Electronics

[Mama Mia]

We have so much trouble with Cable One lately and are thinking of changing to DTv, but I hate giving my CC # to them, so that scares me about it, and the extra charges.

Any comment would be appreciated.

mm

[okiebug]

Why would it scare you to give them your cc# any more than the cable company? Directv has been around for years. I've had Directv for 15 years, had no more issues with Customer Service than any other company. Have had to have someone come out for repair maybe 3 times in those years, not counting the times we upgraded our receivers and dish. I get a bill every month so have the option of paying by check. You get free installation as a new customer. I don't have cable available to me so can't compare what "extra" charges you are talking about. You pay for the channel package you want, monthly rental on the receivers, and the federal FTC charges and tax. I would assume that would be the same as cable.

About the package, I'm grandfathered in on an older package, but it's about mid-priced. We don't have any of the premium channels. Still have over 300 channels and a lot of music channels. There are some channels that are exclusive to Directv - QVCPlus, AUDHD (concerts).

On the other hand, you can get an HD antenna - all local channels broadcast over the air and have multiple channels. That would be totally free.

[Mama Mia]

Thanks, Okie bug. It scares me because the way it appears now, to me, it you have to let them charge your ckg acct, or CC. they can make mistakes and then I would have a hard time getting that fixed. I would rather have a statement each month so I can see it first.

Also, the extra charges are equipment rental etc, and a fifty dollar service charge if they have to come out to service your equipment. So that is why I wanted comments.

mm

[Kachina624]

My Direct TV is bundled with my phone and Internet service and I pay it on my phone bill. For a long time I was billed and paid them directly and never had a problem. I have a medium level of service without HD or movie channels. I've had some real idiots come to do installation and repair. I threw one guy out of the house, called and spoke with a supervisor and asked that someone else be sent. Guess who showed up the next day? Same idiot who I sent away. It eventually got fixed to my satisfaction and I've lived happily ever after. If you do get a dish, have it put where you can sweep snow off of it, if you have snow. It blocks the service.

[Kachina624]

I forgot to add that I have a service contract with Direct TV and don't pay for service calls.

[goodstuff]

I have DirecTV, and we get a monthly statement in the mail which we pay just like our other bills. We have the Choice Package, which has most things we want to watch, but no premium movie channels like HBO or Starz. It does have Turner Classic Movies, Fox Movie Channel, and several other non-premium movie channels, plus HGTV, Food Network, Travel, SciFi, History, local channels, many music channels, and many others.

I'm not sure why they'd need your SSN to sign you up or why they'd require you to charge it to a CC. Ask about other billing arrangements. They offer a prepaid service plan if you're not interested in paying for individual service calls. We've had DTV for years, though, and have had them out only a couple of times. It has been quite reliable.

[CalminHeart]

I had cable for 30+ years and got so frustrated with their lousy service and ever-increasing costs that I went with Directv 2.5 years ago. I haven't looked back. They've been very easy to work with and I've never had a problem with my credit card. I actually gave them my credit card number, not debit, as there is some protection that way.

I have the genie hd dvr in the living room with a connection in the bedroom. I have a plain satellite receiver in the spare room.

I have the second highest channel plan but no movie channels at all. I actually get more channels with dtv than I did with cable and my bill is about 65% of what cable charged me.

DTV emails my bill to me. Having auto-pay set up saves me $10 per month, no expiration. It also gave me some freebies with my dvr and saves me $5 per month on that, no expiration.

[Teddixat]

I have had DirectTV for almost 20years. I love DirectTV. They have great customer service and great selections. They are not cheap but neither is cable.

[okiebug]

On 5/30/2014 Mama Mia said:

Thanks, Okie bug. It scares me because the way it appears now, to me, it you have to let them charge your ckg acct, or CC. they can make mistakes and then I would have a hard time getting that fixed. I would rather have a statement each month so I can see it first.

Also, the extra charges are equipment rental etc, and a fifty dollar service charge if they have to come out to service your equipment. So that is why I wanted comments.

mm

You pay a fee for each receiver for your cable don't you? Same with Directv. As for the service call charge, get the service plan, a few dollars a month and service calls are free. Worth it. You don't have to have direct pay, you can be billed each month. You can always see your bill online.

[patticakes]

Direct is wonderful. Would never go back to cable. Their customer service is top notch. We, too, have the service contract. Well worth the little bit you pay for it.