DIRECTV: The Customers Speak Out!
Last week, I posted two articles here on why DIRECTV has lost as many as six million subscribers since being purchased by AT&T, and whether AT&T will end the bleeding by selling the satcaster to the highest bidder.
The two stories have generated an outpouring of comments (more than 80 as of this morning) from readers, most of whom are current or past DIRECTV customers who are dissatisfied with AT&T’s stewardship of the satellite TV service.
However, ‘dissatisfied’ may be an inappropriately weak description of their sentiment. Bitter. Angry. Livid. Those are certainly more accurate ways to describe how many DIRECTV customers are feeling these days.
The comments over the last several days are reflective of reader responses to previous articles I’ve written about DIRECTV’s decline. The deep-rooted animosity that many DIRECTV customers seem to have for AT&T does not bode well for AT&T continuing to run the company.
In my 30 years of covering television, I’ve never seen one company generate so much scorn from its audience, not even the large cable TV companies whose monopolistic practices in the 1980s and 90s outraged so many.
I thought it would be interesting to post some of the more interesting reader comments from the last several days to give you a perspective of what AT&T and DIRECTV face in the weeks and months ahead.
AT&T Is Losing
“I COULD WRITE A BOOK but in ONE and ONLY ONE take? AT&T !! (T-H-E most incompetent morons on the entire planet) THE GAME IS SOOOOOO OVER for AT&T !!” wrote ‘Dave.’ “I have been in the satellite TV and PCO biz for 40 years and can assure you I FORGOT more then AT&T knows about that business they bought with MONEY they STOLD from MILLIONS of ppl over the DECADES because of the need for a LAND LINE TELEPHONE (which is of course DEAD now) THIS is JUST the TIP of the ICEBERG but let me end with saying that there are THOUSANDS of us out here that work DAILY to END AT&T as quickly s possible and…WE ARE WINNING !!”
Streaming Isn’t the Answer
“That’s exactly right,” says ‘Glenn Huggins.’ “I work for AT&T and they’re a bunch of idiots. And probably what has killed DIRECTV is the fact that they own them because so many people hate AT&T. Plus their customer service screwed the number one customer in the business. Now I realize a lot of people are streaming these days but where I live in rural Alabama satellite tv is your only option because you can’t get decent internet.”
Wants AT&T to Go Bankrupt
“I was a Tmobile customer back in the day when I heard that AT&T was going to buy the company,” writes ‘Jeffrey Bernardi.’ “Because of past experience with AT&T’s customer service I dumped my Tmobile for Verizon. I have been a customer of DirecTV for over 20 years. I really enjoyed DirecTV up until AT&T purchased it. AT&T is the world’s worst company. I hate everything about them. Absolutely not customer oriented or concerned about customer satisfaction. I hope they go bankrupt. I have never hated a company so much.
AT&T Ruined DIRECTV
“Well when you can’t get anyone to answer the phone after waiting 30 to 45 min.on hold, it tends to lead to pure frustration,” says ‘Dan Walters.’ “I know some that (I) dropped them. Just for that. And why can’t you get anything done in the AT&T stores. After all, they own direct T.V. They should have never purchased direct T.V. They’ve ruined it.”
She’s Dropping DIRECTV
“My package keeps dropping channels but my bill doesn’t go down. Instead of offering better deals and upgrades to long time users all the deals are for new customers only so I’m dropping my direct tv and going to a different provider,” writes ‘Missy.’
She Has Dropped DIRECTV
“We dropped them as well. Nothing was the same. We have Spectrum as well as Roku, Hulu, and Netflix and it is still cheaper then what AT&T was costing,” says ‘Brenda Oakes.’
AT&T Ran It Into the Ground
“It’s a no brainer,” says ‘B. Klein.’ “The problem with Directv is AT&T and horrible customer service. I was a long time Directv customer until AT&T bought it and ran it into the ground by treating their customers like crap…”
AT&T Gutted It; He Worked For DIRECTV
“I worked for DirecTV for over 7 years as an installer and a customer since 1997.
