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OT: DISH crushes DirecTV

YeOldeCup

YeOldeCup

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2005
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As a 20 year rural customer of DirecTV, I was extremely frustrated with the games I constantly had to play (every six months) to get discounts to make my bill livable. For those 20 years, I carried the premium movie package and a college sports package (plus College Gameplan when it was a "thing.") I had four HD DVRs across the house and used the over air tuner, which was eliminated in newer models (requiring a separately purchased "pizza box.") Needless to say, DirecTV definitely got their money from me.

Last Thanksgiving, when my latest discounts were expiring, I insisted that they reinstate them (still far more money than new customers pay), and upgrade me to the Genie and three wireless minis. Negotiations ground to a halt, despite their constant praise of "thank you for being a loyal customer for 20 years." So I bought a some Amazon Fire TV devices, switched to PlayStation Vue, and killed DirecTV. To add insult to injury, they didn't want my old equipment back and instructed ME to recycle it.

There was certainly satisfaction in cutting my bill in half, but PS Vue's 720 resolution limitation and lack of surround sound killed my big screen viewing experience. Enter DISH.

As a new customer, I got all the perks on installation, equipment, and programming for two years. But the bigger surprise was the equipment sophistication, features, and performance. The Hopper 3 with 16 tuners runs off a single coax and the range/performance of the wireless Joey remote receivers is terrific. The icing on the cake was adding a tiny USB dual OTA tuner, which pulls in 79 stations, letting me drop the local channel option. I'm close to having my NAS configured to play my entire video collection through the Hopper as well.

I now have a powerful, consolidated video setup at a price substantially lower than DirecTV. The extranneous cabling and equipment are gone, giving both the outside and inside of my house a much cleaner appearance. It was also nice to be able to remove the local channel option though the DISH website without having to listen to the objections of a salesperson.

Loving this, and shame on you DirecTV!
 
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Ever since AT&T bought DTV, they have gone to absolute shit. Their customer service is horrendous.
 
YeOldeCup said:
As a 20 year rural customer of DirecTV, I was extremely frustrated with the games I constantly had to play (every six months) to get discounts to make my bill livable. For those 20 years, I carried the premium movie package and a college sports package (plus College Gameplan when it was a "thing.") I had four HD DVRs across the house and used the over air tuner, which was eliminated in newer models (requiring a separately purchased "pizza box.") Needless to say, DirecTV definitely got their money from me.

Last Thanksgiving, when my latest discounts were expiring, I insisted that they reinstate them (still far more money than new customers pay), and upgrade me to the Genie and three wireless minis. Negotiations ground to a halt, despite their constant praise of "thank you for being a loyal customer for 20 years." So I bought a some Amazon Fire TV devices, switched to PlayStation Vue, and killed DirecTV. To add insult to injury, they didn't want my old equipment back and instructed ME to recycle it.

There was certainly satisfaction in cutting my bill in half, but PS Vue's 720 resolution limitation and lack of surround sound killed my big screen viewing experience. Enter DISH.

As a new customer, I got all the perks on installation, equipment, and programming for two years. But the bigger surprise was the equipment sophistication, features, and performance. The Hopper 3 with 16 tuners runs off a single coax and the range/performance of the wireless Joey remote receivers is terrific. The icing on the cake was adding a tiny USB dual OTA tuner, which pulls in 79 stations, letting me drop the local channel option. I'm close to having my NAS configured to play my entire video collection through the Hopper as well.

I now have a powerful, consolidated video setup at a price substantially lower than DirecTV. The extranneous cabling and equipment are gone, giving both the outside and inside of my house a much cleaner appearance. It was also nice to be able to remove the local channel option though the DISH website without having to listen to the objections of a salesperson.

Loving this, and shame on you DirecTV!
Click to expand...
Just wait until dtv starts calling you every day to try to get you back. I've had to yell at them to never call me again.
 
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YeOldeCup said:
As a 20 year rural customer of DirecTV, I was extremely frustrated with the games I constantly had to play (every six months) to get discounts to make my bill livable. For those 20 years, I carried the premium movie package and a college sports package (plus College Gameplan when it was a "thing.") I had four HD DVRs across the house and used the over air tuner, which was eliminated in newer models (requiring a separately purchased "pizza box.") Needless to say, DirecTV definitely got their money from me.

