DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

You people should be ashamed about your coustmer service it is by far the worst i have ever seen
Robert D LaGasse
blagasseee@earthlink.net

SAME STORY HERE. REALLY NOTHING NEW TO ADD JUST WANT TO REINFORCE THAT UNTIL THE PUBLIC TAKES A STAND THEY WILL CONTINUE TO TREAT US THIS WAY. I WISH IN MY BUSINESS I COULD CHARGE A $360 FEE WITH NO NEED FOR A SIGNED CONTRACT OR ANY PAPERWORK TO BACK IT UP. WHERE IS OUR GOVERNMENT WHEN WE REALLY NEED THEM TO CRACK DOWN FOR THE MASSES? AS USUAL THEY ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. JB IN FLORIDA.

I totally agree with your "unathorized billing for termination" complaint because this is exactly my problem with Direct TV. Those hidden fees involved with the so called free DVR. I had a bad experience with them more than once about the DVR. On the first occasion they neglected to mention that the "free DVR" had a monthly charge and if you want to switch the box with a standard box you have to pay over $100 .

Its like the representative does not mention the contract or that you have to pay for this "free DVR" monthly. On the second occasion I called to cancel now all of a sudden I have a contract that I never heard about before this call. Then they told me they also bill whatever credit card number you gave them in the beginning. If that card does not exist anymore they will bill the card you pay your monthly bill with.

I dont have a problem with there contracts but I have a problem with the representatives purposely giving false and misleading information to get you to sign-up. The only reason I went back to them a second time after the first experience is because it was the only service available in my apartment complex.

Ok you payed your bill on time every month but did you all ready pay for this event? Was it on a previous bill?

I decided to go with ATT UVERSE because they could connect my entire house with Networking, so after being with Direct TV for 6 to 7 years I disconnected with them, not thinking anything about it. However... Let me tell you what, I upgraded my Television in my bedroom to a HD so I also upgraded my receiver to a HD receiver, and they extended a contract.. WHAT CONTRACT! I told them, I upgraded their outdated receiver.. I told them that one would think that being a customer for over 6 years that would null and void a 2 year contract, but NO.. that proceeded to charge me $480 for cancelling early contract, blah.. blah.. One thing on my side was my credit card on their file was expired, I never enrolled in Auto Pay.. I WILL NEVER EVER GO BACK TO DIRECT TV AGAIN.. I never had any complaints about their television, but their customer service just took me and hurled me right into ATT forever and ever and ever.. I will never go back to DIRECT TV for the way they treated me.. ATT UVERSE IS GREAT EVERYONE... TRY IT, IT IS WONDERFUL TO HAVE YOUR ENTIRE HOUSE HOOKED UP TO NETWORKING. installers are super nice and stay as long as it takes to get the job done. Kimn Chartier

They are tricky a word of advice, Before you cancel anycontract which involves a direct payment, cancel the credit card, report it lost, or call your bank and tell them not to honor any debits from that company if possible
cable companies do the same thing

http://www.directv.com/see/pdf/backofthebill.pdf

Read the bold print.

Can I ask everyone how they got your personal checking account numbers?

How do they get your checking account numbers?

All satelites do that when raining hard. We have satelites at work, not for tv but for our computer system. When it rains hard we lose connection.

Haha Let me know if you figure it out because we are going through the exact same thing. The cancellation charge will go on automatically, and they keep your credit card/bank number on file. The only way to get rid of your mom's card is to give them a new number. Do consider, though, that after reading many of these complaints, quite a few people who fulfilled their contracts were still charged cancellation fees. Somebody needs to organize a class-action suit against this company. I don't know how they get away with it.

