What do D* customers think of D*?

[paulman182]

I've had both services and have always liked D* better.

Now that I've moved up to HD, I couldn't be happier with D*'s equipment and quality.

Sometimes the CSRs are clueless about billing problems, but as far as the actual satellite service is concerned, it's great.

 

[bidger`]

Been with DIRECTV for ten years at the end of this month. If I weren't happy, I wouldn't have stayed.

Never found any reason(s) compelling enough to switch to Dish, but I can understand a long-time Dish sub saying the same thing about their carrier.

 

[Cincyray]

Just Switched to D in the middle of December after 2 years with E . So far i love it the PQ is so much better as are the Hd listings. To bad not enough content is being shown in HD not D,s fault. I think the children programming is better my 2 yr loves Pbs Sprout which i did not get with E. I have no issues wirh E i just switched because of the promo for the first year. My wife likes D alot better than E thats always a plus to keep better half happy.

Plus next Nfl season i can get Sunday Ticket so i can watch my Beloved and Beleagured Bengals screw things up as i am in Reading Pa.

 

[stogie5150]

Directv USED to be the best value in TV. It isn't anymore.
1) It isn't the best overall SD/HD PQ anymore. the MPEG 4 is nice but far from reliable, in my experience.
2) It doesn't have the best hardware anymore. The Hr20 is sucessful because its the ONLY choice. Not the BEST choice. Gives subs a TIVO to choose from and those shiny new HR21's will be gathering dust in warehouses.
3) It damn sure isn't the cheapest service anymore, overall. I used to pay 25.00 less than the average cable subscriber for the same package in my area. Now? Virtually the same. AND I don't have to pay upfront NOR a termination fee from my cable company.
4) They have gone to a lease model whereby you PAY upfront to have the privilege of RENTING their box, AND lock you into a 2 year contract. Can you imagine if your cell phone company acted like that? Or you cable company? You'd laugh them out of the store. If I pay money up front I do NOT expect to pay every month AND give it back when I decide to cancel. uh-uh.
5) No trial period, so if you don't like it too bad. Pay your 400.00 termination fee to rid yourself of it if you don't like it. Which is what I am saving for right now, the termination fee.Soon as I raise it, D* is history.

BUT, if you HAVE to have your Sunday Ticket, its Directv or nothing. So suck it up and get a second job, because you will need the money, eventually.

 

[Jhon69]

Hello everyone,

I mainly post in the E* forums as I am an E* customer. I've been with them for a good 8 months now after being with D* for many years. In any event, i'm pretty disappointed right now. I'm really happy with E's hardware but their HD offering a pretty slim.

How is everyone's satisfaction with D*? Are you guys happy with your service right now?

YES.

 

[vmaxed]

I switched from Dish to Direct in October.I am very happy with there service.

In CT I had two dishes with Dish and one with Direct.

I now receive my locals in HD....

Ed...:up

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I'm the most happy with D* customer service.I like a 1 Dish solution for my area when HD is involved. I love D* HD access even with the choice package I still get over 40 HD channels . D* is my favorite Satellite provider and Television provider since 2003. E* cutomer service I hate. I'm not crazy about the crappy HD package.Voom is a complete waste of bandwidth and money. I love E* premium options ,a little better the D*. This the main reason I am keeping E*. Price's are fair but fee's can become quite a pain. Over all I'd give D*an 8 and E* a 7. But I still believe if FIOS came to my town tomorrow.D* and E* would be Kicked to the curb.

 

[jswinner]

Moved to DTV in October after more than 10 years with Dish. Dish has some real deficiencies in the Seattle area with 129 signal drops and Charlie's failure to negotiate a retrans consent with the local Fox affiliate.

Have had no such problems with DTV. No signal loss/drops. I get all four locals. Their HDDVR gets me where I want to go and has functioned flawlessly. I think the hardware is just as good as the 622 and the software isn't that far behind. The PQ on the new MPEG4 channels is superior to anything on Dish. And last (but no least) they don't route their calls offshore.

I am in the same boat with cebbigh. E* had a long wait (over 1 week) for me to upgrade, and then screwed up and never scheduled an installer.....Then would not do anything for me other than reschedule e.g. no $$$ back, though I wasted my day waiting for them.

Direct scheduled me for the day after I signed up for service, got it done even with crappy weather.

E* just sent me an offer to reactivate me and they would wave the $25 fee. Wow....