I for one can tell you when AT&T took over the first thing they did was farm out our award winning customer service to overseas vendors. Premium subscribers expect a top notch customer experience and (pre-AT&T DIRECTV CEO) Mike White made sure we did provided just that. AT&T gutted the best thing DirecTV had going,” writes ‘Vance.’
Won’t Get Streaming From AT&T
“I guarantee that if I am forced onto a streaming service, it won’t be with AT&T or SlingTV!” says ‘B. Coleman.’
Will Never Consider AT&T Again
“We dropped DIrecTV after 24 years because of their relentless rate hikes, poor customer service, and they stopped supporting the standard definition equipment, while offering no viable solution for travelers,” writes ‘Leland Fox.’ “We’re in our Airstream more than we are at home. Their apathy and arrogance was astounding. We went with Dish Network. High Def on the road, and low cost hardware at half the price. Streaming is nice, but we go to places where there is no connectivity. Even when connectivity is available, it’s not sufficient for streaming. I will never consider AT&T for anything in the future.”
If you would like to comment on what AT&T should do with DIRECTV, the Comments box is below this article.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
The two things that has been the huge changes with DirecTV has been the customer service and the technical innovation. Before AT&T took over, DirecTV had the best customer service of any utility in the US, and it wasn’t close. Anytime I called or emailed, I got excellent help, and the employees really cared. You can tell they took pride in their work and it translated to me as a customer. Their technical development was also good. New features to align to new channels, improved DVRs with more storage, the Genie, etc.
But, after the purchase by AT&T, any interaction with customer service has been awful. Phone calls are terrible. Most agents on the phone are just reading from a script they don’t actually understand. And, there’s been zero innovation in the last few years. They took away the ability to download many shows so I could watch them on a plane. Their app is buggy. They obviously don’t have a SmartTV/Roku app for the satellite customers.
I’ve stayed with them for NFL SundayTicket and the overall sports options. But, it’s obvious that once DirecTV loses SundayTicket, they’ll lose another 3-5 million customers quickly.
Have been with Direct TV since 2005 when we went full time RVing. Since AT&T took over we have lost our RV waiver to view east/west coast channels, and AT&T will not provide network channels each time we move. They said to use our antenna. We usually are in areas where the only way to watch TV is by satellite. Now AT&T has taken away OAN channel. According to their website our package includes OAN. After contacting them (waiting 40 mins on hold and then trying to understand the representative) they said AT&T is redoing their packages. I was never notified that this was happening. Then they tried to soothe the situation by saying they were adding channels to our package so they would not have to lower the price but charge only $2.00 more a month. These channels are what the normal person would not watch. I said no thanks and would be changing to Dish. Less expensive, will set for network channels when we move, better channels, etc. Even having to buy the satellite dish converter to go from Direct to Dish it will pay for itself since we will saving $100 a month. The only way we stayed with Direct after AT&T took over was the RV waiver. I have a very limited language when it comes to AT&T. Most RVers we know are switching also. Hope AT& T loses all their customers.
I have stayed with Direct, and staying away from Dish, mostly for sports, but also knows Charlie is not above cancelling any and all other channels if he can save a dollar.
IF He does somehow manage to take over Direct from A T & T, my question is, will i keep my same plan, or will Dish force me into one of his, and will the sports i now have, that dish doesn’t , go away?Thank you
Hate them hate them!!!! Finally after 2 months got my final bill and my $122 debit card for my refund!!!! The best thing that could happen to Direct is for the Chinese to hack their satellites and send them crashing somewhere into the Marianna trench!!!!
Glynn..LOL. If the Chinese take out the Directv satellites, can I hope the Russians will follow suit with Dish?
Customer Disservice Department……..directv service used to be pretty good. Now you wait 45 minutes with several transfers to be told “the next service date is two weeks away, maybe you can fix it yourself if we talk you through it”———– that would be fine except I am calling to upgrade my receiver. Morons………
…
I have Frontier landline with DirecTV at my house for internet & TV – and my mobile phone is AT&T GoPhone – my bill has doubled almost $185 for landline & internet then another $50 for mobile phone – ridiculous! That is more than a car payment. Soon to cancel all!
