Held hostage by DTV service

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s2emgill

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Original poster
Jul 7, 2010
12
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Richmond VA
Let me start first by a little background. I have been a DTV customer for the last 12+ years. I never had a problem with the service, equipment or programming. That all changed 1.5 years ago. I had the DTV Tivo recevier for 7 years. It was doing good until it finally went on the fritz. I called DTV and I was given the R15-500 moder DVR. I started to see it freezing up, rebooting on its own, recording when it wanted, not recording after having it for 3 months. At the 9 month point, I get out of bed and the record and power lights are flashing with a clicking noise coming from the box. I call DTV and went through the scripted troubleshooting and was finally told I needed a new receiver. I asked the CSR could I get a differnet model becasue i had done research on the R15-500 model and it was a crappy unit. He told me he could not guarantee that and I would get a "comparable replacement".

After a few days, the new receiver arrives. Guess what. It is another R15-500 model. I am covered under the protection package so i do not complain. I remove it from the box, install it, call DTV to have it activated and sit back to enjoy. Two weeks later, here come the reboot and freezing screen demons. The third week in my home, the receiver decides to reboot constantly. It has been rebooting since 06JUL2010. I call DTV and they put me throguh the same dog and pony show of troubleshooting and finally decide to send a service tech out. The call was made on 06JUL2010. The earliest they can get a service tech to me is 13JUL2010. I tell the CSR this is not acceptale and I need an earlier date. He tells me he will have to "internally e-mail the local office to try and get an earlier date.

I get a call from the "local office" and they tell me that the can get a servie tech to me on 08JUL2010, today. But it is not guaranteed. Today passes and guess what, no service tech. I get another call today saying that they will try to get another tech to me "as soon as they can, but they cannot guarantee one will be available.

By now, I am beyond frustrated. Here I am paying for DVR service, a leased, broken DVR, the protection package and programming I am not able to use. This is way beyond shoddy service.

After talking to the "local office", I called Verizon and scheduled FiOS service to be installed on 24JUL2010. I will let DTV come out, replace the unit with, no doubt, another R15-500. I might as well keep the service until I switch since I have already paid for it.

As I said earlier, I loved DTV prior to 1.5 years ago. i will not recommend them to anyone due to my recent experience.
 
Let me start first by a little background. I have been a DTV customer for the last 12+ years. I never had a problem with the service, equipment or programming. That all changed 1.5 years ago. I had the DTV Tivo recevier for 7 years. It was doing good until it finally went on the fritz. I called DTV and I was given the R15-500 moder DVR. I started to see it freezing up, rebooting on its own, recording when it wanted, not recording after having it for 3 months. At the 9 month point, I get out of bed and the record and power lights are flashing with a clicking noise coming from the box. I call DTV and went through the scripted troubleshooting and was finally told I needed a new receiver. I asked the CSR could I get a differnet model becasue i had done research on the R15-500 model and it was a crappy unit. He told me he could not guarantee that and I would get a "comparable replacement".

After a few days, the new receiver arrives. Guess what. It is another R15-500 model. I am covered under the protection package so i do not complain. I remove it from the box, install it, call DTV to have it activated and sit back to enjoy. Two weeks later, here come the reboot and freezing screen demons. The third week in my home, the receiver decides to reboot constantly. It has been rebooting since 06JUL2010. I call DTV and they put me throguh the same dog and pony show of troubleshooting and finally decide to send a service tech out. The call was made on 06JUL2010. The earliest they can get a service tech to me is 13JUL2010. I tell the CSR this is not acceptale and I need an earlier date. He tells me he will have to "internally e-mail the local office to try and get an earlier date.

I get a call from the "local office" and they tell me that the can get a servie tech to me on 08JUL2010, today. But it is not guaranteed. Today passes and guess what, no service tech. I get another call today saying that they will try to get another tech to me "as soon as they can, but they cannot guarantee one will be available.

By now, I am beyond frustrated. Here I am paying for DVR service, a leased, broken DVR, the protection package and programming I am not able to use. This is way beyond shoddy service.

After talking to the "local office", I called Verizon and scheduled FiOS service to be installed on 24JUL2010. I will let DTV come out, replace the unit with, no doubt, another R15-500. I might as well keep the service until I switch since I have already paid for it.

As I said earlier, I loved DTV prior to 1.5 years ago. i will not recommend them to anyone due to my recent experience.

How much do you owe to get out of your contract ?
 
Or better than that with all those customer years & the protection plan get a hold of retention & let them know all of your frustrations; sit back & wait for them to offer up the latest HR series. They might not be able to guarantee an HR24 but you will get an HRXX & plenty of credits/free package promo's to make up for your inconvenience. Having said all that, FIOS is a nice option when it's available in your area. :eek:
 
I agree; if you want to get rid of the R15 altogether, upgrade.

You'll most likely have to ask nicely to get comparable credits but don't agree until you're satisfied with the offer. Sadly, you'll have to wait for either DirecTv or Fios to get back to reliable TV service.

Directv does have some competitive offers on the Whole Home DVR with Internet Connection Kit. Who's offer is the best for you? It depends on your viewing preferences. I'd compare best offers while you have the time.
 
If he u0pgraded to a new recvr a year and a half ago, he would be.

He went from a Tivo to a R15

I checked all of my bills, my account and even spoke to a CSR and I am not under a contract. I even have the CSR on recorder stating as such.
 
