DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

Direct TV offered me 1 year of satellite services with the Starz Super Pack free for 1 year with the package I selected plus 100.00 cash back over 10 months and a free DVD player. I signed into their internet site to see my first bill and make sure the offers were being met before the 3 days cancellation time had expired. None of the offers were being applied to my bill. I was charged for everything. When I called to ask why Direct customer service acted as if they didn't know what I was talking about that no offers were made to me. Everyone was getting special sign offers during the period I signed up in Dec of 06.

I would not advise anyone to use Direct TV unless all offers are in writing!

I am now waiting for fed ex labels that "supposedly" were mailed out 3 weeks ago. I got 2 bills in the mail soon after starting the service but no return labels as promised. Direct makes people give a credit card number before they will allow you to use their service. I am afraid the next thing will be a charge on my credit card for equipment I have been trying to give back to them.

Be careful with this company!

OMG...what a nightmare...we ordered Direct TV in October...with their promotion of Free DVD player and $150 off their service spread out over 12 months...with much calling...emailing and calling again...we finally got our bill straighted out...4 months later...and they offered us free showtime for 3 months...that took forever to get straighted out. Now, for the free portable DVD player that was suppose to take 6-8 weeks to get...this is March 15th, 2007 and we still dont have it. Sent in the form with a copy of my bill...and waited...and asked they said they never got it...so sent it in again...and sent it return receipt and they got it...on Dec. 26th, 2006, waited approximately 6-8 weeks, called...said somebody would get back with us...waited, called, said it was sent out on January 16th 2007 but could not find out what happened to it...wait a few more days and check with us...and we can tell you, I know...its lost...doesnt take an idot to figure that one out. Val, called from Directv and said...they would send it out again...wait 6-8 weeks...What?...so I e-mailed another nasty email...and then Amanda called from Directv and said that they are soo sorry but seems like it was never sent out at all...and they are sending us our portable DVD player now, and to wait...you guessed it...another 6-8 weeks...what a mess...what a system...their CS sucks...if we dont get our free gift...we are cancelling with them...as they broke their contact. If you call and order anything with them...get it in writing...their name...their I.D.#...etc etc..and keep good notes...had auto pay and said it owed late charges too, whats up with that...finally got that straighted out...how stupid are these people?

We called Direct TV as we could hardly see anything on some of the channels. The customer service rep told us we would need to pay $75 and they would send someone out to check. When I told him that must be a joke he hung up. We sent a letter of termination which they ignored. Then they send their 'claim' to collections. I wasted so much time fighting with these people that I am seriously thinking of suing them for the time I spend on the phone and writing letters. STAY AWAY FROM THEM AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!

I had the same type of experience with Direct TV. I'm at a loss as to who I/we complain to. The AG, BBB, or the FCC. I don't think I'm going to let them get away with this even if it means going to court.

Email conversations with senior VP of customer service at direct TV. The following is copies of emails I had with two top execs at direct TV today. You gotta read it to believe it. I hope everyone contacts them if they have similar stories or complaints as the business operation analysis seems to think such complaints are "not the norm".

This is how Direct TV deals with major internal problems? Tell the customer, that despite Direct TV not providing the service they promised, that I am going to be expected to pay for cancelling the contract? Great customer relations and I am guessing that this decision will be regretted in the very near future.

I have found no less than ten websites dedicated specifically to customer dissatisfaction with Direct TV. Despite Ms. Bitew's contention that the horrible treatment that I received yesterday was unique, there appears to be hundreds, if not thousands, of people who might disagree with her statement. According to many of those bloggers-they seem to contend that my treatment is the norm, not the exception.

So I will post the communication that I have had with your organization online so that consumers can see firsthand how the top management of Direct TV perceives their responsibility to honor their contractual obligations. I will also be contacting as many consumer protection agencies and legal authorities that I can find to also send copies of these communications. I find it very interesting that despite not one, not two, or even three major errors and hours of wasted time-that Direct TV's expectation is that I be held to a contract that Direct TV did not honor. I am supposed to incur costs related to hiring someone to remove a dish that was applied to my roof by Direct TV and I am to spend more time boxing up their receiver and making more phone calls to a shipper to make arrangements for it's shipment.

Yes, I can see that Direct TV really valued me as a customer and that they would love to see me subscribe to their services again. Not only was their customer service incompetent and rude and my time wasted- it is I, not Direct TV, than will be literally and figuratively paying the penalty for their incompetence. This response was not expected and I can honestly say that I am stunned. I have never seen or heard of a major company respond in such a manner. Every company that I have contacted with problems in the past has responded by taking responsibility for their staff and will generally work with the consumer to "right the wrong". This really has me shaking my head in disbelief.

The mystery of how bad yesterday's service was has come full circle. Having now directly communicated with Direct TV's Business Operation Analyst, who began our conversation by telling me "what they couldn't do for me" and how I would be penalized for my early cancellation. Excuse me? Your business treats me like crap and then I am chastised because I will not remain a
customer? Business loyalty is earned based on performance, not an expection or right on your part because you have a contract. Our contract clearly conveys an expectation that Direct TV will provide a basic, minimum level of service to remedy problems that occur as a result of Direct TV's errors. You clearly did not provide that level yesterday. Did I make an good faith effort to correct the problem? Yes, I believe I did in my repeated phone calls but there is a level of ongoing screw ups and outright incompetence that would lead the average person to end the attempts and disengage themselves from that business. Which I did. Now Ms. Bitew has the unmitigated gall to attempt to penalize me for that?

The Business Operation Analyst at Direct TV apparently does not have the authority to remove charges associated with ending a contract despite clear evidence, which she acknowledges, that personnel in her company made numerous mistakes and in the process, treated a customer very unprofessionally. And apparently this same Business Operation Analyst at Direct TV lacks the authority to phone one of their installers and ask them to swing by my home at their convenience to pick up a receiver and remove a dish. All she apparently has been given the authority to say to me was "We don't do that".

She was correct in her summation that "you do not do that".

