spiderman
Well-known member
I switched over to Directv a couple of years ago from cable so that I could take advantage of the Sunday NFL Ticket. Well anyways, it was great at first since they offered a bundle with Verizon for $99 (tv, dsl, phone) & the Sunday NFL ticket for $99 for the entire season (as a promotion). At the time I was happy and couldn't say enough good things about their service.
That is until 1 year into my plan. At that point I ended up moving into an area which apparently does not offer DSL, and as a result got stuck paying separate bills for TV, Internet, & Phone. But I sucked it up because at least I still had the Sunday Ticket (that was my justification). I bought my first HDTV last fall, and upgraded to 1 HD reciever. Life was good until football season came around. Now, obviously I already had to pay full price for the Sunday Ticket (because the promotional period was over), that was fine, but when the first Sunday came around I had no games in HD! I called Directv and they told me that I had to upgrade to the "Superfan" and pay an additional $99. After a few minutes of arguing I agreed. So at that point I was paying big money for separate TV, Internet, & Phone, and also paying more money for HD Sunday Ticket. It was getting expensive, and difficult to justify, but I continued to suck it up.
So that brings us to this year. At the beginning of August I purchased another HDTV during the sales tax holiday, thus I wanted to upgrade another receiver to HD. Around the same time I see my first bill with Sunday Ticket charges, and find out that it has increased in price again. However, once again, I decided to suck it up.
I made an appointment for a technician to come out the Friday before Labor Day weekend to hook up my additional HD receiver (which I had already paid for, but not received at this point). Unfortunately the Thursday night prior to the day they are supposed to come out, I recieve a call saying that they won't be able to honor my appointment and that I have to re-schedule for 10/4. After loads of arguing I reluctantly agree. I wait the additional time (still being a good little customer), and incredibly guess what happens the evening of 10/3? You guessed it, nobody can honor my appointment, AGAIN, and I have to re-schedule for sometime in November. I finally blow my top and call Comcast. They offer me a bundle at a fraction of the cost and say they'll have a guy out this week to switch me over.
It stinks that I will have to give up the NFL ticket, but it was just getting way too expensive and I couldn't take Directv jerking me around anymore.
Anyway, the story doesn't end there.
Apparently, when you sign up for Directv they have a committment of 18 months for regular service and 24 months for HD service. Despite being a customer for well over 24 months, they claim that when you "upgrade" to HD, that your commitment "re-starts". The big problem with this, is that they don't tell you!!! Nor do they provide any paperwork that tells you about this "re-start".
So now, not only have I been jerked around since August (having re-arranged my schedule twice) and not only do I have to once again be inconvenienced in order to deal with the Comcast guy, but Directv is saying that I owe them $200 for early-cancellation!
Now keep in mind that I haven't even complained about all the times that my HD service went out (at the slightest indication of rain), or how I had to purchase an Off-Air antenna (at an additional cost) because they didn't offer me any local Boston stations (only Providence), or any number of times they screwed up my bill and it took months to square away. No, I left all that stuff out in an effort to try and keep this as short as possible. But believe me, all that stuff happened too.
Anyways, I'm posting this first and foremost to bitch, but I am also posting this for anyone considering switching over. It has been a complete nightmare. As impossible as this sounds I can't wait to get back with the cable company. Directv is HORRIBLE!!!
That is until 1 year into my plan. At that point I ended up moving into an area which apparently does not offer DSL, and as a result got stuck paying separate bills for TV, Internet, & Phone. But I sucked it up because at least I still had the Sunday Ticket (that was my justification). I bought my first HDTV last fall, and upgraded to 1 HD reciever. Life was good until football season came around. Now, obviously I already had to pay full price for the Sunday Ticket (because the promotional period was over), that was fine, but when the first Sunday came around I had no games in HD! I called Directv and they told me that I had to upgrade to the "Superfan" and pay an additional $99. After a few minutes of arguing I agreed. So at that point I was paying big money for separate TV, Internet, & Phone, and also paying more money for HD Sunday Ticket. It was getting expensive, and difficult to justify, but I continued to suck it up.
So that brings us to this year. At the beginning of August I purchased another HDTV during the sales tax holiday, thus I wanted to upgrade another receiver to HD. Around the same time I see my first bill with Sunday Ticket charges, and find out that it has increased in price again. However, once again, I decided to suck it up.
I made an appointment for a technician to come out the Friday before Labor Day weekend to hook up my additional HD receiver (which I had already paid for, but not received at this point). Unfortunately the Thursday night prior to the day they are supposed to come out, I recieve a call saying that they won't be able to honor my appointment and that I have to re-schedule for 10/4. After loads of arguing I reluctantly agree. I wait the additional time (still being a good little customer), and incredibly guess what happens the evening of 10/3? You guessed it, nobody can honor my appointment, AGAIN, and I have to re-schedule for sometime in November. I finally blow my top and call Comcast. They offer me a bundle at a fraction of the cost and say they'll have a guy out this week to switch me over.
It stinks that I will have to give up the NFL ticket, but it was just getting way too expensive and I couldn't take Directv jerking me around anymore.
Anyway, the story doesn't end there.
Apparently, when you sign up for Directv they have a committment of 18 months for regular service and 24 months for HD service. Despite being a customer for well over 24 months, they claim that when you "upgrade" to HD, that your commitment "re-starts". The big problem with this, is that they don't tell you!!! Nor do they provide any paperwork that tells you about this "re-start".
So now, not only have I been jerked around since August (having re-arranged my schedule twice) and not only do I have to once again be inconvenienced in order to deal with the Comcast guy, but Directv is saying that I owe them $200 for early-cancellation!
Now keep in mind that I haven't even complained about all the times that my HD service went out (at the slightest indication of rain), or how I had to purchase an Off-Air antenna (at an additional cost) because they didn't offer me any local Boston stations (only Providence), or any number of times they screwed up my bill and it took months to square away. No, I left all that stuff out in an effort to try and keep this as short as possible. But believe me, all that stuff happened too.
Anyways, I'm posting this first and foremost to bitch, but I am also posting this for anyone considering switching over. It has been a complete nightmare. As impossible as this sounds I can't wait to get back with the cable company. Directv is HORRIBLE!!!
