DirecTV review: fraud 34

RE: Cover Letter NOTICE and 20 Pages attached, unresolved dispute, Violations of the Fair Debt Collection Act, Title 15 United States Code § 1692, §§ 806 Harassment. Deceptive Trade Practices, Wire Fraud, 18 U.S.C. §1343, Mail Fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1341, Racketeering, 18 U.S.C. §§ [protected], and Failure to provide full disclosure upon entering into a contract (Baiting).

CERTIFIED MAIL # [protected], Return Receipt Requested.

NOTICE OF ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE DISPUTE PRIOR TO SUIT

General Counsel:

I am sorry to say that obtaining any customer service from your company is the most frustrating endeavor I have ever encountered. How you stay in business is beyond me. However, that is not what this letter is in regard to. This letter and/or any further action on my part, will be based on your actions to correct my dispute within ten (10) days of your receipt herein, and thereafter, leave me alone.

This letter is my formal and final notice to you that I do not intend to go through your arbitration process as set forth in your unconscionable agreement, but instead, I intend to file a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, for numerous violations of the above Federal Statutes. The aforementioned will be hereinafter explained. I so state this, because I have yet to talk with any manager or customer service representative with DIRECTV, that has enough intelligence to understand where I am coming from. I further state, that if forced to, and upon filing suit if my dispute is not immediately remedied by you, I intend to subpoena numerous customer and billing records from DIRECTV regarding what I believe constitutes DIRECTV’s fraudulent billing practices and unlawful collection of early termination fees.

1.) Please take particular note that I have attempted to resolve this dispute by numerous phone calls and by numerous letters sent FED-X return receipt. Talking to your managers is like talking to the wall, AND MY LETTERS HAVE GONE UNANSWERED. I hope that by this letter, we can resolve my issue prior to instituting suit. There are twenty (20) attachments to this letter.

2.) I will first address the fact that prior to this final letter to you, I have tried to resolve the early cancellation fee issue by phone and in writing, because you have failed to produce a contract with my bona fide signature, and have failed to produce a tape recorded consummation of my agreement to participate in your services for 2 years. Now I am receiving numerous harassing calls and bills in the mail from your people attempting to fraudulently collect a debt which not only do I not owe, but never agreed to, or contracted to. There have been at least ten recorded harassment contacts by your company in attempt to collect an amount I do not owe. Even after referring them to my letters, your agents pay no attention. This constitutes ten (10) counts of harassment in Violation of Title 15 United States Code § 1692, §§ 806. Understand that if I must bring suit against you, 15 U.S.C., §§ 813 allows for the recovery of $1,000.00 per incident. DIRECTV’s violations are now 10 and rising. This is my notice in writing, that unless you want to negate the fraudulent cancellation fee, zero balance my account, and remove me from all of your records, plus remove any derogatory credit reporting you may have made against me, you will be sued. This is my written notice pursuant to the above act, do not call me again.

3.) Upon obtaining your service, your Contract titled Customer Agreement, was not fully disclosed by your sales people, nor was the website location. Your contract is an absolutely unconscionable contract, because it does not refer to any time commitment for programming services. a.) I am of the belief that your contracts, i.e. the Customer Agreement, and Lease Addendum were purposely separated with the intent to deceive new customers regarding time commitments, as an endeavor by DIRECTV, to hide and fail to disclose the time terms that a new customer is signing up for. Moreover, the Customer Agreement only refers to the Lease Addendum in paragraph 1.(I) Loss of Equipment. There is no referral regarding time commitment in the Customer Agreement, which refers a potential Customer to the Equipment Lease Agreement. Therefore, the customer is not aware, nor do your representatives make them aware the agreement is being consummated by fraud by omission, making said agreement unconscionable. I further refer you to section 5 (b) Your Cancellation. This section totally fails under the Four (4) Corners Doctrine of Contract Law, because it fails to refer to the terms set forth in the Equipment Lease Addendum. Additionally, after printing a copy of the Customer Agreement so I could read it on paper, it prints at about a 4 to 6 point print. This alone is unconscionable in that it is hard on the eyes and hard to read. I contend that DIRECTV purposefully used this size print as a pattern, custom, practice and policy of DIRECTV with the intent to deceive and defraud its customers. More or less, your Customer Agreement fails to provide disclosures which are material to the transaction. In essence, your disclosures are not clear and conspicuous regarding early cancellation and fees and time commitments, coupled with the failure of your sales people to refer the potential customer to all of your online agreements that relate to the transactions at hand. The acts and training of your sales agents are so egregious, they may constitute WIRE FRAUD BY OMISSION. Your Customer Agreement further makes express and implied claims which are not disclosed. This constitutes deceptive trade. Just the fine print on your Customer Agreement alone, fails the test under the Clear and Conspicuous Disclosure Requirement. Then upon attempting to resolve these issues with your billing people, they only state that I am under contract. So, if I am under contract, PRODUCE THE CONTRACT WITH MY BONA FIDE SIGNATURE, or A TAPE RECORDED CONVERSATION OF MY AGREEMENT TO any YEARS of SERVICE WITH YOU. I know you can not because I made no such commitment. Additionally, all of my letters went unanswered to which I contend, you are now in default.

