Trust Counts... A Note from SatelliteGuys Founder Scott Greczkowski

[microbeta]

Mike,

The thing with the field test how do they know that Master Deals didnt go out and buy one on the market and then did a review on it. The LNB was readly available on the market so the field test should have been over. IF directv wasnt ready then they shouldnt have released it to the market for open selling. If they were so worried then it shouldnt have been released. I can tell you from past experance from things like this generally once the product has been released to market then the feild test is over. Its crazy to harm one for doing a review on their products and promote their products as over 1/2 million people per day see the reviews. Alot of people choose to have D* from what they have learned here. Why not turn it into a positive and work with us as it would ultimatley benifit them. Thats my thing.

I agree that on the surface all seems above board.

However, when you consider everything one could argue that it may not have been.

BTW, do you really think that DirecTV didn't know who Masterdeals was when he began testing?

In my previous post I asked you the following:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/1374588-post109.html

...If you were DirecTV what would you do in this situation? Mind you, not what you think they should do or what you want them to do. What would you do in their shoes if one site ignores your requests and the other is willing to work with you?

All I'm asking is an honest answer.

Do you have an opinion on my post linked above?

Mike

 

[microbeta]

Thats the same thing we have been saying.. But appearently it was a big deal for others.

Then let me ask you this.

If you were running a test program and the testers made an agreement with a company supplying the components being tested. Further, following the agreement is part & parcel to continuing the program.

You invite some people from a "competing" group of testers and they make the same agreement to participate.

The they go ahead and do what they want, claim it's an exclusive, and don't consult anybody before doing so.

Can you not see how this might make you upset?

Or, would be worried about how this might effect the future of your testing program?

Mike

 

[tomcrown1]

Then let me ask you this.

If you were running a test program and the testers made an agreement with a company supplying the components being tested. Further, following the agreement is part & parcel to continuing the program.

You invite some people from a "competing" group of testers and they make the same agreement to participate.

The they go ahead and do what they want, claim it's an exclusive, and don't consult anybody before doing so.

Can you not see how this might make you upset?

Or, would be worried about how this might effect the future of your testing program?

Mike

Mike did James Long ask you to post here???

 

[HDTVsportasfan]

Im sorry I dont see where I insulted anybody. If what im saying is hitting home then maybe you need to take a step back and look. I dont know if any of you have seen the Steve Wilco's show. We are one alike... Our philisophy is the same. If you have seen his show then you know what im talking about as im a fan of moron free tv as some people just dont get it.

Oh come on Bob99, comments about "dish network moderators cant pull there heads out of their asses" and "These guys are so far up D*'s butt that they cant even realize it, so their skew is viewed". I guarantee you that if I posted that dribble over at DBStalk you and everyone one of your regular members here would be insulted. It has nothing to do with hitting close to home. You didn't even hit the perverbeal nailhead. I was a part of a "First Look" for a different product and it was released the way we submitted it.

I get it just fine my friend. I will not stoop to your level.

 

[goaliebob99]

I agree that on the surface all seems above board.

However, when you consider everything one could argue that it may not have been.

BTW, do you really think that DirecTV didn't know who Masterdeals was when he began testing?

In my previous post I asked you the following:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/1374588-post109.html



All I'm asking is an honest answer.

Do you have an opinion on my post linked above?

Mike

Mike, I don't know if directv realized who he was or not. I cant say as they were the one to make those decisions. Let's say they did, Since there was only a limited amount of people involved in the test having one person from our site was fine.

In regards to the Streaming test, we asked to have equal footing once it was released to the massess. It never happened and our members were shoved to the side when it was. Mind you this was before the review was released, before anything happened or was posted.

Now, as far as your posting, sorry I missed it. But My opinion is that we have shown more than enough that were willing to work with directv as we have done everything they have asked. Its that simple. Once they started to shove us to the side thats when we felt that we had to go on it on our own. We were trying to be diplomatic and sending emails etc. But for some reason they never responded and the powers that be decided the current course had to be taken. It was never a matter of not wanting to do what they wanted as if they would have ask and we would have most likely complied with what they wanted as long as it was within reason.

 

[goaliebob99]

Oh come on Bob99, comments about "dish network moderators cant pull there heads out of their asses" and "These guys are so far up D*'s butt that they cant even realize it, so their skew is viewed". I guarantee you that if I posted that dribble over at DBStalk you and everyone one of your regular members here would be insulted. It has nothing to do with hitting close to home. You didn't even hit the perverbeal nailhead. I was a part of a "First Look" for a different product and it was released the way we submitted it.

I get it just fine my friend. I will not stoop to your level.

As far as there dish mods..... Two words, James Long. Enough said. Im not going to get into a pissing match, There's no need to and its getting old, but from what I noticed and this is only from my observations and thats what I posted. If im thinking it, then you can bet there is many other people that are thinking the same, but just hasnt said it publicly because they are afraid of the repersussions. Im a straight shooter I'll tell it to your face like a man, even if you dont like it. Thats just the way I am.

