DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

Direct TV has become an awful company. It has been taken over by dirtbags so do not under any circumstance get involved with these liars, cheats and frauds. They will put you in a contract for things you didn't order and don't want and then refuse to make adjustments. I tried to work out a switch and bait game they pulled on me and it was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE. Run for the hills
on this scam company. If you dump them they will ruin your credit and send you to collections.
Several class actions have been filed against them and yet they are allowed to screw up consumers lives. Absolutely sickening!

Big Lake Direct TV Administration staff ( SHAME ON THEM) I am a valued customer however I am changing my network company due to the mistreatment of the contractor technicians. I am submitting a formal complaint to Direct TV letting them know this staff is not qualified to run BIG LAKE headquarters.

Joey & Matt you'll be the first to go for racial remarks made against Native Americans.

Has anyone ever attempted a class action suit against Direct TV? If so, how does one join the action?

I think the real problem here is that you actually expected good service from a satellite dish...had you done any research at all, perhaps even just got on google and typed in "is satellite tv good, " you would have realized you're a [censored]. Way to go.

Or you could shut the ### up and just get real cable.

I have the same problem.

over $800 was taken from my account without authorization by dirct tv because I allowed someone to use my card to start their direct tv account. There was no notice given me, and now I must pay bank fees and a myriad of other fees on top of the $800. In the end this will cost me well over $2, 000 dollars to resolve. I dont know how im going to pay my rent, my car payment, or any of my bills at this point all because i tried to do something nice for someone. I truely hope someone files a suit agianst them. I'm looking into it, but with my luck it wont go anywhere so I hope someone here gets the best of them.

My Direct TV contract expired. I canceled received a email saying my final bill was $172 which I would be receiving in the mail shortly. The next day I received a email with a shipment confirmation for my return equipment. 2 days later I received the boxes. 2 days after that my checking account was debited $404. When I called they said they would give me the money back WHEN they got their boxes. Their our soo many problems with this. One the money they took out of my account was beyond the final bill days prior. Two the letter with the box said you have 7 days to return it they did not even give me 2 days. Three the email clearly gave a amount due AND even stated customers with equipment due would receive another bill IF equipment was NOT returned. So I call and they tell me I get my money back after they get their boxes back. This totally contradicts everything they had sent me IN WRITING mind you prior. So yeah tomorrow I will be going to my bank to back me up & if they do not I will stop doing business with them. I am going to talk to a lawyer AND am going to tell every person I talk to what they did. To top it off they used my credit card I use for online billing not the one they have on file..and I do not have automatic bill pay. I use one time payment only. They used that after they could not charge it on the one on file. Their customer service person said if I used it on their website they had the right to save the information for future charges at their discretion..I have never ever heard of a legitimate company practicing business like that.

Ah Ah direct tv you charged me a 200.00 deposit and told me, i would get it back now i cancelled now you say, i wont get it back when i cancelled your serviced. i was told it was to buy the reciever and i would be paid back. Now you want to attempt to screw me, well i blocked you from any way to try to charge my account. I will keep the reciever, and I will not pay your stealing ### a dime till i get my deposit, and thank you fellow americans for posting about direct tv, saved me a theft outta my account!

I am unemployed and low on resources. I had Dish Network and I was very satisfied with their service, programming etc. I received a flyer in the mail about getting Direct TV for $29.99. Because I was trying to reduce my costs I contacted Direct TV. I explained to the person on the phone that I wanted to reduce my costs because I am unemployed and told him about the flyer I had received. I told him what I was getting from Dish and that I wanted the same from Direct TV for $29.99 I explained that the only thing I did not like about Dish Network is that I run out of space on my DVR. "Oh" said the person I was speaking with, "Direct TV offers much more room to record". I asked that HBO be included in the package and that I would pay for HBO just like I pay for HBO with Dish.

