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DirecTV review: lies lies lies! 26

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12:00 am EDT
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This company is the biggest bunch of liars I have ever worked with. June 21, 2007 I signed up for DirecTV because their offer was incredible compared to dish network who we were currently using.

At this time Becky gave us a fabulous deal of DirecTV with DVR for 39.99 /month for 20 months and then for the remaining 4 months it would return to the regular package price of 59.99. I was then also offered a free portable DVD player. Sounds like a great offer right?

Well within 2 days of activation we received our first bill. But interestingly enough the bill was 59.99/month and there was no free DVD player. So I called, thinking, why do you want my money before I am being given what I was promised?

So on June 28, 2007 I called DirecTV and was told I needed to fill out a rebate form for the 10/month off for 12/months... WAIT?!? Are you kidding? Thats not what I was promised. So I was promptly transferred to a "supervisor" who was USELESS! So again I was transfered to another supervisor who was so helpful! My rebate form for 20/month for 20 months was on its way... LIE!

Now it is July 10th... and my rebate form never came, neither did my DVD player. I called today and spoke to Natalie, who claims I don't have to fill out a rebate form at all, because she is "sorry" that I have spent 3 hours on the phone on two separate occasions.

I am not holding out hope but we will see when the next bill arrives... let me just say get everyones name that you talk to because they all but called me a liar when I told them the offer I was given. I say buyer beware... if it sounds too good to be true it most likely is... I will update if the offer ever comes through!

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26 comments
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Becca Eberly
, US
Oct 06, 2018 11:50 am EDT

I am having a problem with them lying to me as well I sighed up to move my services to the new house was told that they would wave 99 dollars from the install fee of 199 insured id only see 99 dollars on my nov. bill called the day of the installation and asked about the time and if the 99 dollars would still be waved they said that would be impossible and that since I have a 5 dollar promotion and unlimited wireless plan discount for hbo wich I don't use because I pay for the hbo app anyways it be impossible and also told me that the reginal sport fee could not be removed because its part of choice package I replied to that if it was part of the package why am I getting charged extra for it anyways I canceled the install called again new person he immediately goes I can wave the 99 dollars and give you another 99 dollars that you'll see after 2 bill cycles I asked him to please not lie and make sure that's set in stone and he insured me it was that loyalty gave him the okay and then he said he messaged the installed and he`d still come and to wait by my phone for the next hour I did 2 hours went by never came called again they go you canceled they said that I cannot receive what that guy told me I would receive again and nothing they could do and goes my supervisor already told you that I told them I understand that but I called back and this is what I was told and insured she said they'll listen to my calls I said go ahead and they'll get back to me next week

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Amber0607
, US
Oct 10, 2017 7:52 pm EDT

Before signing up with this company please read their BBB rating. They are rated A+ but they have over 21, 528 complaints. I was lied to by four different representatives and my credit card was charged for more than I authorized when trying to set up new service. The manager told me that they are aware that the sales reps lie to people to get their credit card info because they work on commissions. Basically, the reps tell you anything you want to hear in order to get your card number so they can sign you up and get paid for a sale. Even if they are not signing you up for the services you requested and the plan they explained to you. I was told I was being signed up for one thing and the agent intentionally signed me up for something different just to get the sale to go through and credit to her account. I have reported them to the BBB.

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Raul Herrera
, US
Jul 15, 2016 9:25 am EDT

fk yea they are ripoffs they promises me ill be paying 68$ for 2 years and wen i got my bill it was like 190$ then i call them and they said that they will only drop it down to 120$ its till to much for me as i told them if it, s over 100$ its to much for me now i x plain to them im paying 65$ for twc and they told me you will only pay 68$ but you will get more tvs and more channels for like 3$ more now i told them to just come for there crap and they told me its goin to be a 300$ disconnection fee ###... now i want to know can i take them to court i have the original contact

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Anuk
Miami, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:18 am EDT

