DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

Their customer service is horrible. I have been without HD on many of my channels for over 3 weeks. When I made an appointment for service they simply told me Saturday. Assuming it was the following Saturday I waited. After 2 hours of waiting I called only to be told it was the following Saturday. They then set up a weekday appointment. The tech decided to show whenever he felt like it not at the apppointed time. Of course I wasn't home. I reschedule for today and was told I was a priorit and they would be here at 8. I had to call them only to be told they would be here between 10 and 12. It's almost 10:30 and I am still waiting. Can't wait to cancel this crappy service.

I have had Direct TV since July 208. I lost my job in October 2008. I want to try and keep Direct TV, as I am diligently looking for work, but Direct TV does not care. The representatives there, when I call, and explain my situation, state that I am not eligible for more that a $5.00 discount. The ads that come almost daily are very misleading, as the ads look good, but yet state 'for new customers only'. I have paid all my bills, I have tried to get a lowere rate on my account (for at least six months 0, until I can get on my feet again, but I am always told no. The new customers are getting a rate of $29.99 for the exact same line-up that I have and I have asked and been told no, even though I only asked for a few months, due to my financial hardship. Can anything be done about this. I am the trpe of person, and I am sure others that need this now.

When we signed up for Direct TV on Dec. 27, 2007, the installers had a contract that stated our term of service was for one year (12 months), which we signed. When I called to cancel service on [protected], the customer rep for Direct TV informed me that we signed up for an 18 month term of service, and that we would be charged an $80 early disconnect fee. Extremely unethical customer abuse. Not charging us an early disconnect fee would be the right thing for Direct TV to do. I will go to the Better Business Bureau in order to fight the disconnect fee.

My husband and I recently moved into a new house, and decided that we wanted Direct TV because my father-in-law has Direct TV & we wanted the same package he has. We placed an order for installation & set up a day to have our services installed. The next day I got a call saying there was a hold on my installation after I already paid $21 for all the hardware. I called the company back like they asked me to, and come to find out that because my father-in-law has a left over balance that he had not paid yet, our services were stopped. I told them that it was bull crap that my services had to be stopped because of my father-in-laws inability to pay his bill, so I told them to cancel my installation & services & refund me my money I paid for the hardware. The told me that they couldn't cancel my services or refund my money until my father-in-law pays his bill. Now tell me why in the world am I supposed to responsible and be punished because of his bill that I have no contractual agreement with? Well after a week of arguing with them & being bounced around between 5 different numbers, I told them that I was lodging a complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau & if I can file a lawsuit against them just for the principal that what they are doing is wrong, I will. All I got was, "do whatever you would like to do ma'am, " and an immediate hangup. Don't ever get services through Direct TV! They will find anyway they can to rip you off & screw you over! I'm filing complaint after complaint against these people just for the principal of the matter!

It is too bad that there is so much legal deception out there these days, and who pays for it in the end? The customer of course!
Watch out for deceptive flyers from this company. The offer sounds great until you get your bill. Then when you want out, you're stuck because of a two year contract, also they will not work with you at all and actually blame you for the problem. Because I refuse to deal with companies that use deceptive means to get customers, and then are charged a bill three times the amount the flyers present, I canceled my account after two months when I found it was useless when trying to work with them. They were not helpful and actually rude to me. They also charge over a 400 dollar disconnection fee that they withdraw from your bank account almost immediately.

this is our first experience with Direct TV...when calling the number off of their website for services, billing etc last may 2009 I was given a quote when receiving our first bill we will billed and extra $30.00 for each box..tried to call and said look this is the quote I was given and I specificly asked your representative for the exact amount we would be billed each month...well I got the talking points from the person on the other line, asked for a supervisor, same talking points, asked for her supervisor and got the same rederic...useless wasting my breathe...well now it is about 9 months later and we are needing to move as the owner of the house is selling the property..so we find a house but owner will not allow us to install the dish on rooftop..got a letter from the owner stating so..called up direct tv...now they say we have a 2 yr contract instead of the one year because we upgraded to a DVR on inital installation and that there will be a 290.00 charge for early disconnect...it is like talking to ###s...I informed them that if they charge my acct or try to collect this fee that I personally will get my self a lawyer and counter sue...I was never informed of the 2 year contract..talking to other people they have the same problems...I am a very understanding person but when people bold face lie to me I see red and it may cost me more for the lawyer but I will pay it..judging from the complaints on theis website I am not the only one who has been lied to...I am reporting them to the oklahoma states attorney general...