Because I have had plenty of experience with these rip off services and I knew that what the flyer advertised was too good to be true so I taped the conversation with the phone sales person. I received my first bill and was shocked to discover that the service was much more expensive then Dish. I called Direct TV to tell them that I wanted to cancel the service and I was going to send them their equipment back. That is when I was informed that I was tied into a two year agreement and would not be able to terminate my contract with them. I hadn't read the fine print which was so fine that I needed a magnifying glass to read it.

Does anyone have any suggestions about how to proceed? I am going to fight Direct TV. I am unemployed and have plenty of time on my hands. All I do all day is look for employment. It would give me enormous satisfaction to see these crooks in court. I have not explained all of the facts here, because no one would read it [too long]. Suffice to say that I think that I have been conned and I want to take action.

I had direct tv with problems from the start. Icalled in for $21.00 rebate before the installation which they told me I would see on my first bill, after lots of calls and promises 3 months later I received it then I had 2 disruptios for hrs with no tv and they told me they would send a service tech in 2 days which I almost fell out of my chair.
I did cancel and now they sent me a bill for early cacellation of $340.00 do I have to pay this?

Hey CDEINC, I think you need to obtain a little more information about these complaints before you jump to such an ignorant conclusion. With Direct TV...THERE IS NO CONTRACT! We called Direct TV and signed up for one of their promotional packages over the phone. The customer service representative we spoke to NEVER informed us that we would be under a 2 year contract by doing so. Direct TV DOES NOT present you with a contract to read or sign when a technician comes to your house to install your equipment. Direct TV DOES NOT send you a contract to read or sign with your first bill. The only time Direct TV informs you of this is when you try to cancel their services. You want to call people "stupid" who are frustrated with this? People who are smart enough to know they should not be legally bound to a service that they never signed a contract for? I will not call you "stupid." But, I will say that you are ignorant in regards to this subject. Maybe you should do more research on a topic before you arr0gantly disrespect a mass amount of decent people with ligitimate concerns.

Direct TV is such a bad company. They take money out of your account if you don't pay them and they don't even inform you. they took $720.00 out of my account making have a over draft in my bank and now I'm in debt because I can't pay my loan because of them. I didn't see why they did that when my service has been off for 2 and a half months and now they decide to take all that money out. I tried writing to them, but no one has wrote me back about anything. If they keep this up they won't have any customers and I will spread the word that they are a ruthless company.

I agree the worst the worst customer service I have ever dealt with, they rip you off bad and lie to you my contract will be over in 11 more months can't wait!

When I ordered my DVR it was for recording programs and movies, then I purchased a Toshiba DVD REcorder and I was able to copy from the DVR certain movies that I love when I was young that I wanted to keep on DVD. I was able to copy 3 of them that I had recorded to my DVR. Suddenly I can´t copy a spit if that was possible, l I keep getting a message that what I am recording is not alowed. None of these movies were shown on HBO or Showtime. All of them were shown by Turner. I tried to record a commercial to my DVR and then to the DVD Recorder as a test, same message. It can not be because the movies are copywrite because the 3 that I was able to copy are 3 of the most famous movies of the 1960´s. One of them is Ben Hur and I did not have a problem. I remember being able to copy from my TV to a VHS tapes, so many movies, one of them was The Godfather all 3 parts. So why now we can´t?

Our next door neighbor is having the same problem I have, and is as upset. He pointed me to this forum. I just read on one of the forums here on Direct TV a post by a very unhappy customer who is on the same boat as I am. He feels that Direct TV is getting ready to charge for every movie that we record via DVR that is then copied to a DVD. Nothing was said to me, when I purchased the DVR or the DVD Recorder.

Maybe we should investigate a class action suit. I hope that someone from Direct TV is reading these posts and make sure they change their minds about charging, if ths is what they are planning. I doubt it is a problem with the equipment, but something is amiss here and it stinks! The saying goes the customer is always right, well, not here, we are getting the shaft and that is a mild way to put it.

