1 year ago, I was paying $50 for DTV. Now, 6 months ago, they jacked up the price to $55.. so now.. I can expect to pay $60 now? Grr...

Rates are going up with a lot of stuff lately, it seems. I think Old Man Inflation is at it again.

So is this a material change in the contract? Can we get out from the contract?

i am simply glad to see that for once its not just the cable companies getting the bad press for this

if you don't like it, don't take it up with the service providers, take it up with the networks

for too long these networks get away with extorting the service providers by raising rates and resigning contracts every year which in the end screws the consumers

67% is a D-? C- maybe (or if you were in my physics class, an A). Even so, staying above the rest actually means something in this case, as there's no kinder company to run to.

I cancelled DTV 9 months ago. I can watch all the shows I want on the internet.

I can't blame anyone but myself. DTV has the worst customer service of any company I have worked with..........including those based in India. I lasted less than three months and took a hit. Done with them

I'm really over DirecTV now. I've had it for about 5 years, and for a while really enjoyed the far lower rates to cable, better channels it offered (BBCAmerica, etc), and my DirecTivo.

But when I got an HDTV in November and called to look into upgrading my service and DVR, I just couldn't justify it. $300 just just to **lease** (not even own) a DVR/receiver, no Tivo service any longer, and much higher monthly rates. When I called retention and threatened to cancel, the best they could offer me was $200 to *lease* their receiver.

I'm moving to a new house in 2 months, and given this latest subscription increase Comcast HD service is looking better and better (along with a purchase of an HD Tivo that I will then actually own, at the same price as leasing the DTV HD DVR).

@Stravos: 67% is a D unless you are in a class for the mentally feeble.

@brent_w: *looks at chart*

Oh wait ... I guess they are ... *facepalm*

well that's just peachy. my promotional rate just ended, meaning my bill went up by $8, and now another $3 to $4? i doubt i'll switch to cable, though. my local electric utility is going to be offering fiber optic internet, phone, and tv service starting in the fall. if it's comparable, i'll probably switch to that. it's supposed to be a lot faster than my dsl (which i have as part of my phone/tv/internet bundle).

Still cheaper than Comcast.

@brent_w: @brent_w: Or in a class with one hell of a curve. Which happens, frequently, in college-level science courses.

Ug. My parents are fed up with their current cable provider, WOW and are looking into Direct TV.

They used to have Comcast but dropped if after they raised rates. Now WOW is raising their rates AND dropping three channels.

Does anyone have a general opinion on Direct TV I can give them? Thanks

Even with the increase, it's still $25 cheaper for what I pay with DirecTV than going with Comcast. No joke.

Interesting. I am a DirecTV customer and I didn't get that email.

I have only had positive experiences with them. I wanted to upgrade to HD. I called them up and when told of the $300 fee for the HD receiver, I told them I could switch to Dish Network, they had a promotion for a free HD receiver at the time, and save $300. When they said that I would have to pay the ELT, I said, "Well, the way I see it, the ELT is cheaper than upgrading with you." In the end, using information I learned here, I got 1 year of free HD programming and a free HD DVR upgrade.

Actually, I have comcast, regular cable. Ho HD, just plain old regular cable. I have it hooked up to 4 tvs. Right now, I am paying $59 month. I looked into DirectTv and the other major one whose name I forget. Comcast is still cheaper because for each television that has a box, they charge a monthly lease fee of $5, so with 4 tv's that's an extra $15. I hate to say it, but Comcast is cheaper.
Also, the satellite tv providers have not raised their prices in a long time, so when they announced that there would be an increase, I would be ok with it. COmcast on the other hand raises prices 1 -2 times a year and do not even provide more channels! I support the idea being thrown around that we pay only for the channels that we watch.

@Stravos: Anything under a 65 was an F in my high school and college. YMMV, I suppose...

@stinkingbob: Comcast is not cheap where I'm at. =)

@brent_w: lol

Would this be considered a "materially adverse" change to my contract, since they are raising the price of my package by $3/mo? I'm looking for an excuse to dump DirecTV without paying the ETF. I refuse to pay one thin dime for a leased equipment upgrade to an HR-21, and they absolutely refuse to give me any kind of a deal. This might just be the way out...

@qitaana: but then there is always one prson that destroys the curve, and hell as great as it feels to know that much, the hate is painful, good thing I'm not that guy to often, Imagine if an 80 was thrown in there, that would make everyone else attack that companies rep

I used to love DirecTV. They were always about $10 a month cheaper than cable even with three extra receivers. Now, in order to lock in customers, you can't buy receivers, you have to lease them. And that pretty much involves some sort of programming contract.

The pricing isn't that competitive any longer. The packages have been manipulated so that popular basic cable channels like National Geographic are in higher tiered rates. And the receiver "mirroring" fees, while always there, add $15 a month to my bill. Throw in a Tivo and we're approaching $20 a month more than cable.