Direct TV has a disputed bill with someone who has my name. They keep calling me about the bill. I explain it isn't me and give them info to show it isn't. But a couple months later the calls start again! When I ask to speak with a supervisor they hang up on me. This has happened at least 5 times - and I can't get them to stop the calls.

Don't ever deal with this company - they obviously are slimy business people who are happy to harass people whether they are customers or not.

1. Representative lied about getting a free DVR with package. When I called in on that I had to fight through three levels of customer service rep. Finally a supervisor agreed to send me a $100.00 gift card to cover for being charged.

2. I filed for a rebate online. Needless to say the rebate never showed up and there is no record of it... Boom price goes up $30.00 a month... Luckily I have the confirmation number.

3. After three and a half hours on the phone talking with various customer server reps and supervisors I was livid. I have been lied to and abused by this company and will no longer take it. Seeing this website and the countless complaints online has left me enraged. Direct TV is a dishonest company! Dishonest companies should not EVER be allowed to profit from their actions.

Since I found absolutely no help from anyone I have decided to go to war with Direct TV. Rather than pay the early termination fee I have come up with a better plan.

1. Reduce your programming to bare minimums.
2. Purchase the 5.99 equipment insurance.
3. Knock the dish out of line once a week and call for service. This is at least a $50.00 service call.
4. Call customer service as often as possible. Those reps get paid and for every hour you spend trying to get your problems handled. Direct TV loses $15.00 to 25.00 per hour spent on the phone with them.
5. This is the clincher, after a few months of this Direct TV may decide that you are no longer "profitable" and cancel your contract. Make it a point to tell them that you really enjoyed making sure they did not profit from you.

While this is a pain in the ### and does not save you one plug nickel it IS the right thing to do! If enough people that were upset took this course of retaliation they would have no choice but straighten out. Companies these days don't care about what is right or wrong they only care about your money! MAKE THEM PAY TO STEAL FROM YOU!

Have been with dtv under a year. Their customer service is a joke. Not sure where they find their agents. But they are normally useless and I always have to ask to speak to a supervisor. I have service plan protection. I had DTV come out because someone recently moved out of my complex causing disruption in my service. DTV billed me $55 on my next bill. When I called the agent didn't understand why I wanted a credit. After explaining it to him for15 minutes I waited on hold for another 20 minutes only to have the supervisor promptly fix it. Each time I call its a nightmare. After my contract is up I will be cancelling. And going back to my local cable provider.

Direct TV SUCKS!When it comes to service. I have to wait a ###ing week to get my service back up and running. This is a crock of ###. Now, I have to take a ###ing half day off of work just so the ###s can come to my house "At their ###ing convience" to fix my direct TV. Direct TV should pay my salary for half the day that I'm getting docked to stay home to wait for their ### to fix my direct TV. Direct TV needs a class on customer service.

I tried to resolve a dispute on 01/17/09 and was on the phone for over one hour, when a supervisor named Brian or Brandon, got on the phone accused me of swearing and hung up on me. The dispute has not been resolved and they are charging me for PPV charges that they claim that I incurred in November of 2007. I plan to take legal action, instead of crossing my fingers and allowing them to ruin my credit. Truly, this is a company that is ripping off their customers and the BBB needs to get involved. If anything, hopefully people will do some reasearch and listen to customer complaints. I wish I had.

