# So tonite I get a call...



## SteveHas (Feb 7, 2007)

So tonite when I get home the phone rings, caller ID says its a "800 service".
"Who is this?" I think.
The other end of the phone is a polite young man who says he is calling from DirecTV technical support.
He says that my Family Room receiver has been reporting lower signal strength than they like for some time now. They would like to have me try some things and if they don't work they would send out a free service call.
At this point I start grilling this kid.
"Who are you?, and where are you calling from?"
Still incredulous and thinking this is some kind of scam, I start trying to stump him with real tough questions.
"Whats my account number?" (I haven't a clue what what it is)
"What model box is in my living room?" (This I know like my kids birthdays)
Damn, he passes all of my tests, he must be legit!
So I ask him again what is calling for?
Long story short he has me test some signal strengths to confirm what they see.
So what we have here is my satellite company is calling me because they don't like the quality of my signal and they want to come out and make it all better free of charge WITH A 90 day WARRANTY!
I'VE NEVER NOTICED A THING! 
I AM THRILLED OUT OF MY MIND!
HONESTLY...
WHO DOES THIS!
THEY ARE FIXING A PROBLEM THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN YET!
FIND ME A CABLE COMPANY THAT DOES THAT!
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
I LOVE DIRECTV AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!


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## mtnsackett (Aug 22, 2007)

this is NOT a Directv number this is a scam don't let them in your home. if directv were to call you it will show and 800 531 5000. and directv dosen't keep track of signal strength Nor do they make outbound calls for service or marketing. I urge you to call directv and see if they have the a scheduled service call in the system.


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

mtnsackett said:


> this is NOT a Directv number this is a scam don't let them in your home. if directv were to call you it will show and 800 531 5000. and directv dosen't keep track of signal strength Nor do they make outbound calls for service or marketing. I urge you to call directv and see if they have the a scheduled service call in the system.


you are wrong.


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

mtnsackett said:


> this is NOT a Directv number this is a scam don't let them in your home. if directv were to call you it will show and 800 531 5000. and directv dosen't keep track of signal strength Nor do they make outbound calls for service or marketing. I urge you to call directv and see if they have the a scheduled service call in the system.


You couldn't be more wrong.

DirecTv does monitor the STB (set top box) health via the phone/internet connection. They do in fact make pre-emptive calls to correct signal issues before they become an outage. There is normally no charge for this service call.


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## cdizzy (Jul 29, 2007)

David MacLeod said:


> you are wrong.


That's what I think because I have seen other people post about the same thing happening to them.


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## SteveHas (Feb 7, 2007)

mtnsackett said:


> this is NOT a Directv number this is a scam don't let them in your home. if directv were to call you it will show and 800 531 5000. and directv dosen't keep track of signal strength Nor do they make outbound calls for service or marketing. I urge you to call directv and see if they have the a scheduled service call in the system.


that is the number, and they did have all the proper id info
this is by all accounts legit.
Who else would have my;
account number, 
box id #,
etc.
this is real, and customer service the way it should be in this day and age


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## mtnsackett (Aug 22, 2007)

Caller Type: Debt Collector 
Phone Number Report: They are trying to get your social security number and they are telling you that you have a balance of $1000 on a Mastercard. They tell you that the account was open in 2002 and that there's a balance on it. They push for your address, ssn, and a date of birth. They woman that calls introduces herself as Amanda. She hangs up when you tell her you are going to report her. There is also a guy that gets on the phone when she doesn't know what to say anymore. The guy is rude and doesn't want to give out his last name. The call 3-5 times a day. It's scary what kind of information they have on you.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

mtnsackett said:


> Caller Type: Debt Collector
> Phone Number Report: They are trying to get your social security number and they are telling you that you have a balance of $1000 on a Mastercard. They tell you that the account was open in 2002 and that there's a balance on it. They push for your address, ssn, and a date of birth. They woman that calls introduces herself as Amanda. She hangs up when you tell her you are going to report her. There is also a guy that gets on the phone when she doesn't know what to say anymore. The guy is rude and doesn't want to give out his last name. The call 3-5 times a day. It's scary what kind of information they have on you.


