DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

I signed up with direct tv 11/7/09.They told me it would be $29.99 a month and my bill is $55.99. They wont fix it or make it right. They told me I had to send in a rebate form I wasn't aware of and I had to pay the 55 until they recieved the form. Very very poor customer service. I would never get service with them again. And to cancel is 480 some odd dollars!That is only one of the problems with them.

I had the same issue. I signed up with them on 11/2/2008. The customer service representative that I spoke with said that they could submit the rebate form for me though since that was initially the deal I signed up for. I called to complain about the rate on my bill and to disconnect service because it had rained twice right after I got it and I couldn't watch tv. No such luck, because I was a persistent BLEEP, they did the rebate for me.

Also, what you should know is that the $29.99 deal IS NOT for the entirety of your 2 year contract with them. Since the fee to cancel the contract is so high, no one wants to cancel (I don't have that cash) but they are stuck with the contract/service and the $29.99 is only for a trial period (although I can't remember how long). Essentially there will be a couple months that you (and I) will pay the regular rate until the contract ends.

P.S. I am curious as to how they have a 99% rate commerical when DIRECTV DOESN'T WORK whenever it rains or the wind blows to hard!? I live in Maryland where the weather (I think) is pretty tame and yet I can't watch TV when it rains. Gheez!

For the record, even though I had those issues in the begining of my contract, if I could keep the $29.99 rate I would probably stay with them. I can't seem to find a lower rate anywhere and we are not home enough to pay comcast $3 million dollars a month.

Massachusetts
We had Directv for 10 years. a year ago we purchased a 50" HD tv and upgraded the box to HD. When the tech came to take down the old dish and install the HD dish, found we would not get a signal due to all the trees around us. the trees are not on our property so we can not cut them down.
our only other recourse was to change to cable, which we did. now directv says since we purchased (excuse me, it is leased) a HD box that tied us to a 2 year contract and is trying to charge us $450.00 which we refuse to pay. We told them to take us to court.
No one ever told us we were tied to a contract for trying to upgrade and they can not understand, we keep asking, how can you charge us for a service you can not provide to us.
We will take this all the way to court, we would rather pay a lawyer than directv

Direct TV has the worst customer service of anyone. When I had my service set up I was cancelled on 4 times for lack of equipment avaliable. 2 months later I finaly had tv and was offered a $100 credit. I had to call them 3 times to actually get that credit applied to my account.
When I moved my service to a new address I was charged a $50 move fee- my service was unable to be set up and 4 months later I am still waiting for that $50 refund.

I am too upset with my cable services! Recently we combined two households and we kept the boxes for all the tvs. Although when combining the tech quoted that we would not be charged a cancellation fee, actually we where increasing our services. I was charged a $280.00, I have over $130.00 in over draft fees. I have been a customer for years and so has my fiance. But this is absurd ! To make matters worst I was told that it would take 7 to 10 days. After waiting that period of time, my fiance called again he was told by a supervisor that, "the best we can do is 6 to 8 weeks! In the past I had recommend your companies services to everyone, I live in a complex with at least 200 direct tv dishes. It would be a great disappointment to your company that those moved their services. The people in the neighborhood often ask me 'HOWS IT GOING, WITH DIRECT TV? I have to tell them the truth, I am not happy and they are screwing me out of my money.

the sales rep omitted some pertinent facts about the contract.The company and the employees are unethical and believe they can continue their practices because of their size.It was my reponsibility to have done more due diligence prior to the agreement, shame on me.Now its my responsibility to inform each and every person about this criminal organization.

I have been going through a very rough year. I no longer gave this company permission to auto payment from my checking acct. ; only to find out that they have done just that! According to their non english speaking customer service representative...their service aggreement allows such a withdrawal. Unbelievable! I can't even find their SERVICE contract online. It seems to be mired in a gobbledy hodge podge of fine print no average person can find. Never again will I use their service! And I submit that anyone who does...thinks twice!

