Complaint Review: DirecTV

Some of you know that satellite TV requires a second cable jack in order to record with a DVR while watching another channel. Because of this, most satellite installations include running a wire from the dish to the house and a new hole drilled into the house to get the extra cable jack to the black box. But this doesn't have to be the case. The satellite companies have a component available to them now that attaches to the dish itself and eliminates the need for hundreds of feet of expensive cable. Ask any installer and you'll hear that the bulk of time and expense for an installation is routing this cable.

I found out about this in September when I hooked up my new satellite service. The installer told me he had to run this wire across my patio, drill a hole in the middle of one of the backyard walls of my house and run this ugly wire up and through the new hole. I said "No thanks, I'll stick to cable." That's when he told me about this new switch. He said the satellite companies only provide it to certain customers in certain neighborhoods, though, and I don't live in the right neighborhood. Huh? What country is this?

So I went ahead and got satellite service just knowing that I would get this part if I was persistent. The installer said the technology was so good, that the satellite companies would be releasing it the next month. I declined to have the wire run, which means I can record and rewind with the DVR, but not on a channel other than the one I'm watching. If the kid sets something on Disney to record on Sunday afternoon, the TV jumps to that channel right in the middle of a football game!

I have called DirecTV numerous times since I signed up for this great new service, including last night. Dalishia, the girl I talked to last night, said, "You're not even supposed to know about this. It's only for select customers." Really! She said that! I'm a reporter by trade so I have experience interviewing people, and had her repeat herself. Jeff, the supervisor, said he has no authority to do anything, which begs the question why is he a supervisor. I told them since they refuse to provide me the service they promised that I want to cancel, but now they want to charge me $20 per month for the 20 months left on my agreement with them. They require a credit card when you originally sign up, so they plan to charge my card "for my convenience," according to my friend Dalishia.

I plan to dispute the charge, but who knows how that will go. Jeff the supervisor said I can write to a PO box in Colorado, but no one with authority will talk with me about this directly.

Pat
Chandler, Arizona
U.S.A.