DirecTV
reviews and complaints

Why am I happy? I was very tired of standard cable, so I read the direct tv propaganda and saw an answer to my prayers: so much service for so little money! But wait; I had better look for direct tv complaints, in the unlikely event there should be any such thing. I now realize than practically anyone can start an incompetent satellite tv company; direct tv did! I could even do this, but i'm an analyst who pays attention to the bottom line.

Still, direct tv could come after me. Some of their minions might even be competent. I stopped by best buy and looked at one of their receivers. There’s a $400 cancellation fee right there. I thought about getting a couple of hd dvr’s. There are endless more fees for intent there, and I should never be so stupid as to believe that & ldquo;free” really means at-no-charge. I have so far not paid these people one cent, but I am a sworn enemy. Are they going to take that lying down?

I once go scammed by & ldquo;the home business group” by paying home business start-up fees. I got my money back. & ldquo;the home business group” made all their money on these fees and nothing else.

Suspiciously, it looks like direct tv depends on a variety of fees to stay in business. If one has lousy service, the income has to come from somewhere. Raiding people’s accounts works even better.

I have been writing all sorts of government officials about this. I have urged government officials to pay close attention to the so-called direct tv contract and the danger of & ldquo;implied consent. & rdquo; implied consent is common on internet scam sites. Once one is caught up in an implied consent scam, the only way to stop it is to cancel one’s credit card. Direct tv takes this even further, by turning practically any account over to collections. Mass collections without cause ends up being another scam. All the government has to do here is tell the banks and credit bureaus to ignore direct tv.

First of all Direc Tv does not let you know that they will charge your credit card 3 years after a movie is ordered on your reciever. They have your credit card information and charge it without even letting you know. So if you order movies and you don't get a bill for it watch out because when you try to cancel your receiver they will tack all of that on, and trust me they don't care if it adds up to $200 dollars. There are adult movies ordered on our access card which no one from our home orderd it. I have no proof because they say the access card is cleared after each time a consumer returns it. So what if it wasn't oh well they can charge to my credit card with out me even knowing it happened. You would be better off with a company that isn't so sneaky...

my elderly parent had directv installed in their home with a HD/DVR and talked into the most expensive package available. my mother has the onset of demensia and hearing loss. my father is legally deaf and also has hearing loss. when discovered what they had signed up for I contacted directv on several occasions to try to extensively explain the situation. of course my mother had signed a 2 year agreement and of course directv was not sympathic to my concern and I was told they would have to pay a disconnect fee and it would be charged to their credit card. my mother had given directv her card number and they had been charging her card for the monthly fee (she hadn't realized she agreed to that). directv stated to me that legally they can charge her card for the disconnect fee even though I had her call and request no more charges to be made on her card. when I suggested I would cancel her credit card I was told it was a federal violation if I did that prior to directv collecting any money owed them. my parents only needed a basic package, they wouldnt have needed a dvr nor 200+ channels and I feel directv took advantage. I intend on contacting the attorney general, local prosecuting attorney, newspapers to possibly get some help with this matter

I signed with direct tv for a year because of their hd promotion. However, when I upgraded with a dvr they added on another year of obligated payments without my consent or knowledge. Read the contact carefully because the sales staff is not honest. When I realized what happened I called direct tv. I was asked to call several different numbers by different customer service agents before someone could help me. After reaching a person who would talk to me I was told "sorry but we can't help you". I have had very poor service with direct tv. Sometimes it is difficult to get ahold of a person. When i've accepted a promotion direct tv has offered i've experienced problems working out my bill when the promotion is over. It usually takes several phone calls with long wait times to reverse charges. I am often given incorrect information from a well meaning customer service agent which also leads to more phone calls. I am disappointed that direct tv has poor customer service for existing customers and does not try to improve relationships with customers.