Direct TV also took $221.85 out of my account without authorization. It overdrew my bank account and my bank gave the money back. Direct TV said they didn't take it but the bank looked and said they took it out and also had their phone next to the transaction. I called and they told me to call Qwest because we bundled our phone with the tv. When I called Qwest they told me that I needed to call Direct Tv. They went back & forth for 45 minutes while I was at work. Finally I talked to some from Qwest in the resolution dept and the person we had originally talked to didn't disclose any of the information that they should have (deposit, contract, etc) she said it was called cramming and offered us $200 credit on our phone bill to compensate for everything that we had been going through. Not to mention, he went ahead and started the process before we even approved it. We think he was fired or was severly repremanded. We have only had Direct TV for 2 months and our bill came a few days ago and it was for $327. They said the bank took the money back from them and now Qwest wants to take it back from me because I was given the credit. They gave me credit for all the hassles not the money that Direct TV took. Now Qwest wants us to pay the $221.85 back plus $106. It was supposed to be 39.99 a month. I have kept calling and everyone just keeps giving us the runaround and they won't call back. I told them to cancel the services and pick up their equipment and I won't pay a penalty for cancelling. They still haven't called me back. I was told that there is a lawsuit against DirectTV right now for fraudulant charges among other illegal things. We are fed up with all of this. It has been nothing but a giant pain in the rear since the day I called them. If anyone knows about the lawsuit, I'd like to find out. They are the worst company I have ever dealt with and Qwest isn't any better. They are both terrible.

Why hasn't the FCC pulled Direct TV license? Their "rebate" is a joke because their web site only shows "errors" when you attempt to file for one. If you do a "paper transaction" rebate they say it could takes months (if ever) to get the rebate. Meanwhile they can continue to overbill you monthly because you haven't supplied them with the rebate! Am being charged for two TV connects - when I only have one. Was never given my "free DVD player" and I could go on and on. My next steps will be to the AG offices and FCC. Pam

We had DirecTV service for many years and didn't have any problems with them until we terminated service with them last year. We moved and were not able to take their service with. We terminated it and requested a FINAL bill be sent. We began getting phone call after phone call but no one would leave a message. Suddenly they stopped...about a month after we terminated our service we happened to check our bank account balance online and found out DTV had withdrawn the ENTIRE balance of the bill WITHOUT our permission, without ANY notice, and of course never sent us a closing bill showing it had been paid. We had no idea and they DID NOT have our permission to take any money. Upon calling them and complaining they said they had the right to do it and would send the document to prove...of course we NEVER received that document. She was very rude and we are VERY upset. I thought it was against the law to take money out of an account without permission...I guess they are above the law. Is there any recourse?

Realist: Putting the renewal notice inside of a box that most people won't look at isn't an ethical or acceptable way to legally notify customers of a change in service. Direct TV is obligated to notify customers in a manner that is clear and open. Hiding it in the back of the receiver is pretty shady.

As for the DVR, you can certainly purchase one for as cheap as $130 that is completely your own. Yes, there are lease agreements with some purchased from Best Buy, but many DVRs (even some offered at Best Buy) are not part of the Direct TV or any other company's package and are completely and totally your own after purchase. You don't know what kind of DVR he bought so why would you assume that?

Also, NonnieMouse, many individuals apparently do have copies of their agreements and yet their contracts do not contain the information that Direct TV is citing and claiming allows them to do what they are doing. Customers who have lost or misplaced their contracts are not being provided copies, despite the fact that DTV is required to provide it if so asked.

I would imagine that people insist their cards were charged because they were. Quite a number of people both on this forum and others have complained about Direct TV not only charged their card when they think they shouldn't, but charging their other cards, bank accounts, and even accounts of any friends or family who graciously covered a bill one month. These other accounts are sometimes ones that DTV did not even have on file.

Direct TV over billed me, did not charge their advertised rate, charged my credit card without my permission, then extended my cancellation date by adding a month and a movie, and now is charging me an added cancellation fee. I have written 6 letters and nothing has changed. They continue to ignore the fact they themselves do not adhere to same agreement they would expect you to adhere to, which by the way I still have not seen to date. I have asked repeatedily for them to produce this mystery agreement and receive nothing. These people are bad news and continue to prey on the unsuspected. I changed to Direct TV for a better value and it ended up being a huge nightmare between fighting these ###s, to being without serviced for 2 weeks waiting on new service to be activated, etc. This has been an inconvenience beyond belief. For those unsuspecting souls who read this note, beware of Direct TV. If you want satellite TV, go somewhere else. These people are out to steal and rob from you given every chance. They do not honor their own word. They remind of a snake in the grass waiting to strike.