4.) I have taken a serious look a the Federal Racketeering and Corrupt Influence Statutes. By the aforementioned, it appears to me that should I be forced to file suit, and after discovery is completed, a valid class action RICO lawsuit will exist. All RICO violations under Title 18 entail (1.) A person who engages in (2.) A pattern of racketeering activity, (3.) connected to the acquisition, establishment, conduct, or control of an enterprise. A RICO claim requires that the defendant participated in the operation or management of the enterprise itself, and the fear of continued criminal activity. See Crow v. Henry, 43 F.3d 198 (5th Cir. 1995), and Reves v. Ernst & Young, 507 U.S. 170, 185 (1993). Just a little case law for your reading pleasure. The way I see it, DIRECTV entices customers by these deceptive good monthly deals, then if at all, only refers the customer to the customer agreement, and not the lease agreement. Therefore, the customer has no idea that he is signing up for a long term commitment. Then upon early termination, you maliciously charge an early termination fee to people, who like me, had no idea they ever contracted for this service. This constitutes the first predicate act to RICO, that being violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, Wire Fraud. Additionally, you then place a bill in the United States Mail in attempt to collect these fraudulent charges. This constitutes violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, Mail Fraud. Moreover, you then continue to call and harass your customers as you did me, in an attempt to collect a debt not owed. To me, this policy constitutes extortionistic credit practices, a further violation of Federal Law under what you claim to be color of official right. Well, you are wrong, and I have had enough.

You have ten (10) days to notify me that my account is closed, and there will be no early termination fees applied. I have sent you back all of your equipment. Furthermore, if you have placed any derogatory information on my credit, it had better be removed. Also be further advised, if you take no action and I am forced to file suit, I will also file formal complaints with the F.T.C, F.C.C. and the Attorney General of the State of Texas. You have been noticed.

Respectfully submitted,

The same thing has happened to me and thousands of other people. I don't understand why the courts do not hold them accountable. This many people can't be wrong.

The is the most crooked company I have ever encountered.

PLEASE FILE COMPLAINTS! File with the BBB, FTC, U.S. Comsumer Affairs, and with the Texas attorney General office. Don't threaten to do it. DO IT! Texas was one of 22 states that filed against Directv in 2005 for "early cancelation" fees. They were told to make their policies clearer and to notify their subscribers. Obviously they aren't doing it.

I also contacted the business columnist with the Houston Chronicle and he published an article on April 23, 2008.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5722694.html

I have searched the web for days and have literally found thousands of people that have been charged this deceptive fee for an early cancelation. I am also finding that people that are near the end of their initial 2 year contract suddenly have problems with their receivers. When a "technician" can't fix the problem, you are told you need a new receiver. What you don't know is that they enter you into a brand new 2 year contract without your knowledge.

Again file those complaints. Read reviews others have written. Many are on the BBB website. Google Directv complaints and you will be amazed at the number of people that have been defrauded.

Well done! I wrote and mailed (via snail-mail) my complaint both to DirecTV and to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations, P. O. Box 12159, Austin, Texas 78711.