Consumers beware this is my experience with direct tv. I called and talked with a sales represenitive named anthony he quoted me my prices for the promotion period for the remainder of the first year and then for the following year of obligation made him do it twice I wrote it all down and repeated it and he confirmed it. After the installation got my first bill and yes of course it did not match what I was quoted so I call talk to a lady named mary nice enough but no help she state I need to talk to another department and they can request the recorded conversation between anthony and myself, wrong talk to a guy named beau who is in seriuos need of customer service skills he tell me I have to write a letter to the "office of the president" which I did. I talked to a lady there named lisa who could tell me that they don't record these calls to find discreprencies on bills only to see if the employees are being polite they don't care if there telling the truth. She then states that I could find the monthly amount myself by placing an order online and not talking to there customer assistance so apparently if you don't have a computer and your nor online direct tv doesn't want you buisiness. Lisa then told me even if I cancel this service due to them misquoting me I will still have to pay all the obligation requirements. Consumers beware do not trust direct tv sales represenitives.

Look at there work force... They are children! Halstead Communications does not hire experience. They prefer to hire children between the ages of I just got my license to drive and 25. These children know nothing about your home and how it is build. Halstead employees take a week of school room training, to install Direct TV. These employees (or future house hacks), haven't a clue as to how a dwelling is put together, thus Halstead Communications is getting, and will continue to receive the complaints with respect to there installations. The only one profiting from Halstead doing your installations is the roofer, drywall and electrical contractors. Direct TV is no more then a company selling you a product, in this case it is a receiver an antenna and a contract that you have to buy out if you are not satisfied. Halstead Communications is simply an Installation Company that has grown to big for there own good, they do not care about there employees as they (Halstead Communications) must meet a daily quota or they could loose there contract with Direct TV. As I have previously stated Halstead Communications can not keep a "seasoned" installer for many reasons nor will they hire a real installer.

There is a simple solution to your Installation needs DO NOT LET HALSTEAD NEAR YOUR HOME! Get an independent installer, ask him or her if they are qualified. Some states require that Installers pass a test (SBCA). Ask to see there Insurance binder, so you know they are insured. Also one of the many benefits of an Independent Installer is COMMUNICATIONS (something that is at the end of Halsteads name, and that's the only place you will find it). An independent installer will have no problem giving you his or her cell phone number. Try that with Halstead Communications. If you have a problem with Halstead Communications install or service you can always call 1-800-who-are-you. Or if you had an independent contractor do your install you simply can call him or her, as no one knows what your install or service issues were then the tech who did it. Bottom line always request when speaking to Direct TV installation department or service department that you prefer a independent contractor. JUST SAY NO to Halstead Communication because your home is a terrible thing to get destroyed!

I am so angry with quest for what they made us go through. Everything with quest was going fine, till we disconnected their service and switched to vonage. Instead of disconnecting the existing service, quest went ahead and created a new account in my name and added services that I had never ordered. I was the one following up every day, asking for bills and my final account closing statement. All they kept saying was that your account is now closed. And then, suddenly, we discovered that a bill of $275 was slapped on us. After following up for three months, when they saw that we were not going to get scared of collection agencies and their bullying, they have told me over the phone that the account is closed. Even today, I have not recieved a paper bill confirming that I do not have any dues on them.

I kept getting transferred between their different 'departments' and hanging on to the phone for 3-4 hours on an average. They are totally dishonest and have no processes of systems in place. One customer service agent will say something totally opposite to what the executive promised the day before. They have no morals and zero consistency. Simply put, they harass you till you give up, and are so sick of following up everyday, that you will pay for their false bill.

I will not be surprised if they file for bankruptcy soon because with this kind of fraudulent practices, they cannot last long. I hope and pray that they will end soon, so that hardworking americans like us can save some money and not throw it away by paying bills for services we never took.

The only lesson I have from this stressful experience, is to hold on, and to keep refusing to pay for the spurious charges. Just pay for the part of the bill that is genuine. They will lose steam in a 3-4 months time. And of course, never ever do business with them in future!

Watch out for the job posting ads throughout the internet job search boards. It's not a marketing manager, advertising manager, creative directors, entry level general manager, junior marketing associate, campaign developer, event coordinator, public relations specialist, customer service representative, etc. etc. When you send an e-mail you will immediately get a response back from Jennifer "the human resources recruiter" -- when in actuality it is a call-center girl being paid to do whatever she can to get you in to meet the "Jonathon". Obviously, she is getting paid to set up interviews because she will tell you everything you would ever want to know, except for the truth about the job. "Exclusive Promotions sets up ad campaigns and creative direct marketing options for Direct TV and VISIO." Yeah, right.