If you have or thinking about getting DIRECT TV DON'T. They are a RIP-OFF, MISLEADING, ### COMPANY. They will tell you what you want to hear just to sign you up. As soon as you sign up, you're stuck.
All those price that is advertise, those are just for 12 month and you have to submit a rebate before you can get that price but you are stuck with a 2 YEARS contract.
When I call to sign up, they give me the price that they advertise but never mention that I need to submit a rebate for it. That was stupid part on me. A week later my son wanted his cartoon channel, so I have to get a different package that have it. I called up and and ask them to switch it. They gave me the package that was advertise. When I asked about submitting the rebate, I was told that I was qualified for the rebate and I have to submit a rebate.
A week later, I log into my account trying to submit it and it said that I was not qualified for this package. This got me ticking. So I call up and got the run around, one department to another to another telling me that I was qualified for the rebate and that someone from the rebate department will call me back. Next day, someone actually did, telling me that I don't qualify for the rebate anymore since I have switch my package.
CAN'T WAIT UNTIL MY CONTRACT IS UP
Oh, forgot to mention that, THEY WILL AUTOMATIC TAKE THE BILL OUT OF YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT WHEN IT IS DUE.
THANKS FOR READING

Directv Billing Disputes
P.O.Box 65500
Greenwood Village, Co 80155
Ref Account [protected]

To: Whom It May Concern
I am writing to inform of my suspend request services on Year 2007, When I call your
office I explain to the Customer Services Agent, to suspend my service because I will
leaving the City for may be 1 year or more and your equipments ( 3 boxes ) will be
return to one of your technician.the technician pick up the equipment in my house
at 15701 SW 147th Ave.Miami, Florida 33196, at the same time I return some equipment I just to have in my house for my mother-in-law (Comcast cable)with comcast i have no problem at all, even I received a credit for $23.00 from directv, but
when I come back to Miami I received notification from a collection agency that I have
debit with Directv for hundred and something dollars for service which not received.
your agent never explain to me that if I suspend the service we still has payments
to do. Now I am resident of 8220 SW 65 Ave D1, Miami, Fl 33143 and when I call for
service to Directv ( to install ) the promotion your have now $29.99 at month, I was
told I have a balance with Directv and giving me some 899 number to call, If your company policy was no to inform customers of the consequence of stop service and
not to continue the payments that would be considered fraud by the FCC, and I am
sure that they would want to look into this matter, I am demanding that my account
[protected] will be restore and the company revoke that wrong policy they have.
Maybe that was misunderstanding, to avoid problem in the future I will authorize
Directv to obtain my monthly payments from my checking account.If after your investigation your company take the determination to instal my service again

Thank You
Marino Vicioso
[protected]

My reciever burned out and smoke started pouring out of it .I threw it outside afraid that it would catch something on fire. Has this ever happened to anyone else ? Hopefully there has never been a fire.

Direct TV ...money mongering giants. They installed a dish for me as a brand new customer, and the signal kept getting interrupted. After a week of this they came back and attempted to move the dish. The installers put holes all over my balcony and still couldn't get a signal. They had to take the dish out. Direct TV then extracted $259.00 from my credit card they had on file for "early cancellation penalty". Stay away from this evil empire... they could give S&%@ less about thier customers...they only care about what's in you're wallet. I will be sure to spread the word everywhere and will obvioulsy NEVER be a future customer of theirs.

I recently looked at one of my Direct TV bills and was astonished to find that I was being charged for the NFL Sunday ticket-5 installments of about 50.00 each! I have a direct auto pay with them and sometimes don't look at each line item as I should. The answer I received at DTV was since I got it LAST year that I was automatically signed up for it THIS year! Well, my team isn't a contender for the superbowl this year so I'm not as interested in watching their games...Since I missed about 3 games going to to watch it at a bar, not realizing I had it at home, I decided to watch it from home yesterday only to find that they no longer offer the game in HD anymore for the same price! What a rip off. Either way, we should no longer be an "automatic" society...there are too many choices for customers these days and we have the right to make those choices. Unfortunately, i am locked into DTV for about 2 more years because of their ludicrous policy on their DVD recorders.Each time you upgrade or get a replacement, you have to keep them for a year or 2 years longer! And for this we get incompetent customer service representatives and poorly thought out policies like renewing automatically... hmmm.

On 4/15/07 I purchased an HDTV at Best Buy, the salesperson said they were having a promo on direct-TV. I explained I was already a directv customer. The sales rep said I could just buy the HD service and add it to my existing service and that Best Buy would do it as part of my installation. I paid $99.00 for the HD receiver and the best buy installation guys came over and performed the install. At no point in time did I ever speak to direct-tv to have the receiver activiated. The Best buy installation guys did all the talking.

