Well both of my parents are deaf-mute so I am usually in charge of taking care of their bills and whatnot. My mom was having problems with her DVR so a new one was sent. Good enough. Time to activate the new card and box.

First of all, there is only one number I could find to get ahold of them (customer service) I call it and get welcomed by an automated computer. Well I don't want to pay my bill or anything, i want to activate my box. I find out that there is no direct button to get a representative, so after about a hour of frustration going through all the automated menus, I finally find a way to get through to customer service. The wait for them was terrible, got hung up on twice, then had to wait another 30 mins with my phone on the line to finally get someone to answer. Then to make matters worse, i can't understand a word the rep is saying to me. So i ask for a different person to talk to me. She (didn't get her name) took offense and hung up on me. So i call back, almost enraged enough to throw my phone at the wall and again get stuck running through the automated crap. Finally got through to someone I could understand and got my business taken care of. After about 2 hrs total. Very dissatisfied. I run a fta box now and couldn't be happier, but before that i had Dish network and they weren't near as bad. I told my mom that DirecTV is junk. She was almost in tears she seen how angry I was with them. Not a big deal, just seriously irritating. I know some of ya'll can feel my anger on this, this automated crap is bull. I wish they could have a direct number first to customer service instead of assuming i want to pay my bill.

Rant off I'm good now. Thanks for reading...

 

Sorry about your ordeal. Next time you can use this website and find the quickest way to get to a real person quickly. And the list pretty much covers any retailer, airline, cell provider, etc. that you would need to call.

 

Thanks for the link. After that I just have to hope her new dvr lasts a long time.

 

Man that is a great link.

 

Dish is worse. I have been going round and round with them since November and I still do not have a DVR upgrade.

 

Whew... Hope you feel better, I feel your pain on that one! Seems more and more companies are hitting the automated phone routing. Frustrating, I normally start hitting 0's on the phone until I get a human....

 

Just say the word "agent" and it connects you to a live person.

 

I went through 4 DVR's from them in 2 years. After the last one only lasted 3 weeks I assumed that there was some kind of waranty on the new device and I was WRONG. They once again tried to charge me for another DVR.. I simply told them to come get their equipment and that I was done.. A week later I was sent a bill for $220 for returning faulty equipment. I explained to them it was the reason I was sending it back to begin with.. After fighting with them for over 2 months I recieved a call from a creditor claiming I owed Direct TV $220.00. It took a letter from my lawyer to settle the dispute from which I will never have another dish on my house.

 

Trust me I know they both suck! Thats why I use FTA satellite, it may get knocked out every once in awhile but its alot easier to get something done about it, just wait for a new update bin. Lary I did say "customer service" and it worked the first time and re-directed me (then I get hung up on), but after that it didn't work. I'll have to keep "agent" in mind next time.

Cin, my mom is on #3, they're gonna get a piece of my mind when number 4 comes around. But thanks to ya'll this time I'll be a little more prepared. Thanks for all the info.

 

I gave up on DirectV years ago. Their customer service was horrible! I was thnking about trying dish. My folks have them and no problems so far.

 

I had Direct for years, and for the past couple of years I have Dish. I have not had any problems with Dish. At least when I have had to call them I could understand the person, with Direct I could not.

 

I had to activate two new DVR's yesterday.

First one I spent 30 minutes on hold before I got a person, then someone else in the house picked up the phone and hung up on her, but the DVR was activated just waiting for the final guide info to download.

2nd one I must have said the magic words "Activate Receiver" just right because I was able to do it all without talking to a person.
I spent longer on hold trying to deactivate the old DVR the new one was replacing.
I guess there isn't magic words for "deactivate".

Gotta call tomorrow to order BBC's as one of the boxes didn't have them in it.
Hope there's a magic word for that process.


phox

 

Just before Christmas I had to call my credit card company about changing cards. I never got my replacement and got a letter to call them...I did and to a person that barely spoke any English...after I finally got it straightened out he tried to sell me some insurance on the card. I said no. I get the statement and theres this insurance charge on it. So I call back and ask for a supervisor...and I get the run around again with poor English...and I get told I have to call the Insurance Company...uhhh, thats the number I called and now I get transferred on hold AGAIN. I am documenting the names, dates etc etc
Now the person is offering to cut the insurance fee in half. I said no again. I go online and email them. I then sent a letter, with an invoice for my time on the phone with them. My invoice was for 27.95 per hour @ 3.5 hours.
Guess what? I got credit applied to my card for that amount.
Still no email reply.

Scotty

 

i think they are all idiots.

i had DISH for ~8 years. their DVR software has been bad for last 2 years (they sent down some bad code) and mine has been locking for a while.

i called them last month, and they told me they had been charging me $5 a month for 3 years for a TV we don't use.

so i went to Direct, they are just as bad on the phone.
spent 2 hours on phone after they brought me a NON DVR box,
finally had to threated to disconnect service

i called & canceled dish last week

THEN they call and offer me like half year service for half price.

so now, DISH calls me back and this guy is MAJOR RUDE
screaming, yelling, won't even let me talk,
a real bundle of joy.


so anyways, DISCONNECT SERVICE is the term you want to use.

they are the ONLY people who can do ANYTHING to keep your service.

i hate the GUI of our new DIrect DVR, but that last DISH guy really ate me up, so i guess i am stuck with Direct.

i have my old DISH DVR that i have to send back, wish i could send it to one you guys.
call DISH and tell them to DISCONNECT your service, and taht may speed you up some.