If it is any consolation to those of you that have bee taken advantage of, I was preparing to change my services to Directtv, that will not happen after reading all the complaints, thanks for the warning

please visit one of my websites and share your story of the deceptive practices of DirecTV. I want to be a hub of all complaints.

http://hatedirectv.blogspot.com/

http://ihatedirectv.wordpress.com/

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 Arbitation and waived right to trial in dispute, challenged and penalized against them, restitution to all past and present subscribers.

Count me in on that.

30 Months of Fraudulent Billing!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 10:50 a.m.

Called and spoke to David (U2631) at DIRECTV he informed me Amanda would return my call within 2 hours.
Amanda (R9631) at DIRECTV called offered me 60 days credit I politely refused and again informed that I would be suing in small claims court and filing criminal charges for unauthorized use of a credit card. Amanda kept telling me that DIRECTV had spoken with me and I had not called DIRECTV to confirm the disconnect and that DIRECTV had billed me for approximately 30 months before I noticed. I stressed to Amanda that I had never been contacted by DIRECTV after my initial E-mail in July, 2006 and that I had never spoken to DIRECTV about this account until February 24, 2009 when I discovered the fraudulent billing.

DIRECTVs position appears to be that I did not catch DIRECTV soon enough so DIRECTV intends to keep most of the funds that DIRECTV fraudulently removed from my bank account and that I did not catch DIRECTV quickly enough. The approximately $100 credit DIRECTV offered does not equal the approximately $1600 dollars DIRECTV obtained fraudulently.

I just ordered the service yesterday, and since they came to install in I checked, and it was not the package they offer me for the price they offered me. I contacted them, but they said can not give the package originally offered me, so I cancel. When I ordered they told me I had 7 days to cancel. After I canceled today before 24 hours they told me I had to pay a $400 early termination fee. Now I want to fill a complain, but I am not sure how to redact the letter, because I do not want them to damage my credit, and I think that is not fair, I did not even havge the service for 24 hours. HELP ME PLEASE! What should I do?

I live in Irving, texas. Inside the Dallas County

My name is Roger. I live in the Houston area. I have had, until today, Directv service for almost 8 years I think. I was tired of the rain causing a loss of signal so I had another service installed. I called this evening [9/05/09] to cancel my service, only to be told I had 14 months to go on my "new contract". It seems that upon purchasing a new HD box from Best Buy, I was automatically, without my knowledge, signed on to a new 24 month contract.

They told me that my purchase from Best Buy was actually a leasing fee and that there were supposedly markings on and inside the box that stated I was entering into a new contract by connnecting the new receiver. It is interesting to me that nobody ever told me this at Best Buy and certainly nobody from Directv offered any such information or warning. Now I am told that I will be charged $280 for terminating the contract.

BUYER BEWARE! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

I had been a Directv customer for 6 years when I asked to be upgraded to a HD Receiver. They sent me a receiver. When I tried to connect the receiver a message popped up on the screen telling me to call customer service. When I did they informed me that I needed a new dish, so I scheduled an appointment
for a technician. The technician arrived and told me the new dish which was much larger didn't fit on my balcony in the city and didn't get "Line of Site", so I cancelled my account and returned the receiver. A month later I received a bill for $413.84. I called and they told me I broke the verbal (which is questionable legal practice anyway) contract because I didn't complete the 2 year service. I wrote them two letters and called them over 20 times, and every time they told me it was a valid charge. There were four or five representatives who told me that I shouldn't be charged, but they said they were powerless to do anything about it. One person who seemed to try very hard was a person by the name of David in "Retainment". His DirecTv employee number is #413235 (his manager is named Basil). HOW COULD IT BE A VALID CHARGE WHEN I WASN'T ABLE TO EVEN USE THE EQUIPMENT THEY PROVIDED ME AND BASED THE CONTRACT AROUND...
Now they have a collection agency calling me twice a day, and I am left helpless. I will probably get a bad mark on my personal credit report because I cannot in good conscience pay hard earned money to a company whose engaged in fraudulent practices.

UPDATE: After almost a year a collection agency is still bothering me up to twice a day trying to collect these unfounded charges. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH DIRECTV!

