Reading through this thread today because we're thinking of switching from Direct to Dish. As I stated earlier in the thread, we had Dish for eight years & then switched to Direct. Have some family & friends who use Dish & I think Direct is just better from a programming standpoint. But looking at the prices, it seems that Dish is significantly better.

 

My most recent gripe w/ Direct has been that we've been losing signal on our HD channels over the last week or so. I've called customer service numerous times & have figured out a way to temporarily fix the problem. I switch some cords in the back & the HD channels come back for a while, but it's not long before they go out again. So the Direct people tell me they need to get a technician out to our house to fix the problem & since I don't pay for the monthly protection plan, it's going to cost $50 for this.

 

Now, the $50 isn't a problem for us, but it's the principle of the matter. And while my wife often says I make mountains out of molehills, I'm not understanding why I have to pay for them to fix their equipment. If I'm staying at a hotel & the television remote goes bad or something, I don't have to pay for it to be replaced. If I rent a house from someone & something in the plumbing goes bad & it wasn't my fault, I don't have to pay for it to be fixed. So I'm not seeing why I should be expected to foot the bill for this.

 

In addition, Dish is now offering their "America's Top Everything" package (which is basically every channel on the planet) for $74.99 per month for the first year. Right now we're paying something like $105 per month for Direct.

 

Recommendations?

 

I’ve had DirectTV for about five years now and I’m pretty satisfied. After I had a new roof put on my house I couldn’t get the dish aligned for the HD channels so I called DirectTV. Although I do pay the monthly maintenance fee they said it didn’t cover realignment due the dish being removed and replaced by my roofing contractor. After a brief discussion with the customer service rep I was transferred to a supervisor and told him either they realign my dish for free or they could cancel my subscription. Needless to say, they realigned my dish. Like you, it was a matter of principle. I despise our local cable company and didn’t want to cancel my DirectTV, but would have in heartbeat if it came down to it. If your prepared to cancel, maybe play hardball with them and see if it works.

Been with DirecTV for 12 years, now. No complaints and have spent less time without service during bad weather than most all of my friends with cable and FIOS.

I’ve had DirectTV for about five years now and I’m pretty satisfied. After I had a new roof put on my house I couldn’t get the dish aligned for the HD channels so I called DirectTV. Although I do pay the monthly maintenance fee they said it didn’t cover realignment due the dish being removed and replaced by my roofing contractor. After a brief discussion with the customer service rep I was transferred to a supervisor and told him either they realign my dish for free or they could cancel my subscription. Needless to say, they realigned my dish. Like you, it was a matter of principle. I despise our local cable company and didn’t want to cancel my DirectTV, but would have in heartbeat if it came down to it. If your prepared to cancel, maybe play hardball with them and see if it works.

 

I tried that & they knocked it down to $25. It's been a little better lately, but still is an issue. Thanks! :thumb:

I tried that & they knocked it down to $25. It's been a little better lately, but still is an issue. Thanks! :thumb:

 

The will give deals if you compare your price to the new specials they run in the paper or mail out. Waived HD fee or free upgrade to HD-DVR is what we got last year.

 

We have had some pixalation issues the last week. The sun has been flaky and may be impacting some the Geo-synch sats including DTV.