Last Thanksgiving, when my latest discounts were expiring, I insisted that they reinstate them (still far more money than new customers pay), and upgrade me to the Genie and three wireless minis. Negotiations ground to a halt, despite their constant praise of "thank you for being a loyal customer for 20 years." So I bought a some Amazon Fire TV devices, switched to PlayStation Vue, and killed DirecTV. To add insult to injury, they didn't want my old equipment back and instructed ME to recycle it.

There was certainly satisfaction in cutting my bill in half, but PS Vue's 720 resolution limitation and lack of surround sound killed my big screen viewing experience. Enter DISH.

As a new customer, I got all the perks on installation, equipment, and programming for two years. But the bigger surprise was the equipment sophistication, features, and performance. The Hopper 3 with 16 tuners runs off a single coax and the range/performance of the wireless Joey remote receivers is terrific. The icing on the cake was adding a tiny USB dual OTA tuner, which pulls in 79 stations, letting me drop the local channel option. I'm close to having my NAS configured to play my entire video collection through the Hopper as well.

I now have a powerful, consolidated video setup at a price substantially lower than DirecTV. The extranneous cabling and equipment are gone, giving both the outside and inside of my house a much cleaner appearance. It was also nice to be able to remove the local channel option though the DISH website without having to listen to the objections of a salesperson.

Loving this, and shame on you DirecTV!
Click to expand...
I did the same thing with DIRECTV. As a 13 year customer, I told them politely that there are other options such as Dish. When I got nowhere, I said i think I'll just switch to Dish. She said, "Well, good luck with that" in a snarky tone.

When she put me on the line with the person to cancel my service, I told them what happened. They outright begged me to stay. Dish not only kills them with customer service, but they are way more affordable and don't raise their rates every time the sun sets. I'm super happy after 8 years with Dish.
 
Grant Green said:
Just wait until dtv starts calling you every day to try to get you back. I've had to yell at them to never call me again.
Click to expand...
I dropped my land line so they resort to letters once every two weeks begging to get me back. There can't be any trees left in California with all of the paper they've wasted over the years.
 
The one and only reason I have direct tv isnthe Sunday Ticket. If there was another way to get it I’d get rid of direct tv in a second
 
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Is there a good app for DISH to be able to stream on any SmartTV in the house? I don't particularly like Spectrum, but I do like being able to watch TV on 8 different TVs with only 1 box. Also will hurt if I lose the internet bundle with Spectrum... But I'd get all the Pirates games on DISH (maybe a con this year?)...
 
I don't get all the Pirate games. You have to live in their prescribed area to get them. I get the games that run over the Dish alloted time frame and sometimes see hours for free.

I thought I was going to get the bucs but instead I get to see the Indians and all the Cleveland sports teams which I never watch. From your moniker you may get the Cincy package.

Dish is creeping up in price on us, 15 years of loyalty which gets you 15 years of higher and higher bills w/ no upgrades. I'm not a call them up and argue for price reductions type. I think I should receive superior service and stable pricing for my loyalty, no way.
 
Dish TV execs should be in jail for stealing NFL Sunday ticket from us for so long. It is a crime that they force you to join their garbage service to see your team. That right there makes me step back from my NFL fandom. Disgusting greed.
 
wbcincy said:
Is there a good app for DISH to be able to stream on any SmartTV in the house? I don't particularly like Spectrum, but I do like being able to watch TV on 8 different TVs with only 1 box. Also will hurt if I lose the internet bundle with Spectrum... But I'd get all the Pirates games on DISH (maybe a con this year?)...
Click to expand...
https://www.mydish.com/dish-anywhere

I get all of the Pirates games but I believe blackout rules apply and I'm far enough away from the Burgh.
 
Funny story about Direct TV. When my contract was up I began the negotiation to get the price down. At the time Dish was doing a two year lock in deal for about half of what I was paying with DTV. I called and spot to multiple associates in the retention department but they were not offering much so I moved to Dish. I kid you not it was about two weeks later after I cancelled that I get a letter in the mail from DTV. They offered to pay all my cancellation fees and give me a $250 gift card to switch back. It's amazing that large businesses like this run their operation this way. Anyway, I love Dish and I have way too many PSU games recorded on my DVR to ever switch again.
 