You do not honor your contractual obligations-but you expect me to honor mine, you do not adequately train your staff, you do not have supervisors that are able or willing to take phone calls, you do not have a customer service department that can provide even the most minimal level of service to their customers, and apparently you do not have anyone at the top of your management team that has even the faintest idea of how to treat consumers ore resolve customer complaints.

Yesterday now makes perfect sense to me. This is a clear case of management styles tricking down. You directed the Business Operation Analyst at Direct TV "to resolve these issues today". Apparently this is the resolution that she feels is in the best interests of her company, the customer be damned. Never mind that her actions add insult upon injury. I understand you were recently appointed Senior VP of Customer Service. It appears to me that you have your work cut out for you. Good luck... you're going to need it.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bitew, Heywot"
To: "OR"
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 2:53 PM
Subject: RE: DIRECT TV Service

I'm sorry you did not take me up on my offer to keep you as a customer. I have applied two credits of $9.99 on your account for the two months of HD service charge.

When your account was disconnected we sent out a recovery kit to your address. This is a prepaid package for you to return your receiver. You will need to call FedEx and they will pick up the package from your home. If the receiver is not returned to DIRECT TV within 7 days of getting the recovery kit the account will be charged an equipment non return fee. The dish is part of the install and is affixed to your home. DIRECT TV does not uninstall equipment. We will not be removing the dish or metal brackets from your property.

Please be advised that you were in a contractual agreement with DIRECT TV to keep services active for two years. The commitment was covered during the sale of your equipment and activation of services. The order confirmation you received in the mail after you placed the order for services also reminds you of your two year programming commitment. Although we regret the inconvenience of your recent customer service experience the commitment on your account still applies. The early termination charge is $287 and will be prorated for the days you had
service.

Sincerely
Heywood Bitew

-----Original Message-----
From: OR
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 11:20 AM
To: Bitew, Heywot
Cc: Filipiak, Ellen A
Subject: Re: DIRECT TV Service

Thank you for your Email. I am sorry that my home phone messaging system was full and that I missed your calls.
Unfortunately, I am unable to accept your offer of returning to Direct TV. I have already entered into a contractual relationship with Dish Network.

Once again, I would appreciate it if you would have someone from your installation service contact me as to when they will be able to pick up the receiver and remove the dish from my roof. It is still raining a lot here on the coast here in Oregon and I would prefer not to leave the receiver outside if it can be avoided.

I would also like your assurances that I am not going to have any charges added to my billing beyond the month and a half that I have already had service, which I am more than willing to pay for. I am also hoping that the final bill has been corrected and pro-rated for this month and I can take care of that as soon as possible.

I appreciate your attention to this matter and I am glad that you are going to review some of the problems that I experienced. It was certainly never my intent to end your service when I made my first call yesterday. I am hopeful that the information that I provided to you from my experience can be used to benefit your company in a positive way.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bitew, Heywot"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 10:12 AM
Subject: DIRECT TV Service

Thank you for taking the time to detail your unfortunate customer service experience with DIRECT TV. Ms. Fillipak has asked me to personally address your issue. I have tried to call the number you listed with your email but was unable to leave a message as your voice mail box seems to be full at the moment.( My direct number is [protected].)

I have gone over your email and the details on your account activity on the day you called 4/10/2007. Please accept my sincere apologies for the numerous transfers, two disconnected calls documented) and your inability to get your issue resolved by the supervisors.

Looking at your account billing statement I was able to determine the following. The representative you spoke to on the day of install 2/24/2007 did indeed add four months of free HD service on your account. What she did not do was comment the account that this was offered and added and most importantly she did not disconnect the chargeable HD access also on your account. A careful look at your billing statement would have shown that there were two line items for HD service. One was at a zero charge and the second was chargeable at $9.99. It pains me to say that the first representative you spoke to when you called yesterday should have been able to recognize this error and merely disconnected the chargeable HD service. What was more surprising is that all the other representatives including the supervisor did not take the time to look carefully at the account. Rest assured that everyone you spoke to including the first representative who offered you the discount will be personally spoken to. In addition we are looking into why there were so many transfers and disconnects during your customer service contacts.

Please believe me when I say that your situation is not the norm, DIRECT TV does not want to loose you as a customer. I am asking you to give DIRECT TV another chance. We will reinstate your services and I would be happy to give you a month of free services for your inconvenience. Please send me an email or call me with your decision.

Sincerely
Heywot Bitew
Business Operation Analyst

I am very sorry for the problems you have had with Direct TV. I will have someone contact you today to resolve the issues.

Best regards,

Ellen Filipiak

SVP Customer Care

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: OR
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 1:51 AM
To: Filipiak, Ellen A
eafilipiak@directv.com
Subject: Fw: worst service have ever had

Ellen Filipiak,

----- Original Message -----

From: OR
To: investorrelations@directv.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 10:41 PM
Subject: worst service have ever had

I have just spent the last hour trying to get a simple billing error corrected and I give up. I have canceled your service. In my 50 years, your company takes the first prize with regard to incompetence, and that says a lot as I have seen quite a few mis-managed companies.

I originally ordered the Family monthly plan and HD access in March 2007. When the serviceman came out to install-the HD access was not showing up as part of the install. So both the installer and I had to spend time with phone calls back and forth to your installation dept. It was finally cleared up and the person I was speaking to on the phone offered me four months of HD access free for the "hassle".

But when the bill came-the HD access was being billed to my account. So I made the huge error of attempting to call your customer service to have this simple mistake corrected.

An extensive amount of time is initially wasted going through numerous voice prompts before finally reaching customer service. I am finally transferred to a man who had a very poor command of the English language. Apparently he was located in India. He had trouble understanding my basic and simple explanations but when he finally was able to get what I was telling him-he proceeded to tell me that he was going to transfer me to the "installation department". Once more I am back in the system listening to canned music, on hold and being transferred to another person.