After three months of billing issues I decided I no longer wanted to be with Direct-TV and requested cancellation of my service. I was told that I could not cancel as I was commited to a two year contract. I ask the customer service rep to verify when I agreed to those terms and they claim it was automatic when I signed up for the HD service, problem is i never signed anything or agreed to an extension of service. I never even talked to direct-tv.

They claim that when I had the receiver installed i signed the agreement. When i looked at my best buy receipt there is no mention of such agreement matter of fact theres no mention of direct-tv. Then the representative claimed i verbally agreed when they performed the install. Again i never spoke to anyone at direct-tv. The best buy installer did all the talking with Direct-TV.

I dont understand how they get away with these deceptive practices and there is little or nothing out there to protect the consumer from such scams. I hope direct-tv goes under when IPTV becomes available nationwide. I am currently disputing this with Allied interstate a collection agency (direct-tv).

Direct TV is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I signed up for the "insurance plan" a receiver goes bad, we send it back, no problems right. Wrong. I call to see when our contract is up, they tell me it's been extended because I sent the bad receiver back. I proceeded to tell them that I signed nothing, or read nothing stating that my contract would be extended if there products were faulty. I was told that it was our fault because we damaged our receiver. I asked what date we called to make the complaint about the receiver, 9-12, they say, what date did the warehouse examine the "damaged" receiver, 9-12 they say, amazing they examined it psychically and found that I had damaged it. They then stated that it was on the back of the work order that I had signed when they initially installed that if I sent it back it would extend my contract and it was my own fault because I didn't read it. I said I wanted a copy of the signed work order, I was told it was to be mailed immediately. Good bye's were said. I then went hunting for the work order, I found it and low and behold the back was blank, so I called them back. wowzers, there was a big mistake and because the receiver was leased and it was exchanged for a leased one, the contract should have never been extended. They did push the contract back to the original date. Bad, bad, bad direct tv.

Suscribe at your own risk. Beware of hidden fee's. We have been members of direct tv for 6 months then moved, we decided to take our Direct TV with us instead of cancelling service. Unfortunately, we could not get reception from the new house we moved into, we were left with a $200.00 disconnection fee! I was appalled, it wasn't our fault their satellite could not provide service. The only way they waive the fee is by death or the military.

I have been waiting for a credit check from Direct TV for a few months now (cancelled service in August). Everytime I call them to find out where it is, there is a new excuse:
1. We have the wrong address.
2. Was returned and shredded.
3. The case was closed.
Sometimes there is no excuse at all and I'm put on hold for several minutes and forced to hang up.
I just want the few dollars I'm owed.
Customer service is horrible, rude and no one knows anything.
Everytime I call they want me to reconnect, which I will NEVER do based on poor customer service.

Ok, I was just hit twice for a total of $778.00. Supposedly I renewed my contract in August, 2009. I asked for another DVR box to be sent because the 3rd one they sent was not working properly. I guess when they send out a replacement box, you are extending your contract. I couldn't get any return box sent to me so I could return their equipment, and I was hit for an early termkination fee. Interesting since my contract expired a year ago last June and I never renewed it. They have lied, are incompetent, and thieves. Their service is substandard at best, their support staff can barely speak english let alone read the cue cards they are given to be "customer service". Their equipment does not work properly, and it is difficult to get any credits or refunds of service paid when the system is not working.

The Manager of my Credit Union told me how to stop these unlawful charges. First, slam the card you used. Cancel it, and get another atm/debit/Visa card. DO NOT PAY your account from Directtv with your bank card. If you want to pay online or over the phone, get a prepaid VISA card for the amount of the payment, use the card, and toss it. There is no bank account attached to the card for DIRECTTV to steal money from.

If you were a victim of Directtv, call the Better Business Bureau, and the Attorney General of the State you live in. Good Luck, and DO NOT GIVE DIRECT TV YOUR BANK ATM?DEBIT, OR VISA FOR ANY REASON. THEY ARE INCOMPETENT THIEVES.