I thankfully don't have Direct TV bill me directly out of my account. I did however cancel with them knowing I did not have a contract with them. I asked several times to several people through direct TV and the other company (Qwest) if there was any contact. I was told there was not. Now that I am leaving there is a verbal (Laughing at that) contract agreement. I did no such thing nor would I. I am going to find out what I have to do in the mean time I put it down to the most basic of accounts they had (29.99) a month and will be disputing the over $30o+ charge they say I will owe if I cancel in which I will dispute. DO NOT USE DIRECT TV WORST COMPANY EVER.. And to think I was leaving because of quest... Never and I mean never again.

I added some extra service to my existing Direct TV service. They charged me the installation fee upfront but couldn't provide the service for some technical reasons. When I asked them for a refund. They said it's not just non -refundable but I would also get fined $300 for a cancellation. Is anybody in a public lawsuit against them? I'd gladly join that.

Did you get this is writing? Did you call up Embarq?

I would like to post a complaint about Direct Tv. I was online trying to establish service when I was notified online that you have to have a major credit card, not a pre-paid debit account. However this did not stop them from billing me $200 for equipment fees. I called and got the run-around and when I finally spoke with someone he was of no help. Not to mention after I told him why I called he never tried to calm me down. He just stated I don't know why they charged you, it must have been for equipmentthat you were going to get. I told him yeah, but how can they charge someone for equipment when there is no work order? The young man just twiddled his thumbs and said you will have to speak with your credit card holder. I informed him that I had I just wanted to answer to my question. He sais in 7 days it should be applied back . What a load of crap no answers, no clue and poor customer service. I will never apply again. They are so happy to try to get a new bait on the hook when you call, but when you are complaining its another story. BOOO to you at Direct Tv. I will be reporting you to the better business bureau!

First of all you spelled alzheimers incorrectly, move your mom in with you like I did and then you would be able to help her with these things. Don't blame Directv or any other company out htere for your downfalls .

By the way Mr. CDEINC, when one contracts agreeing to deliver a service and the DON'T DELIVER THAT SERVICE, that's what is better known as BREACH OF CONTRACT!
'

If this is just a whining spot, CDEINC, then why is it there are class action suits in 23 states against the s.o.b.'s! Fortunately for me, when I called to cancel 4days after dreadfully receiving this crap AS THEIR SUB-CONTRACTED INSTALLER- ILLEGALLY ACTING AS AN AGENT OF DIRECT TV- told me I had seven days, like my contract did say and I did read, and they threatened to pull the $480 from me, too! They violate almost every law in Michigan against the MI Consumer Protection Act.
The fun part was when their little phone agent threatened me with this I told her "You just do that!" I went the day before and cancelled my debit card, ordered a new one with a different number. I also let her know I work for my brother who pays me under the table, and get social security-disability, which garnishments can't touch! I rent and can't drive because of my disability, so they aren't getting ### from me! Ooohhh, aren't they clever?
I also filed a lawsuit against the ###s, or more correctly, WHOLE ###!

Just got my credit card statement to find DTV had charged my account $164.83 that was owed on an account that was not mine! Had called them several times and they always told me it had been taken care of.
Customer service told me there was nothing I could do about it, that their billing/collection department NEVER made any mistakes. What a company.

Strongly agree.
Typical, jerk you around, spin the wheel.
Deceiving practice, poor customer service.
Time to move on to web tv or over the air free.
I am glad to see if someone could shoot the sat down.