You walk into this "suite" where it turns out its an administrative desk that is being utilized by about 40 private offices of 40 different "companies". The "Jonathon" meets you and takes you back -- through a meandering maze of hallways and offices -- to his office, which my guest bathroom is larger than this. You meet his "assistant manager" and immediately he asks why you came in and what you are looking for in Exclusive Promotions. You tell him...

Immediately, he says, "That's not us. This is us." And shows you a picture of a Direct TV and VISIO display in a Best Buy. "100% commission. You eat what you kill. Is this for you? I made 300k last year, and I'm moving to Chicago. Is this for you?"

Would you want to work for someone who lies, misinforms, and is not willing to invest in you as an employee?

We recently signed up for Direct TV and although so far we have only had a few problems with the signal (not too many to be fair)

The big problem is that we are unable to record anything either directly from the signal to a DVD recorder or from the DTV DVR to a DVD recorder. When attempting to do so the recorder stops the recording with a message saying that

"Copying of this material is not allow recording has stopped"

After a number of misleading calls to the company indicating that some shows maybe copy protected by the various channels etc. I eventually found out that the DTV "cable/satellite" box has something in it that prevents recording or anything to anything! This is probably so that you have to have their DVR and or because they eventually intend to charge you EXTRA for the privilage of recording shows you could record off the air if you didn't have their service.

According to the Tech that told me this they are aware of the problem and working on it but no time frame for when it will be corrected or even how long they have been working on it.

I'm no lawyer but this seems like it would fall under the area of nondisclosure of a material fact? Any attorneys out there interested in filing a class action?

Bottom line if you ever intend to record anything you might want to keep DON'T sign up with DTV! Once my contract is over I'm GONE!

My family has been taken by at least 5 different companies! You do the work for them and then all of a sudden you can not get paid for 3 weeks. Then when you finally get paid there are so many deductions for nonsensical stuff the check is just enough for you to buy gas for the following week. 3 of the businesses still owe me money in the amount of 6000.00 but they are now out of business and can not conatct them. Why are these folks allowed to continue to do this to people? We just want an honest job! If you are thinking about responding to an add for a contractor for any of these companies...run... You will get screwd evertime and the big comapanies will do nothing to help...The just keep suckering more people to join!

After being a dish satisfied customer for 9 years, at the reccomendation of an inlaw and false national advertising in our sunday paper, I switched. 4 day old customer already very angry

Lie #1 I was told that I and my referer would recieve $100 each off our billing over a year. Not true. there is fine print that I have not found on the advertising, that says you have to place order with them direct, not any direct tv ordering way. example local direct tv. Unless you order directly from direct tv main number, you will get the run around.
Lie #2 In dealing with my install co they told me they would register me but I had to apply for the rebate s I did and GUESS What ? you dont get what is advertized because you didnt read the fine print . after you are installed you are out of luck. hopefuly your state has a remorse law..cancell service John P south carolina

Two months as a direct t. v. customer. choice package, in pr flyers free for 3 months premium movie channels. & there is enough "sport's channels to gag anybody, even if your not interested in"sports", but for national geographic, you have to get choice xtra package. so far no movie channels. this is falling on deaf ears, but word of mouth will do this company in if they don't pay attention to what they promise, and don't do.

I ordered DirecTV for my mother's room in a Nursing Home where that was the only available service. I ordered basic service, no DVR. As soon as the Tech installed it and gave us the remote I knew this would not work for her. The remote had a lot of buttons that were for use with a DVR. My mother has Alzheimers and would NEVER understand those buttons. I called that day and cancelled the service. They allegedly give you 24 hours to cancel without obligation which I did. About a week later, they STOLE $460 out of my checking account. I have called 3 times and while they admit they should not have done it, they won't tell me when I will get my money back. I am unemployed and need that money! You can't get to any one with any authority to help. THIS COMPANY SUCKS SO BAD it is UNBELIEVABLE.

IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT SIGNING A 2 YEAR CONTRACT WITH THESE ###S, RUN AWAY!

