# Directv wants to upgrade...again



## adamz (May 13, 2018)

You might consider negotiating with them to keep the same costs. Supposedly, DirecTV will drop their standard def channels which means some receivers, perhaps your receiver, will become obsolete.


You also want to ask them if the new receiver will work with your current TV set. If your current TV has an HDMI input, you're good.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I have at least a dozen stories about these scum bags, I'll try and keep it short.
Long ago they offered a promo $19.95 per month, free install for up to 3 TV's for 100 channels ( I may be wrong on that number) It took them over a month to even show up after several canceled times they said they would be here and my losing time at work to get it installed.
The guy that showed up had a van that had said pressure washing, car detailing, and he had stuck Direct TV stickers over it. 
He refused to go under the house to run the wire to the hole in the floor where the old cable wire had been run.
All he had to install the dish in the yard was what looked like a plastic shovel some kid would use at the beach.
When all this was going on I was not home, my girlfriend was.
When I got home he had "installed" the dish in the middle of the yard, and had ran the wire over, not under the stairs to the deck, and had cut the screen in a window to run the wire to a TV and had the wire streatched about waist high making it impossable to get in the bathroom unless you did the limbo.
He had already made out his so called report card, and refused to give us the smart card to make the whole thing work unless we signed it.
Not bad enough for months we kept getting a bill for over $300.00 for the install!
We would have to spend at least an hour every month for months talking to many people to get it back down to the agreed price of $19.95.


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## LS-6 (Nov 26, 2019)

Old Thomas said:


> Last year Directv called and said our old equipment would not work after a date in July and that they wanted to replace it. When their guy came out he said he would upgrade the equipment and then the cost would go up after a free month. I told him to leave our equipment and if the service stopped working that would be our last day as a DTV subscriber. A miracle, it kept working. Last week they called and told my wife our equipment would stop working on some date in a few weeks. She told them the same thing we told them last year. So far, it still works.
> 
> I am almost 70 years old. I don't need HD because my eyes are not HD any more. We watch some news and little else. I like DTV but if it quits working it will be the push I need to do something else.


Just another ploy to raise the rates and to make you think they have to do this.
I just have an antenna on the roof so my TV is free. I put the antenna on my roof years ago when my cable bill exceeded full coverage insurance on my pickup truck. Now that's ridiculous but not to most of the younger generation these days.
If anyone cares most of the shows I like are black and white.


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

It's not a ploy if you have an older receiver and satellite dish. They're dropping standard definition channels and some receivers and some satellite dishes will become obsolete. I work in a related industry that's affected by this change. 

That said, they have moved the target date which might make it seem like a ploy.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

adamz said:


> You might consider negotiating with them to keep the same costs. Supposedly, DirecTV will drop their standard def channels which means some receivers, perhaps your receiver, will become obsolete.
> 
> 
> You also want to ask them if the new receiver will work with your current TV set. If your current TV has an HDMI input, you're good.


My whole house and shop are wired with coax. I take the box to my farm where I mounted a spare dish if I am sounding the night there. If it quits working, screw ‘em. There are other places to get tv news.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I told DTV to take a hike after not using it for months, but paying for it. We just don't watch commercial TV. Wifey goes to the library and checks out movies for our entertainment. Granted they are older, but we enjoy them. Plus, our TV is smarter than we are, so we get Roku, with a few ads, and already have a Prime account, so most of the movies are included. If I want news, I have my computer. Besides, it quit being "news" with Walter Cronkite. It is now an opinion by some bloviated idiot trying to sell his wares like a snake oil salesman.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I got DIRECTV when they first came out, paid $750 and had to install it myself. With the exception of wet snow that might stick to the dish I always got great reception and liked the channel line up. A few yrs after I bought mine they started giving them away. 10-12 yrs after I bought mine my receiver died and they said I had to pay for a replacement. When they installed fiber optics with the option for me to get high speed internet - I changed my service. _and they charged me a disconnect fee!_ I did get better reception and less outages with satellite but other than that I don't miss them. I definitely don't miss dial up internet!


