Terrible experience with new DirecTV install....help!

[pokey]

All,

During the summer I switched from UVerse to DTV. Haven't used it much during the summer, but now as the fall chill is setting in (not to mention Football, Hockey and Baseball playoffs) we are using TV more and more. We had a Genie (HR34) install with 5 clients and a separate HD receiver for the main bedroom. This includes the Ethernet adapter thingy (sorry, forget what it's called) which I believe is used to deliver DVR content to the no genie receiver.

Though the main receiver works great, the Genie clients are constantly hanging (requiring hard reset) and the separate receiver almost always loses connectivity to the main Genie box for DVR functions. When watching recorded content, almost every time we try to fast forward, the image freezes or becomes unwatchable and when watching live TV the picture often hangs - sometimes so often it's tough to even watch.

I've talked to customer service a couple times and lost my patience with them while they suggest things like "reboot" which is what I've done at least 50 times at this point. I don't see others complaining about this -- wondering what might be going wrong. My wife has lost any confidence in this system, and I'm not far behind.

I've had many different content solutions in the past, and this is by far the worse I've ever experienced. I'd like to be armed with more info before I start fighting with DirecTV customer support again.

Help!

 

[raoul5788]

There are numerous reports similar to yours that I have read. Have you had a tech out to troubleshoot your setup? I would try that first. If you get no satisfaction, send an email here: ellen.filipiak@directv.com. That's the office of the president. They are very good at solving problems like yours. Good luck, and come on back and let us know how it goes.

 

[jcrandall]

The client receivers are poor quality to say the least - especially coming off the HR34 Genie, clients are noticeably slow.

I would get a service call and have everything checked, if it continues I'd contact the office Chip mentioned above and try to get those client boxes switched to actual HD receivers.
Changing a C31 to a H25 would eliminate most of what you are experiencing.

 

[dalyew]

What everyone else said but I would insist on getting a HR44 dvr and C41 clients. I was warned to make sure that I got that when I switched from Dish to Direct last month and glad I did. This system is just as fast as Dish's Hopper and I've only had some occasional IR remote syncing problems on the C41s but other than that, none of the problems some people with the HR34s are having.

Seems Direct knows of the HR34 issues as many has mentioned it in this forum, so it won't be an unusual incident you're reporting.

Sorry you're going through this but I think you will get some resolution. I'm loving my experience with them so far, I only wish I came to them earlier. .. oh, I take that back..... that would mean I would've gotten a funky HR34 system & not the more stable 44.

Good luck!

 

[Claude Greiner]

An even better experience would to go with HR24's instead of the clients.

 

[gadgtfreek]

The client receivers are poor quality to say the least - especially coming off the HR34 Genie, clients are noticeably slow.

I would get a service call and have everything checked, if it continues I'd contact the office Chip mentioned above and try to get those client boxes switched to actual HD receivers.
Changing a C31 to a H25 would eliminate most of what you are experiencing.

It must be the HR34, my client + HR44 has been fine. No more laggy than the Joey and Hopper.

 

[rdehaven]

I've had the techs out 3 times. Most recently this past Friday. This time the tech claimed it was the cable ends from the dish. I have HR44 and 2 C31's. In my case the HR44 works well consistently. The C31's go blank and will not recover until I reset the HR44 or perform a system check on the HR44. A hard reset of the C31's does NOT resolve the issue.

I do not have the protection plan. I dont agree to paying for a service plan for equipment they own. The tech added it for a 30 day trial on his last visit. I asked him to remove it but he indicated he could not. As a result I needed to call back in and talk to an agent about removing it.

With Genie issues as well as the missing OTA subchannels (from sat or AM21), I am finding that I am near the end of my patience with DTV.

 

[raoul5788]

Before deciding to leave Directv, try sending an email here: ellen.filipiak@directv.com. It's the office of the president and they are very good at resolving situations like yours.