Dish does have BTN.
I did the switch in reverse and had the exact same experience. Once I switched to Direct TV I got all kinds of offers from Dish. I said, “If you offered these deals up earlier I wouldn’t have switched. Too late now.”
Honestly, I don’t notice a difference between the two.
 
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Air Force 1 said:
That's exactly what i was just going to ask. That was the primary reason I got Directv 13 years ago[/QUOTE

Dish TV had only the main Big Ten Channel back when I had this service. They did not carry the extra channels so I did miss some PSU games. Not sure if they carry the extra channels today.
Click to expand...
 
Connorpozlee said:
Dish does have BTN.
I did the switch in reverse and had the exact same experience. Once I switched to Direct TV I got all kinds of offers from Dish. I said, “If you offered these deals up earlier I wouldn’t have switched. Too late now.”
Honestly, I don’t notice a difference between the two.
Click to expand...

Even in regards to the equipment sophistication, and ease of use, the OP mentioned like the OTA USB Tuner? I currently have Dish and have been looking for ways to ditch it as well. I hate the game of having to call them every 3 months to get my bill lowered.
 
YeOldeCup said:
As a 20 year rural customer of DirecTV, I was extremely frustrated with the games I constantly had to play (every six months) to get discounts to make my bill livable. For those 20 years, I carried the premium movie package and a college sports package (plus College Gameplan when it was a "thing.") I had four HD DVRs across the house and used the over air tuner, which was eliminated in newer models (requiring a separately purchased "pizza box.") Needless to say, DirecTV definitely got their money from me.

Last Thanksgiving, when my latest discounts were expiring, I insisted that they reinstate them (still far more money than new customers pay), and upgrade me to the Genie and three wireless minis. Negotiations ground to a halt, despite their constant praise of "thank you for being a loyal customer for 20 years." So I bought a some Amazon Fire TV devices, switched to PlayStation Vue, and killed DirecTV. To add insult to injury, they didn't want my old equipment back and instructed ME to recycle it.

There was certainly satisfaction in cutting my bill in half, but PS Vue's 720 resolution limitation and lack of surround sound killed my big screen viewing experience. Enter DISH.

As a new customer, I got all the perks on installation, equipment, and programming for two years. But the bigger surprise was the equipment sophistication, features, and performance. The Hopper 3 with 16 tuners runs off a single coax and the range/performance of the wireless Joey remote receivers is terrific. The icing on the cake was adding a tiny USB dual OTA tuner, which pulls in 79 stations, letting me drop the local channel option. I'm close to having my NAS configured to play my entire video collection through the Hopper as well.

I now have a powerful, consolidated video setup at a price substantially lower than DirecTV. The extranneous cabling and equipment are gone, giving both the outside and inside of my house a much cleaner appearance. It was also nice to be able to remove the local channel option though the DISH website without having to listen to the objections of a salesperson.

Loving this, and shame on you DirecTV!
Click to expand...
In November switched from comcast to direct tv. Paying substantially less, but dtv absolutely sucks in regards to user friendliness. Definitely getting what I am paying for. Unfortunately it was a 2 year commitment, so going to be awhile till can do anything about it...
 
Got rid of Direct TV I had since the early 90’s about 4 years ago. The first few years they didn’t raise prices much at all, but starting in the early 2000’s the price increases were ridiculous requiring a call to negotiatie better terms. The development where I live now does not permit satellite dishes and that is how I easily got out of my contract renewal since it was about to be up at the time I moved.
 
RochLion said:
Even in regards to the equipment sophistication, and ease of use, the OP mentioned like the OTA USB Tuner? I currently have Dish and have been looking for ways to ditch it as well. I hate the game of having to call them every 3 months to get my bill lowered.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what most of that meant, honestly.
The biggest issue I am having with it is learning the channels. And the guide is weird. You have to go up to have the channels go down and vice versa. It’s weird. And there is some message that pops up when you change channels about being able to rewind to the beginning of the show. It’s annoying and I can’t find a way to get rid of it, but it’s only on the screen for a couple of seconds.
I think the DVR is better than Dish. Able to record more shows at one time.
 
