Wednesday, May 16, 2007
It's Official: DIRECTV Sucks!
Seems my joy was short lived. Got a call from Lisa while I was packing up to leave work yesterday .... a package came .... another DIRECTV R15 receiver! The comments that followed are NSFW. Already packed with laptop case in hand I sat down to call my old friends at DirecTV. I spoke to a front line person, who transfered me to a supervisor, who transfered me to another supervisor. It seems the person I spoke to on Sunday was wrong, they don't have any more refurbished TIVO units.
Fine, I know when I'm beat. I asked them to take back the TWO R15 units I'm not using and remove the 2 year commitment from my account. Nope, not doin' it. Apparently, the instant I activated the new receiver I agreed to the contract where in consideration for giving me a new receiver I commit to two years of service or an early termination fee of $12.50 per month unused on the commitment (about $240). I was told I could write their "billing disputes" department and complain. That sounds so much like "tell it to the hand." I'll probably do that, and keep one receiver hostage until they agree ... but that seems unlikely. The irony to this whole thing is if I could get a working TIVO I wouldn't consider canceling my service.
The problem with the receiver is one of the tuners is acting up ... on some channels the picture will pixelate and break up. I've swapped the connection going to the LNB but the problem stays with the receiver. Also, the R15 did not exhibit any reception problems. So I'm pretty confident of the actual satellite connection.
My contingency plan is to purchase a refurbished unit from a company online: WeaKnees.com they make all sorts of refurb DTV TIVOs as well as upgrade kits. Also, I think I've seen satellite distribution amps at radio Shack or some such place ... I may try one of those to see if it helps any.
Stay tuned ... I'm sure this isn't over yet.
#posted by Rob Roschewsk @ 8:52 AM