DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

You need to find out what the charges are for. Pay per view moveis, sporting events, whatever. Then you can dispute them, or pay them if you actually made those charges.

I have Directv and I always pay by debt card. when they ask me if I want to retain my card number with them I always decline. When the automated system keeps your info they can use it for final billing etc..
this gives them access to your account never let them retain your info and never let them have access to your account for auto bill pay this always leads to trouble. I hope this helps good luck with this.
michael

I had the same thing happen to me after cancelling my service within the 24 hour period and being assured by several different reps that I would get a full refund. I cancelled service because rep told me I would be able to bundle my phone service which I could not do due to lack of service in my area. I have tried for over 7 months to get this money back. I am now filing a small claims suit against them.

You know I had Direct TV for 2 years then cancelled it 6 months ago, never experienced any of the problems people talk about, infact they bent over backwards to keep me, and when they couldn’t promptly sent boxes and cancelled my account. I guess that is what happens when you pay your bills on time every time.

If you can barely afford gas perhaps you should rethink the luxury of having satellite tv.

I had the very same thing done to me recently too! Our son went through a bad divorce and had trouble meeting his bills so I paid his Direct TV on occasion for him -- a "one time only" charge...so I thought. When he and our grandson moved back in with us and he cancelled his direct tv service those SOBs debited my disability account for the receiver money! We have a signed receipt from Direct TV that that receiver IS IN THEIR possession and they have had it for over a week. After talking to "someone" again this morning, I am at a loss as to how to go about getting it back! Direct TV ran it through as a regular payment but admits to us "they made a mistake" - DUH! Since 11 July, we have been lied to over and over and over again from folks from Mexico, Southern Mexico, the Philippines, India -- not ONE American...not one! I was told there was NO ONE in their finance department to speak with -- guess that's all automated too! If anyone has a clue - a remote clue as how to recover $262.50, I'd love to know! Thanks for sharing all!

We moved. Called Direct Tv. They wanted 50.00 to move the service to another address. I refused. They went into my bank account and withdrew 886.00. I was leaving the next day for work which is 1800 miles away. The money they took was all I had left in my account for travel.They tell me to reinstate my service and they would refund the money, So I payed an additional 22.50 reconnect fee. It has been 47 days and no money has been put back in my account. These people are thieves. Where are the lawyers? I would love to see a law suit brought against Direct Tv for their billing practices.

I have seen the television commercials and have often considered giving that offer of $8.00 for the first month of unlimited use and all the movies I can watch. Direct TV says in that commercial that it is a trial for the first month, right? If you are not satisfied with the service, is it hard to cancel? I can't seem to find any information online from the Direct TV website about what the monthly charges are to be after the trial period, do you know what they are if you decide to stay with that service?
Thanks

i suppose, never in history has a white person been a slave as well?! the reason why people see this particular commercial as racist is because they like to throw the race card out in front of everyone because they are a bunch of [censored].

All of you are full of it, You are crying about a freakin commercial? I bet that White butler was getting paid which is more than I can say about many of the black butlers in real life that were tormented by rascist white children. Although I am not a supporter or the promotion of violence nor rascism, I must say that you have some nerve to complain about this one commercial when it really happened to hundreds of black butlers. And as far as the cry baby race comment, Knowing that thousands of people, especially when they were your family members and decendents where enslaved, beaten and raped. Forced to work out in the hot sun or otherwise brutally beaten or killed for over 100 years and even after it was illegal, were still killed and tortured for many years after, you would have something to cry about too. The same people who are crying about the rascism in this commercial are more than likely descendents of slave owners themselves who actually had black unpaid butlers who were tormented in REAL LIFE. So stop your whining and complaining about one freakin commercial. Ever watch a "classic" film? Many of them had black butlers and in some of the movies they showed how the young white kids treated them and other black staff like crap.

Was the $300 an early cancellation fee?

Racist from the core.

ellen67,
actually they were racist but it is accepted if done on a comedy satire or by a comedian especially if they are black doing the reverse racism toward another race be it Mexican, White, Native American ( BTW I'm Cherokee ) or Chinese or so on. That is why they are known as the cry baby race ( they cry when they think they have been wronged no matter what type of action it is ( not the job they wanted, not enough employes *even though they may not be qualified to do the job* especially if it is done toward them.

I agree the commercial is RACIST

123321 why are you such an antagonist. You are the biggest bully I have encountered in a long while. Are you being paid by Direct T.V. for harrassing customers that complain? The reason I asked is because you are on almost every forum being a negative voice against those that have complain.

Direct TV has horrible service. Beware of company which doesn't have any respect for the customers. Their only motto is to make money, money and money. companies which try to build the business like this will be extinct in few years. After struggling with multiple receivers and paying more than 140 per month fo rthe last 5 years I had enough and cancelled my service when they discontinued my international channel. I was charged cancellation fee of $125 even though I have been with the company for about 5 years. I didn't realize they extended my contract when they one of my receivers.
Beware of signing up with DIRECT TV EVER.
I AM NEVER GOING BACK IN MY LIFE TIME.
GSR

Actually I felt the exact same way the moment I saw it. The only people who would actively like this commercial are exactly what it is. Racist. If you think the roles were reversed, I.E. a white stock broker with a black butler and a little kid giving the butler crap, would make this commercial racist then guess what...IT IS racist. No matter what colors are switched around. Direct tv can suck the bick one on this. I will never give them my business.

Close your bank account

We were just billed on our debit card for $335.00 without authorization by Direct TV... they just went ahead and took the money without our knowledge. Spoke to many people there, and they want us to start up a new contract in order to reinburse the money...

They kept us in the loop of conversation without anything meaningful for over an hour

Have filed with Chase, but nothing can be done untill it's out of the "pending' status. Two schuld payments will now be late and have late charges because of this. Direct TV refuses to put the money back and even hung up on us

I canceled My contract with Direct TV due to the shoddy reception and service not to mention the terrible customer Service. They STOLE 224.43 from my checking account and even added a $5.00 late fee. These companies think they can get away with Murder!
I want to join that lawsuit! Please contact me. Mark Turner nilnutt@yahoo.com

I received a call from DirectTV and I have never had services with them saying that they are suing me for unpaid charges from a residence in another city that I have never lived in. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

wow, I should of complained here about my Direct TV! I went through 4 months with no service and the reps sucked! They each told me something different and then I get slapped with a $400 cancelation fee! So aparently the $200 fee is on EACH reciever! Well I finally got my issue resloved after talking with over 30 different reps, and I got a BIG discount because of there errors and screw ups! I wish I could of canceled my service without any fees but they werent having that. As soon as my contract is up I am done with Direct TV!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Thuy
Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Subject: Failed customer promise
To: "eafilipiak@directv.com"

Good afternoon Ellen,

As a person who convinced my husband, a-10-year-Charter-user, to switch to Directv, I must say I regret doing so. your customer promise failed me miserably.

We had a lightening strike this morning and lost all the satellite signals. We called customer care and after 30 mins on the phone with a tech (Curtis?), we were told that they cant fix it until next Tuesday, one week from today. I asked for a supervisor and was transferred. same story, cant be fixed until next Tuesday. When i tried to explain to her that I could have Tv back tomorrow by calling Charter, she said I could cancel the cntract and it costs only $20/month till Dec2012! Seriously, Ellen, where is the excellence in "settle for anything but excellence" promise? She also said if we cancel the contract, We will have to climb up the roof, uninstall the dishes, gather all the receivers and mail it to Directv! The part of uninstall the dishes IS Ridiculous! When i asked for her manager, the line went dead for 5 mins and then hung up!how convenience! I called back and talked to Latisha(sp), she was nice to offer to reinstall the contract and take care of the whole month bill due to service interuption. However, again, there will be no tv until next tuesday. Please tell me, how could a service provider can't do anything about providing a service to a customer anything sooner than a week? In this hi tech world, anything more than 24hours is considered bad service. What if this happens to you, Ellen, and the service at your home?what would your investors think about this?

