DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

I had DirectTv in 2001 or 2002 & they SUCKED big time then too. They would send me a bill & after I paid it I would come home a day or two later & my service would be off. When I call & inquire about this they would tell me my bill was overdue & they need the payment for the next month in order to cut back on my service not to mention service was the worst. So I also cancelled. They sent me to collections but I refused to give them any more $$. Well now that time has run out for them to collect they are actually offering me 3 months free plus installation. Humph I wouldn't take them up on their offer if the service was free forever!
DirectTv has grown worse & I'm only happy I caught them in the beginning of their BS because taking $$ from someone's account without their permission & causing a dominoe effect to spiral out of control is ridiculous!

I would sue them also, start your own class action suit!

well Now I see a pattern. Unkept promises. I was informed that when we purchased our HD TV in 2005 we could get HDTV through Direct for an additional $9.95 per month. Excited we were. One of the first in our Hood to have HDTV, well March 01, 2009. I had a tech come up for an upgrade per everyone at my work said, "you need to up grade or you are going to lose your HDTV channels. CHANNELS? what are you talking about? Tech comes and I have TV on I mentio to him about having HD TV he took one look at the Show I was watching and said HUmmmmm. he went out side Looked at my dish came back in and said, "it is impossible for you to be getting HD, you do not have the right DISH. I asked what are you talking about I have been paying for HD for almost 5years. He chuckled, hooked up our new equiptment turned TV on and said this is HDTV and here are some HDTV channels, Apparently when the last tech came, they just replaced the reciever nothing else. SO low and behold I am trying to get a 5 year refund out of this company. Wish me luck

Contact your bank, file a fraud complaint. Tell them that you did not authroize the withdrawl..Play it cool, and they will give you back your money. It worked for me.

My husband cancelled our account due to the fact that he is leaving to afghan in a matter of days.. and we got charged even though we had orders... they charged our account several times in the past three days and we keep getting the run around talking to all different representatives. I'm trying to find the phone number to corporate.

I agree with all the above... subscribing to Direct TV was one of the worst decisions I have ever made. My complaint is that their advertising says 12 months for $29.95. Three months into the service my bill jumbed to over $50.00. When I asked what was going on... I was told that the HD receivers was only free for the 1st 3 months. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau but all I got was jaw service. Unlike some of the above complains though, I intend to start writing letters to our elected leaders and our news media regarding Direct TV's deceptive practices (and cc'g Direct TV's Board of Directors) and possibly filing a claim in small claims court. It appears that Direct TV has a management team that puts profits and short term gains above the long term viability of the company. Their advertising borders on the edge of fraud. It's this type of management that has put the United States in the economic delima we are all paying for now... CEO's making short term decisions so they can cash in on their management bonuses. I really wish someone would start a class action suit against them. My suggestions to anyone thinking about subscribing to Direct TV... "DON'T"

I have a contract with Direct TV. I am moving in with my boyfriend that also has Direct TV. But because I am under contract, they want to charge me $400.00 to cancel it. My boyfriend checked into moving my account to his home, but as it turn out, he is under contract as well. So I am stuck paying for a TV service that I will not be watching.

i had a problem like this, but it was the billing dept. that caused the problem, i refused to make payment of $500.00+ for a bill that i never recieved, infact i never recieved any bills until DTV wanted $500.00+ while i only had services for 30 days. I returned the equipment they installed, and that reduced my bill to $35.00, i still refuse to pay since the entire problem was caused by thier billing dept..I did pay for the tech to install the equipment before hand..This company is pulling a huge SCAM and they're getting good at it!

When I lived in NY I paid my direct TV bill through Verizon, my phone carrier. Well they have continued to pay my bill even though I dont have them anymore, and am now living in NC, which they have been notified to over and over. So I am paying my direct tv bill and so is Verizon and Verizon charges it back to Direct tv.

Since November I have been calling up and telling Direct TV this, and they take the charges off. Well Verizon just adds them on again. The last time, In February, Direct TV told me, there wasnt anything I could do, they were disconnecting my service unless I paid 5 hundred and something dollars. So I said screw this, Im switching to Dish Network.

And I did.

