DirecTV
Reviews and Complaints

I have been with DirecTV for four years. For the first couple of years I subscribed to NFL Sunday Ticket and the College Football package. Last summer, prior to the fall season of football, I decided to drop the NFL Sunday Ticket package.

After searching the web site, I learned that you can only ADD services to your package on the web site. If you want to remove a subscription service, you must call them directly. This the kind of corporate decision that shows their marketing and drive for revenue wins out over customer service. They are intent on making it as difficult as possible to maintain your own account if it means doing something that would cut their revenue - even when it would provide a better experience for the customer.

I called and finally was connected with a Customer Service Representative who put on a heavy sales pitch to try to retain my subscription. After offering all kinds of discounts, I politely declined and made it clear that I just wanted the NFL Sunday Ticket cancelled. When the CSR finally gave in, her tone changed from being helpful and coorperative, to one of being dejected and sullen. They must be under great pressure to maintain these subscriptions, because the change in demeanor was very obvious. She assured me the package was cancelled.

A couple of weeks later, I noticed that my receiver and the website indicated that I was still 'authorized' for the NFL package. So, I called Customer Service again and learned that my account shows I am subscribed for the package. After going back and forth with Customer Service, I was once again assured that it would be cancelled. They offered no explaination as to why it was not done in the first place. (My only conclusion is that the first CSR did not want to complete the cancellation process because it might have reflected poorly on her 'numbers'.)

Forward to the summer of 2008. What do I see on the page for the NFL Sunday Ticket - but a message that shows I am authorized for the package. In what equates to a very deceptive and unethical practive, DirecTV is 'helping me' by auto renewing my subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket. I can understand the auto renewal of existing packages, but not a package that I have chosen to cancel. Again, marketing is driving the company identity over good customer service. Strong companies have the ability to find a balance between the two, but DirecTV is still falling well short.

Once again, I find myself on the phone with CSR to have the package cancelled. Once again, they have assured me that the package has been cancelled. I guess time will tell.

Good luck with these guys. They are a terrible company when it comes to dealing with their customers.

After subscribing to Directv NFL Sunday Ticket I decided to order NFL Superfan which I was told would enable me to receive my football games in high definition. When I received my first bill I noticed that there was a $10 HD programming charge on my bill. When I called to talk to a representative I was told that in order to get my football games in HD I would have to pay this monthly fee even though I am not interested in receiving any other channels in HD. So let me get this right, I have to pay $100 for NFL Superfan which I was told enables me to get my NFL games in HD along with some other perks & pay an additional $10 for HD programming that I do not want in order to keep my HD football games. Funny how the programming package was not sold that way. Directv is a scam company whose customer reps hang up on customers when they know the customer is right. I hope there is a high profile lawyer out there somewhere willing to start a class action suit against these pieces of ###. Oh by the way if I cancel now I would have to pay over $400 in early termination fees, funny how they never mentioned that either. I hope someone shoots their satellites out of the sky.

Our 7-month old Directv DVR receiver began making strange noises one morning, power was off. Sounded like the motor/blower fan. When we tried turning on the box, it failed to respond. After repeated attempts to reset using the guidelines provided by the directv documentation, I called their technical service.

After more than 15 minutes of phon-mercials featuring Eli and Peyton Manning, I thought maybe I had mis-dialed Comcast. Finally the fast-talking rep came on and of COURSE had to take the dumb customer through all of the steps of resetting the box AGAIN. Needless to say, it did not work.

Then she informed me that directv would be HAPPY to send me a new DVR receiver 'FREE' of charge except for the $19.95 shipping & handling charge (plus tax). I asked her why I was paying for their defective unit...I mean, we didn't even touch it. Power was off and the motor blew. She explained that those were the terms of receiver replacement.

I'm sure I signed some fine print that stated I would pay S/H for replacement...and I would be fine with that had we been in any way responsible for the unit dying.

The main reasons we signed up for directv were cost savings and supposedly better customer service response. After my nearly 20 minute hold and the $20+ bill for their defective unit, we will be contacting Comcast again when our contract is up.

Being in the middle of a cross-country move, I suspended my DirecTV service for six months until I could purchase a new residence. And this is where we begin our story...

1. I called DirecTV to extend my suspension for one more month (construction delays) and they claimed that they could not do so because I'd already been billed for July.

*Already been billed for service that I'm not using and there is no way to remove the charge?

