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Old 04-17-2019, 10:29 AM   #1
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I’m about to go postal on Direct TV

What a total nightmare pain in the A$$ this has turned out to be.
Warning....long rant ahead. If you don’t want to read the whole saga, please skip to the bottom where there is a question. Lol

David and I ordered a new KVH TV1 system for the boat. We have direct tv at home. I called KVH and said what do I need from Direct TV to hook this up. They said to call direct tv and order an H24 or H25 receiver. I called direct tv and tried to order one. I was perfectly wiling to pay the $99 for it. The lady on the phone said I cannot order one because we have a Genie 2 in our house with the wireless Genie mini’s. I don’t understand how all these things work so I explain the receiver is for a different location and has nothing to do with my house or what equipment I have. She said it’s all tied together and they are not compatible. At one point I said I can order the receiver I need from any number of stores online and she said I could but that they wouldn’t activate it, that they no longer activate receivers from 3rd party sellers.

I said...ok, then give me back my old Genie equipment that I used to have that worked so much better than this wireless stuff anyway. She says she can’t order that either because I already have the Genie 2. Ok, transfer me to someone who can. She gives me her supervisor who was very snotty and said she could do it but it was going to cost me anywhere from $99-$299 just for the Genie...not including the $99 for the receiver. I said oh hell no Im not paying that. I said, just cancel my entire account and I’ll go to Dish.

She transferred me to the retention department where I had to recount the whole issue all over again. I had been on the phone at this point for an hour and 37 minutes. The call ended up being well over 2 hours long and my patience was shot at this point. I told the guy this really shouldn’t be this difficult and that at this point I just want to cancel my account. He says I’m still under contract until November and I will have to pay a $60 cancellation fee. I said I don’t care...I’ll pay that. I just want to be done. (Back in Nov 2017 David’s aunt was spending a lot of time at our house and she wanted some additional channels so I called to add the channels she wanted and that’s how I ended up with the Genie 2 equipment and a new contract which they didn’t tell me was going to happen. While adding the channels they tell me, oh you have outdated equipment...we can offer you the newer equipment for free. It will be so much better. That’s how you get you into a new contract. ). Anyway, the guy says “Give me a chance to keep your business”. Fine...whatever. He says he’s going to replace the Genie 2 with the regular Genie for free and give me a H24 receiver for free as well. Ok, that’s great...although I don’t mind paying for the receiver. We already pay a monthly fee for the Genie and each of the wireless minis so I wasn’t about to pay hundreds of dollars for the other Genie. He schedules a person to come out to install the Genie and bring the receiver.

Fast forward to yesterday. The guy shows up at our house. I was playing on the river in my dinghy and David was home. The guy does NOT have the H24 receiver and has 7 of the regular Genie mini’s. Should have had the main Genie, 6 mini genies and the H24 receiver. He says he doesn’t know anything about that. That was not on his work order. He also says changing out the Genie equipment puts us into another 2 yr contract. David sent him on his way and said cancel the work order. He texts me and tells me all of this. A few minutes later my phone rings and it’s Direct TV. So my friend and I are idling around in the river while I spend another TWO hours on the phone with these people. At this point I’m livid. I’m not even going to go into all of the transfers, how many times I had to give my name and phone number, one person even said they couldn’t find me in their system. I just kept telling everybody who would come on the line...just find me a human being in the retention department. I want to cancel my service..,I’m DONE.

I FINALLY get to the right department and have to go through the WHOLE thing all over again. He apologizes and assured me that he is higher up than the other guy who assured me he had solved all my problems the other day and he can fix everything. I told him at this point I didn’t have any faith in anything. At the end of that conversation, he promised me the right equipment and for my trouble he was going to comp a months charges. He scheduled a tech to come out next Monday.

This morning i get an email from Direct TV outlining my order. It says I agreed to a new 2 yr contract. It also says my upcoming bill will be $608. WHAT??? $299 for the Genie and $99 for the HD receiver plus all of my regular monthly charges. I’m just beside myself. Now I have to call them AGAIN which I know will be another 2+ hours on the phone. Like I have nothing better to do.

