Does anyone have DirecTV?

[ksjayhawks]

We've had it for about nine years and wouldn't think of changing, Our bill is higher than I would like, but it's less than it could be - DD#1 is a former Brighthouse customer service rep, and she knows all the right things to ask for to get your bill reduced. Also, I love sports and have to have the Extra Innings and regional sports packages, which are not cheap. (In exchange, DH gets Sirius radio for his Durango.)

We've had great reception and our service was only out for about a total of a half hour during the four consecutive hurricanes we had in 2004. We rarely lose reception now.

Queen Colleen

So what are the questions that we should be asking??

 

[tvguy]

Huh? New customer's with DirecTV gets free HD "for life." With is a moot point anyway, HD should be free no matter what company you are with.
.

Well, I was just repeating what my son told me in his investigation for his new apartment. However, I just checked myself and HD is $10 a month extra. BUT, I had to enter my zip code, so it makes me wonder if DirecTv is test marketing the free HD in some cities.

But I agree, there no cable or dish service that should be charging for HD since all the Networks and almost all their affilates have been HD for several years.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

We've had Directv for about 15 years and love it. When we first got it we would lose reception when the wind would blow hard or a bad storm blew through. Over the years they've upgraded their satellite and we've noticed the reception doesn't go out as much as it used to. In fact, I can't remember the last time we lost reception. It would have to be a few years. We used to be grandfathered in to an older package, but when we upgraded to the DVR receiver, we had to upgrade to a current package. Our bill is about $100 a month and that's for 3 receivers in three different rooms of the house. One is a DVR and the other are standard receivers. Our package doesn't include any of the movie channels. The few times we've had a customer service issue, they were prompt and gotten things fixed pretty quickly. We're happy campers.

 

[ohiomom28]

Well, I was just repeating what my son told me in his investigation for his new apartment. However, I just checked myself and HD is $10 a month extra. BUT, I had to enter my zip code, so it makes me wonder if DirecTv is test marketing the free HD in some cities.

But I agree, there no cable or dish service that should be charging for HD since all the Networks and almost all their affilates have been HD for several years.

We pay $10 a month for HD too. I believe it was a promotion for new subscribers for the free HD.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using DISBoards

 

[DenMig]

It's funny hearing people argue dish vs direct tv. I've had both and have been happy with both. Ultimately its 6 of one, half dozen of the other. If you need pro sports packages then Direct is the only choice. I had Direct for 7 years and now have had Dish for 10. I'm very happy with Dish as I feel they have the best DVR by far. (my opinion) The Hopper/Joey w primetime live and sling is a keeper for me because I like network TV. The Hopper is incredible. OP, Direct isn't cheaper in the long run, but I'm sure they are offering a good deal to switch. Some people play the game well switching at appropriate times to get better deals. My problem is I fell in love with the Hopper and sling box, but I"m happy with Dish.

 

[surfergirl602]

We have directv. I love being able to record 5 shows at once. we've never lost a signal once, and we've had it in three different states now. I've never had bad customer service, and we pay for insurance. never had to pay for a call or service technician. that's what insurance is for.

 

[ThisIsJason]

Well, I was just repeating what my son told me in his investigation for his new apartment. However, I just checked myself and HD is $10 a month extra. BUT, I had to enter my zip code, so it makes me wonder if DirecTv is test marketing the free HD in some cities.

But I agree, there no cable or dish service that should be charging for HD since all the Networks and almost all their affilates have been HD for several years.

I see where you are seeing the $10. I logged out, and tried a new order, and yes, they charge you $10 for HD *but* then you get a $10 credit for the "advanced receiver fee", that is the HD credit. Why they break it down that way is beyond me, but that is even how it is on my bill. It is no longer "for life" but 24 months.

Off topic, kinda: when companies start rolling out 4K/UHD channels (which is years away) do you think the HD charging will drop then, or will we have two different fees?

 

[MIGrandma]

We've had DirecTV for maybe 15 years. We're happy with them for the most part, but the bill is getting kind of high. We don't have any of the movie channels but still pay just over $95/month for our package. I hate paying $10/month for the HD service, and another $10/month for the DVR and it's the "old" DVR, not the new Genie that records 5 shows at once and you can watch them on any TV. We have always had great customer service anytime we've had an issue.

We rented a cabin in the U.P. a couple summers ago, that had the Dish Network and I didn't like it, so we'll stick with DirecTV.

 

[rajak73]

programming is good but customer service is terrible. In fact, we cancelled Directv due to their horrible customer service and I told this company any chance I got to tell people about how bad they are I would. Expect to pay $5 anytime you have to have a representative help you with anything! Took me 2 months and multiple phone calls to finally cancel their service.

We have direct tv and love it. Never had any bad customer service, I have a receiver in our camper and if we don't use it over the winter, when I get it on, I have to call direct tv to reactivate it but has never cost me a dime and only take about 5 min. The reason we are with direct, when we first started looking at sat tv, we knew we were going to take it with us camping and dish told me that if a receiver wasn't hooked to a telephone line it was a extra $5 per month per receiver that wasn't hooked to a telephone line. As far as bad customer service, my DS ordered dish and after being put off twice for install and then getting told higher than what was quoted, he told them forget it and went to direct, also after my DMIL passed, we tried to cancel her dish contract and what a joke, have to send us death certificate, etc, I told DW quite paying the bill they wouldn't take long to cancel it! My Direct very seldom goes out unless really HEAVY thunderstorm. Very happy with Direct but you can get good and bad with both.

