DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

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 I told them, I upgraded their outdated receiver..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

DO NOT! I REPEAT DO NOT sign up with DIRECT TV. We used their service for approximately three years and cancelled our service this past April. Yesterday, August 3, 2009, FOUR months after the cancellation, they billed our credit card 71.00$, for a PPV event that happened TWO YEARS AGO. According to them, they said we never paid for the event. We told them that our bill was always payed on time and there was never any indication that we did not pay for the event. I cannot explain how livid I was and still am. We told them it was unethical, and that we will be contacting the FFC and anybody else who will listen for this flagrant act otherwise known as STEALING!. These guys are ###. I will never do business w/ them again. EVER. Buyer beware!

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

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

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

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

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

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

I totally agree with you. Has anyone been able to file anything against Directtv for what they have done? have you ever gotten your money back for it?

Do not sign up with direct tv.
I did, i am sorry i ever did. I knew it was for two years. I recently canceled my service. and was told i have to pay 300.00 for early cancelation. I put my two years in, but I upgraded a box from standard to HD that adds two years. never was explained to me when I tried to order it.
Their service blows. they try to nickle and dime you for everything. stay the hell away from them.

I would like to know the answer to this question also. I am having problems with the local channels also and I live in Iowa. I wish we could get broadband out in the country.

I paid a bill for a friend of mine because his new Visa card had not arrived yet. The contract was signed between him and Direct TV. Well, low and behold, July 4, 2009, I checked my bank account and found it to be overdrawn. Upon contacting my bank, they informed me that DTV had taken $453.87 out of my account. Now anyone who has had any dealings with DTV knows that the only person you can talk to is some service associate who cannot tell you anything except that you have to FAX your complaint to an 800 number and wait for the "Review Board" to investigate your complaint. In the meantime, my bank account is now overdrawn and is continuing to acrue overdraft fees. To make a long story short, I could not get anyone to talk to me on a corporate level except the post office box that I had to also send my correspondence to. I eventually sent my complaint to Fox4 News here in Fort Myers and finally had results. This process however, took a full month before I was refunded my $453.87 plus my overdraft fees which amounted to $264.00. My question is this. How can Direct TV go into someone account and just take their money without authorization? Is this what they call fraud?

This company should be brought up on charges. I am certainly not the only person this has happened to and surely, not the last. BEWARE OF DIRECT TV!

Donna
Fort Myers, FL

I had Direct Tv set up to automatically get paid on the 4th of the month or after. This worked for a year or so and suddenly I got disconnected for non pay. I called to see and the problem was they started trying to get the money on the 1st of the month. My check doesn't go into the bank until the 3rd. They said I owed them over $1200.00 dollars. For about 12 months, they not only didn't get thier money, they failed to notify me of the problem, they also continued my service for this long period of time without resolving the problem. I asked them to discontinue my service right then and I would go else where for service and by the time I got off the phone with them my service was back on even though I asked them to discontinue it. A month later they turned their service back off and sent me a bill for over $1200.00. This issue remains to be resolved.

If you want to take legal action look up (your state name) attorney generals office call the attorney general in your state and explain exactly what Direct TV has done... by contacting the attorney general they will take care of everything for you so you don't have to do anything except fill out the form he (or she) sends you and send any and all info he (or she) asks for

and believe me i KNOW for a fact what you guys/gals are saying is true cause they tried to pull that crap over on me but it didn't work out the way they planned cause i refused to pay it and i told the bill collectors that it was Direct TV's responsibility not mine of course they didn't take the money out of my cc like they have done others probably a good thing too lol

Crooks!

I have been a Direct TV customer for over 8 years. I have had problems with reception for over a year. Their techs told me they cannot find a "line of sight" to get reception for my dish, so I need to cancel and find another provider. Comcast can fill that need. I called Direct TV to take back their dish, cables, etc. They told me tonight that they will not remove any equipment for me--or even help me identify Direct TV cables that are strung all around my house so I can remove them myself. Although I am still paying for service and pay extra for their "protection plan, " they will not send a tech over to help me identify their products for removal. They told me to hire someone myself and pay for it myself. BUT, if they don't get their HD receivers back, they are going to charge me for anything I don't mail back. They refused to tell me the address of the local affiliate so that I can work with them directly. William, Tech #1828, refused to send me an email to confirm our conversation, tell me his full name, tell me his location or help me in any way resolve these issues. I did not want to cancel Direct TV, but clearly they do not want my business.
DO NOT BUY DIRECT TV SERVICE if at all possible. They screw you on the front end and the back end. Hmmmm.

