Serious Customer Service

[mirage426]

Everyone must get behind this: (Please read the whole thing.)
The reason Dtv is pushing to get leasing and ownership fees started on their equipment is because of all the new trends that have been started today. All of the companies out there do it. It is called marketing. Getting the customer to pay more for less services promised. Cable started this trend year ago by telling us we Had to use only their equipment to get their service. It is making our lives as customers loose ground for both quality and customer service. Dtv is one of my favorite company services, so this is why I am pushing them to keep their level of quality high for us customers.
Remember... us customers keep the companies in business by subscribing and allowing things to happen. Without us customers, there would be no business at all. Technology today has advanced too far for us to be forced to use only one brand of equipment that has features that do not work "yet" (usb ports on the back of the recievers-that state "future use"...I'm sorry, but "future use" is right now. Get it together.
We all have personal views, tastes and opinions, why should we be limited to using the exact same piece of equipment. Performance is rated personally, I wouldn't want to go to a store and only be able to by one brand of TV. This goes for any company making us use only one proprietary device..
Make your voice heard. Take a couple of minutes to Call in or e-mail them of your disappointment of them trying to start the new lease or other agreements. This applies to All current and future subscribers. Call Dtv and tell them that their new programs they are offering is not plausible to us customers. I, personally, spent 15 minutes on the phone explaining my comments and concerns to a rep, who was trying to convince me that it is a good deal. I explained thet if I had to do this new deal, I would have taken my business elsewhere-end of story. I turned it around on him and got him to agree with me, that it really Isn't not a good deal at all. It is a brand new program and we can stop it before it takes off.
Doing nothing or hanging up with a service rep does not get a situation handled properly. Have your comments noted in their computer by someone. The more comments and concerns they receive, the sooner the nonsense stops. (Remember-that idea got Family Guy put back on the air after cancellation... that says our voices ARE heard.
There is alot of behind the scenes mumbo jumbo that is tried to be explained, but in all honesty that is the companies responsibiilty- not ours...don't whine to me about background costs. That is the accounting departments job to control company spending. For you have to spend money to make money. not our concern.
Keeping up with today's technology is their job to keep us happy customers. Sorry to be rough, but I'm tired of hearing about company issues that i cannot help from my home. We all have things to deal with, and these companies are supposed to make our lives easier and better, really. We already pay a bill for the service the company provides. Now to charge us for the equipment ontop of that contract is an insult to our intelligence. It is good for the company alone, for we cannot utilize the service without the equipment, that is why we are locked into a year contract. Let them know that.

 

[FlyingJ]

I think maybe just switching to another method of receiving your Television Entertainment would serve you better. But, that said good luck in your endeavor. I will just look at what I am getting, compare it to other services out there, make a decision and go with it. Yes, it is our money to spend. I personally think everyone is up in arms over the lease thing for no reason. I understand what they are doing, I understand why they are doing it and frankly I don't blame them. It is now up to us to decide if the competition serves us better.

 

[mirage426]

But just switching to another provider does not let the company know that there is a serious issue.
We need to inform them of this issue at hand if we expect anything to be done. Any product you believe in should be worth your time to atleast try.
One or 2 comments aren't going to do it.... but All of us. We may have a chance.
Plus, what do you do when you run out of providers to switch to? I personally have tried all of the competition and they were All disappointing to me and my needs.
Outside of this new agreement, Dtv has met all of my high demands.. performance and otherwise.
That's why i do not want to just give up on them yet.

 

[FlyingJ]

I will stick with D*. I do not have an issue with their new program. It is what it is and they really wanted to get away from "Higher Risk" subscribers and frankly I don't care if I "own" the equipment or not. It is worthless when I am through with it anyway. That said, I think switching is the ultimate way to let them know. The bottom line is really what matters. The ears that we are complaining to are not the ears that need to hear!

 

[Andyman33]

I agree, the leasing/owning issue really isn't a big deal to me. . .what is a big deal to me is the "upgrade" fee. The HDDVR is what should be in EVERY home in America, and will be in every home in the future. I know that it may cost a lot, however, they are preventing cable customers from really even making this an option. . .you can say all you want about how cable sucks blah blah, but having an HDDVR box with no up front fees and a "lease" fee of about 10 bucks a month puts me at +250 bucks after 2 years compared with D* BEFORE any monthly leasing fees paid as well. That just puts things completely out of my price range as over 2 years, that 500 bucks is about 20 dollars extra a month to lease it. Seems a little over the top to be paying nearly 25 dollars just to use equipment and then also have to pay for programming on top of that. . .

 

[mirage426]

This is why I wanted everybody to read the whole thing.

