Gradually, the signal that I get in the TV in the living room has degraded. Here is what happens: some of the channels (not all) will lose the signal (“searching for satellite”). The TV in the bedroom, receives the same channel just fine. If I unplug the co-axial cable and plug it back in, the signal returns. No big deal, but I have to do this three times a day. And if TiVo is recording something overnight, it’s a crap shoot as to whether it has a signal or not. I suspect the cable or the box.
So I called DirecTV yesterday. Normally, I get great service from them. This time was a little different. First, I navigated their new self-troubleshooting phone tree and then waited 15 minutes to speak to a real person. I explained the problem briefly, but in detail. The first question was that they had no record of my DVR. It took me 10 minutes and a conversation with a supervisor to explain that I didn’t go through DirecTV for my DVR services. I then had to explain why, even though this had nothing to do with the issue (they were going to have me call TiVo to solve the problem, when it has nothing to do with TiVo!) It was finally determined that I have a “stand alone” configuration and that my TiVo was not supported but the DirecTV Samsung unit was. Then, since the problem wasn’t happening at the time I called, there was really nothing they could do about it. I would have to call back when the problem was happening again. It was a wasted 33 minute call.
They say that one negative moment of truth will wipe out 10 positive moments of truth and this experience demonstrated that. The guy I spoke to on the phone did his job, and I understand that, but I don’t have the time to waste on this kind of thing. It has got me seriously considering dropping DirecTV entirely and switching to Comcast cable. I’m going to compare prices and then call Comcast, explain my situation, and see what kind of deal they can offer me for comparable service. If they can offer me someone equal or better to what I am getting, then I will switch. That will be an interesting call to DirecTV.
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