A woman comes on the line and I explained the situation all over again. She put me on hold several times and then came back telling me that she saw the error in my billing and then she proceeded to "try and correct the bill". She requests that I "give her a moment to correct it" several times. In the meantime we had a pleasant conversation about the billing process and she tells me that the $100 rebate paperwork I mailed in has not been processed yet but that I could also file for the rebate online. This was the $10 off each month for 10 months, a promotion for new customers. After being asked by her several more times to "hold on, that she almost had the account corrected" she dropped my call.

I waited 10 minutes for her to call back-which she did not. But while I was waiting for her to call back-I went online and tried to file for the $100 rebate online. I entered my customer service number and was told:

"You have already received an instant rebate or a special discounted offer for this receiver during this promotion".

I have never received another instant rebate-I am a brand new customer. The only rebate I received was the four months for Direct Access as a concession for the installation screw up.

When the woman in installation did not call back, I was forced to once call back in and start all over...through the various phone prompts... being transferred to India... transferred once again to the installations department and once again explaining myself to another woman. She told me that her name was Holly and that she was located in Idaho.

I was more than a little frustrated at this point. So I told Holly the entire story all over again and I also told her that I was unable to file for the $100 rebate online. She told me "we're not offering the four months free anymore". I told her that the four months of free HD access was due to a concession because of an installation screw up-not a promotion offer. She looked at my account and proceeded to tell me that the prior person "did not fix the HD Access errors in billing". I asked if she could transfer me back to the person that I was originally dealing with in the installation department but was told "that it was impossible" and that I had to explain myself all over again with her. More wasted time.

At that point I asked to speak with her supervisor, as the time I had spent on the phone to Direct TV was nearing a half hour and I felt like I was spinning in circles. Holly put me on hold, came back after a couple minutes and told me that she was transferring me to her supervisor. But she proceeded to transfer me, without my knowledge, to an entirely different department in another state and NOT her supervisor.

After 5-10 minutes on being on hold again, "Tina" came on the line and told me that her division was in Georgia. She asked me why I was calling Direct TV and wanted me to once again explain the entire issue from the start.

I asked her if she was a supervisor. She told me that "no, she was a resolution specialist" . I proceeded to tell her that at this point I wanted to speak with a supervisor. She proceeded to argue with me telling me that "she had the same training as a supervisor". I told her that her level of training was not the issue-I had asked to speak with a supervisor and was told I was being switched to a supervisor and that I wanted to speak with supervisor and only a supervisor at that point.

I was placed back on hold again for several minutes. Tina finally came back on the line and told me that her supervisor "Jason", who is supposedly the head of the Resolution Department in Georgia, was refusing to speak with me and that he would call me back in "24 to 48 hours". I offered to hold and was told that he was not going to take my call regardless of how long I waited.

At that point I had had it with Direct TV. I asked Tina where Direct TV's Corporate office was located and she told me "that she did not know the exact address". I then asked her for the city and state and she told me that she "didn't know". I advised her that as a result of the way I had been treated up to that point, that I was now going to cancel my account. I asked her to note in my account record that I had requested to speak with her supervisor and that he would not take the call. She agreed to make it part of my record. She told me that I was going to be transferred to the cancellation department. I was on put on hold for quite a long period of time and then the phone connection was dropped again. I had heard my phone call come into rotation more than once and was constantly being put back on hold. I think Tina was expecting me to hang up after being on hold that long.

So here I am, a third time calling back.. through the phone prompts...transfers to India...transfers back to the U.S., explaining everything over and over to each new person that I was transferred to. Now the time I have spent on the phone to Direct TV is well over 45 minutes and stretching into an hour...just to resolve a simple billing issue and I have passed frustrated and am now on to fuming.

I finally spoke with Esmer in Texas. She came on the line asking me the reason for my phone call. Needless to say, I was probably very short with Esmer, because at that point I was sick and tired of having to constantly explain the same issue over and over to different people. She had not taken the time to read my record prior to taking the call-which was a mistake on her part.

I asked her to spare me having to reiterate the story and to review the notes on my case. The over charges for the HD access were still there-no one had removed them. The last note she found on my record was a brief one by Tina that I wanted to cancel my account because of dissatisfaction and that my call was "accidentally disconnected". Not a word about her supervisor not taking my phone call...but she did try to cover herself for intentionally disconnecting my call and portray it as an accident. I have NO doubt, based on her attitude and how she came across throughout our conversation-that she intentionally disconnected my call.

Esmer processed the disconnect and advised me 1) that I am responsible to get the receiver back 2). that I have to get up on a ladder and take the satellite down myself, and 3) that despite all the screw ups by Direct TV-that I will be receiving a full bill (my guess is that it will probably not be a correct one).

I made it clear to her that 1) someone from Direct TV brought the receiver and satellite and BOTH items need to be picked up and removed by Direct TV. I am NOT taking either one of them anywhere. I have had a knee replacement and have NO intention of climbing 10-12 feet up a ladder to remove a satellite...nor I am paying anyone to do it. I also made it very clear that I had NO intention of paying any bills sent to me by Direct TV. That had to be the icing on the cake.

I work as a consultant out of my home and the time that I have lost today alone, is close to two and a half hours, between phone calls, researching your information on the internet (because your staff refused to tell me where the corporate office was located) and ultimately this E-Mail. Including the initial screw up during the installation-Direct TV has wasted three hours of my time. The money I have wasted dealing with your billing errors would have amounted to at least $150 in billing if I had been working.

Most businesses would be horrified if their staff had made half of the mistakes that was made today...and would have been doing everything they could to retain the customer and their reputation. I know I would.

The majority (not all) of the Direct TV staff I encountered today could have cared less about retaining me as a customer. They instead compounded the frustration I was experiencing with retaliatory actions that only made the situation much worse. For a "trained" resolution specialist to be so argumentative and vindictive is amazing. And for the supervisor of a resolution department to tell a customer, that is already very upset, that he will get back to me in a "couple days"...has to be the height of arrogance and incompetence. I am unable to find a reasonable explanation why a supervisor, who is in the business of customer service, thinks that he can treat customers with such a dismissive attitude and that his disregard for customers will be OK with his company. I can only assume that it is with the approval and acceptance of Direct TV, that his avoidance of his duties is acceptable from their management perspective. It probably speaks volumes about why many of the line staff, particularly at this office, has such a disregard for the customer-they see it first hand from those that are in training/supervision positions.

