TiVo Community Forums Archives

TiVoCommunity.com
(c)opyright 1995-2005 All rights reserved
indexcheckTC
This area is a static history of posts in the TiVo Community Forum Archive.
This archive history was made for the simple indexing of search sites like Google.

Pages:1

DirecTV Postcard!
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: MajikMarker

Well, I feel better now....I just received a postcard from D* thanking me for being a valued customer. They go on to thank me for upgrading my system and as if this is not enough, they remind me again of my new 1 year commitment and $150 penalty for canceling early. I guess the CSR telling me about it on the phone upon activation or the notation in my online account was not enough, they just had to remind me again via the postcard. And on top of that, it sounds like some people are not even being held to that standard. I really do not understand D* policy on this. I paid full price for my new receiver, it was not any kind of promotion or subsidized deal from D*. Now, if I got the HD package (or even the plain Tivo deal) where they give me a $300-400 box for $99, I understand the requirement for a service commitment.

Maybe I would not be as bitter about this if I was one of the lucky ones who was able to get a service credit upon adding the HD10-250.

Wouldn't you think if they send out a communication thanking you for your business (and more to the point, they want to make sure I am aware of the one year commitment) there would be some kind of "comp"? There isn't even a free PPV movie code on this stupid card...

Just wanted to vent...I feel this postcard is kind of a slap in the face and not customer friendly!

PS I find it interesting that, according to the fine print, that if I cancel early and send them my $2000 worth of D* receiver equipment, I could forgo the $150 penalty! Seems fair.....

With stuff like this, the idiotic form responses from E-mail service requests, and lack of knowledge at the call center, I don't see how D* wins that JD Power award every year! Seems to me that D* and Comcast are equally inept in providing customer service. They should split the award...

Seriously going to evaluate and listen for Comcast deals in the coming year as I currently could have more HD content with less compression from them.

Posted by: midas

You haven't seen bad customer service until you've dealt with the cable guys. They put D* to shame. How about this for great customer service. They call me up about 5 years ago and ask if I want to beta test their cable internet. I accept their offer and they come and install it. But I get no instructions on where to leave feedback, just a place to call if I have problems. Then they announce the release without ever calling and asking for feedback until after they start advertising the service.

And it was no better 4 years ago when they called to ask me to beta test their digital offerings. Same scenario. No requests for feedback at all. And the service was so bad that the day I got the notice that the test was over and they were going to start charging me extra for the digitial service I canceled cable completely and went with Dish.

But my favorite is when I cancelled Dish to move to DirecTV. They sent me to customer retention who then asked me why I wanted to cancel. I told them it was because they didn't have Tivo. They of course apologized but she did mention that they had many other channels :D

Their only attempt to keep me as a customer was to offer to put me on vacation status for up to 6 months at $5 per month so that if I came back I wouldnt' be charged a fee for reactivation. I kindly declined that offer.

Posted by: Kamakzie

Dish put a notation in my account that if I ever switched back to them they would waive the re-activation... Like I ever will! :D

Posted by: Regina

LOL Kamakzie! When I cancelled with Dish, they said, "Now, if you ever want to sign up again, there is this re-activation fee, but..." and I thought, "Well, they'll say they'll waive it, but that's moot because I will NEVER re-activate Dish!" but then the guy said, "Er, I mean, AND we will of course charge you that fee!" I said, "Well, that's ridiculous, and it won't ever happen so don't you worry. This cements my decision to switch to DirecTV!"
...and I have never looked back (til today of course!)
p.s. LOL Midas! Just re-read your post, missed the part about "We have other channels, just not TiVO!" HA HA! That's MINT!:D

Posted by: Continuum37

Am I the only one who appreciates directv sending a written confirmation of the 1 year contract? I can't actually remember ever being told that there was a commitment by a CSR there when I called to activate. I'm just lucky that most places you buy it from have that in their fine print contract somewhere (although I'd bet most people don't read the whole thing).

Posted by: leesweet

BTW, people seem to think that the 'full' price doesn't include a subsidy, but it still does, AFAIK. I've seen that several places here and at AVS, saying that each and every D* receiver would cost most if they didn't subsidize it, discount or no. Now, the absolute truth in that statement, especially for $700 HD Receivers (Sony/LG/Hughes when they first came out) and this $1000 beast, I can't say. :D