DirecTV
Reviews and Complaints

I signed up with Directv when they were offering a free portable dvd player. I never received the paperwork necessary until I called about it. I filled everything out and sent everything requested. Instead of a portable dvd player I received a cheap dvd player (one to attach to a tv).

I too was lied to. It's still a better value than concast, but only w/o the dvr. Their ads tout 6000 movies and shows free on demand for no extra cost. The salesman told me I'd be getting them no problem, as did the tech that installed the 4 boxes. The picture is great, but I did just experience my first signal loss in a light rain(2nd full day of service), so there may be trouble there in the future?. My issue is that even though the salesman and the installer promised me to be able to get the on demand shows w/o the dvr(like concast), their tech support and customer 'service' tell me that this is NOT true. Minor screw up IMO, and easy enough to fix...or so I thought.

I expected them to just swap out my boxes and get me the service I was promised going. I was even willing to pay the extra $10/month for the service, but they will only replace 1 of my boxes and not all 4. The advert material given at the point of sale clearly states 'no equipment to buy ever', but they want $199.00 for EACH of the other 3 dvr enabled boxes. This is clearly the wrong way to treat a customer. Had the salesman (and the installer mentioned this) not screwed up, I would have been charged nothing but the $6/month rental for each of the extra boxes(same whether dvr or not). I've decided to not pay the extra $10 to get access to what is promised free in both their ads and my sales contract, and I'm not switching my boxes out. I have an old computer(newer harddrive) I use as a dvr, and I have no restrictions on what I can record(or for how long)! It does suck to not get the '6000 movies and shows free at no extra charge', but given that the call center people basically told me that most of the calls they had gotten lately were related to this issue(salesman screw ups), I expect that they will get a class action suit against them, and I can just hop on the bandwagon then rather than waste more of my time trying to get them to do the right thing.

My box has never worked from day one, and all they want is money to fix it, I will not do it. It's a piece of garbage and this company is run by the MOB! Their tech dept is a joke, no help what so ever. I will be signing up with AT&T next month who provide a wonderful TV and they service their equipemt for no charge. They also have the app...and from seeing my neighbors who are all going this route, the equipment is awesome!
I am so angry, Direct TV is the worst business (and I use the term loosly) ever, they make Comcast look like saints!

I just got Direct TV three months ago and HATE HATE HATE it!

Picture this: Bottom of the 10th, Yankees versus Red Sox, Robinson Cano at bat and the damn receiver froze. I had to reboot the receiver and by the time it did all that uploading garbage, the game was over. This has happened regularly since the first week I received their service.

Direct TV has been out twice. The first technician told me that it was my satellite placement and that my sat would have to be moved ten feet, but HE COULDN'T DO IT because a contractor installed the dish and Direct Tv does NOT guarantee the work of a contractor. He said he'd send out the man who installed the dish. However, a week later someone else came (not the original installer) and this person told me that I had strong signal strength and that the problem was with my electrical outlets and that faulty outlets would cause the receiver to freeze. WTF? My electrical outlets are fine.

I HATE direct tv. absolutely hate it so if you are contemplating getting it, DON'T!

Direct TV is a bunch of gangsters. Got their service bundled with Verizon Triple Freedom. It has been a nightmare since Day one. First it was the "bills aren't synchronized, so you are paying more" scam. Then it was "the computer didn't put through the discount" scam. Then it was the "it's Direct TV/it's Verizon's fault" blame game where the customer is bounced like a ping pong ball between the two companies. Now it's the jack the rates even though we had a contract because we still have the $20/month early termination fee hammer over you head.

Direct TV's customer service is a joke and Verizon by association and guilt is no better with its massive electronic gauntlet to get through to its customer service reps.

It's a disgusting situation and I would AVOID let alone NOT RECOMMEND doing business with either company.

I am a new Direct TV customer. I got Direct TV due to signing up for the Triple bundle with Verizon. Since signing up 3 months ago, i have had constant problems with my internet & phone line service and had no choice but to cancel my account. Since I got my Direct TV as a bundle I have no choice but to cancel it as well since alone it si too costly. When calling to cancel, I spoke wih Robert in the Texas Call Center. He was very RUDE, not caring about my dificulties at all. He would just repeat, "you dont need to cancel Direct TV, just order internet & ohone with another provider. I explained that it was too costly that way and that I needed to sign up for the triple paly with Comcast to get the best deal. He was only interested in stting that I had to pay the early cancellation fee and did not care if it was Verizon's fault or not. WE would not let me speak to a Supervisor and finally got me one that only spoke spanish! After 35 frustrating minutes, I spoke to a guy named Ernesto, which started saying: you must pay the early cancellation fee and not caring about anything else. I do not believe that the cancellation is my fault! I signed up for a package and Verizon did not deliver! Direct TV technicians have been at myhouse 3 times already! in the past two months. The representatives like ROBERT # MX1542 are a disgrace to any company. They do not have common sense and should not be working in Customer SErvice. This has been a very dissapointing experience. I am telling everyone I know that thye should NEVER switch over to VErizon or Direct TV, it is not worth the hassle. I am writting to my Congressman explaing this horrible experience. It is in times like this that we should join to help each other and not try to trick you into a package that does not work for you. I am not a technician and would have never imagined that I would be facing all these additional fees and cost for something that is beyond my control. I have asked to contact a Manager and Robert alsways refused without giving me a reason. Is this the Company polciy? Please avoid this horrible experience by keeping away from these Companies. Robert, I am still waiting for a Manager to contact me. You have my information.

I had direct tv for about 4 years and i wasn't 100% thrilled with them. i complained because you could litteraly spit on the satellite and my reception would be lost i thought this to actually be amusing until it would rain ever so slightly. i left for school for a year and had it cancelled and had no problems i was actually rather happy with the cancellation i didnt see any charges or nothing. now that was atleast 4 years ago after comming home from school i decided to go back to dtv since cable just seemed to be getting ridiculously expensive so i signed back up and again i was moderately happy. well now here comes what really pissed me off and i would like to know if anyone else has had this problem. i went to best buy and bought 2 or the dvr remote boxes so i could record shows and what not. well when my contract was up i did the bundle thing through my cable company (tv internet phone) and upon cancelling this time dtv told me that i need to send my boxes back to the...uuuuuuhhhhh what i spent $120 each on those things well what best buy and direct tv dont tell you is that even though you bought them from best buy you are actually on leasing the boxes...so you can either get one of thier pos boxes that dont seem to last a month or you can spend a fortune and just turn it back in when you cancel.

On Sunday 8/17/08, I called Direct TV to inquire about service for my new home. The representative I spoke to was Robert at the Texas call center. He told me he needed my credt/debit card info. and social security number to run a credit check. I was hesitant to give both of them, but felt secure at the time that they were a reputable company. I told Robert not to put any charges on my debit account. He said he had to place me on hold and then we would set up an appointment time. Not once did he state ANYTHING about a charge. He hung up on my while I was supposedly placed on hold.
I called right back and asked for a manager. Spoke to Pat in Miami call center and of course there was NO record of my call. I called back on Monday 8/18/08 and spoke to Tacho an account supervisor who advised me that there was an order number that was canceled from Sunday. However, I called my bank because I had a bad feeling about giving that first representative my debit card number. My bank advised me that there is a charge in the amount of $219.95 on my account from SUNDAY! I NEVER even set up an appointment time, never authorized any amount, NEVER even had an account number. Did NOT agree to even going with Direct TV at this point because I was not told what the monthly rate would be. It is a fraudulant charge and now not even supervisors can credit my account because there in NO account number. They are telling me to fax over my bank statement to them and they will look into it. In the mean time my account is in the negative and I have bills that need to be paid. I finally called the fraud department on the back of my debit card. They are doing a complete investigation on Direct TV. ADVICE to anyone looking for new service---DO NOT EVEN CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT SERVICES THEY WILL CHARGE YOU BEFORE YOU EVEN AGREE TO SET UP SERVICE and you will be on HOLD for at least an hour each time! After 5 hours of being on the phone with them and wasting my cell phone minutes and getting nothing but aggravation. I am in contact with an attorney now and he can deal with them.

I changed sat. from Dish to direct. That proves how stupid I am. I never recieved a bill from direct tv. I called and they said one was sent out. I questioned them and found out it was sent to a wrong address. I corrected the address and still no bill. I called them again and was sent to asia by phone to speak to someone I couldn't understand. Good ole American company selling us out to another country to make executive look great? at our expense.I was then told that I would receive a bill on 4-18-08. If I didn't, Iwas to let them know. I never got the bill so I let them know. Their next move was to shut down my service. I was with Dish for about three years and never had one problem.

I am also having problems with DirectTV and wish I had never left Dish Network and my TIVO. