Cancelled DirecTV after 2 weeks -- billing dispute

[Scott Greczkowski]

Once you have the service installed and turn on there is not much the origional retailer can do for you, and fact is you are probably taking about (if not over) $500 out of the pocket of the retailer you purchased it from as that is what DirecTV charges back to the retailer. Let's put it this way it is going to cost the retailer more because you want to cancel then if you never shopped from them at all.

Now what I just explained happens to ALL Satellite dealers not just the ones who may be a sponsor here. Being a Satellite Dealer is a strange business because in the end the dealer is nothing more then a person who gives both customers and the satellite companies loans. (They give customer free or discount equipment with the hopes the customer stays a customer for a year, if they dont then the satellite company takes back ALL (or most) of the money they paid the dealer for the customer.

For this reason you can see why most independent satellite retailers are going out of business.

Even if you return the unit to them its useless to them as they can't sell it as new, it needs a new smartcard etc.

Remember that you only have 3 days to decide you dont want something under the buyers remorse laws, after that you must do whatever the companies cancelation policy states.

We here at SatelliteGuys strive to provide everyone open and honest opinions about Satellite and TV serviceso you can make the best decission on what is best for you. We URGE every member to read... READ... read... before ever spending any money so when you do decide to make a purchase you know exactly what you are getting.

 

[swartzfeger]

yeah dish is really great, my bro lives in chandler or gilbert az, he got rid of cox , said it was crap. he loves directv as does his ex.

schwartz, re-enlist with dish, do us all a favor.

btw,, how did you firewire dish?

It was firewire via the Cox Scientific Atlanta HD receiver. I ran a cable from the firewire port to my Mac, turning it into a Hi Def DVR. As far as I know, no satellite receiver/dvr has firewire (last I checked, that may have changed).

 

[dragon002]

not trying to be cute, but why would you watch tv on your computer??

this HP PC is like a ball and chain. i download my work from the MSP, DIRECTV etc every morning, check my e mails, check the midget football site, check school closings, there are 2 land lines , a fax/ MP machine. the cell phone. cripes THE LAST PLACE I WANT TO WATCH TV IS HERE!!!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I watch TV on my PC all the time. The Slingbox is the best invention of the 20th century.

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

I have 3 17 inch LCD mon side by side at my PC. One ALWAYS has D* or a DVD on it. The other 2 are for gaming and surfing the net.

 

[swartzfeger]

not trying to be cute, but why would you watch tv on your computer??

this HP PC is like a ball and chain. i download my work from the MSP, DIRECTV etc every morning, check my e mails, check the midget football site, check school closings, there are 2 land lines , a fax/ MP machine. the cell phone. cripes THE LAST PLACE I WANT TO WATCH TV IS HERE!!!

When did I say I was watching TV on my computer?

I recorded HD shows on my computer -- for free -- when HD DVRs were well over $1000.

And with a 30" Apple LCD, why *not*?

 

[swartzfeger]

not trying to be cute, but why would you watch tv on your computer??

this HP PC is like a ball and chain. i download my work from the MSP, DIRECTV etc every morning, check my e mails, check the midget football site, check school closings, there are 2 land lines , a fax/ MP machine. the cell phone. cripes THE LAST PLACE I WANT TO WATCH TV IS HERE!!!

And now that I read your post again, I can see why.

I hate to pull Mac snobbery into this, but from what I've gathered on the AVS forum is that the firewire capture we've done is still only possible on Mac OS X because of Apple's firewire SDK (I have many PC friends that have bought dirt cheap Mac G4s with firewire just to do what we do (or I *did*, back in the cable days). So while you're checking e-mail and midget football scores, Mac people are burning/editing 16:9 and hi-def content.

If you could see some of the Ultimate Fighting Championship matches or K-1 matches I've captured in full HD (and not the HD Lite crap D* is foisting on people) and watch it on a 30" LCD monitor, you would know why people watch recorded hi def on their Macs (or stream it to their TVs).

 

[Sean Mota]

swartzfeger,

IMO, cut your loses and be done with it. No one here will pay your bill or give you anything in return for your disastisfaction with the service. HD Lite on D* is real but again when you bring up the topic here "some" will say it is just your opinion or mine despite the various data facts and various posts about the topic. I myself have D* but don't watch any HD on their service because I have another option (for the moment). At least IMO it is true what you said -- once you know how 1920x1080i channels at decent bitrates are supposed to look like, it is very hard to swallow the 1280x1080i at low bitrate that D* is sending. Ultimately, you are the one that needs to be satisfied with your picture quality.

 

[swartzfeger]

swartzfeger,

IMO, cut your loses and be done with it. No one here will pay your bill or give you anything in return for your disastisfaction with the service. HD Lite on D* is real but again when you bring up the topic here "some" will say it is just your opinion or mine despite the various data facts and various posts about the topic. I myself have D* but don't watch any HD on their service because I have another option (for the moment). At least IMO it is true what you said -- once you know how 1920x1080i channels at decent bitrates are supposed to look like, it is very hard to swallow the 1280x1080i at low bitrate that D* is sending. Ultimately, you are the one that needs to be satisfied with your picture quality.