To be honest with you, the $360 for cancellation is not a big deal for me. I could have called Charter and get my service back tomorrow, but I would like to hear from you, to be fair. because I believe, you and your Board of Directors did not just have that slogan to display. I can be reached at xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kind regards,

Xxxxxxxxthe above email is what i sent out this morning. This once agin confirms how bad their service is.. Stay clear from directv.

well as you know this company is always stealing money from everyone i had service with them & i canceled because they were charging ten dollars more every month and now they are charging me $125 for some movies they say that i dowload wich is not true i never did it now they sent it to colleccion company they say that if i dont pay they going to brake my credict reccord

When the whole house DVR came out, the customer service rep really talked it up & sold my husband on it. Needless to say, they didn't tell us it was in BETA until we had signed the contract & it was installed. From day one we had troubles with the receivers, the signal, the Internet connection, you name it.

In less than 30days we had three different "new" receivers. The service tech was at our home at least five times. He was a sub-contractor, and very nice, but the actual Direct TV employes were completely rude & actually taunted & dared my husband.

One employees exact words to my husband when asked by my husband "I thought your customer satisfaction rating was 99%?", were "Well, I guess you're just in that 1% aren't you?" WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?

My husband finally decided to cancel & go back to Dish since Direct TV obviously didn't hold up their end of the bargain. We requested boxes to send the equipment back & they took a month to send them to us. In the meantime, we received a bill for early termination fees and the cost of two HD dvrs.

We kept receiving threatening letters, each month my husband would call to ask about the receivers we had sent back (at our expense) via UPS. Three months later, they "admitted" they had received the receivers a month earlier!

By then we had been turned over to a collection agency, I think they are on their second collection agency now & we still refuse to pay. It has been a year now & my husband receives phone calls several times a week & letters that we no longer open.

Direct TV was in the wrong, they have crappy equipment, horrible customer service & should be ashamed of themselves.

yes they are horrible!my husband and i had service through them for 10 years, and our bill was always rising, and it was always by a large amount, and in order to fix it, i would have to talk to 3 to 4 different represenatives, and each one not having a clue, so having to repeat myself over and over, and never have used or watched what i was getting charged for, oh and the worst part i found was that each rep has their own set of rules, and in a large company, everyone should be telling u the same thing for the same error, but no!if i ever had to call back after fixing a problem, seriously the next day, they would have no idea, or record of what happend!well now im with dish, and even though it took some getting use to, they are much more helpful, and my bill is always the same, unless i change it:)i would rather go back to bunny ears than to ever have to speak with someone from direct tv!

While some will say customers SHOULD be reponsible and others think they should not...the BIG issue for me is conflicting reports that DoirecTV was issuing in th beginning. Social media for DirecTV has regarded it as a rumor; but emails and reports I got from a DriecTV rep via email, in the beginning, confirmed it...so the jury appears to still be out, in regards to what customers are actually experiencing when they call in or email, this week. One woman reported on DirecTV's facebook page that she had to read the official DTV policy to the rep repeatedly, with the rep telling her it wasn't "in her notes"...and only after a period of time was the offer to adjust her dish for free granted. It appears the problem lies within cutomer service reps in my opinion...whether they are misinformed or following orders, I have no idea.

And as far as filing on insurance...well at least initially it wasn't JUST about equpiment charges, it was also for fees associated with buying out the remainder of their contract at approx. $20 per month. One woman was told initially according to her report that she would be charged $660 and could put it on her renter's insurance. Okay...renter's insurance is usually limited and from what I understand LEASED equipment often isn't covered on policies. I still have no confirmation that the woamn was helped by the FB Rep that offered to assist or that she even made contact. And from her initial story of having to spend 1.5 hours on the phone with a supervisor and still was told that she would owe $660, I personally, wouldn't blame her if she gave up and didn't call, expecting more of what she claimed to have already encountered after losing her rented home.

Direct TV is trying to charge me $240 for early cancelation. I had service for a year and they are telling me by just accepting there service I am bound to a two year contract. I wasn't even there for the instalation and never signed anything. The representative that I bought service from never mentioned a contract at all. This should be a crime. Now I have to write to the dispute department and they will probably never dismiss this charge. I will never use them again. They are crooks.