It's legit, DirecTV has been doing it for almost a year. The OP vetted the caller sufficiently and didn't give out any info.

Time to let it go.


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## SteveHas (Feb 7, 2007)

mtnsackett said:


> Caller Type: Debt Collector
> Phone Number Report: They are trying to get your social security number and they are telling you that you have a balance of $1000 on a Mastercard. They tell you that the account was open in 2002 and that there's a balance on it. They push for your address, ssn, and a date of birth. They woman that calls introduces herself as Amanda. She hangs up when you tell her you are going to report her. There is also a guy that gets on the phone when she doesn't know what to say anymore. The guy is rude and doesn't want to give out his last name. The call 3-5 times a day. It's scary what kind of information they have on you.


none of this happened, 
they never asked for my social, or address
and I never gave them either
so whats the scam here then??
they now know my signal strengths! (thats all I gave them)
oh god I'm doomed!


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## mtnsackett (Aug 22, 2007)

Unless they are outsourcing the calls it is not D* do a search on the number and read everything that comes up


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

mtnsackett said:


> Unless they are outsourcing the calls it is not D* do a search on the number and read everything that comes up


What number are you talking about? The OP said that the 531-5000 number is the one he got the call from.


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## SteveHas (Feb 7, 2007)

mtnsackett said:


> Unless they are outsourcing the calls it is not D* do a search on the number and read everything that comes up


let it go dude
I appreciate your concern, but trust me, I am no hay seed
my home number is unlisted, 
they got no info
I will be here
they even knew how to spell my last name!
they called from Denver
its legit!
how could they have id'd my box?


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

mtnsackett said:


> Unless they are outsourcing the calls it is not D* do a search on the number and read everything that comes up


Call 1-800-531-5000. I bet you 1 trillion dollars that the number goes to DirecTv.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)




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## SteveHas (Feb 7, 2007)

tcusta00 said:


>


LOL!
Sadly these days when a company does what they should like D*
its all too easy to scream foul


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## mtnsackett (Aug 22, 2007)

tcusta00 said:


> What number are you talking about? The OP said that the 531-5000 number is the one he got the call from.


actualy the OP posted that the number that called was 800 Service. I posted 800 531 5000. and policy is that if I was to setup a service call I would varify the address with the customer while setting up the service call.

I hope that you are all right but I have never heard of us calling a customer other then to remind them of, and verify a scheduled service call. and even then it comes up as 800 531 5000 not any other number.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

mtnsackett said:


> actualy the OP posted that the number that called was 800 Service. I posted 800 531 5000. and policy is that if I was to setup a service call I would varify the address with the customer while setting up the service call.
> 
> I hope that you are all right but I have never heard of us calling a customer other then to remind them of, and verify a scheduled service call. and even then it comes up as 800 531 5000 not any other number.


He replied to you and confirmed it was that number... read the thread again.


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## SteveHas (Feb 7, 2007)

tcusta00 said:


> He replied to you and confirmed it was that number... read the thread again.


my panasonic cordless phone reports the number as 
"800 service - 1-800-531-5000"


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

Watch out for:










and


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## HDTV_Duffus (May 25, 2008)

So, I have a follow up question I asked before with return no posts. 

I have only 1 of 4 receivers connected to internet/phone, I assume they will monitor that 1 and let me know if there is a problem and therefore no reason to try and connect the remaining boxes.... correct?

Also, is this only with the new D* receivers or do they monitor the older TiVO HD receivers as well?

Thanks in advance.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

mtnsackett said:


> I hope that you are all right but I have never heard of us calling a customer ...


It sounds like you might work for DirecTV. If you are a CSR, I would think it very probable that you would not be aware of other services/functions such as the one reported in this thread. DirecTV does in fact make pro-active calls based on receiver data reported either by phone or internet.