We first got direct tv through bluegrass satellite in the fall of 2003. It changed hands over to pegasus a few months later and then that franchise ended in january of 2004. We had made two payments in january, one early in the month and one at the end of the month, $50 and $70. Direct tv took their account over in february of 2004. Little did we know that our payments got locked up in pegasus during the change. My wife made payments usually by money gram or western union, sometimes by checking account. She would call and the system would tell her how much to pay. We wondered why there was always a difference in the charges when it was supposed to be the same. We contacted them about the account and they said we were behind and late charges were being applied. That was news to us since we weren’t getting any monthly statements. According to them, we were getting monthly statements but this was not true. Several months later we got on the phone with them to break down the accounts payments and that’s when we found out none of the money from january had transferred. Over and over we talked to them and they said there was nothing they could do about it. We told them we had reciepts for the payments and they still declined to help. We finally got $50 back onto the account on june 17, 2006. To top it all off they had installed the equipment onto the same set-up that dish network had installed, the same pole, same wiring, all they did was hook up boxes and install their satellite. After losing signal hundreds of times we found out the dish had to be installed where there is nothing to obstruct its line of signal. The dish was in the back yard with 20 or more trees in its path. Losing signal all the time was why we got rid of dish network after 6 years. A couple of years went by and we still complained about losing reception, our billing and we still wanted our $70 from pegasus. After threatening to find another service they sent someone out in 2007 we believe, maybe 2008 to reinstall our dish to where it had a clear signal path. So much bologna makes you sick, hard to remember every detail. And finally we got our credit of $70 in 2008. There was not one mention of all the late fees we paid, when really we weren’t, we just paid what the machine said or what a service rep. Said. After several years of losing money, we decided to go with a local carrier, cable, in january of 2009. We had told them we were going to get rid of them but they continued to send more billing. No one there keeps notes except theirs and what they want to write. Everything we say disappears, as if by magic. We had talked to “james” about the account and all the confusion. He saw the problems and where we had gotten our money credits back. He assured me that he would take care of this and clear the account because of all the hassle and late fees we had to deal with for over five years. The direct tv account has been in my wifes name for all of these years, we’ve been married 18 years, and i let her pay a couple of times with my debit card. I have never authorized direct tv to store my debit card numbers, i get on the phone and tell them i allow them to take the payment this one time and not to keep it. Even though we have told them since december about all these problems and that we were going to go with another service, those notes were never taken and the bill still increased. Even when we had no service they still charged as if we still had it. Today, february 18, 2009, direct tv stole from my bank account $202.38 with they had no authorization from. I called them and all i got was the run around. I would ask for a supervisor and i would get transferred to another department. Finally after the third time, oscar, supposedly, got on there and said he was a supervisor. Again, i got nowhere with him. He said my card was on file and it wasn’t authorized to be. All these people i talked to get so rude as if we all lie and because they think they have the power to do what they want. Wait till i get a lawyer on this. So much for direct tv. Any comments can be made to satellite@reptilesanctuary.Org . Thanks. L.D.H.

On January 9th 2009 Direct TV was unable to install their services at my residence. Their reasons for an unsuccessful installation are still unknown.
They were aware of the non installation however continued to bill Qwest communications through a bundle package, and failed to inform Qwest communications
that service was not installed and operational. I informed Qwest, however that I was not able to use Direct TV services. Qwest understandably told me to tell Direct TV not to bill me and close any opened accounts. I was told by Direct TV this would be closed on the day of failed installation.

Direct TV never closed my account and have continued to bill me through using Qwest bundle which I had set up through auto pay paperless billing, and I never actually saw I was being billed by Direct TV until July 2010 when I had switched to a new credit card. It was then that I got an itemized paper bill and was shocked to see that Direct TV has taken just over $2, 000 from me in this billing scam. I wrote to Direct TV immediately after their customer service refused to remove the charges. I gave a deadline of September 1st 2010 to refund me the unauthorized charges. They have not responded.

I am quite certain that I am not the only person Direct TV has tried to get away with unauthorized billing . In my humble opinion Direct TV is not a trustworthy or reliable service, especially since I had to miss watching the Superbowl 2009 on my home television because Direct TV couldn't get the install done. I will say that Direct TV's superior competitor company was able to accomplish installation of their equipment with ease and immediate service. I have been a satisfied customer of this superior satellite company who shall go un named in this complaint since they are far from deserving to even be mentioned in the vicinity of a complaint. Especially when it comes to un authorized billing.

I feel taken advantage of, even if it was a simple administrative error, I could understand, but refusing to remove the charges is just plain robbery. Nobody will talk to me,
the customer service wouldn't let me speak to a supervisor.

I want to sue Direct TV for a sum of money that sends a message to this deviant corporation that it's wrong to charge customers for a service that doesn't exist.

I have continued to receive calls around 6 am from Direct TV automated systems. I have filed 2 BBB complaints against the company along with calling back every time that I receive these calls before 8 in the morning, I have received approximately 10 calls so far. I have phone records to confirm these calls and have the BBB complaints to also confirm that this has been addressed to the company. Direct TV says that they do not have any control over their automated calls. So I am assuming that this allows them to break the law by ILLEGALLY calling people before 8 am just because a computer is placing the call. I still do not have this issue resolved.