 

[johnml]

I've had the same issues as far as the little genies needing hard resets from both the minis and the main receiver. I've had two techs out, the first removing the power saving feature and the second just replacing the mini that freezes up all the time. I still have issues and when I called Directv, they seemed surprised to hear that considering I had the latest and greatest equipment? I was curious if anyone else was having these same problems.

 

[dishcomm]

I've had the techs out 3 times. Most recently this past Friday. This time the tech claimed it was the cable ends from the dish. I have HR44 and 2 C31's. In my case the HR44 works well consistently. The C31's go blank and will not recover until I reset the HR44 or perform a system check on the HR44. A hard reset of the C31's does NOT resolve the issue.

I do not have the protection plan. I dont agree to paying for a service plan for equipment they own. The tech added it for a 30 day trial on his last visit. I asked him to remove it but he indicated he could not. As a result I needed to call back in and talk to an agent about removing it.

With Genie issues as well as the missing OTA subchannels (from sat or AM21), I am finding that I am near the end of my patience with DTV.

The protection plan will relieve you of paying full cost for service calls.
I believe the cost is $70 for a tech visit.
You can add and drop the service plan whenever. Just be mindful of the fee to drop the plan if not kept for a certain period of time.
Look, everyone wants free installation and free service calls. Customers don't even have to buy the equipment. I cannot understand why people complain about having to pay such small amounts for service calls.
During my years as a tech, one too many times I heard "I pay over a hundred dollars per month. I am not paying for you to come and fix my system"......
I usually reasoned with them and went about getting their tv back up and running.
I don't want to tell you how to spend your money, but as one consumer talking to another, I recommend the plan.
Oh, see if you can persuade Directv to offer you the C-41 clients

 

[Jimbo]

The protection plan will relieve you of paying full cost for service calls.
I believe the cost is $70 for a tech visit.
You can add and drop the service plan whenever. Just be mindful of the fee to drop the plan if not kept for a certain period of time.
Look, everyone wants free installation and free service calls. Customers don't even have to buy the equipment. I cannot understand why people complain about having to pay such small amounts for service calls.
During my years as a tech, one too many times I heard "I pay over a hundred dollars per month. I am not paying for you to come and fix my system"......
I usually reasoned with them and went about getting their tv back up and running.
I don't want to tell you how to spend your money, but as one consumer talking to another, I recommend the plan.
Oh, see if you can persuade Directv to offer you the C-41 clients

I think the service calls are now $49.99

 

[Liquidforce88]

And yet all I have seen for the last month is HR34's and C31's.

I am sure my TC-90's will go through the roof.

 

[rdehaven]

The opinion of others is always appreciated. Thanks. As you might have guessed I am a recent convert from cable. With cable, the boxes were rented and replaced at no charge as long as you went to their store/office to make the swap. Their monthly service plan was half of the fee being charged by DirecTV. I do not believe in rewarding/subsidizing substandard/unreliable equipment. In my opinion the service plan rewards them for producing/releasing buggy equipment.

If the plan was under $5/mo I'd likely sign up. I had it while I was a cable customer.

Another benefit with cable is that I rarely had any difficulty getting the desired equipment and never had to pay a grift fee to get the box I wanted.

P.S. I was mistaken, I do have a pair of the C41/700's and not the C31's.

 

[Joe Diamond]

I think you are correct about the buggy equipment........it just hurts everybody. Customers are annoyed by the crappy performance. Tech get overwhelmed by trying to keep up with the surge of service requests. The process grinds up funds. And you have to wonder about the defects. Are they surprises, unknown at the time of release?? Are they known and accepted as temporary measures until something better can be devised?
Maybe a little of each.

To put the buggy equipment into perspective it must be remembered that folks flocked to the small dish services because the service was better. Cable companies operated as if they were the only game in town. The sats changed this. It was the crappy service and poor quality picture that drove many into using the small sats. These days the cable companies seem to have learned their lesson. They now maintain their plant and offer more services; landline phone, internet & entertainment TV. Cable can compete with DirecTV. Perhaps Directv is about to learn the lesson as cable operators did. Make it work and keep it cheap.

