WV23 Supporters
Find superb Cubs tickets for the 2010 season from OnlineSeats and enjoy a day game at Wrigley Field. Also look for other MLB baseball games, like division rival Cardinals tickets for Busch Stadium and Brewers seats for Miller Park.
Find the biggest selection of MLB Memorabilia on the web.
Catch all the fun in person! Getting Toyota Center Tickets, Reliant Stadium Tickets, Reliant Arena Tickets, Houston Rockets Tickets, Houston Aeros Tickets, Houston Dynamos Tickets, Houston Texans Tickets, Houston Astros Tickets, was never easier, Visit Myticketin.com for last minute deals and unbeatable prices.
Experience the real world auto shopping, try the Cars configurator at PSCars.com, research, compare and buy New Cars or Used Cars and get quote for a New Honda, New Ford, New Toyota, New Chevrolet, New Nissan, New Audi, New Jeep or a New BMW.
|
|
Written by wrigleyville
|
|
Saturday, 24 February 2007 |
|
I haven’t had anything to say on the apparently still imminent $700 million Extra Innings-DirecTV deal because, well, I have DirecTV and it didn’t have any impact on my life.
Until this week.
DirecTV installed a HD DVR at the house in mid-December, allowing us to record our favorite programs – such as The Office, How I Met Your Mother and reruns of The Match Game – and watch them over and over again as a happy family. As an added bonus, the DVR is supposed to allow us to watch one channel while recording another.
Except I couldn’t ever figure out how to get it to do that. Finally, on February 15, I wanted to watch the IU-Purdue game while taping The Office. It wouldn’t work. So I called DirecTV and after much hold music and talking to a computer (which I hate), I got to talk to a real live person. Working together, we figured out the DirecTV technicians had not installed the second line into the DVR, which would allow me to watch one program while taping another.
So, I had to set up an appointment for February 19 (between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. – you can’t narrow that down a little? Really??) for another technician to come out and install it.
The big day arrives, the guy gets here, looks at my backyard and says he didn’t know he had to install wires and get up on the roof. Plus, he says, there is ice in the backyard, so he can’t use a ladder there, though there wasn’t any on the deck – which is how previous technicians had gotten up on the roof.
Anyway, he refuses to fix it, forcing me to spend another half-hour on the phone with DirecTV to set up an appointment for Saturday the 24th (between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.).
The big day gets here (again), the guy goes out back, looks at the problem and says he didn’t realize he had to install wires and get up on my roof, he has eight houses still to visit and he won’t be able to do the installation today.
He adds, “I never blow off jobs like this.”
To which I reply, “I appreciate you starting with me.”
He promises his dispatcher would call as soon as he left to set up another appointment. We’re still waiting eight hours later.
So, I call DirecTV again, explain what happened and ask what they are going to do to compensate me for three installation jobs either done incorrectly or not at all. After much hemming and hawing, the lady tells me she can pay me back for the DVR service for the last two and a half months.
“How much is that?” I ask.
“$5.98 a month,” she says.
“So … 12 hours out of my life and two and a half months of shoddy service is worth $17.94?”
“That’s all I can do,” she says. “There’s no way I can do anything more.”
I ask to speak to a supervisor. She says OK, comes back six minutes later and says she can give me a $100 credit, which only serves to annoy me further because six minutes earlier she told me there was nothing more they could do.
I take the $100, but remind her I had asked to speak to her supervisor. She puts me on hold for another four minutes, comes back and says her supervisor will call me within 15-20 minutes.
That was 7 hours and 45 minutes ago. We are still waiting.
Meanwhile, since I hadn’t heard back from the local dispatcher, I ask them to set up an installation time for me. She transfers me to the installation folks, who were very, very helpful (and gave me another credit for missed appointments).
They called the local dispatcher, who left them (and, by extension, me) on hold for 15 minutes before telling the helpful DirecTV lady that they could get someone out there tonight or first thing in the morning – if I called the local dispatcher.
So, I did. After being on hold for another 15 minutes, I was told that they couldn’t get anyone out to see me until Thursday, which is neither this evening or tomorrow morning.
I asked “why?” and was told that it was because they were busy helping other customers. Oh.
So, long story long, they promise to come out next Saturday between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to install it. Really. Honest.
In a rational world, I would have cancelled my DirecTV service and called Comcast after Monday – or when the technician basically told me today he has helped every customer ever, until he got to my house.
But now Major League Baseball – in all of Bud’s wisdom – is about to give the Extra Innings package solely to DirecTV, in an attempt to build interest in their mlb.tv offerings.
The Extra Innings package is very important in the Wrigleyville household, as we live in the Washington, D.C. area and WGN no longer covers Cubs games. It is a necessity, unless we only want to see Cubs games every second Sunday and a handful of games on West Coast swings.
Therefore, due to Major League Baseball’s anti-competitive practices, I have lost any and all leverage to exercise the power of the market over DirecTV.
I never thought I’d say this, but I hope John Kerry sticks it to them. And good.Labels: Chicago Cubs, DirecTV
|
|
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 