DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

We signed on with Centurylink which contracted with Direct TV to bundling both bills into one bill leaving us to pay for cable, internet, phone and an upgrade for movie channels. It was appealing to us to sign up with them because the we were told the bundling of the bill would provide us a better rate due to a high order of packaging. Our bill should be no more than 104 each month. Since signing a contact 12/6/10, we have received two monthly bills paying each month between $300-$400 dollars. Each month we call Direct TV then they pass us off to CenturyLink. In turn, CenturyLink is telling us the "bundling of packages is on hold until DirectTV signs off on the contract". When we were sold the original package of which we still have, both bills would be bundled and we would pay no more than $104 combined. There are many lawsuits in other states that are in progress and some which have settled. Please enter a post if you having the same issues with DirectTV/Centurylink. I was told today on the phone, if we cancel with DirectTV there is a $400 cancellation fee and $180 if we cancel CenturyLink. Someone HELP!

In my case, I terminated my Direct TV service after many years of service. I continued to make payments towards the remaining balance using my debit card which was connected through my checking account. I came home from work after being paid, my paycheck is automatically deposited. My bank, through e-mail notified me of overdraft! Couldn't be. Since Direct TV had my routing/account number, without my knowledge/permission empited out my checking account and automatically went into overdraft protection, and emptied out my saving, far exceeding what I owed, $81.00. I was left pennyless!, checking/savings was gone, zero balance. DO NOT GIVE DIRECT TV YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT/ROUTING DEBIT/CREDIT CARD INFORMATION. I am not alone with this practice. Use bill payment through major banks/credit unions or get a money order and mail it in! THIS IS A SERIOUS PRACTICE WITH DIRECT TV. IF YOU VOLUNTARILY GIVE THEM YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION, YOU ARE AUTHORIZING THEM UNLIMITED ACCESS TO YOUR MONEY AT ANY TIME WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE OR PERMISSION.

i agree

//////// Well, by all of us complaining here on this convenient website, we all are just not doing enough to bring the attention to the general public who are customers of DirecTV and those who are considering becoming customers of DirecTV. There has to be major lawsuit against DirecTV which forces them to pay, at least, tens of thousands of dollars for pain and suffering to their customers for breach of contract or for purposefully draining people's checking and savings account after the customers have told him not to do that and even after the service department at DirecTV told the customers that would not happen to them what ended up happening anyway. And these events aren't just happening occasionally are happening many many times more so than people are aware of and we only hear about those who end up coming across this website that allows people to share their experiences they had with asinine companies like DirecTV. Then, the nationwide news networks will pick up and carry the story and broadcast across the country about how DirecTV drains customers checking and savings accounts and causing them financial hardship by not being able to buy food and medicine or even paying their bills which is a serious personal issue that is seriously affecting people whom have been lied to and have the contract processed when customers have not agreed to any contracts! Then, when thousands of potential new customers of DirecTV hear about this they will not give their business to DirecTV which does affect DirecTV and most importantly the stock values of DirecTV! Now their poor service is catching up to them and causing their stock values to decrease which may cause a panic for smart investors to pull their money out of DirecTV investments they've made in the past. And then when DirecTV stocks start to decline sharply professional investors who don't know the issues regarding the poor asinine service and actual zero management control, obviously, they too will pull their money out automatically causing DirecTV stocks to plummet! Then, one of two things will happen to DirecTV. Either they will go bankrupt and another corporation will buy them out and change the name and keep all equipment or this administration who was allowing this crappy service to continue over and over throughout the years will get fired and replaced with better people and better guidelines and restrictions about what they can and can't do when making contracts with new customers and a safety system to keep any DirecTV service employees from deliberately taking any money out of any customers account without a personal verification of those actions to be taken only when a customer approves of it, somehow. So, if there is a person or a group of people out there whose personal health has been seriously affected by not being able to get medicine because their account balances were zero due to DirecTV's unappropriate and unapproved actions of draining their personal accounts, then a serious lawsuit can be taken and will be taken on contingency by almost any lawyer who sees a large financial gain! And this lawsuit information will end up on TV cable and satellite exposing DirecTV for what they really are and how much real pain and suffering are causing people and in some cases causing near death! Also, can somebody who knows how to get this information out to the public by using iPod or Facebook or whatever type of information giving and gathering systems there are and help expose DirecTV to millions and millions of people?