My bill is past due, so my cable has been shut off. I just came back off a 1 week Vacation. I tried to pay my bill, but they will not accept my payment, although they are still able to open new accouts 24 hours a day. When I call the # on my bill, I am given a different phone # which is only open Monday through Friday, from 9 to 5. I was told that I could pay it on line, at www.directtv.com, but that website is currently UNDER CONSTRUCTION. What a bunch of serious lazy ###. This is the typical American Company wity nothing but Money Grubbing Potential Senators in charge of it. The people in charge are fat lazy slobs who have never worked a day in their lives or had to deal with a late payment because everything has been paid for them, by some guys ### that they have kissed.

DirectTV is the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. I will be cancelling my service just as soon as I possibly can and I will tell anyobe who will listen to steer clear of this company. Their "customer service" (oxymoron for sure) is a joke. It took 2 1/2 weeks to get a rapair person out to fix a broken HD DVR. 2 days later, same problem. When I said just switch to a plain 'ol regular receiver, they said I would have to pay $70, after I already paid $199 for the damn HD DVR.

Complaint Rating:
I have been with Direct TV for the past 6 years and up until this morning, I was pleased with the service.

My parents signed up with Direct TV three months ago, and did so via online. There was no field to put in a referral, so after signing up, they called it in.

The rep said they would apply the credit to both of our accounts.

Fast forward 3 months & we both haven't seen the credit. So I called.

The Rep told me that it was too late & that our referral had been "denied" huh? How can it be denied when the new customer called to add our account as the referral only days after online ordering & before service was even installed?

I also go the "courtesy" offer...to deduct $10.00 off my bill for the next 6 months.

I told him that although I appreciated the offer, I was still very upset over how this issue had been handled, and that if I didn't know better, it seemed like they were trying to scam us.

At this point the rep said to call the referral 800 number to try & talk to someone about it. If the other person's compaint is any indication, Im not holding out much hope.

I called AT&T to get price & info on adding directv to my bundle.We weren't sure which sat to go with.I called AT&T since i'm a very long time costomer.Every ? I asked was staight out lied to.No contract can cancel at any time, when I said go down to 3 boxes instead of 4 grandson not here all time.was told hold on ok got it worked out no charge on that it will be included free!She just kept giving me a better deal till I said Yes add direcTV.What a mistake!Survice goes out finally got tech out here & he found a few problems he fixed that was with their workmanship & charge $49.95 for service call.Aprox 3 months later this time will not reset.CS said bad weather it was drizzlin, sunshine 2day & still no service.Want$49.95 to come out & fix.No way we are able to reset dish if needed or dry any fitting that could get wet, We didn't move the dish, satilite in sky or make it rain.But they insist gotta pay them 2 come even if probl is on thier end.worst service ever!they get your cc# then nothin you can do!How can we stop this fraud?

Direct TV has done more damage to the American public/consumer than Bin Ladin, the Taliban and Al-Qeda combined! I am on hold again about the same damn upgrade appt. for the FIFTH TIME! How does the FCC, Attorney General's and/or any governing authority let this company operate?

If Direct TV was a 3rd world country, the military would have obliterated them and hung thier leader, Chase Carey just like we eliminated Sadaam.

The next time I am on hold for 45 minutes to hear the same old, same old is the last... I may show up at thier corporate office with Michael Moore just to slap them around a bit...

I also got bagged by direct tv. And after months of trying to get a fair resolution for this problem I finially have to take my claim to small claims. So if you have to sue also, then this is who you need to serve at direct tv.
Saul dardashti
660 baker street suite 250
Cosat mesa ca. 92626
He is direct tv legal procees reciever. I got this info from the california secretary of state. All direct tv summons by law have to go to him. Good luck

Received a letter from privacy assist, through bank of america that said directv ran a credit report on me. I do not have directv, I did not order directv, I did not authorize directv to check my credit.

I called direct wanting to speak to someone in customer service as to why they accessed my credit. I was forwarded to customer service, which by the way there is no customer service w/directv. A man who said his name was elvis, said to fax a copy of the letter to their customer service center... The fax # he gave me did not work, the email never went anyplace.

How is it that a company can just run a credit report without prior authorization?