DirecTV 'Service Address' problems

[SWharton]

Does anyone have an update on the service address change? We would like to do it but don't want to rock the boat.

[jperry29]

I think it will be a total roll of the dice.  It will depend on whether your account has been migrated, which call center you get, what phase of the moon it is.....

Other than my service address finally getting changed by “executive action” back in April I can find no evidence that ATT has fixed anything.

 I don’t think there is any risk in trying to do a change.  If you call in and you start getting passed around, just hang up.  You’ll be in no different condition than you are right now.  

[Ronbo]

Use the chat feature. You get more professional people that way and a lot quicker.

[SWharton]

OK. Maybe I'll try it. My big worry is that I change it now but then in 2 months can't change it back.

[Ronbo]

We change as often as every week while on the road.

[MnP]

I can assure you that nothing has changed for the better. After I filed a complaint with the FCC and  received executive intervention from AT&T it still took and additional 6 WEEKS to get my service address changed and locals turned on.  If you have been converted to the AT&T billing system, AT&T still will require a 24 month contract renewal to change your stupid service address.They still will insist that you need an installer to come to your location to institute your change. Per Seveene Wingfield  Office of the President of AT&T ( big title, little action) this is the new way of doing business. After I raised holy $#@&* , I was given a $50 per month credit on my bill for the net 12 months because of the inconvenience and have a letter in writing that I will not be charged an early termination fee if I cancel my service. Rest assured I will cancel my service and switch to dish in November when I move and will require another service address change. I have received 20 years of excellent service from DirecTv and enough BS from AT&T over the past 2 months to outweigh the 20 years of good.

If you haven't been switched over to the AT&T system you are still OK for now. I have talked to folks that have made a service address change with no issues as recently as last week but that will all end some day in the near future.

[FL-JOE]

On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 4:07 AM, SWharton said:

Does anyone have an update on the service address change? We would like to do it but don't want to rock the boat.

We were planning on changing our service address while stationary for a couple months so I have been watching this thread for additional comments also.  Where we are located we are lucky to be able to get all the local channels on antenna, so for right now we are not changing.  I'm like you, don't want to get into a huge fight with them and not have the ability to change back over this fall.

[eddie1261]

Just so I know I am up to speed, this entire 3 page thread is about somebody concerned with getting local channels so you can see news about a city you don't live in anymore?

Wow....

[Dutch_12078]

This entire thread is about getting the local TV stations that serve the area you're currently in so you can see the local news, weather, syndicated and national network programs.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Dutch_12078
typo

[SWharton]

A little more on the why. some people like to receive the local info and can't get it OTA. We did ask for local only when we are someplace for a month or 2 but we also have DNS so it is no big deal, for us, convenience to have everything on one receiver.

I am sure other people have other reasons.

It is more the principle, Directv took away something that many of used and never said a word. Now we have to jump through hoops to switch. I understand DISH alllows you to change via an app.

[MnP]

2 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

This entire thread is about getting the local TV stations that server the area you're currently in so you can see the local news, weather, syndicated and national network programs.

If you do not have DNS, you do not have ABC, CBS, NBC or PBS with out local channels. Those of us who do not have DNS service might be out of luck for getting it in the future as no one that I spoke to including Seveene Wingfield from the office of the President of AT&T were aware of DNS or the current procedure for applying for it. The old DirecTv is going away. AT&T does not value our small segment of the 20,000,000 DirecTv customer base. We are more trouble to At&T than we are worth.

[Dutch_12078]

1 hour ago, MnP said:

If you do not have DNS, you do not have ABC, CBS, NBC or PBS with out local channels. Those of us who do not have DNS service might be out of luck for getting it in the future as no one that I spoke to including Seveene Wingfield from the office of the President of AT&T were aware of DNS or the current procedure for applying for it. The old DirecTv is going away. AT&T does not value our small segment of the 20,000,000 DirecTv customer base. We are more trouble to At&T than we are worth.

Yes, ABC, CBS, etc.,  are what I meant by "national network programs". I wonder how many RV'ers will be switching from DTV to Dish over this...

[mptjelgin]

4 hours ago, eddie1261 said:

Just so I know I am up to speed, this entire 3 page thread is about somebody concerned with getting local channels so you can see news about a city you don't live in anymore?

Wow....

Not even close...

[Barbaraok]

5 hours ago, eddie1261 said:

Just so I know I am up to speed, this entire 3 page thread is about somebody concerned with getting local channels so you can see news about a city you don't live in anymore?

Wow....

You really need to critically read what was posted.  The thread is about SO much more than just local channels.  

[SWharton]

Someplace on the Escapees site is the waiver for DNS. Recently we  emailed/faxed it in and had DNS within 1-2 days. I went looking for the form but couldn't find it. You may need to email them for the form, it is no longer located at old location. The cost is $15/month and we get 6? channels. You either get East or West, depending on your zipcode.

