DIRECTV SUCKS AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY DOESN'T CARE

I have DirecTV since last summer. About 1 month after obtaining my account I was receiving a 771 Searching for Signal Error message. Sometimes I would just turn the TV off and worry about it later. Sometimes I would play with it and reset it and it would work. I probably didn't call them for the 1st time until probably 2 months after I started the service. When I did this the rep did a reset on their end and my signal was restored. This continued to happen with the amount of time I was receiving the 771 message lasting longer and longer. I didn't call every time... far from it... who has time for this right?

Well around the holidays it got really bad and I think there may have been a week I could not get the connection to work at all... busy busy busy around the holidays and no time to call. I called early January and have been continuing to call, schedule appointments and email.

Eventually I figure out that the original tech that came out here to setup had left cable from the previous provider. I call in... speak to 7 people before I get off the phone and let them know they have to send someone out to correct this. They of course give that stupid 4-hour window and show up at the last minute... who does get the 1st appointment of the day anyway????

The tech was rushed replaced the cable on the side of the house and the connect reestablished.... he left. The next day....771 SEARCHING FOR SIGNAL Now I missed a day of work to wait for them... because having my 17 year old nephew sit here doesn't work for them.

And now I have the issue again. So I call... while on this call I log onto my online account to see if there is something I can do myself since this call is going much like the last call when I talked to half of the office in one call. There was an 80-dollar charge for the service call... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! I have the stupid protection plan so the charge should have never hit anyway, but really charging me for a cable I could have bought for a few bucks myself and replaced... and then it still wasn't fixed!

As you can imagine...I was angry.... and missing all of my shows. So they give me another appointment... and ya take what you can get whether it interferes with work or not because it is never the next day. Anyway, I get a call 3.5 hours into waiting for the tech to arrive with a "supervisor" letting me know the window has to be opened for 2 more hours.... here we go! So I tell him all of the trouble I have been having and he sympathized with my struggle, as he unfortunately has to deal with customer service too.

Funny thing about that is more than one person on the phone, including an individual from the executives office who called my home have kind of pointed the finger at the tech guys. HELLLOOOOOOOOO I am the customer who already sees how poorly you all do your job... how about now telling how much all of the other departments suck. So a tech and his supervisor show up here in the final hour and I tell the supervisor I think there is still cable up there from Full Channel... he says no way... it wouldn't work... ya think? 20 minutes later my connection is restored... the cause 2 things... 1. old cable from a previous provider 2. 2 bridge connection when there should have only been one.

Another funny thing is before the supervisor got on my roof he said he did a check of this setup back in July and it looked good... also mentioned he did that when I wasn't home... but of course when I ask for them to correct an issue that is clearly outside when I am not home they can't do it.

So many funny things actually because although my connection was restored... I decided I needed some compensation for this poor service all around. That made things worse, so I figured out the executives email addresses including the president and emailed them all. Not one of them has contacted me themselves... peons in the "executive office" have with rude responses blaming me for not contacting them sooner. Does anyone else see the fact that they were using equipment that didn't belong to them- I just can't believe it.

I have expressed to mostly everyone I spoke with today as well as the president that they are legally obligated to let me out of this stupid 2 year contract.... will they? not without a fight. UNBELEIVABLE! They offered me 3 free months of showtime..... I would probably have to call after that and cancel it so not to be charged... give me an ever loving break!!!!

I refused they can keep their stupid showtime if I wanted it I would pay for it. And in the middle of this back and forth GUESS WHAT 771 SEARCHING FOR SIGNAL! I still have no signal now!!!

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THE MORAL OF THIS STORY DIRECTV it's customer service department on the phone, responding to email and all the way up the the president SUCK! If you were considering switching-DON'T! If you contract is almost up GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!! DirecTV and its employees do not care about you, your time or the service they provide. Here is part of the last email I received enjoy! We are responding to your complaint via email per your request. As discussed during the previous conversation with our Office of the President 2/22/2008, DIRECTV has determined that no further compensation will be offered for the technical issues you have previously experienced. Given the time we were notified of the issue, we responded with appropriate action in order to resolve your issues and offered adequate compensation in the form of credit for time you were without service. In addition you accepted a six-month discount of $10.00 per month. We also offered three months of Showtime; however this offer was declined. At DIRECTV we strive to provide the finest in satellite television entertainment and outstanding customer service.