i agree whish i could i lost all my investments when they took $ out of my acc had 2 sell every thing 4 less 2 pay my reg bills including direct tv
im on fixed income & they also billed me at current add & was taking $ out of my acc w/ supplying a service yes i told them i was moving ty un happy ralph

I was contacted late last fall regarding a "special offer" to have NFL Sunday for an additional charge. This special also included the premier movie channels. I was told that I had to call by a certain date to cancel. I called several days before the expiration to cancel the special. I was told that by taking advantage of the NFL special, I could no longer get the original package without paying an additional charge for something "similar". I just saw by bill online, which reflected the ADDITION of the premier movie channels. When I called I was informed that the agent that took my call cancelled only the NFL Sunday and not the premier movie channels. This added $60.00 to my bill. The customer service person could not remove the additional charges. He did make accommodation for my future bills for the year, but would/could not remove the current month's charges. I feel that the whole "Special" was a move to get additional money for what I had before the special, and was aimed at getting additional channels added to my bill. I am very disappointed in the way this company has "scammed" me. I'm sure I'm not the only person that has had this problem. BE WARNED!

I think their service is exactly what you all deserve since union wages and benefits have pushed companies to outsource everything to India to remain viable and profitable. Rock on america!

You have such large titties!

ill never order from them i was but not after hearing the complaints, direct tv, you suck, go to russia and blend in

yes direct tv debited my account 460 dollars.. I discovered it today as i was looking at my online bank account.. I saw the charge when I called them after I disconnected service within 24 hours.. They said it would be removed and then it was still there.. I called again and was reassured it would be taken off and then I see the debit on my bank account.

call your bank & lodge a stop payment on them

I was a Direct TV customer for years until fall 2010 which I terminated my contract with them. Returned the chips as instructed. Yesterday, March 2011, received in the mail a overdue balance $10.68 stating due upon receipt. Called and was told it was a charge for PPV movie back in November 2005. Can you believe this! I was told it was found as a missed charge on one of the returned chips. I was taken back by this and asked how this could be. PPV movies are paid at time of service if not on the monthly statement besides 6 years later after--- what if I was still a customer with them? I asked for proof from them. I definitely disputing--- Now I am finding complaints by thousands on this same issue. I will be contacting my attorney general.

Over a year ago I began looking into the possibility of changing from my local cable company to satellite tv. I thought Direct TV offered the best price AND service. At first they were fine to deal with and only minor problems arose. I was given the initial 6 month promotional package and then I expected the price to go up, but definitely not 3X's higher. Then when I went to speak to the company I was treated rudely and without any concern for what I was experiencing. This let me know clearly that all they wanted was my money and service or assistance to me the customer is of no value. Then I got another shock. I was told that I actually had a two year contract (which is how they can stick you with these exorbitant raises in prices) and if I cut the service, they would charge me $150.00 cancellation fee! I could not believe that I was being robbed in this manner, or treated so badly! These are incredibly hard times for everyone and I am no different. I lost my full time job and cannot afford either the "cancellation fee" or the increased monthly price. This has to be some type of "bait and switch" thing and has to be illegal. What's to say that they couldn't raise the price to $100.00 a month? This is wrong and I am amazed that the company CEO would allow this type of attitude and behavior. Don't be fooled by their advertisement as I was; they will get you in and then lie about things or place them in very small print and cheat you every step of the way!

What contact information were you given?
Did you take down any employee names or employee id numbers?
Did you speak with a supervisor?

I called to cancel services and asked how to send my receivers in. A month later and still no boxes had been sent. DTV drafted $417 from my checking account without warning. Days later I received my shipping boxes to send the equipment back in and I did that. They have had the equipment back for a week and are telling me because the account is closed they can't process a credit for 6-8 weeks!

