Reader Brandon had emailed with a dilemma. He lives in an apartment building that provides his cable via Qwest and DirecTV. After dropping $100 on a DVR, Brandon was informed that the dishes on his building were too old to receive local channels, which is the whole reason he bought the DVR in the first place. To add insult to injury, Qwest decided Brandon wasn’t paying a bill they never actually sent him, so they cut him off and are demanding $65 bucks.

Meanwhile, DirecTV is billing him the full package rate and Brandon can’t even watch football without standing by his window completely covered in tin foil. He’s asking for your advice. Should he pay to get out of his 2 year contract and sell his DVR? Should he move? Should he download his shows? What about football?

What’s a guy to do? Read Brandon’s quandary after the jump.

I’ve been having problems with my DirecTV service which I have provided through Qwest. I live in an Apartment complex that only has Service through Qwest which provides DirecTV service. This really bothers me because I live in the middle of town where the Apartments directly next to ours get service provided through Cox. When I moved in in February I was weary about getting DirecTV because I’m such a huge fan of Cox Internet Speeds. Nonetheless I didnt have a choice, had to go with DirecTV for TV services.

After Qwest came and installed the DVR box I paid $100 for left, I discovered I didn’t get any local channels. After calling DirecTV and Qwest I discovered that local channels are not available. I just bought a DirecTV DVR box so I record local channel shows. I record other things but I want to be able to record local shows as well. Recently i discovered that Qwest charges a $3.99 monthly fee to maintain a local-channeless Satellite. I never once receieved a bill for $3.99 or was not made aware of the charge. They came out and disconnected my service for non-payment. Now they want me to pay $25 plus the $40 to have my services restored.

I put up with paying DirecTV full price to have service without local channels. I contacted Qwest about turning off my services and they have nothing to offer. Their explanations on why I dont have local channels is because their contract with DirecTV doesn’t allow them to upgrade their dishes. I have to watch local channels through an antenna and I get CRAPPT reception. It’s ridiculous. I contacted DirecTV about getting the local channels that are provided on channel numbers 300+ and they said that due to legalities that they are unable to do that in areas that have local service available. Well I dont have local service available. I refuse to pay Qwest for their maintenance and reactivation fees because I shouldn’t be paying full price for not having local channels anyways. DirecTV doesn’t offer any sort of discounts. I’m paying for a DVR service I cant use fully and on top of that I had to sign a 2 year contract.

I’m just debating whether or not to pay $150 cancel my DirecTV service and live until February when I move without cable service. I figure I can make some of that $150 back by selling my DVR box I paid $100 for. There has to be sort of answer to this dillema. I am prefectly fine downloading TV shows if this is what I have to deal with. I’m just pissed I can’t watch Football on Sundays. Wondering if you or your readers can offer up any suggestions?

Thanks,
Brandon

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.