I recently signed up in the beginning of 2004. [disclaimer]I'm in the U.S. not Canada, so I can't speak for local service and/or installations.[/disclaimer]

My local cable CO. was Comcast - they are what prompted me to move. For basic (analog) cable they were charging me in excess of $55.00/mo. I told myself that if it hit $60 I was dropping them. Needless to say, my first bill of '04 stated that they "needed" to raise prices on their digital cable by $5.00/mo. Since I didn't have their digital package and my bill STILL went up - I called and cancelled.

The equipment: During that time DirecTV was offering, through local retailers, a dish and 3 rooms with free equipment and free installation. I tried one local retailer but they wouldn't touch my house because it's over 2 stories. Plus I wanted a triple-LNB dish (so I had the upgrade option if I ever wanted DirecTivo and/or a HD signal) and they would only give dual. I finally went to Circuit City and they gave me the right equipment and didn't care about the height of my house (this was later found to be irrelevant anyway.)

The installation: They came on a Saturday as I requested which was cool because I didn't have much time to take off for such things. In a matter of 2 hours I was up and running (of course my house's wiring is all home-run so things went a little easier than most.) So for around $50.00/mo. I got a cheaper bill and more channels plus a MUCH better picture compared to the analog cable.

Also, although my receiver is triple-LNB DirecTV installers are only required to run the two wires from the dish into the house. If you want DirecTivo you Need that extra line. Their policy is to charge an extra $50.00 to run that extra line. My installer ran it for free! Yes, I did give a healthy tip.

The upgrade: A few weeks later I found that the receivers I got as part of the package didn't work very well with my ReplayTV. In short I needed to use the IR Blaster to relay the channel changes etc. Every time I wanted to change the channel it took at least 7 seconds (doesn't seem like a lot until you're sitting there waiting.)

Now the ReplayTV can actually connect to some Satellite receivers via the 'low speed data/serial port' eliminating the need for the IR Blaster. My receiver was not compalible. So I found one on e-bay that was and bought it. At the same time I decided to add another room to the system so it all worked out.

The Service: Before I got the receiver I called their customer support to find out what the proceedure was. I was on hold for less than a minute. They told me that when I got it I would need to call them with the serial number of the new receiver so they could issue a new activation card - $20.00. Then I would have to augment the service to include a new room/receiver - $5.00/mo.

When I got the new receiver I called and got the card shipped overnight. The next day I got the card and called again and it was activated while on the phone.

Later that day I realized that one of the other receivers was no longer working. I called their support again and they told me that it must've been a mistake on their end while activating the new receiver. They resolved the issue and reactivated while I was on the phone.

A few months later I called and added the sports package. No hold time, the channels were added within 5 minutes.

In case you couldn't tell I couldn't be happier with their service. Now, I've only had to call 4 or 5 times but I've never had a long hold time or a reason to get upset at them.
YES, during bad storms/weather I do lose the picture but I haven't ever lost it for more than a few minutes.

The only problem I have is the 2 year commitment - which I'm sure has some wiggle room.