When we got with Direct TV, I was told we could bundle their bill with our phone and Internet from CenturyLink and save a little money. After a couple of months of service with Direct TV, their bill still wasn't added onto our phone bill, in spite of calls I had made both to Direct TV and Centurylink.
Today I called again, and was informed that the only way I could bundle the Direct TV bill with CenturyLink would be if I were a new CenturyLink customer. Ah. Now they tell me; so the Direct TV representative lied to me. Oh, the lady at the phone company said they are working on it, and at some time in the future they should be able to bundle with Direct TV. Unfortunately, she didn't know how long it would be before this happens.
I've been telling Cliff that I intended to get rid of my cell phone after he retires; I just don't use it enough to warrant the bill. Now I've had a change of plans: Since CenturyLink won't bundle, I told them I'd keep the Internet, but they can have their phone. Our home phone hardly ever rings, unless it's for someone who gave our number to a creditor and isn't paying their bills; I certainly won't miss that. Oh yeah, and at election time I get political calls, and sometimes some sort of highway patrol person or sheriff's association calls wanting a donation for something.
So I'll keep my cell phone after all. It's nice to be able to keep in touch with Cliff when we're at Walmart anyhow.
It looks like we'll be saving $35 a month on the phone bill; I think perhaps Direct TV will charge a few bucks more now, simply because they like to be plugged into a phone line. They think you're more likely to rent movies if you can do it with the remote.
Still, we should be saving money in the long run.
Would you believe I spent forty-five minutes on the phone getting transferred from this person to that one, waiting on hold, being passed from one to the next? Very frustrating. I just hope I made the right choice. But wait, if I decide I made the wrong choice and sign up with CenturyLink again, I'll be a new customer: Maybe then they'll bundle our bill?
All these decisions have worn me out; I think I'll go take a nap.
Showing posts with label Direct TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Direct TV. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Thursday, December 02, 2010
OK, here's the story
I'm not going on a rant against Direct TV.
I'm a little aggravated at the kid who installed it, though.
The guy's name is Chase. He set everything up (except for my DVD player, which perhaps my grandson can fix because right now it doesn't work) and asked me please, please, PLEASE if I had any problems in the next ninety days not to call Direct TV, but to call him directly; he wrote his number down for me.
I have a grandson about the age of Chase, and because I know how hard it can be for a young man to make a living these days, I vowed to do just that; of course, I didn't think there would be a problem.
Four days ago my TV started acting strange. I'd push a button for a different channel and there was about a ten-second lapse before the channel would change. Other peculiar things started happening.
Then yesterday morning I got the dreaded "searching for signal" message on my television.
I called Chase, who said he'd try to work me in today.
I didn't hear from him today, so this evening I called him again.
"I couldn't get out that way," he said.
I described what was happening. "I think it's the receiver," I told him.
He agreed; it sounded like the receiver.
Well heck, if I'd known that I would have called Direct TV when the trouble started; they would have had a new receiver on its way already. Chase said he'd talk to his boss and see if he could get routed out this way.
I was getting pretty tired of watching my favorite TV shows on the computer. My daughter's girls are going to be spending the night here Saturday, and I really don't want to be without television then.
Suddenly it hit me, like a bolt out of the blue: My son in Georgia has worked with Direct TV for years! In fact, he's become quite the big shot with Direct TV, not that I'd want to brag. He's been in Jimmy Carter's home, even!
Why on earth had I not called him about this problem (not Jimmy Carter... my son, Jim)?
No, it shouldn't have been necessary to call him, but there you go.
He asked if I had reset the receiver. I asked, "How do I do that?"
He told me.
Within fifteen minutes, I had the magic of television in my living room.
And trust me, the next time there's a problem, I won't call Chase. I won't call my son (unless it's an emergency).
I'll call Direct TV, and let the chips fall where they may.
Sorry, Chase.
Jim explained to me that Chase wanted me to call him personally because he gets charged for a return visit.
Oh well.
I'm a little aggravated at the kid who installed it, though.
The guy's name is Chase. He set everything up (except for my DVD player, which perhaps my grandson can fix because right now it doesn't work) and asked me please, please, PLEASE if I had any problems in the next ninety days not to call Direct TV, but to call him directly; he wrote his number down for me.
I have a grandson about the age of Chase, and because I know how hard it can be for a young man to make a living these days, I vowed to do just that; of course, I didn't think there would be a problem.
