Tag Archives: DIRECTV

Cut the Cord

I tried something dramatic about 6 years ago, something well ahead of it’s time… I temporarily cut the cord with my cable TV service provider (DirecTV). This lasted a few months during the summer of 2006 (maybe 2007, I forget). A couple of years ago, prior to the summer of 2010 and living with my brother at the time, I somehow convinced him to give it a try. We cut the cord with DirecTV for a few months during that summer and, apparently, my bother enjoyed the experience. He liked it so much he brought up the idea of doing it again this year. And so, as of this past Monday, we temporarily cut the cord with DirecTV once again through September 1, 2012.

DirecTV has certain requirements for putting an account on hold, but they’re definitely not unreasonable. The requirements include:

Zero balance on your bill.
Customers with only 1 account are allowed a maximum of 2 suspend requests every 12 months.
Customers with 2 or more accounts are allowed a maximum of 4 suspend requests per account every 12 months.
Total time with service suspended per 12 month period cannot exceed 6 months.

This may seem like a drastic thing to do for those of you that spend countless hours watching TV. Granted, I’m one of those people. I can easily wake up on a Saturday or Sunday morning and watch Criminal Minds, Law & Order, or NCIS marathons for most of the day. But that’s the point, those are just wasted hours of doing purely nothing when there is a whole world of things I should be doing… even if one of those things is cleaning.

It should be noted that cutting the cord does not mean the TV will be turned off full time during the coming months. Actually, it’ll be quite the opposite. But instead I’m going to watch TV with a purpose. Instead of watching whatever happens to be showing on the TV just because it’s there, I’ll watch a specific TV show when I want.

How do I go about doing that, you ask? Well, I have a few options.

The inability to watch sports when cutting the cord is one of the toughest things to get over. Luckily, during the summer months there’s only one sport, baseball. I’m going to negate this loss by going with two separate options. The local watering hole is always a good place to watch sports as it gets me out of the house to hang out with friends. This also brings up a negative aspect of eating not-so-healthy meals often… and chances are there will be alcohol consumed too. To combat this negative I’ve purchased a monthly subscription to MLB.tv ($25/month), which will allow me to watch the Mets play, except for Saturday blackout periods. That’s a pet peeve for another day (and blog post).

So, now that the sports dilemma is out of the way. There are two relatively cheap options for watching regular TV shows; Hulu Plus and Netflix, both of which are $7.99/month. A subscription to both, along with a computer and Thunderbolt to HDMI cable, will allow me to watch TV shows on the big screen. That’s $16/month as opposed to over $100/month of DirecTV service. I’m not counting MLB.tv and a high speed internet connection against the $100/month DirecTV service. First of all, as an out-of-town fan of the Mets, MLB.tv is an add-on either way, so the DirecTV service cost would have gone up too in order to get the same service. Also, I already had and have no plans to cut the cord with my internet service provider, so there’s no additional cost involved there in comparison.

The cost savings can be put to other uses if one plans to go an extensive amount of time without cable TV service. Specifically, Apple TV and Roku come to mind, both of which are $99. My brother already purchased one of each during the previous month to prepare for cutting the cord. Personally, I would have been ok without either one, but they are pretty sweet devices in their own right now that I’ve had a chance to see them first hand. The Apple TV is, well, it’s an Apple product. It just works as intended with a smooth interface. It’s biggest selling point is AirPlay, which provides the ability to stream video/audio from an iPhone or iPad to the TV seamlessly. Roku provides more video and audio options than the Apple TV, but that difference is minimized by being able to stream from the iPhone or iPad to the TV using Apple TV.

The idea may have been ahead of its time when I first tried it 5-6 years ago, but I’ve seen more and more articles about it on CNET and other websites recently. The first TV show on my list is the first season of Weeds, of which I’ve already watched an episode per night during the first few nights after cutting the cord. Next on my list will be Mad Men, I think.

While writing this I did think of another dilemma that I’ll have to research… the Olympics. I wonder if there’s an online option for viewing the Olympics this year. I sure hope so.

Back online with Directv!

Directv Account Suspended

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After talking about it at the start of the summer we finally made the decision to get rid of it until September 3rd. What is it?