2. After a lengthy complaint call, they assured me that the "tricked" the system and I would not be billed for July.

3. During the month of July, their automated tele-marketing system started calling me 2-3 times per day. When I answer, there is no recording on the other end... nothing but silence.

* When I complained about this, they informed me that it would take 2-3 weeks to be removed from the call list.

4. When I logged into my account at the beginning of August, I noticed that there was an outstanding balance. Upon inquiry, I was told that this was leftover from July billing when I had canceled my account?

* Canceled my account? I haven't canceled and I was told that my suspension would be extended without charge! When I tried to inform them of this, my reply to their email bounced back undelivered. So, I sent an email through their site.

5. I was also informed that I had incurred another charge for the MLB season package, which I'm positive that I had set not to renew. And it was specifically stated that this charge could not be removed.

* I repeat, I'm not currently using any DirecTV service anywhere as I wait for my condo to be constructed. A few years ago, I made the mistake of forgetting to turn off auto-renew and they had no problem removing the charge.

They now say that they will have a "specialist" call me. What kind of specialist might this be, Sylvester Stallone? Basically, DirecTV has a choice. They can continue their inflexibility, bilk these $80 from me OR they can remove the charges and I'll continue my service, which is around $140/month.

Aprox. a month and a half ago my direct tv receiver died and I had them send me a new one. On 7/20/08 my direct tv receiver stopped working again and was displaying erreor code 761 (insert access card) after calling direct tv and going thru their troubleshooting process my system still did not work. They said they would send me an access card and it would arrive no later than 7/23/08. It did not arrive by then. Between the 23rd and the 26th of July myself and my wife called to find out where our card was. We were told that it was sent, that it wasn't sent, that direct tv had no cards and that it was the card manufacturers fault. When I got home from work on the 25th my wife was on the phone with them trying to find out where our card was. When she got understandably upset with them the rep told her she was crazy. When she asked to speak to a supervisor they put her on hold for over an hour until she finally got frustrated and hung up. I suspected that the card was not the problem but that the machine itself was the problem. I told them so on the 26th and asked them since they still had not sent me my card to just send me a new system and card. They of course refused. Today, the 29th, I finally got the card. Did it work? Of course not, after having them walk me through a bunch of useless stuff they determined that it was the dvr. Imagine that!. So now I have to wait until Friday until they send me a new machine. Whatever you do, I would advise you to purchase anyones tv service except Direct TV. I guarantee you you will be sorry.

July 29, 2008

I too have experienced the DirecTV bait-and-switch pricing policy. You made a smart move to return your new set-top box. I am one year past where you are and you are correct; DirecTV uses BAIT-and-Switch pricing practices.

I had received the NFL package (only) for aver a decade on the non-HD hardware. Last year I upgraded to the dual tuner+DVR set-top box. I too was told the $199 was a purchase for the new set-top box. Further, the DirecTV sales associate assured me that no new charges would be linked to the upgrade.

Once the new HD set-top box was activated they started sending bills that added several *undisclosed* charges. These charges included the $4.99/month for the "Primary Lease Receiver", $5.99/month for "DirecTV DVR Service", $9.99/month for "HD Access" and an annual fee of $99 called "Super Fan" which they said was required to receive NFL games in HD. The folks at DirecTV are crooks. They sell one thing then abuse their customer base.

After much conversation with DirecTV and turning off the service because of all the undisclosed charges they had their Customer Retention department call and they waived the fees that were undisclosed for the first year. They waived the 4.99/mo 5.99/mo, 9.99/mo and the Super Fan uplift. Now that it is time to sign up for the upcoming NFL season again they are trying to add the undisclosed charges back **but this time with a twist**. Not only do they want me to pay for the undisclosed charges listed above they are insisting that I add a "Base Programming Package" as well. Not a chance. I have been a Comcast broadband customer for over a decade at this same residence and have used the DirecTV service for the NFL Package *only*.

You are a smart person. I wish I was as smart as you and would have run away from these DirecTV Crooks. If you are considering service with DirecTV I strongly suggest you get all pricing and fees documented from they *in writing*. Good luck with that as they do not want to disclose how they will attempt to gouge you.

=== Details for those that would like to avoid the frustration of a DirecTV purposefully mis-stating prices only to add undisclosed charges “after” turning up the service. ===

Here is yet another educational tool to use when attempting to deal with DirecTV.

One you successfully escalate out of the black hole of the phone Customer Service group you will end up in the Customer Retention group. Their mission is to prevent disconnect orders. I have had to deal with them last NFL season [protected]) and again this NFL season [protected]).