Direct TV is a scam company. I paid my balance due. My receiver stop working on 2/25. Tech help arrived on 2/28 at 545p after I was told anywhere between 12 - 4 PM. So not only was schedules disrupted but disregarded as well. The tech had to leave to get a "new" receiver and arrived at my house for the second time at after 9 pm. The tech claimed my receiver was set up wrong, however it was working fine for two years. Direct TV held the replacement receiver box until the remaining balance was paid. Mind you I did not have a service interruption because I paid the current amount due. All the other receiver and my service was on and doing just fine. These companies are horrible and need better regulations and much better customer service. I was told my contract ended in March of this year, I hope there are no loopholes because I dont want anything to do with them. I will buy a converter box and watch regular tv and rent/buy movies. Anything for better piece of mind.

Do you need a headache?! Call Direct TV and ask about the "special" deals the company can offer you. I contacted the smooth sales person February 23rd, 2011 and asked about promotions. Before I knew it, I was going to have boxes for 3 televisions and Internet service at a 50% discount. Wow! I fell into the bait and switch scam in a matter of 20 minutes. I was leaving my cable company of three years and was getting a great bargain. All I had to do was give my debit card numbers (to keep on file-nothing else!) and the installation would be completed March 01st. Before the installation even drew near, my bank account started getting charges from AT&T and Direct TV. I called to see why my card was even being used and was told I was signed up for Automatic Debit. I decided to cancel the order of installation and have been transferred to other departments and hung up on by people from other countries. My order is still not cancelled (is somehow rescheduled for March 21st) and I realize my bank information is sitting on somebody's computer in another country. So go ahead, sign up today!

I would suggest no dealings with Direct TV. Their promotionals are misleading, their customer service stinks and they are unwilling to correct mistakes when it is their fault. I contracted service and the installers put in the wrong address for the billing. Accordingly, I never got bills from them. Service was disconnected and a customer service number I had would not take calls if the account was past due. I finally was able to secure another phone number to call, and the customer service center was unwilling to make allowances to accommmodate for mistakes their administration had made. I did get charged a termination fee, but that is cheaper than continuing a monthly service with a company that I feel is handling their customers inappropiately. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

In January we had a problem with our reception. A service representative came to our house to investigate the problem. He discovered that the eye on the satellite was faulty and replaced it. In Febuary we received our bill with a $49.95 service charge. When I called to dispute the charge I was told that they would apply a $35 credit but we would have to pay the remaining $14.95, and suggested I add their $5.99 monthly protection to avoid this service charge in the future. I emailed Direct TV and they replied that they leased the equiptment and as such the service charge was not their problem and I would have to pay it. This is just a marketing strategy to force customers to pay extra monthly fees for their protection plan and as such is an unethical way for them to avoid taking responsibilty for faulty equiptment provided, delivered and installed for them.
Once our contract is over we are hooking up our computer to our TV and watching television shows via the internet for free. We may not be able to record what we watch and we may not have some "perks" but at least we won't be paying an outrageous monthly fee to a company that manipultates their customers in this manner.

I purchased Direct TV because of the 12 months offer to save 50% on my bill after signing a 24 months agreement. I was with ATT Uverse but was just trying to save about $45 bucks a month for that first year and figured its Apples to Apples on pretty much what they offered. First, when I got my bill the rebate wasnt applied. I called customer service and they informed me I needed to go online right after I ordered it to start the rebate at the first bill and because I hadnt, I had to sign into their website and sign up for the rebate. I now have to wait 6-8 weeks for it to apply! Secondly, thinking this was an apples to apples swap, just another brand name, I tried to use On-Demand. I learned that you either needed to connect hard wire to your cable modem or with a wireless bridge adapter. I will either have to pay somebody to route wires under my home or pay $79.95 plus shipping for Direct TVs product. If I want On-Demand for each TV I will have to get another DVR for $5 bucks more a month and another $79.95 wireless bridge router! With ATT Uverse you have on-demand on every TV but can only initiate recording from the DVR TV, although you can watch a recorded episode on any TV box! I have had this service installed for less than a week but they will cancel it for $20 a month for the remainder of the contract. $480! You can not talk to anyone in customer service about complaining issues just send them emails. Whats crazy about this whole wireless connection issue is that my Sony P-3 and Nintendo Wii has a built in wireless bridge router and yet this multi-million dollar company doesnt offer this with their equipment. Even worse, their tech support will not help you out much if you do have a problem and your Internet Provider will not either, since its not their problem. Stay away from Direct TV unless you are just concerned with Sports Packages, cause thats the only thing they really offer other than a headache.

