Consumerist TaterTom explains the process behind Television Service Installation, and gives us a few great ways to make sure your dollar is going somewhere well deserved. You rock, Tatertom. His in-depth letter after the jump.
satellite
How To Cancel Cable/Satellite TV Without Being Miserable
By 12.19.08
CNet has an article about a couple who saw the writing on the wall, recession-wise, and canceled their satellite TV package. Surprisingly, they are, in fact, still alive and not at all depressed.
Sirius XM Merger Reveals True Face: Fewer Channels And 'Sanitized' Programming
By 11.14.08
This week, Sirius XM began consolidating its channels. In reality, this mostly meant jettisoning XM channels wherever there was a tenuous overlap with something Sirius already offered, which is bad news for anyone with a favorite station on XM who woke up Wednesday morning to find it missing. Alex wrote in to tell us that the four Spanish music channels have been condensed to one without regard to genre, and that the uncensored “urban music” station Hot Jamz has been cleaned up, rechristened “The Heat,” and now leans toward radio-friendly R&B. The Motley Fool suggests that the new lineup may drive people to downgrade their subscription—it’s “an incentive to downgrade to the cheaper plan that costs $6 less a month and lets users cherry-pick 50 stations.”
DirecTV Debits A $446.60 Cancellation Fee — For Service You Canceled Within 24 Hours
By 10.1.08
Meet Brandon. He canceled DirecTV after less than 24 hours (the agreed upon time limit to avoid a fee, apparently), only to see that DirecTV debited $446.60 from his checking account.
Dish Telemarketer Fined $75,000 For Hanging Up On Customers
By 7.16.08
The FTC fined a Dish Network telemarketing firm $75,000 for hanging up on customers, reports the Deseret News. The company used teleautobots to dial peoples’ homes, which were then supposed to connect to a live telemarketer when someone picked up. However, the system would sometimes get more live customers than there were telemarketers, leaving some customers with a silent line. Federal regulations stipulate that if you use teleautobots, you have to connect the customer to a person within two seconds. The FTC made this law because people, in particular women and old people, were worried they were being stalked when they answered the phone and no one was there.
DirecTV Installer Arrives, Poops, And Leaves, But Doesn't Install DirecTV
By 6.18.08
It’s hard to fit everything you need to do into an average day, but this ingenious DirecTV installer found a way to show up late to his appointments, take a break for lunch, and drop the kids off at the pool—all before 5pm! Now if only he’ll remember to bring a ladder with him the next time so he can actually complete the installation.
Dish Network Adds 22 Channels, Issues Bragging Press Release, Then Yanks 15
By 5.15.08
Want to convince people you offer as much HD as DirecTV without, you know, having to actually do it? Add 22 HD channels, issue a press release bragging about it, then yank 15 of your older channels while the press isn’t looking. That’s what Dish Network did according to TVPredictions.com:
By 3.25.08
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We hear a lot of horror stories about bad satellite TV installers, but they do serve an important function in the world. If one had been available to this gentlemen he might not have shot his wife. [KSDK]
"HughesNet is Absolutely, Without A Doubt, The Worst Company I Have Ever Had The Misfortune of Relying On"
By 2.11.08
Reader Jeff isn’t pleased with HughesNet and has cc’d us on his email so that we can listen in. It’s more of a warning than a specific complaint that can be resolved:
I would just like to take this opportunity to reiterate, for the hundredth time, how much I loathe HughesNet. I have just been FAPed again. No one here is downloading any movies, music, books, or much of anything — just using the Internet. I have a guest visiting, and I’m assuming their additional drain on the ridiculously small 375 MB cap we’re afforded is what’s knocked us over the limit…so now I’m stuck at sub-dialup speeds for the next 24 hours.
DirecTV: New 2-Year Contract With $480 Cancellation Fee For Switching DVRs
By 1.29.08
I’ve had DirecTV for 8 years and was happy until 2 weeks ago. I purchased a new HD receiver at Best Buy on a whim to upgrade my sturdy old DirecTivo. I got home and called DirecTV to tell them of the switch. The Rep (Mone ID#413435) took the numbers on the new box and TV and told me that my new HD receiver should start working in a few minutes. That’s all she said.
By 12.12.07
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Yesterday, AT&T announced it will stop selling DirecTV satellite service in the first quarter of 2008, triggering speculation it may enter an exclusive partnership with satellite television company EchoStar later next year. [Reuters]
AT&T Won't Charge Couple For Leaving Satellite Receiver Behind In Flaming House
By 10.26.07
AT&T wrote in to say they won’t be charging the family whose house burned down in the California wildfires for the satellite dish they left behind when fleeing for the lives
AT&T Looking To Purchase DirecTV?
By 10.25.07
The Wall Street Journal has it in their pretty little heads that AT&T is in the market for either EchoStar or DirecTV. And hey, why not? AT&T owns everything else.
Wal-Mart Will Now Sell Satellite Broadband Internet Access
By 10.9.07
Today, Wal-Mart announced that it will start re-selling HughesNet satellite broadband Internet access, starting at 700Kbps for $59.99 a month, through 2,800 of its stores “including locations throughout most of rural America where terrestrial broadband services, such as cable and DSL, are often not available.” To help spur initial sign-ups, Wal-Mart will give new customers $100 RFID-enabled “ExpressPay” cards to use while shopping at the retailer.
Sirius Cancels Loyal Customer's Lifetime Subscription, Charges Him For A New One
By 9.11.07
Say you’re a satellite radio company with a loyal, even evangelical customer—someone who listens daily, who keeps buying your products for the people around him, and who steadily expands his own collection of your hardware and subscriptions. Wouldn’t that be a great guy to screw over? Sirius seems to think so.
No, We Didn't Install That Satellite Dish, The One On Your Roof You Didn't Order That Says "Dish Network"
By 5.13.07
Jane came home to find a Dish Network receiver on her roof. Jane never ordered service from Dish Network, and isn’t sure why she suddenly has a satellite dish on her roof. Dish Network isn’t sure, either.
XM Radio Keeps Billing After Customer Pays In Full, Shuts Him Off For Non-Payment
By 3.1.07
I hope you will print my letter on your site. I had some billing trouble with XM Radio. I paid a year’s subscription in full. XM acknowledged that I paid my bill in full, but they kept turning off my service for non-payment. They also raised my subscription rate 2 months after I signed up and paid. They then indicated that they would refund my year’s subscription when I complained loudly enough. They reneged on the refund. They also did not follow through on getting the billing issue clarified. As I received no help at all, I sent the following letter to the management team and the head of the Customer Service Division. I have not received so much as a form letter in response. I guess they have been too busy discussing merger strategies and keeping Bob Dylan happy…
Sure, Pete. We’ll print your letter. Read the letter Pete send to XM Radio, inside.
DirecTV Is A Bird Turd
By 10.19.06
Susan L. wrote us about her extremely unpleasant experience with DirecTV… an experience so unpleasant she’s willing to give them money just to never have to speak to them again. Reminds me of the last time my father talked to me.