I went on line to an answer a add for a deal on DirectTv, They called me and I wanted to singe up.I asked them if I would get local channels for my area, they said yes at the end of our conversation I ask again do I get my local stations in my area they said most definetly, so I singed up.DirectTv came out and hooked me up, turned on the tv and no local channels.called them 36 hours after the fact they told me what to do, send back all the equipment and a letter stating why I wanted to cancel so I did.They tured it over to a collection agency my credit has beem damaged.Be awaire of corporate scams, they will blam us for ther incompetence.I will notify the Attorny General, my Congressman, and the better BBB.

I signed up two-year agreement with Direct in December 2007. I have been paying Protection Plan for $5.99 per month since then. In Septebmer 2009, my DVR broke. I called their Service Department to report faulty equipment. They offered a free replacement which was covered by the Protection Plan.
Now, the two-year agreement is over. I call their Service for any special offer if I want to sign another two-year agreement. They said by the time I requested for the equipment replacement, my agreement was automatically extended for another 24 months starting at the month of the replacement.
Firstly, I was not told that I need to extend my service agreement for another 24 months because of the equipment replacement. Secondly, what is the point of paying the protection plan? This kind of business practice is very unfair to consumers.
So, what they are saying is if any consumers of Directv have equipment failure within the service agreement, two options only.
(a) Keep paying the monthly bill without replacement until the original service agreement is over.
(b) Consumers can ask for replacement. However, a new 24 months agreement will be effective once the replacement is done.
I cannot believe a big Company like Directv will engage in such deceptive practices. I will submit my complaint to Consumer Affair and see what they can do with Directv.

I let somebody else used my card to paid on their account and in return they gave me my cash money back in my hand for paiding their billed online. I did this because their sattelite services would be disconnected because it bill was due and they didn't have time to mail it their services would have been disconnected. Well, six months had pasted and Directv Services went into my account and tooked $433.73 for somebody else finally billed. I want everybody to know that I didn't give them authorization to paid somebody else billed. When I tried to talked to their representive they told me that they couldn't discussed somebody else account. Then I was told that I would have to take that person to court because they wasn't refunding my money back to me. They said because my card was on that person account that they can used it to paid for their customer account finally billed. They stoled my money out of my account which was around xmas holidays of 2009 and I am disable my children didn't have a good xmas because they tooked my funds.

Sincerley,
Mad AS Hell

Go to arbitration. It will cost them around $800 for arbitration so they will probably return your fee.

I have been a direct TV customer for several years. I’ve had 3 receivers for several years 1 HD receiver and 2 regular receivers. My problem with Direct began when a regular receiver stopped working. I was no longer under a contract at that time because I had been a customer for well over 2 years. When I called to get a replacement for the broken receiver (not an upgrade), I was told in order to replace the receiver I would be under a 2 year contract. I felt that was unfair to put a contract for replacement and at the time I had no other choice but to get the replacement as my roommate was using the receiver.

Next: I decided I would upgrade the other regular receiver to HD, it was old and would problem stop working also, and I didn’t want to get stuck again with yet another 2 year agreement. (Are you seeing a scam here?)
SO I called and was told it would be a 4 year commitment if I upgraded, but I could go to best buy and purchase a receiver and I would only have the 2 year agreement from the replacement.
I go to best buy and I purchase a receiver using a credit card, I sign 1 time for the transaction.
I set up everything then call direct to activate my purchased receiver as I was told.
Now I’m told it will be a 2 year contract as it was still a lease receiver.
Now I made a purchase of a receiver and must have a 2 year commitment when Direct would have given me one without charge and a 2 year commitment... (SEEING SCAM AGAIN?)

Now I sold my condo and I’m moving. I have not connected the new HD receiver at this time but I’m still under the 2 year commitment because of the replacement receiver. I question about cancelling because I’m moving and I’m told to cancel it would be 450.00 to cancel the commitment.

I cannot afford to pay 450.00 to cancel the commitment caused by the REPLACEMENT OF BROKEN EQUPIMENT. SO I move direct to my new location and set it up.