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

HDTV_Duffus said:


> So, I have a follow up question I asked before with return no posts.
> 
> I have only 1 of 4 receivers connected to internet/phone, I assume they will monitor that 1 and let me know if there is a problem and therefore no reason to try and connect the remaining boxes.... correct?
> 
> ...


I'm not aware of any monitoring of any pre-DirecTv branded receivers.

As for the other boxes, they can only monitor that one at this time, unless you are on a SWM system.


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## cohbraz (Nov 19, 2006)

RobertE said:


> Call 1-800-531-5000. I bet you 1 trillion dollars that the number goes to DirecTv.


As Seth Myers said, 1 trillion dollars _sounds_ like a lot, but remember, it's American dollars.


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## kokishin (Sep 30, 2006)

carl6 said:


> It sounds like you might work for DirecTV. If you are a CSR, I would think it very probable that you would not be aware of other services/functions such as the one reported in this thread. DirecTV does in fact make pro-active calls based on receiver data reported either by phone or internet.


Given it's Directv, it's probable that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.


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## dinotheo (Sep 22, 2006)

RobertE said:


> Watch out for:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## william8004 (Oct 6, 2006)

It's a trap!


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

mtnsackett said:


> I have never heard of us calling a customer other then to remind them of, and verify a scheduled service call.


As someone else mentioned, this has been going on for over a year. There's several reports of this happening on this forum. Get in the loop.


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## bdowell (Mar 4, 2003)

But are you sure that it wasn't a call to let you know that your vehicle's warranty is about to expire and this is your last chance to extend your coverage?

 

(Thankfully the FTC has been in the news for trying to sue those creton's out of business! Go! Go! FTC.)

Cool that the original poster (OP) here is getting a potential problem fixed quickly. Definitely nice to catch it before it starts affecting the TV viewing in the household. :up:


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

bdowell said:


> But are you sure that it wasn't a call to let you know that your vehicle's warranty is about to expire and this is your last chance to extend your coverage?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They are difficult to catch because they mask their caller id.


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## PicaKing (Oct 8, 2006)

mtnsackett said:


> actualy the OP posted that the number that called was 800 Service. I posted 800 531 5000. and policy is that if I was to setup a service call I would varify the address with the customer while setting up the service call.
> 
> I hope that you are all right but I have never heard of us calling a customer other then to remind them of, and verify a scheduled service call. and even then it comes up as 800 531 5000 not any other number.


 You sound like a typical uninformed Directv CSR that knows very little about the product or service.


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## cohbraz (Nov 19, 2006)

PicaKing said:


> You sound like a typical uninformed Directv CSR that knows very little about the product or service.


That's a little unfair to the CSR. In many cases, the CSR knows only what they are trained, and in many cases, their training does not cover all aspects of what the company does. The CSR position is one of the highest turnover positions in the industry, so new people are constantly coming in, therefore it is not possible for everyone to be trained in all aspects of he business.

Why should the CSR be trained about Direct tech suport calling customers? If the tech calls the customer, he can set up a service ticket. If the customer has to call Directv back, the CSR can look and see that a service ticket has been created.


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## dlt4 (Oct 4, 2006)

My wife also got a strange call yesterday, supposedly from D*. On Thursday I scheduled a service call for next Monday to get a pixelization problem solved. Yesterday my wife got a call from an 800 number that was a recording. It said it was D* calling to inform us that they are aware of the problem in our area and they have been working on it. It than asked for a reply of yes, no, or reschedule. My wife answered yes, and the response said they'll keep the appointment.

What struck me as strange was the comment about working on a problem in our area, which sounds like something you might hear from a cable company, but not D*. Very strange!


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## DiSH Defector (May 4, 2008)

PicaKing said:


> You sound like a typical uninformed Directv CSR that knows very little about the product or service.





kokishin said:


> Given it's Directv, it's probable that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.


