First off, for some unbelievable reason, DirecPath (a rinky-dink company) has forced the beheamoth DirecTV to go through them for installations in certain communities so when I went to move my DirecTV service I actually had to call DirecPath. They came out and installed the service allright and told me about their internet service. I figured 10Mpbs was better than 6 which is all that AT&T could offer inside the Isles at Weston community since Comcast wasn't allowed in.
What a horrible mistake I made, at the slightest sign of rain the service goes out. After sweet-talking one of the customer service agents I was able to coax the reason for this out of her. Apparently even though all the cables are underground within the community DirecPath actually gets THEIR internet signal (which they then re-distribute to their customers) via sattelite link. So in effect whenever there is rain near their uplink/downlink site EVERY ONE OF THEIR CUSTOMERS will be affected. I need reliable internet so I went back to AT&T and although slower it never failed me. Quality over quantity.
My biggest dissapointment with them though, came one weekend when a terrible wind storm caused a tree branch to knock the dish off alignment. When I say "off alignment" I mean it was almost pointing the opposite direction... THAT OBVIOUS.
I called them up and told them that I had no signal and that it was because the dish was out of alignment. I asked them if they could send someone out to fix it. That's when it got frustrating.
The agent on the phone starts to tell me to read her the 3-digit code on the TV and tried to walk me through re-setting the receiver and the connection. I stopped her and said "ma'am, I understand you have certain troubleshooting steps when you don't know what the problem is, but I'm telling you what the problem is here... The satelite dish is pointing the wrong way. No amount of troubleshooting on the receiver is going to fix this".
Well, she kept trying to make me go through the troubleshooting at which point I said (admittedly in a condescending tone) "miss, I know what the problem is, can you just schedule a technician to come out please?". So rather than just saying "yes" she decided she was going to make me pay for pointing out WHAT AN IDIOT she was and said that the only available day for scheduling was 10 days away. I'll save you the expressions of incredulity I used and just say that I told her an appointment wasn't necessary because I would be calling DirecTV immediately to cancel.
I did cancel because DirecTV said there was nothing they could do to restore my service any faster, but they did offer me $400 to stay and even suggested I could buy DVDs with that money to keep me entertained during that time. As if the news and football games came on DVDs... What a joke this company is and what a mistake DirecTV is making by continuing to partner with them. I now find myself in the odd position of moving back into the Isles at Weston. I telecommute so I NEED fast and reliable internet at home. At this point I think that will be AT&T again. There is no way I'm going to subject myself to the bag of vomit that is DirecPath's Internet service or Customer (lack of) service.
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