I just want my KVH system I just purchased to work. This is insanity.

I just want to cancel Direct TV and switch to Dish I guess. Anyone know the difference between them as far as KVH sat system goes?
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Old 04-17-2019, 10:46 AM   #2
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Kvh. Has an activation Department I would call and talk to them if you can get hold of Lauren she will take care of what you need. Ask her if she can get a third-party Dish tV box activated
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Old 04-17-2019, 10:49 AM   #3
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Kvh. Has an activation Department I would call and talk to them if you can get hold of Lauren she will take care of what you need. Ask her if she can get a third-party Dish tV box activated
She is who I spoke with last week who told me what receiver I needed to order. I’m going to call her again and talk to her about the whole situation and see what she recommends. She was super nice and helpful.
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Old 04-17-2019, 10:49 AM   #4
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I've had similar experiences with DirectTV. They are awful.

I finally decided to just cut the 'broadcast' cord altogether about three years ago and life has never been better. With an internet connection I can get pretty much anything I want to watch on any device I feel like using, and I only pay when I want to. The only thing lost is the ability to scan through a couple hundred channels of crap I don't want to watch.
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Old 04-17-2019, 11:01 AM   #5
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I've had similar experiences with DirectTV. They are awful. .
I did the very same thing! I added a Glomex OTA antenna and presently get 63 channels at my slip. (Although about 20 are in Spanish.) The number of channels changes from city to city. The only channel I don't get is FOX News which I've learned won't kill me. (I get that at home and watch it a lot!) And the monthly payment is 0!
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Old 04-17-2019, 11:23 AM   #6
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Has anybody tried using a product like slingbox as an alternative while on board? It requires a internet connection, but the monthly fees are a lot cheaper.
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Old 04-17-2019, 11:25 AM   #7
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I did the very same thing! I added a Glomex OTA antenna and presently get 63 channels at my slip. (Although about 20 are in Spanish.) The number of channels changes from city to city. The only channel I don't get is FOX News which I've learned won't kill me. (I get that at home and watch it a lot!) And the monthly payment is 0!
Yes, you can get local stations for free over the air, in HD digital format. I watch shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc... With a ROKU device hooked up to an internet connection and your TV you can use any of the streaming services with a remote control and a TV just like a cable box. I subscribe specifically to series I want to watch, and only pay for what I want to watch. Have NEVER spent the $100 per month that any cable/direct-tv/dish wants per month. If I'm in an area where there is no internet and want some entertainment then I sit with a book or my Kindle.
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Old 04-17-2019, 11:52 AM   #8
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Cut the cord at home - never looked back. I do subscribe to Netflix, Prime, Hulu & one other. I use Roku and Tablo for TV video. The driver for my cord cut had more to do with minimizing interface with the cable idiots and reduced cost.

On the boat it's only a Glomex. Gets 30-40 stations depending on locale. 2/3 of those are garbage - just like cable. In our case, I think the TV has been watched maybe 5-6 times in the last 5 years, usually Saints games (local color for the benefit of Star). Way better stuff to do on the boat than TV.
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Old 04-17-2019, 12:25 PM   #9
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We have an older KVH on our new-to-us boat. It was going to take a couple hundred to activate it for DirecTV. It used to be able to receive Dish but not since their upgrades. Instead, we cut the cord at home and switched to a ROKU device, which gets DirecTv Now (their internet-based service), netFlix, HBOGo, etc. That worked out so well we're now doing the same on the boat. We figure it saves us roughly $140/month. All we need it a wifi signal (we have a powerful range booster) and we can flip over to use LTE when we're out of range of a wifi zone. Honestly, better service without the hassles. The only drawback is not being able to get satellite tv service if we ever go to the Dry Tortugas. Don't really think that's going to matter.