Well tonight I called and cancelled my Direct TV service and they tell me to cancel, its 19$ a month termination fee, for the remainder on 2 years for a service agreement.

When I moved here in Nov, they told me I get a free DVR included in the movers package, I said great. They dont tell you there is a 2 year service agreement, and early cancellation is 19$ a month.

So now I have a 400$ cancellation bill.

Is that allowed?

I asked to talk to a supervisor, I was on hold for 30 minutes before I hung up. Once you cancel their service they dont give a bleep about helping you.

The best part is, they charge your card "automatically" when the cancellation goes through.

I never signed anything going along with this "service agreement" and I never was told about this. I said to the man on the phone "I shouldnt be charged for something I wasnt told about" I asked "When do you inform people of this" and his response "Right before they cancel"

Are you KIDDING ME?

Not only is Direct TV one of the worst companies to deal with in terms of service- they are rude on top of that. When our receiver stopped working (after 5 months) we had to PAY for shipping for a new one. When I asked the customer service rep why I would have to pay when I was renting their receiver she simply said that "it was very hard to understand if I didn't know how it worked." She also told me that she could see how, "it is frustrating to people who cannot afford it." It was not that I couldn't afford it- just that I didn't understand their justifications for making me pay. They are THE WORST!

ENtirely agree, [protected]%

I am a witness, you are so right! They charged me for some junk PPV movies that I didn't order or watched

Was told we would receive cable for 29.99 for twelve months. Received first bill and was charged 55.99 called and was told the 29.99 would be reflected on next billing. Received next bill and talked to 5 different customer service people and was told needed rebate which we were never told about and that it was too late to get rebate after we had made many calls. If you are told 29.99 a month for twelve months then they should honor that, but no they are not and we are being billed 55.99. Because I had a fit they said they would bill me next month a credit for 15.00. That is unfar advertising practices if they wont honor what they advertise.

This was my letter to direct Tv after the worst customer service i have ever received.

I have been a direct tv customer for about five years now. I have enjoyed my programing and have had no complaints till today. Just to give some background information... i had a regular DVR receiver and called to upgrade to an HD DVR receiver. When the service technician arrived he had a work order that was wrong. It was an order for a regular HD receiver and a relocation of our other receivers. While the technician was here i called to have the work order revised to make sure it was correct. The technician spoke to the customer service representative and had the order changed. He began to do the instillation of what i believed was an HD DVR receiver. Turns out it was only an HD receiver. I didn't realize this till the next day when i tried to program the receiver to record a show. So i called back today and spoke with a customer service representative who informed me that it is my responsibility to make sure that the technician was installing the right equipment and took no responsibility for the error that was made. I was then informed that if i wanted to receive the HD DVR that i would have to pay the full price of another instillation and full price for a HD DVR. I asked if that meant i would be refunded for the services and HD receiver that was wrongfully installed in the first place, i was told that they couldn't do that. So they want to charge me for HD DVR upgrade, instillation, shipping and handling of the new HD DVR equipment and will also be charging me for the wrong HD receiver, instillation, and shipping and handling from the receiver that was installed less than 24 hours ago. I had asked to speak with the supervisor who reinforced that it was my fault that i let him install an HD receiver (which i believed was an HD DVR receiver at that time). He was extremely rude and demeaning. I have never felt so disgusted with any customer service experience as i had been today. I got off the phone in tears because of the treatment i received. This doesn't reflect the customer promise that i feel you would like your company to be know for.

CUSTOMER PROMISE:
We strive to deliver the best television experience for you every day.
Committed to the principles of honesty and integrity, our employees are determined to provide you with prompt, courteous and excellent service.
We promise to do our best to resolve any issues that might arise as quickly as possible. And we will continue to develop the unique, innovative programming and services that you have come to expect and enjoy from DIRECTV.

I feel very taken advantage of right now by individuals who claim to share your views on customer satisfaction but clearly do not. I hope that this is not a reflection of how you want your company to treat individuals, and that it merely just a few bad apples in the bunch. I hope you get back to me in regards to this matter. Currently there has be no resolution to the matter. Thank you for your attention. Please get back to me as soon as you can.