Four days ago my TV started acting strange. I'd push a button for a different channel and there was about a ten-second lapse before the channel would change. Other peculiar things started happening.
Then yesterday morning I got the dreaded "searching for signal" message on my television.
I called Chase, who said he'd try to work me in today.
I didn't hear from him today, so this evening I called him again.
"I couldn't get out that way," he said.
I described what was happening. "I think it's the receiver," I told him.
He agreed; it sounded like the receiver.
Well heck, if I'd known that I would have called Direct TV when the trouble started; they would have had a new receiver on its way already. Chase said he'd talk to his boss and see if he could get routed out this way.
I was getting pretty tired of watching my favorite TV shows on the computer. My daughter's girls are going to be spending the night here Saturday, and I really don't want to be without television then.
Suddenly it hit me, like a bolt out of the blue: My son in Georgia has worked with Direct TV for years! In fact, he's become quite the big shot with Direct TV, not that I'd want to brag. He's been in Jimmy Carter's home, even!
Why on earth had I not called him about this problem (not Jimmy Carter... my son, Jim)?
No, it shouldn't have been necessary to call him, but there you go.
He asked if I had reset the receiver. I asked, "How do I do that?"
He told me.
Within fifteen minutes, I had the magic of television in my living room.
And trust me, the next time there's a problem, I won't call Chase. I won't call my son (unless it's an emergency).
I'll call Direct TV, and let the chips fall where they may.
Sorry, Chase.
Jim explained to me that Chase wanted me to call him personally because he gets charged for a return visit.
Oh well.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Television woes, a learning experience
We recently switched from Dish to Direct TV. I was loving the change until a couple of days ago, when recorded programs would freeze up and it took ten seconds to switch channels after I pushed the button. Hmmm. Then the receiver reset itself, and I called the guy who installed this stuff.
See, he asked me to call him, rather than Direct TV, if a problem arose, because he didn't want them on his back.
I told him if this resetting thing was an isolated problem, no biggie. But this is what my Dish receiver was doing for the last year, and I had hoped to see the end of it with Direct TV.
This morning, the only thing that showed on my television screen was "searching for signal". I called my installer again, and he's supposed to come tomorrow and check things out.
I missed "Raising Hope" and "Lie to Me", so I made myself comfortable in Cliff's easy chair, opened up his laptop, and went to Hulu.com to catch up on what I had missed.
That's when I noticed that there's an option for captions on the full-length episodes online. That's great! Now when Cliff misses a show, he can enjoy it on his computer.
This whole business of Cliff having a computer is still very strange to me. He used to walk past my computer shaking his head, saying, "I don't know how you can spend so much time on that thing."
Now he's on the Internet several times a day, checking out Craigslist and watching videos of tractors doing what tractors do and reading his email. I can always tell when he's reading his email because I hear him laughing out loud. He loves the jokes, jokes I've seen multiple times over the years, but they're all new to him.
And I can't help but recall how, back in 1998 when I'd be chatting in the chat room with my friends ("tatting in the tat-room", as my little granddaughter Monica put it), the conversations would be so hilarious I'd laugh out loud. Cliff would say, from the other room, "Sometimes I worry about you."
And now the shoe is on the other foot.
See, he asked me to call him, rather than Direct TV, if a problem arose, because he didn't want them on his back.
I told him if this resetting thing was an isolated problem, no biggie. But this is what my Dish receiver was doing for the last year, and I had hoped to see the end of it with Direct TV.
This morning, the only thing that showed on my television screen was "searching for signal". I called my installer again, and he's supposed to come tomorrow and check things out.
I missed "Raising Hope" and "Lie to Me", so I made myself comfortable in Cliff's easy chair, opened up his laptop, and went to Hulu.com to catch up on what I had missed.
That's when I noticed that there's an option for captions on the full-length episodes online. That's great! Now when Cliff misses a show, he can enjoy it on his computer.
This whole business of Cliff having a computer is still very strange to me. He used to walk past my computer shaking his head, saying, "I don't know how you can spend so much time on that thing."
Now he's on the Internet several times a day, checking out Craigslist and watching videos of tractors doing what tractors do and reading his email. I can always tell when he's reading his email because I hear him laughing out loud. He loves the jokes, jokes I've seen multiple times over the years, but they're all new to him.
And I can't help but recall how, back in 1998 when I'd be chatting in the chat room with my friends ("tatting in the tat-room", as my little granddaughter Monica put it), the conversations would be so hilarious I'd laugh out loud. Cliff would say, from the other room, "Sometimes I worry about you."
