"Working on the Railroad", reruns back on

[ezdays]

I had Direct TV with a dvr that worked exactly like you described, Don. I had Dish network first, but the dvr I had with them was only a single channel. When I called to see if I could change to something that would record on 2 channels or record one channel and let me watch another. Dish told me they couldn't do that! Then a Direct TV salesman stopped by and he said they could do that no problem. My contract was up with Dish Network, so I ordered Direct TV. I later found out that my neighbor has a Dish Network dvr that works exactly like my Direct TV dvr did, so I came to the conclusion that once they got you signed up, nothing will ever get the company to come back to your house again. If what you want can be accomplished over the phone or through pay per view, etc. no problem. I discovered that Direct TV is the same way. Customer service is not a part of their business model! Verizon just put the fiber optic system into our neighborhood, so I switch over to Fios. I have the same sort of service with Fios, but I now have a better internet connection than the old dsl unit. Also with Fios I don't get weather interfering with reception. By the way I was having trouble with a dvr from Direct TV and kept calling in to complain because it would need to be shut off and rebooted about 2-3 times a week. Of course every time I called in to complain, they ran me through a reboot, which fixed it for 2 or 3 more days before it needed it again. I finally called in and when the tech person had me try to reboot it, I told him "Are you sure you want me to do that? I shut it off and unplugged it when smoke started coming out of the box! It is too hot to touch right now but if we wait a while for it to cool off, I can try to plug it in and reboot." They sent me a new dvr unit and the problems were solved.

Anazing Russ, I had exactly the same problem with Dish Network. I had a single channel DVR and wanted a dual one. They were offering one to new subscribers but since I was a three-year subscriber I couldn't get one. I had to track down a different model at one of the local sub-contractors and bought it outright. Dish replaced it after it went belly-up for $35. When it went belly-up again, they offered me the one I have right now. It runs me an extra $5 a month, but now I don't own it. Once my contract is up, I think I'll take a look at Direct TV just to see if they have a better offer. And you're right, once they have you, they make it hard to upgrade. But if you don't have a working unit, you could move on, so that's when they start making offers.