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I've been having a hard time emailing DirecTV with my issue. Once I hit submit, I get an error rather than a confirmation that my message has been sent. I am wondering two things: First, could I be having this problem because my message is too large for their system? And secondly, would they respond favorably to my complaint? I've pasted my entire message to them below... I'd really rather be able to send this in writing, because it is just too much to try and explain over the phone.... Message follows:

Hello -

I have been a direcTV subscriber for a few months now. Although I enjoy the service (now that it's working), getting it up and running was a fiasco, and the problems I encountered have yet to be resolved. I will start at the beginning.

1. I purchased the DirecTV equipment (dish, DVR, additional receiver) from Best Buy in March of 2004. They advertised "Free Professional Installation" and "free equipment". I paid for the equipment, with the promise that I would be reimbursed once the service was activated.

2. The "professional" installers showed up to my house about a week later. They bolted the dish to the side of my houes, ran the wiring through, and could not get anything to work. No signal what so ever. They told me that they needed to come back a differen't day with their speical "testing equipment" to see what the problem was. I never heard from them again.

3. I went back to Best Buy to complain. They promised to send out a different set of installers.

4. In May of 2004, a new set of "professional" installers showed up. They determined that there wasn't sufficient line of sight from my yard, hence the reason for no signal. I disputed this, since my calculations showed that there was plenty of good sightlines in various places on my house. They disagreed and left.

5. I returned to Best Buy to once again complain. I explained that there was in fact good line-of-sight from my yard, and I would like someone to try to get the thing working, or at a MINIMUM at least take the dish down, removing the wiring and patch the holes in my house.

6. In June of 2004 the second set of installers returned. They had no interest in trying to get it to work. They took the dish down, removed the wiring, and told me that needed to pay $60 for the service call or else they would be entitled to seize my equipment. I protested, stating that this was supposed to be "free installation". They said that this was an "uninstall", and if I wanted it to be covered I should take it up with Best buy.

7. By this time it was Late June of 2004. I returned to Best Buy, only to find out that too much time had passed to return the equipment for a refund, and the only way to collect my rebate was to actually get the equipment working.

8. After much digging for information, etc, I finally was able to install the dish myself (at great personal expense for wiring, grounding blocks, and various other hardware), and I activated my service on September 6th 2004. As I suspected, the sight lines are great from my house, and everything works just fine.

9. Once again, back to Best Buy. The then informed me that too much time had passed to claim my rebate for the equipment, and I was out of luck. They said they would try to reimburse me for the $60 fee that I was charged on the third install visit, but that hasn't happened and they are not returning my calls.

So, to sum it up, I have paid in full for all equipment, for the install, and all related expenses, as well as an extra $60. I have gone through a lot of frustration and personal expense to become a DirecTV customer. Although I like the service, I am going to cancel and never return as a customer unless someone makes this right. The retailer and the installers both are unwilling to help. I realize that this isn't a DirecTV-caused problem, but it is DirecTV who will soon be losing a customer if there isn't some kind of resolution.

Please let me know how this can be resolved! I would be happy to speak on the telephone with the proper party, but I thought it would be easier to outline this in writing. I will appreciate a prompt response.