They need to sell Direct tv at&t are so rude they don’t care about there customers at all
I don’t particularly like DirecTV also, but for the past 3 years I’ve called them yearly and complained about their service and the price of their programming. Each time, I ended the call with a $50/mo. credit for 12 months, so I can’t complain about the pricing after the discount. This last time I used the excuse that I was going to consider going to a streaming service and they said that they didn’t want to lose me after 20 years, so the gave me the $50/mo. discount. Next year I’ll see if I get another discount, if not, I’ll consider my alternatives.
Let some other newcomer buy it but don’t sell it to Dish network. They’re just as bad with thier supposed low starting price that skyrockets after 3-6 months and dropping of channel at a rate worse than the stock market.
I whole-heartedly agree! My experience kept getting worse and worse! I was on the phone for 2 hours with a rep named Sergio explaining my experience and how I was over charged! After 2 hours he gave me what I was asking for. I asked what changed and he said “things just happen.” I asked him if I could hit his car and not pay – stating “things just happened?.” At that point I could not wait till contract was up. When I left they would not take ANY of my direct TV equipment. Direct TV has been run into the ground by horrible leadership direction! I have been told reps are encouraged NOT to transfer calls to others like management. In my experience this lead to false information by reps and things like signing a year contract without my permission! I don’t know how some of the things they do are legal!
I feel the same way with freeking rising prices for crap programming
I’ve spent over 3 hours on the phone with these bozos these last few days trying to be able to stay logged into the site without being bumped off, or not being able to get anything to play…
I hate ATT
Direct was a great service. AT&T dropped it into the toilet. You call customer service and within 10 seconds you already know that the call is going nowhere. You may as well abandon the call for all the help you are going to get.
I was a DirecTV customer for over a decade. The number one appeal for me was the combination of top-rated customer service and top-notch programming packages. AT&T eviscerated both. I’m back to Xfinity for half the cost and none of the headaches. If only the NFL Sunday Ticket could find a new home, my television satisfaction would once again be complete.
AT&T corporate store told me they could give me a new customer rate for Direct TV by switching from AT&T Uverse. The lineup was supposed to be comparable to what I had at the time. I ended up losing numerous channels that I watched. When the promo year was up and I went to the higher rate for the second year of the contract all of those channels remarkably came back. I figured I was just suckered and would just be stuck for that second year. After about 4 months the channels disappeared again. When I called customer service I was told they gave me a special temporary promo when they added those channels. If I wanted to get them back I could upgrade for a small additional monthly cost. I refused saying I was leaving AT&T as soon as possible. The representative tried to transfer me to their retention several times but I refused saying I had enough!
They removed OAN? Well then they did you a favor. Unless they were satirical news how could anyone watch them in earnest?
Since AT&T has taken over DirectTV their customer service is not giid. When I called to change something they bent ovef backwards to keep you a satisfied customer. Now, they could care less. For longtime customers, they won’t help you out and give you a good price for your loyalty. They treat their new customers better. Wish they woukd find a new buyer that cares about keeping and taking care if their their customers again.
I have been a Directv customer for 20 years & only for one reason (NFL package). When they lose it, they lose me!!
Wow its been a long time coming with AT&T. All the comments I read was/ is so true and I knew it would only be a matter of time. Cancelled my service in June 2019 and was charged til Jan 2020 because AT&T keep said we didnt cancel mind you our equipment was turned into UPS and we had our receipt they tried to say they didnt receive the equipment. Since June we bought antennas and never been happier. Thank God for Free TV.
J W in Columbus Ga
We recently resubscribed. We have been customers since 2003 and took a two year break. I researched the packages thoroughly and chose the least expensive one that would still serve our needs. After 30 days we woke up to find that they had removed at least 4 major channels that we watched the most. I spent over 5 hours on the phone with a total of three representatives and received no resolution. They offered me a one time 10$ credit. That’s it. I was told that those were complimentary channels for a limited time. Come on. The Weather Channel is a premium channel? So now I’m stuck with two more years of this.