I'd Direct Tv for many years and was quiet happy with the service, except when it rain or thunder, I would loose the service for a while, anyways this year in August I changed to a different provider because Direct Tv. was associated with AT &T (awful).
Today Nov 27, 2009 I get a bill for $170.75 when I called I spoke to Mary was told that she could not open the account and asked her to speak to a manager or supervisor, She puts me on hold and then comes back on line to tell me that she got a supervisor, when I asked her his name she could not tell. I speak to a supervisor by the name of Ray who says that the movies were for JULY 2007, ordered through my remote control, I told him that all movies ordered I had to pay for them, because I ordered them on line. Didn't get anywhere with him.
My question is how can they let 2years go by and then after I cancelled service with them, they send me a bill. This is dirty business pratice and I would like to formally put in a complaint to a federal agency, someone needs to keep on eye on them.

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Paul Naz
Walton, US
Aug 11, 2014 3:45 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been with DirecTV for 10 years, i have always gotten a very generous programming package with them, i also have the protection package, I have 3 TV's, and besides advanced regular programming, i get NHL. Center Ice, MLB, Extra Innings, and NFL, Sunday Ticket. After 10 years of watching new customers and old customers that complain and threaten enough get the Sunday Ticket for free. i called to say that as a loyal customer that I believe this offer should also be extended to me. The person on the phone agreed, he said i would be receiving it for free, plus he gave me 15 dollars off my bill for 12 months and upgraded me to Sunday Ticket max. He told me this was over a 400 dollar value. My bill came in and i was billed for the Sunday Ticket, now they are saying the offer was only for the Sunday max upgrade, which was a lie. The way it was written out though, the person could perceive it to be only an upgrade to Max. Of coarse I was calling about free Sunday ticket, and could care less about the Max package, despite those facts, they insisted it was just for the upgrade. I told them the name of the person i spoke with and asked to speak with them and that would clear it up, but they REFUSED to do that! I am going to leave DirecTV, i am going to go with the new Internet TV options which are now very good actually. I will upgrade my Internet provider, and get most of my sporting packages Online, then i am going to contact an attorney, and pursue this to expose these frauds. I am so pissed, that i was shaking. All over the Sunday Ticket, they are a DISGRACE!

MikeL DISH
MikeL DISH
Denver, US
Jan 18, 2014 11:35 pm EST

santa22,

That's awesome to hear you have our service and we're very glad to hear you're enjoying your experience! Please let me know if you have any questions as I'm always happy to assist!

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santa22
, US
Jan 16, 2014 2:21 pm EST

I got direct TV, and not far from where we lived was a small office where we paid.
so we were told it would be $49/month for basic cable and internet. got our first bill it seemed fine.
Second bill came, $75. wasnt sure why but we just ignored it for a while thinking it was the cost for equipment.

third bill came, $115, knew something must be wrong so we called them. they said that it costs $115 for the package we have, we explained that we were told $49, we were then redirected to a supervisor, SHE said "Sorry but we made a mistake, you must pay $115"
when she said that, we just hung up, and called back the next day. we were told then about some rebate thing that we werent told about, however we werent qualified for it. and that now our cable/internet will cost $49.

Things were good for a couple of months, when all of a sudden the small office where we would pay (which is not far from where we lived) GOT CLOSED DOWN. and the option was go to a place thats 3 miles away, or use a debit/credit card to pay.

we choose the 3 mile away one because we didnt want to get any cards at all. so things were good, until we recieved our bill. it was $250+ we saw that and were pissed.

so we called them and they said "Our office has moved" which had nothing to do with the bill. because by this time our service was canceled because it was "too much and that we havent paid our last 3 bills"

at this time we were pissed, and asked if there is a way we could come down i a couple days and pay (in cash like we always do)
they told us "Sorry but we dont take cash anymore, only credit or debit card" which really made us pissed.

so thats when we decided to completely cancel the service, which also came with a big $400 cancellation fee.