Wow, you guys are hilarious. Do you know in detail what every department in YOUR Fortune 500 company does? I bet yours has offices in over a dozen domestic cities and you know the name and function of every dapartment in each of those cities, huh?


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## Downset (Jun 3, 2008)

DTV does indeed have an outbound team that monitors recvrs sending back information regarding signal loss. They do exactly what the OP described. With no phone line or ethernet connection. The signal loss info cannot be reported.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

dlt4 said:


> My wife also got a strange call yesterday, supposedly from D*. On Thursday I scheduled a service call for next Monday to get a pixelization problem solved. Yesterday my wife got a call from an 800 number that was a recording. It said it was D* calling to inform us that they are aware of the problem in our area and they have been working on it. It than asked for a reply of yes, no, or reschedule. My wife answered yes, and the response said they'll keep the appointment.
> 
> What struck me as strange was the comment about working on a problem in our area, which sounds like something you might hear from a cable company, but not D*. Very strange!


Yeah, that one's a bit odd... there are no "area" problems with DirecTV that would require a service call... only thing that would affect an area or region would be your locals out for some reason, which isn't something that can be fixed with a service call. Unless there's one of these parked over your neighborhood (in keeping with the tenor of this thread): :lol:


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## dlt4 (Oct 4, 2006)

tcusta00 said:


> Yeah, that one's a bit odd... there are no "area" problems with DirecTV that would require a service call... only thing that would affect an area or region would be your locals out for some reason, which isn't something that can be fixed with a service call. Unless there's one of these parked over your neighborhood (in keeping with the tenor of this thread): :lol:


Now that you mention it, the locals were out one morning this past week. But since since I never called about that the call from D* still doesn't make sense.

BTW, haven't seen any of those saucers overhead.


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## kokishin (Sep 30, 2006)

DiSH Defector said:


> Wow, you guys are hilarious. Do you know in detail what every department in YOUR Fortune 500 company does? I bet yours has offices in over a dozen domestic cities and you know the name and function of every dapartment in each of those cities, huh?


I'm the CEO. I know everything. Careful or you'll have billing issues.


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## elaclair (Jun 18, 2004)

tcusta00 said:


> Yeah, that one's a bit odd... there are no "area" problems with DirecTV that would require a service call... only thing that would affect an area or region would be your locals out for some reason, which isn't something that can be fixed with a service call. Unless there's one of these parked over your neighborhood (in keeping with the tenor of this thread): :lol:


Since it was a recorded message (think of the word generic..) Is it possible that the "problem" was a lack of technicians to service the existing appointments?

Just trying to come up with a "legitimate" reason for the call.....


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## lee78221 (Sep 25, 2007)

kokishin said:


> I'm the CEO. I know everything. Careful or you'll have billing issues.


Then you need to shave your Mustache. That thing has always bugged me since the day I saw your pic.:lol::eek2:


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## Tallgntlmn (Jun 8, 2007)

Hmmmm, wonder if I could go out, barely knock my dish out of whack and get them to call me so I can get rid of my HR22 slug? LOL! I'm not gonna do that, just wondering aloud. I'd hate to bump it too hard and knock it out completely. Though all my favorite shows are about to end for the season.


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## kokishin (Sep 30, 2006)

lee78221 said:


> Then you need to shave your Mustache. That thing has always bugged me since the day I saw your pic.:lol::eek2:


Ladies LOVE it. Quite the tickler.


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## JLucPicard (Apr 27, 2004)

DiSH Defector said:


> Wow, you guys are hilarious. Do you know in detail what every department in YOUR Fortune 500 company does? I bet yours has offices in over a dozen domestic cities and you know the name and function of every dapartment in each of those cities, huh?


No, but I also don't go onto public message boards and warn people that if they get a phone call from a department of my company that's it's really not what it seemed and try to warn them that not only was that call not from my company, but what it really was is a phone call perpetraded on identity theft.