Direct Tv charged my credit card without ever telling me. I cancelled my service and they charged my credit card $312.46 without my approval. I was never notified of this charge. I only found out they had done this AFTER i got my statement. This was faurdulent billing.

I had DirectTV installed January 30, 2009, as of today, still it is not working. I have gone a total of 65+ days with no TV, but still I am expected to pay my monthly bill, not complain, wait for 3 weeks for the next individual to come and repair what the previous individual has done, one blaming the other and yet I have no TV - I have not been able to watch any news programs, listen to any music, I have never be able to get all the channels that come with my package. So when I finally called in after yet another day of no TV - I am walked through the process of can you check this for me, and check that and by the way, turn it off and then turn it on, reset the red button, and they do not listen to me, I have no TV - all I get is 'searching for satellite'. Now, I call yet again, and still I get nothing, I am asked again where is your dish located, how many cables do you have, are they connected, and the list goes on and on, after using 45 minutes of my cell time, finally I give up, I am told to wait for 3 weeks to have a service individual come and look at it (again!); when I let him know this is unacceptable, why am I being charged the full amount when I have yet to get one full month of service that I ordered in the beginning. So I am transfered to another department, oh yeah, I am going to get a $15 credit for going without TV for 3+ weeks, out of a 4 week period. Is this fair, I lost it and yet they don't get it. I wanted to cancel, and yet I am told I have to pay a penalty fee, why do I have to pay any penalty fee when I signed a contract for services I have yet to receive. If you are thinking of getting Direct TV - be prepared to get ripped off, to be treated with disrespect, to pay for services that you will never get, and to have service individuals in your house once a month blaming each other for poor work.

I had Direct TV installed and I misunderstood the advertisement and I returned the receiver to Direct TV. By signing for the installation they say I agreed to a two year contract and charged my Mastercard $459.64 cancellation fee. Direct TV was installed on June 21 and cancelled on June 23rd.

I cancelled my service because I am unemployed. I called 3 times to verify that I had fulfilled my agreement and was told yes. On the day that I cancelled they tried to give me a one time credit, which I declined. No one ever shared until after I decided to cancel that a new DVR box that was added extended my contract for 2 years. A friend had paid my bill a few times online so they went into his account and took the money for the final bill. I attempted to dispute, but the small print advised that his card would be used if the service was cancelled before the end of the contract. I tried speaking with DirecTv to no avail. This is a RIPOFF. Adding another DVR box was more money for them There should be a low against companies extended your contract when you add additional equipment. I am telling everyone thata will listen not to get DirecTv service. If a customer cannot afford to pay the monthly charges, how can they pay an early termination fee. I am sure this economy is making a lot of people rethink their priorities and DirecTV is a luxury.

I just received a $1, 000 + invoice from dtv for "non-returned dtv equipment" (3 dvr receivers) after I cancelled the service on last month. I called dtv to explain that I owned the equipment which I think was purchased at Best Buy a few years back. The first person was very helpful and confirmed that I had not entered into any "program commitments" which typically would have a cancellation fee. The woman then transferred me to a very rude man that went on to explain that my purchase at Best Buy was merely an up-front lease payment and that dtv actually owned the equipment and that Best Buy was acting as a leasing agent for dtv. And I am now responsible to pay the "full purchase price" of the equipment if I did not return it to dtv. However the man confirmed that dtv did not furnish the equipment to me. And dtv is unable to provide me with any signed documents...such as a lease. The rude dtv rep stated that the invoice will go to collections and will also hit my credit. This is BS! Has anybody else heard of this scam?

In late March, 2009 ordered Direct TV and called to confirm and ask questions regarding Dish and installation date. I explained to them I wanted to get the HD satellite dish, but it would be about 1 month to finish getting the $$ together for the TV and I could only get the 4 receivers for now. We are seniors and we have to budget our money. They said no problem, I would still qualify for the $100 rebate, she even checked with her supervisor on it. They installed it on 4-03-09. I called again an ordered the 1 HD satellite dish for our new TV, paid approx $125.00 for it with credit card, and was informed that I would qualify for the $100.00 rebate offer since I was still considered a new customer. I was told the website to go to-print the rebate offer and send it in. I received a confirmation e-mail that it would take 6 - 8 weeks to process on Sat. Jun 23, 2009. I received a postcard on 7-9-09 that said I did not qualify for the rebate since I did not join with the requested new customer offer. I called Direct TV on 7-10-09 and was told that it was the wrong ID receiver number. He told me to call customer relations and so I called customer relations and talked to the lady who told me that the ID number has nothing to do with it. I had to order HD the very day I ordered the DirecTV. I first was guarantees the $100 rebate offer when I ordered it, I then was told it was wrong receiver number and then I was told Receiver number had nothing to do with it, I was not a new customer. This is out and out fraud, lying and deceiving the public. I am simply been harassed by them. Please stay away.