Edit: http://www.directv.com/DNS/DNS Mobile Revised Letter.pdf

Edited June 8, 2018 by SWharton

[Ronbo]

If you can get east coast feed, you get the first viewing of the shows. You can watch them and get to bed earlier or sleep in in the am and watch your morning shows.

[rving4us]

We have been with DTV for 20 yrs. We have been full timers for 3 yrs now. When we travel we do not change service address, but when stationary in Florida in the winter and SC in the summer to visit family we do change our service address those 2 times. We have never had a problem. Within 3 to 4 minutes they were changed, but if what you guys are saying and it happens to me in Oct. when we get to Florida I will drop DTV like a hot potato. I'm no more dedicated to them than they are to me.

[jperry29]

I'm the one that started the rant about getting migrated from DirecTV to the new ATT system and losing the ability to do a service address change.  This is an UPDATE.

The problem started in April of this year.  We moved from Georgia to New Mexico to do a volunteer job for a national wildlife refuge.  We were going to be at that location for three months so we did what we typically do when locating someplace for multiple weeks, called DirecTV to do service address change.  This gives us access to the local channels so we can keep up with local happenings and most importantly, weather.  For the past six years this has been a painless, five minute process but this time it was anything but.  Our account was one of the early ones that got migrated to the new ATT system and long story short, after 10 hours on the phone and 47 customer service, technicians, and supervisors, no luck.  Nobody could execute a service address change.  There is a lot of details about all this in the two previous pages to this post that I won't rehash now.  The end result was I had to file a complaint with the FCC and as best I can tell, a low level executive from the office of the president (of ATT) got hold of a programmer that went in and manually tweaked the program to get me changed.

Instead, I am cautiously optimistic that ATT has taken steps to fix their inability to do a simple service address change for RV'ers.  In the past few days we have moved again to our next volunteer job and have departed the desert southwest for the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.  With lots of dread I called ATT/DirecTV and asked to do a service address change.  Like usual, the customer service person said; "no problem, I can help you with that".  But they soon discover that they can't and the forwarding-the-call-merry-go-round starts.  This time was a little different, the customer service person got to the point that they usually start forwarding the call, but instead, this time, she said; "you have a special account and I need to talk to someone for help".  After about five minutes on hold she came back and said that she needed to transfer me to the RC-1 department because they had questions that they personally had to ask me.

After answering all the same questions the first agent asked I was finally asked something different.  They wanted to know if I was going to be in this new location at least six months.  Weighing the logic behind this question I thought it would be best to answer "Yes".  As soon as I did things started happening.  They took my new address and verified they had "line of sight" to it (how they know this is beyond me) and clicked the necessary buttons to make this my new location.  It looked like this was actually going to happen.

The RC-1 agent said that the order had been put in and that it would be two to four hours before my receiver would be updated.  And that it is possible it could be twenty-four hours.  Not the five minutes it used to be, but if it works I'll take it.

Four hours later and a message came up on my TV screen saying that I needed to refresh my receiver.  I pushed the reset button and after the reboot, voila, I was fully loaded with locals.

Again, cautiously optimistic as I do not know if I got lucky and got somebody that knew what to do or if this how it is going to be no matter who answers the phone.  But one thing is clear, the RC-1 department is who you will have to talk to.

[FL-JOE]

I think I will still let this all play out a little more as more folks call and change over.  We have been getting along with a local antenna.  Hoping a few others will chime in with their experience and updates on changing their service address over as the fall migration begins south.

[MnP]

18 hours ago, jperry29 said:

I'm the one that started the rant about getting migrated from DirecTV to the new ATT system and losing the ability to do a service address change.  This is an UPDATE.

The problem started in April of this year.  We moved from Georgia to New Mexico to do a volunteer job for a national wildlife refuge.  We were going to be at that location for three months so we did what we typically do when locating someplace for multiple weeks, called DirecTV to do service address change.  This gives us access to the local channels so we can keep up with local happenings and most importantly, weather.  For the past six years this has been a painless, five minute process but this time it was anything but.  Our account was one of the early ones that got migrated to the new ATT system and long story short, after 10 hours on the phone and 47 customer service, technicians, and supervisors, no luck.  Nobody could execute a service address change.  There is a lot of details about all this in the two previous pages to this post that I won't rehash now.  The end result was I had to file a complaint with the FCC and as best I can tell, a low level executive from the office of the president (of ATT) got hold of a programmer that went in and manually tweaked the program to get me changed.

Instead, I am cautiously optimistic that ATT has taken steps to fix their inability to do a simple service address change for RV'ers.  In the past few days we have moved again to our next volunteer job and have departed the desert southwest for the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.  With lots of dread I called ATT/DirecTV and asked to do a service address change.  Like usual, the customer service person said; "no problem, I can help you with that".  But they soon discover that they can't and the forwarding-the-call-merry-go-round starts.  This time was a little different, the customer service person got to the point that they usually start forwarding the call, but instead, this time, she said; "you have a special account and I need to talk to someone for help".  After about five minutes on hold she came back and said that she needed to transfer me to the RC-1 department because they had questions that they personally had to ask me.