And now the shoe is on the other foot.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
What's so great about Direct TV?
I got a pleasant surprise once the guy hooked the satellite to the television.
I've cursed our expensive (to us) plasma TV ever since we got it because of a smudged, discolored area in the upper right-hand corner of the picture that was always there. If we'd bought it anywhere but Sam's Club, I would have made somebody come and fix it.
Now I find out the problem must have been with Dish, because that smudged area is gone. I keep checking again to see if it's returned. Nope, so far so good; the only smudged areas I see now are the spots of dog snot where Iris was attacking the dogs on Dog Whisperer. The entire picture on my television is as clear as a bell.
There's a bonus deal I'm still trying to get acquainted with that required the guy to put some kind of special router (I think that's what it is) and doing a little more wiring than he had expected; it lets us get some 4,000 movies and shows free, any time we want to watch them. He wouldn't have bothered with this if I had not mentioned that the employee who sold me this package over the phone told me about it. It was getting fairly late in the day, and when I started talking about this, I could see the disappointment on his face. He went right to work on it, though, poor kid. Even though he had to remove a section of skirting and crawl under the house.
The picture on our TV is clearer, although I realize that's partly due to the high definition. We had cancelled HD with Dish because it wasn't that much better than non-HD, and I had been paying extra for it.
So I'm happy with the change so far; it'll take me time to get used to a different remote, but that's to be expected. I like the fact that I can turn captions on or off by hitting one button. Easy! Even Cliff will be able to do it. Oh, and I can record two programs at once and still watch TV on any channel. Couldn't do that with Dish.
I think I now have all the proper tools required to make me a total couch potato.
I've cursed our expensive (to us) plasma TV ever since we got it because of a smudged, discolored area in the upper right-hand corner of the picture that was always there. If we'd bought it anywhere but Sam's Club, I would have made somebody come and fix it.
Now I find out the problem must have been with Dish, because that smudged area is gone. I keep checking again to see if it's returned. Nope, so far so good; the only smudged areas I see now are the spots of dog snot where Iris was attacking the dogs on Dog Whisperer. The entire picture on my television is as clear as a bell.
There's a bonus deal I'm still trying to get acquainted with that required the guy to put some kind of special router (I think that's what it is) and doing a little more wiring than he had expected; it lets us get some 4,000 movies and shows free, any time we want to watch them. He wouldn't have bothered with this if I had not mentioned that the employee who sold me this package over the phone told me about it. It was getting fairly late in the day, and when I started talking about this, I could see the disappointment on his face. He went right to work on it, though, poor kid. Even though he had to remove a section of skirting and crawl under the house.
The picture on our TV is clearer, although I realize that's partly due to the high definition. We had cancelled HD with Dish because it wasn't that much better than non-HD, and I had been paying extra for it.
So I'm happy with the change so far; it'll take me time to get used to a different remote, but that's to be expected. I like the fact that I can turn captions on or off by hitting one button. Easy! Even Cliff will be able to do it. Oh, and I can record two programs at once and still watch TV on any channel. Couldn't do that with Dish.
I think I now have all the proper tools required to make me a total couch potato.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Goodbye Dish, hello Direct TV
My contract with Dish wasn't up until February, but two different customer service people said I could leave whenever I wanted. A couple of people on Facebook warned me to get it in writing, that Dish is notorious for being difficult to cancel.
So I decided to go ahead and cancel our account today, rather than wait until tomorrow, when Direct TV is supposed to be installed here. That way if something tripped me up, I'd have time to call Direct and cancel.
I did change my tactics a bit. I've been calling and telling Dish all the reasons I want rid of them. Today I stole a page from my mother's book.
The first person I spoke with asked the same questions they always do; I told him I wanted to discontinue my Dish account. He asked me why.
"My husband is getting ready to retire, and we're not going to be able to make ends meet," I told him.
He transferred me to someone else; I knew what was next. Somebody was going to try and talk me into staying with them.
"So, why do you want to discontinue service with Dish," the new guy asked.
"My husband is getting ready to retire, and we're not going to be able to make ends meet."
"Well, let's see if we can find a cheaper plan for you," he says.
"Oh, that won't work; the cheaper plan takes away our favorite programs. If we give those up, we may as well use an antenna, which is what we're going to have to do anyway."
"OK, well then. We could freeze your account for six months and if times get better for you, you could get back with Dish."