We still ow $650 which we will never pay back, and something funny also happened.
Someone from direct TV came to our house, asking if we wanted direct TV, and that there was a special deal going on
she asked if we owed any money to direct TV and we did tell the truth, and she said "does james ######## live here"
she knew whos house this was and that we owed money, so we just answered here questions and told her no.

right now we have dish network which has been better because they dont tell lies

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screwed by DTV
Centerburg, US
Jan 13, 2013 2:02 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

If you really want to know just how bad DTV's billing problems are and how much they are scamming customers and not honoring their monthly quotes that they give you, go to your States General Attorney's office, the last time i checked in Ohio the complaints filled against DTV stands at 3455 in 2012, 3 wks ago, the complaints are unauthorized bank with drawls and billing problems, I will be # 3456, I have had enough trying to get my account straight with DTV, I was quoted by Will of 78.00 per month, first bill came 60.00, i knew it was not right so i paid the 78.00 that gave me a 18.00 credit DTV said, second bill came 116.00, i called, i was told that i needed to pay the 116.00 before she can do any thing, her name was Geonie, and she would credit my account back, well that didn't happen, I had 3 mounts free movie channels that was to be automatically dropped of after 3 mounts( per Will) well they wasn't, I called and asked for them to be removed, well they still wasn't, now i get my Dec.new bill 162.00, so i paid the 78.00 that Will quoted me at the beginning, my services were shut off on Dec.18th, instead of talking to these idiots i started e-mailing thinking maybe they can reed, NOT, after numerous e-mails back and forth Jan. 4th I had enough, I e-mailed Mark back, if my services are not restored by tomorrow morning and these excessive charges are not removed send me shipping labels and boxes so i can send DTV's equipment back, got up on the 5th services restored, got an e-mail from a billing specialist stating my account has been credited and it would reflect on my next bill, finally i got my bill straight i thought, well i just got my new bill $246.43, WTF

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dan345
, US
Sep 20, 2011 8:11 am EDT

sbf- you do quality for the rebates---everyone does...so theyer lying to you or something is going on ...your promotion isnt for FREE movie channels b/c thats included in the promotion with the rebates...beware of the cancellation fee-- they will just charge your CC or debit card and take the money from you if they have the information...cancel your cards or remove them from teh system before you do that

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dan345
, US
Sep 20, 2011 8:08 am EDT

the way directv works is this...once you sign up...to get the special offers you MUST do a rebate BEFORE your installation for it to show up on your first bill...if you dont if wont show up on your first bill and could take two more bills to show up---this is one way directv scams its customers...b/c most of the time--the stupid sales reps dont tell people about the rebate...and sometimes even if you DO the rebate it STILL doesnt show up so you have to PRINT it out and make sure its THERE just in case they try to scam you that way...secondly...sometimes they give you deals without adding the extra receivers...another way to scam you... and many times ppl's bills are screwed up thats b/c most of the time people wont take the hassle to call them to get it straightened out so this is another awy they rip consumers off...
on demand-- you get ON DEMAND if you get an HD-DVR it comes with it automatically but you have to remind the sales rep to add it or they might forget---it doesnt come with choice xtra and above...also if you are in a contract with them...in some states you get a 15 day grace period for which you can cancel...i know b/c I tried calling in for someone and they said that "oh youre a new customer...so you have a grace period and you can cancel without penalty"...so the 15 day grace period is true for some people or states...I think anyway...but beware---directv is ONLY about hidden fees, lies, scams this or that anyway to screw the customer over...

