I've had DirecTV now for about 6 years. I much prefer it to cable, and really like the XM broadcasts too. One caveat however: if you have a problem which needs the assistance of a live human being, DirecTV falls on its a$$ and makes you want to pull your hair out.

When I moved from Colorado to South Carolina last July, I contacted DirecTV to discontinue the service in my old home, and gave them a date to install service in my new home. Then, upon realizing that Atlas Van Lines had hopelessly screwed up my move, I called DirecTV to change the installation date as my household possessions were going to be delivered several weeks later than promised.

That's not exactly rocket science, but the cretinous morons at DirecTV acted as if it were. After three phone calls (being placed on hold for 45, then 25 and then 35 minutes on each!) all I got was some idiot saying, "I don't know how to do that."

I resolved the issue by going on line, and got a very apologetic phone call, and all was rescheduled. The installation was faulty, as I had requested an HD DVR, and didn't get one, so they had to come back. Then, as if that weren't enough, I received a bill for the service after it had been disconnected in Colorado!

I'm really good at writing nasty letters, and so one went off to "the president of" DirecTV, and I got results, including a month's free service. It wasn't worth the hassle, though.