called to see about upgrading to HD DVR service on 2 TVs. I was told 450 bucks for the boxes. Asking if I was out of my contract didnt really work even tho I am out of my contract and can move on to someone else. any way around paying this crazy amount for boxes? should I call back and really threaten to cancel? I feel like its crazy to pay 450 bucks for boxes plus a added 20 bucks a month for service. Any DTV folks on the board who can hook me up?
Go to Time Warner or Fios websites and get a price quote for new stuff.
Call up DirecTV and say you want to cancel service because their HD is too expensive. You’ll get transferred to the retention department at which point you should be able to use the numbers from Time Warner/Fios to get yourself a good deal on the HD upgrade. I know Dish Network was ready to throw lots of free shit at me when I switched to Fios.
just called Time warner and they are way cheaper. Might switch anyway. Budle my internet which I already have thru them and digital cable with HD DVR for 109 for the first year, 119 for the second year and then it goes to regular price which is only like 130. Im paying 160 for my internet and direct tv now. Im also tired of my dish going out when its snowing or raining badly.
Just a warning, you almost certainly will not be happy with Time Warner’s guide, HD quality, HD selection, or DVR functionality if you’re coming from Dish/DirecTV. Their hardware is absolute shit compared to what every other provider is using.
Before you make the jump make sure to check it out at someone’s house before getting stuck in a contract.
Time Warner is not contracted
Yeah its more of a 12 month promotion than a contract with TW.
Jay is right though, their hardware blows donkey balls.
PM me if you want a quote through Dish. Obviously, you’ll need internet, I would suggest FIOS if it’s available in your area.
You can get at least 1 for free HD-DVR installed, I know that for sure. The second will depend on how professional you keep yourself while talking to them. Do you have any HD or DVR on you account now? I have known many customers to get 2 HD-DVR’s for free. Those customers are usually the ones with a big premium package (HBO,Starz,Showtime,NFL Ticket, etc) and these customers always pay on time, also most have automatic bill pay. If you have a base package and have a missed/late payment you have no room to bargain with them. If you are a good standing always on time customer, then argue away and let them know you are serious. I am 100% sure you will hate Time Warners DVR, the software and picture quality is total crap and it has a capacity of about 30hrs.
also note that there are a lot of neat features that people don’t commonly take advantage of with DTV service. if you have a DVR (R22 model only) or a HDDVR (all models) direcTV offers on demand (most of which is free) service if you hook up high speed internet to the box, on screen caller ID, DVR scheduler, NFL player tracker, news mix and sports mix…
like Jays said if you get transferred to the retention dept they will give you a bunch of stuff, at heavy discounts or for free. just BE POLITE because if you are a dick the person on the phone has little motivation to go above and beyond what is required to help you out.
I hate to do this again but HD quality and selection are not a problem with TWC I had no quality issues, and there selection is on par with Dish and DirectTV now.
The guide and the DVR functionality though Jay is completely spot on, there hardware is not shit though it is actually quite similar to Fios Hardware… Motorola and SA have similar hardware. The problem is TW in Buffalo still uses the default SA guide and software which is just a pile of shit, there is MDN and ODN the TW built software that is much better, but still not quite good enough.
Then you need a better TV, or glasses, because the quality is night and day. I’ve seen it on a Samsung 46" 120 hz LCD, A pioneer 50" 1080p plasma and a 60" Sony 1080P. All three of those people went from Time Warner to Dish, DirecTV or FIOS and all three saw a considerable difference.
Then there is the constant pixelization problem in any fast moving scene that just about everyone I know with TW complains about. One friend at work has had 2 new boxes, all new cabling, and a tech out at his house twice and they still can’t fix it. Another one (with the 60" sony) gave up and went Fios and magically the problem that TW was blaming on his TV went away.
PS, Fios is at 121 HD, TW is claiming 100 but I’m guessing they’re counting on demand and PPV garbage like Comcast. Even if it’s a true 100 channels, what good are 100 shitty looking HD channels?
The retention department at DirecTV made me pay for the HD DVR equipment but gave me free HD service for a year, which cancelled out the costs I had to pay up front. So, essentially it was a free HD DVR. Maybe they will hook you up with the same deal…
I couldn’t believe the picture quality on TWC for football on thanksgiving on a 1080P 60" Panasonic plasma at my cousin’s house. I got out the remote to change to the HD feed, and that WAS the HD feed. Pixelated, blurry during plays, and looked like crap. I sold him on Dish right about the time the night game came on on NFL network :lol:
I don’t have any specials options with direct but I will call and be nice. Hopefully I won’t get dicked. I def don’t want twc now. You guys have me worried lol. I will try and stick it out plus I didn’t buy a tv yesterday so I will upgrade 1 at a time.
Yeah just stay away from TW. I hate to see people get ripped off on inferior products no matter what it is.
Let me know when his installation is set for if he hasn’t gotten it yet. I’ll grab his job!!