The first installer Dwight I think told me he had to run a line to each TV because I had HD and the picture would not be good if you ran a single line so 3 separate lines would need to be run. Dwight also told me it would be a 3 hour job and he would run the lines inside the wall and now all over the out side of my walls. Well the installers show up and when they leave I have a single line running into my condo and a black box sitting on my bedroom floor with 3ft of wire all over the floor the black box is plugged into an outlet in my room and a glowing green light on at all times. (not exactly what I was told right)

Now they set up the new HD receiver for the first time. Now I’m still under the impression I have the 2 year commitment from the replacement receiver Not HD.
I’m now told that I’m under a 4 year commitment. When I call and speak to a manager she tells me I’m only under a 2 year commitment for connecting the new hd receiver no commitment for the replacement receiver.
If I had been given the correct information I would never have connected the HD receiver.
I was tricked into this by incorrect information given reference replacement receiver and I’m now STUCK.
I have been a loyal customer not I feel like I’m trapped and can never get away from this company I have be given so much false information by your company I don’t trust anything I’m told. Please under these circumstances you can understand the frustration.
I do not trust your company I do not wish to do business with your company.
I feel like I have been scammed by your company. I do not wish free anything, no movie channel no free hd for a few months I want away from your company. I cannot trust the information I receive from your company. Why is it only one of your employees has an employee number? I have asked and they only give me first names no id number. It’s much easier to ID someone by and ID number first names only don’t work. Also placing caller on hold for 1 hour when they ask to speak to a manager is also poor customer service. When I called back I spoke with Regina ID NUMBER 414771 She was very helpful and suggested I write you a letter. PLEASE cancel my contract with direct TV I don’t think anyone should be put through this with any company.

#1 it sounds like you ordered your upgrade online instead of calling Directv to placed the upgrade if you did then they would have scheduled you with the dish upgrade and if you were being rude to the tech theywont give you good line of site not co fault be nice to ppl and you will get great results

99% of the stuff said here is full crap. You think out things which do not exist and then go against that. Be fare! About suspension: they send e-mail and mail notification. Even if the didn't sen, they tell you the dates when they suspend the account. About fees for PPV for a few years ago- have telephone line connected to the receiver. And all that is not only about directv, but about many companies. Customers just DO NOT read the agreement. YOU MUST BE RESPONSIBLE! FOLLOW WHAT CAN AFFECT YOU IN THE FUTURE! STOP COMPLAINING ALL THE TIME!,

A class action law suit seems the best option in this case because there are countless thousands of others with the same problems or worse their bank accounts were already compromised with unauthorized and illegal access by Directv. It is Directv's mode of operation to disregard the fact a customer had not signed up for auto billing and take whatever fees and added fees it wants to impose without regard to due process.

If you go the class action Route consider me in.

I decided to sign up for the $34.99/month package, and that's all. It offered free HD for life, DVR for only $7 a month, and I couldn't have been happier with what I was getting. But then I received a $110 bill in the mail. $65 for service, $10 for HD, $20 for DVR, and somehow I ended up with premium channels I didn't order. I called and they said they would fill out the rebate for me, and would have it fixed so that the bill would come out to the $45 that was expected for service, DVR, and taxes. I was satisfied with this news.

Well then updated bill came, and it was $105. The rebate could not take effect for eight weeks, ant since they filled the rebate for me over the phone it would be an extra $5 a month ($60 a year) for the service (amazing that they don't tell you this). The free HD was bogus and that "if I would have read the fine print" because I was only eligible for it if I signed up for auto bill pay when opening the account (all of a week beforehand), but I was no longer eligible. That's another $10/month ($120 a year). The DVR service would be more than expected, and I have to pay a $10 cancellation fee for the premium channels never ordered. What a scam. I loved DIRECTV at one point but that has definitely changed. I'm not being cheap either, I'm just a college student who can't afford to pay the extra $400 a year that I will be forced to pay. Thank you for scamming me DIRECTV!

Maybe you should read the fine print. I don't understand people who enter into a contract, don't bother to read what that contract is, and then complain about it later. It isn't a scam if you just chose to ignore all their instructions on getting the prices advertised.

Seems they will try anything to fraudulently charge a customer. I cannot wait to get away from DTV.