It has been one month now since I ordered Direct TV . When I called to order, I was quoted a price of $35 for my plan (rebates for $10 AAA, $10 HD, $23 movie channels). Installer came on Thursday and after initally being told on the phone that installation was free, he tells me it will actually cost $150 b/c I need "custom installation." After getting upset, I agreed b/c I really did want the service. He worked for about 3 hours and then announces he can only get service for me in two of the 4 rooms I requested. I said that was unacceptable. So he disconnected all of the work he had already done and left. That night, I called Direct TV and they had no record that the installation had not been completed. Their computer showed it was completed. After 2 hours on the phone, I finally got another appointment for an "experienced technician" to come out and try to install the Direct TV. John, the customer service rep also told me to call back after installation and they would give me some additional credits to make up for all of the hassle. Saturday, the installer came and spent 10am-5pm at my house, but Direct TV was finally installed and functioning (after paying for custom work). One note, I was told that to get full service DVR (be able to watch TV and record another channel at the same time), I would have to pay an additional $60 for another outlet. I said forget it. I'll just have "minimal DVR." I was so ready to be done with Direct TV customer service, I did not worry about calling to get my additional "free credits" John referred to. Well, today (Thursday) I check my credit card bill and see a charge of $76.61 for 1st month of Direct TV. I call and after being on hold for a while, I finally get a rep. I explain that my first bill is supposed to be $35. He proceeds to explain that I have to pay $76 the first month and then credits should appear "some time in the future." I explain to him that this makes no sense and he says this is the way the computer always does the first bill. Then I mention getting the "credits" John referred to and he said that wasn't possible b/c that was offered from a technical person and they would have to give the credits. I tell him to transfer me to someone with more authority, which he agrees to. After waiting again, I finally hang up b/c I have no more time to spend waiting on the phone for Direct TV. I regret the day I decided to switch from Cable to Direct TV. Take my advice, do not let their false ads claiming lower prices convince you to switch. By the time you pay "custom installation, " spend 12 hours waiting on installation, and then don't even get the price you were quoted, it is not worth it. NEVER CHOOSE DIRECT TV. Stick with cable!

I made an iquiriry to find out how much direct tv may cost... I was dumb to believe them when they sid no obligation... Next thing i have a tech ready to install the next morning, , after 9 phone calls still no supervisior, , , i get a bill now for 21.20.. For inquiring how much it would cost, , , now on hold for 55 mins trying to get a supervisior, , which i believe is just made up... I will never ever use this provider, please dont be fooled, , this is a scam... I will tell all i know about this

The Direct TV service was good, but the way they do business is like "snake oil". They did convince me to change from Time Warner by advertising a special rate. I called and started service over the "phone". From the start, this has been an experience I want to soon forget. At first, they wanted over $ 100.00 for the install. Secondly, my bill kept coming in "zero" balance. i got curious and starting checking and found they were charging my credit card and without my permission. I then found they were overcharging me based on the rate they said I would be charged. I tried for 2 months to correct the issue, but they just would not listen. I cancelled the service and now am arguing about months of service I did not use and early termination fees. They suck you in and take advantage when you're not looking. Consumers beware of "snake oil salesman" and the companies they represent. This one is definitely one to avoid at all costs.

My bill has been the same since I received a call in September from an outsourced telemarkerter for Direct TV. I delclined the offer as I am unemployed and DONOT want any additional charges that I cannot pay for. In February our bill came and it was $68. more and then when we called their customer service we got inadequate and unprofessional service. Their agents do not care what their company has done or any part of the association has done and they are trained to tell you flat out they don't beleive you {so in other words you are lying}, and they refuse to remove any charges even though they have absolutely no proof of the call and whether you actually used this product or not. It is the most riduclous thing I have ever experienced and they are the most unprofessional and dirty company. I am choosing to move and can only hope this experience has taught me to be more aware somehow of the deceit that lies from these deceitful, money hungry people.

I made the mistake of expecting to see the television come on with some sort of entertainment when I turn it on (after all, there are over 200 channels available with Direct TV). Instead, I have to repeatedly call Direct TV over and over to get permission to watch simple programming. If you don't watch a receiver for a couple of days, then a security feature kicks in that requires a call to "mission control" to get the receiver re-activated...annoying to say the least. The dish itself has been problematic with two major mechanical malfunctions within six months. I was out of service for a total of 17 days. If you call them for service...they charge you for it regardless of the origin of the problem. I'm sick of Direct TV, but they want hundreds of dollars to escape their "service".