Today I went to get money out of the bank and told that I had insufficent funds. I called my husband and he found on our online bank acct that Direct tv accessed are acct with out our consent or knowledge and withdrew an amt totaling $450.00. We never consented to this or agreed to allow them to access our bank acct whenever they felt like it. Now its 9 days till Christmas and our acct is drained, we are going to aquire bounced check fees and over draft fees! What they did is called STEALING! If you are going to access someones bank acct there needs to be some written or verbal consent! We are going to contact the BBB and the Attorney General!

If anyone else has had this problem... I would like to know if you have filed a law suit... we are thionking about it!

I made the same mistake and signed up for direct tv. I had dish and I really LOVED it. They said they could offer me the same deal at a better price. Boy did they LIE! I am now paying more and lost many channels that I got free from Dish. I have been paying extra each month on my bill so I can get out of this 480 dollar contract for canceling. This was a bad decision of mine just like my ex husband. As soon as I can I will have Dish back in my home. I had Dish for 9 yrs. and got stupid one day. Never AGAIN! Direct tv is a rip off.

I was charged 500.00 for service I never received. They agree it is their fault but say the refund will take 6 to 8 weeks. I am on a fixed income and can't afford to be without 500.00 this month. I will let everyone know Direct Tv is a rip off!

I have received 10-12 auto generated collection calls from Direct TV's billing department within the last 48hrs for a bill that I already payed via their online service. It's annoying to be bothered by these continuous unwarranted calls in the first place, but add the frustration of Direct TV's "high tech" system that auto dials you and then hangs up in your face when you try to answer... each and every time. I spoke with three separate phone handlers when I called back, that assured me that the problem would be handled and I wouldn't receive any more phone calls. SEVERAL calls later I demanded to speak to a supervisor as the problem was obviously not being handled. I was denied speaking with a supervisor, but was assured by the phone handler that the problem was corrected and that the supervisor would call me back in 10-30mins to explain the correction. 1 1/2 hr later, I phoned for the supervisor again, as he failed to call me back. Again, I was denied speaking with him and was given a message that the problem was handled. This has now turned into a "Harassment" situation on the part of Direct TV as I advised them to stop calling on 3 separate contacts. Finally upon request, I was transferred to "Customer Service" who advised that the reason I was still receiving calls is that the system wouldn't update the new information(that my bill was paid and to stop calling me after my several requests) for 7-10 days, not within 24hrs as told to me by the other associates. When I inquired if I would have to endure the harassment for another week, the Customer Service Manager replied, "yes." To add insult, she was less than helpful, less than caring and less than willing to compensate me for being mistreated and now victimized by a situation that, may I remind you, was a DIRECT TV error!

i understand alot of what u guys are saying. i used to work for dierctv. i quit after 1month. it upset me when customers call in about the same thing over and over again about a problem. after receiving so many calls about the same thing i began to feel like its obviously not the customer. it must be the cmpany. directv have different dept.'s so directv as a whole is not responsible for the crap you guys are going through. i worked in the billing dept in georia. i was getin sick of that crap myself. and i'm not even a customer. alot my former co-workers dont want dtv services because of all the crap customers call complaining about, and services are free for directv employees. on behalf of the good former/current agents of directv. we understand your frustation. i hope they get their business in order. i'll never apply with that company again.

Direct Tv applied our Aug 09 payment to someone else bill, we were harassed and treated poorly for non-payment, they refused to look into the possibility of there mistake. Had to go to our bank ( take time off work) and ask for research.
Found Direct Tv payment cashed by them but after fax still had to pay bill as they said it took 10 days to put in the system ( ridiculous!)I faxed finance department, emailed the CEO and finally, through calls reached a woman who supposedly was head of these matters and sent copies and letter to Office of President P>O> Box 6550 Greenwood Valley Co. 80155 as she requested. That was over one month ago and have heard absolutely nothing! Direct TV had our payment (irregardless of what they did with it) for over 3 months . They merely credit our account without any acknowledgment of the mistake after we faxed the cxl. check in there own sweet time/delay. We had to pay twice for services until credit and prove at our own cost that we paid. I felt we should have been given one month free service for the horrible treatment and lack of any communication. Anyone who opens a Direct TV account will find out that they are dealing with a company that is faceless and you are nothing more to them but $...