I have been completely SCAMMED! This company is truly a fraud in every sense of the word. It all started when I called a toll free number to order DirecTV service. I asked them specifically if I would be getting an HR24 HD DVR Receiver. The salesman on the phone said "Yes, No problem!" I agreed to have an installer come out to my house to install the dish and equipment. When it came time for the installer to hook up the receiver, he told me that he did not have my requested HR24 model receiver with him. Instead, he gave me a used HR21 receiver!

After he hooked it up, it literally took several seconds to change each channel, and the picture would freeze up sporadically as well. This was clearly NOT was I was shown at my local Best Buy store. At the Best Buy store, they had an HR24 receiver on display, and the channels would change very rapidly. The overall speed was MUCH faster than an HR21. When I called DirecTV about this, they said "We cannot promise you a specific model number for a receiver. Sorry! If you want an HR24, you are going to have to buy it from a third-party retailer.". Stunned, I told them that I was a BRAND NEW customer! I wanted to latest box, not a used, mal-functioning 2007 "piece of junk" model.

None this matters to DirecTV. I ended up purchasing the HR24 model from Amazon.com. Later, I found out that I don't even "own" this receiver. It is considered a "leased" unit, and I just paid a "equipment lease fee" to have the privilege of having this box in my living room! What a croc! This company is CRIMINAL!

On a more positive note, the picture quality and overall programming service (i.e.: number of HD channels, etc.) is first rate. Truly, the picture is ultra clear, very bright, and MUCH MUCH better than my local Digital HD Comcast package in my area (South Florida).

Unfortunately, the rest of DirecTV sucks to all hell! The whole customer service department are a bunch of liars. They don't care about the customer. I asked them to please give me a one-time account credit for $250 to cover the cost of purchasing the new HR24 receiver. I explained that I wanted to send their old HR21 back, and that I was a new customer. This was the least they could do for me, right? Wrong. They have done NOTHING for me, even after 20+ phone calls since installation.

Bottom line: KNOW THE RISKS! Great picture, and a LOT of HD channels. But, is it worth all of the hassle? I am having second thoughts about DirecTV. But, now I am locked into a 24-month contract. I think a class-action suit is a great idea! Their sales people are fraudsters, and their customer service is disgraceful.

DirecTV = Criminal = Fraud ---- yes.

BUYER BEWARE: DIRECTV is submitting print material advertising various promotions. When contact is made to the sales office, the representative sells you a package as per the brochure. Payment is taken from your bank account immediately followed by a confirmation e-mail. The confirmation e-mail confirms a much higher price and the terms and consitions (in fine print) allows them to change the contract as they deem fit. Its unfortunate that a company of this size has to use such unscrupulous sales techniques to secure business. Needless to say, i immediatley cancelled the order.

Directv charged $326.99 to my debit card and is now telling me that it will take 10 or so business days for them to give me my money back. I do not have Directv service nor will I after this and I will recommend that people think twice about Directv. There is a 3-digit security code on the back of credit cards that prevent mis-keyed card numbers that Directv failed to use. I just want my money back that they took from me.

Yes, I used to work for DirecTV. DO NOT TRUST THE PEOPLE ON THE PHONE. They will promise/deny/threaten/say ANYthing to get you to order! You think it's annoying being the CUSTOMER with this kind of support? Just imagine being the install tech and having to explain to people that the customer service representative lied to them about multiple things!

1. You basically have no choice of receiver, other than standard, HD, or DVR. Every day, the technicians take a few units off an industrial pallet. What is ON that pallet only depends on what was cheaper when the franchise last ordered equipment.

2. Hiding the wires will ALWAYS COST A LOT MORE. What they tell you on the phone is that the technicians CAN fish a line through a wall. What they DON'T tell you is: A. not all walls can be fished, B. even if it can, it costs extra, and C. the tech will probably try to find any reason not to, since it more than doubles the install time if no preparations have been made in advance, which means they're not getting to their next install. Too many downed jobs is basically the same as requesting termination. (But really... install techs are NOT carpenters. I dunno why people assume that they ARE...)