At my request, my service was immediately disconnected. I am now in the process of speaking with your main competitor to arrange service. I think that many misguided companies spend significant amounts of money on public relations and advertising in an attempt to entice new customers, only to lose them due to extremely poor customer service. This certainly was true in my case with regard to your company. I can assure you that when I made my first call to Direct TV that I was not even slightly frustrated as mistakes happen to all of us and I naively thought I would be able to get it cleared up in a few minutes. But instead I experienced billing that still has not been corrected, two dropped calls, multiple transfers, computer errors for rebates, being lied to about being transferred to a supervisor and lied to about where your company's corporate headquarters are located, having to re-explain why I was calling in no less than a dozen times to different people, and the notes in my case not accurately reflecting staff actions. And that was just one afternoon for a simple accounting error. The quagmire you call customer service has been so poorly designed that if the consumer isn't angry or frustrated at the onset-they certainly will be by the end of their call, or in my case-calls.

Staff appears to have little or no accountability and "dropping calls" , "transferring the problem elsewhere" or "leaving a customer on hold indefinitely" seems to be commonly used practices and there appears to be no consequences for their actions. If anything-abusing customers works for them and unless a customer takes the time to complain, which probably 95% do, their actions are completely under the radar of upper management.

One of the chief reasons I am taking my business elsewhere is my firm belief that you intentionally designed the customer service section to be a literal nightmare for the customer. In my frustration of being held hostage to the voice prompts...transfers to India and back, I happened to call the phone number that you have listed for customers that want to order service. Two voice prompts and there was a person immediately available to take my call. When I initially ordered my DIrect TV service-throughout the entire process I spoke with just one person. No multiple transfers...no being on hold for long periods of time and certainly no hang ups. You are well aware of the impact those actions would have on sales. Yet your company is willing to accept extremely low standards for customer service as you illogically think that most consumers will simply tolerate it rather than change providers.

You have made the sales division of your company consumer friendly and just as easily could streamline the customer service end to reduce the amount of times a person is transferred and hold staff more accountable for their actions. It is It is one thing to draw the customer in...you can print up flashy ads in all the major newspapers, run low start up specials...but the true measure of a company is their ability to retain the customers of which they are already serving.

I would appreciate it if you would make arrangements for your installation staff to contact me to make arrangements for them to pick up the receiver and satellite as soon as possible as I am sure the other satellite company will want to install their dish in a similar location.

Sub: Nothing as promised- still billing me!

I previously had DISH and was talked into trying DirectTV in a Bundled package by Bellsouth. I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with the Sales Rep, as we went over exactly how much this was going to cost me, and what channels were on that package. I told her that I was paying $39.60 per month for DISH. I was told that the DirectTV package I wanted, with one extra room would only be about $5 more, with the credit I would get for the bundle, and that if I did not like DirectTV, I could cancel within 30 days. I decided that was fine as it would be the same if I added one more room to DISH. The Main reason I decided to try DirectTV was because their programming package had one channel that my husband really wanted.

First of all, the DirectTV installer, was horrible! I was told he would arrive between 8am and Noon, on Tuesday, March 13. He finally arrived somewhere after 2:00 pm.
Instead of using his own supplies and equipment, he tore apart the old DISH setup and used parts from it ! The worst part was that he BROKE off the Metal pole that the old satellite was on, leaving the dangerous, ragged metal stub sticking up in my grass, without saying anything about it! (We found it by accident when cleaning up the mess he left!) That stub would have destroyed our lawn mower, or worse yet, my 7 year old son could have fallen over it an shredded his leg on it! He then USED what was left of the pole to put his dish on. It was buried about 2 inches into the ground and very unstable! We were later told by another installer that he also did not properly ground the pole, so that any lightning strike would have totally destroyed our TV equipment.

I see no reason that he couldn't have also used the existing cable that was carefully woven all the way thru our fence to be out of the way. Instead he told me that he had to use new cable and if we didn't want the cable laying across the yard, he would have to charge me $20 to bury it. He then proceeded to totally destroy our yard, by digging a foot wide ditch to bury his 1/4 inch cable! It wasn't even straight, and he made a huge mess! My husband was furious when he got home and saw the front yard all torn up!

Also, Before the installation, he handed me a program card showing the channels we were to receive. I looked it over and even commented to him that my husband was really looking forward to getting SPEED channel on that package. The installer agreed that it was a great channel to have, never telling me that the program line-up had changed, and that we would not be getting that channel, as shown on the program card he had just given me! He finished his installation and said it may some time to download everything from the satellite, but that it was now working.

In the next few days we discovered that we did NOT have SPEED channel, nor several others that were listed on our program card. I sat down one night and found about 12 channels on the card that we did not receive, but we could not afford to go up to the next program package.

In addition, my family complained EVERY time they turned on the Guide, because it is almost impossible to read! It is Tiny and Dark, and there is NO Way to change the view. (Customer service actually told me that it had already been upgraded to a larger font several months before!) Apparently they are catering to people with LARGE screen TVs and have put the rest of us by the wayside! At this point, we're all thinking we wanted to go back to DISH, but since we had 30 days, we decided to give it a real chance and see if we'd get used to it. We were getting about the same channels we got before the switch.

THEN came the last Straw... We got the First Bill! The bill was for $57.22! (That INCLUDED the $5 credit for the Bundle!) That was about $13.00 MORE than I was told it would be per month! I had one day left on my 30 day cancellation period, so I called to cancel immediately.

