I am still amazed at the quality of the picture with HDTV. Fantastic! I just wish there were more stations broadcasting in HD.You really notice the quality of the picture at sporting events. Not so much the close ups of the players but the wider shots. I’m watching a lot of basketball and the shots of the full court you can really make out individual people in the stands. Also crystal clear is the shot from the top of the basket when a guy is shooting free throws. Some of the movies I’ve watched on HBO make you feel like you’re in a movie theater.
Too bad DirecTV isn’t up to the same standards. I got the bill on Saturday. On the bill I was charged for leasing 3 receivers and a pro-rated charge for HD service. When HD receiver was installed the old receiver was left behind. This was just an oversight on the installers part. I hadn’t gotten around to finding out how to return it. However, the HD receiver I bought at Best Buy and so I shouldn’t have been paying any sort of lease fee.
Now to the HD charge. I’d been told that my first year of HD service would be free. I was told that on no less than three times.
I decided to call DirecTV. They have a really annoying automated answering system. I was finally able to get through to someone. I explained my problems with the bill. She then put me on hold so that she could review the account. Well she never came back on-line. I was on hold for about another five minutes and then I was disconnected.
So I called again. I get through again and explain again the problem with the bill. So he brings up my account information. He then asks when the HD receiver was installed because under the station plan I have I should get 4 months free. I’m thinking to myself why do I need to tell the guy when the HD service was installed when he has the account information on his screen. He said he would send me some FedEx form so that I could return the receiver. He was also able to give me a $40 credit toward HD service but would not be able to give me the HD service free for a year. In order for that to happen I would have to talk to someone else.
On to another person. Had to explain everything again. In the end she was able to give me a $10 credit. I would still have the HD charge show up on the bill but then I would get a $10 credit. In the end I was able to get everything I wanted but it took almost an hour to do it..
Like I said HDTV great; DirecTV needs some improvement.
Showing posts with label HDTV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HDTV. Show all posts
Monday, February 19, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
HDTV Arrives
Second time lucky or something like that.
I was scheduled for a visit from the folk as at DirecTV Saturday morning between 8 and noon. Noon came and went and no one had shown up. Around 1 PM or so I called them. Now DirecTV is franchised out so the people at the 800 number are not the actual people doing the house calls. My guy at DirecTV puts me on hold and calls the local company in charge. Before this he reconfirms all of my information. There’s a lot of back and forth. The person locally is checking with her dispatcher. Then my guy comes back and asks well was there someone at the house all the time during the morning. I lost it at that point. I said in no uncertain terms that I’d been at the house the entire day and this was the second time I’d waited on someone to get the job done. I’d gone so far to open my front door and leave the storm door closed that way there would be no question that someone was at home. Finally all three of us are on the same line and I’m told someone will there in 30 minutes or so.
I hang up and think I’ve been told that one before. About 10 minutes later I get a call from the person who’s going to do the installation and he says (with a mouth full of food) he’ll be there in 5 minutes. And five minutes later they did indeed show up. They actually had a ladder that was long enough to reach the roof. Half an hour later I had HDTV. Yeah.
Well yes and no. I still have the old receiver which I’m pretty sure they were supposed to take with them. The remote that came with the HD receiver only partially works. I can access all of the menus and change channels but I can’t change the volume or turn the set on or off. There is a way to program the remote. I tried that but HP is not listed as one of the 162 televisions. Harely-Davidson is but not Hewlett Packard. Go figure. Thankfully the old remote will do everything so for the time being I’m using that one.
My DVD recorder now only plays DVDs and is not set up to record anything. The installers didn’t set that up or surround sound for watching the TV. I’m still trying to figure out where all the wires and cords go. This should be wayyyyyy simpler. The technology of plugging things has not changes all that much. I hooked up my new DVD player which has the HDMI connection which is supposed to boost the video signal of DVD to make them look like they are in HD. I tried it on one movie but really didn’t notice that much of a difference. They I tried it on another one and there was a noticeable difference. I did get an error message about some wrong audio signal coming from some where and to check on that. My problem is I’m not sure what device the error message came from.
As to the picture quality of the very few stations that are broadcast in HD, it is amazing. I watched a basketball game and it felt you were actually there. It looks like someone could step out of the screen into your living room or you could walk into the set and be on the court. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Super Bowl will be like with it.
