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Readers have reported that this story contains information that may not be accurate.111 Comments
- DoctorWhohaa, on 10/12/2007, -4/+75They were fired for refusing to lie to the customers. Please, submit accurate headlines.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+46Actually it sounds like they were fired for whistle blowing. But yeah, my headline sucks.
- Alphabet, on 10/12/2007, -5/+19@fsmirtz
not only does your headline suck, it's also entirely inaccurate. It now sounds like the employees were the bad guy, and the company is the good guy. - CornStarch, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14bojoes: "There is a RASON why you can't edit submissions. Because that way someone could get several diggs and then change the title/description to be one much different from the original description that got the initial diggs."
Thank you professor. I was just one step away from dedicating my life to answer that momentous enigma, but you saved me the trouble. Again, thank you. - ogletree, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10You mean you can use them without a phone line. I was told it would not work without one.
- CornStarch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9lol yeah that probably would have been a good idea.
- kickmenow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9"It's not a lie to say that DirecTV requires analog POTS phone lines to be connected to all receivers at all times"
Yes, it IS a lie to say that. I don't know about your contract, but mine does NOT require me to have the phone connected. Having it connected is required for certain aspects of the service, such as set-top-box-ordered-PPV and software upgrades. But as a DirecTV customer, I am free to opt out of those services if I choose. - orabox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Anyone ever see any write up on the DirectTV “Phone Home” process. (Dialed number, handshake, authentication, etc)
I would think It must be possible to spoof the process and give DirectTV an all clear with another device then they feel better about life. - darthrsg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Directv lies about their High Definition as well. It is not true HD, but, HD-Lite.
- wisewaif, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I used to work for Directv when they first launched. The reason they want you to hook up your phone line is that a flaw in their system allows you to buy premium content, and not be charged for it.
This cuts off after awhile, but basically if you get a new Directv box, you can order a fight or movies, and as long as you don't connect your box to a phone line, you will never be charged.
I never hook mine up to a phone line, mainly because I don't want Tivo or them perusing or using what I watch. - rot97, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I've had direct tv for a few years now and the installer really wanted me to hook it up to a phone line, but i declined multiple times and I haven't needed one at all. No change in service and no additional phone bills for unwanted direct tv mail/charges.
- Reliant, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6All I know is that on the receivers I had if you had purchased more than 3 movies online and watched them, you had to wait for it to "call home" at midnight for it to "reset" itself. Also everytime I called in with a tech problem, which there were a few, they would not bother to help me until I told them I was paying for the 4.95 a month service protection fee. That is my personal experience, those who had better I'm happy for you, I switched back to cable!
- wulfflower, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6From the story their policy was to tell you that it was needed. I don't know how DirectTV works so I'm wondering why would they say that a phoneline is needed? Is it so people can pay for PPV?
- canadianguy33, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Shame on them!
- mattyG, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Where does it say they were fired for refusing to lie...
""Speaking out to Local 6 has apparently cost these DirectTV installers their jobs," Alvarez said." - Yonkers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The point is not that DirecTV is trying to increase their revenue, but that they are lying to their customers to do so. It's one thing to tell the customer that they won't be able to order PPV without a phone line and another thing to say that their service won't work without it. And forcing their installers to lie to the customers makes it worse.
- Cronus6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I wonder how DirectTV feels about customers that have no land line at all?
I ditched land line phone service years ago opting to go "cell phone only".
With more and more people adopting cell only service (frankly it's just down right silly to have 2 phone bills) they have had to run into this "problem" once or twice. - Yankees368, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Your opinion is correct, but only applies to Adelphia. Adelphia is a terrible company, that is why they are bankrupt and being bought out by Time Warner/Comcast
- Vanadium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I've experienced this first hand. I don't have a land-line in my house, only VoIP. My Tivo doesn't work over my VoIP connection so it can't make the daily calls. When the installer was out he actually had a waiver that both he and I had to sign saying that I would hook my Tivo up to a land line. Then, when activating the service, the call center rep also made me confirm that the tivo was connected to a land line.