Dish tv increased my bill. In a weak moment I decided to switch to Direct Tv because a AT&T rep said I could get the same package for less. That was a wrong claim. It was a lesser package but I stayed because it was cheaper. When the contractors came to replace the dish equiptment I saw that it was the old technology of needing two dishes to give regular programming and the local channels. My old dish hardware only needed one satellite dish to provide both local channels and the regular programming. Also the contractors wouldn't use the dish location and I spent about two hours in the attic to get all the cables ran to the four rooms so the install charges would not be increased. When I asked about needing two dishes to provide the local channels they said yes it was old technology but later they would come and put up the newer single dish no charge. Well I never heard another thing till about Dec 23 or 24th when the local channels quit working. I called direct tv and they said they were working on it. After about 5 days I called again and this time I was told I would need a service rep to fix my hardware. I explained that we had not had any bad weather or high winds to affect the tuning of the dish and that regular programming was fine. Only after asking for a better more qualified tech support person did I find out that direct tv had switched satellites for the local channels. That meant the dish was not tuned to the correct satellite for local channels when I finally got the rep to understand the problem they got another person on the line and they decided that direct tv had sent everyone in my zip code a email, note in the bill or phone call telling them they needed to call in to setup a hardware upgrade to the newer one dish package that used the two satellites that one dish could be tuned to also this would strart a new two year contract. This appointment would now take over a week because they were so under staffed. I told the rep it was the holidays and I wanted to watch the bowl games and the dallas cowboys on sunday. She said that wouldn't happen. I said why didn't you put a note in my bill saying this needed to be done or send a email or leave a message on my phone about the upgrade appointment? She said they had done one or all of those things. I said do you actually think I would ignore what I knew would be a upgrade? By this time the upgrade couldn't happen till jan 6th. I said I would be watching dish a week before then and I was, on new dish equipment. Of course I have been debited out of my credit card account for 300.00 for early termination. I am going to try arbitration but I'm sure it will be wasted time as these crooks can make more money pissing people off and get out of providing services just by collecting fees.

had the same thing happen to me in July of 2009 nothing has changed even thou directv
was fined $5.2 million dollars for fraud in 2006

I had an unauthorized bank transaction on one of my relatives account. This is FRAUDLANT activity. it is now time to do something about this company. I will looking into a class action law suit, hopefully many of you that have been defrauded will be restored with penalty. If anyone wants to be added to the duit my e-mail is lindalinen105@yahoo.com. I will be starting this suit as soon as I can find a creditable attorney to represent me. This type of activity has to come to a stop they are stealing from hard working people that will not just lie down and take it any longer.

Direct TV has NEVER been accredited with the Better Business Bureau in California. Why is that?

DebDurden, Pine Grove, CA

DIRECT TV INFO -

[protected] is disconnected
2230 E. Imperial Highway, El Segundo, CA 90245 - Legal Department
JAMS - 500 North State College Blvd, Suite 600, Orange, CA [protected]
This is address for disputes prior to legal arbirtration - claims they settle amicably
Readlly? Then why are all my complaints rejected with untrue and ridiculous
excuses?

CEO is Larry D. Hunter
Corporate Offices - Greenwood Village CO ADVISES they do NOT have to supply:
**Street Addresses
**email addresses
**fax addresses
**department direct phone numbers

Wonder if they accept smoke signals?

DebDurden, Pine Grove, CA

1/6/10 - found $361.09 charged to our visa debit card. (Lost 30 lbs in the "pass the buck" game). Found out the charges were for a fraud account. 2nd time this happened. First time 10/5/09 - after 30 days - still not refunded. I've written every entity with Direct TV (fraud, complaint dept., refund dept etc.) and faxed every known document requested 4 times. Today, 1/23/10 - told our visa debit card was utilized on the fraud account "several" times. This is crap. Only 2 times and I was the one who called and complained. Today, I'm preparing my documents for Small Claims in OUR county for Senior Abuse, Theft, Fraud etc. Direct TV refused to give me proper address to send out documents so of course, I will call Colorado DA for the address...wish me luck.

THANK YOU to everyone who had provided CEO telephone numbers. GUESS WHAT - I got through - why - because as all us Executives know, you always go through the Executive Assistant.

I"ll up date soon.

Deborah, Pine Grove, CA

Okay i've been reading a lot of these comments and i'm sorry but it really sounds like whining to me. If any of you had bothered to READ the contract before you signed it, you would have seen all of the information that you are ### about stated. If you have a contract with any service and you cancel, you are subject to cancellation fee. I don't see why any of you think it would be different for DIRECTV. Next, they do inform you in the contract that the reason a credit card is needed on file is because if you do NOT pay them, in protest or whatever, they will charge the card on file. I understand your frustrations, but that is why you READ something before you sign it. They do not need your authorization because you were informed in the legally binding contract that YOU signed. i assume the technician did not hold a gun to your heads.
Next, if you have a technical issue, and YOU choose not to call in, then that is your fault that it takes so long to get resolved. Somewhere the customer has to take responsibility. Trashing the company doesn't help. oh and by the way, good luck on all of the lawsuits. you'll need it. not reading a contract that does inform you of all of this does not mean the company is at fault. that means you are dumb enough to sign legal documents you haven't read.

