Direct tv

The pending (?) purchase of DirecTV by ATT has definitely changed their customer service approach. I think that they are trying to make everything look favorable on their financial side which results in them refusing to do things they used to do as a matter of course.

There are two things you can do to get around DirecTV's new approach to deny customer service for anything that gets outside the box.

1. Find a local provider of satellite services - they usually advertise in the yellow pages, and offer DirecTV plus other TV options such as cable and free-to-air TV. They can usually take care of your needs in this kind of situation.

2. Flag down a DirecTV service truck and see if you can negotiate a cash deal to fix you up. This won't work every time, but the installation and repair services done by the folks with DirecTV trucks are local independent companies with contracts with DirecTV, and may be more flexible than the central offices.

Direct TV will have to provide an adapter to make their new HD receivers convert the signal to an analog signal. Should not be a problem if you get a person that knows what they are doing. We finally had to replace our old receiver as it no longer would accept the Direct TV signal.