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2.0 2197 Reviews

DirecTV Complaints Summary

537 Resolved
1650 Unresolved
Our verdict: When using services from DirecTV with a poor resolution rate, be vigilant. Understand the common pitfalls other customers have faced. Prepare thoroughly for any interactions with their customer service, and consider alternative solutions if your issues are not addressed satisfactorily.
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ComplaintsBoard
M
12:51 am EDT
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DirecTV charge account even after 7 days cancellation

my husband cancelled directv after 7 days because on the back of the bills said you could cancelled by 7 days without unathorized charges but guess what they charge my husband debit card $454.00 to which overdraft on his account.
so never believe on DIRECTV they are suck. From greed customer representatives.
i already told this to my friends never go to DIRECTV. never...

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Abbo__
Worcester, US
Jun 18, 2009 1:48 pm EDT

MESSAGE TO ALL REALIST IS A LOSER, SADISTIC ###, THAT HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO THEN TO TRY TO DISCREDIT PEOPLE BY TALKING ### ABOUT EVERYBODY. CLICK HER NAME AND CHECK HER COMMENTS TO PEOPLE. SHE IS RUDE, HAS NO VALUE POINTS AND I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE WASTES HER TIME. BUT SHE DOES. WHICH ONLY MAKES ME COME TO ONE CONCLUSION THAT SHE MAKES UP EVERY MORNING AND LOOKS IN THE MIRROR AND REALIZES SHE CAN'T STAND HERSELF AND HATES THE WORLD. GO GET A LIFE YOU F'EN LOSER...
SORRY TO EVERYBODY ELSE, I AM NOT LIKE THIS UNTIL I GET ATTACKED PERSONALLY FROM SOMEBODY THAT HAS NO IDEA WHO I AM OR KNOWS YOU. KEEP POSTING YOUR COMPLAINTS, IF ANYTHING ELSE IT ALLOWS OTHERS TO WATCH OUT FOR WHEN DEALING WITH COMPANY'S.

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realist
Meridian, US
Jun 11, 2009 12:57 am EDT

No company leagally has to give you a trial period. They are not greedy they are just holding you to the commitment you agreed to by having their services installed. Directv payed out a lot of money to start you as a customer (anywhere from $1, 500 to $3, 000 depending on installations and equipment) So you are pretty much pathetic to complain when you broke the contract not them

ComplaintsBoard
C
3:55 pm EDT
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DirecTV illegal contract/ripoff

On february 25, 2009 I placed an order for at&t u-verse triple package installation. The at&t sales representative called me and I received a confirmation number along with a date of march 16, 2009. On march 16, a directv tech came to my house. I asked him why he was at my door and he said, directv is doing contracting work for at&t cable service. I let him in thinking he was placing at&t cable and on top of that, he didn't complete any installation for phone and the internet service. So I began to make calls to at&t and direct tv to resolve the problem. At&t finally sent a tech out to install u-verse.In the meantime, a representative from at&t called direct tv along with me on the phone and explained what happened. I don't know if she typed any information into my account. Well, I have been calling directv to cancel my account. I was informed that I would have to pay for a contract I agreed to which is for a year and a half. How can I agree to anything when I never even mentioned directv while placing the order. The supervisor says, that they sent me a confirmation letter that I never seen or signed. How can I be held accountable for something I didn't request or confirm. I have been working with at&t to resolve this problem but I am so appauled that I have to take some form of action as soon as possible. If you can help me in any kind of way, I would appreciate it. Also the supervisor wouldn't give me the number to their headquarters nor her last name. She wouldn't even give me the name of the sales lady, just her i. D. I'm not sure if that's even correct. We all work too hard for our money for someone to take advantage of a situation. This is downright disrespectful, abusive, and it should be illegal.

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Another burned AT&T/DirecTV customer
Gulfport, US
Jun 04, 2009 7:09 pm EDT

Complaints about "bait and switch" and "trojan horse" scams by At&T/DirecTV are rampant. Some federal group really needs to look into this.

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realist
Meridian, US
May 18, 2009 7:06 pm EDT

sorry to hear what you went through
BUT...
Call centers are buckling down and a lot of them (not all of them) but a lot of them are not allowed to release any form of their last name, just employee numbers. Also a lot of them cant even tell you what city they live in, some cant even release the state they are in. This is due to rising crime from phsyco customers against call center reps. At a call center here in the U.S. a customer got mad because a call center rep would not give him a credit (for something that was his fault, no fault of the company at all). He asked for her last name, the state she worked in and the city. He found this call center and sent flowers to the representative (from a secret admirer.) Well she gave them to her buddy because she did not want her husband to get mad. When her friend walked out with the flowers to go home, she was shot down and killed by that man. He waited for the person holding the flowers that he had bought to exit the building, that way he could kill the person who made him mad for not giving him a credit that he did not desearve. And this is just one example of why.
So next time someone wont give you the last name, only a number, is because thats all they can give you! And for damn good reason, we have a lot of phsycopaths out there. But keep in mind this can work the other way, dont be rude to the person who is looking at the address in which you and your family live, your social security number, and your credit card at the least, if not more information. They could ruin your life serriously. This country needs to WAKE UP and BE NICE! You dont get anything you want from being a jerk or throwing a fit, come on now, we teach our two year olds that.

ComplaintsBoard
B
9:53 pm EDT
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DirecTV deceptive business practices

DirecTV was unequivocally the worst experience that I have ever had with any product or service. It’s hard to believe that such a company can legally operate while employing the deceptive business practices that I encountered throughout the 17 month term of service that I had with them. Once they have you, there is no way out. If you request to cancel service due to their deceptive billing practices, failure to honor agreements/promises or evasive customer service and unresolved problems, they will threaten you with a huge termination fee for canceling early.

I cannot believe how many hours (probably days if you add them all up during my 17 months of service) that I spent on the phone & emails in good faith trying to give DirecTV the opportunity to honor the promises & agreements they made. However, despite all this effort, I was met time and time again with extremely evasive customer service that will drag out an issue (no matter what it might be) for as long as they can in what appears to be a tactic to wear you down into just giving up.

A perfect example of this the $50 Visa gift card that was promised at the beginning of service for enrolling in auto bill pay. They initially told me it would take 4-6 weeks to arrive. After a couple of months I called to check on the status of it and was told that it wouldn’t be sent until after three billing cycles had passed. A couple of months later I was then told that they never had any Visa Gift card offer. In future phone calls I spoke with managers and representatives who said each time that the issue was being sent to a special “escalation department”. However there was never any type of response or resolution.

I requested several times to just credit my account for $50 in lieu of the Visa Gift Card and they said they couldn’t do that. Finally after 10 months and countless phone calls I said that I was going to cancel my account. They immediately threatened me with a $250 early termination fee if I did so. Then they put me on hold and said they would credit my account for $50 (even though they said this couldn’t be done in the countless phone calls over the previous 10 months).

When I signed up for DirecTV, I specifically indicated that it would be for RV use. At the recommendation of the DirecTV rep, I ordered a mobile tripod for an additional $50 that could be used for this purpose. I was told that the local channels would be available wherever I went. That, however, was not the case. I was later told that I needed to pay a significant additional fee to receive local channels. When I said I wanted to cancel because I couldn't get the local channels that they promised and I was paying for, Directv again threatened to charge me with a huge early termination fee.

I finally had enough and told Directv at the end of 2008 that I was going to cancel my account regardless of any termination fees. They transferred me to the “retention department” and offered me a price of $34.99/mo that was locked in for the remaining 12 months. Wanting to avoid the termination fee I agreed and thought the problems were over. I asked the representative to put notes on my account regarding the offer in order to avoid any issues in the future. The next month they debited my checking account for $42.99. I called DirecTV and referred them to the previous offer and account notes. They said they saw the offer and put in a request to correct it but it would take 7-14 days. Then the next bill came and it was for $62.99. I called again and they still hadn’t corrected the first error and were about to debit my checking account for $62.99. They said they would send a request to the now mythical “escalation department” but it would take another 7-14 days. When I called to follow up they said that $62.99 was correct and they didn’t see any offer of $34.99 from the retention department. After several more weeks and many hours on the phone & email and they still refused to acknowledge the offer that was made even though the first representative confirmed the notes were in my account.

I decided at this point I needed to handle all future correspondence in writing. So I sent an email to customer service and said that I was cancelling my service and would file a complaint with the BBB. In subsequent replies they first said they would charge $42.99, then $37.99 and then $39.99. It was different with each representative and each reply. They still refused to acknowledge the first offer of $34.99 notated on my account and even refused to acknowledge the $37.99 that I now had in writing. I finally had to cancel auto bill pay to prevent them from arbitrarily debiting my account for unauthorized overcharges.

For anybody that hasn’t gone through this process and is wondering why not just cancel service and then refuse to pay the early termination fee? The answer is Directv has your debit/credit card on file. Within days of cancelling service, they will charge your card for the termination fee without any type of bill, authorization or notification. In my case this was a debit card linked to my checking account. Poof…$139 in cash was gone without my knowledge. Fortunately I had enough cash to cover the charge. But this could easily have resulted in some hefty overdraft and returned check charges.

When I requested that they refund the charge, they referred me to the customer agreement that says they have the right to charge your card without notice for termination fees. Apparently, DIRECTV believes that it is acceptable business practice to actively evade any promises/agreements made with the customer, but fully expects the customer to keep paying for their “service” or suffer the consequence of a huge early termination fee.

Please do yourself a favor and stay clear of this company. No matter what “special offer” they have at the time and no matter how good it may seem, they will do everything within their power not to honor it. You will end up spending many frustrating hours on the phone, usually with no resolution. And if a resolution ever does come, it will often take months of continuous follow-up in order to make them honor their agreements.

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Abbo__
Worcester, US
Jun 18, 2009 1:49 pm EDT

MESSAGE TO ALL REALIST IS A LOSER, SADISTIC ###, THAT HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO THEN TO TRY TO DISCREDIT PEOPLE BY TALKING ### ABOUT EVERYBODY. CLICK HER NAME AND CHECK HER COMMENTS TO PEOPLE. SHE IS RUDE, HAS NO VALUE POINTS AND I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE WASTES HER TIME. BUT SHE DOES. WHICH ONLY MAKES ME COME TO ONE CONCLUSION THAT SHE MAKES UP EVERY MORNING AND LOOKS IN THE MIRROR AND REALIZES SHE CAN'T STAND HERSELF AND HATES THE WORLD. GO GET A LIFE YOU F'EN LOSER...
SORRY TO EVERYBODY ELSE, I AM NOT LIKE THIS UNTIL I GET ATTACKED PERSONALLY FROM SOMEBODY THAT HAS NO IDEA WHO I AM OR KNOWS YOU. KEEP POSTING YOUR COMPLAINTS, IF ANYTHING ELSE IT ALLOWS OTHERS TO WATCH OUT FOR WHEN DEALING WITH COMPANY'S.

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realist
Meridian, US
May 25, 2009 11:42 pm EDT

First of all they gave you the credit, so get over the $50 gift card, and get a life. Second of all IT IS ILLEAGLE FOR ANY COMPANY TO GIVE YOU LOCAL CHANNELS IF YOU ARE NOT WITH IN THAT CERTIN LOCAL CHANNEL RANGE! That is of course with the exception of some companies being able to provide what is known as distant network services, if a company is able to provide those there is a process of which the CUSTOMER has to go through, this usually consits of a waiver (permission slip for lack of a better term) sent out to your local broadcasters asking for the okay for these distant network services, which most of the time is denied. If its not denied it will cost you a pretty penny to have them. AND if you do get them, everytime you move to a different location, the waiver process has to be fallowed yet again. THIS IS A FEDERAL REQUIREMENT! This is not any 'cable companies' rules, this is on a federal level, and if the rules are not fallowed, YOU will be sued up to $5000 for EACH network that you are ILLEAGLLY getting, wow directv are really some jerks for not putting you in danger for that law suit huh?
It sounds that you had some difficulties with the packages that is fusterating I am sure, but before you go bashing a company on everything, get your facts straight and let go of the petty ###, ie the gift card that you ended up getting a credit for anyway.

