I am thinking about ordering DirecTV.

My question is this:

There is a local installer that advertises heavily on the radio. Emphasizes local installers, etc. The thing is, it seems like if you order from DirecTV.com that they set it up with a local installer to do the installation for you.

So, what should I do, call the local installer that advertises so heavily or just order on DirecTV.com?

 

Call them both. Tell direct TV you just want the equipment cause you're gonna install it yourself. See what they say. If they quote you a price for the equipment, then see if the installer can beat Direct TV's installed price. Ask direct TV for both costs, with and without installation.

Personally, I had Direct TV for a year. It sucked. I went back to cable. I still have all my equipment though. 2 Receivers and the dish, remotes etc... PM me if you want.

 

I had Direct installed a few weeks ago. I ordered over the phone and had a local installer that did the work. They did a good job, I don't have any complaints. So far I like them better than DishNetwork that I had before, but it is still a little early to tell. Before you pull the trigger shoot me a PM and use me as a referal. It will save us both $50.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention, the installation is free over the phone/internet.

 

I've had DirecTV for over 5 years now and have loved it -- it has been far more reliable than the old cable I used to have!

I bought my equipment at Best Buy because they had a rebate offer running that essentially gave me the dish and two receivers for free. If I remember correctly, I had to contact DirecTV to arrange the install, and it was routed through a local installer who also advertises in the area.

I don't know that the price difference is going to be that much one way or the other.....

 

odds are that if you are a new customer you will get free installation anyway through directv...Id just call and see who gives you the lowest monthly rate...and who offers free install equipent etc...I had them and switched to dishnetwork....just becuse I wanted to upgrade to a high def reciever and directv wanted 500 bucks...well it was free since I was a new customer with dishnetwork...other than that directv was fine...but I must say for the price Im getting more with dishnetwork

 

I have direct tv and love it i have it at my house plus my house in new Hampshire and i wired both houses in by myself. The only thing u have to get is a directional finder so u know where to point the satellite. What i did in
New Hampshire is i dug the whole drive about 10 feet down ran two cables one for the direct tv and a back up just in case something happens to the first one.

 

I ordered online using Wookie's referral code (thanks Wookie). I hope that i enjoy it. I am sure that I will, especialy considering the price difference.

 

i just ordered my directv tonight...i got 4 boxes and a DVR box at no charge...and free installation...

 

On Tuesday I had the DishNetwork installed at my new place. While the installer was working we began chatting about his job. He said that he is both a retailer of both DishNetwork and DirectTV and an independent installer. He said the way it works is if I was to buy the system through him he would have pocketed about 500.00 but since I went through another retailer he got about 125.00 for the install. He went on to say that at any given time there are about 300 install jobs in the que and that they are divided up through the certified installers in a given region. He drove about 60 miles one way just to set me up. He was in and out in about 45 minutes.

 

When those contracted installers show up and you get "custom" install i.e. inside a wall etc. I had two lines ran inside my wall for my tivo, a line ran to my padio and a phone jack put in for my tivo. all would have cost me about $250 ($70 ish per line). When he was done he ask me if i wanted to save some money. i said sure. he said right the check out to him and make him a fair offer. I offered him $125 he said ok and wrote down basic install. he said to always ask your installer if he does "side jobs!"

 

Little side not, dishnetwork and directv are actually the same company. Once were seperate, the directv bought dishnetwork.

 

I have direct TV for the last few months. I currently have a few problems. 1. my HD box has froze up about 6 times. 2. My signal strength is not the greatest. Besides those 2 issues everything seems much better than my old cable company.

I just need to call them up and try to get the HD box replaced, when searching on avsforum the box I have is a new model and they have had a few issues with them. The weak signal is probably due to the installer that came out. He was pretty rude and I think he just did an halfass job of aiming the dish. I'm confident that once I get these issues ironed out it will be perfect.

 

What makes you think you can not have a dish? Unless it is a historic district, or you rent and have no place to mount it, you can have a dish. No HOA can stop you from having one.

 

All I did was call Dtv and they will contact the local installer with your information and the scheduled appointment day. I live in apartments and I still had it installed they just clamp it to the rails, nothing perminant and i absolutely love my dtv with the dvr!

 

I've had Direct since last July. Much better than my local cable monopoly. Just be careful of those independent installers. They can be pretty sloppy in their work. I got my neighbor to sign up a few months ago and he has a 2 story house. Installers would charge extra for getting line upstairs, so we went ahead a few days earlier and ran pull strings up into the attic and down the interior walls and put the boxes in. When installer showed up, he hooked his RG6 from the spools to our pull lines and off we went.
My kit came with an extra dish, tripod stand and cable. That's in my camper and we just take a couple of receiver boxes from the house. Within a couple hundred miles from the house, I still get my locals.
Still haven't got my $50 check or credit yet though. Wonder how long that takes?