Click here to find out more –> Continue reading →

HD and Sports

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It wasn’t long ago that I was venting my frustration with Directv and Consolidated Smart Systems. You might remember my Meltown back in December and complaint to the Better Business Bureau in January. Well, things definitely got worse before they got better. At one point, CSS added a response on the BBB website claiming they had contacted me and replaced all my receivers while only charging me the $30 installation fee. The only problem is I was never contacted by Directv or CSS and my receivers were never replaced. I was so dumbfounded by the reply I didn’t respond to them for a few days. Finally I sent an email to the CSS representative and cc:’d the BBB. I received a response from CSS noting they would look into it. Weeks later, still nothing! Finally, one of the managers here at Mariners Village (who I happen to know outside of this whole fiasco) had a meeting with Directv and CSS representatives. The meeting wasn’t scheduled to discuss my issues, but she did bring them up. Wouldn’t you know it the receivers were replaced by the end of that week and… I was in Indianapolis unable to see it with my own eyes.

Well here we are weeks later and I’m watching the Mets play the Reds in HD. Even better, I downloaded the Directv iPhone App and was able to set up the living room receiver to record the game from the car on the way home from work. How sweet is that?! I’m now home watching the game about 30 minutes behind the actual start time. I just have to hope no one calls or texts me with a score update. Now that I think about it, I might put the phone far away so no one spills the beans.

BBB

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A few weeks ago I discussed a certain meltdown over an experience with Directv and Consolidated Smart Systems (CSS). A few days later I decided to submit a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. This was the first time I used the BBB so my expectations were low. Last Sunday there was an update to the complaint by Directv. The update included a full response and the following to summarize the response:

A representative from the Consolidated Smart System Customer Service Team will be contacting you to upgrade your equipment at no cost.

Notice the “at no cost” part. A week later I was hoping to write an update to the blog on how Directv and CSS are back in my good graces, but alas I have yet to hear from CSS. I’m going to call tomorrow to get this process started. I’ll be back with an update with some good news soon, I hope.

Meltdown (Updated)

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Yes, I had a meltdown this afternoon. Full of me yelling and cursing at everyone and no one. At least it was in the comfort of my apartment. In theory the only people that could hear me was my family, the two other people in the apartment (more on that later), and those in the attached apartments. Now for the story.

Today I was to finally get HD service from Directv. I had suspended Directv service back in August when I was moving from Denver. My brother also has Directv service, so we initially decided to keep his service. Since he doesn’t have an HD receiver, our only option for getting HD service was to finally cancel his service and reinstate mine. I, on the other hand, have a $200 HD/DVR receiver (it might have cost more but I don’t remember), a standard DVR receiver, and a standard receiver. Now we get to the good part.

Apparently, all 3 receivers, including the HD/DVR receiver I purchased late last year, are not compatible with the service at Mariners Village. This is because Mariners Village and Directv contract out their service to a third party called Consolidated Smart Systems. Trust me, the systems and the people are not very smart. Or, maybe they are and I’m the only one that is willing to call them on it. Add to that, I have no other options for TV service. Cable is not provided at Mariners Village and I have no view of the southern sky to install my own satellite for Directv or Dish.

So, in order for me to continue service with Directv I either have to downgrade to standard service (no HD) or pay $199 for an HD/DVR and another $99 for separate DVR’s in each room to replace the ones I had. Add to that the $200 I paid last year for an HD/DVR receiver that is now useless. That’s $200 to initiate the service last year and $400 to continue it this year. How ridiculous is that?!?! Should I add more question marks and exclamation points to get my point across. Now, mind you, this is not new service, this is to continue service which is still under contract. In the end, I’m quite pissed. And I still have a 50″ plasma sitting in the living room without an HD connection. Such a waste.

If I had my way, I would have canceled my Directv contract all together. From what I understand, I have this option – without a contract cancellation fee – when I move to a location that doesn’t provide the same service. Yeah, there’s probably a little gray area in there that I’d have to take advantage of somehow.

Anyway, let’s hear your stories, especially from Joker and Me, getting customer service horror stories from other people sometimes helps me feel better. If not, I’ll make sure to head out for a few drinks tonight. From what I hear, tonight’s one of the various amateur drinking nights of the year.

UPDATE: Earlier today, January 2nd, after attempting to resolve the problem with Directv and Consolidated Smart Systems to no avail, I sent complaints to the Better Business Bureau for Directv and Consolidated Smart Systems noting monopolistic behavior. This is the first time I’ve gotten to the point where something like this was needed between me and a service provider of any kind. I wonder how it’ll work out.

