[ale] Subject line: Refer-A-Friend for DIRECTV DSL(tm) and get $50! (fwd)

[Jeff Hubbs]

John Mills wrote:

> Hi Jeff -
> 
> On Fri, 26 Apr 2002, Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> 
> 
>>WHEN PIGS FLY!!!!!
>>
>>In November '01, my DirecTV service up and died.  Just died.  No 
>>carrier; nothing.  It never returned.  I called every day, at least once 
>>a day for about two weeks.  It seemed that Bellsouth, if they were 
>>actually getting the message to do a repair (which was never actually 
>>proven to me), simply did nothing.  Bellsouth, for their part, wouldn't 
>>even talk to me about it as I wasn't a Bellsouth FastAccess DSL 
>>customer.  As I finally told a higher-level DirecTV rep after she whined 
>>that they weren't responsible for what BS did or didn't do, I told her 
>>that I did hold DirecTV responsible for managing (mismanaging?) their 
>>relationship with BS.
>>
> 
> Sounds pretty terrible, and I would sure feel as you do, but other folks
> on this list have had better luck, too.
> 
> I would say DIRECTV is indeed responsible for the services they resell
> (including BS participation), but BS is out to kill them (and all their
> competitors) which means BS shenanigans are truly beyond DIRECTV's
> control. Not a happy mix, but not unique to DIRECTV.
> 
>  - John Mills
> 
> 
> 

I don't disagree.  I was a pretty happy camper too (not as much as I was 
when I was yanking down 1.3Kb/s from ftp.twoguys.org) until I had a 
carrier loss.  I figured that any DirecTV customer was as liable as me 
to get the kind of (non)treatment that I got and that that liability 
would not leave me IF I switched to ANY OTHER DSL provider save BS, 
which by that time I was in no mood to do (saved myself having to work 
out PPPoE besides).

But, DTV did a right crappy job of interacting with me about my problem. 
    Every time I called, I had to get through this "what are your lights 
doing" and "power-cycle your modem" crap, even two weeks in when it was 
CLEAR to all but the stupidest techs in the universe that there was 
simply no DSL service at my house any more.  Then, they swept me under 
the rug.  I'm quite certain that they would have happily let me pay them 
every month forever with no service at all and a perpetually open ticket.

Let's face it - when the last-mile provider is also a DSL carrier, there 
had might as well be no other DSL carriers because the last-mile 
provider is in a 900-lb. gorilla position.

DSL, IMHO, is doomed because of this.

- Jeff


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