ComplaintsBoard
G
4:13 pm EDT
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DirecTV directv fraudulent use of credit card

Directvs bbb initial response:

Company's initial response - posted 05/12/2009
We regret to hear of any misunderstanding. When I contacted you by phone on may 10, 2009, you were unable to speak with me. I have not received a return call nor was I able to reach you when I called back on may 12, 2009. On july 5, 2006, you sent us an e-mail requesting one of your two accounts to be disconnected. We attempted to call you by phone in response to your request on july 11. When you called us back you mentioned wanting to keep costs low because you were going through a divorce and your daughter was leaving for college. We suggested reducing your programming instead of disconnecting the account and you stated you would consider this. We could only assume your service was satisfactory because we did not receive any further communication from you regarding this account until february 24, 2009. On february 24, you requested to disconnect the account and it was effective the following day. Due to the various ways directv makes your billing information and specific charges known (I. E. Paper statements, e-billing options, directv.com, and customer support) we are unable to credit monthly charges older than 60 days. Respectfully, directv office of the president
Initial response summary
Due to the various ways directv makes your billing information and specific charges known we are unable to credit monthly charges older than 60 days.

thursday, may 14, 2009
In response to your reply above:
There is no misunderstanding, only a total failure of directv to follow my instructions, directvs claim of initiating an improper marketing call, directv fraudulently claiming to have talked to me, and directvs criminal removal of monies from my account.
When I received a call sunday may 10, 2009, I explained to the woman who called (Lori? Loni?) that this was a bad time as we were on our way out to the veterinarians office with a sick puppy. She stated that she was off the next day but would call back. I have voice mail on both of my phones and I was never left a message. I am still waiting for directv to call back. The history of directv’s attempts to contact me has been an abject failure, even after I supply correct contact information.
My july 5, 2006 e-mail order should have resulted in the service being discontinued and ceased any further removal of monies from my account. Directv could have simply replied to my e-mail with the offer of reduced programming and I would have replied affirming my order to disconnect on august 1, 2006.
On july 11, 2006 directv did not call my phone and I did not ever call directv back regarding this account!
I never had the conversation & ldquo;we suggested reducing your programming instead of disconnecting the account and you stated you would consider this. & rdquo;
I did not talk to directv about this account after the initial e-mail of july 5, 2006 until february 24, 2009.
Directv fraudulently noted authorization to continue removal of monies from my account by claiming to have talked to me. I do not have a daughter and was divorced in june 2006!
Directv should have never called anyone in regards to this account! Directv should have followed my initial instructions, disconnected services august 1, 2006, and discontinued removal of monies from my account.
After all, directv received a hefty fine for directvs telemarketing activities and, from my experience and information obtained from the internet; I now am beginning to see why this occurred. I am one of many who complain about directv billing after a request for service to be disconnected is ignored and directv does not want to refund any amount of the fraudulent charges.
To summarize, directv criminally removed monies from my account for approximately 30 months and directvs defense is that I did not catch directv soon enough!
I e-mailed directv asking for one of my accounts to be disconnected.
Directv failed to follow my instructions and did not disconnect.
Directv claims to have initiated a marketing call to someone other than me who stated they would & ldquo;think about it”
Directv totally failed to contact the owner of the credit card and had no authorization to continue removal of monies from my account.
Directv continued to withdraw monies from my account after specific orders to disconnect and stop removal of monies from my account.
I assumed my order to directv was followed and that no further action was required on my part.
Directv made a totally unauthorized call and assumed directv could continue billing.
I am still a directv customer, as I have been for many years, and am willing to accept a credit to my account for all the monies directv fraudulently obtained over those ~ 30 months.
Directvs failure to issue me a credit will result in legal action against directv for directvs criminal actions and civil damages. I expect a reply agreeing to a full credit within fourteen days of this response or legal action will be instituted.

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DigitalDonHill
McKinleyville, US
Nov 09, 2009 6:28 pm EST

I have been battling DTV for four months now concerning a refund of money they took from our bank account for non-return of receivers following disconnection of service. DTV sent the "recovery kit" to return receivers to our OLD address, and on the day the kit arrived at that WERONG address (per the tracking info DTV provided), our bank account was debited by DTV for the cost orf the receivers.

Months of haggling with various DTV reps on the phone have met with nothing but obfuscations and outright lies! DTV claims the right of taking 8 weeks to process refund requests, and seems to have a policy of continuing to make "mistakes" which are always in THEIR favor, preventing the refund process from completing it (return of money legally DUE to the customer, in a TIMELY manner - as required by law).

One or two "honest" mistakes of this nature might be interpreted as the actions of a few inept employees. However, the number and severity of such "mistakes" clearly indicated that there is a systematic POLICY - that DTV reps are obviously instructed to follow - which is clearly oriented towards DTV retaining funds not legally belonging to them for as long as they possibly can, by erecting various barriers preventing customers from receiving timely refunds.

Sadly, there's nothing anyone can do but file a Small Claims action against DTV, and a complaint to the Better Business Bureau (which will be lost amongst the tens of thousands of complaints the BBB ALREADY has agains DirecTV.

I see that this post is dated May 2009 - just curious if your problems have been resolved yet (I sincerely doubt that they have, knowing DirecTV as I do now).

Best of luck to you!

ComplaintsBoard
J
2:41 pm EDT
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DirecTV non compliance of agreement

These people are brain dead i got nothing as promised, my installer could't speak english, he was a pig, never got the equipment as promised, didn't wire all the rooms as promised made a mess in every room, phone service wasn't even in my area as promised. No hd boxes no second dvr for another room. Had the services less than aweek after i got no where with direct tv. But they were quick to send me a bill for $460.00 for early cancellation fee. These people should be locked up for embezzelment.

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realist
Meridian, US
May 15, 2009 12:51 am EDT

Directv does not have phone services at all. Did you order the services from verizon, quest, or another such company? Becasuse if you did they may have given you the misinformation there. Directv only gives ONE advanced receiver, sounds like you got one DVR, that was your free advanced receiver, there would be no second FREE dvr for another room or any FREE hd receivers. Its a lot easier to order for your self from companies websites, like directv, that way you know what you are getting and you know what to expect. There is no differance between the offers if you call in. You may even end up spending less without someone working on a comission trying to help you get this and that

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10:55 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

DirecTV catch offers / installation issues

Catch
Watch out the latest direct tv offer. The current catch is that you will be locked into 2 year contract where as the advertised rates are only valid for 12 months. The direct tv reps will not tell you this and you will be stuck with either paying more or forced to cancel hdtv service, return the dvr and down grading your channel line up to keep the costs the same. Also do not pay the 21 dollar fee that every new customer needs to pay, you don't have to, just tell them there is no deal unless that fee is waived. The guy who signed me up was "shady".

Now to the installation. If you live in north-west austin, tx or probably anywhere else do not order direct tv directly from direct tv, you will have to deal with the worst installation team in the business. Instead go thru reseller, they use their own installers which hopefully are better.

Precaution
Well, first of all, the installers do not speak english, they will not show up on time, they are not trained properly and you will have this "manager" calling you several times to check on how to installation is going. Why isn't the manager talking to the installer directly? I have to tell you the managers don't speak good english either or have hard to understand accent. The 2 managers i dealt with were both absolute ###ed folks just reading a script to me. The language they used was totally incompetent and somewhat rude. For example, the manager called twice about 10 minutes apart to ask if i have a local line phone line... This person didn't even know that he already called me and asked the same question.

First installation
I get a call from some one at 9am, i can barely hear words "direct tv". This was the installer, i spent about 5 minutes on the phone asking him to say "yes" or "no" when i repeat back to him what i think i heard him to say. Finally i figure out that he will be at my house at 10.30am... Well soon after i get another call from a person who introduces himself as the installation manager. This person speaks with a heavy indian accent is hard to understand as well (But better, yeah!). He called to tell me that he will be supervising the installation and that i can call him if anything goes wrong. He was reading a script for me... Odd i thought, managers usually don't read scripts and you wouldn't hire a manager that cannot communicate properly.

Around 11.15am the manager calls me again asking if the installer had arrived... I am annoyed by him, don't you know where your installer is? Why do you call me? I told him he has not arrived and that the time is running out... And i need him to show up now! He tells me to call back if the installer hasn't arrived by 1pm... I tell him the installation needs to be done by 1pm at the latest, i need to go to work! Hi tells me he will check where the installer is... He never calls back.

Well time goes by the installation time line is from 8am to 12pm... I hit the lunch after 12 thinking the installer didn't make it. While i am eating the installer calls me at 12.35pm that he will at the house in 5 min... Well, i told him he is late and it is not 10.30am as he told me when he called me in the morning and that i have to go to work now and i have wasted entire morning waiting on him for no reason. He asked to call back when i have checked my calendar to reschedule... I told him i am not calling you back, i am calling your manager... (I was thinking that will do something... So was i wrong!)

At 7pm after i get home i call the manager, he answers the phone just by saying "hello"... I can hear other people on the back ground "hanging out". There is bad noise on the line so i tell him i will call him again, may be we will get a better line. The second time i call he answers with his name and adds direct tv at the end of his greeting. I complain to him that his installer was late and i need to reschedule. I wait several minutes on the phone while he boots up a computer and gets online.. He tells me my installation has been rescheduled on the next day. I tell him that will not work for me... He tells me he cannot reschedule it and instructs me to call the 1800 number...

Reschedule with the corporate
Professional people (Finally), bad english is gone and i get my re-installation rescheduled in no time. I complain about my experience and dealing with the incompetent local installers and about this completely clueless guy "acting" as a installation manager. I still don't know what his role is suppose to be? It cannot be just to call the customers to annoy them... Well i requested an installer that speaks english so that we can coordinate on the installation time a bit better. The reps notes my account with this.

Second installation
I get a call early at 8am, the installer tells me that he will be at my house in 3o minutes. The installer arrives on time this time. This installer speaks even worse english than the first one and i am struggling to follow him..

After a few minutes the installer tells me that he needs to install 3 wires that go thru the attic each costing $50. I am thinking there goes the "free installation" (My house is as standard as typical cookie cutter home in the suburb, absolutely nothing special in this house). I couldn't understand what the reason for extra charge exactly is - i didn't care - i knew i am canceling the installation now. I told the installer i don't want to proceed with the install and that the fee was ridiculous.

The installer leaves but calls me an hour later and tells me that he only needs to install one wire and that is going to free, but i have to schedule a third installation... I tell him that will never happen...

Second call to the corporate
Again once i get back home from work i call direct tv and complain about the second installation ending in a worse disaster than the first one. I also complain about the totally incompetent installers, problem of communicating with the installer and the manager, the catch in the offer, $150 wire install fee which an hour later is no longer necessary and free, i need to schedule 3rd installation, the fact i've taken full day off from work and installation is still not done along other things... I got offered another extra $10 dollars off a month... I was so exhausted from the experience and just wanted to cancel the whole deal. I couldn't take another hours dealing with the installers.

Summary
The direct tv corporate installers are the biggest joke i have come across with any company this far in my life! It is apparent that direct tv is out sourcing the installation to some totally incompetent local company which again uses probably illegal immigrants for the job. Non of the people are trained properly, have serious problems communicating in english and i guaranteed that you will be disappointed dealing with them. Warning, if direct tv is managing the installers on their own, this could be a country wide phenomenon! And i can only guess what kind damage can be done to your house if you let these folks to do the installation that involves letting these people to the attic to drill holes and route cables.

Recommendations
Before even calling direct tv, check your local cable provider, you will probably get no contract no hidden fee deal that you can cancel at any time. Time warner (My local provider) doesn't match the hd channel line up and is pricier. I am going out with u-verse from at&t as soon as it becomes available in my area.

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mouser
Huntington, US
May 23, 2009 12:14 am EDT

Just wanted to let you know I understand your anger, I know Directv has some bad installers/technicians in some areas. Many of them may drive vans with the Directv logo on it but they are a hired third party contractor used to cover regions where Directv does not have their own company owned installation groups.

As for the 12 month valid pricing, if you read the fine print on any of the adds you will see that it states these prices are new customer offers with rebate redemption required...it's still longer than Dish Network's new customer which is only a 6 month offer.

Finally just a warning to be careful going through AT&T, they now have a corporate partnership with Directv.
In some areas their reps are leading people to believe that they are signing up for Uverse when instead they are getting Directv. On top of that they have been known to transfer many people who are uverse customers to directv customer care for assistance instead of to their proper internal departments.

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9:42 pm EDT
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DirecTV billing of unauthorized charges, poor customer service

I had Direct TV for almost 9 years and decided to choose another provider due to cost. When I called today to cancel my service with Direct TV they gave me a hard time to cancel and then told me I would have a $250.00 cancellation fee. They state I am under contract for 18 months. Funny been with them for almost 9 years and I am still under contract. So now they (stated by phone) are charging my bank card I have on file and couldn't supply me with the exact amount for charges. I looked at my account today and noticed that I have over $500.oo of charges pending on my checking account. Who has the right to authorize that much money from my bank account with out my permission. I called Direct TV's customer service 2 more times for an explanation. The second phone call I was put on hold for a long period of time and hung up on. The third time I was told someone else would have to help me and call me back (They still has yet to call back.) So now I emailed them through their contact site. Now it even upsets me more as now they are telling me the cancellation fee is $260.00, ten dollars more than when I originally cancelled this morning. I asked why I still have not received an email as promised showing my cancellation and charges. They couldn't give me a reason. I doubt I will get the email as they still don't seem concerned. But now I am givin a reason why I am getting cancellation fees after being a loyal customer for almost 9 years. They state in December when my old receiver I paid for not leased went out started my new contract for 18 months. The lady I spoke to to order a new receiver that cost around $70.00 stated that since my were old she would send me receivers to replace my old ones. I only needed one receiver but she sent two. I wasn't charged the $70.00 for each receiver but only around $25.00. I thought she was being nice since I was a long time customer. But I was wrong, this is where I was being ripped off and I didn't realize it. Since she did not charge me I was put on contract for 18 months. Funny how I didn't know until I went to cancel. So I could have paid $70.00 for one receiver that I needed at the time or now pay $250.00 which a few hours later increased to $260.00 to cancel my long time service. She should have explained this to me and the fact that I was going to be put on contract again. I had already planned at the time to cancel in April when my internet expired with another company. I wanted to bundle my services to make them cheaper but I am finding out that you have to pay to cancel even after being with the company for almost 9 years. I am still waiting for a response to find out how much more my charges will be after I seen that pending charge over $500.00 on my bank account. Funny as I am not even behind on my payment to them and my bill is around $75.00 a month. What else can they be charging me? As for their customer service, it sucks! I was put on hold and disconnected and another time told someone else would call me back. Only time I could get some answers were when I emailed. Guess they can't handle customers on the phone. I guess they assume I wouldn't come back as a customer so they need to get all the money out of me now while have a chance! Sad as now after treating me this way, I will never go back to them!

