Direct TV opinions?

[Neesy228]

Looking for a new cable/satellite service provider (we got rid of Comcast after our bill increased about 40% in 6 months)....

I'm leaning towards Direct TV, just for the basic deal. It states that it's $29.99/month, but I'm wondering what the final total will be after they add all those little hidden charges in.

So, fellow DISer's - if you don't mind sharing, what are you paying for DirectTV? How much was your first year and second year of your "24 month contract" and would you do it again?? Was the customer service, reception, quality worth it to you? I appreciate any and all opinions!

Thanks a bunch!!

 

[Steve BWV'99]

The time we had it we liked it. A few things to keep in mind:

1) You need a clear view to the SE for good signals. Be sure you get high signal readings when the install is done (ie 80-90's), if they are lower they will be fine in the summer, but rain and snow can lower those numbers and your picture quality can suffer (pixelation-cutouts)

2) Generally installation costs cover wiring the dish directly to the reciever with one entry point into the home. Any additional cable runs are extra costs. This is important if you want to have recievers in more than one room. Also, quality of installers varies since DTV subs the work. Anytime you are not happy, dont sign anything and call DirectTV.

3) They will charge an additional fee for each recieiver, approx $5 a month each. The first one is free

4) Lastly, great monthly subscriptions most likely means you will be put under a contract (2 years) simaliar to cell phones which will cost you if you cancel.

I thought the service was fine and had no issues, but we had to do some cost cutting so it was one of the things to go.


Good luck

 

[dakcp2001]

The time we had it we liked it. A few things to keep in mind:

1) You need a clear view to the SE for good signals. Be sure you get high signal readings when the install is done (ie 80-90's), if they are lower they will be fine in the summer, but rain and snow can lower those numbers and your picture quality can suffer (pixelation-cutouts)

2) They will charge an additional fee for each recieiver, approx $5 a month each. The first one is free

3) Lastly, great monthly fees most likely means you will be put under a contract (2 years) simaliar to cell phones which will cost you if you cancel.

I thought the service was fine and had no issues, but we had to do some cost cutting so it was one of the things to go.


Good luck

ITA on making sure the signal is good when they install. We LOVED DTV and will be going back once our FIOS contract is up. We liked FIOS too, but DTV had better prices & included more channels. We also enjoy the NFL Sunday Ticket. We def had the best picture and the HD was awesome. We only lost our signal once in several years during hail. And it came right back.


Calling DTV is awful, just like calling any other TV billing company. Sometimes you get lucky and get someone that can help, other times you get passed all over the place. Luckily we only had to call a couple of times. The first bill is for more than a month and shocked me, but then you get billed a month in advance. (first bill was like a month 7 a half prorate for us + install)

WATCH your bill. A few times they snuck little extra things on there that we did not order, or when their packages changed. If you call they grandfather you into what you had, if you do not your bill will creep up.

 

[smokeyblue]

My parents have had Direct TV for years. They haven't had too many problems except some very brief outages. The biggest thing that drives me nuts when I am there is that the cheap package they have doesn't have many channels. My teenage niece complains about it a lot, but my 9 year old nephew doesn't mind it because it has most of the cartoon channels, Disney and Nick. So if you don't mind not having many channels for the adults to watch it isn't too bad.

 

[AlbertZeroK]

I have DirecTV, we pay around $130/month, but we have 8 recievers, HD TV and DVR's. A few things I like about DirecTV:

- You only pay $7 / month for DVR service on the account, reguardless of how many DVR's you have. Unlike Dish or cable where you pay for each DVR.
- You only pay $10 / month for HD TV, which is now free for us under a promotion - again reguardless of the number of HD recievers.
- Largest selection of HD Channels - important if you have HD TV's (we have 5).
- No requirement to hook recievers to phone lines (DISH charges you if you don't.)
- Video on Demand for free
- Protection plan. I know some say this is a budget buster, but when you have 8 DVR's, we have about one fail a year, plus this covers all our wiring and dishes.

If you sign up for DirecTV, you will have a 2 year commitment. The first year is cheap, then it goes up. If you sign up, you can sign up for cheap, plus do the refer a friend promotion, if you know someone with DirecTV, I think now you get $100 off ($10/month for 10 months) and the friend gets the same, you will need their account number. PM me if you can't find a friend and you can use my account number.

We love DirecTV. Better customer service than ComCast and DISH. And I feel their is value for what we get. We have HD TV in 5 rooms with DVR's in all rooms and for $3 / month, we can watch what is on any DVR in any room. DISH and Comcast tend to charge alot more for those kind of options, so for our installation size, DirecTV saves us money.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

We have Direct TV and I LOVE it. We all love it. However we are considering switching to FIOS as Direct TV does not have CSN for Phillies and that is something that is huge for us. We had a commitment with them that actually ends this month. Since we made it through 80% of the baseball season, we will probably not make any switches until next spring. And in the event they somehow add CSN, we will totally keep it!! So my fingers are crossed!!