After answering all the same questions the first agent asked I was finally asked something different.  They wanted to know if I was going to be in this new location at least six months.  Weighing the logic behind this question I thought it would be best to answer "Yes".  As soon as I did things started happening.  They took my new address and verified they had "line of sight" to it (how they know this is beyond me) and clicked the necessary buttons to make this my new location.  It looked like this was actually going to happen.

The RC-1 agent said that the order had been put in and that it would be two to four hours before my receiver would be updated.  And that it is possible it could be twenty-four hours.  Not the five minutes it used to be, but if it works I'll take it.

Four hours later and a message came up on my TV screen saying that I needed to refresh my receiver.  I pushed the reset button and after the reboot, voila, I was fully loaded with locals.

Again, cautiously optimistic as I do not know if I got lucky and got somebody that knew what to do or if this how it is going to be no matter who answers the phone.  But one thing is clear, the RC-1 department is who you will have to talk to.

Watch your bills. You may incur an new 24 month contract with an early termination penalty. I've given up on DTV / AT&T and am switching to DISH after 20 years with DTV. My experience with the AT&T representative from "The Office of the President" after I filed my complaint with the FCC was anything but satisfactory. All of my parts arrived yesterday to modify my SWM3 Traveler to a DISH Traveler. Will modify this weekend and have DISH Hopper 3 with wireless Joey installed next week.

I hope it all goes well for you. Maybe AT&T will get their act together some day.

[JRP]

I've been with DTV for 20 yrs, the last 10 yrs as a mobile account with DNS.  After moving into the RV I've never changed my service address in 100's of different locations because there was no reason to.   I've also seen official email announcements from DTV years ago stating they would not change your service address frequently if you were mobile.  apparently they weren't enforcing that policy, but this didn't just appear because of AT&T, DTV has been trying to restrict frequent service address changing for many years.

I understand the need for major network channels, that's what you get with DNS and no need to update your location for those national chans.

But what I find more interesting about this thread is why anyone in the 21st century would feel the need to rely on a local TV station for the weather report or local news. I can get the local weather or news at anytime of the day or night at any location in the country. Why would I sit around waiting for the 5:00 o'clock local TV news/weather when I can get it at my convenience anytime I want it?  surely you all have a phone with weather app and a computer with access to much more up to date weather & news than you get on the 5 o'clock TV show. 

[Dutch_12078]

We like getting the locals where we are for more than just the news and weather. There's also the lesser network and independent stations that aren't available with DNS. Where we currently are in northeastern NY for instance, we're getting 13 primary local channels on Dish, but only 3 channels OTA. That gives us a much larger selection of programming than we would get with DNS. And it doesn't cost an extra fee...

[richfaa]

We have not changed our service address for a very long time although it was never a problem to do so at least pre AT&T. We found that we can get the local channels wherever we are  95% of the time or better via the OTA antenna.

We do not need a local station to get the local weather just  dial it up on the phone or lap top. When at our winter residence  we can get 68 Channels on our OTA antenna . Our Domicile is in Northern Ohio and we have little interest in the local channels when we are hundreds or thousands of miles away and in any case we can call it up on the cell phone or the lap top.

[docj]

1 hour ago, Dutch_12078 said:

There's also the lesser network and independent stations that aren't available with DNS.

No offense intended, but I don't think I've ever watched any programming on a local channel that wasn't a major network outlet.  We watch very little broadcast TV beyond the news and some commentary.  Most of what we watch for entertainment is streamed. The DNS channels serve our needs quite well.  The weather we get from Weather Underground and Accuweather without having to turn on the TV.

[jperry29]

1 hour ago, JRP said:

But what I find more interesting about this thread is why anyone in the 21st century would feel the need to rely on a local TV station for the weather report or local news. I can get the local weather or news at anytime of the day or night at any location in the country. Why would I sit around waiting for the 5:00 o'clock local TV news/weather when I can get it at my convenience anytime I want it?  surely you all have a phone with weather app and a computer with access to much more up to date weather & news than you get on the 5 o'clock TV show. 

You assume many things and misstate others.  I guarantee you that you can NOT get local weather or news any time at any location in the country.  I've been living in those places for months at a time over the last six years where there are neither OTA nor cell phone signals.  Depending on location, I have driven 25 to 85 miles to get a cell signal to do my once per month bill paying.

This lack of ability to tap alternate signals and needing to rely on local channels via satellite was clearly stated in my first post.  And I guess that your choice of technology has left you blind to today's TV broadcast weather warning systems.  If there is severe weather anywhere in the local channel's viewing area they break in any time of day or night and give live tracking data down to the street level with direction and rate of travel.  They will tell you up to fifteen minutes in advance of when a funnel cloud will pass over your area.  We have been given ample time to seek shelter more than once thanks to this.  Even when in range of a cell signal my weather apps have never been this responsive or real time for the really important information.

I do live in the 21st century and am fully engaged in the use of all the technology available.  A satellite link with access to local stations doesn't get any more advanced even if cell or internet connections are available.