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unsatisfied0802
, US
Oct 22, 2010 5:39 pm EDT
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I am actually not even the account holder and they are drafting out of my account because the account holder used my card to pay a bill at one time. I am choosing to go with a consumer watch national program through CNN because of the numerous complaints the better business bureau has received on this same issue.

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Directvisajoke
Halifax, US
Jun 06, 2010 10:31 am EDT

realist are you a Direct TV advocate? Perhaps you signed an agreement such as what is stated above, but I never did, nor can Direct TV provide me with a copy of said signed contract. I cancelled my service in April 2010. Direct TV had actually come out to my house to repair my service and the repairman told us we really should cancel directtv as we were going to have the same recurring problems due to neighborhood buildup. I promptly contacted another provider to set up service. Then called Direct TV to cancel. They told me they would send me a recovery kit in the next couple of weeks to return my boxes. I never received the recovery kits and all of a sudden what do you know same thing as above a $500 charge against my bank account. I called and they claim they fed-exed me one in April. I never received such a kit, nor can they provide me with a tracking #. Note that I would have been more then happy to return the equipment to them myself in my own packaging, but they offered to send the kit. I can understand Direct TV charging people's accounts if they have not paid a bill, or it has been months and months and the person has not returned equipment. It is in my opinon that they hit your bank account right away as they know they most likely aren't going to be able to do anything with the used equipment as the technology is most likely out of date. I can't speak for other states, but in my state is illegal to charge someone's bank account, and or debit card unless and electronic agreement has been signed. I never signed such and agreement, nor would I sign an agreement like that. Direct TV knows they have done something shady because I rejected the first $500 charge they put through and the next day they sent another payment through for $501, and what do you know the recovery kit finally showed up the very next day after they made the debit to my account. A professional business would send a bill and make sure the consumer was aware of what final charges they would be debiting. When I cancelled they couldn't tell me what my final amount owed was and then a few weeks later blindly charged me the $500 bucks. The only reason they have my debit card on file is that I often paid my bill this way. They didn't ask for any bank, or credit card information when I joined, just my name, social and address. Not sure why you had to sign something as you have indicated you did, but get your head out of your butt and realize all states have different laws that pertain to such types of practices and not everyone might have had the same agreements that you were stupid enough to sign. The customer service at Direct tv is horrible and you sound just like one of the ignoramous people they might be using to mann the phones.

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realist
Meridian, US
May 13, 2009 12:37 am EDT

Using your aparent favorite phrase "FUNNY" you didnt look at the access card that said by activating this you agree to the terms of the directv service (that means the commitment and directv customer agreement). "FUNNY" because you got a order conframation of the two receivers letting you know that they were LEASED with a commitment. "FUNNY" because directv sends all of their customers copies of the directv customer agreements, in this agreement it states that ah ### I will just go to the website and get it word for word for you this is straight from the directv customer agreement in section 5 the cancellation policy,
e) Payment Upon Cancellation. You acknowledge that you have provided your credit or debit card account information to us. You understand that you will incur fees and charges as a result of your receipt and use of Service and/or Receiving Equipment, and may incur early cancellation fees and/or equipment non-return fees (as specified in any lease, programming or other service commitment agreement you entered into in connection with obtaining Receiving Equipment). By giving us your credit or debit card account information, you authorize us to apply this method of payment, in accordance with applicable law, to satisfy any and all amounts due upon cancellation. You further acknowledge that you are required to maintain current credit or debit card information with us and agree to notify us whenever there is a change in such information, such as a change in the card number or the expiration date.
AND I think that it was really nice of them to get you two new receivers, instead of just one, because your other one was probably on the verge of going out too, since we all know how fast things like that can get outdated.
But I know, I understand who wants to take personal accountabilty for not paying attention to anything they get in writting. It is so much eaiser to blame someone else, just like we did when we were in kindergarden. GROW UP. You need to educate yourself and read stuff that companies send you, read everything, or you only have yourself to blame, remember when you point your finger you have three pointing back at you

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DirecTV game lounge

Dirctv first asks you to tune to their game lounge channel for a free game and then put that on your bill monthly without any warning. Just another $5.99 a month charge that they charge you that you did not sign up for.
I caught them after two months of this on the second day of the second month they were charging me and they told me that they could not credit me for any used time which is the next 30 days of this month that I am getting charged for. What a rip off!

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tabi
Fort Wayne, US
Jul 08, 2011 7:39 pm EDT

I am paying extra to be able to play the games on game lounge with Directv. Specifically for the game SkipBo.
But the problem I am having is the fact that the other "players" (really Directv computer) don't play the game right. The other "players" always lay down a card the next "player" needs and that player is able to get rid of "his" discard pile within 2-3 turns.
I have no problem loosing a game when it is played right but when I loose almost each and every time for the past 2 weeks there is a problem!
Also the leaderboard seems to have the same winners each month. And I have sent email after email to the game lounge but not one person has replied back to me.
I am not pay the extra money to loose all the time. The computer needs to be fixed and I need to be given a chance to win!
Also I had about 40, 000 tokens but because when I signed in a couple weeks ago I had 20, 000 points! That is not right and it is not how you run a business. I want someone ...A LIVE PERSON to contact me I am sick of not getting any answers!

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rfuller2900
Edwardsville, US
Dec 30, 2011 2:06 am EST
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Been having trouble with my game louge game mahjang since october. Have called numerous times. Can not get problem resolved. Very dissatisfied with service. Will be canceling if not resolved. Recent incident was 12/28/2011 game freezes and reboots my entire system. It will not let me pass level 16. If you look at my account you can see the numerous times i have called. Service ends Jan 12th. I will be canceling my service if not corrected. Would appreciate someone letting me know if it can be resolved. My name is Richard L. Fuller Sr. I live at 2900 sand road in edwardsville Il 62025

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bobbie polk
Houston, US
Jul 30, 2011 2:04 am EDT

ON GAME LOUNGE I HAVE BEEN PLAYING SKIP BO FOR 3MONTHS
AND I STILL HAVE NOT WON A GAME. I THINK THIS IS VERY UNFAIR TO PLAYER ONE. AFTER ALL I AM PLAYING AGAINST COMPUTERS AND PAYING FOR THE SERVICES AND STILL CANT NEVER WIN . I THINK THE SERVICES ON THE GAME LOUNGE IS VERY POOR AND UNFAIR

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roland simino
middleton, US
Mar 21, 2011 8:59 pm EDT
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we had to reboot the reciever box in the middle of a game. when we got back on we had lost over 20, 000 tokens and went from level 16 to 13...where did our tokens go? i know that you know how long it takes to build up tokens and levels...a quick response would be very nice. we do not want to have game lounge shut off for someones carelessness... our user name on the lounge is painters03887 pin# is 1234

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roland simino
middleton, US
Mar 21, 2011 8:53 pm EDT
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we had to reboot the reciver for directv and when we did we lost over 20, 000 tokens and got set back 3 levels..this should not be happening...our e-mail adress is painters03887@netzero.com our username for game lounge is painters03887 the pin # is 1234 we would like to find out whats happening very soon or we might have to cancel game lounge forever...YOU know how long it takes to get aBIG pile of tokens and to get to bigger levels on game lounge...thank you

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TIN PIN BOWLING
Detroit, US
Oct 19, 2010 3:06 pm EDT
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WHAT A RIPOFF...I ORDERED GAME LOUNGE. TODAY, WE TRIED TO PLAY TEN PIN BOWLING TWICE...THE FIRST TIME WE WERE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE GAME AND RECIEVE OUR END SCORES...THE SECOND TIME, THE GAME ENDED BEFORE WE WERE FINISHED...NO END SCORES...AND LAST NIGHT WE PLAYED ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE GAMES AND ONLY TWO GAMES GAVE US OUR FINAL SCORES BEFORE THE PROBLEMS STARTED..I CALLED TECNICAL SUPPORT AND THEY HAD US RESET THE DIRECT T.V. BOX, TO NO AVAIL...THEY DID NOT KNOW WHY THIS WAS HAPPINING AND SUGGESTED I EMAIL DIRECT T.V. WITH THIS PROBLEM...TODAY I CALLED AND THEY JUST ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO CANCEL. I GUESS I WILL CANCEL IF I CAN'T GET ANY ANSWERS AND REMEDIES FOR THIS PROBLEM...WE REALLY ENJOY THE GAME WHEN IT'S WORKING, BUT IF THIS PROBLEM CAN'T BE SOLVED, I GUESS WE'LL HAVE TO CANCEL AND SAVE OUR MONEY...TEN PIN BOWLING IS THE ONLY GAME WE PLAY BUT IT REVERTS BACK TO THE GAME LOUNGE BEFORE WE CAN FINISH AND GET OUR END SCORES

FHTM - Scam
FHTM - Scam
Lexington, US
Jun 21, 2010 8:59 am EDT

Whistleblower fights back after frivolous suit by FHTM for exposing their ILLEGAL Pyramid Scheme

Lexington, Kentucky - June 16, 2010 - In light of all of the recent investments scams including the infamous Bernie Maddoff, whistleblowers and those with morals fear that the frauds they expose will result in unjust lawsuits filed against them by the companies they complain about. One such situation was that of the lawsuit filed by Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing against Fortune Social LLC and Joseph Isaacs in May 2010.

Joseph Isaacs and Fortune Social, LLC (collectively “Isaacs”) deny each and every claim brought by Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing, Inc. (“FHTM”) in a filing made today with the American Arbitration Association, who is overseeing this case. In addition, Isaacs fights back and asserts his own counterclaim for relief against FHTM, Paul C. Orberson (individually and in his capacity as President of FHTM), Jeff Orberson (individually and in his capacity as Chief Operating Officer of FHTM), and Thomas A. Mills (individually and in his capacity as Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of FHTM) (collectively “FHTM”). Isaacs counterclaim claim Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Breach of Contract, Common Law Fraud, Unfair & Deceptive Business Practices, Failure to Register Securities, Fraudulent Practices Regarding the Sale of Securities, Civil Racketeering Conspiracy (violation of the Federal RICO statutes) and Defamation.

FHTM operates an unlawful product-based endless recruiting pyramid scheme that relies on untrue and misleading representations and unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices. While FHTM purports to be in the business of selling name-brand services like wireless, satellite television, home security, vitamins, nutritional products and travel services, its true business is using consumers to generate fee income for representing non-existent partnerships, major sports figures, and prominent businessmen. To entice consumers to participate, FHTM makes untrue or misleading claims regarding its relationship with Fortune 100 companies like Verizon Wireless, GE Security, Dish Networks and Travelocity to create the illusion that consumers can become millionaires in three to five years.

FHTM’s growth exploded when it began to lure consumers disenchanted with traditional jobs and the recession that began in 2007 to inspirational and high-pressure business opportunity seminars touting an innovative business model that promises huge financial rewards through multi-level network marketing. FHTM erring presenters claim to have proprietary tools, special relationships, and other support that allow consumers to grow their own business by partnering with FHTM’s “companies”.

It would not be long before Isaacs (and the world) made several troubling discoveries about FHTM’s business plan and practices that doused his enthusiasm: (1) Paul Orberson had not made any special arrangements with the companies mentioned at the business opportunity/presentation seminar or in the company produced videos; (2) the only way to earn a significant income and be promoted up the ranks was to recruit additional IRs; (3) FHTM had not received regulatory approval for its pyramiding scheme in every state; (4) only a handful of IRs had earned anywhere near the residuals projected; (5) the prominent businessmen, politicians, former attorney generals and sports figures to whom FHTM constantly alluded were in fact IRs actively promoting their own FHTM business; and (6) a growing number of state attorneys general had already begun investigating FHTM in response to numerous complaints.

It turns out that FHTM’s ‘innovative’ marketing plan is nothing more than a face lift to an age-old scheme. According to the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau:

Pyramid schemes now come in so many forms that they may be difficult to recognize immediately. However, they all share one overriding characteristic. They promise consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to the public. Some schemes may purport to sell a product, but they often simply use the product to hide their pyramid structure. There are two tell-tale signs that a product is simply being used to disguise a pyramid scheme: inventory loading and a lack of retail sales. Inventory loading occurs when a company's incentive program forces recruits to buy more products than they could ever sell, often at inflated prices. If this occurs throughout the company's distribution system, the people at the top of the pyramid reap substantial profits, even though little or no product moves to market. The people at the bottom make excessive payments for inventory that simply accumulates in their basements. A lack of retail sales is also a red flag that a pyramid exists. Many pyramid schemes will claim that their product is selling like hot cakes. However, on closer examination, the sales occur only between people inside the pyramid structure or to new recruits joining the structure, not to consumers out in the general public.