I called to cancel my service from Direct TV back in Febuary 2011. I was told that the service would suspended and that no bill would be due.
That was a lie to get me to stay longer. The rep applied a credit to my account so no bill was due until the second month, that is when I called to find out more information. If you cancel within the 60 days after a credit was applied they will charge you back the whole amount.
So what you do now is cancel your service and have them give you the credit on your account. Then call back to remove all the services down to the minium services, wait for the 60th day and cancel your service and they will pay you for cancelling.
***I HOPE THIS HELPS WITH ANY PROBLEMS (CREDITS) YOU MAY HAVE WITH DIRECT TV, OR AS I CALL THEM INDIRECT TV. ***

U-Verse is so much better and lower cost from every angle. There is no stoppage of service during storms and that is a big problem with Direct TV too.

I have had this service for over 10 years and I am now finding out that I am being charged for movies and events from 2006 and now being 2011. They were not even going to tell me about them. I go on vacation and return to interupted services and then find out about the events from 2006.

I agree with cde. I have had directv for over 2 years. They have provided GREAT customer service, and I have had no problems. Read your contracts! And if you are honestly complaining about directv, have you ever had Comcast, Cox, or Time Warner? NOW THEY ARE BAD!

It also appears that many of you were failing to pay your bill. And that is directv's fault? Pay your bill on time, and they won't take the money out of your account.

i can tell u have not read any of the complaints ive been a customer 4 over 20 years & they still meeesed w my account
un happy ralph ps yes im still a customer but not happy

ralph, read my post. I said "many of you", not "all of you".

After several months of continual calls to the customer service line about our bundle with AT&T and why our Direct TV bill had not yet been bundled as of yet. Each month lie after lie was told and still a year later there was no resolution. Today they said the bundle had expired and that is was unbundled in February since it had been a year since the service had been established. This past month the company charged two different bank accounts twice the one bank rejected but created NSF funds event though the didn't pay the payment and the other bank had paid the full bill from that account and I have the transaction number. It as if they went through the list of credit card or bank accounts they had on file seeing if the banks would pay it. The csr on the phone says there was no payment made that they returned the funds which is inaccurate and that I would have to fax in a sheet of paper proving that it went through my bank and it would take up to seven to ten days. I even provided the transaction number to them showing the transaction number and date and time the it cleared my bank. Then they demanded another payment with no bill so I tried logging into the system to view the bill to see if the new charges are correct and they locked they account and would not reset the password. I explained to the CSR that the payment already went through and that I would not pay another bill until reviewing the current months bill. He said that is fine and would mail out a bill mind you we have been signed up for electronic billing since starting the service, no they want to mail a bill. I asked to speak to a Supervisor and they have not had us on hold for 32 mins and holding. Very poor customer service and had I known all the hassles we would be going through I should have learned my lesson with Dish Network. I only hope that AT&T discontinues service with companies such as this because it reflects poorly on them as well.

About a couple months ago, my dad was asking me how much it costs to add another channel. He wanted to add ch.606 (Out door channel.)
I called direct tv to ask how much and they offered me a free trial which includes the channel until april 1st, so why not try it out, i said ok and got the free trial.
Today march 29th, i called back direct tv to cancel the trial... And the customer service agent tells me that i do not have authority to cancel or make any kinds of changes to the account except my mother.
I asked him, then how come they offered me! The free trial and how was i supposed to accept the offer if i dont have authority!?
The agent said, that wasnt supposed to happen or whoever helped me wasnt suppose allow me to make any changes in the first place.
That sounds like a mistake from the company side, but this agent keeps on telling me that my mother should call back and cancel the trial.
I told him that my mother doesnt know how to speak english, and he tells me he cant help but give me a number of direct tv international and take care of it there...
Later, my mother gave the authorization to me and i cancelled it.

But to me it is so clear that they didnt check any authorization when they offered me the trial and later when i was about to cancel the offer then they checks the authority.
Its is also clear that many companies do not have good customer services. They're just there to pick up the phone and be useless, becuase all they say is "i can't help you." or "ill try to do something about it." which is a lie so they can hang up, move on, and forget about it. You can even tell by their voices that they dont care... Like today for example, the agent was just overly hyper and over reacting, which you can tell he's faking.
Becuase at the end, he was no help at all! All he did was annoy me!

