DirecTV Redeux

After a call to the office of the president of DirecTV I thought I at least had HD service properly ordered. I didn't get nearly as much back as I'd hoped, and I can't say that I blame them - I was dumb enough to have already spent the money ordering HD receivers and service.

However this next chapter may well take the cake.

My tenant mentioned to me that a couple HD channels which had worked before no longer come up, and instead there's a message to call customer service. Unhappy with the prospect of talking to DirecTV customer service again, I reluctantly placed the call. I've made it personal policy to ask for a supervisor immediately rather than waste my time talking to the person who answers the phone, and here's what "resolution specialist" Jerry had to say...

The reason these channels (there are 5 total) have not been coming up is that those 5 are being removed from the Total choice package. They are not offered in standard definition, so the "channel providers" decided to charge additional fees for access to those particular channels, above and beyond the "normal" $10/month HD service. In order to receive those 5 channels, an upgraded HD service package would have to be purchased for an additional $5/month.

When I subscribed to the HD service, they indicated that the number of HD channels available would increase, not decrease. I asked what channels have been added lately (or will be added soon)... Jerry told me that my package consists of 33 HD channels not including the 5 that were just removed, and not including the HD channels in the Starz/Showtime package I also subscribe to. He also indicated that 2 more will be added next month - which I believe means 2 more standard definition channels I already receive and can watch will be available in HD as well.

So the number of channels I can watch, not just in HD but total, is being reduced unless I pay more money. I think it's time to place another call to the office of the president.