Technically speaking, there is no reason for this because all of the Tivo data is sent over the sat connection and not the phone line. Because the Tivo gives you "nag" messages on a daily basis if it hasn't made it's daily call I was forced to hack my DirecTivo to get rid of them (and add a bigger HD while I was at it).
For being a wireless service it is extremely frustrating that they "require" you to depend on a terrestrial connection. Too bad they are the only provider to offer HDTV in my area. - finker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@wulfflower,
I have four DirecTV receivers in my house. None are connected to a phone line simply because I no longer have a land-line. Well, even when I did have a land-line, I still didn't connect them--that's besides the point.
However, you hit the nail on the head (as far as I know, anyways), the phone line is just for ordering PPV from the receiver. However, last time I checked it was possible to order PPV movies and events online and even by calling them. That sort of defeats the purpose of the phone line to begin with. Then again, there must be more to it than that or they wouldn't be hacking $5 off people's paychecks... - SirCharge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Its a pretty shady business practice. DirecTV was next to forcing their employees to lie to the customer by deducting from their pay if they didn't hard sell an unnecessary feature. Then they fired the people who (wisely) complained. Doesn't say much for DirecTV's desire to treat their customer fairly, much less their employees.
- threemagic, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10I'll take the minus diggs to say...
THANK GOD I HAVE DISH NETWORK...and I love it! - DWatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It looks like the installation company (Mastec) gets extra revenue by charging to install phone lines to rooms where receivers are, or by selling a wireless phone adapter to the customer. The tech's failure to up-sell the customer is resulting in the 5 dollar dock in pay. This is probably not legal, unless the install techs had to sign a contract that states this policy, and if they did, why are they complaining. Its a requirement of their job. What Mastec should have done was put into place a bonus system for every successful up-sell. Give the tech an extra 5 bucks for each receiver hooked up, not the other way around.
- basementoffice, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Good job searching but you might want to try READING before you post.
"Your receiver must always be directly connected to a land-based telephone line to receive certain Service, such as sports subscriptions and your local regional sports services network, and to be authorized to order with your remote control. If it is not so connected, or if it is connected to a line other than the one you tell us, or if the line is not performing according to our requirements, we may deactivate the applicable Service."
Note the "TO RECEIVE CERTAIN SERVICE" statement. That means you don't have to have the phone connected unless you want to ensure you get those particular services. If you don't connect the phone line then they can "DEACTIVATE THE APPLICABLE SERVICE" but this does not mean they can deactivate ALL services provided to you! That is how you can order up to 3 movies with your remote and not have the phone line connected, but be limited to only those 3 orders until a phone connection is established. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I have actually ordered PPV movies without the phone line connected before. The charge for the movies did not show up on my bill until after the phone line was reconnected, sometimes *months* later. This was a little over a year ago, they may have changed their policies since then. If things still work this way, I'd say that's a pretty good reason to lie to people about needing a land line connection.
- sl4x0r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4wow, it never ceases to amaze me how EAGERLY some people join the corporate rank and file.
- sbostedor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3When we signed up for Dish Network, the installer said the same thing! He said that if we didn't hook it up to a phone line, we would get an extra charge on the bill until we do. I didn't hook up a phone line to it until a couple months after the installation but I never saw any extra charges on my bill.
Probably the same scam. - ensellitis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I actually work for Dish Network. We charge $5/mo for not having a phone line attached, and we tell the customer that outright, or are suppose to. Nothing happens to our paycheck for it. And we don't get fired for not hooking a phone line up, unless we don't do it on a regular basis if there is a wall jack near by.
Either way, there are several reasons why phone lines are required to not be charged $5. First and foremost, it is fraud protection. Every month, or sooner, the receiver dials out at around 3am, and tells the company that the receiver is at your house and you are not stacking receivers (by stacking, I mean having 2 receivers on your account, and having one at a friends house), and it tells them if you ordered any movies/channels that it needs to bill you for. Another reason, is of course, pay per view. It makes ordering movies easier, thus people are more likely to order them.
