Dear Diary: Direct TV B.S.

Something weird happened this morning with Direct TV and I was wondering if any of y’all had something like this happen.

Direct TV wasn’t connecting. We turned off the box, turned on again, reset the server, etc. and nada. So we call the customer service number on the error screen. I give the Direct TV account details and ask if there was an outage in the area because it’s not connecting. She says no there isn’t an outage, but she can walk me through some steps to try and troubleshoot.

Here is where it gets weird. Before she says she can walk me through the steps- she is obviously reading from a script at this point- says it could be the equipment itself and that I would be out of pocket if a tech has to come out and fix or replace the equipment. It would cost me $99 for a three year coverage plan. I tell her I’m not interested, I just want to try and troubleshoot the problem.

She then says she can’t help me without the coverage plan and asks for credit/debit card details. I tell her this sounds like bullshite and hang up. Sounds like they are trying to hold you hostage here. Now here is the really weird part: about thirty seconds after I hang up, the connection magically returns and all is well.

I looked up the customer service number online and it is the same that was on the screen. Sounds like some frickery by Direct TV.