When I explained all of this to the CSR at DirectTV, his only explanation was that their programming line up had changed SEVERAL Months before, and they were working on getting the new cards out to everybody. He said I could go to their website to see the current line up. I told him that would not be necessary as there were too many reasons we did not like DirectTV and we just wanted to cancel. He said he was sorry, and then told me that I would be getting a bill for the remainder of the 12 month commitment! I said "Excuse Me?" He repeated himself, and I said, "No, my 30 days is not up until tomorrow." He said, "You only have 3 days to cancel." I said, "No, I was told 30 days." We continued to argue about it and he said that I would be getting a bill, and that if I didn't pay it, I would be sent to collections! What a Ripoff! There are SOOO many things wrong with this picture! I will fight this to the end, and I will spread my story EVERYWHERE, and WARN OTHERS... DO NOT TRUST DIRECTTV... DO NOT INSTALL DIRECTTV... Upon checking the internet, I have found complaint after complaint about this UNETHICAL COMPANY! Don't believe that just because You've heard the Name, that you can trust them! THEY HAVE GOT TO BE STOPPED! Anyone interested in getting together in a class action suit against DirectTV, please contact me at klward129@yahoo.com! SPREAD THE WORD! I certainly will.

Most unreasonable company I have ever been involved with. Have been customer for less than one year and FOUR dvr receivers have failed to operate properly. After waiting a week for the replacement equipment to arrive on FOUR separate occasions I canceled my service. Now they want their early termination fee. I have filed a complaint with the BBB but that's a waste of time. They just send your letter over to Direct tv and Direct tv says "The charges are valid" You never get the opportunity to speak with anyone except a csr that barely speaks English and has no authority to do a thing. Very POOR POOR SERVICE. Highly recommend going elsewhere.

How do I get out of this contract? My granddaughters can't get a cartoon channel to watch because I have not paid for that package. I do not cart for HBO. The package I have is P F V or sports... Music is another one I don't need. What I thought I was getting is totally different than what I expected. HELP... I would like to put together my own channels that we like that is not P F V sports or music. Will BE waiting on an answer. Sincerely Alice Bittle -[protected]. It is ok to talk to my daughter Liz Taylor. If I have to keep something I don't want I want a cheaper package and two rooms took out to save money. I would love to have Charter Cable back.

Direct tv has never lived up to the agreed upon billing.It was suppose to be the same amount for 1 yr. The second year to increase by $10. Because my first bill was in error I called. It was corrected. Every month since then I have had to call, because each month it increases. Now, because the bill is $40. more than I had agreed to I wanted to cancel the service. I was threaten with a $150. cancellation fee. Is there anyway out?

It took me over a month to get Direct TV installed due to the inept installers that would show up, wasting four hours of my time at each visit. To try to lure me into connecting, a "customer service" rep. offered me a credit at activation. The day the activation call came in, even thought we had the agent's employee number, Direct Tv claimed the call never happened and refused to give us any credit. And since they took a couple of days of deactivate the system, now they claim we owe them the early activation fee. Direct TV sucks! Don't even try to fool with them because their agents are rude and will not help you!

Based on my experience with Direct (stick it to you) Tv you are screwed. If you cancel they will charge you. If you dispute the charges they will send you to collections. The collection agency is pretty hardcore--3-4 phone calls to your home per day. You pretty much get in a spot that you have to pay or take them to small claims court which also cost you more money. I found it more than difficult to take on a giant corporation. Let me know if you hear of any attorney interested in a nation wide civil suit. You are not alone. The customer service there is absolutely horrible. Good luck

In 1991 I became a customer of Direct TV. At that time it was an excellent satellite service provider. A few years ago that all changed. On my bill I had noticed that rates were being increased by $3.00. That doesn't sound like much and I understand from time to time companies have to increase there rates. However, this became a six month practice with Direct TV. In the past two years my satellite bill increased by $15.00. The reason said Direct TV was due to the fact HBO increased their rate. I didn't have HBO. This past April I switched to Dish work and canceled my account with Direct TV. The rude agent informed me I could keep the equipment even tho I had bought the equipment and installed it myself. The agent also said a final bill would be sent. I asked the agent if my service wasn't prepaid a month in advance and he said it was and I had a credit of $14.95 which would be mailed to me in six weeks. That was two months ago. Since that time I have been called no fewer then four times offering me the world if I come back. Fat chance of that. This is a company you really need to take a hard look at before signing. Customer service doesn't exist. They could care less about the customer. With Dish network I have talked to some of the nicest customer service folks. Always had an answer for my questions the few times I have called them. For any considering a satellite service provider consider dish network and see what they offer. They are miles above Direct TV in both service and programming packages.

I canceled my service with Direct TV last week because I got married and moved in with my husband and today I found an unauthorized charge on my bank account, I don't even have direct pay with this company nor was I under a contract although they claim I was because they sent me a replacement for a faulty DVR which they say automatically extended my contract without my knowledge. They closed my complaint without contacting me and then they wrote on my account that I knew about the extension which was completely false. They then charged me an early cancellation fee and took the money out of my bank account without my knowledge or authorization. I believe this should be a criminal offense for them to take money out of my account without my authorization.

I totally agree. I had the same situation happen to me after canceling. I was told I would receive a final bill and could dispute the fee for early termination due to the fact I cannot have a dish in the New Orleans historical area. Instead I had a charge on my debit card. I never even had auto bill pay so they had to get the info from the card I had stored in their system to pay my bills online. I called them very upset and they are suppose to refund the money. We will see!

DIRECT TV SUCKS ! I won't bore ya ll with details but be informed that no matter what a Direct TV rep says... or charges you for upfront... you are entering into a contract and you WILL be charged an early termination fee! I will restate the obvious DIRECT TV SUCKS!

Go Cable!

I had one of their independent contractors tell me I would be reimbursed for the pole mount I need for line of sight. When contacting Direct TV to get this reimbursement I was told NO WAY and that Direct TV is not responsible for misinformation. I told this person that their contractors are their agents and what they do or say is Direct TV responsibility.

I have e-mailed Direct TV and am waiting to see what happens, if there is no response from them I will contact Consumer Affairs and file a complaint with the FCC.

I don't like being lied too.

As a senior needing to save on our bills i agreed to change to your TV services on the agreement that you would save me on our bill. I have tried to talk to someone on the phone that was helpful and have yet to find someone who knows a thing about anything about your way of doing business. We have been without a tv for five days and when i called they said they would send what we needed in a weak so by changing to your service i have been with out any tv. I don't want to be charged for service that i have not received but you can't find any one on the phone that knows a thing to help you out.