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## diyorpay (Sep 21, 2010)

Like Mark, I installed our original DirecTV dish on the roof. No feasible cell phones back then so kids' walkie talkies while they watch signal on the tv.
'What's it now?' must have been repeated hundreds of times. USSB and HBO separately provided the premium channels, at reasonable prices to start.

Content went 22 thousand miles from earth to satellite and then 22 thousand miles back down to all us mini dish receivers. Amazing at the time.

Well time has passed, AT&T bought DTV awhile back. Then bought the HBO leg of Time Warner.

In December 2016 DirecTV came out as a streaming service DirecTvnow. $35 a month, many channels and included HBO and local sports. Clincher was that rate would never go up, 'guaranteed'. What a deal! They begged forgiveness and raised to $40 in Aug 2018. Then AT&T stepped in and raised to $50 in Aug 2019. Very soon thereafter in December 2019, $60. Still bundled in HBO. HBOgo app also worked. Everything HBO offered was included.

Now the new HBOmax has arrived and HBO will be limited to whatever they say. More content (assume the next Game of Thrones equivalent) will be now be available for and additional $15/month. And that = $75/month total for same content as in 2016. Hope you all got a 115% raise in less than 4 years too!

AT&T is the most deceptive company on earth. Good news is it doesn't know what it is doing and just watches T-Mobile steal its cell customers too. When AT&T dies, I will not shed a tear.


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## J. V. (Jun 1, 2007)

adamz said:


> You might consider negotiating with them to keep the same costs. Supposedly, DirecTV will drop their standard def channels which means some receivers, perhaps your receiver, will become obsolete.
> You also want to ask them if the new receiver will work with your current TV set. If your current TV has an HDMI input, you're good.


I always called DTV in the late summer to try and get a discount for the NFL Sunday Ticket.
I was never able to get a break on the Ticket, but they would give me breaks on the regular service to make up for it. I was always successful. It was a pain, but it always worked and saved me money.

This year due to the virus, I called and asked them how they would handle games that would be cancelled or moved. They told me they would credit my account. Not sure how that would work out.

So I asked the CSR to cancel my subscription. I have been buying this service since its inception 20 plus years.
The CSR obliged my request and made no attempt to keep me subscribed.
Even when I mentioned I was running internet TV along side DTV as I was considering leaving, he still made no attempt at keeping me as a customer.
They do not care anymore and did not make one attempt to keep a long time customer a customer. I was frankly shocked.



LS-6 said:


> If anyone cares most of the shows I like are black and white. I refuse to watch that liberal queer crap they have on TV these days.


You have an issue that cannot be resolved on this forum. I have reported your post.



diyorpay said:


> AT&T is the most deceptive company on earth. Good news is it doesn't know what it is doing and just watches T-Mobile steal its cell customers too. When AT&T dies, I will not shed a tear.


 From what I am hearing is AT&T is trying to dump DTV and doing everything in their power to make DTV less attractive to potential buyers.
See my latest experience with them above.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

This is not unique to Direct TV.

Comcast has tricked tens of thousands of subscribers into “upgrading” their modem/routers. What they are not making clear is that this “upgrade” is more to Comcast’s benefit than the customer.

Comcast has been working to expand their public access network called Xfinity Wifi. This network allows Comcast customers to access the internet using their Comcast credentials from any of these public “Xfinity Wifi hotspots”. It also allows non-Comcast customers to purchase short term access to these hotspots.

What a lot of their subscribers do not understand is that these “hotspots” are actually the Xfinity wireless routers in people’s homes and businesses. Comcast has turned the routers their customers pay a monthly fee for (and the electricity to power) into a publicly accessible hotspot which the company profits from.

When questioned about the security of customer’s data, Comcast claims there is no need for concern as the guest network is completely separated from the homeowner’s private network yet Comcast does not provide any details on how this is done.

Anyone who understands computer security and/or wireless networking would find this disturbing.

There are ways Xfinity Wifi can be compromised putting subscribers at risk.

A criminal with a stolen credit card can purchase short term Comcast access and then unbeknownst to you use your router to can carry out their illegal activity. Should the police track such illegal activity, it will lead them to your door essentially leaving you with having to “prove” you were not the one carrying out the illegal act.

