Bethany's Hockey Rants
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My DirecTV Story
by Bethany on 09/30/09 at 08:31 AM ET
Comments (11)
Due to some pressure from my good friend, Mike Chen, I decided I should blog about my experience with DirecTV. Believe me, it wasn’t pretty.
Saturday, I picked up my phone and dialed DirecTV. I wanted to complain about not getting Versus, while it may not be my favorite coverage, it still IS hockey coverage.
Let me make this clear, I am a Center Ice Subscriber, I get HBO and Cinemax, and the Sports Pack, which allows me to get all the local sports channels. DirecTV gets quite a bit of money from me every month. I have been with them for three years. The ONLY reason I switched to DirecTV was so I could get Center Ice and Versus. They did later add the NHL Network.
Back to Saturday, I was connected with a grumpy man…his name, well I don’t remember. I said, “I just wanted to complain about not getting Versus. I am very upset about this.” His response was not to try to make me happy, or to apologize, it was to inform me that I was uninformed, and that I should be calling Comcast to complain. I then asked why I would call someone who wasn’t my provider. It was then that this man, blew up. He told me in so many words that since I was in America nobody really cared about hockey, and that they offer the NFL Sunday Ticket…you know because this America, and Americans like football.
It was then I interrupted this gentleman, and said that I have watched a total of ONE football game in my entire life, and that was last Friday when my high school was on CBS Sports. He didn’t like this at all, he said that I needed to get over it, and was there anything else I needed.
Keep in mind that I am a very emotional person, and by this point I am already crying. Not because of what he said but his tone of voice. You just don’t speak to customers that way.
When he asked if there was anything I needed, I asked to speak to his supervisor.
She got on the phone, and said sorry he was rude, and that she didn’t see a resolution in the near future. Then told me to have a nice day, and hung up.
I got off the phone dazed and confused.
I let it sit for a few days, and then I read Mike Chen’s story and decided that I needed to call back.
The woman I spoke to was extremely kind, and apologetic, not her fault, but still nice to have a friendly voice on the line.
Now that I am writing this, I have received Free Center ice, Free Starz for three months, and a free HD/DVR. I guess DirecTV would rather keep giving away free stuff, then forking over the money for Versus.
I also decided to write .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and let them know my true feelings. I’m not sure if anyone has posted their letter, but this is the response I got:
Dear Ms. Porter,
Thanks for writing. Unfortunately, Versus is no longer available on DIRECTV. Comcast, the largest cable company in the U.S. and our largest competitor, owns the channel and has forced us to pull it down. Here is the situation.
DIRECTV was already paying Comcast more than any other TV service provider to air Versus - and now Comcast is demanding an overall rate hike of 20% on top of that. Comcast also forces DIRECTV to make Versus available to a much larger portion of our customer base at our own expense than they require from other TV providers - most notably, DISH Network. We simply cannot accept these unfair and outrageous terms. All we’re asking from Comcast is equal treatment.
Comcast and Versus are currently engaged in a noisy publicity campaign to distract attention from the fact that they are trying to take advantage of DIRECTV and our customers. The bottom line is this, if we were to accept their unreasonable demands, we would have no choice but to pass on the increase in cost to our valued customers. We do not want this to happen, especially in these difficult economic times. That’s why we’re standing firm in our negotiations with Comcast.
Regardless, we will continue to work in good faith with Comcast to try to reach a fair and just settlement. Our commitment to deliver the best TV service for the best price is and has always been our first priority. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.
DIRECTV still leads the industry in sports programming, whether or not we have Versus in our channel lineup. For college football, NHL hockey and other sports, here’s just a brief list of what’s available on DIRECTV:
College football: Available on Big Ten Network, CBS College Sports, ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN GamePlan, The Mtn., local channels and your RSN.
NHL: Available on NHL Network, NHL Center Ice, and your RSN.
Mixed Martial Arts: Available on HDNet, Spike TV, and UFC on DIRECTV Pay Per View.
Auto Racing: Available on IRL on ABC, Formula 1 on Fox and Speed.
Bull riding: Available on ESPN2 and the Houston Rodeo on DIRECTV Pay Per View
Hunting and fishing: Available on ESPN2, The Sportsman Channel, The Outdoor Channel, and Pursuit TV.If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Sincerely,
Danny A.
