Does any one have DIRECT TV?

[rvchat]

COMMENTS? tia

 

[MagiKitty]

I have DirecTv, what sort of info are you looking for? In general, I like the service, but I will say that once or twice during the winter my service will go out. Usually its during a bad storm and my satellite dish can't receive the signal. Otherwise, I get a discount in a bundle package, I get discounts all the time, and the service when something goes wrong has been outstanding.

 

[cepmom]

we have it but are cancelling it next week, after Comcast comes to install. We have problems with the signal when it rains; lose HD every time it rains hard and forget about it when it snows when we lose the signal all together. Finally got sick of it and signed up for Comcast the other day. Biggest thing that stinks about it is they won't come back out to remove the dish so we either have to pay someone to take it down or leave it up there....I hate the stinking ugly dish on the front of my house

 

[AmandaRG]

we have it but are cancelling it next week, after Comcast comes to install. We have problems with the signal when it rains; lose HD every time it rains hard and forget about it when it snows when we lose the signal all together. Finally got sick of it and signed up for Comcast the other day. Biggest thing that stinks about it is they won't come back out to remove the dish so we either have to pay someone to take it down or leave it up there....I hate the stinking ugly dish on the front of my house

I hope you have better luck with Comcast than we did! We have LESS loss of service issues with the satellite now. Towards the end we would have about 10 hours a week of working signal, completely frustrating during football season!! Comcast didn't want to give us credit for it being out, because it "might" not have been out all the time, and they couldn't give us an accurate record. They never worked with us on the fact that it doesn't matter if it works when we don't want to use it! (Our DVR service was pointless with it not working.)

We went from $150/month cable/internet bill to $80. No complaints here!

 

[kwhite1022]

We just recently switched from Dish to Direct TV, mostly because we wanted a DVR and without being a new customer, it would have cost to much with Dish. We are happy with Direct TV, they have things I like better then Dish, but a few things (like their guide) that are more complicated (at least too me) but really, we figure in 2 years when our contract expires with them, we will go back to Dish...pretty much flip back and forth, to get the better price. I have to say, the whole home DVR is way cool....love to record and send to another room for kids to watch, so hubby and I can watch our programs.

 

[cepmom]

I hope you have better luck with Comcast than we did! We have LESS loss of service issues with the satellite now. Towards the end we would have about 10 hours a week of working signal, completely frustrating during football season!! Comcast didn't want to give us credit for it being out, because it "might" not have been out all the time, and they couldn't give us an accurate record. They never worked with us on the fact that it doesn't matter if it works when we don't want to use it! (Our DVR service was pointless with it not working.)

We went from $150/month cable/internet bill to $80. No complaints here!

yeah, I don't know that Comcast will be much better(customer service wise) but we really have little choice here for cable. I was just saying to DH the other day that in 2011, it's ridiculous that we only have Direct TV and Comcast to choose from around here(well, DISH also, but I would imagine they aren't any better than Direct TV for satellite) It's not like we live in the boonies either. I wish we had more to choose from.

 

[DawnM]

We had it for over 12 years. We just cancelled to save $$ and have gone to over the air TV and netflix.

We very rarely had loss of service in all the years we had them, maybe once every couple of years.

Dawn

 

[lovetheduck]

We have DirecTV and I love it.
We used to have Dish, which I hated and couldn't wait to get rid of. Their customer service was awful and we constantly had trouble with the boxes.
Our only other choice is Optimum. The problem with them is where we live. We tend to get big storms once a year or so that knock down the trees. We will lose power, internet and cable for about a week while they get all the lines fixed. We have a generator for power so we can still live in the house, and with DirecTV we can get tv service. If we had cable we would be out of luck. DH also likes it for the red zone and football channels (which aren't available on Optimum).
The only thing I dislike about DirecTV is the price. If is far more expensive and in our area they do not offer a bundle for tv phone and internet.

 

[RitaE]

They will offer you the moon to get you to be a customer. Once you are a customer and whatever promo periods they gave you expire, you will constantly fight them tooth and nail to keep your prices down.

You will have to threaten to switch to other services. You will have to call them and talk to two or three different departments as they switch you from customer service to customer retention to whatever else they call it. Sometimes you actually will have to switch to other services and then let them try and sweet talk you back - which is all a real pain in the butt.

We've never had any service problems but they can be expensive. They'd like to be even more expensive if you give them 1/2 a chance.

 

[vicki_c]

We have been DirecTV customers for over 10 years and are totally happy. Rarely have any issues with losing service except in bad thunderstorms or if a lot of snow gets on the dish. I think they have fantastic customer service - any time we've ever had to call for anything, they have been really great to work with.

I have no complaints about the pricing the way RitaE described. I think most services are that way - it's always cheaper to be a new customer because new is more important to companies than retention most of the time. So I don't call them up and try to get anything cheaper very often, we just pay the bill. My husband was able to get the NFL Sunday Ticket stuff cheaper one time when the price went way up, but only for a year. And it is frustrating to him that new customers get that free, because it is really expensive.

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

We've got DirecTV. Actually been a customer since about 2003, so that's what 8 years? Anyway, no major complaints from us. We've had some problems in the past with signal going out, but that was mostly due to a poor installation (dish pointing wasn't right), and a broken bolt holding the dish on the roof. Got those fixed, and the signal peaked, and we are golden. Only lose signal once in a blue moon due to really really heavy rain. After being a customer long enough, they start giving you anniversary gifts. I'm about half way through a 3 month free of Showtime. Once that's over, it goes away and we aren't charged a dime.

I go online if I want to change my service, make a couple changes and viola, it's changed on our receivers. Couldn't be much easier than that.