Comcast claims that should someone use your router to commit an illegal act the real perpetrator can be traced. Logic alone dictates that if the criminal uses a stolen credit card to purchase the access, there is no way to trace them.

Another method is called an “Evil Twin Network”.

Comcasts public access uses the name “xfinitywifi”. A person can change the SSID of their own router to broadcast anything, therefore a cracker (not to be confused with hackers who do not steal or damage) can setup a router with the name “xfinitywifi”. This is essentially bait for a net.

An unsuspecting Comcast subscriber would connect to this “faked” hotspot not realizing that in reality all their actions including the entering of usernames and passwords is being collected by a cracker.

Comcast is not exactly advertising that its subscribers can ask that the public side of the modem/router be turned off. Those that do find out they can do this and request it face resistance from customer service who do everything they can to convince the subscriber to leave it on.

Dispite Comcast trying to convince me to accept their modem/router, I returned it to them and purchased my own.


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## ktkelly (Apr 7, 2007)

Getting ready to give DirecTV the boot.


At the beach house, I use a Tivo with an antenna, and a ROKU for Amazon Prime.


Going to do the same here at the main house.


I'll be calling tomorrow and giving them an offer they cannot refuse: Cut my bill in half, or turn the service off. :biggrin2:




Honestly, DirecTV has always been a bad company to deal with, but when AT&T bought it it actually went farther down the rabbit hole.


I say this because I was in early as a dealer...


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

It took me forever to pay DTV online. They kept saying login to AT&T, but it never showed up. Month after month. That was when I pulled the plug. They sent me a box for all the receivers and remotes, etc. I packed them up and gave the postage paid box to Robby, my Fed EX guy. This began an epic 6 month long epic of getting calls stating they were going to charge my account $400 for non returned items. EVERY month. They denied ever receiving the units. Finally, I called the 800 number and got some really nice girl in Alabama who told me she was looking at a "received" document 6 months earlier, and that she would take care of the matter, which she did. I wish I could have sent her some flowers.


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## ktkelly (Apr 7, 2007)

One nice thing is that since I've been with DTV for SO long, they don't have my credit card info.


No way they can even try to charge me for these _antique_ receivers, that I own. Hell, even the dish is mine.






It's funny that DTV will charge a monthly fee for a DVR that is old technology, just like the cable companies with monthly charges for modem that are very old tech and should be trashed.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

chandler48 said:


> They sent me a box for all the receivers and remotes, etc. I packed them up and gave the postage paid box to Robby, my Fed EX guy. This began an epic 6 month long epic of getting calls stating they were going to charge my account $400 for non returned items. EVERY month. They denied ever receiving the units. Finally, I called the 800 number and got some really nice girl in Alabama who told me she was looking at a "received" document 6 months earlier, and that she would take care of the matter, which she did. I wish I could have sent her some flowers.



The lesson here is always get a tracking number for anything you return and track it to it's destination.

When the company tries to claim they did not receive it, send them a copy of the tracking report. 

If they continue to try to bill you, send a registered letter with return receipt enclosing a second copy of the tracking report and a letter stating any further attempts by them to charge you for the equipment in question will be reported to FCC, and may result in the filing of harassment charges with the police.

Every time you communicate with the company, always get the customer representative’s name and write it down. Ask for their extension, as well. Be sure to take copious notes because whatever they tell you will be part of the case record. 

Remember, as irate as you are with the situation, the person on the other end of the phone is just an employee doing their job, so be polite even as you’re being assertive.


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## fireguy (May 3, 2007)

There is an easier way. 25 or 30 years ago, I pulled the cable. Especially, with internet, why would you put up with all the crap you need, just to watch crap shows on cable?


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## diyorpay (Sep 21, 2010)

From Seeking Alpha, 9/1/20:

"News reports are suggesting that AT&T (T) might sell its DirecTV unit for up to $20 billion. The wireless and media company paid $49 billion for the company back in 2015, but investors shouldn't be assured that a private equity buyer will pay such a large sum for a declining business.
...
One really has to ask why private equity or any other business would want to pay billions for a business in major decline. Consumers are cutting the cord at record rates, and the pace isn't expected to slow down, as the move to streaming services only escalated during the COVID-19 crisis.
...
Since 2010, only the 65+ crowd has spent more time watching pay TV. Key demographics under 49 have all cut viewing times by over 50%. The sad part for AT&T shareholders is that this trend was obvious back when the DirecTV deal was made in 2014."