 

[goaliebob99]

Then let me ask you this.

If you were running a test program and the testers made an agreement with a company supplying the components being tested. Further, following the agreement is part & parcel to continuing the program.

You invite some people from a "competing" group of testers and they make the same agreement to participate.

The they go ahead and do what they want, claim it's an exclusive, and don't consult anybody before doing so.

Can you not see how this might make you upset?

Or, would be worried about how this might effect the future of your testing program?

Mike

Mike I dont think you realize this, Before the review was posted we tryed to work with all partys involved. We exahsted all diplomatic options and the powers to be decided that the course we took was the way we had to go. Trust me we want to work with directv. But when your hands are tied behind your back there is so much you can do.

 

[microbeta]

Mike I dont think you realize this, Before the review was posted we tryed to work with all partys involved. We exahsted all diplomatic options and the powers to be decided that the course we took was the way we had to go. Trust me we want to work with directv. But when your hands are tied behind your back there is so much you can do.

I did know that. It's been discussed about more than once(I've been lurking here for about a year and a member for about 8months)

Mike

 

[microbeta]

Mike, I don't know if directv realized who he was or not. I cant say as they were the one to make those decisions. Let's say they did, Since there was only a limited amount of people involved in the test having one person from our site was fine.

In regards to the Streaming test, we asked to have equal footing once it was released to the massess. It never happened and our members were shoved to the side when it was. Mind you this was before the review was released, before anything happened or was posted.

Now, as far as your posting, sorry I missed it. But My opinion is that we have shown more than enough that were willing to work with directv as we have done everything they have asked. Its that simple. Once they started to shove us to the side thats when we felt that we had to go on it on our own. We were trying to be diplomatic and sending emails etc. But for some reason they never responded and the powers that be decided the current course had to be taken. It was never a matter of not wanting to do what they wanted as if they would have ask and we would have most likely complied with what they wanted as long as it was within reason.

Be careful, a comment that like makes it seem like you guys intended to get the jump on outing the field test.

Further, it makes it look like you shouldn't be trusted in future field tests.

And, let me be very clear on this, I believe that if you're willing to work within the guidelines you should participate the field tests of components.

However, you say things like this and everyone will believe you guys can't be trusted. Would that be a reactionary stance...yes but not unfounded.

Comments like that could leave you without a "course" of action available to you. You could be locked out completely.

What's worse, you make it seem like this is DBSTalk's fault. As if DirecTV will allow an online forum to dictate how it does business.

Hey, I was willing to go some here and not be reactionary. You're leaving little doubt of your intentions.

Mike

 

[HDTVsportasfan]

As far as there dish mods..... Two words, James Long. Enough said. Im not going to get into a pissing match, There's no need to and its getting old, but from what I noticed and this is only from my observations and thats what I posted. If im thinking it, then you can bet there is many other people that are thinking the same, but just hasnt said it publicly because they are afraid of the repersussions. Im a straight shooter I'll tell it to your face like a man, even if you dont like it. Thats just the way I am.

Well....I don't have nor do I know of the history you are referring to. And I'm not asking. I don't want to get into a pissing contest either or be the cause one.

I'm a big boy, you can straight shoot all you want. In turn I will be a straight shooter as well.
You are preaching about wanting to work together etc. It may not matter much to you....but if you want cooperation from the "regular" members like myself and others on the "DirecTV" side at DBStalk then you need to do a better job of it because you are doing it very poorly at the present moment w/some of your comments.

Have a good evening goalie.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Folks...

I thank you all for your comments even from those who didn't agree with that I had to say. I truly appreciate folks who are passionate about what they do and believe in.

I am going to close this thread for a bit as there have been some rapid developments in the pst 2 hours and for the time being there is no reason to argue about anything.

I plan to reopen the thread for posting after I have posted about the new developments.

Thank you and STAY TUNED!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

They say that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

When I stated this thread yesterday I was nervous about posting it, yet I also felt like a giant weight was lifted off my chest.

While I wrote a lot in my posting yesterday is what I talked about wasn’t even half of what was bugging me. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes and yesterday I finally took all I could and posted what I did.

Last night I went to bed thinking if I did the right thing, as I didn’t really hear anything from anyone in an official role about my post.

Today again nothing but silence, that was until I was making dinner and my phone rang. It was DirecTV calling. I had a lump in my throat as I knew they could be calling to tell me that they were calling to cut off all ties with us.

Thankfully that is not the call I received.

My posting seemed to echo in the halls at DirecTV, what was an issue that was on the back burners suddenly became a top priority. Yes my post angered some but then some of the folks stepped back and took a look at things from our angle. When they did that they understood why we were upset.