3. Almost all of their literature is misleading. Big bold lettering: "ONLY $40.00 A MONTH!" small fine print: "*for the first 3 months." Big bold: "GET A FREE PORTABLE DVD PLAYER!" Small fine: "*with purchase of 4 year contract. (at $40 a month [for the first 3 months])" There's always a catch. And the call center reps will ALWAYS engage in cryptic double-talk to dupe you into it.

4. If you live in an apartment building and you don't see any satellite dishes anywhere, you probably can't get DirecTV. (land lord permission is ALWAYS required. Which is stupid, because by law, they cannot PROHIBIT you from installing an antenna. But they CAN make so many rules that it is impossible to install.) But that won't stop the crooked phone reps from selling you a plan! BUYER BEWARE! But seriously, the entire time I worked for DirecTV, I had to drive out to at least 100 apartment locations. Only ONE of them ever got installed, and that was only because the building had recently chopped off a balcony, leaving a wooden stump I was allowed to mount the satellite into.

Now, I'm not degrading the product. It WORKS. The technology is SOLID so long as it's installed right. Most issues I had to service personally were because of hasty/unqualified installers. Usually the ones that worked for Best Buy/Radioshack, because they have less regulations than the official DirecTV installers. They don't always ground their dishes (which is not only illegal, but dangerous to you AND your equipment), they often use staples on the cables (this is fine for standard cable, but will KILL a digital signal of ANY sort. Which includes 100% of satellite systems), they install to unstable structures like wooden railings that sway or wobble (disrupting the signal), and most of them can't even point a sattelite to save their lives! (any signal below 70% is UNACCEPTABLE, and 80-90 is pretty easy to achieve with no obstructions.

In a nut shell, if everything is installed CORRECTLY, there are very few weather conditions that should effect it. (IE more than 1 inch of snow inside the dish.)

So, advice if you DO order the service:
1. GET ANY SPECIAL AGREEMENTS/ARRANGEMENTS IN WRITING (email is fastest). ALWAYS.
2. READ ALL THE FINE PRINT BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK OF ORDERING.
3. DON'T LET RADIOSHACK OR BEST BUY INSTALL YOUR SYSTEM. CERTIFIED TECHS ONLY! (But, that said, as long as you have the service, a certified tech will come out and fix it for you ANYways...)
4. AS LONG AS YOU CALL THE OFFICIAL 1-800-COMCAST LINE, YOU ARE BEING RECORDED FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE. BY LAW, THIS MEANS YOU CAN RECORD THE CALL YOURSELF WITHOUT ANY AUTHORIZATION/PERMISSION. IF YOU KNOW HOW, I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS ENOUGH.

And, last but not least:

5. IF IT SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE: IT IS.

hope this helps someone.

We signed up for DirecTV in 1998. They had roughly 2 million customers and were a good company then. No contracts that I remember, $29.99 for the good package.

Over the years I've seen them deteriorate in every way. The equipment is complicated, customer service is terrible, and the cost has gone up to $90. Plus I can't even sneeze next to the thing without them extending my contract.

I added an old receiver in a spare room. It was one that I had in my basement, and figured I'd put it in my kid's room. BIG HUGE MISTAKE! My contract was renewed, even though the CSR specifically told me there was NO contract on this receiver.

Well, I hooked up an over-the-air antenna and quickly realized I could get 95% of what I watch (local television), for free, and in HD.

So I bought a DVR and canceled DirecTV. Well, they charged me $420 early termination. Then immediately charged my credit card.

I spoke with 5 CSRs before I actually gone one of them to refund my money. But that takes 8 weeks. So they're holding on to MY money for 2 months! Sad thing is, this isn't as bad as it gets.

I hate this company and would advise everybody to cancel them if they don't want to be shoved around by corporate bullying.

same thing happen to me today and i am not to happy about it.. i have to dispute it with my bank and they are more and likely to deny my dispute because of them if you ask me this is all ### and they dont tell u at all about being responisble for the persons bill