Streaming is out. Customers wants cheaper option. Rural areas can get faster satellite internet now through Viasat. Without Att, telecommunications will not exist….they started it, they are the grandfather!!
Y husband spent 4.5 hours on the phone today trying to get live tv on our laptops and iPad. This was never a problem before At&T bought them. They had screwed up our accounts and now we can’t do anything. We then tried to cancel our account and they said they couldn’t without a big cancellation fee. When my husband told them they broke the contract first by not providing the service. They basically said screw you. So we are done. I am going to cancel my cell phone as well
Have been with direct TV was years , contract up in October, just like all the other comments, we’ve lost channels but bill goes up not down. Customer service is horrible. No break for long time customers. You have to call in and ask about any promotions, now they say they aren’t allowed to offer anything.
I was with Directv for many years, when it stood for: customer service, excellent programming and fair prices. Since Att took over, its been a disaster. From Whole Home extra charge and regional sports channel, that’s extra $13 a month for nothing. Too being promised a discount on Sunday Ticket and winding up being told the promotion guy keyed it in wrong and I had to pay $389 for 5 months for Sunday ticket Max! Sound familiar anyone? Been duped and hung out to dry with ATT crap! I could arbitrate but they are the arbitrator! Corrupt, unscrupulous and liars! Hope they sell soon or go bankrupt
I pay for regional sports coverage and could not watch any for over 5 1/2 months. They still made me pay and would not let me cancel it even though I paid extra for it every year, was not in my contract. I wish there was some way zi could get my money back!, the Crooks!.
I have been with DirecTV for 15 yrs now. They had the best customer service & the website was so easy to maneuver. There technical services were top notch.
Now factor in AT&T and everything single thing I said is out the window. The day they lose the NFL sunday ticket I am going to drop them so fast that it is not even funny.
AT&T SUCKS…..
Had error codes come up that made the TV useless. all I had was what I recorded. After 50 min. on hold I got a AT&T rep on the phone and she tried to correct it and could not. So she set up the next available appt. that we could support. Have to be here when they come. The appt. was ten days out and a Saturday. Appt. set was 12 to 4 pm waited all day and no show. Called back and asked what happen. Was told the appt. was canceled becuse they did not have a service provider in the area. So they offered another appt. this one was 21 days out and I do not think they will show. However they did give me a credit for the lost time. Just not good at all.
I have been wit AT&T for over 30 plus years and one thing I can tell you about them are that they are so untruthful. Since I have had Direct tv I have had nothing but problems First of all they lied about how much my bill will be and each month the bill kept going up. It was so bad with Direct tv that I started recording them. The channels are terrible. They keep dropping channels and the bill don’t drop. My directv was out for about a month and one operator stated he could give me $5.00 credit. I told him I don’t won’t no 5 dollar credit. I am looking for something better and I am going to drop them because they are extremely too high. It had gotten so bad that I got the owners address and wrote him a five page letter. Now you know it’s time to leave them when you got to write the owner a 5 page letter concerning their terrible service. I wish everyone well and hope you all can find a better TV service. Belinda Moore
Says the person who thinks anyone that disagrees with them is wrong. In other words, an intolerant…….
I will never do business with AT&T again! I had Direct TV for my TV, but AT&T Uverse was not available in my area, for internet, so I had to add a hot spot to my service. I always seem to have overage, despite the fact that I was never home to watch TV. I found out months later that the movies I had saved on my system, to watch after work, were using data just to be stored on my system (they were resending the data everyday). I deleted all the saved shows, to cut down on overages. The following month, my roommate and I were binge-watching Netflix for a week, and my hot spot was shut off. I paid the $300 bill (my highest bill before this was $200), and they still made me wait until the new billing cycle to turn my hot spot back on. It was then that they told me they automatically added data bundles when i used up my data, rather than asking me if I wanted to add more data. When my new bill came out, it was $1200! They had charged me for the overage I had already paid for 10 days earlier, and for all the extra data bundles they added on, without notifying me I was using up all my data and in overages. When I confronted them about paying for overages already, they had no explanation for the $300 bill, but insisted the $1200 bill was all new overages (even though my hotspot had been shut off for 14 days at this point!). They are a rip-off and will do anything to get money out of customers!