I know I kinda repeated what Lost Cluster said in his comment:
http://www.digg.com/technology/Nearly_40_DirectTV_Techs_Fired_After_Lies_To_Customers#c1638849
But I just wanted to clarify it is true coming from an installers mouth, and like he said, they could make it where receivers don't work without one. But that would be a horrible idea, I have done several installations out here in Missouri where the customer was only using cell phones. I am not sure about Direct, but I know Dish Network is suppose to ask if you have a phone line available when you are first ordering the service. - VorpalK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3See... first time I hear that crap, I tell the installer "***** off, take this ***** and get out of my apartment, I'll get cable."
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3it is true, someone i know works for them and was told to tell the customers that , they want the phone line connected so they can check your card
- ..eD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3A long time ago (6+ years), a friend of mine did not plug his receiver into the phone line and ordered PPV all the time. Then one day it just wouldn't let him order any more. He figured the memory in the unit filled up. He figured if he plugged in the phone line, he would get a huge PPV bill the next month. I think he ended up getting a new receiver.
- SwK386, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3DirecTV Works with or without the phone line. I used to be a DirecTV Installer. The funny thing is (admittedly this was a while back) the way DirecTV Activations Call Center would have the installed do a "Modem Test" from the setup menu and Listen for the Line Click. The modem is used for a variety of things, Market Research (yes it can be used for ratings research, and Auth of PPV Purchases. IF the system thinks it has a Modem (this is a provisioning flag) and it doesnt you can actually order a few movies and you will not be billed until the modem calls in an reports it, the down side is, you can only order 1 or 2 PPVs this way and the box will lock.
So does DTV want you have the modem hooked up? yes they do... is it required NO, should they get off their asses and just provide them with 802.11 or Ethernet connections, Yes but it still should be optional wether you the customer activate it or not....
Note: At one time DTV DID charge the consumer an extra fee for rcvrs that were not plugged into a phone line for some percieved thing that you might not be ordering PPV or would cost them 32cents of extra labor from their call center if you used the 800 number to order PPV... - verynifty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I was told the same thing by the DirecTV sales guy(800 number). I ended up on the line with a tech rep because I was asking questions that the sales guy couldn't answer. He informed me that the new DVR boxes being shipped(R15 is the model number I think) did not require a phone line. I got one and sure enough... no phone line needed.
- gamerzworld, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This is not a problem with DirecTV its the contractors/retailers that install the dish,box,etc...
- RableRableSnarf, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Yeah, the headline is a bit inaccurate, but honestly, give him a break, any retard who reads the story can easily tell what's going on.
- samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2At least Digital DirecTV is all digital (and yeah, the compression is bad at times, but still better than cable). "Digital" cable is a hodgepodge of crappy digital signals and even crappier analogue signals. My DirecTV looks TONS better than my friends' "digital" cable.
- Nighthawke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@catkiller; Bad way to go about that dude. What you do is get in touch with a local satellite installer and buy a receiver from him on the cheap. Then go and swap the units out and call DTV. Tell'em that you are doing a receiver replacement and card repair. The agent on the other end will get the idea and help you through the swapout.
- geoboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I have to agree that the Dish Network service is much better than DirecTV. The only thing DirecTV was superior at was signal strength. My Dish Network signal is finicky as hell. Sometimes all it takes is the right kind of cloud to pass over and the signal skips or is lost entirely until it passes. My DirecTV only lost signal during heavy storms. I usually don't mind that, though. It's nice to take a break from TV once in a while and watch a thunderstorm.
Much better to deal with that, though, than giving any of my money to Comcast. - sbostedor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I was never charged any extra money for not having it hooked up and even if I do in the future, I'll cancel. That's a scam
- ensellitis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There are several occasions in which they will give a grace period for it. If the installer closes the work order with a note saying that there was no line within 25ft, they will give 3 months, but only from time to time. In my house, I don't have phone lines at all, and I do get charged the $5 a month
- ryancowardin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have 3 receivers for DirecTV and none of them are connected to a phone line and they all work just fine without that. At the time of installation (and a few times after) they tried to talk us into hooking them up to phone lines stating how convenient it makes ordering pay-per-view. And that is why it's important to them I believe. It's less hassle to order a movie from your remote than to have to call or go online, therefore I'm willing to bet they gain more income from pay-per-view ordered via the remote control than from the Internet or calling in orders.