My worse experience is with Time Warner.
Changed the service to Direct TV since 2005 and I didnt have any issues up until today that they all the same crap with useless customer services.
There are always rats in big companies who will use the company policies to ripp you off and when you realize that you've been ripped then its too late.
What is a good cable company then?
If anyone know then please let us know a good comapny.

Plus, if you request to speak to a supervisor, they will never allow you.
Like today for example AGAIN!, the agent said that he'll make sure that he'll let the supervisor know about my complaint, but the HELL with it!
With all that phony kindness and overly reacting hyper tension itself proves that he dont care and he just wants to get out of the phone ASAP.
Why do you have to fight to reach to a supervisor?
Whenever I request it, they will tell me that they'll leave a message for me, but how can I can I trust them when this complain is about themselves?
Ill tell him NO I WANT TO TALK TO THE SUPERVISOR MYSELF! and they put me on hold for 5 mins or 10 (probably eating something or taking care of other businesses.) they come back and tell me that they're sry to make us wait and the supervisor is not available.
Same ole crap! I dont even bother now to request becuase they aint gonna let you pass.

this is william capps billing is a ripoff they have been doing thins since last spring over charging channel dropping charging more for less channels charging for new box since the old box went out and i have the same package but less channels and paying more i would like to added a law suit

we need a new sat service that u can select the channels we want . not a lot of channels we dont want

I called to gather information from the company about pricing and what channels were available as I was interested in local sports teams. The Rep was very pushy about getting me signed up. When I refused to give him information to run a credit check and stating several times that I was just interested in getting some questions answered, the rep (marlin) told me " I am just wasting his time." Geez if that's how they treat potential customers, I can't imagine how it is once they got your money. Not a dime from me Direct Tv!

After the agent spent over an hour taking every piece of personal information that I generally do not give, including my credit card number, e-mail address, home address, and running my credit rating, I was transferred to another agent who ran my address and told me that my area was not part of their service area and that I could not get the internet and telephone package that I was promised by the original agent. The result was that this company now has loads of my personal information, they have run my credit, they have wasted my time and THEY DON'T HAVE THE PRODUCT IN MY AREA! I am very uncomfortable that they have my personal information and they have reduced my credit score by running my credit...all for not! What a horrible way to do business. I am worried that charges will appear on my credit card and that I will receive mailings and e-mails from them. Who knows whether they will sell my information to other companies. It is all such a horrible way to treat a potential client. Just terrible!

I am going through the same with this company. They call multiple times a date, even though payments are being made. I wrote them a letter asking them to stop calling as they are harrassing me and their response was to tell me they have a right to. I guess they havent heard of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. I missed one payment in December and paid double in January and they still harrass me and have no intention to stop. I will not answer their calls anymore and will continue to mail them my payments and Im happy to say I am almost done. I will never get a loan from them or refer them to anyone. They are the most unprofessional people I have ever met. They should not be working with customers.

In may of 2010, i moved from one rental property to another one in another town in il. The new landlord would now allow me to carry my direct tv over to the new address. Her reason was because during a previous intallation, direct tv caused so many holes and drafts in the house, and yards and yards of wire around door frames etc so she would not allow tenants to have satellite or cable. I called direct tv to cancel the service. After a long drawn out conversation, i thought this was taken care of which it was not. They only suspended the service, only to begin charging me 6 months later. And not only that, they took over $600 from my checking account when rent was due. I called serveral times prior to them taking my money and the call was dropped, or i was put on hold for over 30 minutes and i had to hang up in order to get back to work. Or i was caught up in a recording loop that went on and on no matter how many times you were prompted to 'press 3" or, they said i never called which is a lie. I wouldn't recommend these shisters to anyone and i will be campaigning to warn people of their deceptive practices.