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Old 04-17-2019, 12:40 PM   #10
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Everyone’s experience is different, we had a hard time finding an unlocked WiFi signal that would support video streaming. We also had to upgrade our data plan to keep from bumping into the monthly maximum that one can stream without being throttled down. Then there is the monthly limit on hot spot devices requiring one to plug directly into the tv with an adapter and hdmi cord for much of the month.

The first couple of weeks was great until we used up all the data we were permitted on our “unlimited” plan and we got throttled back to dial-up speeds..... Of course we lost the ability to stream a few days before that since the ceiling for that is only 10gb a month.

Now we have upgraded our KVH to receive Dish and we can alternate between sat TV and streaming to keep within the phone companies data limits. We were a bit annoyed to learn that unlimited data actually has a lot of limits! It doesn’t take long to exceed them if you stream an HD movie or 90min mystery every night.
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Old 04-17-2019, 01:44 PM   #11
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I can stream all day, for many if not all days on my phone with T Mobile.


Currently working on several methods to get it on my TV without the slowdown associated with using if as a hotspot.
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Old 04-17-2019, 02:54 PM   #12
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I'd just like to point out that Canadian Posties are on the whole a well mannered huggable bunch
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Old 04-17-2019, 03:24 PM   #13
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One work-around to the streaming data limit is to watch downloaded tv. Netflix has lots of downloadable programming as does MHz choice(if you like European TV), so we just let it run all night and all day downloading on a slow connection and now we have hours of programming stored up for when we cannot stream. BTW, an old iPhone with no SIM card makes a good media player, we have kept our last two old phones for this purpose.
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Old 04-17-2019, 04:20 PM   #14
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Your initial instinct was correct. Just walk away. Life is too short to let people torture you. You will never regret it.
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Old 04-17-2019, 04:43 PM   #15
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If its any consolation, experiences with Foxtel here in Australia are similar.

There must have been a genetic mutation way back, maybe when the dinosaurs got wiped out. There were survivors - they became sat TV 'service' providers!
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Old 04-17-2019, 04:51 PM   #16
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Hey Star, I'm in Madisonville too. I have the older KVH M3 satellite unit. KVH activated it for me a few months ago. I got my system from my son because he went with a larger unit for more coverage in the Bahamas. Solid Signal 877-312-4547 activated his and supplied the Directv box.
What I understand is ATT wants to stop adding availability to boats and motorhomes but they will grandfather older accounts. They willing to give you a separate account for your boat at much more costs. I pay around 7 dollars for everything I get at home but not in HD.
They are KVH authorized to do this and they know who to call at ATT. Mel Click image for larger version

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Old 04-17-2019, 04:53 PM   #17
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I canceled my direct tv and signed up with dish.
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Old 04-17-2019, 05:01 PM   #18
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Hey Star, I'm in Madisonville too. I have the older KVH M3 satellite unit. KVH activated it for me a few months ago. I got my system from my son because he went with a larger unit for more coverage in the Bahamas. Solid Signal 877-312-4547 activated his and supplied the Directv box.
What I understand is ATT wants to stop adding availability to boats and motorhomes but they will grandfather older accounts. They willing to give you a separate account for your boat at much more costs. I pay around 7 dollars for everything I get at home but not in HD.
They are KVH authorized to do this and they know who to call at ATT. Mel Attachment 87618
Hi there...I just couldn’t deal with Direct tv anymore. Way too much stress.
Where do you keep your boat?
We are moving our boat this weekend from Beau Chene to De Zaire Marina.
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Old 04-17-2019, 05:06 PM   #19
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Didn’t read the entire post, but DTV is the Absolute worse company I have ever dealt with, after 10 years they left me no choice, I changed to Dish Network...

It’s unbelivable how poorly a large company can possibly be run..
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Old 04-17-2019, 05:16 PM   #20
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Didn’t read the entire post, but DTV is the Absolute worse company I have ever dealt with, after 10 years they left me no choice, I changed to Dish Network...

It’s unbelivable how poorly a large company can possibly be run..
Completely agree. Dish being installed tomorrow.
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