Stonecold is a bias jerk!

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I understand bitterness when existing customers want to upgrade and DTV gives them no breaks on pricing. I got a great deal as a new customer. Without all the free stuff, I might have stayed with DISH. Like every business in this country, market share is a driving force... I am amused at the CSR people in Mississippi that probably have never owned a HDTV and have no idea what I am talking about. At least DTV is hiring American workers... Stone helped me get the AM21 and the 119 sat.
 
my wish for you to STFU.

More high end business maturity and professionalism. And not going to happen.

you rather just troll about them here any chance you get.

Point to a single post where I trolled you or anyone else about anything.

I hate to break it to you, but telling someone "look out that you dont end up with another 2 year commitment", "You're not the only one with this problem", or pointing out that customer service at directv isnt what it used to be isnt trolling. Neither is telling you that the customer isnt the enemy or that a customer wanting something thats reasonable for them to want doesnt make them a stupid or problem customer.

You might not like it, but you can either fix the problems or click that 'ignore user' button. I guess you've decided its easier to mis-characterize my contributions as trolling or being a pain in the ass.

Menschen bestimmt sind, entweder Nörgler oder Täter werden, sind Sie bestimmt, ein Jammerlappen werden.

Love you too! :)
 
Gotta love it ......

The ones complaining here feel that the potenial sub is NEVER told about a contract.
When 99 % of them are told and many just don't hear it as they are too concerned waiting to hear what they WANT to hear.
 
Gotta love it ......

The ones complaining here feel that the potenial sub is NEVER told about a contract.
When 99 % of them are told and many just don't hear it as they are too concerned waiting to hear what they WANT to hear.

I am an anti Ohio State fan, but I am a big Jimbo fan. So, by default I will now tolerate the Buckeyes........:up
 
Gotta love it ......

The ones complaining here feel that the potenial sub is NEVER told about a contract.
When 99 % of them are told and many just don't hear it as they are too concerned waiting to hear what they WANT to hear.

What funny is that for the last 2 months we been doing what known as third party verification .


Example say your order a receiver or new service I have to go through a list of disclaimers. Now I dont deal with sales just existing customers but basically what happens now is I go through the disclaimers and then you get transfered to Verification department who only job is to make sure that I that agent gave all the in disclaimers especially the commitment part. Agent phone calls are head a couple of months but verification calls are held till the end of time. Just in case someone says well they didn't tell me that.
 
cfb, man you love to talk don't you? I was wondering when you would reference the BBB. Glad you didn't let me down.

My only "change" I guess would be for the Techs on the other end of the phone to state if your contract end date is changing or you were entering a new contract when you upgraded equipment..........I know this because I educate myself before I do these things, but I know a lot of people don't and are surprised when they find out and I guess it's kinda hard to blame them when they are not told by the CSR......even though I still think it falls on the shoulders of the Customer.

I agree with everything he said, and btw he said it beautiful!! What exactly did you hope to gain by your post?
 
Thanks DetFan. I'm really trying to help the directv folks understand that customers really arent the enemy and that some changes would benefit both the customers and the company.

I think the problem I was trying to state was that when your contracts/agreements are complicated enough that the CSR's dont want to talk to the customer about them, and you need to add layers/3rd parties to try to resolve that issue, the root problem isnt the compliance...thats just a symptom. The root problem is the complexity.

Plus I think that most people figure if something goes wrong, the service provider will be reasonable/flexible and make it right. That last bit is what annoyed the BBB, that Directv wouldnt listen to a valid argument or concern and do something about it, but would simply state "Its in our contract" or "its not in our contract".

Sort of reminds me of that guy in one of the Lethal Weapon movies who kept holding up his paperwork and saying "diplomatic immunity!". I think we all know how that worked out for him.

Fix the agreement to be more customer friendly and less onerous/complicated and you fix the problem.
 
I honestly don't think it's all that convoluted. If you upgrade any style of equipment, it's a new agreement no ifs ands or buts. If you cancel during that time it's an early termination fee. I'm not saying I agree with the policy itself, but I really don't think it should be that hard to always make sure the customer understands that. I always did it. I still feel the breakdown comes from reps taking shortcuts, not from the policy being too difficult to relay.
 
When you do it for a living, or when you've lived with it for a while the rules seem obvious. Given that studies show that the average college graduate cant explain their cell phone plan or balance a checkbook and we just watched hundreds of thousands of people lose their homes because they had loans they didnt understand, I think that we need to give a little more leeway to the average and below average customers.

Those folks coming from an antenna or cable or older dish/directv plans where there werent any leases might have more trouble. That person might reasonably expect that since they paid $200 up front, that they own the box. While they might be familiar with 2 year contracts from their cell plan, the ETF's there are generally a lot lower and you can exit your agreement if the carrier changes it.

Also the evidential proof is apparent. We have people show up all the time that didnt understand it or are upset about it. And stonecold had to publish a chart which then had to go through several updates before it was correct.

If the policy is simple enough to communicate, why did directv terminate the costco/bestbuy deal? According to stonecold its because too many customers came away thinking they'd owned the boxes or not understanding the contract or etf.

So either the bestbuy/costco employees couldnt or wouldnt adequately explain it.

I also think that if you explain this policy and make sure the customer understands that directv can change the agreement at will without recourse, and that directv will pretty much never, ever budge on the ETF no matter what the circumstances, that a lot of people would reconsider buying the service.