After being escalated to Carmen (agent ID U 3957) on Saturday 7/26/2008 we were able to come to an agreement on pricing and fees for the upcoming NFL season. When I asked her to send me an email with the pricing commitments she refused. I offered to document the details of our conversation and email them to her to receive confirmation in writing of the arrangements made. She again refused. Carmen simply said I have the new pricing and fee structure noted in your account record and that would be all I needed. I learned my lesson from last season that without commitments from the crooks at DirecTV "nothing sticks".

I scribed the detailed notes from the conversation (Customer Retention rep Carman U3957 and sent it off to the DirecTV Customer Service department ([protected]@directv.com). They replied back indicating that did not or would not honor the commitments made by THEIR CUSTOMER RETENTION AGENT (U3557). Instead, they wanted to break the commitment made at the time of my upgrade which was for the NFL Package *only* ($249) (7/18/2007) and the revised commitment made on 7/26/2008) for the NFL Package + Super Fan + DVR fee/mo + HD access/mo ($491.82 assuming a 9 month NFL season).

In short, DirecTV is now and has practiced unethical and in my eyes illegal pricing policies. Stay as far away from these folks as you can and save yourself the grief.

…marko

Ordered direct tv on wednesday and was told installation would occur on saturday. Surprised by such a quick installation I asked them not to tell that they would be here and waste my day make it easy on yourself I told them but do not tell me anything they could not do.

They did not show up! They did not call! For a 12-4 installation they called at 1930 and said there weren't coming due to an emergency. They begged for a new installation date the next day sunday. I finally agreed after warning them several times that I wasted one day on them and was not going to waste another.

You guessed it they did not show sunday either. They did call and lied to me about a technical problem with my equipment. After waiting to speak to a supervisor for 13.45 minutes they hung up on me. I called back and they said all supers were in the field. I said tell me what the technical problem was: her response was "we are locked out of our warehouse and cannot get the supplies". I said a problem with the door or the installer does not have a key. She said the installers do not have keys. So they don't trust him in their warehouse but want to send him to my house.

Called dish network...

My saga started 5 weeks ago. I called them that I wanted to upgrade my equipment to HD receivers and dish. They set up an appointment time. It was confirmed two days before the appointment date. No one showed up.

I complained and got 3 months free Showtime/Movie Channel and a new appointment date. That date came, no one showed up. I was furious, got $100 off on my bill, and a third appointment date.

That third date was yesterday, no one showed up again. I called the installing agent for Directv directly (Skylink) they said they spoke to a supervisor and they would make a special run out on Sunday morning (today) and "if there is a problem with them not being able to come, a supervisor themself would be out to work on it". No one showed up today.

Tomorrow I'll call Skylink again, get a 5th installation date. Then call Directv for another hour long phone call being bounced around to numerous people, to complain again and request $200 credit for these last two missed appointments (their policy is afterall, $100 credit for any missed appointments after the initial date). What is up with Directv and/or the ones they chose to do their installation? Problem with Directv or Skylink?

Well, if we ever do get someone out here to do our HD equipment, it is off to the Better Business Bureau to complain about both companies, and to email the CEO of Directv himself (yes I have his email address). What I have gone through, sitting around for days waiting for an installer is nuts.

I have a bundled service with AT&T for satellite (Dish Network). I got the service last year after I dropped cable. I recently had a reception problem on my TVs, and called the support line which was on a little sticker on the side of my Dish satellite box, placed there by the installer. I reached the support center, and explained my reception problem, and was transferred to another number and I thought I was talking to a support technician.

He assisted me getting the reception corrected, and asked me what kind of box I had and when I told him, he insisted that the box was obsolete and I needed to upgrade to a new box which would give me more channels and improve reception. He offered to send me out another box, dish, and I would pay $29 for the shipping. I agreed, believing he referred to DISH NETWORK. DUH! When the box arrived, I saw that it said Direct TV on the box.

A few days later UPS delivered a box while I wasn't home and when I saw it - it was a Direct TV box. Without opening it, I called Direct TV and of course, could get NO ONE on the phone. You can imagine how angry I was and called them repeatedly to ask why I got a Direct TV box but there was no answer. Finally I reached someone and had to fight with them for TWO days to get the whole thing cancelled. They claim that I agreed to contract with Direct TV and my contention was why in the world would I do that when I already had a contract with DISH? And why would I risk being penalized for who knows how much money? Originally I was just calling about getting my reception corrected, how did that turn into my being switched from DISH to Direct TV?