I was scheduled for a visit from the folk as at DirecTV Saturday morning between 8 and noon. Noon came and went and no one had shown up. Around 1 PM or so I called them. Now DirecTV is franchised out so the people at the 800 number are not the actual people doing the house calls. My guy at DirecTV puts me on hold and calls the local company in charge. Before this he reconfirms all of my information. There’s a lot of back and forth. The person locally is checking with her dispatcher. Then my guy comes back and asks well was there someone at the house all the time during the morning. I lost it at that point. I said in no uncertain terms that I’d been at the house the entire day and this was the second time I’d waited on someone to get the job done. I’d gone so far to open my front door and leave the storm door closed that way there would be no question that someone was at home. Finally all three of us are on the same line and I’m told someone will there in 30 minutes or so.
I hang up and think I’ve been told that one before. About 10 minutes later I get a call from the person who’s going to do the installation and he says (with a mouth full of food) he’ll be there in 5 minutes. And five minutes later they did indeed show up. They actually had a ladder that was long enough to reach the roof. Half an hour later I had HDTV. Yeah.
Well yes and no. I still have the old receiver which I’m pretty sure they were supposed to take with them. The remote that came with the HD receiver only partially works. I can access all of the menus and change channels but I can’t change the volume or turn the set on or off. There is a way to program the remote. I tried that but HP is not listed as one of the 162 televisions. Harely-Davidson is but not Hewlett Packard. Go figure. Thankfully the old remote will do everything so for the time being I’m using that one.
My DVD recorder now only plays DVDs and is not set up to record anything. The installers didn’t set that up or surround sound for watching the TV. I’m still trying to figure out where all the wires and cords go. This should be wayyyyyy simpler. The technology of plugging things has not changes all that much. I hooked up my new DVD player which has the HDMI connection which is supposed to boost the video signal of DVD to make them look like they are in HD. I tried it on one movie but really didn’t notice that much of a difference. They I tried it on another one and there was a noticeable difference. I did get an error message about some wrong audio signal coming from some where and to check on that. My problem is I’m not sure what device the error message came from.
As to the picture quality of the very few stations that are broadcast in HD, it is amazing. I watched a basketball game and it felt you were actually there. It looks like someone could step out of the screen into your living room or you could walk into the set and be on the court. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Super Bowl will be like with it.
Friday, January 19, 2007
No show
DirecTV was a no show. They called at 3:45 and said that someone would be over between 6:30-7:30. I asked how they were going to work on the roof (they have to upgrade this dish so I can get an HD signal). The woman said there would be no problem with that. Of course there was no problem because the guy never showed up. To top it off no one could be bothered to call me and tell that no one was going to show up.
I have to say I'm less than impressed with this. I was told when I signed up the upgrade in service that someone in three days would be calling me back to set up an appointment. Four days later I got an automated call from DirecTV saying that I hadn't called to set up an appointment for my service. Well of course I hadn't called because silly me I'd been told I was going to be contacted.
My next appointment is for next Saturday. I could have had an earlier one. I said to the guy I've already taken time off work and I can't do it again especially if no one is going to show up. I took the early time 8-12. I figure that way maybe be 3 or 4 someone will show up to do the upgrade. I'm hoping to get a customer service survey when this is all done. I'm looking forward to giving them a piece of my mind. The only upshot is that I did get $100 credit but I'd much rather be looking at HDTV.
This should have been easier to do. Then again why should it be easy when it can be hard.
I have to say I'm less than impressed with this. I was told when I signed up the upgrade in service that someone in three days would be calling me back to set up an appointment. Four days later I got an automated call from DirecTV saying that I hadn't called to set up an appointment for my service. Well of course I hadn't called because silly me I'd been told I was going to be contacted.
My next appointment is for next Saturday. I could have had an earlier one. I said to the guy I've already taken time off work and I can't do it again especially if no one is going to show up. I took the early time 8-12. I figure that way maybe be 3 or 4 someone will show up to do the upgrade. I'm hoping to get a customer service survey when this is all done. I'm looking forward to giving them a piece of my mind. The only upshot is that I did get $100 credit but I'd much rather be looking at HDTV.
This should have been easier to do. Then again why should it be easy when it can be hard.
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