I would switch from Directv, but DISH doesn't have the YES network. I do call every year to fake cancel and have gotten $50 off a month each of the last 2 years.
 
I've had Directv since the day that BTN started. I do play the game twice a year to call up to cancel and get a bunch of freebies. Between the NFL Sunday Ticket and their extra channels for golf and tennis, I'd really miss them if I ever did actually switch. But while calling up to get the $ is an annoyance, I'm willing to do it to stick with them.
 
Big 0 said:
Got rid of Direct TV I had since the early 90’s about 4 years ago. The first few years they didn’t raise prices much at all, but starting in the early 2000’s the price increases were ridiculous requiring a call to negotiatie better terms. The development where I live now does not permit satellite dishes and that is how I easily got out of my contract renewal since it was about to be up at the time I moved.
Click to expand...

FYI.... by law a development can not prevent you from placing a dish on your home, it does not matter what your covenants say.
 
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Nittany.Lion said:
FYI.... by law a development can not prevent you from placing a dish on your home, it does not matter what your covenants say.
Click to expand...
It’s in the bylaws on which you have to sign off. And it would not get past the architectural committee.
 
wbcincy said:
HOA bylaws don't trump federal law. Put the dish up and let them try to take you to court and discuss why they should be exempt from 47 CFR 1.4000
Click to expand...

This is true. I'm president of my HOA. We had someone install a dish on the roof of their front porch. It looks horrible. We tried to have them put it on a pole at the corner of their house instead. We couldn't even legally do that.

mjh218 said:
The one and only reason I have direct tv is the Sunday Ticket.
Click to expand...

You can buy the streaming version of Sunday Ticket without having DirecTV. It's been that way for a couple of seasons. I know the eligibility rules make it sound like you can't. But I had DirecTV, dropped it and was still able to pick up the streaming version of Sunday Ticket. Maybe I fell through the cracks, but I doubt it.
 
If you guys think directtv is bad, you should try having Armstrong Cable!

If you want to pay more, for less channels, they are your company. They've never had BTN. The rate raises never stop. Their customer service makes me long for comcast... even the simplest call will require a half hour wait. Their boxes are terrible constantly freezing and not connecting.
 
pandaczar12 said:
If you guys think directtv is bad, you should try having Armstrong Cable!

If you want to pay more, for less channels, they are your company. They've never had BTN. The rate raises never stop. Their customer service makes me long for comcast... even the simplest call will require a half hour wait. Their boxes are terrible constantly freezing and not connecting.
Click to expand...


Sounds like a division of FAIRGAMBIT ENTERPRISES, INC.! :rolleyes:
 
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sunshinedynomite said:
Does Dish have BTN?
Click to expand...
I switched from Directv to Dish a few years ago. All of Dish's advertising said they had BTN with every channel package. They installed it.......no BTN. I called Dish and some moron told me there was no way to get it and he mumbled something to the effect that their ads say "restrictions do apply". I then got a supervisor on the phone and she happily sold me their Sports Package so I could get BTN. I went back to DTV about a year later.
 
wbcincy said:
Thank you.

DISH actually carries ROOT pittsburgh here in Columbus (the only provider who does), so Pirates games are blacked out in Columbus even with MLB TV unless you have Dish.
Click to expand...

This could be a blessing for non-Dish Pirate fans in Columbus this year.
 
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BOSCO2 said:
I switched from Directv to Dish a few years ago. All of Dish's advertising said they had BTN with every channel package. They installed it.......no BTN. I called Dish and some moron told me there was no way to get it and he mumbled something to the effect that their ads say "restrictions do apply". I then got a supervisor on the phone and she happily sold me their Sports Package so I could get BTN. I went back to DTV about a year later.
Click to expand...

I don't get it- I've always had BTN on Dish and I didn't purchase anything special.

I've been back and forth a little bit but I like them both OK. I do think Dish is a little cheaper and will do a little more to keep you when your contract is up. I had DirecTV for 15 years and they wouldn't give me squat when I first switched over.
 
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