They're the most incompetent company with whom I've ever dealt. And, FYI, most of the people you speak with in Customer Service (ha, ha, ) are NOT Direct Tv employees! They're ALL subcontract!
Have personal friend who formerly worked for them so I have some "inside" scoop...(like keeping people on hold until they get tired of waiting and hang up the phone!)

Whenl we had direct tv set up they never told us we would no longer get picture in picture, and n0 tvo. We really liked those items on our 52 inch hd tv. If we would have been told that we would NOT have it installed. We want out of our contract.

I agree. I cancelled or let the service go (because my committment was now completed) because of the lack of customer service that we were receiving. It has been 6-8 weeks (their "processing" timeframe) almost 3 times now and we have yet to receive our check in the mail for our refund/credit after sending the equipment back with no restraint! I am upset because we have been getting the runaround since December when we exhausted our committment. Something needs to be done about this company and a proper investigation from their superiors need to be done! ASAP!

Direct tv will take your credit card info and store it without your knowledge if you complain they tell you to look at the terms of service, that is not a fixed thing and it changes it is not written in stone and you cannot be held to it the only legal document is the one you physically sign for service, if you have a problem you local attorney General can be a big help when it comes to Direct tv, they will back right down when you get the AG involved. If Direct tv has taken your debit of credit card info without your permission, you need to report them to the Federal Identity theft division, what they are doing is illegal and it needs to be stopped. A class action law suit might get their attention.
if you have been harmed by Direct TV either taking money out of your checking account or credit card charges you need to contact class action attorney . Their contract says that you agree to arbitration but the minute they do not follow the contract such as charging you account before you are late they effectively break their contract with you so the arbitration clause would be something for a class action judge to determine.

The first thing to do is change your bank account number, then change the number on any Credit/Debit cards so they have no correct number to charge anything.
Direct TV is a scam, I gave them 7 months to make my service work correctly, many service calls, change equipment, and equipment failure, and finally told them I quit, they say their cancellation fee is legitimate, and I must pay them, I said when you M...F...s send me a cancelment of all charges I'll return the boxes, they say NO WAY. I got the boxes, they got no money, I win. Go to court? I got video tape proof of the signal failures, the signal to noise reception was terrible. Constant interuption of reception as it went in to Screen Saver mode, over and over. I hope no one ever subscribes to Direct TV, if you even think about it DO NOT subscribe to Direct TV. I have put this on my website and other sites to warn people. It's companies like this that you see in the news, Irate customer shoots everyone in the company. Oh if only it were legal to do so. Direct TV and everyone in the company deserves this action.
They give American business a bad name.
Just search for Don Cordell on Google, you will know I mean business when you pick the first google result.
I will give you consumer protection to end this problem in America.

Dish network is just as bad. I had a dvr less than 3 months. Wouldn't work. the company that dishnetwork contracted with in ADA Oklahoma said that I would have to pay to get it fixed even though I didn't own the equiptment. Have kept all emails. Everyone should email company's instead of calling. Every time I talked to Dish it was always a different story. Had to move but kept going around and around with the comapany they contract with in ADA. Company would not retrun my calls. I had to go on to BBB to find the address to the company. Drove one hundred miles to take equipment back. They did not want to accept. Then they did not want to give me a receipt saying that I had returned it. Finally I get manager to give me a receipt (wasn't leaving without one) Asked about the early termination fee. Told not to worry that they would not charge. six months later my checking account bounces. The company in ADA had ran Charges of 400.00 through some other company they were affiliated with two months in a row. What a mess. Had to deny charges at bank cancel atm/check card etc. On top of all that Dish network also charged 180.00-200.00 early termination fee. THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR CONTRACTORS AND IT IS ALL CONTRACTORS. DIDN'T MATTER HOW LONG I HAD GONE AROUND AND AROUND WITH THIS COMPANY AND HAD THE EMAILS FORWARDED TO DISH. SO I WAS THINKING ABOUT DIRECT TV. hA HA

I am on your side regarding the complaint you have on Direct TV but I do not agree with you when you complained about the "squeeky females on the phone who speak in broken english." You see, I am a Filipina ( a female from the Philippines - by the way this is how you spell the name of the country), I have lived here in the United States for the past 20 years. When I first arrived here, I had a very thick accent but I never spoke broken English ( you need to capitalize the "E"), it sounded like broken English because of the accent but you know if you give those Filipinas the chance to write an essay, you will see that their grammar is better than yours. TRUE, they may have an accent but I know that the companies that hire these females only hire college graduates who are very well versed in the English language.