Nonetheless, the truth is catching up with FHTM. On December 10, 2009, The North Dakota Attorney General's Office filed a Cease and Desist Order for violation of the Consumer Fraud Law, the Transient Merchant Law, the Home Solicitation Sales Law, and the North Dakota Pyramid Schemes Act. On January 19, 2010, FHTM entered into a Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with the North Dakota Attorney General's Office. On March 16, 2010, the Montana State Auditor's Office filed a Temporary Cease and Desist Order against FHTM, Paul C. Orberson, Thomas A. Mills, and Dianne Graber (a Montana IR). According to the Montana State Auditor's Office, FHTM has engaged in acts or practices constituting violations of the Securities Act of Montana, Montana Code ANN.[protected] et seq. On April 22, 2010, FHTM agreed to pay nearly $1 million and to change its business practices to resolve the charge that it is operating a pyramid promotional scheme.

With each passing day, more states are jumping on FHTM’s bandwagon. The alarming rise in consumer complaints and governmental sanctions has prompted the Better Business Bureau of Central and Eastern Kentucky to downgrade FHTM’s rating from “B-” to “F”. At the same time, a proliferation of online bulletin boards and blogs, such as www.complaintsboard.com and www.scams.com criticize FHTM’s pyramid scheme confirms that Isaacs’ experience is not unique. Will those operations be the next target of Fortune’s high price legal team?

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sweet willy
Henderson, US
Apr 29, 2010 11:59 pm EDT
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game lounge sign in code gl7

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sweet willy
Henderson, US
Apr 29, 2010 11:55 pm EDT
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would like tp o start game lounge account no phoneline connect code gl7 email address billycas1@gmail.com

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ladybug_dish
Mohave Valley, US
Jan 10, 2010 3:55 pm EST

I, ladybug_dish, 3474 am very unhappy with the token score I just got after logging back on. When I log off this morning my score at the 40 level 2nd bar was 372, 147. I just log back on @ 2:15 pm and I lost a bar and my score is @ 368, 677. What happened. This is not the first time this has happened.

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DirecTV billing after disconnect

A couple of years ago, I was disgusted by poor reception on diierctv, poor customer service and their failure to carry a local network channel, even though they charged me for it. Every time I would call and try to cancel, would switch the call over to someone who would try to re-sell and upsell me. Last time, they tried to do that, I just said to disconnect me and I switched to mediacom.

They tried to send a bill for service I didn't want or receive after the switch. I called and told one of the phone drones off. I thought that ended it, but now (2 years later) , i'm getting letters from a collection agency. I know better than to deal with bottom feeding collection agencies.

Calling directv, all I get is phone drones, supposedly in executive customer service. They don't give intelligent answers, which is pretty much all you can expect from smug and smartassed kids and they tell me that I cannot reach anyone higher.

If I mention the possibility of suing directv, they say that they have to disconnect the call for mentioning potential litigation and they will not transfer the call to a person with any real responsibility. Let's face it, real executives do not answer the phone with their first name, or work for an hourly wage. These kids are no better than the ones selling fast food with paper hats and name tags, also with their first name only.

Emails to the supposedly top execs (Pres and v. P. ) get routed back to the same kids as before. It would seem that the v. P. For customer service doesn't actually deal with customer service. I would think that investors would love to know that people are drawing big paychecks while avoiding doing anything job related and probably causing lawsuits which could have been easily avoided with a couple of minutes of intelligent discussion.

I have found page after page of complaints about directv incompetence and arrogance, but I have yet to find anyone with a solution. Does anyone have one, or should I file a lawsuit against them? If I file a lawsuit, , would anyone like to join me in it? If not join me in the litgation, how about filing separately and then negotiating with them together for a stronger position in settlement talks?

I'm open to any and all intelligent suggestions

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Update by JOKER
May 14, 2009 5:41 pm EDT

DirecTv will say anything to end an adverse conversation, but actions (if any) are rarely the same as promised. In short, they are liars. I would personally be delighted to join as a plaintiff, or witness, in any well conceived litigation against DirecTv.

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George F Griepp
Hot Springs, US
May 14, 2009 5:59 pm EDT

I am waiting to see what their response will be.

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12:53 pm EDT
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DirecTV scam charges

I called to request 2 additional receivers before 3 weeks' of new service elapsed. 4 separate agents passed me around for 30 minutes to justify charging $340 extra for a $4.99 per month, advertised fee! When I complained they said that "was their policy". End result was they immediately shut off service and threatened collection if I refused to pay for early termination / deactivation fee of another $300. Following that, they had the audacity to insist I return their equipment promptly OR ELSE, PAY FOR IT TOO. NO customer service... NONE. NADA.

Past experience years ago, they denied proof of return of equipment, charged for it. If they could, they will ruin your credit for 7 years of false collection attempts. Cable alternatives for 1.5 years is now less than ONE MONTH of their EXTORTION.

DO NOT EVEN THINK OF SUBSCRIBING TO THIS POOR, PITIFUL, PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR SERVICE.

THEY DESERVE TO BE SUED and their "Customer Agreement" imposing Arbitration and waived right to trial in dispute, challenged and penalized against them, restitution to all past and present subscribers.

Count me in on that.

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Valerie
Valerie
, US
Aug 08, 2008 1:27 am EDT

My account was canceled in October of 2007 when I moved from Kentucky to Indiana. I specifically requested a they close my account (not suspend) since I was moving out of the state. I was not under any contract and my balance was paid in full. Recently (August 2008) I noticed an unauthorized charge drafted against my bank account on 8-1-08. I then checked my (closed) DirecTV account online to discover that billing resumed six months after I moved away for service to a residence that I no longer even lived at. I did not receive any service and the $137.93 charge drafted from my bank account was illegal an unauthorized. They even had the boldness to charge a $15 disconnect fee. I informed them that unless I receive a credit back to my account or a refund check immediately - I am going to contact the local media fraud hotlines to publicly settle this matter. I really do find it hard to believe that this is the way they do business and you can be assured I will NEVER be a DirecTV customer again as well as tell everyone I come in contact with they are a corrupt company.

Valerie
Valerie
, US
Sep 29, 2008 5:56 am EDT

DirecTV submitted a $646.12 charge to my bank account without authorization to collect on my daughter's account because I had made a payment on her account to help her out several months prior. I did not sign a contract with DirecTV, nor was my banking information given to them to use on the account when it was started a year ago. I had used my debit card to make a payment for my daughter when she got behind and was not aware by doing this, they would keep my information on file and use it for this type of action.

I called and talked with 9 different people and got 9 different answers from we will refund you your money to we can't do anything to help you because we had a new policy to be put in place 4 months prior that anyone who uses the debit card to make a payment on an account is giving permission for DirecTV to use thi card information for collecting past due bills.

My last conversation talking with someone in the Office of the President, I was told they would refund $203.50 for the return of the cable box but that was all I would get and that would be processed immediately. One week later I am still waiting for my $203.50

This action by DirecTV has caused me to not be able to pay my rent, therefore, eviction notice can be served on me at any time. My husband has been out of work for 4 months due to serious health condition and may never be able to go back to work so this action by DirecTV has put severe hardship on us financially.

Our bank was contacted immediately regarding this fraudulent activity and tried to help by faxing over the bank information to DirecTV showing the debit transaction on our account not my daughter's. Now the bank is telling us their is nothing they can do because of the DirecTV policy. We are not finished with the bank yet either!

DirecTV should not be allowed to just take money out of people's bank account, especially when there are not contracts signed and authorization was not given. This type of activity by big companies like DirecTV need to stop!

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Daniel
, US
Jan 07, 2009 5:30 am EST

I called up DirectTV to cancel the service. I explained that somebody broke in to my place and stole my TV. I have not watched TV for a month and I had no intention to buy another TV set.

She said I had EIGHTEEN month commitment that I do not remember if they told me about and I would be with them for 4 month at the end of January. I agreed on them charging me $280 which is 14 months X $20 early termination fee.

Now, I remember, even during the installation, the contractor came in and charged $70 for the tripod which you can buy at $14 from online stores.

So, it seems that DirectTV strives on ripping people off. I would stick to bigger name companies from now on. Not really related to DirectTV but one of the reasons, I believe, that my unit was attacked out of hundreds is I had the outstanding satellite dish on my deck.

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Murdock
, US
Apr 07, 2009 10:15 am EDT

In March of 2008, my wife informed Directv that we had sold our house in Arkansas and were moving to Montana. Directv told us to leave the dish, a dish that I had paid for and installed myself years ago. Directv told us they would put our account on hold for 6 months. After 6 months they started billing us and I wrote on the bills that we had not moved into our new house and had no satellite dish so stop the bills. The bills continued, and we never paid them because we were not receiving their service.

When I was threatened/blackmailed by Directv's collection agency, AlliedInterstate, I paid $58.73 to keep my credit rating from being ruined by their threats. I called a lady in Directv's retention department and she proudly announced that only she could remove all charges if we would now start up service. She hung up on me when I told her that I was a long time customer, I did not like being treated this way, and no way was I going to remain with them as a customer.

I filled a complaint with the Better Business Bureau asking for the return of $58.73, the cost of a new dish, and a letter of apology from the president. Directv refused and eventually sent me a check for $15.90 which I voided and returned. After looking at the bills I discovered that they were billing us for service at the Arkansas address knowing we had moved to Montana where they sent the bill.

Bottom line, Directv thinks customers should pay for service not received. Just because somebody activated an account, they feel I must pay. Obviously, Directv must have some in house rule that makes employees pay the customer out of their own pocket if they make mistakes. These guys will never admit making a mistake. Solid business ethics...?

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maeann
, US
Mar 27, 2010 1:45 pm EDT

write to the better business bereau..directv needs to be stopped...they are scamming all customers

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Adam M
Trollville, US
Feb 26, 2010 7:30 pm EST

write their disputes department and demand a refund of your early termination fee. If they don't agree, go to arbitration. It will cost them around $800 for arbitration so they will probably return your fee.

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heidi009
Little Elm, US
Sep 20, 2009 2:45 pm EDT

I tried to cancel my directv service after 14 years of service and at first the person tried to overtalk me and try for me to stay. I told them I just called and want to cancel and to please tell me how to send the equip back. after a yelling match back and forth because they wouldn't allow me to cancel, they switched me to another dept. was put on hold for 20 min because they said I needed to talk to a supervisor to cancel...got another cust serv rep. he told me he was a supervisor and could help me then he tried to charge me an enormous amt for cancellation fees $400. I told him I was not going to pay then he says he has to transfer me to a supervisor because he really wasnt a supervisor (so he lied) another person tells me oh no now I also have to pay for a 2 yr contract early cancellation fee I told them hey I had your svce for 14 yrs so that doesn't make sense then he tried to tell me that I also had to pay additional fees because when their service was down I had to call and complain and that is now going to be charged for their cust serv person to tell me to plug and unplug an will charge me additional chg for 14 yrs total chgs. Then they wanted to chg me for a receiver their cust svce dept sent because their equipment didn't work and couldn't upgrade their update system so to make a long story short. I would NOT recommend DirecTV to anyone. They must be hurting because it seems they try to rip off their customers. Sad to say because I thought that when economic times got better I might go back to them down the road but NO WAY after the way I was treated I would not have this SLIMY company back!

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David Sampley
,
Nov 20, 2008 8:50 am EST

I got DirecTV and it was a nightmare. I had to call every month to get my bill. I never got my bill and my service was cut off one time and they would send a past due notice with the bill after I had to call and ask for it. I ended my service and paid in full but after sending in my receiver I started getting bills that continued to increase every statement until it reached $392.00. I was told this was for movies I had watched the year before. If you read the manual it say's you must have a land line phone hooked to the TV to get PPV movies. I never did but was told these were stored in the receiver after it was returned and that was how the company knew they were watched. This is crazy, if I had never ended my service could I have watched free movies forever? Where is this receiver and how can a consumer prove they lied? I have heard this same problem from other people who just paid the bill because they felt they could not prove that the company was a ripping them off. They even charged my credit card for this $392.00 which I had removed and they have threatened to turn me over to several collection agencies. This company needs to be shut down. STAY AWAY FROM DIRECTV>

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beatrice reid
,
Oct 28, 2008 12:32 pm EDT

you think that is bad-We won a HD reciever from directv last year when we moved. We were supposed to get 1 year free programming. We immediately started seeing charges on our bill. After calling numerous times and getting the run around we told directv we were going to cancell service. A customer service manager informed us that they would remove the charges on the next bill and grant our 1 year free HD. I just called to cancel Directv due to hidden charges in our bill and was informed we would have to pay a 100.00 dollars in fees becaused we cancelled before the 2 years contract on HD service was up and would have to return the HD reciever. How did we win anything? The rep said we only got the programming for free not the reciever and by accepting the free gift we started a new 2 year contract! What a scam!NEVER ACCEPT ANYTHING FOR FREE OR AS BEING ADVERTISED AS WON BY DIRTECTV! I WISH THEY HAD NEVER CALLED US TO TELL US WE WON THIS!Never enter the moving sweepstakes!

