Posted on 02/19/2008 6:02:11 AM PST by JZelle
You'd think that in a slowing economy, companies would be trying to hold on to every potential customer. Not DirecTV. The satellite operator is weeding out customers, and it has no problem with fewer people signing up.
In a conference call with analysts this week, CEO Chase Carey said the company has a new focus on "quality subscribers" (read: ones with money). It finds these subscribers by analyzing their income, age, home ownership, education and other metrics, Carey said in an earnings call with analysts. (Transcript here). DirecTV puts those customers into different categories to figure out who's valuable and who's not, and it's going after the valuable ones.
"We developed in the last couple of years a much more sophisticated customer segmentation set of tools that are unique to us," he said.
Does that seem the tiniest bit creepy to you? I know companies do this kind of demographic research all the time, but I'm always surprised to hear about how thorough they are.
Another mark of a "quality" subscriber is that he (or she) won't quit, and in that respect DirecTV is doing something right: Monthly churn has hit an eight-year low of 1.42% -- a desirable number for any subscription service.
The flip side of this focus, of course, is that DirecTV is steering clear of subscribers it has deemed less than desirable. It's mainly doing this with two policies: requiring that customers have a credit card and that they commit for 18 months (up from 12 months).
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.moneycentral.msn.com ...
Yes, that's they way they are mounted here. Because of trees and powerlines, mine had to be done that way. Apartments and townhomes and many rental properties and condos will not allow attachment to the building, poles only. Many HOAs will not allow them to be visible from the street, backyards only.............
bttt
I’m in an outlying area so they’re slow to fix problems. The other thing I don’t like is that they don’t provide the Speed channel or SciFi channel in my area.
I have that same problem. The dish was set up by the DTV folks, Normally the signal is very strong, in the 90’s.
But about once a week a channel, usually just one or two, will go out for awhile.
Anyway... at that point I just gave up: we will keep the equipment we have until Verizon runs fiber to our door, at which point we will dump both DTV and our (unreliable) Comcast cable modem service.
Meanwhile CEO Chase Carey is doing OK: 2 million in salary and a 3.5 million "performance" bonus:
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/12/EASD.html
and who knows how much more he would be worth if his "performance" included managing his company well enough so that it was able to take a credit card payment over the phone?
I had to mount it on a post at my last house as well. I used an 8 foot 4X4, cemented it 3 feet deep in the ground and attached it with serious lag bolts. Had no problems.
You may be able to solve your issues if you have the option of shoring up the post.
Did you fill out a change of address with the post office when you moved? They are supposed to forward mail for 12 months if you did. I usually fill out the form again 12 months after moving to make sure I get any mail sent to the old address for 24 months.
Sounds like they automatically restarted you service after 6 months, something I think they do if you lease the equipment and it has not been returned. Do you own your receivers or did you lease them?
Even if you leased them they should have given you instruction on returning them when you stopped the service. When you cancelled if you told them to suspend service they may have assumed you were going to reactivate in the future.
No matter what, that was awful customer service by DTV.
Not quite true. I can’t speak for other companies, but Dish Network typically has campaigns giving away the equipment or selling it very cheaply if the customer commits to a certain amount of time (usually at least a year). They do this for current customers, too, not just new ones. I just got a brand spanking new DVR that does almost everything but dry the dishes and change the cat litter, professionally installed, for $75.
No, they do make these offers with hi-def. If you’re really interested, check again, might be better to call their 1-800 number and talk to a real person.
This is a common misconception about cable. You would not save money by eliminating these channels. Your bill would actually go up. The cable company is paid by the low volume channels to carry them. This helps to lower the cost of the must carry channels. That is why the basic service is loaded up with these channels. More households, more money to the cable company. Hi demand channels like ESPN charge the cable company, so they are in a higher price tier.
Just be glad you don’t have Charter. Easily the most inept company I’ve ever dealt with.
I think that here they require them to be on metal poles, for grounding / safety purposes. I used the “signal strength meter” display on the DirecTV box and got it in the 95% area. But, still, every time it rains, “Searching for satellite signal.............” comes on.
Quite a few companies have figured out that some customers cost too much money. This is particularly true of companies like DirectTV, which have to make a cash outlay up front, in terms of service calls and equipment, and count on longer term contracts to create their profit. There is another active thread about people who "wardrobe" products, buying large screen tv's for the Super Bowl and then returning them, LCD projectors for one presentation, etc. A few months ago, there was a thread about people who used the "satisfaction guaranteed" clause at several hotel chains to get free rooms. The hotels ended up with a choice: either eliminate the clause, or eliminate the people who used it on a regular basis simply to get free rooms. In those instances, they would refund the money, but notify the customer that it was obvious their hotel chain was not able to meet their satisfaction needs, and that they would no longer accept reservations from them.
Computer tracking of customer profiles is making it much harder for the guys who want "something for nothing," and also for the people who use their purchasing power as a way to take out their frustrations on the world in general.
I live in Florida, where storms are frequent. I lose signal for perhaps five minutes when a storm front passes over. Rain itself has little or no effect. I would estimate I've lost a cumulative total of two hours service in ten years. I lost days at a time with cable.
All in all, I'm happier with DirecTV than with any other product or service I've had in the past ten years.
I'd probably say the same thing about Dish, if I had it.
I'm not alone. Consumer Reports reader surveys put DTV ahead of every TV service other than Verizon fiber optic cable.
So true. Plus, I'm weeding out the creepy companies that I do business with. They must actually deliver what they claim which doesn't include DirecTV.
We have COX fiber optic cable, but it’s “fuzzy” pictures compared to DirecTV..............
Our main problem—squirrels who think of a satellite dish as a fun place to play. It happens maybe a couple times a week, and only lasts a few seconds.
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