DirecTV in Costa Rica

I live in Costa Rica and only have DirecTV because Cable TV is not =

available in my area of the country.I purchased the

system and really regret doing so because I have had numerous problems =

with it for two reasons.1.The design of the receiver.2.The service =

attitude.

1.Design of the receiver

Since I am a retired Electronics Eng.,I know about designing safe and =

secure AC input circuitry.In Costa Rica the quality

of the AC is terrible.There are spikes,surges and harmonics in it and =

any designer that cares about these problems would

include some added circuitry to minimize these types of problems.Three =

times I've had components of the DirecTV system

burn up.Just 2 months ago I had the exact same problem I now have:The AC =

input circuitry of the receiver burned up.I

could tell by the smell and saw the sparks at the AC cable input when it =

happened.

2.Service attitude

Even though the local service provider says they have about 30 people =

doing service here in Costa Rica,I now have to

wait 5 working days(because today is Fri.) to have someone come and look =

at it,then take it for repair and then wait for the

repaired unit.Do you think they would give me a credit for the days I am =

without DirecTV?No way,I get the same billing as if nothing had =

happened.I worked in customer service for over 30 years and the =

organization I worked for never had this type of weak service(really =

terrible) policy.We could get an EE to Asia or anywhere in Latin America =

in less time.

Worst of all is the process of communicating with DirecTV =

International.I have contacted them in the past and they are totally =

non-responsive as if they didn't even care about services outside the =

USA.Maybe the service is better in the US,but it should be the same =

anywhere DirecTV offers their services.That is a matter of corporate =

policy.After all,isn't the goal satisfied customers?

Or is it just make money?

I welcome responses from anyone else who has encountered these types of =

problem with DirecTV outside the USA.Please use the Subject: DirecTV or =

I will not be opening your email.I do this only to avoid spam and =

unwanted messages.