Direct TV is just plain bad. Fraud is unbelievable.

Arlene Horrigan

Yesterday I got screwed by Direct TV, yesterday I sent them to eat a load of ### by cancelling the service the same day of installation, today I filed an complaint with the FCC, Monday I am passing all the information I have onto my attorney, next week I am filing a lawsuit in District Court. These mother ###ers represent all the ### this country has endured before and after Enron, Madoff, AT&T, and all the corporate greed in America. Do you know why?, because we allow it to happen. See, they firmly believe they can scam us, and most recently the US gorvenment. They have gone to extremes to charge us for DTV (local digital TV) when it is free provided by the goverment. They don't charge a fee per se, but they will force you after the fact to get an HD converter plus $10 a month to view what is free digital TV that you can get with a $9 Walmart antenna. I got them to admit that they puporsely block the DTV transmission. Their reasoning is that they know that we are all heading out to get HD televisions, so at some point we will want to experience the wonders of these units, so they lure us into getting their services with no installation fees, not setup fees, no hassle no worries. They never tell us our $1500 HDTVs wont work with their service unless you upgrade after the fact. That's when you realize the scam and what it will cost you to do so. But wait, if you have an analog TV you picture quality will be as sharp as a mother ###er. Tha does not make any sense, does it?. So, $9 Walmart antenna+your $1500 HDTV unit=superb picture quality without Direct TV) on the other hand a $3000 (free to you) Slim Line Dish+your $1500 HDTV unit+ 3hrs installation=Analog quality, why would Direct TV do this. By now I think you know the answer. Please do not fall into this trap. If you do, know that you have 14 days to get out of it with no cost to you. By the way, they don't tell you that either. Good Luck !

So where is the fraud and cheating on Direct TV's part here?

took me 55 minutes, 6 people to talk to just to cancel my direct tv. had it installed june 2007, and was assuming my contract ended. but the first person I talked to said no, because of replacement receivers. I insisted it was replaced because of malfunctions, and i even have equipment insurance. Still, it took 6 people to repeat the same argument till i got it cancelled and confirmed that there will be no cancellation fee, which I am still going to find out later when the final statement arrives.

I had Direct TV installed and they installed the wrong DVR box, so i called and they said they would fix it, so they just needed $288.11 to order the box and my bank account would be credited in 24 hours, so its been 48 hours and they said the amount could only be credited back to my direct tv account, i want my money, they stated 24 hours not 48 and not back to my direct tv account, so far thier service sucks

Direct TV is the worst company anyone could ever deal with. They not only once excessively charged my bank account without my permission, they've done it twice. Once for $1400. and second for $321.23. They try to cover their actions by saying it's in the contract that they can access your bank account and credit cards for the monies owed for equipment. There are even fees for breaking their contract. The reps with customer service lie and say they will not go into your bank accounts or charge your credit cards unless you give them permission, then they do it anyway. They duped me into keeping their equipment because I did not want to pay the cancellation fees. At this point I owe only $70 on the remainder of the contract. I am going to pay the $70 and be done with them. PLEASE DO NOT GET THIS SERVICE. I am so sorry I got involved with them.

We signed up for Direct TV during August and had it installed on Saturday, August 7th. That was 9 days as of this message. We have had trouble with your service ever since. It first started with installation when your technician had stated we would not get local stations but we would get a certain station under the ”family” package. In finding out we were not getting that station, we demanded to cancel. Through this we agreed to upgrade and were told we would get local stations and we would also receive a $21/month rebate. We have since called and spoke to service people and technicians over the phone just about daily. We have made several appointments that turned out to not be scheduled and have found that most of our complaints and requests were never documented. During this process we have recently purchased our first home and have been incredibly busy getting things straightened out. As we have made numerous requests for service, we have never seen anyone come by. We have followed up and found that there is no one scheduled to come by. We have at least called to make five appointments. No one has come. This was no expected of Direct TV. No one I know that has your service has said anything remotely close to this has happened to them.
This has been a long, stressful, and agonizing process and we have since canceled our service. We would like to avoid any contract charges or monthly payments due to the fact that this relationship was doomed from the start. We have tried everything in our power to make this happen. The last straw was when we had tried to get our rebate and found out there was no record of that ever being said and we could not qualify. Now, we just have a dish permanently attached to the roof of our new house. I really would like to avoid going any further with this and would like to call it even. We had your service for 9 days and there really was no commitment from Direct TV’s end. We have tried and tried and do not feel we should pay any charges or part of any charges. There is no polite way to say this but we had no service. No customer service. No one seemed to care. We really had no idea this was what to expect and if we had any clue we would have simply avoided. We would appreciate your understanding and we realize that not every customer is right for every company.