When we ended our service with direct TV they debited our checking account for the box ans remotes. We called and complained and they eventually sent a box and credited our account.

We never gave permission for them to debit the account. You gotta really read the fine print with them. They are thieves!

Now that is a great write-up! If you had any more information about the problem, I think we would all be too over-whelmed to come to a logical conclusion.

PS: DirecTV is all about screwing their customers - it just took you a little longer to realize the reality of their existence.

I ordered a bundle package from Direct TV. They installed both systems, one of them being AT&T for my internet service. From the first dya of installation my internet service did not work. After many hours on the phone with many people they were unable to correct the problem. I canceled there service. I contacted Direct TV and asked for another provider for internet. They said no other service was avabile in my area and to look for my own provider at my cost. I informedthem I had a bundle package and did not want to pay for a sererate servie. They could not provide service so IO canceled them. They said I would be charge $480.00 for early discont fee. I did not get my service but they still want to charge me.

They are the WORST!

I Ordered a Direct Tv bundle package . They hooked me up with there service and my internet service with AT&T. From day we had no internet service. I talked too numerous people and machines to fix the problem with no results. I then canceled the AT&T portion of my bunble package and contacted Direct TV to inquier what other internet service they could provide for me. They said no other service was avabile in my area thru them. Then told me to contact someother provider and pay for both at a higher price than quoted by Direct. After informing them i had a package deal and if they could not offer service to me i had to cancel them and get a provider that could. I had the service for 17 days and was informed that I would be charged 480.00 fee for early canclation. And I have been in contact with at least 50 representatives with no avale. They say I still have to pay the early disconect fee for only half my service. Anyone reading this don"t let Direct TV screw you. Be smart go to someone else.

Good Luck--they will continue to harass you and charge you

Here is a copy of the email I just sent: I have been a customer since April 2009. I have always paid my bill my time. I used to stand up for your company when others trashed it. Now that I want to cancel, because your service has gotten progressivly slower and now does not work at all (for over a week), I am being told that you are going to charge me 220.00 to cancel because I upgraded to a hd box 1 year ago which signed me up for a 24 month contract. I have already been a customer for over 2 years, and I paid 206 for you to install the new box. I do not authorize you to charge my bank account for this amount. I am happy to pay for this month of service, even though I haven't been able to watch anything for over a week. Do not charge my account the 220.00 for the 'cancellation fee'. A. Webster, very unhappy customer

If you change service comcast is not all that better in PA if you live here. They tell you they will give you credits and all which sounds great until you get your bill. Just trying to help you not get another business like the one you are coming out of.

I just had the same thing happen to me. They took over 400.00 out of my account WITHOUT me knowing, causing my house payment to bounce. They don't care about you, all they care about is the money. My package I got was 29.99 a month...but after they get done with tax for this and that my bill is 100.00 a month, I'm so sick of all these companys jerking people around...it would be nice if someone came up with a company that charged what they told you every month without All the hidden crap. Sick of liers...

Yes, that unfortunately is completely true. Lucky for her its your house. I lived in an apartment complex that charged me a hundred dollar satellite deposit. I realized after ordering the "move" of my service and they informed me I would just leave my dish that the hundred dollar deposit is to cover paying for someone to come dig the post out of the ground and carefully remove the wiring! UGH! I was SO ANGRY!

Same story here. Had a technical problem with a receiver. A new one was delivered. The technician left a receipt that said "swap replacement." When I contacted Direct TV they said that because it was "swapped out" to get a working receiver that this event trigged a new TWO YEAR contract. That very next day I tried to contact the technical representative to get the entire procedure reversed only to find out that Direct TV does not publish any data, phone number or location of their technical support representatives. In fact, they use SUB CONTRACTORS! These Subcontactors are the only in person representative that the customers come into contact with. The technician say nothing about the extention of the contract, not even a warning and this is costing me now $440. This is a total scam on the consumer. Where are our rights as a consumer? This is most unprofessional.

Yea, so if you take the rich white guy and put a southern accent on him would you still be complaining? They're not even discriminating, grow up.