I was a Directtv customer since 1994, the start. I’m very tech savvy and always was interested in the latest greatest. I remember buying multiple DirecTV boxes at Good Guys like the Zenith 1080 box and the first TiVo HD DVR. I switched to YTTV. But when they started adding channels I don’t want and increasing the monthly I started thinking about cable. I was already paying top tier price for internet and when I added a good cable package the cost actually went down. But the cable boxes and dvr were a joke, seriously like 2010 tech, so I basically use my cable sub to stream everything. Saving 50 a month vs YTTV which makes it almost free.
I had Directv for almost two years. My contract is up at the end of October. Directv is over priced and they have terrible customer service. I will NEVER BUY AT&T OR DIRECTV AGAIN.
At&t are the worst. You can call 20 times a day and you will get a different story everytime. I called them to find out why I was getting charged $9.99 a month extra for the sports channels which we don’t watch and never ever asked for. I could drop it if I wanted to but I would also lose 90 channels. I got told we cannot take that charge off because it’s part of your package but yet my package is a totally separate price. I called them back and got told by someone else they could take it off and I would not lose the 90 channels. So when I asked them I would like my $9.99 a month refunded since I never asked for it i got told no they cannot refund my money and was told I couldn’t get any of my money from all the past bills because I didn’t catch the extra fee until now. So I called them back again and then was told I couldn’t take it off. I was on hold for over an hour waiting to speak with a supervisor which never happened. I asked to speak to one everytime. I kept getting told one would call me back which never happened either. These people are complete idiots. As soon as I can leave I am out. Watch your bills people
I have been with Directv for 35 years, have had a few break’s here and there but kept my account with them. I for One am happy with Directv and wouldn’t leave it. Had dish a few times when I had moved and DirecTV wasn’t available in the area. No way… Have access to our local cable and again no way..
While I do have a Roku and Netflix account I still use my DirecTV for my main TV packages.
There is a serious issue concerning customer service and hopefully this will be resolved in the soon purchase or merger agreement. I never have enjoyed calling att for anything.
Hopefully whoever is at the helm soon can get us back to the old DirecTV we all loved with a new twist for all the new technology that is now available.
Blessings
I’m leaving AT&T and Directv. My bill increases every month. I’ve called and complained countless times. I’m done!
I would like to see Direct TV spin off of AT&T and become independent again. I would prefer that they don’t merge with Dish so there is still some competition.
Directv is a joke. They absolutely rob all and anybody that has service with them. I could type for a week an not touch the anger they put in me. Unprofessional!
DIRECTV never added MeTV in my area. That’s not a sports channel. That’s a niche channel that appeals to some older viewers who enjoy watching the shows we grew up with.
After 2.5 years of frustration about doing without MeTV, I switched to AT&T U-verse, which does carry MeTV in my area. But while I was with DIRECTV, I regularly called to see if they would let me switch from one AT&T service (DIRECTV) to another (U-verse). They would have still had me under contract either way.
But the answer was “No”. That was totally illogical.
Unless circumstances change significantly, I cannot imagine going back to DIRECTV. I’m about to leave U-verse, too, as they no longer offer the HD feed for MeTV in my area.
My ATT bill keeps going up, up , up and services and customer service continues going down, down and down. What the heck ATT I can’t even understand most of what the customer service. Person says much less get any help with a problem. There are so many different charges on my bill and most I dont understand anyway. Since when we’re the American people suppose to learn to understand the broken English with such a heavy accent. I don’t even know what accent the csr is speaking with. Att made their old money off the backs of the American people and what people do they cater to ? Overseas or where. Shame on you Att you will find that what goes around comes back around. and most times 70 times worse.! !!
I love you! LOL I love you articles I just switch from DirecTV to Dish Network not there in a much better but unfortunately when you live in the rural area that I do you only have two choices DirecTV or dish so DirecTV had told me when they were trying to get me to stay with them asking me what they can do to keep my business I told them to get rid of AT&T and they said we’ll just because they bought ourselves we’re still our own company asks if that’s cool that is a flat out lie it ruined their company their customer service text they suck how they work their little contract sex they cheat people by the way out of that but thank you for keeping on top of this for us to be able to read! Be safe!
