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1 Message

Tuesday, November 14th, 2023 7:51 PM

Were we suckers?

About a month ago, we received an unsolicited visit from a DISH rep, informing us that ATT sold Direct and all Direct customers would have to find alternative provider (DISH). We had Direct for many years and 2021 moved states and dropped Direct. Now we are settled in our new home and signed up with Direct,starting a new 2 year contract in Nov 2022. So we signed up with DISH the day of the visit, day of install cancelled Direct($299).  Were we played for suckers? We could have stayed with Direct?Has this happened to anyone else?  I feel this was blatant deception on the part of DISH?

ACE - Sage

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46.4K Messages

1 year ago

Sadly, that was a scam. If it was an honest Dish Network promotion they would have paid your DirecTV termination fees. 

ACE - New Member

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1.6K Messages

1 year ago

AT&T did sell 30% of Directv to TPG and they are taking care of the day-to-day operations of Directv for AT&T.  But they have never turned away customers and I do not see them going away anytime soon other than to shift their focus to more of a stream-based TV service than Sattelite.  But Sat. service is still offered as an option.  Also, large TV services tend to not solicit door-to-door, they also do not do cold calls either as this would be an easy way to scam people.  Hence the predicament that you are in right now.   If the person was truly a Dish rep your cancellation fee would have been paid by Dish.

ACE - Expert

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22.9K Messages

1 year ago

@ohnotme5555 

AT&T sold off 30% of DirecTV to a new co-owner. That just means a new company is managing DirecTV, and while AT&T is mainly hands-off they remain the primary owner.

So that salesman told you a big lie. The culture of door-to-door salespeople hasn't changed in the last two-hundred years. They will say anything to make a sale. And with many companies they are 3rd party resellers, so not employed by the company they are selling for.

Always verify what a salesperson, especially an unsolicited one, tells you. Chalk the financial loss as a life-lesson.

1 Message

2 months ago

I was contacted by a sales agent who said she worked for Direct Tv. We were told that our current setup with Dish Direct was being canceled as Direct TV purchased them, and that we had no choice but to change to Direct TV. 

Now we are looking at a large bill to cancel our Dish Direct contract, and find that the sale fell through last November (2024). 

We are so mad we can just spit, and are looking for some way to restore our original Dish service that is FAR Superior to the ancient looking and feeling technology that Direct TV has. The only thing they have that is better is that they now use a wireless modem to go to all the units. But since I have all the wiring in place already that doesn't bother me either way. 

Don't fall for this. The merger fell through!  

ACE - Expert

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22.9K Messages

2 months ago

@x2hammerhead 

Yes the acquisition fell through. Unknown if they are going to try again. With streaming options, having the two big satellite providers come together is not quite the monopoly it used to be but there are still challenges.

Historically when any of these companies acquire another, your existing setup does not get canceled. Normally you go into a legacy status which can update what options you have going forward, but not shutting down what you currently have.

Even if the acquisition hadn't fallen through, you were greatly mislead by that sales agent. I would submit a BBB complaint on the 3rd party reseller they work for.

Side note: The wireless video bridge (WVB), whether an external one or internal of the Genie-2 (HS17, only model with WVB built-in) is not a modem as it is not from your internet service provider (ISP) to pull in your internet. Just mentioning so if you have questions or need technical help in the future you have the correct term.


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