 

[Michael - AZ]

A Very Happy D* Customer

Hello,
Just joined this forum a short time ago, but felt that I should post a response to this question. I have been with D* for about four years, and have been extremely happy with everything. I have the Premium package, two HR20's and have had nothing but great service here in Tucson, AZ......especially since they turned on our local channels in HD several weeks ago. I absolutely LOVE all the new HD programming that finally arrived, after waiting (impatiently....like the rest of you).

Although I have never been a E* subscriber, one of my friends is, and when we play poker at his house, there is always an issue when his LCD in the den unexpectedly changes channels because his wife has set something to recored in their bedroom (TV2?)....quite entertaining when he scrambles to get back to the football game that we were watching....while playing poker.

I have also been reading these forums quite a bit, and I usually find myself laughing quite a bit when I read some of the horror stories that people post about their dealings with D* Customer Support. I do not doubt those stories, but I find myself in a position where I feel very fortunate, because I would grade my experience with D* CS about a 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. Guess I should feel very fortunate. Not only have they been very good, but they have also been very knowledgeable.

E* has been calling me regularly about becoming a sub, but there is NO WAY IN THE WORLD that I would ever do it. I'm a happy camper with D*

 

[markfp-1]

I've been with DirecTV since 1999 and have never been happier. I've always experienced excellent customer service. I know there are a lot of folks here who seem to have had problems and I'm not doubting them. With millions of customers there's bound to be glitches. However, remember, on forums like this usually it's the unhappy people who write in and the majoritywho are satisfied customers, don't bother.

 

[darrencp22]

I was with D* for many years. I switch to E about 8 months ago when I bought an HDTV because they had a good offering of HD and the retailer said E* was committed to staying the leader, blah blah blah. I now have less channels than if I would have stayed. I also thought Satellite providers would never carry MSG HD. Now D* has it. This is the real killer for me. Only if D* has a deal where they would pay my termination fee .

 

[jtn]

I was with D* for many years. I switch to E about 8 months ago when I bought an HDTV because they had a good offering of HD and the retailer said E* was committed to staying the leader, blah blah blah. I now have less channels than if I would have stayed. I also thought Satellite providers would never carry MSG HD. Now D* has it. This is the real killer for me. Only if D* has a deal where they would pay my termination fee .

It won't be long, Dish will have the same channels in HD and as many, hang in there, don't beat your self up.

 

[davesrave]

I've been with D* for about 6 years now and just upgraded to go HD. I've had many rain/snow fades and several complete outs over the years. Just thought I'd add my 2cents.

What's a "complete out"? I've never lost sat for more than a few minutes max, and only rarely, with both the 3 lnb for 3 years and the slimline for the last six months. HD no different than any other channels. Sounds like an alignment issue if you get "many" rain fades; not sure what "complete outs" are.

 

[FlyingJ]

I had D* until October 1, 2007 as a 8 year customer. I got E* in October 2006 (for comparison).

I left D* as I felt like they were getting emperor syndrome.

-My monthly bill kept going up $2-3 each year with no new channels to show for it.

- Price creep on Directv MLB Extra Innings had me take a flyer on the MLB.COM video/audio package for the postseason push. I found MLB.COM offered more games, allowed me to watch games on archive that were blacked out live or going on concurrently with another game I was watching, and the best thing is EVERY MLB game (video and audio) at less than half the price of MLB EI on Directv!

- I also didn't like the blackout on Directv EI when I shouldn't have been, then calling them up and waiting 20 minutes to tell them and they couldn't offer any reason why I was blacked out when I shouldn't have been for a game that didn't involve my normal blackout teams.

- (Worst holier than thou moment from DIRECTV) In the first week of the 2006 season, I was blacked out from Royals games that I should be been getting. I called Customer Service a few times and they couldn't give me a reason. As a last resort, I called RSTN and asked if I should have been blacked out. RSTN told me there was nothing in the contract saying I should be blacked out. They called DIRECTV on my behalf since I was getting no where with customer-no-service and I came to find out there was an error in DIRECTV's Royals Blackout database and when it got fixed a day or two later, I was fine. DIRECTV=Right, Customer-Always Wrong when it comes to DIRECTV, IMHO, and I never got any credit for the week of games I missed due to their error.

E* by comparison has been great - I feel I'm getting great programming value for my dollar and I have a nice integrated DVR/sat tuner to use with their service so no more digital recorders to interface with the sat receiver. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to call E* for a tech problem or billing question and a human was on the line within 2 minutes.

Sorry for your experience. I just find it strange that your biggest complaint was about baseball. Your issue was fixed. At least with D* we have a choice in getting it. With E* how is your MLB EI?