SEA-KING DOME DIRECTV H21 SAT RECEIVER

In July 2008, two DirecTV DVRs were installed, at which time the tech damaged the woofer of one floor-standing speaker. I accompanied the tech to his truck where he made a lengthy call to Ironwood (a subsidiary of DirecTV) to report the damage; he assured me someone would call the next day. No one did. Appointments were made and not kept. Phone calls were not returned. The Property Damage Claims rep could most kindly be described as snippy.

Six weeks after the damage, and after many (unreturned) phone calls and letters, DirecTV stated that their tech did not damage the speaker. In a letter to the damage claims supervisor in Englewood Colorado I asked four questions:
(1) Why would it now be stated that the tech denied damaging the speaker when I heard him do so during a lengthy phone call?
(2) Why would tech's supervisor assure me that DirecTV is not "a cheap company" and that I should not worry about being reimbursed?
(3) Why would the tech's supervisor agree that both woofers would need to be replaced (since no matching replacement was available) if the tech had not damaged the speaker?
(4) Why would Ironwood subsequently fire the tech the next workday?

There has been no response. I'm out over $300 and tens of hours of time spent on the phone and writing letters and contacting audiovideo repair shops.

Other issues: they bill for premium channels not ordered and then state that nonetheless I received the service and could not receive credit despite not having ordered it. Promised credits never materialize on the bill. None of the equipment is guaranteed beyond 30 days; your choice is to either pay for a service plan or the full cost of the repairs/replacements. The DVRs repeatedly need to be reset. They nickel and dime you to death with extra charges (e.g., more than one receiver, HD reception). The remote is one of the worst I've had the misfortune to use. On the plus side, the picture is terrific.

Caveat emptor!

This is a real premium unit. When programs are recorded to DVD via the S-Video output, the picture is compressed horizontally so when you play it back with the TV in "stretch" or "fill" mode, you get the WHOLE picture, not clipped at the sides. I don't know how many programs the "search" function will hold, I'm up to 14 and counting. The search guide covers 7 days ahead. Picture quality is as good as any. HD output will not go to 1080P, but there are VERY few monitors that can handle that anyway. It took me almost a year to talk DirecTV into letting me get one to use with a 3 lnb dish (I only get 5 HD channels) but the overall quality and features make it well worth it.