Sighing piteously into the telephone, I said, "Times never get better for those of us on a fixed income."
So then he proceeded to explain how I had to return the receiver and some things that look like eyes that are on the satellite, and we have to pay the postage. Fine, I told him.
Then he said, "When would you like us to discontinue your service?"
You mean I have a choice?
"Oh, it would be great if you could do it tomorrow morning," I said, elated.
And here I thought I was going to miss my favorite Monday night programs.
Thank you, Mother. You taught me well.
Oh, I got nothing in writing, but I think I'm OK.
Who would want to cause trouble for a poor old widow lady (that was my mom's line), or poor old retirees on a fixed income?
So I decided to go ahead and cancel our account today, rather than wait until tomorrow, when Direct TV is supposed to be installed here. That way if something tripped me up, I'd have time to call Direct and cancel.
I did change my tactics a bit. I've been calling and telling Dish all the reasons I want rid of them. Today I stole a page from my mother's book.
The first person I spoke with asked the same questions they always do; I told him I wanted to discontinue my Dish account. He asked me why.
"My husband is getting ready to retire, and we're not going to be able to make ends meet," I told him.
He transferred me to someone else; I knew what was next. Somebody was going to try and talk me into staying with them.
"So, why do you want to discontinue service with Dish," the new guy asked.
"My husband is getting ready to retire, and we're not going to be able to make ends meet."
"Well, let's see if we can find a cheaper plan for you," he says.
"Oh, that won't work; the cheaper plan takes away our favorite programs. If we give those up, we may as well use an antenna, which is what we're going to have to do anyway."
"OK, well then. We could freeze your account for six months and if times get better for you, you could get back with Dish."
Sighing piteously into the telephone, I said, "Times never get better for those of us on a fixed income."
So then he proceeded to explain how I had to return the receiver and some things that look like eyes that are on the satellite, and we have to pay the postage. Fine, I told him.
Then he said, "When would you like us to discontinue your service?"
You mean I have a choice?
"Oh, it would be great if you could do it tomorrow morning," I said, elated.
And here I thought I was going to miss my favorite Monday night programs.
Thank you, Mother. You taught me well.
Oh, I got nothing in writing, but I think I'm OK.
Who would want to cause trouble for a poor old widow lady (that was my mom's line), or poor old retirees on a fixed income?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A new poll on my sidebar
I was getting ready to leave DISH TV today and go to Direct TV. I had already signed up and scheduled the installation. In the nick of time, I realized I might still have time left on my contract with Dish, and called them. Sure enough, if I leave them before February, I pay a penalty. So I called Direct TV and they cancelled my order.
The one thing I was really excited about was streaming video. I watch Dog Whisperer on my computer, and it would be great if I could watch it on my television instead; Cliff could even watch it with me.
When I called Dish, the lady said they will have a receiver that allows streaming video in a few weeks. Unfortunately, the cost will likely be more than I want to pay; it was going to be free when I signed with Direct TV.
Dish did give me HBO and Showtime free for three months, so I got something out of the deal.
I'd love for my readers to participate in my latest poll, up there on my sidebar. Cable out here in the country is pretty bad, so that isn't a viable option for me. We do get good antenna reception, and one day when streaming video is easier to obtain, we might even go back to using an antenna. When Cliff finally retires, we'll be using an antenna for sure. We'll be cutting back on a lot of things at that point.
By the way, did you notice I finally took the snowy picture off the header of my blog? The picture on there now may not be beautiful, but it's what I see when I step out my back door. And I was really sick of looking at the snow.
The one thing I was really excited about was streaming video. I watch Dog Whisperer on my computer, and it would be great if I could watch it on my television instead; Cliff could even watch it with me.
When I called Dish, the lady said they will have a receiver that allows streaming video in a few weeks. Unfortunately, the cost will likely be more than I want to pay; it was going to be free when I signed with Direct TV.
Dish did give me HBO and Showtime free for three months, so I got something out of the deal.
I'd love for my readers to participate in my latest poll, up there on my sidebar. Cable out here in the country is pretty bad, so that isn't a viable option for me. We do get good antenna reception, and one day when streaming video is easier to obtain, we might even go back to using an antenna. When Cliff finally retires, we'll be using an antenna for sure. We'll be cutting back on a lot of things at that point.
By the way, did you notice I finally took the snowy picture off the header of my blog? The picture on there now may not be beautiful, but it's what I see when I step out my back door. And I was really sick of looking at the snow.
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