 

[tvguy]

We have direct tv and love it. Never had any bad customer service, I have a receiver in our camper and if we don't use it over the winter, when I get it on, I have to call direct tv to reactivate it but has never cost me a dime and only take about 5 min. The reason we are with direct, when we first started looking at sat tv, we knew we were going to take it with us camping and dish told me that if a receiver wasn't hooked to a telephone line it was a extra $5 per month per receiver that wasn't hooked to a telephone line. As far as bad customer service, my DS ordered dish and after being put off twice for install and then getting told higher than what was quoted, he told them forget it and went to direct, also after my DMIL passed, we tried to cancel her dish contract and what a joke, have to send us death certificate, etc, I told DW quite paying the bill they wouldn't take long to cancel it! My Direct very seldom goes out unless really HEAVY thunderstorm. Very happy with Direct but you can get good and bad with both.

I've been with Dish since 2000. I don't have a phone line connected. I don't pay anything extra. The installer warned me that I wouldn't be able to watch Pay Per View without the phone line installed, but other than that, he said there was no reason to have a phone line.

As for 4K/UHD, time will tell. I think everyone learned a lot with the SD to HD conversion, the biggest lesson being that it was largely an added expense for everyone that didn't bring in extra profits. You have to realize, our current HD was a compromise. The original plan was to use the entire digial signal for a picture that is 4 times better than current HD. They opted instead to divide the signal into 4 channels, feeling that that HD signal was good enough. It took HD 20 years to get on the air, I get IF 4K/UHD gains traction, it will at least that long from now.

 

[PigletsPal2]

So what are the questions that we should be asking??

Not really questions, but remind them that you're a long-gime customer (if you are), that you don't have premium channels or an HD box (if you don't) and that you always pay your bills on time (f you do.) The magic sentence is "Please put me through to Retention." No CSR want his/her call to go to retention. The CSR has the authority to reduce the bill to a certain point; if you're not satisfied, ask for retention.

Queen Colleen

 

[DenMig]

We have direct tv and love it. Never had any bad customer service, I have a receiver in our camper and if we don't use it over the winter, when I get it on, I have to call direct tv to reactivate it but has never cost me a dime and only take about 5 min. The reason we are with direct, when we first started looking at sat tv, we knew we were going to take it with us camping and dish told me that if a receiver wasn't hooked to a telephone line it was a extra $5 per month per receiver that wasn't hooked to a telephone line. As far as bad customer service, my DS ordered dish and after being put off twice for install and then getting told higher than what was quoted, he told them forget it and went to direct, also after my DMIL passed, we tried to cancel her dish contract and what a joke, have to send us death certificate, etc, I told DW quite paying the bill they wouldn't take long to cancel it! My Direct very seldom goes out unless really HEAVY thunderstorm. Very happy with Direct but you can get good and bad with both.

My inlaws have Dish in their camper and don't have it connected to a phone line, and they are able to use it for no extra charge. I've had better customer service with Dish then I did with Direct, and my signal has gone out maybe once for 5 minutes in the last 3 years. Our stories are similiar, different carriers. It comes down to individual choice and preference, like coke vs pepsi, miller vs budweiser, McDonalds vs Burger King, etc. I don't begrudge anyone preferring Direct, to each their own. My opinion is that the Genie can't carry the Hoppers jock strap, but that's just me.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

At present we have Dish and are happy with it. I did look at going to DirecTv recently but it would have been more expensive than what I currently have. The main difference is the way each one structures its fees that caused me to stay with Dish.

In my particular case I have three televisions - 1 HD in living room, 1 HD in bedroom, and 1 SD in back room. Since Dish charges per receiver I have a dual-tuner, dual output 722K in the main room feeding the LR HD tv and the back room SD tv. I then have a 211K in the bedroom feeding the HD tv there. You can add an external usb hard drive to the 211K and for a one-time fee make it a DVR unit. With the top 200 service, HD service on 2 tvs and DVR service on all tv units our total bill is $68.47. To provide the same with Direct would have been almost $100 before any taxes and fees.

Another item I noticed when looking into both services recently - how each displayed their pricing. With Direct they went to great efforts to show all their promo discounts if you signed up, but were not as "loud" in listing the total cost after the promotions expired. While on the Dish site I looked at what the cost would be to go from my present equipment to their Hopper system - and it was clearly spelled out. It confirmed that for our usage and style of viewing that what we presently have suites us the best and is the best value.

By the way - we're glad Dish went through the AMC troubles, because we were provided a Roku for that. We use the Roku as much as the satellite system. That little sucker is NEAT !

 

[rajak73]

My inlaws have Dish in their camper and don't have it connected to a phone line, and they are able to use it for no extra charge. I've had better customer service with Dish then I did with Direct, and my signal has gone out maybe once for 5 minutes in the last 3 years. Our stories are similiar, different carriers. It comes down to individual choice and preference, like coke vs pepsi, miller vs budweiser, McDonalds vs Burger King, etc. I don't begrudge anyone preferring Direct, to each their own. My opinion is that the Genie can't carry the Hoppers jock strap, but that's just me.

Everybody has their own choice, I'm just stating what I was told from customer service when we were deciding between the two, that was all I had to go on. One thing I would tell the op, print out the choices of channels on each price range and go from there. Good luck.