The only reason Atel&tel bought Direc#U was to take up any and all royalties of any all media world wide as possible. They never cared about the hardware and only see it as a burden that can easily be gtten rid of.Those rights and royalties are now part of there U+Verc and Atel&tel-TV’s. It’s purely a business decision, sorry….
Live in Wilmington, NC and lost direct tv duty to a long tree limb hitting my dish on the past Mon the 5th when the hurricane went through. Called direct Tues after trouble shooting on phone through robo call and system could not fix problem and suggested I call help line. Got live help and they could not fix problem and then set service appointment for the 13th Thursday. Today received a call from them wanting me to try again which I refused.
Seems they are trying to eliminate service call. The 13th is the soonest they will send someone out.
Great service???
I had Directtv for 17 years straight. They kept raising the price and channels were leaving. Most of the channels were just re-runs. I finally left and it has been 5 years and I do not miss it. I do not watch tv really, once in awhile I will watch a movie on Prime. that’s it no tv shows not anything, not interested in TV anymore. It was ruined and I don’t even miss it. I read books, listen to music have hobbies and friends. And I can tell you this, I will never go back to sitting on the couch staring at tv. It’s all junk now anyway.
AT&T has terrible customer service and their plans are misleading. DirectTV has canceled my service twice for nonpayment after I paid the bill a week before the due date. They deauthorize my bedroom receiver twice. I had to show them I was paying for it on my bill. There’s more but I am tried of writing.
A core issue is the directv app for Androids is garbage. It should have been built as a competitor to Netflix, but instead it’s always been clunky and buggy, and you get the impression that development had been farmed out to the lowest bidder.
And, in order to watch your shows from the road, you have to first download them at home (unlike any other streaming service). And it doesn’t work on Chromebooks.
DirecTV extorted money from us for equipment that was returned. We got a confirmation number from one rep saying they received it. Next rep on another phone call said they hadn’t received it and the confirmation number we had was bogus. Then they charged us for an early termination fee even though we cancelled our service 2 months PAST our contract. They said when we upgraded our equipment, we automatically extended our contract another year. Only problem with that was we NEVER upgraded our equipment. When I asked when we upgraded he said….wait for it – the day we cancelled our service. So, according to him, I called, cancelled our service and in the same phone call upgraded. I argued till I was sick but how do you reason with a company that doesn’t care about their own business.
We switched from Direct tv today. My bill doubled within 3 months..they have no idea what the general public is experiencing. Tried to talk to them to no avail.
I’ve been a Directv customer for years but everything changed once AT&T took over. The prices are constantly increasing even though the channel packages are laughable. I watch about 5 channels from my package, in total my family watches about 15 channels. One year they automatically signed me up for the NFL package and charged me over $100 without my consent. After calling and being on hold for eternity, they said they would credit my next bill. I was irate! I demanded a refund and threatened to take legal action, dispute the charges with my bank, and cancel service just so they would agree to a refund. I have Hulu, Netflix, Prime, and can cast to my TV so I’m dumping the dish. It’s clear that AT&T doesn’t value Directv customers because they could have offered packages where customers could choose their own channels. Technology and streaming services have changed the game and AT&T didn’t keep up.
I DESPISE DIRECTV!! Had these idiots for almost 3 years! My bill was NEVER the same month after month after month for 3 years! I swear, they charged me whatever they deemed fit! Last straw before I dropped them Aug 11th, they took the travel channel from my package. When I called to complain, the rep said “it was only complimentary bc of covid” WHAT!? I had this channel for 3 years! It wasn’t “COMPLIMENTARY” for me! The only way to get it back was to go up a package! Screw you! Now stream YouTube tv! With the TRAVEL CHANNEL!
Direct TV. Programming is the worst. They put one program on and you can watch it for the next month no choice.the movies are Hollywood ‘s failures simply put crap