[DirecTV] - How's This For Customer Service ...
11-01-01 | 05:40 PM
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From: New England, USA
[DirecTV] - How's This For Customer Service ...
Before I begin, I know there are always a couple of bad apples in any corporation, but this happened to be my experience of today:
I wake-up and go to see what is on DirecTV. I have the following messages on each of my receivers:
Bedroom: Please Insert A Valid Access Card.
Living Room: Your Access Card Has Expired! Please Insert Your New Card.
Having never seen these before, I called up DirecTV. Well, after talking to one CSR for 20 minutes - troubleshooting - she says, "let me try this", and promptly hangs up on me.
I call back, and get the attitude-queen. When I tell her what has happened, she tells me that I'll be sent 2 new Access Cards for FREE via Fed-Ex, and to go to the movies!
I ask her how this could have happened, and she tells me that DirecTV has a huge piracy problem, and that the company just sent down some "posion pills", and I was affected.
How in the hell can that be? I'm a subscriber NOT A HACKER!
I'm waiting for a supervisor to call me back. I am really pissed off here ...
I wake-up and go to see what is on DirecTV. I have the following messages on each of my receivers:
Bedroom: Please Insert A Valid Access Card.
Living Room: Your Access Card Has Expired! Please Insert Your New Card.
Having never seen these before, I called up DirecTV. Well, after talking to one CSR for 20 minutes - troubleshooting - she says, "let me try this", and promptly hangs up on me.
I call back, and get the attitude-queen. When I tell her what has happened, she tells me that I'll be sent 2 new Access Cards for FREE via Fed-Ex, and to go to the movies!
I ask her how this could have happened, and she tells me that DirecTV has a huge piracy problem, and that the company just sent down some "posion pills", and I was affected.
How in the hell can that be? I'm a subscriber NOT A HACKER!
I'm waiting for a supervisor to call me back. I am really pissed off here ...
Last edited by Soup Nazi; 11-01-01 at 05:43 PM.
11-01-01 | 05:45 PM
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From: In a place without the cursed couch
Dude, make sure when you talk to the supervisor, yo're angry, but not ANGRY! Show your displeasuer and you're problems with the two CSRs.....
Seriously, that sucks.
Seriously, that sucks.
11-01-01 | 06:09 PM
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From: Right now, my location is DVDTalk, but then again, you should already know that, shouldn't you?
I worked for DirecTV customer service for a year and all I can say is that company's higher management is utterly despicable and its lower management is grossly incompetent...product quality aside, I just can't bring myself to become one of their lab-rat customers...
11-01-01 | 07:37 PM
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From: New England, USA
After wating over 2 hours, I finally called them back. He apologized, will credit me for time lost, and offered a free month of Showtime (channels 537-549), which I passed on.
The cards are in the mail, they'll be here via Fed-Ex in 3-5 days ...
All in all, I spoke to 5 people. None of them seemed to care. Figures ...
The cards are in the mail, they'll be here via Fed-Ex in 3-5 days ...
All in all, I spoke to 5 people. None of them seemed to care. Figures ...
11-01-01 | 07:43 PM
#5
I ran into the same thing when I had (note the past tense) DirecTV. They wiped out my card 3 times in about 2 months.
I guess they'd rather screw over thousands of customers and make them angry then let hackers watch TV free for a few days. Their methods don't even stop most of the hackers for very long.
I guess they'd rather screw over thousands of customers and make them angry then let hackers watch TV free for a few days. Their methods don't even stop most of the hackers for very long.
11-01-01 | 07:47 PM
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From: New England, USA
Originally posted by juiio
I ran into the same thing when I had (note the past tense) DirecTV. They wiped out my card 3 times in about 2 months.
I guess they'd rather screw over thousands of customers and make them angry then let hackers watch TV free for a few days. Their methods don't even stop most of the hackers for very long.
I ran into the same thing when I had (note the past tense) DirecTV. They wiped out my card 3 times in about 2 months.
I guess they'd rather screw over thousands of customers and make them angry then let hackers watch TV free for a few days. Their methods don't even stop most of the hackers for very long.
I have read that it's fairly simple with the right equipment and a little programming expertise. New "fixes", from what I hear, are coming out all the time.
If I lived in Canada, I wouldn't hesitate ...
Moving along, what do you have now? DISH? Analog Cable? Digital Cable?
11-01-01 | 08:43 PM
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From: Mayberry, NC. Really, it is
Soup, Soup, Soup ...