I just spent way too much time being bounced around from service representative to service reprecsentative. After getting ###, I was finally told that their rebate website is not working right, has not been working right, and they are not sure when it would work right. They would apply the rebate, but it would take 8 - 10 weeks. Yeah, guess we have to pay the higher price until they can figure out their mess.

Should have gone with Dish network.

This is a scam that Direct Tv does to everyone who upgrades to a different receiver like a DVR. They don't tell anyone that they need to cancel service to the receiver that they are replacing. When you catch the mistake they say you can only get credit for the pass 90 days. I didn't catch it over 2 years and when I called back to cancel my service because they had ripped me off it was only then they gave me one year of credit. This is surely happening to millions of people, and it is dishonest as hell.

i am completely dissatisfied with direct tv's sly way of handling their sales and billing. they do not tell you of all the hidden and automatic additions they have when you sign up. how can a company stay in business after bilking so many people in their sly underhanded way.
they give you 3 months of free movie with the promise of 6 more additional if you sign up now. i am not a movie fan so it doesn't really interest me, but to slyly automatically add the movie channels after three months without even be given a chance to refuse is awfully under handed business.
i was given a pep talk by a direct tv subscriber but i'll bet he didn't have his installation very long to find out all their charges. it's about time the government agency step in and control this cheating form of business.
also it would be a great help if you could call them and talk to someone who speaks english. after spending five minutes or so on the phone i finally had to give up and hang up, disgusted. told the girl i couldn't understand her and to transfer me to another sales rep. i hung up and called again but wound up with the same sales person and no satisfaction, hung up again, disgusted.

Happened to me, now they want to send me to collections.

I agree with you whole heartedly. I was a Direct TV consumer for 5 years. When I started out with them, my bill ran about $87. As of this month..which is the last month I'll be with Direct TV..my bill now stands at $147.00. This is with no extra subscriptions..no billing for pay per view..just the bill for my package that I've had since the beginning. When I asked they how they justify the 60 dollar raise over 4 years and 10 months..all I heard was silence.
Then all I heard was a bunch of "deals" come out of the customer service persons mouth to try and keep my business. Within the next 15 minutes..She had reduced my bill down to $110.00 for the next year. This is why I think they are crooks. To be able to just deduct 30 dollars just like that...makes me very suspicious.
Anyway, I'm done with Direct Tv...I know I'll miss some good sporting events they only have on Direct TV..but I can always watch them through pay per view.

Good luck with Direct Tv...your gonna need it.

Unclereeky

I bought the protection plan and when my dish was moved from a windstorm I encountered horrible customer service. Very rude people and was told that I have to wait 7 days until my dish can be fixed. Well it's spring break with my kids home and no TV. WONDERFUL! How dare they, you know if they have been even a bit nicer it wouldn't have seemed so bad but their rudeness was icing on the cake. Goodbye Direct TV Hello Cable!

I have only been a customer for two months, what a huge mistake to leave cable TV for Direct TV. They told me it would be cheaper, better quality and better customer service. I contacted the corporate office within one week to tell them I was disatisfied and I wanted out of the contract, they said it would cost me $480 because I signed a two year contract. I have 3 receivers, only one works, so now I pay 10 per month for NOTHING. I bundled Qwest, just like Directtv fancy commercials says and I pay MORE for LESS. I explained this to the IDIOT at the corporate office and she said that's because you have not gone on line and signed up for all your rebates. So I spent 1 hour on line, filling out the rebates and I still pay MORE than cable. Then they advertised the Sports package, so I called and added it, I pay 12.00 per month and all the Baseball games are BLACKED OUT. But I still get poker and bass fishing. I am selling a house in southern california and as soon as I get my equity check, I am dumping these ###s. I call the customer service at least one a week, dont get me started on that.

We have had Direct TV for just about 4 years now. I hae never had any trouble with them at all. That being said, I will keep my eyes open for sure and not use a Debit Card at all.