Thanks Sean, I agree -- I just wanna cut my losses and get back to the 1920x1080 quality I had. I'm taking a shot and sending in the rebate anyway -- the only requirements stated on teh rebate form are a receipt and proof of signing the D* agreement, which I have both. Says/mentions nothing of early termination.

Now I get to start the fun process of seeing whe E* rolls local HD out in my area. Joy.

 

[kb7oeb]

not trying to be cute, but why would you watch tv on your computer??

My TV has firewire so I am able to playback my recordings using the TV's mpeg decoder. The Mac I use is too old to acutally playback the recordings itself.

The coolest part is the fast forward and rewind buttons on the tv remote work!

 

[swartzfeger]

Once you have the service installed and turn on there is not much the origional retailer can do for you, and fact is you are probably taking about (if not over) $500 out of the pocket of the retailer you purchased it from as that is what DirecTV charges back to the retailer. Let's put it this way it is going to cost the retailer more because you want to cancel then if you never shopped from them at all.

Well, then we all lose -- I'm out $280, the sponsor is out $500, adn D* is out of a 2 year subscriber. Hurray for capitalism and dumbed down HD.

We here at SatelliteGuys strive to provide everyone open and honest opinions about Satellite and TV serviceso you can make the best decission on what is best for you. We URGE every member to read... READ... read... before ever spending any money so when you do decide to make a purchase you know exactly what you are getting.

I *DID* read READ **READ** -- that's not the point. I spent HOURS* here reading up on D*. There were very few mentions of HD Lite, and the few posts completely white washed it. D* fans practically froth at the mouth about the service, and HD Lite was practically relegated to the corner of a myth made up by E* and digital cable fan boys. The H20 and MPEG4 made it practically a no brainer.

Which of course was the fatal f*ck up on my part -- never buy/sign something unless you've seen it with your own eyes. And the nature of the business model doesn't allow you to have something installed and then have second thoughts. My mistake. Bottom line, I'm eating the $285 just to go back to the full HD Dish quality and wouldn't even take the D* service if it was free.

Thanks for the advice/help, I'll let you know in 2 months if I get the rebate...

 

[rad]

I spent HOURS* here reading up on D*. There were very few mentions of HD Lite,...

What forum were you looking at then? To me it seems like anytime there's a post about D* HD programming there's at least one or two posts about HD-Lite.

 

[SaltiDawg]

... I'm taking a shot and sending in the rebate anyway -- the only requirements stated on teh rebate form are a receipt and proof of signing the D* agreement, which I have both. Says/mentions nothing of early termination. ...

You don't think that requiring that you have signed the agreement suggests the assumption that you are going to abide by it? You back out of a binding agreement and want to parse words so that you can get your rebate?

 

[SaltiDawg]

Well, then we all lose -- I'm out $280, the sponsor is out $500, adn D* is out of a 2 year subscriber. Hurray for capitalism and dumbed down HD.
...
... -- never buy/sign something unless you've seen it with your own eyes. ...

It doesn't change the fact that you did your homework to your own satisfaction, signed a contract, and now have reneged on that contract.... and your now trying to "work the system" to obtain $200 back. In a fair world, you'd have to repay all involved for their labor, shipping costs, and the expense of providing you a new receiver which now is worth less than full-value.

What ever happened to the value of one's word?

 

[raoul5788]

Well, then we all lose -- I'm out $280, the sponsor is out $500, adn D* is out of a 2 year subscriber. Hurray for capitalism and dumbed down HD.



I *DID* read READ **READ** -- that's not the point. I spent HOURS* here reading up on D*. There were very few mentions of HD Lite, and the few posts completely white washed it. D* fans practically froth at the mouth about the service, and HD Lite was practically relegated to the corner of a myth made up by E* and digital cable fan boys. The H20 and MPEG4 made it practically a no brainer.

Which of course was the fatal f*ck up on my part -- never buy/sign something unless you've seen it with your own eyes. And the nature of the business model doesn't allow you to have something installed and then have second thoughts. My mistake. Bottom line, I'm eating the $285 just to go back to the full HD Dish quality and wouldn't even take the D* service if it was free.

Thanks for the advice/help, I'll let you know in 2 months if I get the rebate...

If you spent hours reading the posts here about HD Lite, and came to the conclusion that you did, you have no one but yourself to blame. There are
alot of posts that disparage D* and their HD quality. You must have missed them.

 

[PATONENOW]

SWARTZFEGER, If you go for the rebate I'd advise reading the terms on the rebate form. I believe you are agreeing to commit for 2 years regardless?!