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4:23 pm EDT
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DirecTV early cancellation fee

DIRECTV is charging me an early cancellation fee for a service I never recieved. Unbelievable but true.
I had the regular Directv service for 7 years. I ordered over the phone the DVR Service, and was not informed of any renewed or new agreement or cancellation fee or directed to one or anything.
In any case, I got the DVR and it would not work. I had two conversations with their tech support and it would not connect to the satellite (they are recorded so they have a record of them).
In any case, I cancelled the regular service and said I decided to no longer pursue trying to get the DVR service. They then told me I had a whopping $460 cancellation fee on a service I never recieved. um huh?
I tried several of their customer service representatives and finally ascertained that they claim I was bound to something they call their "Customer Agreement."
The Customer agreement however, states pretty explicity that its terms are for "receipt and payment of service" I never recieved the service or payed for it. Also, service is defined as "television and programing service" not something else.
At various times their CSRs tried out various arguments such as: "we activated it at our end therefore you are bound to the agreement, " and "you recieved the dVR device therefore you are bound to it" and "you ordered it therefore you are bound to it."
I mentioned their Customer Agreement, (the very contract they referred me to!) which directly contradicts this, and basically just got silence at the other end and a "the fee is valid." um what?h...
I sent letters to the President's Office got got no reply.
They have billed my credit card without my consent. (of course I'm disputing it).
Does anyone here any any insight into what is going on?
This behaviour seems outrageous if not illegal.
Does anyone know if have a case to sue them for harrasment and malicious intent?
At what point does such a remedy come into play?

Shawn

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Update by shawnw
May 08, 2009 7:31 pm EDT

Thanks for the response,
Again, the first foundational line of the Customer Agreement states that the terms and conditions are valid for "receipt and payment of DIRECTV Service"

Again, I did not receive or pay for it.

If that is not a true foundational statement, then the Customer Agreement is not a valid and legal document.

I have a copy of the agreement on the back of the card and of course I read it and the customer agreement.

In terms of service, the device would not connect and download from the satellite (we tried), despite it supposedly being "activated" (which I have no idea of that was done on their side). Never got a screen.

That's not disputed by Directv (they record their tech support calls).

Again, I had DIRECTV for 7 years (regular service), it was not bad. If you like baseball the MLB package is good and I liked the music channel (not MTV, the other one).

my question: at what point is a company liable for your efforts to stop erroneous charges? (time, effort, mailing, etc..?) Anyone know? How much can you make an entity liable for this?

Update by shawnw
May 08, 2009 6:28 pm EDT

Thank you for referring to the Customer Agreement. The Customer Agreement explicitly states in the first foundational sentence:

"This document describes the terms and conditions of your receipt and payment of DIRECT Service..."

I did not recieve or pay for Directv DVR Service.

Note "service" is not defined as you activating something, a card being put in a machine, me ordering, me receiving equipment, etc.. I read your agreements beforehand and before I opened the card, I then read the Customer agreement and saw that it clearly said it was valid for "service."

Service is defined throughout the document as television programming.
Please note Section 7, "DirecTV DVR Service:"
"DIRECTV DVR Service gives you the ability to see and record televised programs."

not defined as you activating something, or anything else.

Your Customer Agreement has been described by your representatives as a valid and legal document and an accurate description of the relationship between you and prospective or current customers. Please let me know if it is not.

Please note I never "cancelled" Directv DVR service, as I never recieved it, I simply did not wish to further attempt to obtain the service.

Directv gave me ok service for 7 years. There are some things I liked, some things I didn't. I did like the music channels and some of the other channels. Comcast has their faults as well. I would consider them again at some point in the future for the right range of programming.
Also, please identify yourself if you are a DIRECTV employee. thanks.

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asimmons
, US
Aug 11, 2015 9:26 am EDT
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Life Shield was part of a bundle with DirecTV. The alarm would not set because sensors kept coming disconnected. We used the tablet to disconnect those sensors so the alarm would set. On two occasions the alarm went off and we received no call or emergency services.
We decided to cancel services and called customer service to inform them and return the equipment. I was told by customer service that they would continue to charge my bank despite me withdrawing my permission because of the contract, and they would not accept the return of my equipment until I paid a $430 early cancellation fee. And if you don't send the equipment back AFTER paying your account in full, they will charge you for the equipment! crazy!

We also cancelled DirecTV. They took the equipment back but are also charging an early termination fee. Some bundle!

Both companies take your money after providing poor service. They don't consider their service poor unless you tell them about everything that is wrong when it happens, so that they can try to make you happy. Who has time for this with a full-time job and a family?! I should call companies everyday to complain about what THEY do wrong OR it is my fault!

Never do business with Life Shield or DirecTV. They are both just hiding behind contracts to make easy money. And Life Shield if even worse by refusing to lower your cost by letting you return the equipment. I spoke to customer service and the "most senior management" personnel available.

They have no soul.

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Sandra Diaz
, US
Aug 13, 2015 9:58 pm EDT

It's BS...they need to strong arm everyone they can to pay every ones salaries especially C.E.O.'s, Good old days are gone when you could mount your top of the line antenna to the fireplace on the roof, that you purchased ex: Sears & Roebuck, depending on your budget what type antenna you would buy, didn't have to pay for it day in & day out.So seriously not worth the headache they cause. Sorry Direct TV. I can see them charging a deposit, non refundable, if equipment is broken or missing something, but to force you into their service fine print. My son is a soldier and was in active duty, excuse me I'm out defending our country, sorry I got called out on a days notice, & wont be back for 16months or more, his roomate couldn't pay for the service. Same bull...

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fbaugh
Raleigh, US
Dec 14, 2010 9:27 pm EST

I signed up for directv's basic package for only 30 a month, first bill comes in the mail stating i owe 70 somehow. i called them and stated over and over again that i only wanted the cheap basic package, and never agreed to their "plus" package. After 3 phone calls they reduced my bill to 50 which was still 20 higher than i ever intended on paying. 6 months pass and i decide i have had enough of giving them my money for service that was spotty at best so i cancel. The lady said cancellation fee was a total of 340, then i agree to cancel with the fee of 340. Next thing i know it says i owe 420 because they added on cancellation fees to their cancellation fee. Unfortunately, disputing it gets you nowhere because they just state they are sorry for the misunderstanding and make excuses for the first price being told to me. And if i would not pay the fee they will just turn it over to a collection agency and fuc* my credit royally. All in all, just an awful company who does not deliver what they say they will, overcharges, uses their corporate power and leverage against the "little guy", and preys on consumers with their "legal contract" that you sign up for with extremely small fine print. Avoid them and their contracts at all cost!

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ubiq
, US
Jun 29, 2011 9:34 am EDT
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I contacted the Cali Att'y. Gen'l.'s office, the BBB, and the local county Consumer Fraud Division. They withdrew their claim within a week. DirecTV just settled a multi-million dollar consumer fraud case with the A.G. here in Cali. To reiterate, a contract that gives one party the right to unilaterally raise rates is no contract at all and is unenforceable. If more consumers stood up to these thieves they wouldn't be so brazen.

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DeAnne Shockey
Hurst, US
Jun 29, 2011 3:31 am EDT

We are goping thru the same thing. 10 yrs with Directv. Kept getting special offers in the mail (weekly). Called several times. Reps said that was only for new customer & THEY suggested we go to AT&T & maybe they could bundle a better price with Directv. Well AT&T gave us a better price with Uverse. We called Directv to cancel & you guessed it, a 140 early cancellation fee. They said the DVR box we bought 18 months ago started a new 24 month contact. Funny thing is they raised our rates a couple of months ago. When I brought this to the C/S reps attention, he stated the conttract allows them to raise rates & only is to keep the customer from leaving. I asked what was in it for the customer, he said we get a list of programming with the contract? What? Got the standard email saying they have to have the 24 month contact to cover the cost of the box, what the one I paid for?

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ubiq
, US
May 19, 2011 1:55 am EDT
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Failure to perform constitutes a breach of contract, as would unilaterally increasing your rate. Consequently, you are entirely within your rights to revoke the balance of the contract, which, by their own actions, is null and void. These other comments about how you have to pay and be nice to them are written by company shills. Don't buy it. Take them to small claims court. The filing fee is nominal.

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Integrity Wins
Fort Thomas, US
Aug 18, 2010 9:59 am EDT

Stay away from Direct TV! They are scam artists and they did the same thing to us. They quoted us one price over the phone and our first bill was triple (3X) the price they quoted over the phone! When I called them they told me I should have read the contract. When I asked "what contract", they said the one I signed after the installer completed the installation. I told them I thought it was a work-order they said I should have read the fine type on the back. I was then charged $450.00 for early termination. That was over 2 years ago and I am still receiving phone calls and letters from Collection Agencies. My credit was over 800 points before this incident and it has since dropped over 100 points because of this one issue with Direct TV. Stay away fom them unless you have extyra money to burn.

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godsall
Boston, US
Feb 27, 2010 8:43 pm EST

Yea, Well, they just got me for $380.00 but the good news is they can't bill my credit card because I switched banks a year ago. So they will have to bill me and they will only get $10.00 a month. But sooner or later they will go under or the FCC will start looking into them.

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heidi009
Little Elm, US
Sep 20, 2009 2:42 pm EDT

I tried to cancel my directv service after 14 years of service and at first the person tried to overtalk me and try for me to stay. I told them I just called and want to cancel and to please tell me how to send the equip back. after a yelling match back and forth because they wouldn't allow me to cancel, they switched me to another dept. was put on hold for 20 min because they said I needed to talk to a supervisor to cancel...got another cust serv rep. he told me he was a supervisor and could help me then he tried to charge me an enormous amt for cancellation fees $400. I told him I was not going to pay then he says he has to transfer me to a supervisor because he really wasnt a supervisor (so he lied) another person tells me oh no now I also have to pay for a 2 yr contract early cancellation fee I told them hey I had your svce for 14 yrs so that doesn't make sense then he tried to tell me that I also had to pay additional fees because when their service was down I had to call and complain and that is now going to be charged for their cust serv person to tell me to plug and unplug an will charge me additional chg for 14 yrs total chgs. Then they wanted to chg me for a receiver their cust svce dept sent because their equipment didn't work and couldn't upgrade their update system so to make a long story short. I would NOT recommend DirecTV to anyone. They must be hurting because it seems they try to rip off their customers. Sad to say because I thought that when economic times got better I might go back to them down the road but NO WAY after the way I was treated I would not have this SLIMY company back!

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dave.dunn
, US
Jun 29, 2009 11:07 am EDT

I have had service for 3 years. At the beginning of my service, I had a standard HD box. In march of 2008, that box went bad. So I called and asked for a replacement. I have the protection plan, so I thought it wasn't an issue. The problem cam in when they said that I could upgrade my HD box to an HD-DRV. I thought what the heck, why not. I asked if there would be an extention to my service. The person helping me said, no since this would be a replacemejnt piece of equipment, not adding another box. I thought that was cool.

Now, here we are in June of 2009 and I want to cancel my service. I am now being told that adding the HD-DVR to my account, DID in fact extend my service for 2 years until March 2010.

I am trying to dispute this. I have a case in with Directv, contacted the Better Business Bureau, and I will be contacing my Attouney General's office, as per some posters have suggested doing.

Here is the response I received: (I had another receiver go bad two weeks ago and they admit the mistake they made to that problem, and that they should not have extened my contract then).

Thanks for writing. I understand your concern with your programming agreement and I'm sorry to hear that you will be canceling your service. DIRECTV significantly discounts the price of equipment and installation so we ask customers to agree to a programming commitment of 12-24 months effective when they accept and activate service.

Your DIRECTV equipment was activated on 03/04/08 and, per the terms of the offer you accepted, you agreed to a 24 month programming agreement which ends on 03/04/10. When you activated a replacement receiver on 06/10/09, the programming agreement on our computer screen was updated in error to 06/10/11.

Based on that, I just wanted to let you know that we received your email and I have forwarded it for special handling. A specialist will respond as soon as an agent is available (likely within 48 hours). For immediate assistance, please call us at [protected].

We take great care to ensure that the terms and conditions of our service, including programming agreements and early cancellation fees, are disclosed to each customer. Details about programming agreements and early cancellation fees are included in our advertising and point-of-sale materials. This information is also included in the confirmation letters sent by DIRECTV after you place an order for equipment and in the DIRECTV Equipment Lease Addendum, which is signed at the time of installation. For more information on programming agreements, please visit our website at directv.com/agreements Thanks again for writing and for allowing us to respond to you today.

Sincerely, Rudilyn J. - [protected]
DIRECTV Customer Service

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DirecTV poor service

Me and my wife moved last month to Colorado on a PCS move for the army and we notified Direct TV that we would be moving and that service needed to be suspended til we arrived in Colorasdo and found a new place. We were in transit in kansas city driving from kentucky when we got a unpleasent suprise, Direct TV charged 1100 Dollars to our debit card for cancalation and equipment fees, At this point leaving us 100 dollars negitive in the bank and stranded till i was able to get money from our parents. Once we contacted them about this they explained that we never contacted them even after we gave them the name and number of the person we spoke with about the move almost a month before. Then they tell us it will be 6-8 weeks to return the money to our account. Well after my wife spoke to the attentdents supervisor and the supervisors supervisor we got told we would have the money back in 72 hours. Well this was on 26 April 09 and it is now 06 May 09 and needless to say we havent seen our money yet. I am just upset at this company for there practices and the fact i never gave them promission to with draw money from my account and the fact that they used the card i had paid my last bill is even more disturbing. I never had a complant with Direct TV up to this point and even sent my friends to them and had moved before and had no issues, but after my last 2 weeks and the issues i have had i will never recommend or use them my self again. You do what the company tells you to do when you relocate and they tell you that you are in rthe wrong and take money in my mind illegally from my account. I am military and on a strict budget, and the fact that i had to go to my parents to get the money to finish my move is embarrising to me, but to have to explain the reason why was even more. I have seen on this site that others have had this issue and i see a trend. Needless to say if i dont see the money i am owed here soon i will take this to my installtions Better Business office and hope that maybe they can accomplish something. I highly recommend that if you have direct tv watch yourself when you move.