When I first signed up for Direct TV services, it was just supposed to be for the interenet with At&t.
When I called them, Direct TV persuaded me into a bundle package with them. With this bundle package, they offered me a $75 visa rewards card after 30 days of service. I called to ask about it, and the representatives and a supervisor told me nothing on my account stated that I would receive the rewards card. I wasn't offered ONE THING for their reps lieing to me, and giving me FALSE PROMISES. Not only that, but I have had billing issue's with them overcharging me, and I have only had them for 2 months! Plus, the supervisor that I talked to was very rude and didn't help me at all! Now, I have to pay them over #400 dollars to get out of the contract. Tell me why we as customers have to sign a contract that hold us to certain obligations, and if we break them we are punished, but when they break those obligations we just have to EAT IT!

I was looking into getting this service, but now believe I will look to another company..Thanks for the heads up!

Good decision-stay away from them until they are brought up on charges

DirectTv will screw you and not provide lubrication. I stopped service because of a move, and had planned on a temporary layover between homes. I planned on keeping my equipment, and starting service in my new home. The move took longer than anticipated. They are charging me almost $500 for two DVR receivers (one HD) and 2 months worth of service after I had stopped and moved out. They said I could return the receivers and they would credit my account by $440. I agreed, and they said they would send out a recovery kit to ship the receivers back. It never arrived. I called a couple months later and they said they shipped it to the old address, so they would send out a new one to my current address. Again, 2 months went by and nothing. I called again, and this time they told me I had to send the receivers back. I packed them up and sent them via USPS. They received them 3 weeks ago. Last week an agent told me the credit was being processed, and could take 72 hours. Today they say that there is no credit for returning the receivers because the allowable window of time has passed. No agent ever said anything about a time frame, and not getting credit. Now I have to go through their disputes office, and I'm sure all notes from every agent I've ever spoken to will magically disappear.

WOW------I didn’t realize how bad DIRECT-TV is such a rip off. I called DIRECT-TV in response to one of their specials ( LOCK IN YOUR SAVINGS FOR 2 YEARS) ... now get over 215 channels, local channels included .. $29.99 plus $5.00 for each additional receiver. I set up an appointment for installation on 2/25 to take advantage of their offer and ordered an extra receiver for the bedroom.. Being told that would be $34.99 plus state and local tax... I signed a 2 year contract. When I reviewed my March Visa statement on 3/14 they took $64.54 then on 3/27 another $64.54..I called asking WHY...They explained that i will get a rebate for 1 of those months, BUT because I didn’t get on the internet and activate my account until 4/6 and ask for my rebate they said i wasn't entitled to a rebate for one of those charges and besides even though I (LOCK IN YOUR SAVINGS FOR 2 YEARS) there was a rate increase of 20% and if I canceled my contract there was a $20.00 a month fee so folks did I really (LOCK IN MY SAVINGS FOR 2 YEARS ) What a scam DIRECT-TV is. Being a senior citizen 66 I sure felt as though I was taken advantage of. I am outraged God DIRECT-TV are you that unethical maybe you should change your name to DESPERATE-TV. I sure learned a good lesson maybe my S/S check will increase 20% A lesson well learned WATCH OUT FOR THOSE MONEY SAVING OFFERS azguy1944@a0l.com

more junk mail...calling DTV to remove us from the junk mail loop...I finally get on to the Corp. offices in Ca...but 20 minutes later ..typical junk mail run around...one clown at one of the DTV numbers I called said "call the do not call list"...I laffed so hard he hung up.

Very Poor Customer service!
I have been a customer for about 3 years. We have been having problems with no reception, even on clear days, so I finally called to get it fix they claimed to do all they can over the phone that the problem must be in the dish itself. The cost to have someone come and fix it will be 49.99 after paying $70.00 per month just to watch T.V. Any time they have to come out to fix anything it is a $49.99 charge on top of the monthly fee. DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM ! THE DISH NETWORK IS JUST AS BAD! Stay with cable, you will never loose your picture on cloudy days.

I was charged early cancellation and explaineds in writing that cncellation due to my having to move to an assistant living facility that did not have satellite. Received a call asking for a letter from the complex and the doctor. I sent the info the very next day and several days later, a $350 charge was debited from my card. My account was in dispute and the money they took was for my utility deposit and move. When I called them, they would not give me info for the person to talk to who could reverse this charge until the disput was settled.