I was literally screaming my head off to anyone, the manager, the technician, the supervisor over there at Direct TV. I think they are scammers, liars and frauds.

I called Direct TV back again today and was told that my so called 'account' with Direct TV would be cancelled and I need only to return the Direct TV box unopened. It sits in my living room and UPS is still not here to pick it up. There's another pain in you the know what. A delivery service that DOESN'T deliver! What else is new?

We've been a loyal customer of Direct TV going on 10 years. We've always paid our bills on time and used to recommend them to everyone. In the last several years their customer service has tanked and their prices continue to go up.

When we moved at the end of 2007, we used their move services. They stood us up for installation NOT ONCE, NOT TWICE, NOT THREE TIME, but 4 times! A manager had to get involved to finally get someone to show up. We took off of work each time to be home and lost time and money waiting until Direct TV decided they wanted to keep us as customers and could find time in their schedule. After each incident, a 'resolution specialist' promised us credits and limited time of free movie channels if we would just be patient and reschedule the move installation.

Each and every bill we've received for the last 9 months has been wrong. They've overcharged us and conveniently left off credits they promised. Each month it takes at least an hour talking with someone who really doesn't care if you stay as a customer or not to finally get the bill corrected. We've even been charged for services we didn't even ask for - the supervisor decided to just add on top of credits. Every month we were charged for these extras she through in and when the time was up on them we were charged a disconnect fee!

I called again today because we again did not have one of the credits listed on our bill and promised for 12 months. The first operator told me that I had received enough credits and should be satisfied. I asked to speak to a resolution specialist and was transferred. The resolution specialist told me that Direct TV would not honor prior commitments to me on discounts even though it is fully documented in their system.

After all these years of being a customer, I'm now ready to cancel. They don't care if they have your business or not and they will lie to you and tell you they'll give you something that either you have to fight to continue to get month after month or that they will just outright say that they've decided not to honor their word. Their customer service stinks, their billing is inaccurate, and they refuse to follow through on what they promise even when they know that they promised it and it was the basis for you continuing on as a customer at the time.

Went to Best Buy, bought a HD DVR, paid $400+, didn't sign anything but the receipt, and walked out. Activated the receiver but then decided to return receiver because it didn't have our local channels. When I called to deactivate the receiver, directV stated that I had to return the receiver to them otherwise they would charge $500!
I've called many times regarding this issue and they are adamant that there's some magical agreement that everyone should just know when dealing with these crooks. So now if I don't give them back the receiver that I paid a small fortune for, I'll have collections people after me. They wouldn't even let me return the unit to the store and obviously won't give me credit for the unit.
On top of that they tried to tell me they put over $1000 into each receiver. I'm an engineer and work in Manufacturing, if that's the case, they are the biggest ###s in the world. Does anyone really believe that a simple circuit board, a hard drive, and a metal case costs that much? Maybe they're factoring in engineering and who knows what else.
My advice to anyone that would ever foolishly consider this company for service should run as fast as they can to the almost equally deceptive cable companies (I never thought I would say that). Actually, just don't watch TV, that's the only reasonable way to deal with all of these crooks!

July 19, 2008

Mr. Chase carey, ceo
Directv
Office of the president
Po box 6550
Greenwood village, co 80155

Mr. Carey,

I am writing to you today to make you aware of my recent experience with directv and direc tech holding. I feel compelled to bring this matter to your attention, as the response from your customer service department was wholly unsatisfying, and I believe you should be aware of your employees’ actions.

I have been a loyal directv customer since march 2001; my account number is xxxxxxxx. I have consistently maintained an extensive subscription, and on average, pay approximately $150 per month for my service. During my service period, I have moved twice. Both times, I have moved my service using your & ldquo;way-u-move” option, which has resulted in a 2-year contract extension.

My most recent move, in may 2007 was an absolute disaster. The technician that was dispatched to my home on may 3, 2007 arrived with the wrong equipment and was unable to install my high definition service. A second technician was dispatched several weeks later, and while he was able to install the high definition dish, the installation was sloppy and unprofessional, with cables snaking loosely down the front of my home, creating an unappealing look. While we were deeply unhappy with this installation, we accepted it because we had spent so much time arguing with directv customer service, who wished to charge us for the installation, because they considered this a & ldquo;service upgrade”. (Evidently, they had some difficulty understanding that we were not upgrading to high definition service; your technician just failed to install the proper equipment on the original installation date. )

In may 2008, we decided to put new siding on our home. Our contractor advised us that the siding could not be installed with the directv cables running down the front of our home. We called directv and were told by customer service that the cables could be rerouted free of charge as part of our directv protection plan. We scheduled a service appointment for june 19, 2008, and my husband took a vacation day from work so that he could be home to explain to the technician exactly how we would like the cables installed.