Direct TV does appear to be a bunch of crooks. It seems as though they hire convicts to act as csr's based in their WONDERFUL customer service skills. Here is the problem we have run into... my father in law passed away a few days ago and he had a fairly large package with D'tv. My mother in law did not sign anything or request any of the services as she absolutely does not watch tv. She also cannot afford even the smallest package that Direct tv offers. SO, she is attempting to cancel service since the actual subscriber died. Direct tv says she will still have to pay a $360.00 early termination fee since she is the spouse so therefore his contract is her contract regardless of her actual involvement with it. I assume if she just fails to pay then whatever financial informati0n Direct tv has on file will be milked dry. Anyone have any advice?

This company is terrible. We scheduled an appointment to transfer our service since we moved. When the 3 technicians arrived, they discovered that the previous homeowners had cut the line outside the house and that they needed to rewire. For 3 techs this should not have been hard but they said they had other appointments to keep and that they would be back that evening when they were done. Needless to say, they didn't show so I called the technicians, as they had left their number, and they said that I would have to call Direct TV and schedule another appointment! When I called Direct TV they offered me an appointment in 6 days. I explained to them that this was unacceptable and was not my fault that the job did not get finished the first time. I informed them that if they did not have a technician at my house by the next day, I would cancel the service and due to poor customer service, should not have to pay the contract cancellation fee. The woman I spoke to finally agreed and said that she would take care of that. After about 3 weeks, I received a bill for the 2 days with no service and an early termination fee in excess of $300. When my husband called to discuss the bill he was told that there was no record of my conversation with the rep. (although the service was cancelled during the same phone call) and that it would take them 2 weeks to "look into it". Today, I received a prerecorded message from Direct TV on my cell phone stating that I need to contact them- (a real person couldn't call?) Anyway, after 1 1/2 hours on the phone with them they refuse to remove the termination fee.
We now have Cox Cable (they were at our house within 2 hours of calling) and we are perfectly happy. I will NEVER recommend Direct TV to anyone. They SUCK!

I signed up for direct tv as a bundled option through qwest in iowa city. The qwest rep never said the direct tv contract was for 24 months and that you can't cancel. Now i'm stuck with direct tv for 24 months and i won't even be living in the usa after next summer! Their customer service is horrible and would do nothing to help me and one of the boxes they sent doesn't even work. They sent me a new box and reset it, then all of the other boxes didn't work. I'm still waiting for their tech support person to call me back to fix the rest of the boxes. This is absolutely the worst tv company in the usa if not the world. Horrible customer service, deceptive and junk electronics. Stay away from direct tv at all costs!

I know what you mean, the installer used my internet cable to install the satellite and now my internet won't work and they want to charge me $50 to fix their mistake.

Direct TV will automatically take any money out of your account WITHOUT your permission because it is in the fine print of your clause. Plus they make you sign up for a certain amount of time and if you try to cancel, then they charge you up the butt in hidden fees! They are crooks! Why do I have to sign up for a specific time frame? Who knows what can happen in life? what if you get sick and have to move somewhere else? Then to add injury to insult, you have to pay disconnection fees at a high ridiculous price! All they do is is route your service & they get their ugly equipment back so why should they care if you discontinue it?

They also have such crappy programmers that they can't convert the time from East to West so you are always ahead when you are on the west coast! So if your friends tell you to watch syfy because there is something good on, forget it! it already happend 3 hours again. They suck big time!

They need to take lessons on customer service!

BAD SERVICE, BAD CUSTUMER SERVICE, WRONG PRICES, BAD QUALITTY, FRAUDULENT CHARGE, ... AND IS A CONTRACT ! NOBODY SAY THAT, BUT IF YOU DON'T FEEL HAPPY WITH THIS COMPANY... YOU NEED TO PAY ANYWAYS CAUSE IS A CONTRACT .HOW MANY YEARS THIS COMPANY CAN BE CHEATING THE CUSTOMERS !

