[NJblue]

On other threads there has been some complaints about Comcast with people recommending DirecTV. I'm afraid that I need to take the other side of this.

After talking with their sales people and being assured that if I subscribed to their sports package that I would be able to get the YES network for Yankees games and also with the possibility of watching Giants football games with the NFL Sunday Ticket, I decided to go with DirectTV. Big mistake.

First, they lied to (or charitably, misinformed) me regarding what was covered by their optional monthly service fee - resulting in hours and hours of escalation through there billing department trying to recoup installation fees which should never had been assessed according to what I was told by the sales person. After 4 months I'm still not sure that I have this resolved.

Secondly, when a second DVR was to be installed, we had to wait 5 days, with each day being told with 100% certainty that the installers would show up on that day - only to have them not show up after waiting for them all day long. Toward the end of this fiasco, the contact person from the installation subcontractor assured me that he was going to credit our account for our inconvenience. Naturally, when later not seeing any such credit and bringing it to the attention of their customer service department they disavowed any knowledge of such a promise.

Finally, after all the installation issues were worked out I thought I was home free. However, yesterday when I called to subscribe to the sports package that is advertised and I was told that would offer the YES network, I was then informed that I would have to live in the NY area to get the YES network; the sports package only has select regional sports network available in any area of the country. So, being in Florida, I would have to be content with watching Florida sports if I subscribed to this package. This was in direct contradiction to what I was told as a result of a specific question that I asked of the sales person.

However, they did offer the MLB Extra Innings package which they claimed would offer most Yankee games. Of course this cost a lot more money than the sports package that had the YES network that I originally wanted. Reluctantly I decided that I would subscribe to this package. However, when I went to subscribe, I was informed that any sports package required a land-line telephone connection! Since we use only cell phones, this means that not only will I not be able to get the MLB games, but in the fall I will not be able to get the NFL games that I want to see.

Hence, my entire rationale for going with DirecTV is out the window and I'm stuck with them for 2 years. The topper is that today we have lost satellite connectivity twice. The first time they walked me through an extensive reset process which took about 20 minutes and restored service for about 45 minutes. Now we have lost it again and are trying to do the reset thing again - so far to no avail.

We have had Comcast for years and have never had such poor service and deception.

[bimmertl]

I have Directv with the NFL package. While I do have a land line, none of my DVR's are connected to the phone line. As a result, I am unable to order PPV movies by using my DVR remote. However, I do have the NFL package and despite having no land line connection, there isn't a problem.

I also had a problem with a sub contractor. I got credited some money from Direct when I explained all the problems the sub created. When calling Direct ask to speak to customer retention, they are the ones who can help you out on that end. I would explain the entire situation to them as you have outlined in your post.

Good luck.

[NJblue]

Thanks. As a matter of fact, I just ended up talking with customer retention. What happened was that the reset process that I tried for the second outage today failed to eliminate the problem. When I called tech support they said that they would have to send someone out to the house but the first available date would be 5 days from now! I escalated this to the tech supervisor who reiterated that 5 days was the best that they could do. When I said that this was unacceptible and that this along with all the other issues that I had with DirecTV has caused me to decide to terminate my service with them they transferred me to customer retention. The customer retention person could offer no better solution than to wait 5 days with no service. I've had it with them. Too bad, because other than horrendous customer service and deception, I really did like DirecTV better than Comcast.

[champion6]

I feel for you, NJblue.

For your own peace of mind, you might look at this site, http://www.dbstalk.com Go to the forum where you will find many knowledgeable users. It has been a help to me.