DirecTV does have a reputation for fixing defects. But the service policy does seem to be paying twice for functional signal delivery equipment.

Joe

 

[bobvick]

An even better experience would to go with HR24's instead of the clients.

This is what I do. Even though I had to pay extra upfront for the HR24's (I have one HR21 too) it was well worth it to me. I seen no reason to pay them $6 per month for a "client" when you can get a full fleged dual tuner DVR for the same monthly fee. The only reason that I would ever think about a client is if there are space issues, I.E. a tight fit for a HR box, or MAYBE when the C41W comes out (wireless) so you could have a TV basically anywhere and would not have to worry about wires. Wouldn't want to rely on it as a main source though.

 

[wabbleknee]

I could see the $$ service call if it was something I caused or was my TV or the cat ate the cable etc. but to pay that for their equipment not working just don't seem right

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

This is what I do. Even though I had to pay extra upfront for the HR24's (I have one HR21 too) it was well worth it to me. I seen no reason to pay them $6 per month for a "client" when you can get a full fleged dual tuner DVR for the same monthly fee. The only reason that I would ever think about a client is if there are space issues, I.E. a tight fit for a HR box, or MAYBE when the C41W comes out (wireless) so you could have a TV basically anywhere and would not have to worry about wires. Wouldn't want to rely on it as a main source though.

The H25 receiver is small & convenient for tight spaces,you just don't have the DVR functions(pause,rewind,fast forward) for live TV. personally I have 3 HD DVR's(HR22-100,HR23-700,& HR24-500) & 2 HD receivers(H24-700 & H25-500),all with whole home MRV,so I haven't seen the need to upgrade to the Genie yet(except for keeping up with the Jones & having the new stuff). 5 Clients seems like a lot,I thought that the recommended max was 3? You should trade 2 of those clients for a HR2x DVR(preferably a HR24) & a H2x receiver(preferably a H25).

 

[bobvick]

The H25 receiver is small & convenient for tight spaces,you just don't have the DVR functions(pause,rewind,fast forward) for live TV. personally I have 3 HD DVR's(HR22-100,HR23-700,& HR24-500) & 2 HD receivers(H24-700 & H25-500),all with whole home MRV,so I haven't seen the need to upgrade to the Genie yet(except for keeping up with the Jones & having the new stuff). 5 Clients seems like a lot,I thought that the recommended max was 3? You should trade 2 of those clients for a HR2x DVR(preferably a HR24) & a H2x receiver(preferably a H25).

I dont have any clients, never used one. I have a HR44, three HR24's and a HR21. I was just saying that the only reason I would think of for a client would be if you needed something very small, or like I said when the C41W comes out, wireless in an area where it would be impossible to run a wire.

 

[Jimbo]

Cable can compete with DirecTV. Perhaps Directv is about to learn the lesson as cable operators did. Make it work and keep it cheap.

DirecTV does have a reputation for fixing defects. But the service policy does seem to be paying twice for functional signal delivery equipment.

Joe

I talk to people every day that leave Cable because thier prices keep going up.

 

[Joe Diamond]

I talk to people every day that leave Cable because thier prices keep going up.

I believe it,
But all cable experiences are local. The major cable providers are not nationwide. They all have bits and pieces. There are markets with two cable companies. My sense is that there are locations where cable competition is putting both companies out of business as they fight for a market that has been diluted by the sats. So, yes, their prices go up because cable has a minimum number of subscribers that must pay every month before a profit can be made. Above that break even point there is just not as many willing subscribers. Increased prices barely fill the gap and cause the herd to exit.

The sats have the same need for increases but they are more diversified around the country. I often wonder what percentage of all possible LOS addresses have a sat system. Of those addresses who will never get a sat installation do they have a cable account?

I wonder what the numbers really are.

Joe