I have had this service three months and have been paying for HD service I don't even have. The guy didn't install the correct cords and when I called customer service for help thye said they can send a guy out for $49.99 to help assist THEIR MISTAKES!

I canceled my service today and a lady named Amber informed me of an early termination fee that leaves you bound to this company "by law." She proceeds to tell me they can debit any card I have on file with them $400 the cancellation fee of course at any time. Is this ethical? Is this even lawful?

This company has given me nothing, but problems from day one and I met my last battle today and I do not recommend them to anyone EVER!

ANGRY CUSTOMER

AS WELL...

I do understand your anger, but the fault does not belong to directv. Directv will ask you to pay upfront to get the correct equipment, this is to recoup their losses for the wrong equipment in the first place, they will credit that entire amount back to your directv account. AT&T placed the order for you, and yes you do need a credit card or debit card to sign up for services for Directv (as with most cable, satellite, and phone providers lately). In this case the error falls on AT&T for the incorrect equipment ordered, though you could have helped yourself by calling Directv and having them pull your order info to verify all equipment is correct, on top of that I'm guessing that you were installed within 72 hours of your order as companies such as directv will usually send out a confirmation letter about your order with details on what is going to be installed and your programming package

cancled Direct Tv Service because I moved in with family and they took $509.86 out of my fathers bank account. They did not have the authorization from him to with draw it out. That in my eyes is grand larcney. The bank told us to contact direct tv and have them refund it back or to file a police report. We have been working for a week to get the money back into my fathers account.

I agree 100% that DIRECTV does nothing but scam unsuspecting people into a contractual agreement. I just recently found that I was in a 12 mo contractual agreement and this without even signing one paper. No wonder they're paying their own customers to scam their friends, family, co-workers into signing up for services with them. I went so far as to report them to the BBB and as one would expect nothing was done. These are a bunch of white collar con artist and what can little people like us do but sit around and complain to each other because we don't have the money or the resources to fight back.

Also, at this point in time I have no stations...In Phoenix AZ...What kind of weather would prevent the satellite from working?

Carollee I sent you a message.

Thanks for the reply!

DirectTV locked me into a 2 year contract with out my consent. The customer service lady specifically stated that I WOULD NOT have a contract with their service. The installers went to the wrong address 2 times, requiring my husband and I to take time off from work, before they FINALLY showed up at our address on the third attempt. DirectTV then stated that we have a 2 year contract per the paper work that was sent to the wrong address. Their customer service people are ill prepared, will tell you what you want to hear just to get your business. No one in the company will take responsibility for their mistake and the supervisors are EXTREMELY RUDE. How can a company lock you into a contract with out verbal or written consent? Why would anyone take on a 2 year service agreement when they can go to DishNetwork or Comcast with out one. Plus, DishNetwork and Comcast have better customer service, better DVRs, and better tc service. DO NOT TAKE DIRECT TV's SERVICE!

Would anyone be interested in helping me possibly attempt to take legal action against this company? I was astounded to find over seventy pages of complaints so I know I am not the only one with an issue here. Please posta reply on this board or feel free to mail me directly if you would be interested in organizing a consumer action team. Thank you.

Would anyone be interested in trying to take legal action against this company and its unacceptable and unusual incompetence?

I posted a complaint on July 13, 2009. Please feel free to mail me from that post if interested.

I was astounded to find pages and pages of complaints from other customers so I know I am not alone with my problems with them.

Businesses should not be allowed to run like this without any consequences being assesed.

Thank you.

I to am having trouble with Direct TV, but I went from Dish to Direct and now I am going with the cable company. I have been in business since 1967 and I WOULD NEVER TREAT MY CUSTOMERS SO SHABY. We are called liers, and are treated as if we have cheated them. I for one am tied of it. When you pay $140.00 a month for sat service you damn well expect to get it. But you don't and in the long run they tell you " OH YOU SIGNED A 2 YEAR CONTRACT ( like the phone companies)

Well NO ONE TOLD ME THERE WAS A CONTRACT AT ALL.