The bottom line is no matter how easy WE think it is, people have a lot of problems with it and thats led to a lot of bad ratings.

I understand it completely, and I wont be adding or upgrading any receivers, because I think its ridiculous that I would have to go into another 2 year contract just for adding a box. I've had plenty of problems over the last couple of years where directv gave me wrong information and where I had significant problems with the hardware and the service. I expect that to happen again, and I'd like one of my options to be that I can take my ball and go home.
 
What funny is that for the last 2 months we been doing what known as third party verification .


Example say your order a receiver or new service I have to go through a list of disclaimers. Now I dont deal with sales just existing customers but basically what happens now is I go through the disclaimers and then you get transfered to Verification department who only job is to make sure that I that agent gave all the in disclaimers especially the commitment part. Agent phone calls are head a couple of months but verification calls are held till the end of time. Just in case someone says well they didn't tell me that.

Twice in ten years I interrupted customers trying to pencil whip CSRs after an installation. After I had called Directv to activate the equipment these two customers began to object to paying for extra receivers or some pack cost. I went to load my truck...tie down the ladder etc....contact the next customer...eat a sandwich ...kill about fifteen minutes. IF they had not made some kind of arrangement I interrupted the conversation and told the CSR to cancel the installation....I was taking the LNB and my cable and leaving. The customer would not sign the contract..the fulfillment company would charge the customer for the installation and receivers.

Two jerks in ten years ain't too bad but they are out there. No amount of verification will cure these idiots. Everybody else is nice!

Joe
 
No kidding, drive around & you still see homes with both dish company's installed so they could play one against the other. They understand just fine, just not the fact that they can no longer flip their service for the best deal every three months. The long-term customer is the one who suffered here as we were basically subsidizing the "flips". They now feel that a threatening phone call will get them out of their contract; guess again. I wonder how many times they've heard "I'll be contacting my attorney"? You want to add something to your poll, Stone; how about 10+ year customers have the commitment issue removed from their accounts permanently. :D

Twice in ten years I interrupted customers trying to pencil whip CSRs after an installation. After I had called Directv to activate the equipment these two customers began to object to paying for extra receivers or some pack cost. I went to load my truck...tie down the ladder etc....contact the next customer...eat a sandwich ...kill about fifteen minutes. IF they had not made some kind of arrangement I interrupted the conversation and told the CSR to cancel the installation....I was taking the LNB and my cable and leaving. The customer would not sign the contract..the fulfillment company would charge the customer for the installation and receivers.

Two jerks in ten years ain't too bad but they are out there. No amount of verification will cure these idiots. Everybody else is nice!

Joe
 
Sometimes, in my hurry to respond to a post I am not as careful with my spelling as I would like. I use a program called ieSpell. This program lets you spell check you posts in a forum. Lifesaver for me.

Just an FYI
 
No kidding, drive around & you still see homes with both dish company's installed so they could play one against the other. They understand just fine, just not the fact that they can no longer flip their service for the best deal every three months. The long-term customer is the one who suffered here as we were basically subsidizing the "flips". They now feel that a threatening phone call will get them out of their contract; guess again. I wonder how many times they've heard "I'll be contacting my attorney"? You want to add something to your poll, Stone; how about 10+ year customers have the commitment issue removed from their accounts permanently. :D

I actually like that idea I think that really a good idea.
 
how about 10+ year customers have the commitment issue removed from their accounts permanently.
I actually like that idea I think that really a good idea.

Or even a 5 year sub. :)

Most subs if they are not happy will leave after the first 2 year commitment is over (or sooner).
 
how about 10+ year customers have the commitment issue removed from their accounts permanently.


Or even a 5 year sub. :)

Most subs if they are not happy will leave after the first 2 year commitment is over (or sooner).

10 years is a sign of commitment. I look at a lot of accounts each day typically the loyal ones will be around year 7,8 if they make it that far they are typically in for the long haul.
 
10 years is a sign of commitment. I look at a lot of accounts each day typically the loyal ones will be around year 7,8 if they make it that far they are typically in for the long haul.

Do they have a 10 year deal with no commitment, or just speculating that they should ?

I have not been with D* for that long, but would not bet against it. :)

Do they tell you how long you've been there on your account ?
They use to tell you how much time you had on your commitment, but don't do that online anymore that I know of. (unless it's hidden somewhere)
 
Do they have a 10 year deal with no commitment, or just speculating that they should ?

I have not been with D* for that long, but would not bet against it. :)

Do they tell you how long you've been there on your account ?
They use to tell you how much time you had on your commitment, but don't do that online anymore that I know of. (unless it's hidden somewhere)

It will show how long that account been active

If your installing in 1999 it will show the activation od of what every month/day /199 that you were activated.


If you orinated the account in 1999 and then leave in 2001 and come back in 2003 it will shows month/day/2003 not 1999
 
It will show how long that account been active

If your installing in 1999 it will show the activation od of what every month/day /199 that you were activated.


If you orinated the account in 1999 and then leave in 2001 and come back in 2003 it will shows month/day/2003 not 1999

Do you know what section it would be in (showing sign up date), I tried going into my account and could not find it anywhere, probably in the wrong spot. :eek:
 
I haven't looked at the website in a long time but I don't think it's available there Jimbo. It's only on the reps account screens.
 
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