I was only charged a $99 installation fee by signing up for HD. After 2.5 months of crappy reception and very few channel selections I canceled the HD. I asked several times for a refund for the installation and for them to come get the HD receiver. The customer service reps. say I have to talk to the Installation Dept. After being transferred and on HOLD for a half hour, I emailed them only to get the canned response that it was TOO BAD. Is there an Installation Dept? I've never been able to talk to anyone... I now understand why the have to pay people $50 to sign up for Direct TV.

Now directtv.com won't even lets you register to make payments. What sort of idiot doesn't want to get paid?

In 2003 we purchased Direct TV for our new home. Sometime in 2005 we purchased a High Definition receiver, HDMI cable, and Plasma TV at Circuit City for our living room. The system worked fine until the living room receiver stopped working in May 2007. I called Direct TV and they sent a repairman on May 18, 2007.

They swapped the receiver that I purchased from Circuit City for a new Digital Receiver (1). The repairman took my old receiver I purchased from Circuit City with him. I was not home while the Direct TV rep was there, so signed nothing. When we sat down to watch the system later that evening, we discovered that the picture was going in and out constantly. I called Direct TV service and was informed that we probably got a bad receiver. They shipped another receiver(2) out for me to replace manually, and also asked that I return the defective receiver (1). After about a week I received the replacement receiver(2) and installed it only to find that it had the same problem as the receiver (1) before. I shipped the prior receiver(1) back anyway…

Once again I called Direct TV service. After being transferred several times I was finally told that the HDTV receivers would not work until they created a software repair patch. I asked when that would be and was told that he did not know. I told him that we could not go on with no TV forever and certainly there must be a solution. He said I could upgrade to the DVR HDTV receiver if I would be willing to pay the shipping charges. I was not happy that I had to pay to fix DIRECT TV’s problem, but did so anyway. About a week later Direct TV arrived with the DVR receiver(3). After discussing our prior problems he informed us that the DVR receiver would have the same problem. The repairman said there was no reason to install it so he did not.

I called Direct TV once again to see if perhaps they had the software fix. They did not and still did not even have a date. I told him I would simply have to cancel the account. They transferred me to someone in the cancellation department who was extremely rude. He said he would charge us the early cancellation fee for the receiver (1) that was installed May 18, 2007. He said it was not Direct TV’s problem that it would not work with my TV. I told him to cancel the account and absolutely not to charge me for canceling a receiver THAT DID NOT WORK. Also, I told him to send me the return forms I needed to send back the 3 year old bedroom receiver and the 1 month old defective receiver.

After not receiving the forms I called several times requesting them only to be told they had been shipped and to call back if I didn’t get them in a week. I never received them.

On July 17, 2007 I discovered that Direct TV without my permission… charged $324.45 to my bank account on June 16 for canceling the defective receiver (1). Also, Direct TV charged another $280.92 without my permission on July 9 for not returning the receivers.

I sent an email to Direct TV and received the following reply:

Response (Rebecca T) 07/17/2007 06:05 PM

Dear Mr. Putnam,

Thanks for asking bout your DIRECTV account summary. I would like to apologize for this inconvenience but please know that under the terms of the DIRECTV Customer Agreement, when your DIRECTV service is canceled all outstanding charges are billed to the credit card you provided to us when you activated your account. The Customer Agreement is available online at directv.com/agreements. Please see the “Payment Upon Cancellation” section for more information.

Also, I have now forwarded your email to the appropriate department and our service specialist will get in touch with you regarding the return kits. Thanks again for writing and we hope to hear from you again.

Sincerely,

Rebecca T
Employee ID #[protected]
DIRECTV Customer Service

Obviously, Direct TV was not concerned that they had taken money from my account without my permission nor that it was for a receiver that did not work and was returned.

Since the email did no good, I called and spoke with Amy [protected]. Amy said she could only send the problem to another department that would get back to me in about 7 days. However, she did discover that the receiver return forms were sent to Richland, Ms. The address on our Direct TV account which is correct is Brandon, Ms. That guy in the cancellation department showed me! He sent the return forms to the wrong address knowing that my account would get hit for even more money if I could not return the receivers!

I asked for a supervisor and finally she complied. I then spoke with her supervisor Cat [protected]. Cat told me that she understood my problem and would be upset as well. She said if it were up to her she would refund the amount TAKEN from my account immediately. She said they had received many complaints from other customers since Direct TV started the policy of hitting customer bank accounts without permission in April 2007. I explained to her that no representative of Direct TV EVER told me of the new policy of taking funds without permission and that I had signed nothing giving Direct TV permission to draft my account. Direct TV had my card information only because I used it to make one time account payments myself online.

They are ripe for class action.

Do not give them your credit card number because they will charge you for items & issues that you are not responsible for. Direct tv is a big scam.

Direct tv was more like direct problems. The system never worked properly. I called and called and called... And many times my calls were ignored. The few times that a repairman was sent out, the problem was not fixed. When i had to move out of state, i called for a disconnection. In doing so, they charged me excessive fees for an early disconnect. I told them that i would be more than happy to take the system with me if they could fix it. Everytime the repairman came out, they could not fix it but they charged me just the same.

I was looking to try HD Programing and had heard Direct tv had a good deal, WRONG! I was unsure if I would like DirectTv service so when I ordered, I asked the Rep. " if I don't like the service, How long will I have to cancel" I was told I had Three (3) days.