I didn't have one with Dish at least no one said I did. Direct said I signed the paperwork when the two guys hooked everything up. The guys told me it was paperwork showing they did there job on the installation . I was reluctant to sign it because they didn't even have time to show us how to use the remotes. Or how to use the DVR we got. We haven't used it because we don't know how. They were in a hurry.

I told the guy at Direct 'No one said I had a 2 year contract or any other contract.' I talked to Direct TV and they told me to sign up online. ( I figured out that way they have your credit card number for there use.) ( Anyway I canceled that card today... )

I ask the guy where online it says I am signing up for 2 years and he said it shows " more info " by the DVR and I would have to click on it to see where the 2 year contract is required. Well if I didn't want or need more info on the DVR guess what I didn't click on it. Therefore I did not see where it said a 2 year contract was required. So I got screwed.

Is this legal what these companies do like hiding information or deiberatly not telling you that is vital to the whole signing up process?

Now I want out I was mislead and misrepresented and I'm mad.. I got tied up in the contracts with the cell phone companies and I swore I wouldn't do it again.

I was tricked into this and want to know if anyone out there knows how to get out. My daughter-in-law got out of nextel by stating she didn't accept the administration and regulartory fees. Is there anything like that out there. This is not right to mislead and treat us so bad. Then make it look like we did something wrong. HELP

You all should just ask for a copy of the agreements with the company before signing up, every comment I've read so far is related to something covered in there.

I am not defending DirecTV but I do believe you should be more informed before you go and file complaints and lawsuits for things DirecTV covers their ### for in the first place.

Just my 2 cents.

Direct TV is one of the Crappiest I ever have come in contact with when I signed up biggest mistake of my life they told me that I need a 225.00 deposit which I paid well I live in Texas any time the wind picks up the satellite quits working if it rains it quits working if its too sunny it quits working it is a JOKE! well I decided when I moved into my new home Not to continue so I called them to cancel and to find out if they would credit my DEPOSIT towards my final bill they said oh well that was not a deposit it was a fee! I said a fee to be a customer of the ### company out there? had I known that I would have NEVER signed up on top of that they want to charge me another 250.00 for cnacelling the service plus my last bill so I owe these ###ERs 600.00 then she had the nerve to tell me she was going to charge my credit card on file for these charges well I informed her that I had cancelled the credit card and she would not be charging ### so FYI do not sign up for automatic credit card payments and if your going to cancel service make sure you cancel the card on record well DIRECT TV KNOW THIS I WILL BE REPORTING YOUR FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES TO THE BBB AND TELLING EVERYONE I KNOW NOT TO SIGN UP WITH YOUR ### ### COMPANY AND ALSO I WILL NEVER PAY THAT BILL I WOULD RATHER FILE BANKRUPTCY THAN PAY THAT BILL YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A COMPANY AND ANYONE EVEN CONSIDERING SIGNING UP""" DO NOT DO IT"""" Please stick with cable I actually got all the movie channels DVR, unlimited local and long distance phone service with voicemail, three way calling, caller ID call waiting, call forwarding etc.. and high speed internet for ONLY 110.00 dollars per month through COMCAST NO CONTRACT! AND IF THEY REQUIRE A DEPOSTI THEY REFUND IT! I paid 120.00 for only satellite no dvr no phone no internet and when you really need to watch tv for example BAD WEATHER TORNADO of SEVERE THUNDERSTORM! THE SATELLITE WILL NOT WORK! EVERYONE SHOULD CALL AND REPORT DIRECT TV TO BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU.

Directv, like most companies base their rates on credit scores...if you hadn't sent in your rebate information yet, then until it is processed you do get the full charge, on top of that. If you paid any fees before the installation (maybe 200 or 300 for equipment) that is due to your credit rating.

Have any of you tried to take legal action against direct tv, because I am in the same boat. they took over 800.00 out of my account because I cancelled their service and now I am fighting with them to get 435.00 that they owe me, but they keep giving me the run around and transferring me to diff. dept. to talk with some one else. I have waited their 8 weeks it has actually been 9 weeks now and I still don’t have my money.

list to this. maybe scamshooters would like to hear from you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkLLJFdUTH0&feature=channel_page

contact Scamshooters

shootthescam@gmail.com

contact Scamshooters

shootthescam@gmail.com

I am currently dealing with these thiefs. I cancelled my service and asked for a box to return the equipment. I finally recieved the box 3 weeks later on Thursday June 11, 2009. On Sunday June 14, 2009 they pulled $675.80 from my account for not returning the equipment. I called them on Monday June 15, 2009 and told them I had just received the box. I was then told as soon as they received the equipment I would get my money back within 72 hours. I asked if I reinstated my service if I would get it back sooner. They said yes within 72 hours from Monday. So I did. I called back on Thursday June 18 and was told the request had never been put in for me to get my money back. This employee said he was doing it at that time. I called back on Monday June 22 and I was told that the request for my refund still had not been put in. They said they did it at this time. WE WILL SEE ABOUT THAT. I spoke with a supervisor and he said it would take 8 more business days before I will get my money. My suggestion is to stay away from these crooks and do not give them your debit card number or bank account number. I recorded my coversations with a cheap recorder I got from Radio Shack. I will be bringing my tapes with employee names numbers and call center locations to court with me if the money is not back in my account by July 1, 2009.

Directv is right on one thing in that, the recievers are leased, they are not owned by you. It sounds like you got their hd-dvrs, which are leased at $199 a piece. If you look at the receipt from when you got the recievers (if you still have it) you will see that it says they are leased. Had you purchased them to own you are looking at $600 a piece.

i have had direct tv and they charged me 800 dollers to my credit card account without my authorization
is there another agency besides bbb ?

I WAS NEVER INFORMED I WAS SIGHNING UP FOR A TWO YEAR CONTRACT NOR WHAT CHARGES ARE FOR TIRED OF CALLING NO RESULTS!

At the risk of sounding rude...that is a given. Like cell phones if you read the fine print of the add for any satellite and a lot of cable companies you will find there is some length of contract involved. 2 years happens to be the average length most companie use

We are being charged for early cancellation fee of $454.00. Been with them for 7 yrs but had DVR installed this past Oct. Never, never once were we told that this would automatically increase our service contract for 2 yrs . When I called for the DVR their first response was that it would cost $99. When I said I was not interested, I was told that since I was a loyal customer of 7 yrs that they would offer it to me free. Now I know why they do this because they know that any type of upgrade would add 2 yrs to ones contract. They should tell people right up front " we would be glad to offer the service but it will add to your contract time." THIS THEY DO NOT DO! It is a sad day when a company resorts to doing business this way. According to the blogs I have been reading, so many people have been taken advantage of. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO STOP THEIR UNSCRUPULOUS WAY OF DOING BUSINESS... If anyone knows whom I might contact regarding this matter please let me know. I am in Maine

we have had direct tv since 3/28/07. I'm telling this site since they DON'T have anywhere to complain on their site! we ordered extra mlb innings last year. It was fine. Then after we got back from europe we noticed on our bill we had it charged again! call after call no luck, or help except to take off 5.00 a mth. for three mths. are you kidding. they assumed that we wanted it again, and said they sent us a letter. mabey telephoning would have helped . my god are mail was not seen until we got back home, in which are time to say no had expired.come on now, that would be like a visit to a resturaunt, and returning a year later only to find out they already ordered for you because that is what you had the year before! i think it stinks and i will be canceling as soon as the season is over. I will also tell all the people i care about not to get involved with that rotten company.oh by the way we missed 25 games because we didn't know we had the darn thing. I CAN'T STAND DIRECT T.V.

My account was set up twice and I was twice for a year. The way I found outAMEX alerted my of the fruad.

I WAS VICTIM OF DIRECT TV APRIL 2009. THEY ARE FULL OR LIES AND DECIETION. I LEARN THE HARD WAY NEVER GIVE THEM YOUR BANKING INFO BECAUSE THEY WILL FIND A WAY TO GET YOUR MONEY WITHOUR YOUR APPROVAL.

Just to let you know, DirecTV doesn't actually do the installations, all of that work is contracted out to installation companies. The people that do the installations are not actually employees of DirecTV, and some of their stories of screwing over customers are legendary. And trust me, DISH isn't much better, although they do employ their own installers for the most part.