We have a winner!

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The big purchase turned out to be a Samsung Plasma HD TV, but it didn’t come without some aggravation. In order to get the most out of the new TV, I had to order HD service from Directv, which costs an additional $9.99 per month. This also required installation of a bigger dish, with two choices for receivers, HD or HD DVR. The HD receiver has an up front cost of $99. The HD DVR receiver has an up front cost of $299. Originally, I decided to go with only the HD receiver. So I called Directv, ordered the receiver, and scheduled an appointment for Saturday, September 8th. After thinking about it for a few days and wondering why I didn’t just pay for the HD DVR reciever, I decided to call Directv and upgrade the order. Little did I know the hoops I would have to go through in order to make this change. First, the customer service rep informs me that we will need to cancel the original order and then create a new one. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. Well, as she enters the new order, she tells me the earliest appointment for an installation is September 10th. Dumbfounded, I ask her what happened to the appt. for Saturday. Well, apparently, that was cancelled along with the original order and is no longer available. Without thinking, I asked for a manager, which proved to be worthless. At this point, I was so aggravated, I just decided to cancel everything. That includes the HD DVR for $299 and NFL Sunday Ticket at $250. By my calculation, Directv just lost $550 plus additional monthly fees. As for me, I now have a sweet HD TV with no HD. It’s my way of sticking it to them. Add the fact that I’m not going to be in town during the next 3 weekends, I can easily wait until October to make the order. Eventually, they will get their money, I just can’t rationalize giving it to them now after getting lousy customer service. If it didn’t cost over $150 to get out of my contract with Directv, I’d seriously think about going to Comcast, who don’t make you pay a large up front cost in order to lease a box.

On to some better news, the Mets magic number is now 16 and they seem to be hitting their stride winning 7 of their last 8 games. With the Rockies only 4 games out of the wild card, there is a slight chance the Mets will be playing here in Denver come October. No doubt I’ll have to find tickets to that game. Although, in a be careful what you wish for scenario, the Rockies did sweep the Mets earlier this year when they played here at Coors Field.

The photo albums are coming along. As I noted in a previous post, the first floor of my townhouse was painted various shades of green. Well, now there are before and after pictures to see. The new TV can be found in one of the pictures. In addition, there are pictures of the loft area, where you can see the new desk and shelves that I put up last weekend.

Well, I think that’s it for today. Time to start watching some football!

Things that interest only me…

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Every since I started using WordPress as the main tool on my website, I’ve been searching long and hard for a photo album tool to go along with it. I’ve changed some aspect of my website at least 3 times a year trying to find the right fit for the site. The biggest thing missing from all these tools is a way to make my web site and photo albums have the same look and feel. Last year, I even tried switching web hosts to livingdot.com, who specialize in photo blogs, but that didn’t seem to cut it. After switching over to godaddy.com as my web host recently, which is a much less expensive option than livingdot.com, I tried two open source tools that they offer; Coppermine and Gallery. Finally, I settled on fitting Gallery into my site because of a WordPress plugin called Gallery for WordPress, which is supposed to use WordPress to host the Gallery software. After playing with this for a few months I’d finally given up. I started looking at some of the basic web sites that offer space for pictures, like Snapfish, figuring I would just include a link to it on my site. But last night, as I was upgrading WordPress to v2.2.1, I found a photo album tool that looked promising. It’s a plugin for WordPress called NexGen Gallery. I figured I’d give it a try today. Well, knowing that I’ll get a comment from Connie telling me to get out and walk among the living, I must say this plugin is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’ve spent a good portion of today adding pictures to the site. Use this link or the photos link on the right to check them out. I hope to have a good portion of my photos on the site within the next couple of weeks.

On a side note, while I was uploading photos to the site today, I decided to add an RSS feed to my Netflix Queue in the sidebar. This only has relevance to this post as it’s my response to what Connie will be thinking when she reads this. A little over a week ago I put my Directv account on hold until the end of August. I did this to force myself to get out and exercise more now that my knees are relatively healthy, and it’s been working! Until yesterday I was religiously going to Waterton Canyon to ride my mountain bike, heading out along the c470 trail with my road bike, and hitting the gym to lift weights, to the point I had to take a couple of days off my body breaks down. So, as my body recovers from too much exercise and walking among the living, I’m here updating the site. Now, can’t we all get along .

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