We contracted for a "bundling service" with Direct TV in October 2009. Since we bundled with Embarq for phone and internet service we would be entitiled to a $15 per month credit on our Direct TV bill ( we have the original advertisment mailed to our home) for one year. We have spent hours trying to resolve this with the billing department, customer services and the bundling department ( the customer service reps from Direct TV have even told us that they do not have a " bundling department"...as of this date, no action has been taken other than they will "put a note in our file"...this is a clasic case of false advertising, and it is my belief that their service representatives have more training in how to piss the customer off than how to resolve issues...have filed complaints with Bureau of Consumer Affairs and BBB...we'll see if anyone lisitens. How I wish we had found this site before we signed the contract...a lesson learned!

the company lie to me and said that i owe $59.27 then i was making a payment and it said i owe $89.99 and i called them and said that they made a mistake and that i owe them that $89.99 when they conformed me that they made a mistake first and i owe $59.27 they said that i owe that and i have to pay that amount$89.99! so now what they can charge me what ever they want? so what if i make that $89.99 payment and then say that i owe more... thats not fair i cant trust them and if i dont pay it effects my credit just cause its there mistake and i have to pay for it!

I've been a customer for 5 years and recently moved to a new house and called and made appointment to have installer come out and install at new home well took a day off work to be here and the guy never showed. when I called to inquire as to where my installer was there was a message on the account that he had called from outside and since I had not answered he left. was it unreasonable to maybe knock on my door? I called again and asked if I could please have someone come by today and do the install and guess what? no show again their attitude sucks and I do not feel like they value their customers so I am switching to someone else now

I signed up with Direct TV in January 2010 when I moved into the Globe apartments in San Jose, CA. They have a monopoly in that complex so I was nto able to use any other provider for cable. They mde me sign a 2 year contract which I was uncomfortable with as I did not know how long I would be there or if I would be happy with their service. They assured me that if I ever moved and I could not get Direct TV in the new place that that voids the contract. 6 months later my company moved me to NYC. I intended to keep the Direct TV service but I was not able to get it in my new apartment building. I contacted Direct TV the middle of June and it has been hell since then. Each time I speak with someone different who gives me different rules. I spoke with someone in June, a supervisor who said that he would waive the early termination fee as my situation of moving to a new place where I could not get service qualifies for a waiver. A few weeks later I receive a bill with the $380 early termination fee. I called Direct TV and spoke to someone else who said they had no notes about the supervisor and did not know who the supervisor was. They said they would not waive the fee but that I could contact the Billing dispute deparment by mail explaining my situation and they would decide. I wrote Billing Dispute a letter and mailed it on July 12th. I never received a response from them but then just received calls asking for the money. I spoke with someone at the beginning of August who was trying to collect the money and I explained to him that I wrote Billing Dispute and he said he had no notes of this. I explained my situation again but he said there was nothing he can do. So, they obviously disregarded my letter and did not care enough to take any notes on my past calls into supervisors or customer service. Direct TV customer service is horrible, they do not care about their clients. They tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone and then do not follow through. Then, they do not put notes in the system so that they don't have to honor what they said and the conversation can't be traced back. Their early termination guidelines need to be clear and fair. They are running a scam on consumers. I will never use them again!
Now I have Verizon Fios and the service is great, there is early termination, and the quality is better. Everytime I have called in regards to my service and bill they have been professional and great with their customer service.
Do not use Direct TV!

The salesmen at AT&T stores that sell DirectTVdo not tell you that you are under contract for 18-24 months. So when you decide to cancel due to being unsatisfied or simply because you are moving out after a year, you have to pay a cancellation fee you didn't know about for a contract you didn't know you had. We all know that the cell phone services are under contract. But they purposely fail to tell you that DirectTv service is under contract as well. You will never hear them mention contracts in a commercial!

I had talked to a representative of direct tv who made it sound so great and for the first 5 months would get it for 60 bucks, so i went ahead and got it. Was the biggest mistake... The rep said pay the installer the first month along with any extra installation ended up giving this crook 129 bucks...3 daqys later i recieved a letter from direct tv statinbg that i owe them 88 bucks...So i call talk to a complete ### who stated that they contract these installers and i should not have paid them. I was like " how i am supposed to know this" your rep told me to pay them so i did. Direct tv bills my credit card for 88 buck so i call again i think they only hire stupid people. They gave me the number to the installers to call them...I could not believe this seriously i dont contract them your company does...So i call these worthless people 15 times left that many messages and as of today still nothing from them. I called time warner then canceled my services with direct tv so today i get a bill for 475.01...Here we go again called direct tv...Wow what do you know another dumber than dirt customer service person...Did nothing then had the nerve and stupidity to ask if i would like to take advantage of the new package...No stupid just give me the address to your legal...Do not ever use this company they will rip you off!