DON'T EVER USE DIRECT TV. THEY ARE A BUNCH OF CROOKS- their customer service gives you a different answer each time you talk with them. I had to move and I called their customer service to ask what the policy was. They told me that I was to call and schedule a tech to come out to my new apartment loc to see if dish could be installed there and if not, I would not be charged any cancellation fee. Then when I found a place and called to check they then told me they would only check when I schedule the actual re-connect. Then when they came out, found the only way to install it would be to run a flat cable through my patio door, around the entire, dining room and in front of my gas fireplace to the living room wall (no drilling was allowed in the apartment). They then tell me they are charging me $271.01 to cancel the service because I told them this was totally unacceptable to have cables running through a sliding patio door and through the entire apartment in front of a fireplace. They charged my charge card, even though I told them not to. I contacted my bank and the bank disputed and reversed the charge, but Direct TV mailed me a bill due immediately. I filed a complaint with the BBB and it is still going back and forth. I would think Direct TV would want to work with me since I an renting and someday may move to where I could possibly use them again. But they choose to destroy any desire for me to ever user their service again, and I will tell everyone and anyone I know how horrible their customer services is! DON'T DO IT - GO ELSEWHERE FOR YOUR SERVICE.

Wowww...

We've had DTV since sometime around the late '90's and they have "always" treated us like gold. Whenever we had any service issues or even if we needed to be walked through any step-by-step instructions for something as laime as finding and programming codes for universal remote compatability, the c/s they provided us with was never less than adequate but more often than not, it was above average if not exceptional. If ever they needed to roll out a truck/van to our home even if it was at my request, they would almost always have one scheduled within a day or two and sometimes the very next day, but never more than four or five days max, and those were very few and far between. Heck, they would even call and let me know if they were gonna be late. Whenever they had a newer model DVR with bigger HDD's (1yr+ gv/tk) they would send me one with a rebate form for the cost of the unit, except once when they didnt happen to have any rebate offers running at that time. They never took money from any of our accounts unless i initated the transaction even when we were 30 days or more past due.

Anyway..sorry that none of you have had thesame type of experience with them.
Good Luck to you all!

Hello,

I am also very ticked off at direct-tv. My mom passed away and I thought I was doing the right thing by contacting them. I was told I would be sent a bill and could send in her death certificate at that time. Within 7 days of calling, she was charged 438.40. It was directly taken out of her account which through us into overdraft. I contacted them and I was told they could not do anything until I sent in the death certificate which I have not recevied. I was then told that it would take 30 days for research once they received the certificate and another 4 to 6 weeks before they would issue a refund. In the mean time we are out 438.48. Knowing what I know now, I should have never have contacted them. I was trying to do the right thing and got screwed in the end. Unbelievable that they would charge a cancellation fee when someone passes away. These people are crooks! Stay away.

RUDE is the word I called due to a problem with the person wanting to do the installation, he didnt even have a company van just an older station wagon with ladders on top, not very appealing or professional. I called to get a new install date and found that the lady was rude to me and said they didnt have vans and all of the installers were indpendent and I told her thats not true I see DIRECT TV vans all over the place infact my neighbor had hers installed by an installer with a VAN from the company. She was rude and I told her well lets just cancell then. SHE HUNG UP ON ME. RUDE! I called a different number for the office close to me and they said they have no record of me in their systems. I guess its GODS WILL telling me to beware! I will heed that advice, you should too~