 

[pyrxtc]

I've had it since we moved up cu our local cable is crap. The only problem we had was when they started offering great deals and free HD upgrade and HD for life but only for new customers. So my 7 yrs of being a customer meant nothing. We ended up canceling under my name and opening a new account under DH's. (totally not against rules BTW) Love the DVR service and the ability to watch recorded items in another room. Stinks that the regular HD receivers don't have On Demand (only DVR's do) but other than that, great company. We don't lose our signal very often and we live in NH in the mountains, so a good deal of snow comes our way often.

 

[gacompguy]

The time we had it we liked it. A few things to keep in mind:

1) You need a clear view to the SE for good signals. Be sure you get high signal readings when the install is done (ie 80-90's), if they are lower they will be fine in the summer, but rain and snow can lower those numbers and your picture quality can suffer (pixelation-cutouts)

2) Generally installation costs cover wiring the dish directly to the reciever with one entry point into the home. Any additional cable runs are extra costs. This is important if you want to have recievers in more than one room. Also, quality of installers varies since DTV subs the work. Anytime you are not happy, dont sign anything and call DirectTV.

3) They will charge an additional fee for each recieiver, approx $5 a month each. The first one is free

4) Lastly, great monthly subscriptions most likely means you will be put under a contract (2 years) simaliar to cell phones which will cost you if you cancel.

I thought the service was fine and had no issues, but we had to do some cost cutting so it was one of the things to go.

Just expanding a bit further based on our experience:

1) Clear skies means absolutely no obstructions. We had trees that would have obscured part of our view of the SE and the installers wouldn't even consider installing the HD dish where our SD dish was located. If you're not getting HD, it isn't as big of a deal.

2) The person installing at our house cut a hole in our sheet rock directly above an existing cable outlet and drilled holes in my roof. When I asked why he did those things, he told me there was an additional charge for more work. I'm not totally sure why he didn't ask me first... I would paid for the additional work. Your best bet is to hire a trusted local installer that you pick and pay any additional costs above the [basic] "free" installation. If you can do the work yourself, install quad-shielded RG-6 yourself.

3/4) This is where DirecTV nails people... If you get a "basic" standard defintion receiver, the contract is generally one year. Adding "premium" receivers ups the contract. We had two SD DVR receivers and were told (after two seperate installers told us that we couldn't get HD because of trees) that we were under a 2 year contract.

 

[Wildflowerz]

We pay about the same per month. We've got one Tivo receiver. Our cable provider (through several company buyouts) has always been horrible and we don't do Dish for moral reasons, so DirecTV is really the only viable option for us. We've never really had any problems or had to call them for much of anything.

 

[DawnM]

I am going to strongly suggest you call Direct and ask for them to send out a NEW tech guy to double check the tree line.

Here is what happened to us: We had been Directv users for 8 years. We had it when we moved into our current house as well. About 3 years ago we decided to upgrade to HD. The "professional tech" guy came out and stated that he had checked and due to our tree line. We believed him and changed our service to cable.

FF one year with cable (which we HATED) and we called Directv back. We told them that we were considering going back to them even if we couldn't have HD because we hated cable. They offered to re-install and when THAT tech came out he shook his head and said, "I have NO idea what that other guy was talking about. You have clearance for our satellites in HD."

ARGH!

Dawn

3/4) This is where DirecTV nails people... If you get a "basic" standard defintion receiver, the contract is generally one year. Adding "premium" receivers ups the contract. We had two SD DVR receivers and were told (after two seperate installers told us that we couldn't get HD because of trees) that we were under a 2 year contract.

 

[DawnM]

Directv costs

$29/month is for the lowest deal- Family package of 50 channels only. It is also the teaser rate for 12 months provided you get a 2 year contract and pay rack rate of $59/mo for the remaining 12 months.

Other rates on top of the above:

$7 DVR service
$6 per receiver, DVR or standard receiver
$10 HD service

We have the bundle package with HD, 3 DVRs, and the Choice Extra line up and we pay $85/month with tax.

Dawn

 

[Nik's Mom]

I'm paying way more than that. But we have 4 boxes, 2 dvr's, hd, premium channels and nfl network.

If you are just getting basic channels, then some extra charges would be box lease fees ($5 each) and taxes. If you have a dvr, there is a charge for that ($7). HD is $10.

One good thing is that when they raise my rates, I call and will usually get it lowered. I've tried 3 times so far and have been successful each time. We've been Direct tv customers for years.

 

[JennyKS]

I signed up last year when it was 29.99 for 24 months. I just have the basic plan. I don't do the DVR or HD or anything. There are plenty of channel for me and my daughter to watch, we really don't watch TV much anyway. I only have 2 receivers. Right now after taxes and such my bill is 39.17.

