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DirecTV Didn’t Win Any Points Today
First, let me start by saying I should have read DirecTV’s early termination policy.
Several months ago I subscribed to DirecTV and it never worked with my satellite system. I noticed a requirement for a low speed data connection on the satellite receiver in my satellite system user’s manual. I mentioned this to the installer that dropped the receiver off at my house. He assured me it wasn’t necessary. After several attempts to use the satillte system I called KVH and they told me the TracVision LM is basically a boat anchor (his words) due to DirecTV discontinuing support for the data channel.
I finally got around to cancelling my subscription. The first DirecTV rep said he’d sent a tech out to validate that it won’t work and they would waive the early termination penalty. They sent the tech to my last address, even though it was clear where he was supposed to be. The next DirecTV rep said there’s no way to waive the penalty. In written correspondence with DirecTV they said the same.
Here’s the kicker. The early termination penalty could be as much as $480! I had already paid them $560 in subscription fees without watching a single minute of TV. and they are now demanding $370 in early termination fees.
Next time you can bet I’m going with DISH, the no contract provider.
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15 Replies
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I never sleep at Holiday Inn Express so I can maintain my dumbness when it comes to the mysteries of satellite receivers and the like. Having said that your post should cause us all to go on high alert.
I have a TracStar. I had a KVH and their product and support never worked well so I trashed the KVH and went to the TracStar and now that is no longer sold or supported. So at some point I may have to do something relating to the TV and satellite dish. What I have done however is always have the Direct TV techs install or trouble shoot or repair whatever is wrong. Direct TV goes out of their way to blame the satellite but as illiterate as I am on this stuff I can find the menu to test and prove signal strength so i know if I have issues it is not with my coach. More than once I have spent far too much time trying to convince a Direct TV weenie on the phone my system is OK. This last time I got so mad I gave the phone to my wife and she knows way less than I do about this stuff so it was great fun listening to the Direct TV folks spend 2 hours walking her through all their test only to find their receiver was bad. It was like listening to two women trying to give each other directions to somewhere. They have a language all their own and neither understands the other.
I find it hard to believe KVH doesn’t have a satellite that works with the Direct TV receiver.
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Hmmm, I’ve been leaning towards an RV Dish deal and Gil may have put me over the edge. I have Direct at home and won’t be making any changes, but matching up the right dome/dish is pushing me more to Dish. Of course then you read all kinds of horror stories of people on the RV Dish plan not being able to suspend service as they were suppose to be able to do. Turning it on and off looks like a good plan, if it works.
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In defense of KVH, they do have very capable systems. However, my KVH system is probably as old as the coach. In the marine industry KVH is well respected and they support far more than just satellite TV systems.
Since posting, DirecTV has called me twice trying to get me back–yea right! What neither caller could do is forward me to someone with the authority to waive (partially or in full) the early termination fee. Clearly, they are working for the share holders and could careless about public perception or keeping past customers. It’s this kind of nearsightedness that often leads to a company’s failure.
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I too went from KVH to TracStar SV360 and it worked very well. Then at home I went from Dish to DirecTV, if you change every couple of years you get all kinds of free promations. So then I wanted to get the same service in the coach so in order to get the HD signal I once again had to change dishes. The Winegaurd SWM (stationary dish) that gets all 3 sats at one time. Did not actually need HD but there are a lot of chanels in HD I wanted to see the programing. I hate them all Cable, Phone, Sat. I can’t understand the amount of mony they all spend telling us how good their customer service is when you have to speak Swahellie, Arabic or some sort of Indian language to communicate.
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I have direct tv I travel all the USA and Canada for the last ten years I have never had a problem once in awhile u have to call when in Canada but no problem I use it every day all over North America don’t know what the problem is we turn it off for 3months in winter then back on in spring don’t get it I change states every week and countries at least 4times a year I did not have sat before that
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Gil:
Have you looked on the Satellite Guys Direct TV Forum? There may be someone over ther there that could help. See http://www.satelliteguys.us/forum.php If not, it is another place to express your displeasuire with Direct TV
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I use a motosat it won’t work going down the road but when i stop it’s on in minutes for direct TV cost me five dollars a month over my home bill .love it
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The KVH LM is very old and Directtv carried an adapter to use to connect the data cable from the dish to the back of the newer style receivers ( non HD)… the satelliteguys also carried those adapters not too long ago. We had a trackstar V360 in our last bus and replaced almost every part in it… never worked like it should… we have a KVH in our Vantare and have never had a problem (lucky us). We have directtv… dish would not let us have the number of boxes we needed said we would need 3 separate accounts and directtv lets us have 18 boxes on our account no questions asked and I have had excellent service with them. They have been great for us. I use a stationary antenna to get HD local channels when we travel out of our local channel zone (usually 100-175 miles)
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Larry and Diane,
Yes the LM is very old. KVH at one time offered a conversion kit when DirecTV dropped data channel support. They discontinued the conversion kit for good reason; the conversion kit was almost as expensive as a new terminal.
My gripe is that the DirecTV installer that dropped off the box assured me the system would work without the data channel. He likely didn’t have a clue and I showed hime the LM installation manual so there would be no mistake that my question needed an answer.
If I ever go back to satellite and based on what’s available I’ll be going with the stationary 3 satellite terminal and, of course, it will be DISH and not DirecTV.
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I have Directv and have an old cruiseTV in motion sat, I can only use their 100 series “plain jane” box. You might try that box. Find a installer that will hook up one of these boxes on your sysem to see if it would work. I found a vietnamese installer not only was his service cheaper but he loaned me one of his boxes (the 100) to use on his account to try. Sometime these guys will do more work for less than your average white guy.
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We had a KVH R6 (maybe R3?) in-motion satellite antenna and a DirecTv DVR receiver which I had purchased from Crutchfield. Both performed flawlessly for the time we owned our Liberty. This did not provide true HD display, but our screen sizes were modest enough that it didn’t make a practical difference. Over-the-air reception provided true HD television. Everything worked as intended through the Sony surround sound system.
That being said, I don’t know if either the KVH antenna or the DirecTv receiver are still available, which is doubtful given the rate of advancement of everything electronic. I always feared the day that any of those components failed as I was certain that finding replacement equipment of equal reliability would be risky at best.
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DirectV has the basic reciever I just got one the other day.
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Even a basic receiver won’t work. The data channel is no longer transmitted over the bird. Without it the old receiver with the data channel connection can’t tell the KVH system which bird to hunt for and whether it has a lock on the bird.
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Okay
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When we bought our coach it had an old kvh which wouldn’t work with a new receiver from direct tv. I bought from my local rv dealer a new kvh with in motion and everything works fine. Rick
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