Tuesday, January 01, 2008

DirecTV service level slipping again

While DirecTV has continued to add new HD channels to its broadcast lineup, it seems they're more interested in how many they can "broadcast" than in how many we can "receive" on the HR20 HD DVR supplied by DirecTV. I guess that's something in the small print.

On several HD channels (mostly on our Showtime HD channels), we're getting pixelated pictures with the audio cutting in and out, which is the classic sign of signal loss. On other channels like Food Network HD (chan 231-1) and VH1 HD (335-1), we get no signal whatsoever, and instead are given a litany of troubleshooting instructions on the screen instead, including:
  • check all the cables from the TV to the dish to make sure they're connected
  • unplug and then replug all the cables together again
  • do a soft reset of the receiver
  • call customer support and refer to code 771
I did all of them, and then threw in a hard reset (unplug the power for 30 seconds) before finally breaking down to call DirecTV customer support (meta-gripe: why the heck don't they list the phone number navigable from anywhere ON the receiver? why must I log in to the web site to get the number?)

After dialing in and navigating the phone tree to get a live person, I quickly blazed through level 1 support and was transfered to the HD technical support crew. Fifteen minutes of phone-based trouble shooting included such things as:
  • making sure my BBC converters were working (you can test yourself by navigating to channels 480 and 481 to see what's displayed)
  • switching the lines in from one port to another
  • checking the connections of the lines at the splitter outside the house
  • navigating to various working HD channels to make sure some worked while the two offenders (Food and VH1) still did not
No resolution to my problem after all that, so I was told next up is a service call that will cost me $70 plus any parts or additional labor to fix things. To get two extra channels? Fat f*ing chance. I decline.

But wait! I'm informed there's a special: if I sign up for the tech insurance plan at $7 a month, I can get the first service call for only $15 (plus parts/labor). Maybe I'm not aware of how expensive the receiver and remote are (the remote replacement is $87!) Again, no thanks.

So, after six months or so of being satisfied with service quality, DirecTV has reverted back to its old ways in providing sub-par service. Not very thrilled to be back here with them. It really seems the folks at DirecTV don't much care about negative word-of-mouth. Maybe it's because their competition, Comcast, seems to have the same disdain.

2 comments:

Paul Westbrook said...

I also got tired of the sub-par quality of the video in DIRECTV's HD broadcasts. The seem to be compressing the signal significantly more than the original signal.

I have been very happy with Comcasts HD signal, though not with their boxes, but with the TiVo Series3.

Unknown said...

You're a braver man than I, Paul, what with going back to Comcast and all :-)

My last breakup with Comcast was so bad, even if they offered High Definition smellavision for the Food Network, I'd stay away!

Glad to hear the TiVo Series3 remains a good alternative.