So I made a date to have DirectTV installed and the tech showed up late, I had to supply a post and help dig a hole to mount the dish, Tech did a lousy install job, didn't hookup everything, then told me that some items would not work properly, finally 4 hrs later I got to watch tv, I was dissatisfied with quality and sound, so decided I would opt out. I called the next day and canceled my service. I unhooked receiver and put back in original box, hooked up my old system, now it gets bad, I check my banking statement and DirectTV has already taken out $212.43 for receiver, $80.30 for 1st month service. I figured I would get some or all of that back, because I had canceled in the alloted time. Then 10 days later DirectTV takes out another $290.07 for early cancellation, so now I'm out $582.80 for less then 2 days of mediocre service, so I call DirectTV for an explanation and was told that I had canceled before the agreed upon term of service, so I related what I was told when I ordered the service about having 3 days to make up my mind to keep or cancel and then I was told that as soon as you make the order, you're committed. I called again and was told basically that I was out of luck. I'm upset and still looking for a settlement of some sort and searching other avenues of getting some results.

My advice, DO NOT TRUST DIRECTTV,THEY ARE LIARS AND CHEATS!

I am having a similar problem with Direct TV. We canceled our service in May 2007. At that time we had a credit on our account of over $200. They said we would be refunded that money but as of August 2007 we still have not received any payment. I have made a half dozen phone calls in which I get apologies but NO REFUND. Does any know a number to call (other than the normal customer service) to get help?

Don't ever give Direct TV a credit card or checking account number. I just canceled my service and they charged my account without any notice or approval. Their so called Customer Service is non-existent. They have to pay people $50 to subscribe. When I canceled my service, they offered me $150 to stay. I told them I wasn't a [censored] and to keep their money. I quit for valid reasons and if I wanted to stay I would.

Canceled my direct tv due to a move after serving my one year contract and just found out they have been billing me for the past few months and taking directly out of my bank acct. They claimed I had a two year contract for which that was not true. I have since canceled once again but they are not refunding my 500 bucks so I guess I have to sue their sorry a**es...

I have had issues with both online and over the phone. Their refer a friend is a big line of B.S. I referred 2 people and they are claiming you have to use a special number to get credit. They gave me the freaking number and I still have not got credit. I have spent 4 hours dealing with these lousy english speakers today. I hate these deceptive liars and that get their ### sued off of them. If any one gets a class actions suit together sign me up.

In 2003 we opened an account with Direct TV. We were very dissatisfied and canceled our service. Then we were charged for something we shouldn't of been and refuse to pay. Keep this in mind, a week after we got our account my brother also got an account. When he called and gave his name and social security number their system kicked it out because he had one digit wrong. So it is suppose to be impossible to get an account if the social does not match the name. July of this year my husband was arrested on an old warrant for obtaining something under someone else's social. Come to find out our account had been in my husband's name but another man's social security number. After days and days of trying to contact someone we finally talked to a woman named Rebecca in their fraud department. She cleared the account of fraudulent activity but refuse to give a letter stating that it would be a liability because they cannot say for sure that my husband didn't do this on purpose. Even though their system is suppose to prevent something like this. If we wanted to obtain an account and make someone else liable for it then why in the world would my husband use his real name. Still have not got anywhere with them for a solution. Any suggestions would be great but the only thing we can think of is to hire a lawyer. Also if you ever get a chance to talk to Rebecca in the fraud department, find a really high bridge and jump off.

I was referred by to direct tv its cheaper than digital cable but not that much cheaper. The only good thing i can say are the channels are a lot clearer. I was just installed on 8/31/07 with 1 room install with some of the worst contracted techs i have ever seen I took them 4 1/2 hours to install 1 room with a dvr (i should of kicked them out at that time) and them come to find out it was installed incorrectly with dvr need to have 2 cable lines from dish I only have 1 so I cannot record 2 programs nor can i recored 1 show while watching another I called the customer service and i tell you they are the worst customer service dept i have experienced I called 5 times and was able to speak to reps they always transfered me to the install dept then i would get disconnected after calling 5 times and waiting 20-25 min to speak to someone I decided to email them. i did get a email received notification that someone will cal me in 24 hours guess what that never happened... then when i finally got through after the automated system kept confirming an appt that took place on 8/31 and today is 9/4/07 i was able to speak to a rep that told me they can send another tech out in 1 week to correct the installation but there would be a 49.95 fee i had to pay over the phone with cc or debit card? Yeah right no stupid written on this forehead then i tell her why do i have to pay fee if wasn't installed correctly she says that because of my information i have to pay the fee (what information) name, address... I asked for a supervisor and this woman comes on the line who says she a super however when i told her as well i am not paying the fee she asks to put me on hold to see if she can waive the fee (ummm your a supervisor you should be able to make that decision at that point... i tell you i am at the point where i will cancel and go elsewhere term fee or not... we as subscribers pay their salaries if we don't pay they don't get paid they shouldn't be allowed to treat people this way and they need to be stopped.

I am so furious and upset with direct tv... not even sure where to begin. I have waited 2 weeks for service to be installed and have talked to 15 people (2 of which claimed to be supervisors) about all my problems. I was misinformed about the receivers that I had requested, misinformed about HD local channels being available in my area. I called and ordered a promotion for new customers switching to direct tv and was told that I didn't qualify because it was for existing customers only... not according to the brochure I received! I have been told different things by 15 different people... asked to speak to a supervisor and you get transfered to spanish, placed on eternal hold, or hung up on all together. I have been waiting for 2 and a half hours now on a supervisor to call me back. Big surprise he didn't call like he said he would. I hate this company and will never never recommend it to anyone! Beware you don't get a thing that is promised to you by their ads, reps, or their supervisors!

We ordered a Direct Tv package. They brought the wrong package and after many phone calls they refused to bring and install the correct package. So we canceled within the three days you are allowed and sent the equipment back. The following month our account was charged and the installation fee that was supposed to be free was also stolen from our account. We never signed anything or authorized our account to be charged. I have called numerous times over the past 3 months and am still waiting for a refund check.

Direct Tv is a lousy company. They are deceptive in their advertising and their customer assistance is no assistance at all. I would strongly recommend not using them.

Same situation with the unauthorized charge. We've been a customer for nearly eleven years, but we moved to a new city and decided not to continue DirecTv service. We closed the account and were thinking that we would just have to pay the last month's bill when we noticed an unauthorized charge for around $200. We called, and DirecTv told us that we were made aware of their policy (to withdraw such a charge upon the closing of an account) in our March 2007 bill, which to our knowledge is completely false. As a result of their withdrawal, our rent check bounced and we not only had to pay overdraft fees at the bank, but we would have had to pay late fees on the rent if our landlord wasn't so cool.

