Boy, Do I Miss My Primestar!!!!!
Written: Jun 13 '00
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Pros: Good Pay Per View Service
Cons: Horrible billing dept, higher prices than other satellite services
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| jla928's Full Review: Hughes Networks D4532 DIRECTV |
My husband and I got out DirectTV system by default. We were Primestar users and when DirectTV bought out Primestar, they gradually converted everyone over. We had heard such great things about DirectTV such as how there would be so many more channels and features and blah, blah, blah that to say I was disappointed once we got it is putting it mildly. A couple of things happened that put a bad taste in my mouth in regards to DirectTV.
1. When we got out new dish, we got three months of the platinum service which included all of the pay channels (HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, etc) for the low price of $29.99. That was great and we did watch a lot of those channels. Once our special deal expired, we opted to keep HBO and Stars as a combo package. Our first bill after the package deal expired QUADRUPLE billed us! We were billed twice at $29.99 and twice at $49.99. It should have been billed only at $49.99 (ridiculous but I'll hit on that in a minute). I called their billing department, took 25 minutes trying to explain why the bill was incorrect to the poor soul on the other end of the phoneline, only to be told that they could only credit my account by $50. The rest I would just have to pay and next month they would adjust the bill to reflect the credit due! Have you ever heard such nonsense? Well, I demanded to speak to a supervisor who did in fact apply the full credit. That was an experience in itself.
2. The second issue I had with DirectTV was the prices were much higher than Primestar. Yes, I would be receiving more channels; however, alot of them I didn't really want! My bill with the same pay channels was $20/month higher through DirectTV. I simply was not willing to pay that so now we are receiving no pay channels and paying the same price we did with Primestar which included HBO and Stars. Okay, so I'm still paying it and not switching, so I guess I could partially be to blame for this.
3. Last week my husband (who works nights and sleeps during the day) received a phone call from someone at DirectTV's collections department. He was tired and a little grouchy when he answered the phone and you could imagine his reaction when the lady on the phone told him that if he did not make a payment over the phone for $3.17 that our service would be disconnected and we would have to pay reconnect fees and etc. He left her number for me to call back since I pay all the bills. When I called their billing department, the lady that answered my call said that those threats were unwarranted and that I had simply paid the wrong amount on my check and that the remaining $3.17 would be applied to next month's bill. She did take the caller's name and said she would report the error to a supervisor, but come on! How ridiculous!
Needless to say, I am NOT really happy with DirectTV as a company more than the system itself. I do enjoy the options that it has that Primestar did not. It is easier to manuever and I like being able to set shows for later viewing. I think DirectTV offers alot more to choose from as far as Pay Per View movies and at $2.99/movie it is cheaper than renting a video from the store. I personally rent my receiver which has it's good points and bad points. The good point is that if anything happens to it, DirectTV will replace it at no cost. If I bought it outright, I would be responsible if it say, got struck by lightening. I would probably recommend just buying it outright to avoid paying the $10/month. That really is just a matter of personal preference.
All in all, if the company could get it's act together as far as billing goes, and possibly, just possibly lower the prices of their services, then I would be completely happy with my system. Until then, I remain an unhappy user not willing to go through the hassle to make a change. Don't you just love consumers like me:)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): rent
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Epinions.com ID:
jla928
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Reviews written: 75
Trusted by: 21 members
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