Let’s go down the numbers here. I have had DTV for the last few years - simply because a few years ago there was talk that Comcast may have not gotten the MLB contract renewed. So in a panic, I had it replaced with DTV. Shame on me - prior to Comcast I did have DTV, but with 9 TV’s in the house, their splitters were unable to handle the load. Okay, so now I get my son an HDTV, and figure I'll get him the HD/Dvr receiver. This of course comes with a new two-year contract. No prob - you do for your kids. Well, I am out of the house the day the installer comes to run the DVR secondary line. The guy tells my father in law (who was there for me) that there was going to be an additional charge for the secondary line, my father in law says no, but takes a regular HD receiver. The installer takes the old box with him. DTV gets on the phone with my father in law and tells him that since I paid $100 for the DVR, I'll be getting a credit for $44 since I got the HD receiver itself. I call DTV; I start off by saying that the regular HD Box was advertised for free with the upgrade. I said however, I do not want that, I want my old box back. The CS was very nice he stated that he will send out a recovery kit so I can send the new box back. The box came today, no old receiver. I called DTV, the CS girl there couldn't understand what was happening - I asked for a supervisor - I get MONA LISA ID# 412569. Who states that the CS on Monday was wrong, and that since my father in law signed the paper I am responsible for a contract without receiving ANYTHING in the contract. She told me that "I" have to take some responsibility. I laughed - I asked why should I take the responsibility since "YOUR" CS told me the aforementioned? The arrogance of this CS was unreal - I explained the word "Discretion" to her, and that she should go back to those "Training Tapes" between me and the CS from this past Monday. Well, now I have a new 24 month contract with nothing to show for it - so on principal I will pay them the $480 cancellation fee - I will NEVER do business with this litigious company - ever AGAIN!

I was a loyal customer of Directv for more than 11 years. I currently serve on Active Duty in The US Army. I recently moved and used your movers program. I contacted directv in December and set up an appointment to install at my new location. The directv installer came to my location (14 December)and determined that he would need a swim system to instll the 3 HD DVRS directv had authorized me. He called directv and they stated they could not authorize it to me because I was an existing customer and not a new customer. The representative from directv apologized for my inconvience, but stated I would not be charged a cancellation fee because it was directv that was unable to do the install. I sent my receivers back. On 24 December, I received a bill for a cancellation fee. I immediately contacted directv and they stated it was an error. I have talked to directv two subsequent times and was given the same response. On 11 January, Directv took the amount out of my bank account without my authorization. I am an honorable soldier that is looking to be treated fairly by the country I glady served. Please look into this matter. This charge came at a bad timing.

Direct T.V stole 407.00 out of my bank account without my permission and I don't even have an account with them. My daughter and her boyfriend didn't have the activiation fee so i used my card to pay it for them but it wasn't my account.
I guess since they haven't paid the billin 3 months they cancelled and the fee was taken out of my account without my permission. Can they do that? I didn't even sign a contract or anything. I explained to them that it was not my account and it was thiers. They said it didn't matter that I had "verbally" agreed to terms on section "e" I think they are robbers and liars..
I argued all day and got nothing but a collection of $386.00 they sent me becuase i didn't have enough money in the bank.
Can we do something about this?

omg! This happened to me as well, Direct t.v drafted out over 400.00 from my account and told me that they were going to send the rest of the $386.00 to collections. My daughter and her boyfriend tried to get DIrect tv and couldn't becuase they didn't have any credit so they ran my name and I paid for their service fee up front with my bank card but I strictly told them that I was not going to be the one paying for it and they said that all they would take out was the $40.00.
Well, I guess my daughters boyfriend didn't pay for 3 months and Direct T.v cancelled the contract and then took the money out of my account. I tried to dispute it but thier agents didn't care. I also told them that I never signed a contract and they said it didn't matter. I'm so furious. Is there something I can do about this?

Here is a good way for all companies to get the big screw.
Use you debit card for all contract purchase's.
When you close your account with Direct T.V.
First go to your bank and cancel the debit card and apply for a new one. Direct TV no longer has the proper information and can not remove funds from your account. HaHa!
If a $400 amount of more is filed on your credit report for none payment. Send a letter disclaiming the amount and have it removed from you credit report. For More Info please go to Dave Ramsey.com