KVH+DirecTV in Canada? Not!

[twistedtree]

Thought the whole point of KVH and Directv was that it is supposed to work workdwide? My boat came with the hardware but i never activated it until this spring so we would have some entertainment on the Downeast Loop, over half of which is in canada. But we have found that it doesn't work in Canada. WTF?

[knottybuoyz]

I believe it's an issue with licensing content. I do know Canadians heading south can still get Bell Expressvu satellite. DirectTV should have the same option for cruisers heading north.

[twistedtree]

Originally Posted by knottybuoyz

I believe it's an issue with licensing content. I do know Canadians heading south can still get Bell Expressvu satellite. DirectTV should have the same option for cruisers heading north.

Entirely possible, but I'd hope that would only impact specific channels.

It's frustrating to say the least. I'd call them, but at $0.50 per minute international rates, it's just not worth it, especially after it took a total of 6hrs on the phone with them to get it activated in the first place. If they would compensate me for my time and expenses to get their product to work, I might consider it, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

[AnchorageGuy]

You need a Canadian provider for satellite TV in Canada just as you ned a US provider in the US. It's alwys been that way. You might get either very near the borders but that's about it. Chuck

[hellosailor]

" I'd call them, but at $0.50 per minute international rates, "
Find an internet cafe, use a VOIP telephone service. It shouldn't cost more than 3-5 cents per minute to call anyplace in the world that way. Continental US to Taiwan? two cents a minute. It doesn't get much more long distance than that.

[twistedtree]

Ok, that pretty much exceeds my threshold of work in vs results out. Dealing with these sat companies, especially if you are not a house, is pure torture. At least Directv is - maybe its different in Canada. And now I'd need to do it twice? I think I'd rather buy a bag of nails and hammer them into my head.

I'll make one last call to cancel the service when I get back in the US and at least the call is free.

[twistedtree]

We are back in the US and I still don't get service. The KVH locks onto the satelite just fine and all the channel guide info gets downloaded, but there are no TV stations.

So, I made the final call to DirecTV. Service is cancelled, but it still took 18 minutes on the phone arguing with them when they wanted to charge me early termination on a 2 year contract (which I don't have), and wanted me to return the equipment to them.

[justlearnin]

it almost sounds as if the software is not up to date ie pre newest encryption method.

[twistedtree]

It was all running at the end of may, and I used it once in June I think. Everything should have been updated at that point. My suspicion is that the box "lost" its authorization. My Dishnet system does that when I leave it unplugged for a few weeks and I have to call and have it re-authorized.

But the problem with Directv is solved - I cancelled the service, and even that took 20 minutes on the phone with them. I think all these sat companies must go to a special school to learn how to torture their customers. They all seem to be such experts at it.

[hellosailor]

" I think all these sat companies must go to a special school to learn how to torture their customers. "
Actually, they do. Management knows exactly how long you have to hold on the phone, and that if you have to hold too long and hang up, a certain number of customers will pay at least one more month, and so on.
There are even insurers who measure the cost of hiring phone reps to answer appeals of denials, versus the cost of random denials and the interest income they can make by not paying claims for an extra week, or month, etc.
This is not random or uncommon, it is actually common for corporations to use "abuse" as a metric to increase their profits.