Your technician, jorge did arrive on the appointed day during our appointment window. My husband explained to him what we would like done, and in fact, had our contractor come to our home to discuss the installation with jorge. Jorge made several phone calls to his supervisor and advised us that he did not have the proper work order to complete the job. My husband called directv customer service and confirmed that the proper paperwork was provided to direc tech. At that point, direc tech advised us that jorge could not complete the job, as they did not have the proper paperwork, and jorge would not be paid if he did the installation without a valid work order. The appointment was rescheduled for the following day (June 20, 2008) and jorge personally assured us that he would be at our home no later than noon.

I canceled an appointment so that I could be home on june 20th to wait for jorge. At approximately 10:30 am, I received a telephone call from a gentleman that did not speak english. I assumed that it was a wrong number, until he started shouting & ldquo;directv” into the phone. I asked him who he was and why he was calling and he told me that his name was rafael and he was from directv. He stated that he was on his way to my home, but had been delayed by a flat tire. I asked him about jorge, but he said he did not know who jorge was. He simply stated that he was from ny and that he had a flat tire. Rafael’s english was extremely limited, and I had great difficulty understanding what he was saying. I told him that I was waiting for jorge, and that I did not want him to come to my home.

Approximately one hour later, I received a second phone call from rafael, who stated that he could not find my home (17 xxx lane) so he went to my neighbor’s home (20 xxx lane) but & ldquo; [i} did not answer the door”. Ignoring the fact that this course of action makes absolutely no sense, I opened the door to see a scruffy, middle-aged man with no identification, in a beat up van, also with no identification standing across the street from my home, on my neighbor’s lawn. He did not have even a passing command of the english language, and apparently, he expected me to let him into my home. Obviously, I did not let him in and again stated that I was waiting for jorge. I called my husband, who took the afternoon off from work to come home and try to sort out this mess.

At approximately 3:00 pm, I received a telephone call from marlena at direc tech who indicated that jorge was not dispatched to my home because she did not have a valid work order from directv. My husband again called directv customer service and was, again, assured that directv had provided direc tech with the proper paperwork. Marlena called a second time, at approximately 4:00 pm to tell me that she did not have the proper paperwork, and so had to assign jorge another job, and that he would not be coming to my home. (Interestingly, marlena had no knowledge of rafael; she did not know who sent him, what office he came from, or why he came to my home. )

The end result is that I canceled an appointment and my husband took a half-day off from work to wait for a directv technician that failed to show up. At this point, my husband called directv customer service and was told that he needed to pay $105.93 by credit card prior to the technician being dispatched; apparently, we were having & ldquo;custom work” done, which is not part of our directv protection plan. Shortly thereafter, marlena called our home again, and advised me that jorge would be coming to our home the following day (June 21, 2008). Marlena assured me that we would be jorge’s first job and that we should expect him by 8:30 am. She gave me her direct number in the event that there was a problem.

Not surprisingly, jorge did not arrive at 8:30 am as promised. At approximately 10:00 am I called the number marlena provided to me. A woman with a thick spanish accent answered the phone. I asked for marlena, and she said something to me in spanish and hung up on me. I assumed that I had misdialed, so I waited a few moments and then called the number again. The same woman answered the phone, and again, I asked for marlena. She asked me to hold on and I heard her put down the phone and start banging on a (Presumably closed) door, while shouting & ldquo;marlena, marlena, get up. & rdquo; she came back a few moments later and told me that marlena was asleep. I explained that marlena was supposed to have dispatched a technician to my home and that I needed to speak to her immediately. Again, the phone was put down and there was more banging and more & ldquo;marlena, marlena, get up. & rdquo; eventually, marlena picked up the phone and I advised her that jorge had not arrived as promised. She stated that jorge was unable to come because she still did not have a valid work order, but that she had spent the & ldquo;entire morning trying to straighten out the paperwork. & rdquo;

My husband called directv customer service yet again, and yet again, he was assured that the paperwork was in place and that directv could not help us as the problem was clearly with direc tech. At approximately 11:00 am, marlena called again and indicated that jorge was on his way and should arrive within twenty minutes.