I did not choose DirecTV, it was my only option my apartment complex offers. So I am forced to deal with an unscrupulous company, or not have television. DirecTV has faced class action lawsuits before and walked away with a slap on the wrist. Sign up for the latest one ended June 19, 2011. WA state AG filed suit against DTV and it never went to court ~ DTV agreed to a settlement right away because they knew they were in trouble. So the suit was opened to all 50 states with DTV promising to pay $13.5 million in restitution to all who filed a complaint with their state's AG office. $13.5 million spread among all of the complaints in all 50 states might come out to $0.75 each. So DTV walks away paying a pittance of the money they steal out of people's bank accounts every day, and all of the AGs held news comferences on how they brought down the big bad company. (1. As stated in the above comment, GO TO YOUR BANK & FILL OUT A "REG E" for the amount DTV took from your account. If the bank tries to come off like they can't do anything, be firm and demand to fill out a REG E. I think the bank has 30 days to settle your complaint and you should get your money back. (2. When you receive your money back, check your Credit reports to see if they file a complaint of non-payment. If they do, file a dispute with the Reporting Agency stating you do not owe DTV this money. AND most important for everyone who has to deal with DTV or any other company like them, check with your bank or credit card to see if they have "VIRTUAL ACCOUNTS." Most cc have them now, where you can go online, you will be assigned a pretend 16 digit number that you can attach to your DTV account as your payment account. The good thing about this is you can limit the dates and the amounts that DTV can charge to your account. So you put just enough in that account each month to pay your bill, and DTV cannot charge that account more than the amount you designated. Hope this helps.

I was a new customer with Directv. Unfortunately, I was court ordered to move out within 2 months of my agreement with them. I had a balance of $100 that needed to be paid so the account could be put on a 6 month hold. I had paid half and gave the information regarding the other half of the payment to be taken out for that time only. Apparently that never happened and the account went to their collections department. They stated they sent bills/notices which I never had/have received and I have an e-mail address that was provided to them as well. When the account went to collections they state they can pull the funds from your bank account with out you ever knowing or even authorizing it. I wasn't aware the $50 balance wasn't paid nor was I aware the account went to their collections department so they have pulled the "outstanding" balance from my bank with out notifing me regarding the issue. My bank and I are taking action regarding this issue. I will NEVER become a DIRECTV customer again. This type of customer service is deceiving and poor company quality. I hope people read my post just like I have read others so they are warned and educated on how deceitful this company is. I will now find a better trustworthy company to use.

Direct TV charged my credit card over five hundered dollars without my permission. They said that four hundred of this would be returned once I sent in my equipment and access cards. I returned these items via FEDEX and never got the refund. I filed a complaint with my bank and called Direct TV to see where my refund was. They told me on several different ocassions that my refund was either processed and had been sent to my bank or was still processing. They refused to let me speak to a supervisor. They hung on up me repeatedly. On top of all of this they kept adding PayPerView charges to my account which they refused to close. This was AFTER I returned to access cards and boxes. I couldn't have watched this stuff if I'd wanted to. It's all documented with my bank and FEDEX. They continue to send me bills in different amounts for things I didn't order and have yet to return my money as is documented by my bank who not only conducted their own investigation. But, refunded my money themselves when Direct TV would not respond to their inquiries. To date my account is still not closed with them and although I paid my bill in full and then some. They still insist I owe my final bill plus these new charges I could not have made. Don't go with Direct TV

You shoul contact the Better Business Bureau in Fulton California, the deal specifically with Direct TV. that is how we got our $211 that DTV tried to with hold. It only took a couple of weeks. They are very nice and willing to help.

To make a long story short the technician came to my home and installed a dish antenna incorrectly. The technician left me his name & number telling me to call if I had any problems. The next morning I discovered the antenna was improperly installed. I called the technician who has lied and put me off for over a month so finally I called customer service. The bottom line, as I was told, is that after 7 days "no one in the entire company can file a complaint" and any service call after the 7 days must be paid for in advance ($54.00) before they with schedule a technician to fix the first guys mistakes. I spoke to a customer service supervisor and was told they could do "nothing" and had no way of logging a complaint against the service tech after 7 days. Summary; I m being forced to pay for a tech to fix the first guys mistake and the original technician misled me because he knew that I could not registar a complaint after 7 days.
Direct TV told me they have no way to provide training or any corrective action for their technicians...the problem will never be fixed. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE TECHNICIAN that installs your dish. If you have a problem call the service center immediately or you are stuck.