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Michele Trufant
,
Oct 13, 2008 9:13 pm EDT

I have been a Direrct tv customer for a total of 10years and my husband is retired military. We have moved from city to city and our satellite dish has moved with us also using the move feature by direct tv. Ever since we have moved to Slidell, LA. we have had problems. It all started back on August 24, 2008 when the original appointment was given. The technican called between the hours of 8-12 pm to tell us that he couldn't find the house so we had to reschedule. This is a new subdivision right off from a major interstate. We had to reschedule our appointment and the next appointment was set for October 6, 2008 so we agreed with that time. Thursday October 6, 2008 rolled around and my mother had to let the technician in because both my husband and I had to work. The technician was to show up between 8-12pm again. He did not show up but he called to say that he was running late and was coming from Bay St. Louis. The technician finally showed up around 1:30 pm. At that time my mother had to leave to pick up my daughter, on her return the two technicians had left. Another technician showed up around 4:00pm to hook up our satellite but gave us excuses on a different kind of line that was needed. The technician told us that we needed a single multi-switch line and that we had to call the main office and do a work order change. We got right on the phone while he was there and the main office told us that the local office had to change the work order. This scenario went on for sometime going back and forth on who was to order the switch. On Saturday I woke up early that morning to get back in touch with direct tv. The first person I got was really rude but the next lady was very pleasant. She informed me that she was going to cancel the original order and put in a whole new order with the switch on it. I immediately called the local office and told the supervisor that the matter was taken care of and I had given him the new work order number supposedly with the multi-switch on it. He told me that he would come out and install just one of our televisions so that we could have service. The pleasant lady at the main office lied to me because on the work order there was no order for a single multi-switch. It is now October 13, 2008 and we still do not have satellite. The next available date is November 12th, 2008 for installation and once again the technician will tell us that he is unable to hook up the dish because of this line.

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debra
Lancaster, US
Mar 14, 2009 10:43 pm EDT

I have been having problems with the direct t.v I have on;y had it for 1 month and they can not get a tech. to come to my apartment to fix the problem I have called them and they have scheuld me appointment and never show up are they had say that they will be 2 hours late and you don't hear from them and when you call direct tv they say that thaey can not talk to the people that they have doing there direct tv so you just wait until it have been 3 week and I still dont have anyone out hear so I dont recommended any one to get direct tv stick with cable.

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tampa entrepreneur
Tampa, US
Jun 26, 2009 10:00 pm EDT

Direct TV and Direct Path need to be shut down!

You will never resolve a problem in under 30 minutes. They never accept responsibility for non-service and will not refund your account to do problems even if they are a 'direct' result of their fault.

Unless they completely retool their business model, I see them going out of business in a few years or being shut down by the FCC.

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Dconaway
Raleigh, US
Aug 05, 2009 10:59 am EDT

My DirectTV Nightmare!

My name is Dave Conaway and I signed up for DirectTV for the first time 3 months ago after rave reviews from my dad.I was told that my monthly bill would be $49.99 and that I would receive 3 months of Showtime and HBO at no cost.

I got my first bill and it was $85 so I called up DirectTV. They said that the $49.99 was after a online rebate that would take 6-8 weeks to process. So I was pissed but went online and signed up for the rebate.

A couple of weeks went by and no problems until the North Carolina summer storms starting rolling in. I lose the signal at the first threat of rain or the picture pixelates so bad programs are unwatchable. Then the DVR box starts shutting off when I turn on the TV and reboots which takes upwards of 10 to 15 minutes.

So once again I call DirectTV. They tell me they can replace the box at no charge but I will lose all of my recorded programs. So once again I am pissed and forgo having the box replaced until I can watch all of my recorded programs so I can then get a new box.

Then this week I get my bill and DirectTV is charging me like $30 some dollars for HBO and Showtime. I never ordered them. If my 3 months is up of free service fine but don't just start charging me for something I don't want.

At this point I am over the whole damn DirectTV ### and feel that not only have they not provided me with the service I was promised and expected but that they have tried to pull one over on me.

So today I call DirectTV and am very nice and professional and tell they guy I want to cancel my service. He is very polite and tries to troubleshoot the situation and save the account but I wasn't having it. Then he proceeds to tell me that DirectTV will be charging me $420 for breaking my contract.

ARE YOU SERIOUS! DIRECTTV HAS NOT PROVIDED ME WITH THE SERVICE I WAS PAYING FOR AND NOW I HAVE TO PAY THEM $420 FOR NOTHING!

So I politely ask to speak to his manager. The manager keeps assuring me he can rectify the situation and have a technician come out and fix everything and he would review my bill.I understand that his job is probably retention so I politely explain to him that there is nothing to rectify except the cancellation fee. After 10 minutes of him jabbering I finally say look are you going to remove the cancellation fee or what.

NO was his response.

Well DirectTV beware because if I have to pay ANY cancellation fee I will be screaming from the mountain tops. I will tell everyone I know not to do business with you. I will be filing complaints, writing letters, making phone calls, whatever it takes.Hope the money was worth it.

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MihD31
, US
Jan 05, 2010 7:19 am EST

I am never going to use or recommend Direct TV to anyone ever again. I have had nothing but bad experiences with these people. Out of countless calls to try and get my problems rectified, I only spoke with one customer service rep who was the least bit helpful and polite. Come to find out later unfortunately, that she outright lied to me. This company is a joke. I can't understand how they are still in business. I guess P T Barnum was right, there is a sucker born every minute. I just hope people will read these messages before they do business with Direct TV.

It started with lies and ended with lies. Promises not kept and probably never intended to do so. It took them over 2 weeks to get my service started which should have been a clue as to what was to come. I told them originally that I would be moving to a new location in about 2-3 months and was told that I could move my service without a problem and no charges incurred...wrong. I canceled my service and had to pay the "contract" agreement for remaining months. It was a wash for the extra charges that were to be incurred to move my service to the new house. I just had the charges billed to my credit card but I will dispute the charges and delay this as long as possible. I only hope I can make them as miserable as they have made me.

The only way to force these crooks to clean up their act is to hurt them financially. Please tell everyone you know to stay away from Direct TV.

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I HATE DTV
, US
Jan 22, 2010 11:09 am EST

What a racket! I signed up for Direct TV a year ago and I have had nothing but problems. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it because they bind you a 2 year contract that is a few hundred dollars to cancel! I have had poor reception and needed to pay $50 for a technician to come out and check it. Why would I have to pay extra to receive good reception from a service that I am paying for? The next round of frustration came when I bought a new TV (HD) and had to agree to another year added to the "agreement" just to have a box that is compatible with a new TV. What do you do? You can't cancel because of the fee and you can't return the TV. Then we decided to add TV in another room of our home! Simple enough...After 4 cancellations from our local installers MASTECH we are still waiting for someone to come. 2 missed days of work and no apology or compensation from either Direct TV or mastech. Call Directtv and at least they stand behind their installers because they DO NOT stand behind their customers. I can't wait until I can cancel this service and urge everyone shopping for a television service provider to stay away from Direct TV!

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Sidetrack28
, US
Feb 16, 2010 8:20 pm EST

Direct TV has had so many complaints in the state of Washington for poor customer service, and other complaints that they have failed to address, that the Washington State Attorney General's Office has filed suit against them. The Attorney General stated that they failed to work with the state regarding consumer complaints, therefore, they will work it out in court.
This is FYI. Perhaps some other state's Attorney Generals should address this issue as well.

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Lorenzo
, US
Sep 05, 2010 2:58 pm EDT

Direct TV has been aweful to work with. We recently moved locations and called and set up an appointment to have our direct tv installed at the new home. We waited noon to 4 and no one ever showed up or called. Then when we called to see what happened we were told, the tv man called and no one answered. So he just didn't show! They called our old number which was still on file. If it is your business to call before you show up then the company should make sure they have the updated number! Why does the coustomer have to work around the provider. I'm paying for the service! I should not be given a 4 hour window I can understand 2 hours at most.

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Keiran
, US
Oct 19, 2010 1:07 pm EDT

On 10/4/2010 i was told that i would have service on the next day.In which hand i had gotten a confirmation e-mail saying that i would have serrvice between 8 - 12 on [protected].So me and my wife took off work to be here when the install was done so we could be here to learn about the dvr and everything else...

Now it is 1:20 on [protected] and still no dvr or sattelite tv.so in which hand we are not only out on the watching tv we are also out on 2 days of pay with a figure of 1200 dollars. Who is gonna pay for that?. I feel sure direct tv wont. I am fitting to cancel this whole thing because some employee does'nt know how do there job...

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sdphrp
Mont Alto, US
Apr 16, 2011 12:54 pm EDT
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I called Direct TV on 4/15/11 (Friday) because I had NO service. They responded to me saying they cannot send tech support to my house until 4/18/11. I told them when I had Dish Network and I had a problem they sent someone out within hours..NOT DAYS! Now we have to do without TV until Monday. They responded to me that the technicians don't "work" on weekend..They offered me a refund of 92 cents. I asked them what it would cost me to discontinue my service and they told me $400.00 since I'm a "new customer"..LOOKS LIKE I'M STUCK WITH THIS NITEMARE FOR A FEW MORE YEARS! SOOO WRONG! I HATE DIRECT TV!

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DirecTV cancellation policy

So I have been a DirecTV customer off and on since 1997 and loved their service and programming. Last April I went to a local Best Buy and purchased a DirecTV HD DVR and a DirecTV HD receiver and paid almost $400 for both. I took them home and installed them myself, called DirecTV to activate them and was told that they would like me to sign a 1 year agreement for service. I agreed as I was committed to their programming. A few months ago, I needed to cut back on some extra spending and called DirecTV and reduced my programming package. I asked the rep before I made any changes, that if I went through with it, would it affect my contract term date. He specifically told me that in no way would it affect it and that my contract was almost up (in April 2009).

Cut to now that I'm moving from my house and my new residence has a contract with another company. I called DirecTV to cancel service and I was told that the receivers that I purchased were a lease! How can they be a lease when I paid for them? After being transferred to some idiot and then another, I finally gave in and told them I would ship them to where ever they asked.

I then spoke with someone else to cancel my service and to my surprise she told me that I was under contract and that I had 1 year left! I flipped out on her. I explained to her the series of events and I asked to speak with a supervisor. She told me that there was nothing that they could or would do and that I just needed to either pay the term fee or transfer the service. She said that a one year agreement is standard, however, if you sign up for a HD package you are automatically put on a 2 year agreement. How can this be?

I will never sign up for DirecTV service again, they just lost a long time customer and will bad mouth them to anyone and everyone that will listen.

On a side note I then called back and cancelled service at my parents house as well. I'll be damned if they get any more money from me. FYI, Uverse from AT&T is a much sharper picture and has better features and user interface.

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realist
Meridian, US
May 08, 2009 5:03 pm EDT

You, yourself, said it all. You got the receivers at best buy HEY ### IT SAYS THAT THE RECEIVERS ARE LEASED ON THE BOX THEY CAME IN, and to top it all off you said you called to have them activated, HEY IDIOT LOOK AT THE ACCESS CARD THAT YOU, YOURSELF ACTIVATED it says by you agree to the directv terms and conditions by activating the equipment. WHAT THE HELL, REALLY WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO COMPLAIN, YOU FAILED TO READ THE ITEMS IN WHICH YOU ARE ACTIVATING, and now you are blaming the company FOR YOUR STUPIDITY?

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DirecTV cancellation fee

I created an account with DIRECT TV, starting on April 17, 2009. MOST of the information given to me when creating the account was false (e.g., internet policy, monthly total charges). I called customer care to discuss the discrepancies on April 25, 2009. I was informed by Rachel in customer care that "I was misinformed" and that, if I cancel my account within 30 days, the cancellation fee of $480 would be waived. She further explained the cancellation process (e.g., pre-posted boxes will be mailed to my home address and the system plus control must be mailed within a set timeframe). Knowing this, I decided to move forward with another cable company, and called Direct TV to cancel my service on May 5, 2009. On this call, I was informed by Adam in customer care that only the "Cancellation Department" can give accurate information regarding the cancellation policy, and that the cancellation fee is standing on my account if I wish to discontinue service. I offered Adam the date and ID number for Rachel, and he said that it didn't matter. I then asked to speak to his supervisor. I was informed by Ashley, the customer care supervisor, that the Cancellation fee is binding and that she is "sorry for the misinformation" that was provided to me. Further, Ashley said that Rachel does not work in her department but that she can make a note in my file about the discrepancy and that she does not have the authority to waive the cancellation fee of $480. I requested that Ashley look up the recorded conversations between myself and the other customer care representatives I had dealt with, but she said they did not exist. I then asked to speak to her supervisor. Ashley said that her supervisor will call me within 24 to 72 hours if I leave my phone number with her, which I reluctantly did. I also requested that she transfer me to the cancellation department to move forward with the cancellation. Tim in the Cancellation Department (whose ID I do not have) asked several questions about my reason to cancel, which I deferred to answer because of the previously lengthy disagreement I had earlier during my call. I asked him to move forward with the cancellation. He mentioned the cancellation fee, at which point I stated that I will pay it even though it is "still up for debate", and he started discussion the legal implications of non-payment and how there is "no way to dispute the fee". I told him that there IS a way and I will do so after I cancel, and also told him that only lawyers should provide legal advice. He proceeded to ask questions about why I wanted to cancel, and I reluctantly explained it to him. He ACKNOWLEDGED the discrepancies in the notes made by customer service, and apologized. He did, however, still charge me the cancellation fee (which I paid in full).