Jorge did not arrive until 3:30 pm. He did complete the installation, however, the work was only marginally better than the initial installation. The cables are still poorly installed and unsightly. Again, we accepted this sub-par work because we really just wanted the job completed. At this point, we had already wasted three full days waiting for a technician to show up, and we had made countless phone calls to both directv and direc tech. Both my husband and I were thoroughly disgusted with the entire process, but we were relieved that the job was done and that the situation was resolved. Unfortunately we were wrong!

As jorge was packing up his truck, he asked my husband for $200 in cash for the & ldquo;custom work” that he had done. My husband explained that he paid for the work over the phone via credit card, and in fact, pointed out that the work order provided to us clearly states & ldquo;this technician does not accept cash!” despite this, jorge said that he had gone above and beyond what was required of him and that he felt he should be paid for this service. My husband again refused to pay him. Jorge then called his & ldquo;manager, & rdquo; spoke to him briefly and then asked my husband to speak with him. This & ldquo;manager” who did not give his name asked my husband to give jorge $200. My husband refused. The & ldquo;manager” then said, & ldquo;why don’t you just give him $100 then?” again, my husband refused and eventually jorge left. My husband and I were absolutely amazed! First the technician fails to show up for three days, then he comes & ndash; several hours later than he was supposed to & ndash; does a sub-par job on the installation, and attempts to extort money from us? Is this the type of behavior directv tolerates from its technicians?

Believe it or not, this was not the end of my problems. At approximately 6:00 pm I received a call from direct tech. The woman that called asked to speak to jorge and stated that he had not closed out the job and she needed to know approximately when he would be done. I told her that jorge had left my home over an hour ago. She seemed confused and hung up. At approximately 7:30 pm a gentleman from direc tech called and asked me the same question. He stated that jorge was still listed as being & ldquo;on the job” at our home and he needed to know when jorge would be finished. I told him that jorge had left at about 5:00 pm, after requesting $200 in cash from my husband. He stated that this was completely inappropriate and that he would escalate this to the highest level, and that I should expect a call from a supervisor within one hour. One month later, I have still not received a telephone call from anyone at directv or direct tech.

As I stated earlier, I am brining this to your attention so that you are aware of the actions of your technicians and your customer service representatives. This entire experience was a nightmare, and the behavior of your employees’ is an absolute disgrace. Verizon is currently in the process of installing fiber optic lines in my neighborhood, and I assure you that as soon as fios becomes available, I will be canceling my directv service. Quite frankly, I am tired of your organization using the two-year commitment, contract extensions, and exorbitant cancellation fees to insulate you from providing even passable customer service. Shame on you, mr. Carey!

Regards,

Danielle t. Abramson

Cc: direc tech holding co. , inc.

I was a cable (Comcast) customer and switched as part of the at&t package bundle promotion. I received several rebates and thought I would be delighted with not having to deal with comcast's sometimes bothersome lack of customer service. Was I wrong! I switched to direct tv and whenever there was a bad storm in my area, I could't watch tv as it would pixelate and/or I would receive messages about receiver errors. I also missed on demand terribly! I called may 2, 2008 and cancelled my account with the billing representative. I signed on with comcast and thought that was the end of it except to wait for the promised boxes to return the equipment in. I received two boxes on july 11, 2008 (Ship date from whse indicated july 10, 2008) and returned all equipment on tuesday, july 15th - - well within the stated seven days on the letter they place in each box that states "important: make sure to return your receiver within seven days of receipt to avoid a charge of up to $470, depending on the type of your receiver. " also, "... Simply follow the steps below to send your old receiver back and avoid any charges. " I called my bank on tuesday, july 15, 2008 (3 business days after receiving the boxes) and direct tv had charged by debit account $758.42! Yes! They had my debit on file and charged me not only against their own stated policy of no charge for seven days but also from april to mid-june because they say I didn't cancel with the correct representative! Apparently, my crystal ball wasn't working that morning (Or maybe their representative's aren't well trained) and I was suppose to know somehow that when I said "cancel my account" that it didn't really count because I had to speak with a special person! This company is a joke! I devoted almost the entire day on tuesday trying to sort this out. The first call to direct tv and the representative hung up on me when I insisted on speaking with a billing supervisor. The second representative put me on hold — - eternal hold of 42 minutes before I finally got the hint and decided, hey, I think they are ignoring me!" imagine that! Don't learn the lesson the hard way like I did - - get the hint. Do not do business with this company! I called again (Many times) and finally spoke with a billing representative that promised to take the bill down to $371 (Aren't I lucky) and that charge (Credit?) still hasn't went in but the $758 is still gone. Amazing how that works! They debit and hold the money immediately and the credit is still not in. I called fed-x, they received all of the equipment at the whse and still no credit. Again - do not do business with this company! Consumer beware!