This is the same sort of crap that made me switch to Dish two months ago. My mom, my aunt and a lot of other people in my small town were not getting their Directv bills on time (and ONLY Directv's were late, mind you) - Directv said it wasnt their fault, but they would be happy to refer them to Western Union where, for a $18 fee they (the customers) could get the payment to Directv (with late fees added, also courtesy of Directv) and avoid interruption of service.
It really hit the fan when my mom, a devout WWF fan, was unable to purchase the Invasion PPV because (Directv said) my mom was behind and they couldn't approve a PPV purchase of over $20 for her until she paid up. Credit card payment over the phone was offered and they still wouldn't turn on the rasslin' show.
Today, everyone I know who used to have Directv now has Dish Network ; the bills arrive on time (Directv tried to blame the Post Office, but Dish uses the same mail system, go figure) and everybody is
If you decide to stick with them try this - threaten to switch and mention the "I Like 9" promo. It may not work so good now with the pending merger, but they offered my mom and my aunt 6 MONTHS FREE TOTAL CHOICE to keep Directv
Of course, they didn't take it, but hey, you could use some free service after the way you were treated, couldn't you 
This is the same sort of crap that made me switch to Dish two months ago. My mom, my aunt and a lot of other people in my small town were not getting their Directv bills on time (and ONLY Directv's were late, mind you) - Directv said it wasnt their fault, but they would be happy to refer them to Western Union where, for a $18 fee they (the customers) could get the payment to Directv (with late fees added, also courtesy of Directv) and avoid interruption of service.
It really hit the fan when my mom, a devout WWF fan, was unable to purchase the Invasion PPV because (Directv said) my mom was behind and they couldn't approve a PPV purchase of over $20 for her until she paid up. Credit card payment over the phone was offered and they still wouldn't turn on the rasslin' show.
Today, everyone I know who used to have Directv now has Dish Network ; the bills arrive on time (Directv tried to blame the Post Office, but Dish uses the same mail system, go figure) and everybody is
If you decide to stick with them try this - threaten to switch and mention the "I Like 9" promo. It may not work so good now with the pending merger, but they offered my mom and my aunt 6 MONTHS FREE TOTAL CHOICE to keep Directv
Of course, they didn't take it, but hey, you could use some free service after the way you were treated, couldn't you
11-01-01 | 08:45 PM
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From: New England, USA
Originally posted by NC-36
Soup, Soup, Soup ...
This is the same sort of crap that made me switch to Dish two months ago. My mom, my aunt and a lot of other people in my small town were not getting their Directv bills on time (and ONLY Directv's were late, mind you) - Directv said it wasnt their fault, but they would be happy to refer them to Western Union where, for a $18 fee they (the customers) could get the payment to Directv (with late fees added, also courtesy of Directv) and avoid interruption of service.
It really hit the fan when my mom, a devout WWF fan, was unable to purchase the Invasion PPV because (Directv said) my mom was behind and they couldn't approve a PPV purchase of over $20 for her until she paid up. Credit card payment over the phone was offered and they still wouldn't turn on the rasslin' show.
Today, everyone I know who used to have Directv now has Dish Network ; the bills arrive on time (Directv tried to blame the Post Office, but Dish uses the same mail system, go figure) and everybody is
If you decide to stick with them try this - threaten to switch and mention the "I Like 9" promo. It may not work so good now with the pending merger, but they offered my mom and my aunt 6 MONTHS FREE TOTAL CHOICE to keep Directv Of course, they didn't take it, but hey, you could use some free service after the way you were treated, couldn't you
Soup, Soup, Soup ...
This is the same sort of crap that made me switch to Dish two months ago. My mom, my aunt and a lot of other people in my small town were not getting their Directv bills on time (and ONLY Directv's were late, mind you) - Directv said it wasnt their fault, but they would be happy to refer them to Western Union where, for a $18 fee they (the customers) could get the payment to Directv (with late fees added, also courtesy of Directv) and avoid interruption of service.
It really hit the fan when my mom, a devout WWF fan, was unable to purchase the Invasion PPV because (Directv said) my mom was behind and they couldn't approve a PPV purchase of over $20 for her until she paid up. Credit card payment over the phone was offered and they still wouldn't turn on the rasslin' show.
Today, everyone I know who used to have Directv now has Dish Network ; the bills arrive on time (Directv tried to blame the Post Office, but Dish uses the same mail system, go figure) and everybody is
If you decide to stick with them try this - threaten to switch and mention the "I Like 9" promo. It may not work so good now with the pending merger, but they offered my mom and my aunt 6 MONTHS FREE TOTAL CHOICE to keep Directv
Of course, they didn't take it, but hey, you could use some free service after the way you were treated, couldn't you