Direct TV ...money mongering giants. They installed a dish for me as a brand new customer, and the signal kept getting interrupted. After a week of this they came back and attempted to move the dish. The installers put holes all over my balcony and still couldn't get a signal. They had to take the dish out. Direct TV then extracted $259.00 from my credit card they had on file for "early cancellation penalty". Stay away from this evil empire... they could give S&%@ less about thier customers...they only care about what's in you're wallet. I will be sure to spread the word everywhere and will obvioulsy NEVER be a future customer of theirs.

On or about January 13, 2010 we contacted Direct TV, as we were considering changing from Comcast cable. We specifically asked about features we had on Comcast that we wanted to make sure were available on Direct TV. Specifically - 1. the functionality and features of "on-demand, " 2. whether a show could be recorded while another channel was being viewed, and 3. if "live TV" could be paused while using the remote to swap to another channel. We were told that the features of Direct TV in regards to our questions were comparable or better than Comcast. We were told two shows could be recorded on the DVR, while a third show was being watched and that "on-demand" carried previously broadcasted television series. We were told that Direct TV does not offer on-site consultations; however, they would send out a technician and we could decide if we wanted the service or not. We scheduled a technician to come out on the 23rd of January. The technician came out on the 23rd and upon completion of the installation began to review the features of the service with us. NOT ONE of the three things explained above were available as we had been told. We advised the technician we didn't want the service based on the misrepresentation by the telephone sales person. He told us we would have to call to have someone come back out to remove the equipment. We never entered into any verbal or written agreement with Direct TV, we did not sign any type of work order, nor have we paid them ANY money. Direct TV is refusing to remove the unwanted dish, which is their property, and pick-up the unwanted equipment, which is also their property. They have no right to abandon their property to us.

Company used deceptive and misleading selling tactics.

Called in to subscribe to Direct TV. Agent said that I would qualify for the referring a friend discount as I mentioned about a friend. I gave all the info on that friend to her. She took it down and even gave me a quote saying that he and I will each get $10 discount a month for 10 months. So I went ahead with the installation, activated my account then saw on my bill that there was no $10 discount. I called back and their customer service was extremely rude and refused to honor the refer a friend discount. They said they did not have any records of it and if I canceled, I would get slapped with a termination fee. What a big fat lie from Direct TV! The customer service agent repeat the lines like parakeet and even said that I would qualify for $10 discount if I refer my friends to them. HOW STUPID! NO WAY!

I was calling my phone company to disscussed why it was taking them so long to combine my cell phone on to my home phone line, when i was pitched the satellite services, at this time i had already had services with comcast for my internet and cable and was told that i would receive 5 months free of premium channels at 39.99 for a year if i ordered the football ticket promotion and would receive additional savings if i added the internet i would receive a discount that would had lowered my bill to 140.00 dollars per month and because i had already had the phone service and the celluar services with att this would have reduce my bill significantly so after i had the satellite install on the 31st of july of 2009 the next day i called direct tv/att to find out why i didn't have any premiums channels i was livid to find out that not only was i not going to receive the 5 months premium channels but to my amazement the promotion ended so i did not get the channels and also i was never told that the contract was for two years. They lied and told me that my satellite bill was going to be combined with my phone service after two months they lied it won't be . They told me that the dvr was free upon a credit check it's not. Ive received a bill for $65.00 montly for the dvr and lastly the promotion for the internet was a joke, although i received cash back for switching my services i ended up using the money to pay the satellite bill which is huge and to for the cu de gra the internet suppose to be at 3.0 mbps, it ended up bringing my internet to a crawl which is compared to dial-up and i was being charged 30.00 for it when i was getting 12mbps with comcast for 19.99 as of june 2009 .To all who is considering getting direct tv im hear to plead with you they charge 400.00 for early termination fee because they know that most people is going to get rid of there services because of the poor quality so please ! Do not get this service or you will be sorry they don't disclosed this information before hand so that they call trick you " this is a scam don't fall for it like i did or you will risk or credit .