I am a DirecTV customer since Oct. 8, 2007, and I recently moved to a new rental home and brought my service with me. I was under a 12-month obligation with the company, which was the sole provider allowed to my apartment complex. On June 18, 2008, I spoke with a DirecTV representative to notify the company that I was moving to a new home and wanted to transfer my service. I asked if I would be extending my contract if I moved and he said no. He offered for me to get an additional receiver for $19.95 shipping and handling, and I asked if it would extend my service contract. He said no and referred me to the Equipment Lease Addendum page on the company's Web site. The section reads:

PROGRAMMING COMMITMENT. The programming package(s) must be maintained for a period of not less than (a) eighteen (18) consecutive months (for accounts with only standard receiver(s)), or (b) twenty-four (24) consecutive months (for accounts with advanced product(s)/receiver(s) digital video recorder (DVR), high definition receiver (HD) or high definition digital video recorder (HD DVR), including additional DIRECTV receiver(s)). After you have fulfilled your agreement to the required programming package(s), you are not obligated to continue your subscription to DIRECTV programming for any specific duration. Current DIRECTV customers may activate additional receivers with their existing DIRECTV programming package. THIS PROGRAMMING COMMITMENT IS SEPARATE AND DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER PROGRAMMING COMMITMENT YOU MAY HAVE MADE WITH DIRECTV AND IS FULLY ENFORCEABLE UNDER THESE TERMS.

I read that to say I could activate a second receiver without extending my programming commitment. I asked the agent if that was the case, and he cited this portion: After you have fulfilled your agreement to the required programming package(s), you are not obligated to continue your subscription to DIRECTV programming for any specific duration. Current DIRECTV customers may activate additional receivers with their existing DIRECTV programming package.

He said that meant that I as an existing customer could activate an additional receiver without extending the programming package that was contractually bound through Oct. 8, 2008. I then agreed to rent another receiver for $5 extra per month.

When the installer finished activating my new receiver June 28, 2008, he handed me paperwork. I read it and came across the same wording. I asked if I was obligated to another 18 months and said I didn’t want the service if that was the case. He said no and said that section was not applicable because I was an existing customer. He said the terms of my agreement were whatever I was told on the phone by the agent.

On a subsequent call to customer service a month later, I was told by a nice agent named Chico that I was under contract for 18 more months. He transfered me to a resolution specialist named Whitney who said there was no way to verify my claims and I was bound to pay $30 a month for 18 months. Then, she said she’d get a supervisor but instead hung up on me. I called back, and an agent named Billy said I could write to the company or pay a $360 cancellation fee.

It seems to me that I should not be obligated to a commitment that I was twice told didn’t apply to existing customers. I specifically asked two employees, and they both said the additional receiver did not extend the terms of my agreement with the company. Verbal agreements are also binding, and it is their responsibility to make sure their employees know and explain policies.

I either have to pay a $360 cancellation fee or 18 months of $30 service ($540).

Here's my story, I've been a Direct TV customer for a little over a year and signed a 1 year contract. I was told by one of their representatives that I was already paying for HD TV channels so I should get a receiver since I have an HD TV. So I go to a local Best Buy and grab a new HD receiver, paid around $80.00 for it. (this is a LEASED piece of equipment that you don’t own but you still have to pay for it, and return it or they'll charge you again)

They TRIPPLED our monthly bill so we decided that we'd had enough and cancelled our subscription. We were past our subscription so we thought we wouldn't get charged. The next month we find that our checking account was negative over $200.00. When we checked our account we saw that Direct TV charged our checking account $355.92 with out prior authorization. We received no bill or notice about this. We were paying by check each month so it wasn't even an auto pay, but after calling and speaking to a manager he stated that when you first sign up for Direct TV you have to give them a credit card or checking account (for billing purposes) for this very reason and we renewed our subscription when we purchased (leased) the new equipment. He used the scenario that Cell phone companies give you a discount on their phones when you renew your subscriptions. I told him yeah but you own the equipment, with Direct TV you have to pay for equipment you don't own and still have to renew your subscription and return the item you paid for or they'll charge you again. My argument went nowhere and they'll never get any of my business or anyone I know ever again. I'm still filing a dispute through my bank.