The installer drilled through a wall and cut house wiring cable. The supervisor came and said he can fix it by splicing it back together. I said "No, that illegile, therefore the whole wire needs to be replaced back to each box. Then she said that their insurance will not cover that. If I wanted to, get an an enstiment and summit to their office. Meantime we have not power in 3 rooms. Not even where the tv is installed. What is my rights?

Just because the installer hit a live wire does not mean the whole wire run will have to be replaced, That is pretty idiotic to think they will tear down 3 or four walls just to replace a broken circuit. You should hire a licensed electrical contractor to do a few estimates and go from there.

I am the landlord of 2 mobile homes bothe of which have direct tv. One had a problem with their dish that was on a pole. THe installer went and screwd the new one to the side of the mobile home and caused the window top leak. When I called them they told me that I had to get a professional estimate on the repairs and send photos when all I wanted them to do is move the dish. I was told that if they send someone to move the dish I have to pay $50 for them to do it and I could claim that on the claim I send them. Personally I am not going to let them install on any more properties and am recommend to all landlords that if they do let them install that they insist on being present and have them explain exactly what they are going to do before they do it.

i am making this complaint about Direct Tv on Christmas morning because my service was shut off
due to customer service issue. I spoke to a representation who gave me an extension to pay my pass due
balance on 12/27/09, but before I was able to pay my service was shut off. The representative Rob
Badge #407453 out of Oklahoma was very unprofessional in resolving my issue. Instead of having me
pay the pass due balance to restore my service, he would only restore service if the full balance was
paid. I told him that the only reason why I was not able to pay by the original due date was because
I lost my job, but hed did not care and he inssisted that I pay the full amount in order to restore my service.

I let him know how disappointed I was that he could not honor my past due payment considering the
representative had misinform me of the date that I could pay before a shut off occured. Rob had no
symphathy at all. I left Time Warner Cable after 16 years to try Direct TV and that was the biggest
mistake I made. The only thing I like about the service is that they offer the NFL ticket. As soon as
my contract is over I will no longer return I will subscribe to AT&T or the Dish Network.

We have been paying our monthly bill directly to Direct TV. But Consolidated Smart Systems has turned our cable off and are telling that I owe them $255.00 plus 40.00 to get turned back on. They say that they pay Direct TV then I pay them but I've only ever received one bill in the mail from them before. So basically they want me to pay them what I've already paid direct TV. I paid my bill this month almost 300.00 and my service was cut off, they called direct tv and put a password on my account so I can't even access it. So I paid my bill for nothing.

Just got off the phone with Direct TV - same early termination / cancellation fraudulent charges were applied to us after cancelling. They updated equipment at their own cost / and to their request due to satelite change overs in July. Now they are claiming we upgraded our sevice and owe them early termination fee . Claiming we agreed to a 2 yr contract which was never done? Via, paper, phone etc. After numerous calls, my husband has finally spoken to a billing manager that finally has agreed that they made a mistake the charge. They are suposedly removing the charges, balance to zero.
I am hoping this is true. It has been a nightmare to deal with.
Beware on any equiment upgrades they request to do for free or at their cost.

If any sat tv I would go with dish network.
But why would you go to sat tv anyways?
I never had any issues with cable tv or cable internet (time warner, comcast, htcp)
If the cable companies were a little smarter and offered more competitive pricing there wouldn't be any need for sat tv at all any more - unless you live in such a remote area that cable companies just don't bother bringing cable out there.
Oh, besides the recommendation you got from RghtBkatU I'd like to add getting rid of any 'premium' services (like your NFL ticket) if you have a hard time paying the bill in the first place.

I just got off the phone with direct tv, I was told by several "customer Service reps" and a supervisor that i could cancel direct tv if I moved to a place that did not allow Direct TV. we would not be held to the contract. WRONG. i was told today that unless i moved to a apartment that did not have the SW exposure for the TV i was still obligated, even though the property does not allow direct TV. What a bunch of liars Direct TV is. DO NOT USE THEM.