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tiredofbeingrippedoff2
Fultondale, US
Aug 08, 2011 7:23 pm EDT

I signed up for Directv and they quoted me over the phone a price of 51.99 for months 1-12 and 71.99 for months 13-24. That was for the Choice extra package plus 4 receivers and free installation. One of them being a DVR. I am supposed to also be getting a credit because it is billed monthly to my credit card. They were giving me this deal because of what Dish Network was going to be giving me. He told me he even beat them by a couple of dollars. Anyhow, from the first time they sent me my estimated first bill, I had to call and go over everything. I was told it would be correct when the first bill came. Anyhow, I am still trying to resolve this issue months later. Now, I find out I AM supposed to have the on demand movies because I have choice extra. I just thought that they did not have one until an email came saying it was included with ALL packages of Choice or above. I called and they said that mine was not on the work order to hook it up when they came out. I asked why they didn't have it on there when the guys came out. They stated that I was supposed to SPECIFICALLY ASK FOR ON DEMAND! I don't understand this as any other cable provider etc always had it without having to specifically asking for it. I asked her if EVERY SINGLE customer that HAS on demand SPECIFICALLY ASKED for it and she said yes. I was also told when I got it that you could just order movies from your remote. I found THAT to be a lie as well. They said it has to be hooked up to a phone line. I have had it with Directv and I just got done contacting Ellen Filipiak VP customer care at the corp headquarters. I am awaiting an email. I will be filing a small claims case against them or finding an attorney to do a class action suit after seeing all the other people that were lied to. You only find out the truth AFTER signing a contract (in which they never state what you will actually be paying. It only states that they can charge you ridiculous early termination fees). I would suggest to people what I will do in the future and only sign if it also contains the pricing and what they promised me. They told me on the phone they do NOT put pricing in the contracts. Now I know why...

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sbf44
, US
May 11, 2011 5:24 pm EDT

Well it's 2011 and the same thing is still going on. I signed up for Directv with the understanding I would be paying $40.99 for 12 months (this included receivers) and $62.99 after 12 months (My first bill was $76.00). I was give the website www.directv.com/rebate to register the account and put in for my rebate. When I went to the site and provided my info, it told me that I didn't qualify for the rebate. I've called several times to rectify this matter and finally told the promotion I was signed into was free movie channels for 3 months. I could care less about the movie channels. I was also informed that if I cancelled I would have to pay the cancellation fee. I will be cancelling that service and the service I have had in my other home for the last 6 years. They get their cancellation fee when they get it.

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cogan
, US
Mar 29, 2010 5:10 pm EDT

DirecTV lies, like the author said. And they do NOT provide the excellent customer service they claim. Below, please see the order confirmation we'd received from them in an e-mail... You'll see that it says we have a referral credit of 10 months of $10/month... But our bills do not show the credit, and NO ONE at DirecTV customer service says they see anything in their records of our putting in for a referral. BUT THERE IT IS RIGHT IN THE E-MAIL THEY SENT US! We have repeatedly offered to send them a copy of their own e-mail so that they can what we thought we'd agreed to, but they have refused to give us an address (e-mail or snail mail) to send it to. Instead they "escalated" the issue to another department which subsequently sent us a boilerplate letter that said that we didn't qualify for the referral credit because we'd ordered our service through an alternate contractor. WTF?! We ordered our service through the DirecTV website, with everything at the time seemingly routine and smooth and there was even a little pop-up dialog window with a DirecTV rep helping us go through the online order, answering our questions along the way. And the next day we got the confirmation e-mail about our order, containing the below summary, and we thought everything looked fine. It wasn't until the first copy of the bill that we saw that things didn't jive, and it has been one frustrating call after another with them. Always they insist that I'd done something wrong, and that it wasn't possible that I got referral credit - they say one has to call up for it, But there it was on the screen during the ordering process, and the rep in the dialog box even knew about it! On top of it, that rep had assured us that by ordering before the end of the promotion period, we would only have to pay the $6/month for the DVR service. But our subsequent bills all show them charging us $7/month. Again, when we called, they deny agreeing to the $6/month charge, and refuse to view the e-mail that they'd sent us. THEN, a month after the service was installed, we get a mailing from them notifying us that our bill was going to be amended by $5.99/month UPWARD for the protection insurance on their hardware that they said we'd ordered during the online process... MORE LIES! We saw that option, and we know we did not select it, as was confirmed by the summary we got at the end. Thankfully, at least, they voided that. Or at least we hope so... The next billing may reveal further surprises. But we are now stuck with them for two years. All they have to do is take ownership for their screw-up, give us and my friend that referred us a paltry $10/month for 10 months, and reduce a DVR fee by $1, and they could have had a content and loyal customer. Instead, they have customers like others posting here that are probably costing them a lot more $$$ by our complaining to others. Penny-wise, and pound-foolish.