Without giving too many details I am proud to announce that we here at SatelliteGuys.US will be working even closer then ever with DirecTV. SatelliteGuys will be fully participating in the DirecTV CE Program. In addition in the future we will be able to have some of our members participate in field tests of new DirecTV equipment as well. In addition DirecTV is also opening up some other things, which will make it easier to communicate with them so that we can avoid anything like this in the future.

The call was open and passionate and I could tell that the person on the phone really meant what he was saying. (I don’t know if he wants to be identified here, so out of respect I wont at this time.)

I am proud to say that Jason Crandall (aka MasterDeals) will be the lead SatelliteGuys staff member and will oversee our DirecTV forums and CE Program. Jason his the heart and desire burning in him to help folks with DirecTV stuff. His drive is equal to what I have seen of Earl Bonovich and Tom Robertson of DBSTalk. I know he will do a great job. Our other DirecTV staff will remain where they are however Jason will be the main liaison between SatelliteGuys and DirecTV. Other DirecTV staff members also have access to other communications means with DirecTV that has been provided to us by DirecTV.

I myself will be handing off the reigns to Jason, and while I will be active in the DirecTV area, Jason will be at the helm. I have never wanted to take away the CE program from anyone or want to run the CE program, I just wanted to see that SatelliteGuys members were included. After talking to DirecTV I am now comfortable knowing that we will be part of the process and that our readers will be able to learn the latest on DirecTV here at SatelliteGuys.US. I don’t mind taking a step back as I have many things cooking on the burners that warrant my attention.

As far as our review goes, again I would like to apologize for us calling it an exclusive review. That was a mistake and I should have noticed it when it was posted. The folks at DirecTV were not upset at our review, nor did they feel that we violated anything by posting it since the LNB’s are now out there. Since the LNB’s have been released someone else could have got their hands on one and posted their own review scooping both us and DBSTalk. DirecTV did ask that if we do post reviews (and I am sure we will be doing a few in the future) to send them for them to check over so that all the technical details are correct. They don’t want to edit our reviews, just make sure the facts are indeed the facts. I find this very fair.

The call from DirecTV was a very pleasant call and I was very grateful to receive it. I am proud that they think enough of what we do here to want us to help them. This means a lot to me as it means we can work to provide our members with the best DirecTV news talk and information possible.

In addition to the phone call from DirecTV, I also communicated with Tom Robinson of DBSTalk via PM’s. The PM’s were once again friendly in nature and I do honestly believe that we can indeed work together. I am actually very excited by the prospect.

As I sad before I am working on some things and would love to have members from other sites be part of what I am working on. I am looking to talking with Tom about these prospects. While we are from different sites there is no reason that our members cant do things such as special events together.

I am also told that we will be working with Doug Brott and I m looking forward to talking with him. I don’t believe that I have met or talked to Doug yet, but I do know in reading his writings that he is very sharp.

So in closing while I didn’t want to post what I did, now I am glad I did. I am also thankful that my cries for help did not land on deaf ears. I thank everyone at DirecTV for listening.

I also understand that while this time we got the help we are looking for that I am not going to post a message like I did just because I am not happy. This was hopefully a one-time thing and it was one of the last options I had left to cry for help.

I am excited by everything that has happened tonight, and in my mind there is no better time to be a SatelliteGuy!

Sometimes the squeaky wheel does get the grease.

 

[Ronnie-]

Congrats Scott! I am glad things are working out for both forums

 

[Shipsnake]

This is great news. Ever since i switched from E* to D* i have kinda felt left out. Maybe now i can read about things that directly effect my service again.:up

 

[JAG72]

The news is promising, but I will fully believe it when I see it.

 

[jcrandall]

Great news and great progress for everyone involved! Thank you Scott & DirecTV (and everyone from DBSTalk too)

 

[darrencp22]

Bravo Scott and congrats Jason! It's great to see the CE program going full-steam at SatGuys! It really is as a great program that I think is greatly beneficial to both the tester and D.

Also, thank you DirecTV. They heard the concerns and responded. I'm very impressed!

It's the right thing to have America's #1 DBS provider and #1 DBS Forum in a friendly relationship.

Now how about that chat room?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Now how about that chat room?

The chat room is something I will have to talk to Tom about, I would just like to link to their from here.

But in doing so I think we (satelliteguys) should pay for part of their chat costs since we will be sponging off of them.

I would rather not see us hold two seperate chat rooms for the same thing at the same time.

We would also have to note that when you are in the CE chat you are subject to their rules since its not actually our chat.

 

[JAG72]

Scott or Jason, Does this also mean that we will be able to get a few people to also test the media share feature?

 

[tomcrown1]

Scott I know your work with DBSTALK will be helpfull at least you will not work with that idot James Long---Like I have posted before everyone at DBSTALK seems to be fair except for James.