas I got rid of the old ones to make room. But on the day I was supposed to receive it, the delivery never showed up. I called the furniture company and they said that the sofas were delayed from the manufacturer (custom fabric) and so I had to wait another week. But my old sofas are gone, so now I have no sofa in the family room for an entire week! My wife was upset. But I took it in stride. These things happen. One week later, we get our sofas. Everything is good. In a couple of years, I won't even remember this happened. So what's the big deal? Life is too short to be impatient and get upset over little things like that.

 

[thetractorking]

This is why you're frustrated...

I might be able to shed some light on why you (and many others) have been, and will continue to have installation problems.
DTV wants to get away from 3rd party "subcontractors", as we've been told. I went to work for one of the mega installer companies that's getting all of the Dtv work.
The pay and working conditions are terrible. In my area, we have a tech meeting that starts at 7 am on a set day of the week. I have never failed to hear "if you don't like it here, go work for somebody else" every week. The turnover is horrendous, and I figure that they keep the average tech for about 2 to 3 months, before he/she gets fed up with the hours, pay, and disrespect.
This company provides a van, bird dog, and drop. The tech has to provide his own tools. The company pays the tech as follows:
15 to put up the dish
15 to put in each reciever
slightly more for "advanced" equipment, like HD receivers, or DVRs.
We work six days a week, and every 6th Sunday. My work week averaged 70 to 80 hours. By the time taxes, tool bank, uniform bank, and a small child support payment were deducted, I was netting 4 dollars an hour.
All this for having to:
crawl under houses, crawl around in hot, itchy insulation filled attics, out in muddy yards, moving customers thousand pound entertainment centers so you could get to the wiring in back, putting up with the customer who treats you like, well, you know.
I keep in touch with a couple of guys I met while I worked there--these guys can't afford to quit due to one thing or another, and they've all told me it's just getting worse. More customers upgrading to DVRs or HD equipment, and they just can't keep up.
I think DTV has purposefully distanced themselves from the installation and service part, so they can honestly blame someone else. Meanwhile, they're making the money, not the techs.
I hope this doesnt' sound bitter, it's meant to be a factual peek into what's going on. I really enjoyed much of the job, but they'd have to cut my hours and pay me triple to go back.

 

[Kikkenit2]

FWIW I just upgraded to new dish and HR20 DVR. Installer and his trainee were D* employees. They were friendly and polite. They were even 5 minutes early (7:55 AM). The only thing they did wrong was hook up to the tv with the s-video cable that my dvd player had been using. I whipped out the component cables and all was good.

 

[canekid]

All I can say is Ironwood sucks.

I know you have a bad taste from DTV, but they are just as frustrated as you. Or at least that has been my experience.

To get the guy from Ironwood to finish the install, I had to bribe him, cash, and even still it wasn't done right. I had to tweek it myself. But I like tinkering around. I would have been more upset if I couldn't fix it and have to depend on on Ironwood again.

This is PAR... If you get a good first install and working 100% without call back, you have hit a whole in one. Seriously. This wasn't always this way. It was better int the past, but the industry is getting sloppy and I am not sure what can be done. DTV would love to not do business with Ironwood, but they are stuck right now.

Dish has their own installation division, so when those guys come out they are Dish employees and that does not mean they will be good installers, it just means you can get a little better response time.

I called DTV about my experience, I emailed them about my experience. Then I forgot about it... I let it go. Then a week and a half later they called me, wanted to hear the problem again. They appologies and waited... Silence... then I asked for compensation for the bribe and material I had to get from the store to complete the job.... He gave me $100.. Seems like a common compensation value.

I was a bit suprised that he didn't just offer compensation off the bat but maybe they just wait and see what the customer asks for. I am not one to ask for more than my loss.. I could have asked for a free HR20, but I am not ready for that yet.

Anyway... As long as the sats stay in orbit and the HD lineup continues to grow, I am willing to deal with the hastle.

Next time I am going to put the bribe up first thing, maybe I will get better serives. You do tipe your waitress right? Maybe this is what needs to be done. I just don't know how the system works.

 

[orrelse]

I think I've given this company more than enough leeway.

I could care less about discounts on my bill, I want them to install my equipment when they say they will. I lost a whole day of work waiting for them on that first install.

Those of you that say I'm over-reacting, you can just keep getting sh*t on in life and see how far that gets you.

Let me ask this, if I'm paying for Satellite service and NFL Sunday Ticket, and DTV promises me that they will move my dish and set my receivers up on a certain date--AND DON'T, I'm supposed to let that be water off a duck's back and forget about it? Nope. I'm paying for the service and they aren't living up to their end of the bargain. For every good experience I have with this company, I get two bad ones in return.

I know that these satellite companies and the cable companies finally have competition surrounding them, and they pucker every time you mention switching. Hopefully my letter to the Prez and a enough FTC, BBB and attorney general complaints will make them see the light. Not expecting much, but you bet I'm going to pursue it.

 

[grydlok]

FWIW I just upgraded to new dish and HR20 DVR. Installer and his trainee were D* employees. They were friendly and polite. They were even 5 minutes early (7:55 AM). The only thing they did wrong was hook up to the tv with the s-video cable that my dvd player had been using. I whipped out the component cables and all was good.

There are NO D* installer.

 

[grydlok]

I agree with you. Ignore the D* spin people on the forum.

D* spin people???

I see both sides of the issue because I been on both sides of it.

 

[scotsmanron]

It sucks that your local installers treated you that way. Sounds to me though, that D * tried to make ammends by giving you 10 bucks off a month for a year. Rather than cancelling D* why not just ask for more credits? Because what happened to you with D* can happen to you with E* or cable or the phone guy, etc.

In fact I recently had a similar experience. I bought two sofas earlier this year. I was told it would be delivered on a specific date. Two days before I was to receive my new sofas I got rid of the old ones to make room. But on the day I was supposed to receive it, the delivery never showed up. I called the furniture company and they said that the sofas were delayed from the manufacturer (custom fabric) and so I had to wait another week. But my old sofas are gone, so now I have no sofa in the family room for an entire week! My wife was upset. But I took it in stride. These things happen. One week later, we get our sofas. Everything is good. In a couple of years, I won't even remember this happened. So what's the big deal? Life is too short to be impatient and get upset over little things like that.

I bet you would be singing a different tune if it was a jewelry store that ordered a watch for your wife's birthday and called you the day before and told you that it was going to be late!!! How long would it take you for your blood pressure to be up and you to be yelling that you would never be in that store again unless they did something for you? What the heck though....life is too short to be impatient and get upset over little things like that.

 

[scotsmanron]

I think I've given this company more than enough leeway.

I could care less about discounts on my bill, I want them to install my equipment when they say they will. I lost a whole day of work waiting for them on that first install.

Those of you that say I'm over-reacting, you can just keep getting sh*t on in life and see how far that gets you.

Let me ask this, if I'm paying for Satellite service and NFL Sunday Ticket, and DTV promises me that they will move my dish and set my receivers up on a certain date--AND DON'T, I'm supposed to let that be water off a duck's back and forget about it? Nope. I'm paying for the service and they aren't living up to their end of the bargain. For every good experience I have with this company, I get two bad ones in return.

I know that these satellite companies and the cable companies finally have competition surrounding them, and they pucker every time you mention switching. Hopefully my letter to the Prez and a enough FTC, BBB and attorney general complaints will make them see the light. Not expecting much, but you bet I'm going to pursue it.

You hit the nail on the head. This may only be TV and in the long run, it's no big deal but when I look at how much I'm spending a year on my D* bills and my TVs, well, it must be pretty darned important to me!!!!