This isn't only about the lease deal- This is about taking more choices away from us customers.
The fact that you can no longer choose a brand of equipment.
We go and spend mega money between a TV and surround equipment... and to compliment it all we have to settle for using the provider's no name receiver.
The reason we go and look at the different brands before we buy.
I'm sorry but all electronic brands are made differently and perform better or worse than others. I'd still like to be able to choose what brand I want to use.
Forget HD and all that extra stuff for a minute, That "for future use" stamp on the usb port on the back of my receiver annoys the crap out of me

 

[DishDave]

Whatever.

 

[Happy Camper]

When I activated our new R10 yesterday, I was careful to make sure it was "owned' and I did tell the customer service rep why we thought the lease program sucked. If they want to follow the cable or Dish rental model, they at least have to eliminate, or disguise the other fees as "setup" or something-just don't tell people they have to pay for the stuff, rent it, and then they don't own it. "So, I have to PAY for the equipment, then rent it, and then give it back to you? So, is that a lease or a purchase or just a thorough doing? You pick. Why would we EVER want to do some ridiculous deal like that? What are you offering that we don't know about?" is what I said.

As a practical matter, I'm not sure what I'd do with the equipment if I left DirecTV in a fit, anyway, so I'm much more against the principle of giving back something you paid for than I am actually giving up something which would go in a closet anyway. Still, DirecTV's new model is no longer cost competitive in this market, AND they don't even rebroadcast the HD transmission of the only network which is hard to get OTA here (ABC).

In the Dallas metro market, both Comcast and Verizon are really getting after laying fiber optic, and we are thinking Verizon's FIOS may turn out to be the best of them all.

In any event, in a couple of years DirecTV and other providers will have channels and services we haven't even considered yet, so we will just wait with our owned, MPEG 2 stuff, because DirecTV's crappy marketing and prices give us no incentive whatsoever to buy anything more from DirecTV, ever.

Can anyone explain to me WHAT the heck they are thinking and WHY they think this stupid model they have will work? For the life of me, I just do not get it.

 

[chadzx11]

I will stick with D*. I do not have an issue with their new program. It is what it is and they really wanted to get away from "Higher Risk" subscribers and

Hee hee. I switch to installing E* to get away from those same subs. I got tired of getting bitched out by welfare queens when they bombed D* credit check and were required to pay the $50 fee.

 

[markfp-1]

This forum is full of diehard DirecTV people who don't like the change and that's good. I own my equipment too and I made sure to get my third TiVo before the change. I prefer it that way, but if at some point one dies and the only way I can replace it is with a leased one so be it. As for the average subscriber, it just won't matter to them. They're use to leasing equipment from the cable company or Dish and for the most part couldn't care less about what brand it is as long as it works. Sadly, those who care about such matters are in the minority. In a year or so most people won't even remember or, for that matter, care that once upon a time prople could buy their own equipment. It's true that the consumer will have less choices and it will probably cost more in the long run, but it's a fact of life of big business that it's usually the customer that gets hurt.

 

[Texas Red]

I just had a R10, purchased in October, die on tuner 1, and D* informed me it only had a 90 day warranty. I asked why I had to sign and be bound by a two year contract and yet my 130 day old dead system is worthless.

I guess a lease is good when the equipment quality is getting poorer all the time!

 

[Hogarth]

Can anyone explain to me WHAT the heck they are thinking and WHY they think this stupid model they have will work? For the life of me, I just do not get it.

Because Dish Network started the trend with the 942 -- an up front upgrade fee AND a monthly lease cost.

E* moved quite a few. Because HD DVRs are provider-specific and hard to come by, anyone who wanted E* buckled down and paid the fee -- mainly for VOOM programming.

I agree it's a distasteful idea -- but you can't say that it won't work at all.

 

[sksatellite]

I just had a R10, purchased in October, die on tuner 1, and D* informed me it only had a 90 day warranty. I asked why I had to sign and be bound by a two year contract and yet my 130 day old dead system is worthless.

I guess a lease is good when the equipment quality is getting poorer all the time!

R10 for only 90 days warranty ?? I think its a joke and DTV having all their products in bad production. And yet wanna to do the leasing.

Leasing is not a big deal but its not in a good deal to the consumer, you are not leasing to own, you are lease to support the BIG guy get greedy, now if I own a piece equipment and now it went bad, I have to lease the new equipment and need to sign a two years comittment to get the service on that equipment, yet, I don't watch that much your programs, and I do paid 90 percent of those not watch programs.

Just wonder, do we really have that much $$ to burn ?? Remember, 85% of american family is under paid. And yet have to pay the unneccessary $$ to support someone/company ??

 

[scotsmanron]

Sounds like Flying J has money to burn to me. I don't have $500 to burn on an HD DVR and I won't. When the the MPEG4 HD DVRs come out, I'll call customer retention, ask them how much they want to keep a customer thats been with them since 1994 and the wait for a reply. If all I hear is the Sounds of Silence that will be the day that I go back to cable. It isn't a lease when you don't get your deposit back.