I'm very interested in seeing this new policy and whether it was indeed properly explained in the March 2007 bill. But even it it was, it boggles my mind that companies alter the original contract and somehow believe that the new contract is legally binding -- to the point they'll feel safe making unauthorized withdrawals from people's checking accounts. If someone borrows your lawnmower, and then they say they're moving in a few days, it's not legal to steal their car until they give you the lawnmower back. It may currently be legal for companies to do business such a way, but we need to petition to get that changed immediately. You shouldn't have to get legal advice to get television service.

To say nothing of the fact that over an 11-year period, we probably sent them around $20,000...

My Direct TV HD channels no longer work. Direct TV Tells me that I need to pay for a service call or buy their monthly service agreement before they will fix their faulty equipment. I asked them to just shut off the service and quit charging me the extra $10/month. They told me in order to do this they will need to recover their HD equipment, give me non HD equipment and extend my service agreement for another 2 years. I am sure their is another service charge involved, but I didn't bother to ask.

About 4 months ago one of their receivers failed. It was less than a year old. They told me the failure was a know problem they have been having with my model. They sent me a new one, told me their would be no charge. After I sent the old one back, they sent me a letter indicating my service agreement had been extended another 2 years because I had equipment replaced. I called them about it. They said it wasn't necessary and the extension would be removed.

When I called them yesterday about the new HD failure they told me my contract had been extended despite what their employee had told me and that there was no way for me to change the new extension without terminating my agreement and paying cancellation fees.

Why does this company now sound like a Mafia protection scam? Their equipment fails, then the only way to fix the service being paid for is to extend contract. Considering the rate of failure of their equipment this could go on forever.

I have subscribed to DSS for over 17 years (6 months after it started). Any little problem we have had has been solved with patience. We have used it at home, in our motorhome and at a home in Mexico. Of course we do all the hardware work ourselves. It seems that many problems are with the contracted installers rather than DSS.

People who cannot do some of the work themselves probably should stick to cable. We will keep our DSS.

they are the worst for cuatomer service> i can't wait till my contract runs out. Our service has not worked for more than two weeks since we've had it.

I terminated my services with Direct TV due to bad service, once I disconnected direct tv, they charged me a termination fee of $125.00, which I sent a check to them immediately, but direct tv went into my bank account and withdrew the $125.00 three times creating a overdraft, when I called customer service, I was told it would take 6-8 weeks before I could be sent a refund check, I asked to speak to a supervisor and was put on hold for almost and hour before I eventually hung up. I ended up calling my bank and having my debit card changed. The bank also canceled one of the unauthorized payments, then after direct tv debited my account three times, they tried to cash my check, this is the one the bank canceled. Horrid, Horrid, people!

I cancelled my brothers directv account, and they debited my husbands debit card without permission. This is causing problems with our bank account, as we didn't have the money to pay his bill. We gave no permission for this to be done. They say it is in their user agreement, however, how can it be? How can they debit someone elses card without permission for an account that isn't theirs. They say they did this because this is the card on file when the account was opened. That is not true, I opened this account for him, and several times paid the bill online with my husbands debit card, after my brother gave the money for it. So it isn't true that this is the card the account was opened with, but they did have access to the number because it had been used previously. This however did not give them permission to debit this account whenever they chose. They said this policy went into affect recently, April 2007 I believe, and service was started over 2 years ago, so how is it possible that this was agreed to? I find it impossible that this could be legal, with debit cards being connected to bank accounts, that charge fees for insufficient funds, how can they randomly charge amounts without permission causing undo financial harships. As of now I am trying to come up with a way to find the money taken, so that my car payment doesn't bounce, and a few other little things, don't cost me $34.00 per item. This is wrong and shouldn't be allowed to go on. I will participate in a class action, they have already had a couple for other poor business tactics. I have reported this the the BBB & FTC, any other places to complain?

Directv stole $605 out of my bank account. I am completely broke now without even money to drive to school on this week. They say I signed authorization for this atthe time of installation, but since this policy took place in the spring of 2007 and I have had service since the summer of 2006, I'm not seeing how this is possible. I also do not receive paper bills so I was not given notice through the mail. I plan to sue to make a point.

My complaint is this I got behind on my bills and direct tv was cut off. However, since then I lost my home as well. I had to move in with my mother along with my thre children age 2,2,4. I am a single parent working at baptist hospital in cafetia. The reason why I am writing tou is this on September 17, at 545 I spoke with your resprentive at your company removing money out of my checking account with out mypermission which cause my more hardship. I told your represent that i was aware i OWE YOU THAT MONEY however I had to make a choice eating and roof over my head for my family. If you check my record I paid a desposit of fivehudred dollars down and it was no reason to remove that money with out my permission which will cause me to lose my only transportation to my job that I must be their at 0530 everymorning. Your company remove three hundred fifty nine dollars eight cent from my account which cause me and my children more disappointment. please put that money back in my acccount and please use my deposit for the raise of my bill and I will not used this this service again. My name Mya J Henry at 256 East 48th Street Jacksonville, Fl [protected]

I have the normal complaint that everyone else has, Diret TV expects me to pay for a service they did not deliver. I've had the service now for ten days and I've had minor problems poor reception and having to turn my receiver on and off to get signal again and on the eleventh day I completely lost service. I call customer support to have my service canceled do to they haven't let up to there part of the agreement. They tell me they could possibly have a tech out to fix the problem in as little as four days and due to the inconvenience they will not charge me for the days of lost service. I continue to tell them I want my service canceled. Then they tell me of course they can terminate my service, but there will be a $300 dollar cancellation fee for the two year verbal agreement I made on the phone. For one, since when did a verbal agreement over the phone from someone that barely speaks english become legally binding. Second, didn't they break the agreement first by not offering the service that I was told I was getting.

Beware!