Or better than that with all those customer years & the protection plan get a hold of retention & let them know all of your frustrations; sit back & wait for them to offer up the latest HR series. They might not be able to guarantee an HR24 but you will get an HRXX & plenty of credits/free package promo's to make up for your inconvenience. Having said all that, FIOS is a nice option when it's available in your area. :eek:

I am done talking to DTV. I checked the tech boards over on their site and there are many people in the same situation as I am; 10+ years, crappy service, shoddy equipment, and the issue has not been corrected yet. This is the reason I left cable becasue of the poor service I was getting. It seems to me that DTV hired the Comcast/Cox cable division of customer service on the cheap.

My mother-in-law and my barber have FiOS and I was very impressed with it. Verizon put FiOS service in my community a little while ago so I am taking them up on their offer. Yeah, it may not have some of the sports packages that DTV has, but I have no service right now and I have lost all the things I have recorded.
 
Hate to hear about all of that. Might contact a manager see what they can do for you..
 
sigh I could give you a contact number, but it doesn't matter all the wharehouse carries are R-15. They willnot swap you out into a HDDVR and there aren't any R-22's.
If you think the R-15 is bad that FIOS Motorola DVR is awful
 
Yeah going FIOS would be a step backwards.. Just my 2 cents..
 
Hate to hear about all of that. Might contact a manager see what they can do for you..

I spoke to a supervisor and a manager. They both told me there was nothing they could do for me other than "internally e-mail the local office for an earlier service date, but they could not guarantee it". I asked them to give me the local office number and they both said "they do not have the number and they are not allowed to call local offices". How's that for a J.D. Power and Assoc. Customer Satisfaction Award winner.
 
sigh I could give you a contact number, but it doesn't matter all the wharehouse carries are R-15. They willnot swap you out into a HDDVR and there aren't any R-22's.
If you think the R-15 is bad that FIOS Motorola DVR is awful


Thanks for the help. I am going to take my chances with the FiOS DVR service and equipment. Like I said before, I know folks with that service/equipment and they are singing its praises. I would have stuck it out with DTV, but the rank condescension and outright inept handling I received was totally uncalled for. As stated, I am a 12+ year customer. Never been late and even keep my bill paid in advance. And this is the service I get for my hard earned cash. I think not.
 
Hmm did you try calling a local reseller there locally and see what they could do for you??
 
I hate lease deal. but you have to pay for it and the product still not belong to you, still lease and pay monthly fee, what is the deal on this. Thats why I don't care what the new equipment came out and I do not give a damn on it, I will use the one I got ten years ago as long as it work.
 
Thanks for the help. I am going to take my chances with the FiOS DVR service and equipment. Like I said before, I know folks with that service/equipment and they are singing its praises. I would have stuck it out with DTV, but the rank condescension and outright inept handling I received was totally uncalled for. As stated, I am a 12+ year customer. Never been late and even keep my bill paid in advance. And this is the service I get for my hard earned cash. I think not.

So what do you want us to do is my question. If all the tech are busy we cant bump one customer to suit your needs.

What do we tell the other customer well sir sorry we had to cancle your appointment because someone else feels they are more important.

I am sorry you have to wait and we can even credit time with out service but there nothign we can do about have a book tech schedule.
 
I hate lease deal. but you have to pay for it and the product still not belong to you, still lease and pay monthly fee, what is the deal on this. Thats why I don't care what the new equipment came out and I do not give a damn on it, I will use the one I got ten years ago as long as it work.

It's not worth owning hardware that will be updated in a couple of years.. No reason being stuck with something in a few years that will be outdated and not supported as much and no one wants. At some point you always have to upgrade or you will not get the same service and being paying the same price as everyone else. :)
 
So what do you want us to do is my question. If all the tech are busy we cant bump one customer to suit your needs.

What do we tell the other customer well sir sorry we had to cancle your appointment because someone else feels they are more important.

I am sorry you have to wait and we can even credit time with out service but there nothign we can do about have a book tech schedule.

Not lookng for you service techs to do anything. Other than keep doing your job that I appreciate so well. It is the DTV customer service I have an issue with and the equipment I have been exposed to. As I stated earlier, I had no problem with DTV up until 1.5 years ago. When I would call with a problem, it would get answered by a competent individual. If a service tech was needed to come out, they showed up either the next day or two days after.

I remember when one of my units was fried by lightning. The tech could not get to me until a week later, but he (the tech) called me and gave me the directions to his home. He told me to bring the fried unit and he would replace it with a new one. This all occured when I lived in a very rural area of the country.

If you feel your toes were stepped on in my rant, that's your thing.
 
Did you give any of the retailers a call in your aera to see what they could do for you..
 
Not lookng for you service techs to do anything. Other than keep doing your job that I appreciate so well. It is the DTV customer service I have an issue with and the equipment I have been exposed to. As I stated earlier, I had no problem with DTV up until 1.5 years ago. When I would call with a problem, it would get answered by a competent individual. If a service tech was needed to come out, they showed up either the next day or two days after.

I remember when one of my units was fried by lightning. The tech could not get to me until a week later, but he (the tech) called me and gave me the directions to his home. He told me to bring the fried unit and he would replace it with a new one. This all occured when I lived in a very rural area of the country.

If you feel your toes were stepped on in my rant, that's your thing.

Stonecold isn't a service tech he is a customer service rep.
 
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1000 VOD Down?

Thinking of switching.

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