true, direct tv is very, very dishonest

Think twice before you call or sign any papers with this company.
I ordered the basic service when the FCC allowed the digital change.
When I placed my order the sales person told me several times I could have 4 boxs free.When they finally installed it after not meeting the appt date. I received a bill with charges for the free boxs, I called them that day and was told I could send back two but if I canceled I would have to pay the termination fee ( its only been on for 3 weeks ).
The next bill was over 500.00 with fees for all for boxes and the termination fee. After several days and hrs on hold, with returning all equipment and sending letters to the dispute dept ! I know receive 4 calls a day from the bill collector. I also had to close the credit card that was used to set up the account. THIS IS BAD BUISNESS, we should band together and file a civil action laws sute to stop them from pulling any more people in to the trap.
DOWN WITH DIRECT TV
DIANA - OKLAHOMA

Service man refussed to tranfer call to higher up and made comment that, "you americans are all alike." I am trying to get my service terminated from suspension sense moving to another area. I had paid my bill in full, or so I was told. He was telling me that I still owed a large amount even though I was getting statements that I had a credit coming to me. I wanted to speak to someone else and he refused.

Direct TV is the WORST company to deal with. Don't ever replace or upgrade your existing equipment because they will extend the contract for another 2 years! from the date of installation. It does not matter how you were promised over the phone regarding price or no extended contract. Direct TV does not honor what they told you. They will tell you that they have no record of what they promise. My bill becomes higher ( $72/mo.) due to the upgraded package ( which the rep. promised to give me a better deal at $44.99, but never happened) and furthermore I have a new contract extended till Oct. 27, 2012 ( 2 years from now) instead of Jan. 10, 2010. I was confirmed before ordering that no contract would be extended. I called them on Nov. 13 after receiving the bill to dispute the monthly fee. They refused to honor so I requested to return the equipment in order to pay the same price and have the same contract. THEY SAID "NO". I called in and talked to 6-7 different people. Finally I talked to Sandra (id# [protected]), she issued the Recover Kit/Call Tag to return the equipment on Nov. 21 and promised to date back my contract to the original date. I was thinking that everything was settled. I called last night (12/30/09), I was told that I still have a 2 yr. contract with them. I finally talked to Disconnection Dept.# after going through several people and still having no solution. I spoke with the Rep. named "Kit"( ID # 432606) . He told me that he found my extended contract of those 2 years was invalid so I could cancel without termination fee and the cancellation # was R21-5486. I emailed to Direct TV to confirm the conversation with Kit. I also requested Kit to email me the confirmation of our conversation. He never emailed. Direct TV also replied via email that I still have a contract till 2012. I am so mad. They are so deceitful. STAY AWAY FROM THEM. They promised you whatever over the phone, but when you called in they will have no record.

My 8 yr.old Tivo died. I went to Best Buy and thought I was buying a new one. Before getting it hooked up I specifically asked DTV, "would my programing change and do I need to sign a new contract?" Answer to both... No. Two days later my package is changed. At he same time I recommended DTV to a friend to get the $100 that there commercials boast of. He calls to get hooked up and DTV calls me on a 3 way call to my friend. We are both told that it is NOT $100 back but $10/mo. off of the bill. A month later I call back because I don't see $10 off. After some back and forth between the 3 of us, my friend and I think it is finally settled... WRONG! A month later I call back complaining and I told them "You know what? Cancel my service!" They tell me I am under a contract because I "upgraded to a new Tivo". I explained how I had called before installation and was told that I would not be under any commitment. They said their sales rep was mistaken and I am now under a 2 year contract and that I don't even own the Tivo that I just paid $200 for!