My Wife and I signed up for direct TV online at their website. We purchased the receivers and paid $319.00 for them, as far as we knew, we owned them, as there was nothing on the site that said otherwise. We received our first bill on 6/9/08 and there were charges for "leased" equipment. I called Direct TV and was informed that we did not actually purchase the receivers, but that they were leased, along with the 4.99 per month charge for each receiver. When I told the rep. that on the site it says nothing about leasing them he said "It does, you just have to know where to look to find the information. They have just agreed with me that they are misleading their customers, I was furious. I called on 6/10/08 because the charges we wrong on our bill and Mandy, the representative I spoke with also told me that the internet leads you to believe that you are purchasing the receivers, it is only when you call in that you are told that you are actually leasing them. In all reality, the $319.00 we paid was a �leased� price, but you only find that out when you receive you first bill.

They also inform you after you are tied in, that if you cancel within 2 years you are charged a $480.00 fee for canceling, plus they also take the equipment that you thought you purchased. It is awful that even the representatives know that there is a problem with the internet site, but apparently no one will do anything to correct it. Direct TV is very deceptive in the way that they lure you in to get your business, but once you are signed up you are locked in for two years, unless you pay the cancellation fee and lose the money you have spent on the receivers. Every month our bill is wrong and they WILL not make it right.

I am furious that we were not told that not only would these charges be incurred but the money we have lost on the receivers. They lead you to believe that you have bought your equipment and all you have to pay is your monthly bill, how wrong that it. I feel like we have been totally taken advantage of and I am stuck in a contract for 2 years with a company that tricks their customers into their services.

Cox Cable Company is ripping me off. They lie steal and cheat from a lot of consumers. Don't take my word for it look up Cox Cable on complaints.com
They’re stealing from me and lying to me. The problem in today’s time you’re dependent on them or satellite to get any T.V. reception.
Direct T.V. witch is satellite charged my credit card and service when I couldn't even get service because of the location I'm at. I didn't realize they where charging me until I open my credit card statement. I couldn't understand how they can charge someone for something they’re not getting.

Cox cable lied to me about my plain and cost and when I called they gave me a parcel credit. When I asked to speak to a supervisor she told me he said, “he’d remove what credit she gave me if I insisted on talking to him.”
Why would any reputable company punish their customers for talking to the supervisor? They would only give a first name, hers was Jackie no ID # I asked her location she said it was San Diego, CA. At first she wouldn't give her bosses name and then did after I was on hold many times. His name was Chris I asked did he have an ID number or ext. She said 3688. I don't know if that information was honest. None of these Cable or Satellite companies is honest. Nobody’s governing them and their practices. What choice does anyone have? You have to pay to watch TV. Even the basic is allot of money and there’s always fees too. Rabbit ears won’t work anymore.

When tried to cancel service, they transfer me to another department and the guy there WOULD NOT LET ME CANCEL he kept me on the phone another 40 min and breaking me down by putting me on hold for long periods and going over different options until I gave in to a different plain. They are Gangsters!
I’ll show you my phone log that when I tried to cancel Cox would transfer me to another department where I would wait on hold for a very long time and then they would disconnect the call forcing me to go threw this all over again. That happened 4 times before I finally got someone. But of course I had to say ask please stop disconnecting my calls.
I was deceived and lied to regarding the cost the first time. Is anyone watching them? I bet Cox and direct make billions ripping off consumers.
I sent this email to ac360.c0m keeping them honest. If you have simular complain I hope you'll email Anderson Cooper too.

I called Direct TV a year ago asked them to remove the XLB baseball package sorry I don’t watch baseball, and my son is off at college. Anyhow Direct TV says not to worry, I called them 6 months ago just to make sure they say no problem. Guess what I go on line to check out some new shows and bang there is a bill for MLB. I’m on auto bill where they hit my credit card AHHHH I called them and they said they would credit my account I asked the whole bill? Nope just this month. Ok I’ll be out 100 bucks I could have used. I say lets email friends & family asking everyone to switch to paper billing and forward it to at least 10 others. It will help cut down on their fraudulent billing which appears to be rampant. Eventually someone on the corporate side will have to wonder why they started haemorrhaging and maybe we’ll see some real leadership. Hey for every person who goes to paper it will cost them 3-5 bucks a month pulled from their ill got gains.