I've had no issues with DirecTV. They've been a lot better than the cable companies I've dealt with! All these providers sucks, tho.

Direct tv is the biggest crock of ### I have ever seen in my life. Poor Poor customer service. I contacted the corporate office yes thats right the corporate office and a very rude ### is what I got. I have worked in retail for 8 years and I know damn well our corporate office wouldn't act that way. DO NOT EVER GET DIRECT TV TRUST ME!

After having direct tv for about 18 months i moved and direct tv was unable to get a signal at my new address. Due to this i would not be charged an early termination fee. They informed me i had 90 days to return the equipment(Which the direct tv guy couldn't take with him for some reason). 24 days after that conversation direct tv charged my debit card $563. When i called them i was told i had only 21 days to return the equipment. They admitted their notes showed i was told 90 days and said i wouild be refunded in 72 hours and they would send me a new box to send back the equipment. 4 days later when they had not returned my money i called them and was told my direct tv account was credited but the actual refund would take 6-8 weeks. $563 for 6-8 weeks. I was told "one" person made a mistake and there was absolutley nothing they could do to return the money sooner. I told the floor manager this was not only unacceptable but unbelievable.The response was silence. Direct tv is shady... Do not give them debit cards. Give them a credit card you can dispute.

I echo your complaints against Direct TV. We had their service installed July 24th but the lies began a week earlier when I signed up. I explained from the beginning of the call that I wanted to bundle the Direct Tv with my current phone and internet company which was going to save me several dollars. The rep instructed me to "just call and speak with the bundling dept to get that set up" I did and they said that they did not do that and that I needed to call my phone company and they could arrange it. My phone company said that I could not bundle unless I went through them and not through Direct TV to get the installation set up. Too late.. since I had already set it up through Direct TV. But that was only the beginning of the problems.. we have 3 receivers and two don't work more than they do. They switch programs right in the middle which has happened several times. One particularly awful situation was when my 9 year old was watching a g rated movie and the program became an R rated movie and after 30 minutes on the phone with a tech it still was not fixed. The channels will stop working and say they are not purchased while watching a program. I have reset, unplugged, checked cards, pressed red buttons, turned off and on more times than I can count and nothing works for more than a few hours or minutes. I have also been told that if I cancel I will have to pay a $460.00 cancellation fee even though of course I want to cancel because their service is horrible! I will be contacting the AG's office, the BBB, the FCC, FTC and whoever else I can find to contact. I have told everyone I know not to even consider their service, posted on my Facebook, and called and emailed everyone I know.

Direct TV got me good.

Equipment = 1 HD DVR, 4 standard recievers.

I bit on the promotional ad. Service was installed 6/23/2009.

For the next two weeks I had to have in home service due to equipment failure.

My third call to customer service, I requested termination of service. It was at that time I realized I was in a "gotcha". The following was DTV's response.

DTV Claim 1 = I agreed verbally to a 2 year contract when I spoke to a rep over the phone.

FACT 1 = Never once was there any mention of any contract or obligation of any kind.

DTV Claim 2 = The technician, following installation, read the LEASE ADDENDUM which includes an explanation of the 24 month commitment and a detailed explanation of penalties.

FACT 2 = While it's true that the Addendum (small yellow copy) does include the 24 month commitment in fine print, our technician read NOTHING to me, nor did he make any refernece to such. In fact, I would have been shocked had he proven himself to literate at all.

DTV Claim 3 = The 24 month contract was clearly stated in the welcome letter which I recieved from DTV by mail. This would be the one with the header "Congratulations, your Directv experience has begun.

FACT 3 = This letter is dated 6/22 and was recieved on 6/24 at my home. That would be AFTER the installation, hence the Heading.

In closing, I should have done more research before signing anything. I am paying the 400+ whatever and shipping their junk back to them. I appreciate the opportunity to vent here and I hope it may help prevent someone else from being scammed. To be honest, the programming may be fine. I just never had the pleasure of knowing, and I never will!

I found out I had cancer moved in with boyfriend tried to cancel my service because boyfriend had they would not let me out of my contract how are you going to get money if I AM DEAD! My boyfriend grew frustarted he wants out of he contract this is complete bull

I've never been so frustrated in my cable life. I spend hours on the phone most of the time trying to figure out why the service is not working or why it has been disconnected even with bills having been payed. I asked Direct TV to discontinue my service but they gave me the condition of paying them over 400$ because of the 2yrs contract. I'm disconnecting this service out of my will why would I be paying them for the service they have been unable to provide? the deal is money and services.Direct tv should pay me.