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ConsumerRights
Charlotte, US
Jun 07, 2009 9:12 pm EDT

I created my account with DirectTV since January 2008 and am considering cancelling because charges are too high...and I want to switch BACK TO CABLE! I reviewed my account online trying to see if I had a 12 or 18 month contract...I couldn't find anything online in "my account." I'm trying to avoid as much "cancellation fees" as possible. I have read many posts/complaints about nightmares people have gone through their cancellations. I have no patience and hate to be bombarded with questions from rude and nasty CSRs. Also last year I subscribed to the "NFL season pass" also paying for HD channels for those games...and paid $482. I thought it was for the season and it will be cancelled after the season was over. Well, I reviewed my account last month and was surprised to know that the additional program required that I call to drop that package...otherwise it would have automatically renew..and I would have been charged another $482.

From what I've read it seems like DirectTV has a second line of business, a profitable "practice"...in making $$ from customers who choose to cancel. Not sure if there are any laws in the works to prevent DirectTV from charging these horrendous cancellation fees...?

Just to be safe I am waiting to at least after 18 months to cancel..so I won't be charged "early termination" fees. I'm still nervous and don't look forward to calling to cancel.

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DirecTV install & cust. support

I recently decided to get off cable and try Satellite. Since I can't get any real information about installation costs on the phone without being dumped over to a fast talker sales rep. I decided to try Direct Tv, on the sign up on the web, what they don't tell you is that you have to sign up for 2 years to get the free premiums for 3 months, also there is a $25.00 shipping charge, that they wave, but comes back later- Not waved! So on Install day, the tech was supposed to arrive from 12 to 4pm, so at 4:30 when he had no arrived and no call, I called support, they send an email to corporate asking for tech. arrivals. That's just weak I had to call support 3 times, on hold forever, and got a time frame. The tech finally did arrive 2 1/2 hours late. So after all this bull crap he told be he can't install as there's no clear sky to the South West. That's info I needed to have before all this crap. The support call backs never came, customer support had the "I could care less" attitude. So be prepared for crappy cust. service, hidden charges, and lack important info before you sign up.

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GALE SIMMONS
Savannah, US
Sep 13, 2013 7:14 pm EDT

TO DIRECT TV WE ONLY HAD SERVICE FOR A FEW MONTHS AND NOW THE DISH ITSELF IS NOT LETTING US GET CLEAR SERVICE WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY EXTRA MONEY TO HAVE SOMEONE COME OUT TO RESET MY DISH WHEN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SET RIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE. PS I WELL CLIMB UP AND DO YOUR JOB MYSELF SINCE I HAVE TO PAY. DISH NOT SET RIGHT FROM THE THE BEGINNING.

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DirecTV invaded bank account

DIRECTV went in our bank account twice in the past 4 days 4/28.09 & 5/1/09 and pulled out a total of $821.32 for early cancellation fees and past due amounts. This occurred after they had agreed to arrangements to accept a $112.17 payment and restoration of services . They did not give our check time to post to the account before scheduled agreement date. Their CSR agent never mentioned the additional fees when I spoke with her on 4.25.09 when they removed teh first withdrwal of $315.42 so immagine our surprised when the morning after we deposited our check finding we had no funds available. 5/1/09 when they had taken an additional $505.42 They had turned our account over to collection 7 days earlier 4/15/09 for $390, 00. If it was turned to collections why did they raid my account and if they had the authorization they claimed to have had why did they turn it over to collections? Why is the amount they deducted from my account more than double the amount they sent to collections>They also want us to pay equipment charges for equipment purchased from, Walmart. what kind of rip off is this. We are also being charged for early termination fees. Their contract states that it is monthly contract. After taking the over $800 from our bank account they still say we owe them $758 when we had a zero balance 2/ 28/09. We purposely did not set our account for Auto because we do not like like permitting open access to our funds. They left us with out money for food or medications. I am filing with the BBB and any one else that will listen.

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realist
Meridian, US
May 07, 2009 11:45 pm EDT

First of all the only way you can 'own' a directv receiver is to purchase it from them. ANY receivers sold at retail are leased, it says so on the freaking box, dont believe me go check it out yourself its on the botton of the box highlighted in red. So you failed to return their receivers, they have every right to charge you the non return fees
And Second of all, you are required to have a credit card on file with directv in order to have the services, a lot of companies are doing this by the way, its part of the customer agreements. This is regardless of the fact if you decide to use that credit card as a method of payment for your monthly bill or not, you dont have to pay with it automatically at all. And as part of the directv customer agreement you have to update them with any changes on your credit or debit accounts, if you fail to do so it is fraud, because you have the services you are agreeing to directvs terms, you could be charged for fraud for not updating information like that. It was perfectly leagle for directv to take the money out of your account, here is the part of the agreement that you may like to know, section 5 cancellation row e
(e) Payment Upon Cancellation. You acknowledge that you have provided your credit or debit card account information to us. You understand that you will incur fees and charges as a result of your receipt and use of Service and/or Receiving Equipment, and may incur early cancellation fees and/or equipment non-return fees (as specified in any lease, programming or other service commitment agreement you entered into in connection with obtaining Receiving Equipment). By giving us your credit or debit card account information, you authorize us to apply this method of payment, in accordance with applicable law, to satisfy any and all amounts due upon cancellation. You further acknowledge that you are required to maintain current credit or debit card information with us and agree to notify us whenever there is a change in such information, such as a change in the card number or the expiration date.

Thus meaning you are broke and they took the money they had rights to LEAGALLY and because you obtained the services you yourself agree to directvs terms and agreements. Maybe next time you should inform yourself as a consumer before you point fingers and blame it on the company. They dont keep anything hiden from you, you just have to have a little bit of brains.

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DirecTV poor customer service / cancellation fee

Do not do business with direct tv !

As submitted to the better business bureau …

Complaint classification:
Complaint description - posted 4/9/2009 11:28:18 am

My wife and I have disputed a claim in the amount of $311.35 from day one and explained to directv that they did not provide the level of customer service that they had promised. On four (4) separate occasion during sept. Of 2007, we asked directv to move a satellite dish off our deck to a more suitable location (Service started in late aug. , 2007). Each time over a period of four weeks, directv informed us that a service technician would be at our house to move the dish but a technician never showed up and no one from directv called us to reschedule.In fact, on the fourth call, we explained our frustration to their csr and warned her that if no one showed up on the day they scheduled, we would cancel service. She assured us that a technician would definitely be out to our house on 9/24/2007 to move the dish. Again, no technician and no phone call to let us know (Or even to reschedule, which would have been fine had someone from directv called us). So, we cancelled service after one month. When we received a notice of the cancellation fee, a letter was sent to explain why we were not going to pay it. They acknowledged our complaint, but said that we signed an agreement and were bound by it. We said that we would not pay a dime at which point they contacted three different collection agencies over the period of 18 months in an attempt to collect a debt which they knew we would not pay. One reported this dispute to a credit bureau.

Complaint summary
Failed to send technician to move dish after four calls and appointments were made. Service canceled and dispute cancellation fee.

Resolution sought
We demand that directv inform the credit bureaus that this debt is being disputed and to remove any adverse report from our credit history. We also demand that they either settle this matter in court or dismiss it. Further attempts to collect by retaining assistance from other collection agencies will be construed as harassment.

Company's initial response - posted 04/22/2009
We regret to hear of any misunderstanding or inconvenience. We apologize; we do not have record of four missed appointments. Our records indicate you placed an order for directv on august 3, 2007, and activated on august 19. On the day of installation, you requested another receiver which was installed and activated. On august 20, you contacted our customer service to request the satellite dish, which was installed on your deck, be moved. We offered to schedule the dish relocation for you at a cost of $49; however, the offer was declined. On september 14, you contacted our customer service, were provided a $100 programming credit to retain your business and we scheduled the relocation of the satellite dish for september 17. Our local office attempted to contact you by phone regarding your appointment but your phone number would not accept incoming calls. On september 18, you contacted our customer service to request disconnection of your account. At the time you placed your directv order, we advised you there would be a programming agreement associated with the equipment you were acquiring. We also communicated the agreement in the order confirmation letter and in the directv equipment lease addendum (Mailed to the address on file and at directv.com/agreements). We significantly discount the price of equipment and installations.In exchange, we ask our customers to keep their programming for a specified amount of time. Customers who acquire advanced receivers (Dvr, hd, hd dvr) accept a 24-month programming agreement. You disconnected prior to completing your programming agreement. As a result, a valid early cancellation fee applied. As you requested, we have notified the collection agency to cease collection activity on this account. However, directv retains the right to pursue collection of this debt. The balance of $311.35 is valid and due. Thank you for the opportunity to address your directv concerns. Sincerely, directv office of the president.

Initial response summary
As you requested, we have notified the collection agency to cease collection activity on this account.

Consumer’s rebuttal – posted 04/24/2009
Re: "we offered to schedule the dish relocation for you at a cost of $49; however, the offer was declined?" are you kidding me? We would have gladly paid it had it been offered and had a technician actually come out to move it, but it wasn't offered nor was there any mention of it on the 3 other calls we made. Why would direct-tv tell us that they would be out to move it on 4 separate occasions and then leave us in the dark? On the 4th call, we told your csr that if it wasn't moved, we would cancel, and when no one showed up or called, we canceled (A $100 cr. Was of little interest to us at that point). Re: "our local office attempted to contact you by phone regarding your appointment but your phone number would not accept incoming calls". Come on now! Admit that no one attempted to contact us to reschedule, which is what we were upset about. Had they done so, we wouldn't be having these disussions. What now angers us the most is the fact that two - not one, but two - collection agencies, nationwide and allied interstate, have posted adverse history. Don't you think one report was enough? We will contact the iowa state attorney general to see what recourse we have.

Company’s final response – posted 04/27/2009

Although we understand, you were frustrated while waiting for the dish to be moved, nothing in our records indicate that the location of the dish caused a problem with your services. The original install was approved by the person at home during the installation. We have verified the relocation work order was processed and the $100 credit was provided to your account. We have also verified the notes on the relocation work order indicate the local office attempted to contact you to reschedule the appointment, but they were unable to reach you. We have reviewed your account and unfortunately, we are unable to waive your early cancellation fee. As noted in the directv customer agreement “we may assign your account or this agreement and all rights and/or obligations hereunder to any third party without notice for any purpose, including, without limitation, collection of unpaid amounts…” to avoid further collection actions please remit the final balance due, in the amount of $311.35, to the following address: directv, po box 78626, phoenix, az [protected]. Respectfully, directv office of the president.

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realist
Meridian, US
May 07, 2009 1:39 pm EDT

they do have a point there sir, someone was home for the install that agreed to where the dish was first placed, if you had a certin place that you wanted to have the dish, why didn't you yourself make sure that it was put there? Or is it that you were home and the installer told you there would be custom charges or something? Sounds like the company was not in the wrong there, except perhaps the missed appointments, which by the way companies such as directv subcontract install companies out.
Sounds like the BBB is going to back them up on this one to and that is someoene who is out for the customers, of course if the customers are in the right. You pretty much just made yourself look like a petty loser.

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DirecTV representative lied to me

I called to inquire about getting Direct TV to replace our cable service. One of the main reasons was to get my husband, a NY transplant, Yankees and Rangers games, so I asked alot about the sports pack. This was the main purpose of our ordering it. We are paying extra for the "sports pack"

I very specifically asked the customer service representative before I agreed to to contract if Yankees games were blacked out. I was extremely clear about this. There could not have been any doubt about my concern. He absolutely knew why we were ordering Direct TV. He repeatedly promised me that NO yankees games were blacked out. (I asked three times!)

Guess what? He lied. Explicitly and without question. I was told that no yankees games were blacked out on the YES network. He even told me that not even Fax Saturday afternoon games were blacked out. So, it sounded great to me. I ordered it and my husband took a day off work while the installer was here and we even had to jump through hoops with our condo board so that they would agree to let us drill into the outside of the building.

And guess what? We don't get the yankees games! I assume the same is true with the Rangers game, but it isn't hockey season. Within three days of getting it installed, we discovered this. (We didn't try to watch yankees games before that because we were out of town.) We called, we complained, we explained the situation, that we were deliberately lied to, that we felt we had been defrauded, spoke with supervisors, with no results. Apparently, it is ok with them if their customer service reps lie as long as they get you to sign the contract.