In October of 2008 I ordered a triple bundle service with Verizon (including internet,   phone, and direct TV) for 1 year agreement .At no time did I deal with, send payments or have any contact with direct tv.I paid my bill timely to Verizon. I was not told of any agreements (through Verizon) with Direct TV. All information I received was over the phone with Verizon.. I did not know I was under a  2 year contract for Direct TV only. How can 1 contract have 2 different agreement dates? NO ONE ever told me of this at any time.
After 1 year of triple bundle service from Verizon, I decided to cancel my agreement. I had no problem with Verizon at all. No penalties no late fees. No difficulties at all. No mention of the 2 year agreement for Direct TV. The cancellation was approved with Verizon, but I had to contact Direct TV to cancel the TV.
Upon contacting Direct TV, they told me I was breaking a 2 year contract  with them. I had to keep their service for 24 months or pay a $250.00 penalty. I told them I never dealt with them, that I only dealt with Verizon through a bundling program. I never received an agreement with Direct TV and informed them of my past year of using the service that I ordered from Verizon. I asked why would I be charged a penalty through them after using the bundling for my 1 year agreement ? I was told that as soon as I had signed up with the Verizon agreement with Direct tv was for 24 months agreement. I tried to tell them I only dealt with Verizon and I knew nothing of any agreement with DirectTV. And asked how I could be committed for 24 months with them when Verizon ‘s contract was for 1 year.
 At no time did I receive any information about the first agreement, at no time was I informed of a cancellation fee, nor did the service man who hooked up my tv bring this to my attention. If they had, I would not have gotten the TV hook-up through them. I was not told about this two-year commitment at any time during all my numerous calls to Direct TV nor did I sign anything any paperwork regarding a commitment when I ordered the bundle over the phone through Verizon for the triple bundle. I signed no papers.
After more than ten phone calls (to Kim, Dillon,   Bill, Yvette, and Lucinda, one of them hung up on me, etc.) I was told to change my order to the family deal for 24.99 per month, for the next 12 months, ($300.00 plus )the lowest package available, or be penalized $250.00
In the beginning of November 2009 I called Direct TV and spoke to Lucinda who quoted me a penalty of $140.00 based on the time used and left this was on November 11, 2009.
I received a bill the next week for $213.00 and when I called today 11/28/09 and spoke to Summer she quoted me a penalty of $230.00

I canceled because of your terrible service and complete disrespect of us as paying customers .The satellite signal is very undependable, and the service will be out for hours/days at a time even in nice weather. Your product /service is terrible, extremely low in quality.
It is your company's products fault that I canceled therefore I expect that the amount will be removed from my bill by Direct TV.
This company and it representatives misrepresented their product throughout my dealings through Verizon. Direct TV sales people both, male and female, were consistently rude, patronizing, and condescending. This service is disreputable. Customer service is rude, condescending and argumentative..
I'm ready to go all the way to fight this, Word of mouth is the best form of advertisement around. It will travel fast from person to person and my advice to consumers--- Stay away from Direct TV .Their product /service is terrible, extremely low in quality.
I will also post a copy of this letter on the [redacted] and Squeaky Wheel web sites .
Please remove this charge from my bill . It is the  fair thing to do, since there was no signed contract or individual contact with Direct TV.
You should remove this amount of money from my bill, and everyone else’s  that your company has ripped off. Your company has had these bad reports at least as far back as 2002. There are 38 pages of dissatisfied, displeased, discontented, disappointed, unhappy, frustrated, fed up customers, on [redacted]s.com.only .I did not check other web sites, this one was enough for me.

For all of us that are so pissed with Direct TV. Please contact the law firm named BELT LAW FIRM at [protected] for your Free Consultation or email them at info@beltlawfirm.com. This law firm is currently conducting a class action lawsuit against DIRECT TV. You can visit their website at http://www.class-action-litigation.org/direct-tv.asp.

Direct TV is the most absolutely uncustomer friendly company with which I have ever dealt. The customer service reps hang up on you after they tell you they are going to put you on hold. The don't show up for their appointments and say that it is a contracted out service and they have nothing to do with it. I have been stood up over 5 times in the last year. I cannot get anything else here so I am STUCK with the most horrible comany in America.

I too was totally f@cked by the free upgrade scam on top of having my Paid for service canceled, i had a bundle through verizon for phone tv and internet, after the no-name internet company got bought out by comcast my internet bill came separate, then getting sick of paying $40 a month for a $17 home phone i didnt use i canceled that as well with ALL services paid up to date, 2 weeks later i got a bill from directv for $257 and called to dispute it, they then shut off my service for refusal to pay for service i already paid for, when i asked what the $257 was for they replied that verizon had not paid them for three months, I asked how my family plan of $29.99 a month X3 months =$257 the rep. answered that he did not know to which i said "your so f@cking ###ed you dont know that 3 X 30 is 90?" after many attempts to speak to a supervisor or anyone not drooling on themselves I told them to cancel and send me boxes to return receivers at which point i was informed of a $350 cancellation fee! because i was told in February i had to get new receivers do to my local channels going hd, i asked them repeatedly if there was a contract extension with that and was told NO every time, my contract was up in july 2009 i am now told it is july 2011.