Oh listen to this one. I recently broke up with my boyfriend 5 months ago he had a direct tv account in his name. When I was with him I used my debit card one time to pay the bill for him. Well 5 months later i had a debit on my card for 432.00 I called them and told them it was my card they debited not his card that it was his account. I did all they told me to do faxing wait three days to prove it was mycard 15 days later nothing . I called them back and they told me I would not receive a refund. So I called to the corparte office of the CEO Mr. Chase Carey310-964-5000 and talked with one of his officers and they gave me the same story. They also told me they could not get intouch with the finace office and could not help me, can you belive it the CEO's personal office could not help. What lies I am so upset. I have my bank fighting for me now. I am so fustrated. This makes me sick...

Cindy, I truly hope that my email to you helps. Like I said if you have any other questions please feel free to email me back.

I HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT LIED TO, DISCRIMINATED AGAINST AND THE AMOUNT OF THEFT OF THE SERVICES. THIS COMPANY IS POOR, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A DISCRACE, THE MANAGERS ALL SHOULD BE FIRED, THEY SAY THEY PROVIDE SERVICES WHICH THEY DONT, THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES TO GET A SERVICE CALL IS OUT OF CONTROL.

6 TECHNICIANS LATER AND MY SERVICE IS STILL NOT WORKING. THEY ARE UNBELIEVABLE.
TOTALLY DISSATISFIED.

Early termination just Got me as well. At no time when signing up for the direct TV service was I told that I was signing a 2 year commitment. When I decided to cancel my service they hit me with the early termination fee. I called them up and asked them where they got the authorization to charge my account. They said I agreed to the 2 year commitment when I excepted the DVR installation. I said nobody had either mentioned nor implied a commitment when ordering the service and I never verbally or written agreed to those terms. I also asked them to furnish my written signature or a verbal recorded commitment where they clearly notified me of the 2 year term and I accepted. They said it's not there responsibility to prove it. I then notified them that it is there responsibility to prove that there credit charge is valid and that if they can't prove it to me they won't be able to prove it to the credit card company and they will be forced to refund the charges. They said that the installer has you sign a sheet. I said then you can provide me with a signed copy. They informed me that the sheet signed was from a 3rd party company and if I wanted a copy of it I would have to go after them. I informed them that they would need to get it to prove the charges validity anyway when I dispute the charges. There response was complete indifference.

Sounds like others have disputed the charges and got there money back from the credit card company, however they where still hit with collections, bad credit marks on there credit report or lawsuits that obligate them to pay the collection company services. I can't believe that this craps can happen, but who has the money and time to fight this criminal. Our law enforcement spends all there time chasing criminals that steal candy bars from convenience stores, however Direct TV can steal hundreds of Millions of dollars from honest consumers and nobody comes down on them. That is ridiculous! I'm all for a class action lawsuit, but you need an angry rich person to get it started. They no that they could beat 99% of there disputers into submission long before it ever goes to court.

No offense, but all of the complaints stating that Directv "Stole" money out of your account, or that it wasn't authorized are WRONG. When you initially sign up with Directv you give them a credit card file whether or not you are paying for something at the time, this does 2 things verifies that the info you have given them is correct, and puts a credit card in your file, so that in the event that a customer's agreement/contract is terminated the company will still receive the money that you basically promised them when you signed the agreement. Anything and everything I read on this particular complaint is covered in the Directv agreement that was signed the day of installation. How is any of this Directv's fault when they handed you the information (in the form of an Agreement) and you chose to disregard it, and now everyone is playing the victim and Big Bad Directv is out to take all of your money.

One thing that I do want to clear up is that a CSR in no way benefits when you account is hit with a termination fee, so for no reason other than mistake would they provide you with false information or make a mistake on your account. Every conversation is made note of in Directv's internal system, so if false information is provided or a mistake is made the correct person is liable for their actions, help me to understand why they would intentionally get themselves in trouble.

Now for the comment above mine *Susan* She is the only complaint that I read that has reason.

I too, got the 2 year extended contract scam. After dealing with DVR reboots over and over, they sent a refurbished DVR and I still had the same problem. I called, cancelled the service, sent the DVR back, cancelled my credit card, went to Time Warner for cable and internet and canceled my home phone. Direct TV can't collect what they can't find.