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## J. V. (Jun 1, 2007)

fireguy said:


> There is an easier way. 25 or 30 years ago, I pulled the cable. Especially, with internet, why would you put up with all the crap you need, just to watch crap shows on cable?


I have many reasons to pay for Directv.
The number one reason is for NFL Sunday Ticket. No one else has it and I will move once I can get NFLST another way.

Two, we have been running Direct alongside internet here for a couple years. My wife was watching Netflix.
Personally I think internet TV is more trouble than its worth.
First you have to hunt for shows. I spend more time hunting than watching with the internet option.
I like to be able to pick up a remote, push one button and magically a TV show appears. And if I want another TV show I push another button that takes me to a menu where I can pick something else.

I can watch shows on demand (no or very little commercials).
I can set up series to record and rarely have to see a commercial.
While monetarily, internet TV makes the most sense.
For watching TV, DirectV is superior.


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## ktkelly (Apr 7, 2007)

J. V. said:


> I have many reasons to pay for Directv.
> The number one reason is for NFL Sunday Ticket. No one else has it and I will move once I can get NFLST another way.
> 
> Two, we have been running Direct alongside internet here for a couple years. My wife was watching Netflix.
> ...





To each hos own but with Tivo I push one button and have a guide to select from just like with DTV and the commercial skip function is FAR superior as well as the picture quality..


Also NO rain fade ever.




Hmmm. Less cost and a similar experience. Oh no NFL but I wouldn't watch it anyway....


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## J. V. (Jun 1, 2007)

Tivo is still alive?


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## ktownskier (Aug 22, 2018)

One thing people forget is that AT&T Inc. is not the AT&T Corp of old. The original Phone Company. 

Prior to 1982, ATT-C was known by most as the Telephone Company. On January 8, 1982, all the baby bells (Northwestern Bell, Southwestern Bell, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, etc..) were set free and made their own companies. ATT-C was left to handle the inter-regional and international communications, Western Electric (the makers of the phones) and other things. 

Around 1996, ATT-C spun off ATT Technologies (Bell Labs, NCR Computers, etc..) into a seperate company, Lucent Technologies. 

In 1994, ATT-C completed it's acquisition of McCaw Communications, giving it's Cellular division the #1 provider of cellular service and 2 million subscribers. 

In 1999, ATT paid IBM $5b for its IBM Global Network Systems. And IBM gave ATT-C a 5 year, $5B contract to handle most of IBM's networking needs. This helped cement ATT-C's growth in the burgeoning growth of computer networking needs and away from telecom long distance usage which was falling. 

In July of 2001, ATT-C spun off ATT Wireless into it's own company. ATT-W. It was the largest IPO in history to that point. Making a lot of money for a lot of people. 

In the 1990's one of the Baby Bells, Southwestern Bell, went on a buying spree and became a major player in the telecommunications industry. Southwestern Bell (SBC) bought or merged with Pacific Telesis, Southern New England Telephone, Bell Atlantic and Ameritech. In January 1999, it bought Comcast Cellular with BellSouth. 

In 2004, SBC and BellSouth through their Cingular Division, bought out ATT-W ending the ATT's long association with the wireless and telecommunication industry in August of 2005. 

Also in 2005, SBC completed a merger with ATT-C creating the "NEW" ATT, or ATT Incorporated (ATT-I) While SBC was the victor in the merger, they decided to opt for the more well know name of ATT and to keep the NYSE stock symbol of "T". 

In 2006, ATT-I, the new owners of Cingular, or rather the rebranded owners of Cingular, decided to rebrand Cingular as well. So, they brought back ATT-Wireless. 

But, they kept the customerless focus of Cingular's infamous customer service. Which is why DTV's customer service went downhill so fast. If it were the culture of the old ATT it would have been great, but with the new culture of the new ATT, it failed miserably.


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