As a side-note, I pay an extra $5 per additional receiver. Purely out of curiosity recently when I was discussing an unrelated problem with one of their customer service reps, I asked if since I have been a customer for going on 4 years and they are now offering 4 or 5 receivers with their dish and installation, if they would deduct that $5 per receiver as a way of saying I was a valuable customer to them. I was quite surprised when the rep, without even having to consult a manager, agreed. I now get a $10 deduction per month for the extra receivers I use for the next 12 (now 10) months. Not a huge victory, but it will save me $120 this year on my bill.
Having read this article, I guess I now know where they are getting the $5 to cover my additional receivers :( - VorpalK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Tough ***** for them. They need to fix their system, not lie to customers. I hope the lawsuit that's coming from their unlawful termination of employees that refused to comprimise their ethics (and yes I know it's through a contractor, I Live in Orlando, I saw it on the news) ***** destroys them.
- samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You CAN remove the channels you don't want to see from the guide. At least it was possible with my Sony receiver and is possible with my DirecTiVo. Scan through the user manual. There should be something in there about it.
- samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"They need to fix their system..."
It's probably not that simple. Since the satellite connection is one way, other than forcing people to order stuff call to order PPV or do it online, I'm not sure they have a choice but to utilize the POTS system (in most cases). Now, they could add ethernet capability out of the box, but that would only address people that have broadband. - Cronus6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2So they are expecting me to pay not only my "dish" bill but an extra phone bill (I view a land line as "extra" as 1 line, a cell account, is all you really need) just to have service?
That adds up to a bill for dish, 2 phone bills, and a cable bill (for cable modem because dish 'net access is total garbage)... no I think not.
@ d0gp00p: Dishes are mounted outside of peoples homes and are ridiculously easy to steal, once you swipe one all you need is the box... - OriginalOG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Comcast sux about as bad. Live in S. Florida and see what you get. they've billed everyone I know for the hurricane days because "U didn't notify us that your service was out"....sure 98% of S. Florida was without POWER after Wilma. Then it took some people 1.5 months to get their service back, yet someone they were still billed at least 2-3 weeks during this period. I had Time Warner when I lived in S. Carolina...it was descent but not stellar.
So my opinion is based on at least 3 cable companies. What kills me is my bill goes up every year, I pay more for taxes on these services, yet my level of service decreases EVERY year. But no worries, the CEO's and Legislators are making their money so I feel nice an warm inside that I can contribute to that. BTW: Not having cable isn't an option either (in most cases here, you can't get highspeed internet w/o subscribing to some cable service) - eatrains, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I know at least part of the phone line's function is to pay for PPV from the TV. Otherwise you have to call DirecTV. I don't know what other uses it may have.
- samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have no way of knowing, of course, but this may have been a bit of a misunderstanding (I wouldn't count on it given DTV's actions of late, but I digress). What if installers were getting a bonus for installing the phone equipment mentioned (extra outlets, power to phone adapters, etc...). This could be interpreted by some employees as getting docked if they didn't do so. Not sure, but it's possible.
- ensellitis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@d0gp00p- Do a quick ebay search. You can also buy dishes/LNBs at your local radioshack, garage sales, and many other places. When you cancel, you keep the dish, so many people just sell them.
@Cronus6- Trust me, I think it is one of the stupidest idea they have ever come up with. I know maybe 3 people with a landline. Landlines are quickly going the way of Beta, VHS, and good drivers. If you yell at customer service enough and talk to enough managers, you can have it taken off. - samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually, I'd imagine that MOST people just take DTV's word for it that the receiver must be connected to a phone line. Unless you don't have a phone line near by, I'm not sure what the big deal is, anyway. But still, Joe/Jane Sixpack probably don't even give it a second thought when they connect the phone line.
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