Everyone's experience is difference, and your mileage may vary, but for us it's been a good deal and a good service.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We had it years ago. Every time we had a big rain or snowstorm, we lost the signal, sometimes for hours. I'm much happier with Comcast cable.

 

[coozieman]

I would highly consider Dish over Direct for the following reasons:

Superior DVR functionality. Direct has the annoying 2-3 second lag time when switching channels. Etc...

Dish offers dual tuners, allowing 2 TV's to watch at different times. If you add a splitter and purchase additional remotes, you can have unlimited amounts of tvs sharing the same box.

Pricing

Dish offers more HD channels

 

[HsvTeacher]

We switched from DISH to Direct a little over a year ago, and we've been really pleased with the service. We don't lose signal every time it rains like we did with DISH, and the customer service has been better.

It is also costs a lot less than DISH. We saved almost a $100 a month for the first year with rebates and the friend referral, and now that the rebates have run out, we're saving almost $50 a month. We have dual tuners, and the quality of the DVRs has been better than the ones we had with DISH.

 

[erincon23]

We currently have DirecTV, but may be making a change soon. We've been very happy with the service, except for the previously-mentioned outages during storms and heavy snow (which I find semi-troubling -- that's when I want the TV weather reports!). We have had it for several years, and have replaced all the original boxes -- on one TV, we're on our third box and need to replace that; one box is still not a DVR, and that's in my office where I would really like one; and one is an actual Tivo box, about 7 years old, with a ton of movies on it that we'll have to watch before the box is retired!

But we're going to change because the service has gotten so expensive, and we'd like to upgrade-- we have the old service, can only watch or record one show at a time, and it would cost us a small fortune to get it upgraded and upgrade all the boxes if we do it with DirecTV, so I think we'll explore switching -- most likely to AT&T UVerse (we've had Comcast and never again), when we can get the service and boxes upgraded at no cost. And the intro prices for the service are good. Just have to make sure they have MLB (major league baseball) network for DH! But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend DirecTV.

 

[rvchat]

Is direct tv for homes only or apartments too?

how is the set up?

We currently have DirecTV, but may be making a change soon. We've been very happy with the service, except for the previously-mentioned outages during storms and heavy snow (which I find semi-troubling -- that's when I want the TV weather reports!). We have had it for several years, and have replaced all the original boxes -- on one TV, we're on our third box and need to replace that; one box is still not a DVR, and that's in my office where I would really like one; and one is an actual Tivo box, about 7 years old, with a ton of movies on it that we'll have to watch before the box is retired!

But we're going to change because the service has gotten so expensive, and we'd like to upgrade-- we have the old service, can only watch or record one show at a time, and it would cost us a small fortune to get it upgraded and upgrade all the boxes if we do it with DirecTV, so I think we'll explore switching -- most likely to AT&T UVerse (we've had Comcast and never again), when we can get the service and boxes upgraded at no cost. And the intro prices for the service are good. Just have to make sure they have MLB (major league baseball) network for DH! But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend DirecTV.

 

[GottaLuvMickey]

. Biggest thing that stinks about it is they won't come back out to remove the dish so we either have to pay someone to take it down or leave it up there....I hate the stinking ugly dish on the front of my house

I used to work for DirecTV... the reason they don't want to take those dishes down off of houses is because as long as it's up there the company is getting free advertising to anyone who sees it.

To the OP - Like I said, I used to work as a manager in a customer service call center for DirecTV, so we had the service then. We moved to AZ where Cox cable was included in our HOA dues, so we just used that, but HATED it and just went back to DirecTV. I think people are always going to find something to complain about with their service provider and everyone has different expectations. But personally, DirecTV has been the best for us. And as for the issue of signal going out, yes, that's something you want to consider before signing up. I live in AZ, clear & sunny skies everyday, I don't have a signal issue. My mom lives in Michigan, right by Lake Michigan, and gets loads of storms and snow all the time, honestly, I would never suggest she get satellite tv because it would be out VERY often just because of the weather where she lives.

 

[vicki_c]

Is direct tv for homes only or apartments too?

how is the set up?

You can get it for apartments, I know people that have had it. Might be something to be worked out with the landlord though, since they do put a dish on the building.

 

[Maddies Mama]

I love DirecTV. We had Dish and we switched and I will never go back. Our service is rarely interrupted, though it doesn't snow here so I can't speak to that. We do get heavy rains sometimes and if it goes out, it pops back on right away. Tropical Storm Lee moved through here and it didn't even go out.

 

[pyrxtc]

We currently have DirecTV, but may be making a change soon. We've been very happy with the service, except for the previously-mentioned outages during storms and heavy snow (which I find semi-troubling -- that's when I want the TV weather reports!). We have had it for several years, and have replaced all the original boxes -- on one TV, we're on our third box and need to replace that; one box is still not a DVR, and that's in my office where I would really like one; and one is an actual Tivo box, about 7 years old, with a ton of movies on it that we'll have to watch before the box is retired!

But we're going to change because the service has gotten so expensive, and we'd like to upgrade-- we have the old service, can only watch or record one show at a time, and it would cost us a small fortune to get it upgraded and upgrade all the boxes if we do it with DirecTV, so I think we'll explore switching -- most likely to AT&T UVerse (we've had Comcast and never again), when we can get the service and boxes upgraded at no cost. And the intro prices for the service are good. Just have to make sure they have MLB (major league baseball) network for DH! But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend DirecTV.

If you want to stay with DirectTv, you can cancel if your contract is up and then have your spouse sign up with a different phone number. you'll get all new boxes and all the new customer promo's. Don't mention that you were a customer, just act like the new customer you are.