 

[danetter]

We had Directv basic package like the op stated for 29.95 1st yr after that it went up to around 40.00 +. I paid the 40ish amt until our 2yrs was up and since my husbands job had cut his hrs we were getting rid of extra bills we could live without and directtv was 1 of them. When I called to cancel and told them the reason I was needing to cancel they had someone to call to tell me that they would give me 3mths free to keep my service with them. After a month I was getting a bill stating I was a month pass due plus had the current month charge, I had to call them back to let them know that I was supposed to be getting 3mths free and it had only been a month and I was being billed a late payment plus current, the person got to looking into it and noticed that I was supposed to be getting 3mths free and cancelled the bill. After the 3mths was up I get a bill for over 80.00 I paid it and called to cancel it again and instead of them wanting to cancel the service totally they have me on suspension for 6mths. I will call them again before the 6mths is up and make sure what my bill will be if I will be paying for the suspension time I am cancelling all together..

 

[cheerforchelsea]

I have the basic plan plus local channels plus ESPN - we have 5 receivers (first 1 is free) and no DVD or HD . I also have the insurance where if it goes out the will fix for no charge ($5.00 a month) it really came in handy when the guy mowing our grass knocked the satellite dish sideways.....they fixed it at no charge. If you are an AT&T customer you can normally get a discount on DirectTV if you order thru AT&T ($5.00 a month). Use an account number of one of your family/friends that has DirectTV when you order and you will both get $100!!! I have had no complaints with DirectTV - and we have been with them for 5 years.

 

[DawnM]

Be careful with this....I have been reading that Directv is starting the 2 year contract over again when people do this.

Dawn

We had Directv basic package like the op stated for 29.95 1st yr after that it went up to around 40.00 +. I paid the 40ish amt until our 2yrs was up and since my husbands job had cut his hrs we were getting rid of extra bills we could live without and directtv was 1 of them. When I called to cancel and told them the reason I was needing to cancel they had someone to call to tell me that they would give me 3mths free to keep my service with them. After a month I was getting a bill stating I was a month pass due plus had the current month charge, I had to call them back to let them know that I was supposed to be getting 3mths free and it had only been a month and I was being billed a late payment plus current, the person got to looking into it and noticed that I was supposed to be getting 3mths free and cancelled the bill. After the 3mths was up I get a bill for over 80.00 I paid it and called to cancel it again and instead of them wanting to cancel the service totally they have me on suspension for 6mths. I will call them again before the 6mths is up and make sure what my bill will be if I will be paying for the suspension time I am cancelling all together..

 

[shoney]

We have been with directtv for about 13 years. My bill is about 100.00 a month for 3 tv's w/dvr. We actually do not pay extra for dvr because we bought the lifetime membership when they offered it (250.00). We do have the HBO package.

I would advise that you purchase the insurance (or whatever they call it). It is 5.95 a month and it covers your boxes, sattelite and wires. The boxes do break and before we had to puchase new ones...can cost 100.00 to 200.00 depending on the box.

Not sure where you live, but if heavy wet snow collects on the dish, you will lose tv. Thunderstorms and heavy rains can also cause outages or disruptions in picture. We never had that with cablevision because our cables were underground in our previous house.

All and all I am happy with them.

 

[3darlings]

We have been with directtv for about 13 years. My bill is about 100.00 a month for 3 tv's w/dvr. We actually do not pay extra for dvr because we bought the lifetime membership when they offered it (250.00). We do have the HBO package.

I would advise that you purchase the insurance (or whatever they call it). It is 5.95 a month and it covers your boxes, sattelite and wires. The boxes do break and before we had to puchase new ones...can cost 100.00 to 200.00 depending on the box.

Not sure where you live, but if heavy wet snow collects on the dish, you will lose tv. Thunderstorms and heavy rains can also cause outages or disruptions in picture. We never had that with cablevision because our cables were underground in our previous house.

All and all I am happy with them.

We have DirectTV because of the NFL package which isn't too expensive in the beginning but gets very expensive after the initial deal. Like on of the PPs, I don't like it because we don't get CSN and the Phillies and it seems like alot of other channels. But DH has to be able to see his beloved Minn Vikings every week! It is not uncommon for us to lose the signal especially in the summer. We always lose the signal during thunderstorms/heavy rains (not uncommon in the summer) which is really annoying because that is usually when you are sitting in the house and want to watch TV. I would switch to FOIS in a heartbeat but DH just won't go for it.

 

[DawnM]

I guess I missed that sale....$250 for lifetime....when was that offered? Of course, it takes 3 years to break even, but we would have done that by now.

I wish they would offer lifetime on HD....I hate paying $10/mo. for that.

Dawn

We have been with directtv for about 13 years. My bill is about 100.00 a month for 3 tv's w/dvr. We actually do not pay extra for dvr because we bought the lifetime membership when they offered it (250.00). We do have the HBO package.

I would advise that you purchase the insurance (or whatever they call it). It is 5.95 a month and it covers your boxes, sattelite and wires. The boxes do break and before we had to puchase new ones...can cost 100.00 to 200.00 depending on the box.

Not sure where you live, but if heavy wet snow collects on the dish, you will lose tv. Thunderstorms and heavy rains can also cause outages or disruptions in picture. We never had that with cablevision because our cables were underground in our previous house.

All and all I am happy with them.