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## jared52 (Sep 24, 2007)

RobertE said:


> Watch out for:


Holy carp! Airwolf works for DirecTV now!? I need to get a service call!


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

dlt4 said:


> My wife also got a strange call yesterday, supposedly from D*. On Thursday I scheduled a service call for next Monday to get a pixelization problem solved. Yesterday my wife got a call from an 800 number that was a recording. It said it was D* calling to inform us that they are aware of the problem in our area and they have been working on it. It than asked for a reply of yes, no, or reschedule. My wife answered yes, and the response said they'll keep the appointment.
> 
> What struck me as strange was the comment about working on a problem in our area, which sounds like something you might hear from a cable company, but not D*. Very strange!


That wasn't actually DirecTV calling; it was the HSP (the big installation contractor) in your area calling to confirm your appointment. They have your job in their queue, and want to make sure that you're going to be there for it. Confirmed jobs will be given a higher priority during routing. Not all HSPs do this, but several are known to do so.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

RobertE said:


> Watch out for:


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## dlt4 (Oct 4, 2006)

BattleZone said:


> That wasn't actually DirecTV calling; it was the HSP (the big installation contractor) in your area calling to confirm your appointment. They have your job in their queue, and want to make sure that you're going to be there for it. Confirmed jobs will be given a higher priority during routing. Not all HSPs do this, but several are known to do so.


Thanks for the info. What does "HSP" stand for?


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

jared52 said:


> Holy carp! Airwolf works for DirecTV now!? I need to get a service call!


Sometimes they take "moving" quite seriously. :lol:


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

dlt4 said:


> Thanks for the info. What does "HSP" stand for?


Home Service Provider


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## Birdieman30 (Aug 26, 2008)

dinotheo said:


> RobertE said:
> 
> 
> > Watch out for:
> ...


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## MrShowtime (Apr 8, 2009)

They have been doing this for a bit. I've gone to some services calls.
Me - "What seems to be your trouble sir?"
Them - "I don't know, you guys called me?"
Me - "Saaaay what?"
Them - "Yeah, you guys called me and told me my signal strength was low and that you would come out to realign my dish"


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## trekologer (Jun 30, 2007)

mtnsackett said:


> actualy the OP posted that the number that called was 800 Service. I posted 800 531 5000. and policy is that if I was to setup a service call I would varify the address with the customer while setting up the service call.
> 
> I hope that you are all right but I have never heard of us calling a customer other then to remind them of, and verify a scheduled service call. and even then it comes up as 800 531 5000 not any other number.


"800 Service" is the default CNAM (caller ID name for those not in the know with telco lingo) provided by most of the big CNAM database providers for 800/888/866/877 numbers should there not be a name published, just like City, State is the default name should there not be one published for a "normal" phone number.

It should also be noted that the name and number that displays on your Caller ID should never be trusted as an authoritative source to identify a caller. Its too easy to spoof. There was a time when a caller needed direct access to a PRI to manipulate the calling number data but today many providers will send whatever they're given, no questions asked.

I should also add that I too received one such call last fall. The tech that came found that one of my monopoles was loose and once re-secured, I haven't had a problem.


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## SteveHas (Feb 7, 2007)

Well the Service Tech came.
10 minutes early for an 8AM -12PM visit, (not happy bout that to start with)
Broadcomm or something like that was the contractor's name I think.
He was a jerk!
He literally walked straight into my house at 7:50 AM!
Never rang the bell, just walked right in.
Then He asked *me* why he was here!
"Why is this a roll back" he said
I said I didn't know what he was taking about.
He was clearly confused, and po'd to be at my house
I told him the story, he looked at the signals and said 
"your fine, I don't need to be here, I probably won't even charge you"
to which I said
"I didn't call for you, so no, I'm not paying. D* did called for you top come"
I ran a systems test, and got a message that my dish needed realignment, (I've never seen this before in 10 years) he said thats not right and left.