We both feel that we have been defrauded so badly, and in such complete violation of any ethical standards, that we are considering appropriate action to take next. We just don't know what that action might be.

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eburg
Westmont, US
Oct 09, 2009 4:24 pm EDT

As I was reading this, I had to double read it as it sounded like an exact email I made almost a year ago but I did not remember doing it in here.
I can't agree more with coachie.
The exact same thing happened to me. I am also a NY Yankee fan transplant from central Jersey, I asked the same questions and got the same answers...wow

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DirecTV shipping & handling charge

On June 25, 2008 (I am a first time satellite subscriber) I have one HD receiver and two leased receivers. Last month (March, 2009) I could not get a picture and called and the technican walked me through several different stages in order to get a picture and eventually I was able to get it. I did not do or touch anything on the tv or remote to lose the picture. Then, again on April 27th, 2009 I again could not get a picture, message on tv read "No Signal". I again called and the technican had me do several different things and even did them a couple times, but I still could not get a picture. Both technicans were very patient and tried to help me. Now, my problem. I am currently leasing two receivers from you and have been told by the last technican that it is the receiver and they can send one out to me within a couple days. It will cost me $19.95 for shipping and handling. Why! There is nothing in your Customer Agreement policy stating that if the receiver or other parts go bad I have to pay to have a new one. If I am LEASING this receiver from you, as I am, then it should be up to you to furnish a receiver in working order or replace it at YOUR expense. I do not feel as if I should have to pay shipping & handling for a receiver I did not did nothing to. It should be your responsibility to furnish working equipment. Now I am without a TV for several days and once I get it I have been told I have to install it and then call you to activate it. So what you are telling me is that I have to pay shipping and handling, plus install it upon arrival. I've been very happy with the reception and your customer service personel and would hate to have to switch satellite providers over a shipping and handling charge on a receiver that I don't even own!

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DirecTV identity theft

My husband signed up for Direct TV without my knowledge. Because of some past trust issues, all of our finances are kept seperate. About a week later, the bill arrived in the mail. Luckily, I happened to get home first so I got the mail. The bill was in my name. Apparently, my husband used my name to apply for the Direct TV service. The service man who came to our must have noticed that a man was signing documents with a woman's name on it. I tried to call Direct TV and have the account switched to his name, but they told me that he would have to call and take legal responsibility for the bills. I explained to the very nice customer service representative that I did not have the option to take legal responsibility. She explained that there was nothing she could do. When I asked to cancel the service, I was informed that I couldn't w/o having to pay for the service all 24 months. Now because of their irresponsibility, I am responsible for 24 months of a service I didn't ask for. On the bright side, I am able to see my husband for who he really is.

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bree1977
Jacksonville, US
Dec 29, 2014 10:09 am EST

My mom used my name and social number to get direct tv for my grandparents at their house. I have never signed anything and the only way they can get me out of a 2 yr contract is to file a police report against my family, or pay the cancelation fee. My grandparents are talking about paying the ridiculous fee of $460 cancelation fee. This is cheaper that the thousands they would need to pay the next 24 months. I cant understand how they can still hold me to a contract I never even signed!

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Douglas Wayne Ross
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Sep 27, 2007 12:00 am EDT

My name is Douglas Ross, I am currently working in Kosovo for Kellogg Brown Root in support of the US Army. I recently found out that my SSN has been used in Dallas, Texas to get Direct TV.

I am originally from Dallas, but I have not lived there in over 30 years. I contacted the Direct TV office and they gave me a number [protected] for fill a complaint all I receive is a recording and no one has answered the phone. Someone please help getting this problem resolved.

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L.W.
717 14th st., US
Aug 17, 2009 9:41 pm EDT

My ex-wife ordered Direct TV for her apartment, put it in my name, gave them my SS#, and her son forged my name. They installed the equipment without checking any identification. Then she never paid the bill. They called me in May of 07 saying I owed them $488. I told them it was not my bill, and they said it was because they had my signature on a contract. I told them it couldn't be my signature, and they told me I would have to prove it. I followed all the procedures for reporting fraud, sent letters everytime I was asked, explaining the situation. I spent an exorbitant amount of time on hold on the telephone, and was even hung up on once. I asked them for a copy of the signed contract. I was given a number to call to get it. The number was a recording at a text messaging service, and for a ten dollar fee, they would tell me information about the number I was calling. At this point, I was so disgusted I said to hell with it. Let them come after me. Well, here it is, two years later, and they are. I recieved a call from the law firm of Riddel and Wood, and given 48 hours to pay it or fax them a police report, and an affidavit of fraud. It will be faxed to them tomorrow. I have never in my life dealt with a more cold hearted, rude staffed, and outright lying company. I will not let this go at this point.

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Helen Williams
Philadelphia, US
Jan 17, 2011 6:08 pm EST

I Helen Williams would like to make a complaint on who ever lives at 1153 south 53 street. Because they have used my personl information to obtain a direct Tv bill in my name without my permission. An addition I have seen this address on my credit report and I have never lived at this address and I dont know who lives here at all. My home address is 6508 Elmwood ave Philadelphia pa 19142. i would like to press charges and have this bogus charged given to whoever lives at the house where they ran up this bill and used fraud to retrive this account.

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DirectTvIsScam
, US
Oct 10, 2009 9:00 pm EDT

Hah this is clearly illegal on your husband's part and on the part of Direct tv. Your husband is not allowed to forge your signature, and Direct tv can't hold you responsible for the charges. You may have to prosecute your husband for forgery, but at the same time, you should be able to have an attorney explain to the thieves at Direct tv that they don't have a legal document/contract because YOUR signature is not on it.

I'd go after both of them with both legal barrels. If my husband ever did anything like that to me he'd be toast and he knows it. He'd better hope the cops got to him first so he'd be safe in jail ha ha ha.

Good luck and hope it works out for you.

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Silver Surfer
Milwaukee, US
Aug 17, 2009 10:32 pm EDT

Did you file a police report when it first happened? That would have been the FIRST thing I would have done. Sitting on your butt for two years while letting your ex wife get away with it is asinine. Who knows how many credit cards or other things she's used your SS# on.

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micheleeyedoc
, US
Apr 10, 2009 10:15 pm EDT

On Wed 4-8 someone from Direct TV called my husband's cell phone and the conversation got no further than verifying my husband's name, saying it was direct TV, and my husband asking that they never call him again. Today we looked at our accounts online and saw a $200.00 charge for Direct TV hardware from California on my husband's check card. We have PNC bank and they basically took care of it for us, but we wanted to investigate the ### further - something wasn't adding up and still isn't. PNC gave us Direct TV's phone number. Took forever to get a real person. When we finally did, my husband was treated like a criminal. They wouldn't give us any information until my husband verified our address. They said that someone had called claiming to be my husband on Mon 4-6 with his name, cell phone number, address, and credit card number. Apparently, even though my husband hung up on them, they were still coming to OUR address on Monday 4-13 to install the hardware? If we had not caught this on Friday 4-10, we would have had Direct TV knocking at our door on Monday. After verifying that we are not idiots, we have never given our credit card out to anyone else, we NEVER called Direct TV - they called us, that we have NEVER had an account with Direct TV, the "customer service rep" got very defensive and basically said this was not their fault. We kept mentioning that "PNC" had already "launched an investigation" into these "fraudulent charges" and that this was not going away and that they would also be hearing from the State Attorney General. That finally got us somewhere. We did end up getting our money back and getting the account cancelled, but it's frustrating that Direct TV was so uncooperative. Again - SOMETHING IS NOT ADDING UP! If someone wanted to use our account to get Direct TV, why would they have it installed at OUR house? And how was that date and time set up? And why was Direct TV still planning on coming to our house, even though their attempts to use the contact number all failed? It does seem like an inside job. The "customer service rep" apparently ended the conversation by saying "I hope you find out who did this to you, " which I'm sure was just for show. DIRECT TV IS C-R-O-O-K-E-D!

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leah
,
Nov 13, 2008 12:40 pm EST

i have ID theft on my account now, ppv movies showing being ordered from my phone, and im being billed, i have had Id theft accrossed the board since 2005. Had to pay Direct Tv $200.00 even though i have police report (prior to this) and fbi complaint number. After several calls and complaints i find out they have an ID theft dept, can not contact them, just a recording. They are being included in the investigation with the FBI. They say the company can also be investigated if they knowingly do not help me and pass the "fraud" onto me. Horrible customer service, they are crooked! Im begining to think it may be an inside job!

DirecTV Customer Reviews Overview

DirecTV is a digital satellite TV service provider offering a variety of channels and packages to customers across the United States. Their services include live television, on-demand content, and digital video recording capabilities. Subscribers can choose from different tiers, which provide access to sports, movies, and premium networks, depending on the selected plan. DirecTV also offers streaming options through its app, enabling viewers to watch content on different devices. The company caters to a diverse audience seeking customizable entertainment solutions for their homes.

DirecTV In-depth Review

Pricing and Packages: DirecTV offers a range of pricing options and packages to suit different budgets and preferences. Their pricing structure is transparent, with clear information on the costs associated with each package. Customers can choose from various package options, including basic, mid-tier, and premium packages, each offering different channels and features. The value for money offered by DirecTV's pricing is generally considered to be good, with competitive prices compared to other providers in the market.

Channel Selection: DirecTV provides a comprehensive list of channels, catering to a wide range of interests and preferences. Their channel lineup includes a diverse selection of entertainment, news, sports, and lifestyle channels. Additionally, DirecTV offers premium channels and sports packages, allowing customers to access exclusive content and live sporting events. The variety and diversity of channels offered by DirecTV are highly regarded by customers.

Equipment and Installation: DirecTV's equipment is known for its quality and reliability. Customers have reported positive experiences with the performance of DirecTV's receivers and remotes. The installation process is generally smooth and efficient, with professional technicians handling the setup. DirecTV also provides customer support throughout the installation process, ensuring any issues or questions are addressed promptly. While there may be additional fees or charges related to equipment and installation, they are clearly communicated to customers upfront.

Customer Service: DirecTV's customer service is responsive and effective, with representatives available to assist customers with their inquiries and concerns. Customers have access to various support channels, including phone, email, and online chat. The helpfulness of customer support agents is generally praised by customers. Based on feedback and reviews, customer satisfaction levels with DirecTV's customer service are generally high.

Reliability and Signal Strength: DirecTV's signal is known for its reliability and consistency. Customers have reported minimal disruptions or outages in their service. The signal strength may vary slightly depending on the location and weather conditions, but overall, DirecTV provides a strong and stable signal. Any reported issues or outages are promptly addressed by DirecTV's technical support team.

On-Demand and Streaming Options: DirecTV offers an extensive on-demand library and streaming capabilities. Customers have access to a wide range of movies, TV shows, and other on-demand content. The user interface is user-friendly, making it easy to navigate and access on-demand content. While DirecTV's on-demand library may not be as extensive as some other streaming services, it still offers a satisfactory selection of content. The quality of streaming is generally good, with minimal buffering or playback issues.

Contract Terms and Cancellation Policy: DirecTV's contract terms include a specified length, typically ranging from 12 to 24 months. Early termination fees may apply if customers cancel their contract before the agreed-upon period. The cancellation policy is transparent, with clear information on any associated charges. While some customers may find the contract terms restrictive, others appreciate the stability and benefits offered by longer-term contracts. Overall, DirecTV's contract terms are considered fair and flexible.

Overall User Experience: The overall user experience with DirecTV's services is generally positive. Customers appreciate the wide range of channels and packages available, as well as the reliability of the signal. The quality of customer service and support is highly regarded, with prompt and helpful assistance provided. While there may be some limitations in terms of on-demand content and contract terms, DirecTV is still considered a reputable and reliable service provider in the industry.

How to file a complaint about DirecTV?

**Guide on Filing a Complaint Against DirecTV on ComplaintsBoard.com:**

1. Log in or Create an Account:
- If you already have an account, log in to ComplaintsBoard.com. If not, create a new account to proceed.

2. Navigating to the Complaint Form:
- Locate and click on the 'File a Complaint' button at the top right corner of the ComplaintsBoard.com website.

3. Writing the Title:
- Summarize the main issue with DirecTV in the 'Complaint Title' briefly and clearly.

4. Detailing the Experience:
- Mention key areas such as transactions, nature of the issue, steps taken to resolve, personal impact, etc.
- Provide relevant information to support your complaint effectively.

5. Attaching Supporting Documents:
- Attach any additional supporting documents that can strengthen your complaint. Avoid including sensitive personal data.

6. Filling Optional Fields:
- Use the 'Claimed Loss' field to state any financial losses and the 'Desired Outcome' field to specify the resolution you seek.

7. Review Before Submission:
- Review your complaint for clarity, accuracy, and completeness before submitting it to ensure it effectively conveys your concerns.

8. Submission Process:
- Click the 'Submit' button to submit your complaint to ComplaintsBoard.com for review.

9. Post-Submission Actions:
- Regularly check for responses or updates related to your complaint on ComplaintsBoard.com to stay informed about the progress.

Ensure each step is clearly defined to guide you effectively through the process of filing a complaint against DirecTV on ComplaintsBoard.com.

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Contact DirecTV customer service

Phone numbers

+1 (800) 531-5000 +1 (855) 838-4388 More phone numbers

Website

www.directv.com

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