DirecTV Customer Service Nonsense (UPDATE post #28)

[MIGrandma]

We have been a customer of theirs for 24 years. Currently there is a dispute between them and our local NBC channel. This has happened many other times over the years but gets settled quickly. Not this time, it has been going on all summer. Today DH has had enough since he can’t watch the NASCAR race, being carried on NBC so he called them. He wanted to know how he could watch the race, would they be showing it on the high def NBC station? Nope but he could go to NBC on the internet and watch it. He said we should get a reduction in our monthly bill since they are not providing the complete service we signed up for. He has been courteous, no swearing or raising his voice. The first person he talked to transferred him, and he has been transferred two other times as “they handle AT&T calls, not DirecTV. He has been on the phone or on hold now for 42 minutes. Never had this poor of customer “service” before AT&T took over. The third person he spoke to would not even give him her name, she answered saying just “hello” and he asked her name and she said “this is the customer complaint department “ and still refused to give her name. Wow!

He inquired about a bill reduction and they wouldn’t discuss that, so then he said we may consider canceling completely and he was yet again transferred. Still waiting.

Shouldn’t they do something for their customers when they can’t provide a channel we are paying to receive?

Maybe it’s time to leave DirecTV and give Dish a try, or Hulu or something. So frustrating.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm sure they have that covered in the fine print somewhere. But yeah, it would be nice if they would.

 

[Calee]

We havent had cable in 10 years, due to both cost and the horrible customer service we consistently got.

 

[kdonnel]

DirecTV kept their subscriber numbers up by subsidizing the service through retention offers. AT&T is not interested in subsidizing through retention offers and since the acquisition have drastically cut back and removed virtually all retention offers.

The last DirecTV satellite was launched in late 2017 and AT&T has announced to investors that they will NOT be launching any more. When the satellites die or sooner the service will end. DirecTV lost over a million subscribers in 2018 and is on pace to lose more in 2019. At best there is 10 years of life left in DirecTV.

The future of TV with AT&T is streaming. Actually the future of all TV no matter the provider is streaming.

 

[Planogirl]

Dish is much the same. When we had them they seemed to be almost constantly in a battle with one or more stations. I don't think that they're any better.

 

[Squirlz]

No antenna of any kind? CBS was off our DirecTV for most of the Summer but I could get it with the antenna.

 

[luvsJack]

AT&T is the WORST.

We used to have internet with them. Well we had a point it wasn’t needed so we had it disconnected. Now would like it again but all they will say is “there are no ports in your area”.

When Dd and sil moved into their current house they were told the same thing. Sil got on the phone with someone and insisted they actually come out. Suddenly they had a port when they came to their house. I call and and am told they don’t do that. Well, I know ya do because I witnessed it happening!

We do have Direct and are about to have the come out, update it and change the rooms it’s connected in. I already dread it.

 

[Disney Ron]

Cut the cord and go to streaming you won't be sorry.

 

[Kitty 34]

MIGrandma, if you go to DISH you won't get ABC or at least not down here in lower MI we don't get that. My BFF has Direct and just got CBS back after about 3 months. It's ridiculous! Good luck to you.

 

[starry_solo]

Antenna (bunny ears) work great in certain areas!

 

[barkley]

we lost fox on direct back in march-they pulled the channel not the fox affiliate. people waited until game of thrones ended and started jumping ship so direct started offering people who complained enough a $50 credit on their account but it comes with another multi year commitment to them.

we kept getting dish offers for years so i finally took them up on one. 2 year lock on price, more channels (sports and premium) than we had on direct, almost 40% less than we were paying for direct-and a $300 visa gift card,

i read the horror stories on trying to cancel direct so if we didn't still have att for cell phone i would have claimed to be next of kin to myself and reported my own death (did it when mil passed-fasted disconnect phone call ever). i ended up telling them we were 'goin off the grid', only 'lectronics' we were keeping were our cell phones. customer rep kind of stuttered for a few moments but he couldn't argue that we could take our service with us and the whole call (once i got to that department) was maybe 3 minutes long.

 

[dclpluto]

Yep directv is a joke. When they didn’t have cbs about a month ago or whenever it was they told my parents they could stream cbs. If they could stream it they wouldn’t have directv. Only reason they have directv because they can’t get cable meaning no high speed internet.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

IDK AT&T Uverse didn't have Hallmark channels for like 3 years! They got it back in 2015 or 2016 can't remember. Obviously Hallmark is NOT NBC just saying it happens and for a lot longer than one would like.

I'm not even sure all of this is exactly a cable issue either. Amazon and Disney constantly fought so you couldn't buy DVD or Blu-rays on Amazon for forever (AND it hasn't been confirmed that at launch Disney+ will be available for fire stick/fire tv--other devices have been confirmed), Amazon and YouTube fought so you had to use SILK browser (or another one can't remember) on your fire stick in order to get the web-style version of YouTube for over a year; now though the actual YouTube app is available again. I realize I've mentioned Amazon twice now (and they can be a problem child) but those are just the ones I could immediately think of.

I think when it does come to cable companies we're just more used to the disputes either not coming to fruition (just threats of going dark) or it they go dark but not for long.

Companies battle for licensing fees, subscriber fees, distribution fees, etc and of course the consumer is the one who feels the brunt of it when they can't purchase or use the product they want on the service or retailer they want.

 

[tvguy]

No antenna of any kind? CBS was off our DirecTV for most of the Summer but I could get it with the antenna.

Simple solution, a $ 9 antenna. Let's get real, every "provider" has disputes that take channels off for a time. Even the internet based ones. Just the nature of TV today.

 

[kimblebee]

I know it’s a principle thing, and I totally get it, you’re probably not spending all that much for the channel you aren’t receiving.

Take your bill, divide it by the number of channels you get (doesn’t matter if you watch the channel or not) and that’s what your cost is for each channel per month. If you get internet with it too don’t forget to not include that.

That’s why they won’t reimburse you...it’s not worth their effort. It stinks but that’s the facts.

I used to work for a phone/tv/internet provider and we’d have people call in demanding a credit for the hour or two their phone was down.

‘Sir, you pay $12 a month for your phone. Divide that by 30, then by 24 to see your hourly cost. We can’t reimburse you for the less than a penny cost.’

 

[kimblebee]

Simple solution, a $ 9 antenna. Let's get real, every "provider" has disputes that take channels off for a time. Even the internet based ones. Just the nature of TV today.

We don’t get that up here. That would drive me insane.

 

[kdonnel]

Take your bill, divide it by the number of channels you get (doesn’t matter if you watch the channel or not) and that’s what your cost is for each channel per month. If you get internet with it too don’t forget to not include that.

TV providers do not pay the same for each channel. The formula would be way more complicated then that. The broadcast networks are some of the cheaper to carry.

To refund just the missing channel would probably be less the twenty five cents for the year.

 

[MillauFr]

Actually the future of all TV no matter the provider is streaming.

Agreed. Cable and satellite are dead. It will be all streaming on demand going forward.

 

[tvguy]

We don’t get that up here. That would drive me insane.

Lucky then.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The future of TV with AT&T is streaming.

Yup, we've been told they are working towards through an internet platform as opposed to the present hardware for a couple of years now as their end goal.