So, what started out to be a great lesson in customer service was once more screwed up by the HORRENDOUS D* install contractors

D* YOU NEED TO FIX THIS
Installers in New England are so bad they border on criminal
I still have damage to my home from their previous "visits"

I love D*

I HATE THE CONTRACTORS IN New England


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## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

jeez. I hope you call DirecTV and let them know about this. Walking right on in without knocking, then insulting you? Unreal.


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## dlt4 (Oct 4, 2006)

I agree. You just can't let them get away with something that rude and unprofessional. Hard to imagine there are actually companies that bad. I would take my complaint as high as possible at D*. If you have his name that would be even better!


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

Although there is no excuse for the behavior of the Service Tech who went to Steve's home, DirecTV really needs to do a better job of informing the techs when a service call is initiated by DirecTV, via the receiver, rather than the customer.

I understood the confusion of the tech when I had a similar situation, about a year ago, as the program was very new at the time. But after a year or more, techs shouldn't be surprised anymore when the customer says "I didn't call DirecTV about a problem. They called me."


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## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

Very true, but in no case should a tech barge into a house without knocking, then proceed to insult the homeowner on top of that.



Bill Broderick said:


> Although there is no excuse for the behavior of the Service Tech who went to Steve's home, DirecTV really needs to do a better job of informing the techs when a service call is initiated by DirecTV, via the receiver, rather than the customer.
> 
> I understood the confusion of the tech when I had a similar situation, about a year ago, as the program was very new at the time. But after a year or more, techs shouldn't be surprised anymore when the customer says "I didn't call DirecTV about a problem. They called me."


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

I have had this similar call from DirecTV about my signal strengths, but the conversation was more that I know my signals are fine and we walked through them and she was "yep, Mrs. Smith, you're correct." So from there I've not received a call since, but a lot of things have happened too since that time. I got a SWM ODU Slimline dish, reduced my number of STBs, I've done some landscaping (oh, wait, that won't have an effect on it), you know, stuff. But, I agree, I aplaud their efforts towards making the customer's experience a better one! Good job DirecTV!


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## SteveHas (Feb 7, 2007)

You know I would call them, but I simply haven't got the fight in me to go through the phone hassle.
I am still concerned however that it when I run a system test it says my dish needs to be realigned, yet the weakest signal strength I get is 81?
I've never noticed any pq issues either.


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## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

Well, it won't have any effect on PQ, it's merely insurance against premature rain fade to have maximized signals.


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## ChrisPC (Jun 17, 2003)

SteveHas said:


> Then He asked *me* why he was here!
> "Why is this a roll back" he said
> I said I didn't know what he was taking about.
> He was clearly confused, and po'd to be at my house
> ...


I got one of these calls about a year ago. My 99/103 signals were down in the 70s, which is pretty bad. They sent a tech, who came an hour and a half early! Only my wife was there at the time. She said he was confused, and didn't see a problem. He was there maybe 20 minutes.

Needless to say, it wasn't fixed. I called D*, and the CSR had no idea what I was talking about. I finally emailed the VP of Customer Care. Her office called me an hour later! I explained what happened, and they apologized profusely. A tech came out a few days later, put up a whole new dish, new monopoles, etc., no charge. Now all my signals are 95+.


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## 1995hoo (May 14, 2004)

SteveHas said:


> ....
> 
> He literally walked straight into my house at 7:50 AM!
> Never rang the bell, just walked right in.
> ...




You don't lock your door to ensure that people can't walk in without permission?


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## satguy22 (Oct 1, 2006)

Just another way for dtv to get someones money back and not have to pay full price for a install or upgrade. Our company is high jacked for 1000. to 3000. per month. If you complain they get someone else to do the work. 50.00 for customers equment? We didnt make the reciever! 50.00 for not educating the customer. Who would leave the customer without knowing how to use the remote, which channel the tv has to be on and so forth. If you have a upgrade or install done and call dtv, they send out a tech to check out your job for any reason and charge back the tech 50.00.


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