I Have Been A Directv Customer Since February 1995…
but I will be former customer as soon as our subscription to NHL Center Ice runs out. In fact, if I can get either Dish Network or Comcast to figure out a way to transfer it, I will be a former Directv customer as soon as the switch over can happen.
So, what is driving me to this?
The receiver we bought in 1995 has finally died. No problem, I’ll just replace it.
I can’t. Did I mention we own all of the receivers here?
I can’t “buy” another one. I can only pay a fee for the privilege of “leasing” one. But, I can’t just lease one. If I don’t replace all of the receivers I own with the fake lease variety I get to pay a “convenience” fee for each receiver I own and still use. Oh, yeah, and this customer of 13 years has to agree to an early cancellation fee that starts at $360 PER RECEIVER that is prorated at $20 per month per receiver.
Not going to happen.
I have stayed with Directv until now because of inertia and overall reliability. Now, I am looking at other options. Both Dish network and Comcast have better deals. Lower monthly rates, same channels, and in the case of Dish network, definitely better equipment. Like a single receiver that can handle two rooms watching two different channels.
So, it will probably be a long goodbye to Directv but it will be a goodbye.
Most likely, I will bring on the new service and then drop all but one receiver with Directv. Then drop it to the lowest monthly package I can to keep the Center Ice subscription in place. Then, once that goes dark after the playoffs…
Bye bye, Directv.
Hmmm, if this is the way they are going to treat all of us long term customers as the older equipment fails, maybe I should look into shorting the stock too.
Oh great! While I suspected that ALL satellites and cables will eventually find ways to pull illogical stunts, I didn’t think it’d happen yet with Directv.
We are Directv customers.
Hubby will not be happy to hear about this….
Thank you for the warning.
I am having a similar but different conundrum…I have a purchased Directivo unit with 2 tuners. One of the tuners has become flaky. To replace the unit, I need a new contract and lose Tivo…sure they have DVR, but it is definatly NOT Tivo. The functionaity of the remote and software is an Elementary Joke when compared to the functionailty of Tivo. I know because a friend took the plunge and got rid of Directivo to get upgraded to HD Directv DVR.
I would like to get an HD Tivo receiever at some point anyways, but now that DirecTV no longer has a relationship with Tivo, Cable is the only way to keep Tivo with HD…
I am discouraged, but plan on holding off making any decisions until the second tuner completely dies…(FYI, the reason it is a problem is that the season pass manager uses either or both tuners for recording shows, but you can’t choose which one…)
I guess such is life for big business, the old customers get screwed in favor of new policy…
Actually it kind of reminds me of being a tax payer…Same problem…new policies screw over old customers…
Well, it looks like I am leaning toward Dish Network and will go with the DVR offering. I have been through a lot of reviews today and even former Tivo owners rave about the Dish Network DVRs.
I expect to decide tomorrow and as soon as the new option is installed, Directv will go into limp mode until the Center Ice subscription expires.
I told the Directv rep on the phone I intended to do this, her attitude was “yeah sure, heard it before”. But, they were a little less disinterested when I called back to deactivate the dead receiver (forgot to that on the first call). They asked, “Aren’t you replacing it?”
Uh, no and I will be turning off the others soon too.
I know you are disgruntled…but after some searching, you can still buy some new old stock directv recievers and tivo dvrs online in different locations. Ebay has used but I have been reading that other sites have new old stock for sale that apparently can be used…depends on if you are fully done with DTV…
Thanks, Mike. I bought a refurbished one on Overstock.com this morning for $20 total with shipping.
This will suffice until this summer when the media room is getting a re-do. At that time, we will go HD and I can’t see a scenario where it will be with Directv.
For your information regarding HD.
HD is pretty good. Not the greatest but certainly better than non-HD.
As you probably already know, get the 1080i unless better T.V.s came out since October.
After much time and research, we bought one large sized LCD HD tv. I learned a couple of things that I didn’t find via research:
1) What you see on tv guide such as HGTV is for non-HD. There’ll be two channels, one for non-HD and one for HD. For example: channel 229 and 229HD. Usually, they’re different shows at the same time. Sci-Fi, on the other hand, provide same shows for both channels.
2) Although it took awhile to get used to Closed Caption a few years ago, I made it a point to have it on at all times as part of reading education for my daughters. I’ve noticed that the closed caption on HD channels are not always reliable.
Get Dish HD with DVR. Have had regular Dish for 3 years and the DVR features work great! I have Dish 2 receivers that work on 2 different channels in 2 different rooms. I also split the signal to 2 other TV’s that show the same as other TV’s.
Have fun with DirectTV!