I've been able to call each year and get the DVR and mirroring fees waived, but I don't know how long they'll continue to do that. And it's clear to me the increases are a result of DirecTV passing along the expenses of the NFL Network and BigTen networks to the customer. Great, more channels I pay for and don't watch.

That's the nice thing about Charter; they told both BigTen and the NFL to go get bent. I like that; maybe I should switch just on general principle.

I have both DirecTV and Comcast. I've been DirecTV since about 1997, and Comcast since their internet arm was @Home. I'm 100% happy with both. Honestly, if Comcast had the Spanish stations in my area, I'd dump DirectTV, but not because of lack of service, but just economy. I've not gotten a notice of a $3 increase, but who cares? If you can't afford a measly $3 per month, then drop it.

Speaking of DirecTV, anybody tried to cancel it lately? I couldn't get through to anyone on the phone after long hold times, so I finally emailed them to cancel. They responded by having their representatives call me to try to talk me into keeping the service. When I insisted that I wanted to cancel, they refused to accept my cancellation order. (I've long since fulfilled my contract.) They would only "suspend" my service. So, after suspending my service, they stopped billing me for one month, then resumed billing me after one month. My DirecTV receiver was disconnected so I had no idea that they reactivated my service. When I refused to pay the bill, they turned my account over to a collection agency.

I will say that they chose the wrong customer with which to play these games, though, as I'm turning the matter over to my state's Attorney General.

I cancelled DTV by calling them and telling them I was leaving the country. They send me a bill every month for zero dollars. Wonder why they do that?

Great. Something more for my mother-in-law to bitch about. Every other week she says she's going to turn off the service (too many commercials, too expensive, etc.). Maybe this will be the straw that breaks the camels back and I won't have to hear about it anymore.

Thats why the industry needs to be regulated.

@CPC24: Comcast just raised rates in our neighborhood. 10 bucks for me.

@theslik1: Nope Directv has in the contract all ready. They can raise prices anytime without notice. Dish and Directv raise prices just about every year this time Feb_March.

I've had good dealings with DTV customer service. They've accepted responsibility for a couple of screw-ups and have generously waived several fees and reduced rates.

The problem is that one hand often doesn't seem to know what the other hand is doing. The misinformation I've run into is staggering.

But any trouble I may have had with DTV is dwarfed by the mendacity of Adelphia and Time Warner cable. It's gonna take a lot for me to ever revert to a cable system for any service. Ever.

I can't believe you guys are quibbling over a $3-5 increase. If you aren't happy with it or can't afford it, then cancel your DTV or Cable service. Its as simple as that. I really dont get it; a lot of people who really can't afford cable/satellite TV in the first place buy the service and then complain about the prices.

And no, I don't have cable or satellite TV, I get over the air broadcast. (and I save $50/month)

That's exactly why I am switching to AT&T U-Verse: No long-term contract and competitively priced services.

On the other hand, after getting locked into a 2 year contract, D*TV treats their customers like idiots: 3rd rate DVRs and insulting CS reps.

Overall I think Directv, and my local cable company (Brighthouse) are about on par though Directv is slightly cheaper. The big problem for me was the install when I moved.

I previously had Directv, and was pretty happy with them until I bought my current house. Invariably, Directv installers are some guy with a pickup, a ladder, and a t-shirt that says Directv on it. This guy cut down part of my tree without asking, and almost fell off the roof before I kicked him out. That, coupled with the very good internet install I received from Brighthouse sealed the deal.

A word of warning to former customers- you will never get Directv to stop soliciting you to come back. This is going on 2 years now. I am far less tolerant of sales pitches, and far more agressive in combating them than most people, and no matter what I've tried they still call about every 90 days. I've threatened, cajoled, cursed, and pleaded to no avail.

I have had DTV for 3 1/2 years, after cable for over 15 years.
I changed after I got sick and tired of losing cable service for 8-12 hours during every storm. The reliability of the signal is great. Sometimes during bad storms I lose signal for 15-30 minutes until the large clouds blow away. But I don't have to wait until someone who is sleeping on the job at Comcast presses a switch to restore or reset the service. I
don't have their DVR, I bought Pioneer DVR-533H combo hard drive and disk recorders, which I just love. I have 3 DTV receivers, so I have a splitter on the back of the house. My only complaint on DTV is the splitters are such pieces of crap, the last for only 1 year and then rust out which ruins the ability to receive the signal. So I pay the 5.99 a month for the protection plan which covers all their equipment. I have had the splitter replaced twice already with no cost to me. Lightening struck a tree in my front yard and zapped the splitter and 1 receiver with no cost to me. Once when a service tech failed to show up at an appointment, I received a $135 credit, which paid for 1 1/2 months of service. So over all I am very happy with DTV. Of course I wish it was cheaper, I pay 91.92 a month for 3 receivers, protection plan and 2 premium channels.

@stinkingbob: do you currently have a box hooked to every tv, or just 1 or 2? i know when i had cable, i could just plug into the wall to get the stations <100, so i got away with just 1 box.

next year, you will need a box for every tv - whether you are with comcast or dtv. next january might be a good time to think about switching if all your tv sets aren't boxed yet.

