DirecTV gets really mad when you quit!

mannye · Jan 22, 2015

15 years of direct TV and by my count over 20K spent in monthly fees came to an abrupt end today when I finally had enough of overpaying for what used to be free. The rep answered very chipper, "HI! I'm Bailey, like the Irish Cream!" and I said, "Hi Bailey, like the Irish Cream! I am calling to cancel." Then she got ready to ask the usual bullshit and I said, "Unless you are about to offer me a service that reduces my bill to zero, save it Bailey." She got really quiet... like a girl you've been going out with for 15 years and are breaking up with. I heard clicking... then the real Bailey got on the phone...not chipper at all. "Sowhendoyouwanttostoptheservice?" WOW... total 180. Then after the back and forth about the leased equipment and mailback...she hung up without even a goodbye!

It's actually good to feel the way most of these companies REALLY feel about people. The rude hangup just confirmed that cutting the cord is the right thing to do.

Chevette Girl · Jan 25, 2015

I didn't get any rudeness or anything when I cancelled my Sympatico internet with Bell 10 years ago, but I kept getting followups and "Why oh why did you leave us??!" letters, etc etc until they finally got me at home on the phone one day and I told them, "1) your price was too high for the service I was getting, 2) the service in this area was getting so bad I couldn't play online games without repeated lag deaths and 3) any tech support call I had to make went to India and it took me three or four times of asking questions and escalating calls before I found someone who could communicate well enough to help me with even simple problems. Do you have any more questions?" Haven't heard from them since...

Worse was trying to cancel temporary phone lines (at construction jobsites) when I worked for a construction company. Bell would only accept a cancellation from the person who ordered the line in the first place. Even when the person who'd ordered the line hadn't worked for the company for months. I had to call back (to another person in India) and impersonate my former coworkers... I hate it when they make it so difficult to do things legally!!

EJM3 · Jan 26, 2015

At least you can impersonate another female! I've had computer jobs where they refused to talk to the hired help (me) and had to have ALL communication go through my client because they were the one named on the account, and no saying talk to this guy and handing the phone to me either! I could get away with that for some things, but when they insisted on talking to THE female client, as that is who they had registered to that account on their computers, then I was sorta dead in the water. Besides I was the technician fixing the darned thing, why did they have to have the owner there to relay messages to me, and then relay messages back to the person on the phone?? I mean WTFH!! REALLY??

Too many "little guys" gave me that type run around, the "big boys" were actually more receptive to having a tech to tech kinda convo... They wanted to get it done, get it done right, the first time, in as little time as necessary.

And those call centers are not just in India, I think I have called almost every country on this planet, and possibly a few that weren't even from the third rock from the sun...

JDWebb · Jan 26, 2015

I canceled my cable TV service after having paid $250 a month (cable, TV, internet & phone). I now have verizon 4g in the house for $20 a month, AppleTV and Roku, both which have subscribed channels at about $15 a month. I get all the sports, food, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon I want! My internet is still with the cable service, but they keep sending me crap trying to get me back. I use their return envelopes with a note inside telling them no thanks.

skunkboy · Jan 27, 2015

I've been using rabbit ears on my tv, what little I still watch, for a couple of years now. I can't afford to pay for tv, and buy honey!

JDWebb · Jan 27, 2015

I thought the feds made the TV stations turn the analog stuff off..no?

EJM3 · Jan 27, 2015

It's all digital signals now, just have to be within range of something. We have no reception in our house, no cable, no fiber, etc. I just amuse myself by study, documentaries, and whatever else I can scare up on the `net for free...

Shelley · Jan 27, 2015

Between network sites and Hulu, you can get a lot for free (and legal) too.

mannye · Jan 27, 2015

Yep. That's why we figured the 150 monthly was stupid money being thrown out the window. I only have to pay for Dr Who now. 29 bucks per season to see them in real time. Lovely!

Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
U g

Shelley · Jan 27, 2015

Worth every penny!

EJM3 · Jan 27, 2015

Grumble, grumble... I haven't been able to watch Dr Who for almost 7 years now. Better start on that backlog of episodes before I'm out of Doctors, what regen is he on now 12???

Chevette Girl · Jan 28, 2015

I pay too much for cable internet but at least it's decent service and the tech support is in this country. I don't have actual TV cable, never have, the last time I pulled in an actual station with my TV was 9/11... I can watch just about anything I want for free on the tv station websites as long as I get to it within a week of airtime, and one station is even starting to put reruns of previous seasons up in the meantime!

Shelley · Jan 28, 2015

EJM3 said:
Grumble, grumble... I haven't been able to watch Dr Who for almost 7 years now. Better start on that backlog of episodes before I'm out of Doctors, what regen is he on now 12???

Ecclestein's season (the first of the new) was probably the roughest. Excellent production quality, but the stories really took off toward the end of that season onward.

mannye · Jan 28, 2015

If I can get access to BBC redux again I'll be in hog heaven.

Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
U g

danr · Jan 29, 2015

Did you see this story? http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/29/news/companies/comcast-asshole-bill/index.html

mannye · Jan 30, 2015

No surprise there. What makes me laugh is how the Comcast rep admits it will take YEARS to fix the customer service issue. I will not miss these asshole companies when TV via IP and OTA take over. Not that they will ever be gone because they provide most of the Internet access. But at least they will only have "pipes" to take care of.

Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
U g

skunkboy · Jan 30, 2015

When they turned off analogue signals, they gave out coupons for converter boxes, which I have two. I only get like 4-5 stations with my wimpy rabbit ears, but it is basically still free...

JDWebb · Jan 30, 2015

I'm tellin' ya, I love my AppleTV and my Roku box! I get all the TV I want, or can stand actually. TV was good when shows like I Love Lucy, Rin Tin Tin, The Rifleman, Bonanza, Welcome Back Kotter, were on, THERE IS NOTHING ON TV TODAY.!

EJM3 · Jan 31, 2015

Yup. 300+ channels of nothing, 3 channels with the only things I need in life: Sci-Fi (now SyFy I think

), History Channel & NatGeo. Only 2 of which I can get for free one way or another...

mannye · Jan 31, 2015

Welcome Back Kotter? Great theme song. Anyone ever notice there were no girls in class?? WhT was up with that? But in defense of today's TV programs, there are plenty of good shows on these days. Blacklist, Homeland, Rick and Morty, Brooklyn 99 and Modern Family are all great shows. I don't watch any reality TV because they all suck. Reality TV is neither.

Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
U g

DirecTV gets really mad when you quit!

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