Direct TV is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I signed up for the "insurance plan" a receiver goes bad, we send it back, no problems right. Wrong. I call to see when our contract is up, they tell me it's been extended because I sent the bad receiver back. I proceeded to tell them that I signed nothing, or read nothing stating that my contract would be extended if there products were faulty. I was told that it was our fault because we damaged our receiver. I asked what date we called to make the complaint about the receiver, 9-12, they say, what date did the warehouse examine the "damaged" receiver, 9-12 they say, amazing they examined it psychically and found that I had damaged it. They then stated that it was on the back of the work order that I had signed when they initially installed that if I sent it back it would extend my contract and it was my own fault because I didn't read it. I said I wanted a copy of the signed work order, I was told it was to be mailed immediately. Good bye's were said. I then went hunting for the work order, I found it and low and behold the back was blank, so I called them back. wowzers, there was a big mistake and because the receiver was leased and it was exchanged for a leased one, the contract should have never been extended. They did push the contract back to the original date. Bad, bad, bad direct tv.

Tech set up two TVs and left before the second one was up and running. We waited for the second TV to start working and then returned to the first set to find that it was not working. Long story short - faulty equipment was installed - customer service is telling me to wait for new equipment can be mailed out and mail back the faulty equipment. This is totally unaccectable as the installation was really never completed. It is useless trying to deal with these people over the phone.

I am too upset with my cable services! Recently we combined two households and we kept the boxes for all the tvs. Although when combining the tech quoted that we would not be charged a cancellation fee, actually we where increasing our services. I was charged a $280.00, I have over $130.00 in over draft fees. I have been a customer for years and so has my fiance. But this is absurd ! To make matters worst I was told that it would take 7 to 10 days. After waiting that period of time, my fiance called again he was told by a supervisor that, "the best we can do is 6 to 8 weeks! In the past I had recommend your companies services to everyone, I live in a complex with at least 200 direct tv dishes. It would be a great disappointment to your company that those moved their services. The people in the neighborhood often ask me 'HOWS IT GOING, WITH DIRECT TV? I have to tell them the truth, I am not happy and they are screwing me out of my money.

On 4/15/07 I purchased an HDTV at Best Buy, the salesperson said they were having a promo on direct-TV. I explained I was already a directv customer. The sales rep said I could just buy the HD service and add it to my existing service and that Best Buy would do it as part of my installation. I paid $99.00 for the HD receiver and the best buy installation guys came over and performed the install. At no point in time did I ever speak to direct-tv to have the receiver activiated. The Best buy installation guys did all the talking.

After three months of billing issues I decided I no longer wanted to be with Direct-TV and requested cancellation of my service. I was told that I could not cancel as I was commited to a two year contract. I ask the customer service rep to verify when I agreed to those terms and they claim it was automatic when I signed up for the HD service, problem is i never signed anything or agreed to an extension of service. I never even talked to direct-tv.

They claim that when I had the receiver installed i signed the agreement. When i looked at my best buy receipt there is no mention of such agreement matter of fact theres no mention of direct-tv. Then the representative claimed i verbally agreed when they performed the install. Again i never spoke to anyone at direct-tv. The best buy installer did all the talking with Direct-TV.

I dont understand how they get away with these deceptive practices and there is little or nothing out there to protect the consumer from such scams. I hope direct-tv goes under when IPTV becomes available nationwide. I am currently disputing this with Allied interstate a collection agency (direct-tv).

Direct TV just informed me I have a 1 year contract w/them even though my contract was up years ago. Their reasoning: our bedroom receiver (which we owned) broke & I got one that someone was no longer using (so also owned) & had them switch the signal to the working receiver that I hooked up to the TV. So NO new services, NO new equipment from them but I now have a contract?! Customer "service's" solution is for me to send a letter & they will reply within 3 weeks of receiving letter. If this is the kind of service you are looking for Direct TV is the company for you. BTW the rep who switched the signal for me never mentioned a contract or I would have just cancelled the service in the bedroom as we do not use it much, just nice to have on occasion. I have been with Direct TV for 10 years and this is the treatment I get...on hold for 15 minutes and then told that they can't do anything and cannot look into anything I just need to submit a letter and wait...and of course keep paying them in the mean time whether I want to or not. Ironic thing is I probably would have stayed with them at least the year or more anyway under normal circumstances as I am used to their channels and menus etc. I am making sure everyone I know hears about their terrible customer service and everyone I don't know that I can reach too.

Upon canceling their service, I was told two of the decoder boxes (That I had bought and installed myself) were actually leased equipment that belonged to Direct TV and I would have to return them to the company. Nothing about reimbursing me for my out of pocket cost. No guarantee on the defective equipment that they originally gave me. I have a lot of other ### about this company and most of them have already been posted on this board and many others. I find I am not alone in hating Direct TV

These people really stink. I can't believe I stayed with them for so many years. Now have AT&T UVerse service and so far am very pleased.