Comcast just sent a rate change notice in my last bill. Looks like cable rates are increasing in my area to be about $8 more a month for my digital/hd dvr service. Broadband stayed the same.

another good reason to let us choose the channels we wish to receive..............

verizon just sent me my rate increase notice. how fun!

I have had Direct Tv service for over five years. I had my service moved and upgraded to my new home on Dec,7th.2007. The installation was very messy, they left wires hanging everywhere inside and outside the house, never connected the ground cable outside for electrical safety, and we lost signal every few minutes. I called and complained and Direct TV sent another tech out almost two weeks later. He stated the first tech was fired and he "fixed the service". Within 15 minutes we began to lose signal again.
I called and e-mail Direct TV about this, offering pictures to prove the service was installed sloppy and didn't work.
I e-mailed them several times, it's easier because their call centers have people that can't speak clear English and are very hard to deal with and understand. Finally I told them to cancel my service because they couldn't meet there commitment to me and provide a working service. I also asked for a return autho# to send their receiver back to them.
Around a week later Jan 11th.2008 I received a disconnect e-mail and bill for 93.00 .I e-mailed them saying I had no service for that month so how do I owe them.
On Jan 18th.2008 a box with return instructions was delivered to my house for the receiver.
On Jan 22nd. 2008 I saw Direct TV was pulling $562.83 from my checking account.I took of work and went to my bank to stop this from happening, I signed a stop pay but my bank had to investigate it first. I was told to contact Direct TV and ask them to stop the transaction.
I called Direct TV several times, I was told the charges were for an early termination of service.I told them again I never had a working service to begin with.I got nowhere with the call center, the language problem was just to much, I asked for some one that could speak better English and I was repeated the same thing again. Direct TV used a check card I had used before to pay my bill on-line and charged my account without my authorization $562.38.
When I got home that evening I received a bill from them stating what the charges were and it was due immediately.
No one that speaks good English will talk to me from Direct TV, THEY broke the law pulling money from my account without authorization, caused my account to bounce checks, left me unable to buy groceries this week for my family, I've lost two hours work as of today trying to clear this up.Tommorrow I have to go to my bank again and to an attorney .
What a nightmare, please pass this on to everyone to warn them about direct tv's practices
Richard C. Morrison
Boatdoc1963@yahoo.com

@HOP: Because you think that will make rates go DOWN?!

I can guarantee you that a la carte pricing will result in much higher prices for an inflexible lineup of channels.

That said, it's pretty crappy that when DirecTV sent us a letter last year saying they were raising our rates, they made it sound like they hadn't done it in years and wouldn't have to do so again for awhile.

While I'm not happy about the increase, it is happening across the industry. I definitely have to praise DTV's customer serviceand the commitment that they ahve made by launching new satellites and programming.

I just called last week becasue I was having a problem in cold weather with my dish receiving some channels intermittently. I had a tech out in two days. Ten mintues later, I had a replacement dish on the way, professionally installed. There was no fuss, no questioning the issue even though it was not happening at the time the tech was there and no cost to me.

Try that with Comcast. I just wish DTV would roll out their high-speed terrestrial solution so I could ditch Comcast all together.

Ranks higher? Says who?? I don't remember taking a survey!! Fuck you Frank!!

DTV used to have excellent customer service, until Rupert Murdoch bought the company. It really went downhill after that. I've had them since 2000, and near canceling after all their changes lately (the last straw being dropping HD MPEG-2 support for the HD-TiVo and forcing a non-TiVo DVR)

@Rey: i think that's a shill argument. some channels might cost more if they can't sustain a subscriber base, but i think the average customer would save money on their bill & get the channels they want to watch.

even if channels cost upwards of $7/mo. (keep in mind that subscriber channels such as hbo/cinemax would create an artificial cap ~$10/mo that commercial-based channels would not be able to exceed), i know my bill would be about $30 less/month.

realistically, we won't know if a la carte works or not until someone gives it a try.

I'm not a fan of price increases in any form, of course, but I've never had a single problem with DirecTV in almost 5 years of service. Meanwhile, my parents with Comcast cable have had channels go out, the DVR malfunction or refuse to record, and all sorts of other crap on a regular basis even though they pay more. I feel pretty good about staying put.

You think this price hike has anything to do with the Big Ten Network and NFL Network being added to the line-up. I've been reading that if DirectTV or the other cable companies have to add these channels, with virtually no original programming and very few actual games, prices will go up.

Maybe this is the first sign of it?

DirectTv is by far the worst company I have ever dealt with. The service worked -- spottily -- for only about 3 months and then quit altogether. Every time I called, it took a minimum of 2 calls (which meant 40 - 60 minutes of hold time) to achieve anything -- including cancelling. Everyone -- including the on-site installation/repair folks were clueless. Yes, Comcast is more expensive -- but at least it works.

Sorry, no curve for these grades. There is no way DirecTV or any of the cable providers deserve anything less than a C. In my school, 77% was the lowest range for a C...