It does stink that they cant get a tech out to your home for 17 days! If it really does take 17 days I would call Directv and ask that they prorate your bill for the month since it's their fault you can't use the service.

They falsely took $200 from my checking account, because they thought I moved, instead I had cancelled my service! They overdrew my account, and I have been calling and trying to deal with it since 4 months ago. Recently I JUST got them to admit that i DIDNT move at all... after all that, I STILL have received a refund, that was to be given 8 WEEKS later...yeah right! Not a penny... I am not rich and this was so unfair, I wish there was something that I could do against this seemingly unstopping conglomerate. AND the customer service sucked and they were so rude and clueless, I wanted to slap them. Any ideas how to get my "credit of $146.03" that shows up on my account, but will not ever turn into a real check? p.s. when i called to check on the status of my refund, they told me there was a $10.99 charge from a PPV movie I had rented that DAY! Can you believe it?
Shannon Hudson, Lake Helen, Florida

they stole 450 dollars from my chewcking just because i was a month behind and it got turned off and are giving me different amounts they will refund back and yesterday was told they would refund back 250 and today had no knowledge of this and said will refund back 172 instead these people are crooks i intend to notify all my friends maybe the ftc or the attorney general can help, any ideas?

Direct TV is a fleece and a con. A similar thing is happening to my parents. They signed a contract for a $34.99 package and are being billed for much more. And $64 something for "programming" when the contract says it was free.

I HATE DirectTv-- I have to call them every month to get my bill straightened out. They like to charge me for the NFL sunday package that I do not get and have told them I do not want. So when I call them they say they will credit my account they then shut my cable of and charge me partial month fees and reconnect fees.

I had to call three times today- twice i called the 1800 number on the bill-- I was hung up on both times and one of the reps refused to spell his name or give his id.

Then I looked online and called [protected] I asked the operator for Chase (Chase Carey is the CEO). I got patched through to someone named Wayne. Wayne gave me a lousy $10/mnth credit to my acct for the next year (my contract is up Oct 16th). I told him 2 reps hung up on me and he acted like he could care less, so I called him out on it. I told him how lousy the company is and that I wish I researched them before signing up. He said they are actually noted as having one of the best customer service departments-- so I asked him why he didn't even care to ask for the ID #'s for the reps that hung up on me... he had no answer other than oh, yea I am going to get that from you as well.

DIRECT TV is the worst company ever I cant wait until Oct 16th

You will never believe what Directv did to me! So me and my fiancee just move into our new apartment and decide that these jokers would be the best deal as far as programming goes. So we order and 3 days later get them to come out and install our service. Guess what; 2 days after that our satellite falls right out off the brick wall and is dangling and bashing the walls of the apartment building. I would also like to note it was sparking and hanging directly above a pedestrian sidewalk. This was not during any type of high winds or storms of any kind. We call Directv and tell them the situation. They told me no one could make it out for 3 weeks?! wtf, This is a major safety hazard! After several hours on the phone I finally said ### them and tried to cancel my service. They said ok but I would be charged $400.00 ###ing dollars as an early termination! Needless to say I kept the service and some one finally came 2 weeks later to correct the problem. I kept it until the date my contract was up and when I tried to cancel they wanted $300.00 for their dumb ### "early termination". I told them my contract was done and they informaed me that because they had to come out and fix a ### up that one of their installers made they had added an extra 8 monthes to my contract! I couldn't believe it! The customer service reps are some of the rudest mother ###ers I have ever dealt with. This is one big scam of an operation and I cannot believe they are able to get away with this. Sorry for the french but every time I think of these scam artists I fill with rage. To anyone ever thinking of getting Directv don't do it! They will take your money and time and leave you angry with the worst channel line up you could imagine. Stay away! I would file a lawsuit against them in a heartbeat. One more thing; when I payed the termination fee I asked when someone would be out to take down the dish they said I own it so I need to figure out how to get it off the building myself. They will also extend your contract for any reason without you knowing it. Your bills will always fluctuate usually higher than expected every month. When you ask why not one of those rude idiots can give you an answer. Im done ranting just stay far away from directv.