Filed in: , | Bethany's Hockey Rants | Permalink
Tags: DirecTV, Versus,
Comments
I spoke with directv yesterday too. When pressed about Vs. I could tell she was reading from some card about the current “situation”. I wrote an e-mail to directv afterward explaining that after paying for Center Ice I would still not be able to see my Caps open the season at Boston b/c Versus is carrying it. I even downgraded my package to remove the tier Vs. was on. This is the response e-mail I got this morning:
We understand how important Versus is to you. It’s equally important to us to keep your monthly fees low, so we’re doing everything we can to avoid paying exorbitant programming fees. While we are unable to comment on upcoming programming decisions, we are always reviewing our programming options to make sure we bring you the best possible TV experience. We value your opinions about our programming, so I have forwarded your request to DIRECTV management, who review every suggestion, inquiry and complaint for trends from our most important customers to determine what channels should be considered. In addition, whenever we add channels to our lineup, we release a statement to the press, so keep an eye on the news to find out about the newest channels or visit our web site at directv.com/pr.
For more information, please visit directv.com/versus.
Thanks for writing.
Doesn’t seem like me threatening discontinuing service means much to them.
Posted by Mike Moore from K Falls, OR on 09/30/09 at 10:21 AM ET
Geno ~ I just can’t believe that they’d rather fork over all this money just to make the hockey fans happy. You know they’re losing a ton of money, I’d love to know the specifics.
Mike ~ Did you speak to someone in customer retention? That’s who I had to go to, maybe they can help you out more. It won’t get Versus back on DTV, but the more people they talk to the more upset they will be.
Posted by Bethany on 09/30/09 at 10:47 AM ET
It really depends on who you talk to, don’t be discouraged if you don’t get anything the first time or two that you call. I got a $200 credit and the Sports pack at $2.99 for a year for complaining (the second time). Since due to NHL idiocy, there won’t be any HD games of the Devils or Sabres on NHL Center Ice, I elected to use the credit for NFL Sunday Ticket.
Posted by Mike from Idaho on 09/30/09 at 10:51 AM ET
Wow, all I got was a $100 credit on my account. Bethany, how horrible that you were treated like that. I did have to talk to two different CSR before I got a sympathetic ear.
I just don’t understand how DirecTV can afford to keep giving stuff away like this. The CSR that I spoke with says they are getting bombarded with calls regarding the Versus situation. I’ll try emailing them too. Unfortunately, I don’t have leverage to say that I’ll switch to another provider since I’m still within the two year commitment and if I switch, DirecTV will charge me $500. This whole thing just stinks.
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 09/30/09 at 11:04 AM ET
I just don’t think these little freebies from DirecTV are going to be enough. $150-$250 in freebies doesn’t amount to much when you’re already paying $80/month.
I’m going to hold out about two more weeks and then I’m switching to Comcast. Screw this.
Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 09/30/09 at 11:26 AM ET
Good on you to call back. I hope they look up that jerk-off’s name in the customer records and fire him.
Posted by Mike Chen on 09/30/09 at 11:46 AM ET
The word I’m hearing is that Dtv is “bleeding” customers, so I would expect a resolution to the situation in the very near (days) future.
Posted by Rick on 09/30/09 at 05:55 PM ET
wow…I guess I should be content with Time Warner even if the service blows and I have to pay for an extra tier to get the NHL network. It’ll be interesting to see how the viewership numbers for this year compare to prior years.
Posted by Marie Stiles from Los Angeles on 09/30/09 at 11:06 PM ET
Bethany,
I wrote DirecTV yesterday and got the exact same response you did. I said in my email how I watch hockey and nothing else so it is kind of funny to see them promote the other sports in the email.
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 10/01/09 at 12:47 PM ET
That’s what I have, Sport package is a nice setup
Posted by Erik from Detroit, MI on 12/28/09 at 12:52 AM ET
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Yeah…as in a lot of cases and especially DirecTV, it is all about who you talk to. They have some great customer reps and some horrible ones. Good for you for calling back and getting someone who cares and was willing to speak with you.
I called last Wednesday and they gave me free Center Ice, 6 months Showtime and 3 months Starz and Encore. Overall, I’m surprised there isn’t an agreement yet because I completely thought this was a negotiating ploy. Obviously there’s much more to it.
Posted by Geno71 on 09/30/09 at 10:18 AM ET