********SUMMARY QUOTED BELOW*************

Your Programming Selection, Special Offers & Services
CHOICE $55.99
Bill Credit for 12 Months ($21.00)
Bill Credit for 12 Months ($5.00)
DVR Service $6.00
SHOWTIME UNLIMITED $12.99
FREE for 3 Months ($12.99)
Referral Credit for 10 Months ($10.00)
Lease Fee $15.00
Lease Fee Discount (1st receiver) ($5.00)

Estimated First Bill Amount: $35.99
Estimated first bill amount does not include sales tax.

Your Equipment Selection
DVR Receiver $99.00
FREE DVR Receiver Upgrade Rebate ($99.00)
Standard Receiver Free
Standard Receiver Free
Satellite Dish Free
Professional Installation Free
Shipping & Handling Free
Equipment Total: $0.00
Sales Tax $0.00
Order Total Paid: $0.00

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billjoy
Wolf Point, US
Mar 15, 2010 5:27 pm EDT

Did anyone here of small claims court-that is where they lose. just take these complaints with you and they pay

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rigginsrallygirl33
, US
Dec 29, 2009 9:21 pm EST

We had Dish Network and they were the ones that screwed my family over with $130 monthly bills. My mom had leased a DVR and our house was broken into and it was stolen. They proceeded to charge us (even though they were called immediately and even had the case number with the police) $600.00 because we didn't return the DVR. We then, got it back when the crooks were caught and it still worked, perfectly in fact. We called Dish and informed them of this. They said that we could send it back and we would be re-imbursed. We also had a receiver for downstairs which was sent it right after the break in and were charged $150.00 for that because they said they never received it. Both were sent, using tracking numbers, which stated they were delivered at their location that we were told to send them to. We haven't received our reimbursements and everytime we talked to customer service they would give us the run-around. They have so much of our money it's not even funny and we just gave up because taking legal action won't benefit us in any way other than maybe leading us to a better headache medicine.

We have DirectTV now. The bill we pay is the exact amount on our contract. The installer was straight-forward when he came to see if we could get reception. He told us he was have to mount it to the side of our porch and he put it exactly where he said he would. We had a slight problem with the reception one day and customer asked for our address, looked it up and said okay we'll be out there tomorrow, let us know if the reception improves before then. It did, we let them know and they still came out to see if there was anything to make it better, and didn't charge us a dime. It may have everything to do with the department in your area.

DirectTV does have one thing that Dish doesn't that no one can argue with...Friday Night Lights commercial free and earlier than on all other providers. That is something that is a major plus point for me.

Basically it looks like you either love Dish or you love DirectTV. Much like you're a Dell or a Gateway fan.

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maryi
Minneapolis, US
Jul 29, 2009 4:42 pm EDT

PLEASE visit my blog http://www.deceptivedirectv.com and tweet #directvlies to get their new, misleading advertisement off the air!

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Shogun
, US
May 05, 2009 2:20 am EDT

Directv lied to me twice about package deals. They always say they are giving you this cheap price, then you get the bill and it's way more. You call to complain and they say they have no record of the previous price. If you complain some more they might throw the rebate thing out there just to shut you up. It's a pretty sleazy company.

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bularki
hokes bluff, US
Mar 05, 2009 3:06 pm EST

Alden...thats the problem. yall are sooooo happy to explain it after its too late. the people on the front lines should have the facts, not make them up as they go. my contract is FINALLY coming to and end this month, one year after what i was TOLD. DIRECTV's policy is to put ignorant people on the front end that do not even understand the packaging that promise you whatever (one year contract, 2 recievers, $x, then nab u in a contract (two year contract, 1 reciever, $x+10 for year 2). they argued that i had 3 days to reject the terms of service. ME: where's a terms of service? them: it came in your first bill 7-10 days after installation. worst company ever.

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EDd
Pico Rivera, US
Mar 05, 2009 11:18 am EST

I purchased a TV from Costco which was part of the DirectTV rebate offer. According to Directtv's own rebate form, I have until 5/3/09 to submit rebate. I was told today (march 5 2009) that I was to late in submitting my forms! SCAM ARTIST!

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Victor
,
Sep 12, 2008 2:12 pm EDT

ignorants, please read what you sign before making a contract, or an offer

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Mrs. Robert Knapp
,
May 24, 2008 5:48 pm EDT

Received our first statement today...we thought we were to be paying $49.98 for the first year (which is the total after rebate of $18.00). Our first statement total is $74.16. We have our own DVD, so what did we get FREE. We went from Dish Networks to Direct, Dish has called us 4 times since 05/20/08 wanting us back and now I see we had a better DEAL with them.

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Micheal Gentry
,
Jan 12, 2008 6:51 pm EST

Direct Technologies in Dallas, NC contracts for Directv and they refuse to pay me the $3000.00 owed to me for working for them. The owners Jessica Long told me I was getting my money back in October 2007 and Stacy Long her husband will not pay me. He has a criminal record for being a thief. If I had known this when I was hired then I would not have worked there. This is a low life ### company. Please avoid them totally. They will rip you off! Why would Directv hire someone with a criminal theift record?

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malena acosta
,
Dec 28, 2007 6:03 pm EST

i love it.it the best.

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james d fitzgerald
,
Nov 09, 2007 12:42 pm EST

when I ordered directv at the very end of all the bs I went through they offered hdtv dvr and a portable dvd player. when one of the 5 or 6 installers arrived and told me he couldn't do hdtv. finally when the last of the installers(#6) came I at least had service and a dvr. dealing with your business folks is a nightmare and it leads me to believe I'm the onlyone in the country who still speaks English. to this day I still do not have the portable dvd or solitude near my tv.

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Alden
,
Jul 12, 2007 12:41 am EDT

Im a supervisor in the DirecTV billing and collections department. I see this problem all the time. Depending of the offer you got you get a $10 new customer credit to your account every month. Depending on what package you got you could get free movie channels aswell, but I would need to see your account. Now the credit must be done with mail in rebate. We can send you another form, or go to directv.com/rebate and fill it out online. If you do it online it will post on your next months statement. The free dvd player does go out. Theres a form for that as well. It usually takes 8-10 weeks to receive that. Now I get this a lot to. People wants my first and last name. To be honest, it does not really matter about our names. Number one, there are many call centers in the United States alone, plus Mexico, Japan, the Filippines. And not all of the call centers work for DirecTV anyway. Most are subcontracted out to other companies. So even if you get someones name, you may be talking to someone out of the country, and does not even work for DirecTV. I hope i helped you out a little bit. As I said I'm a supervisor in the South Carolina Billing and Collections call center. If you need anymore help with this I would love to see all this work out for you!

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Angela K Lewis
, US
Oct 04, 2018 10:17 pm EDT
Replying to comment of Alden

I have directv but leaving now contract up. I agree with this other customer. Before at&t bought directv it was great...been with them 10 years. As soon as at&t took over it went to hell. To manager above...when somebody says x amount per month, that's what it should mean. We shouldn't have to jump through all these ridiculous hoops we never had to jump through before you took over. Ho online, blah, blah. I know comcast is not much better, but my friends who have them have same bill amount for contract period. That's why it's called a contract! Duh!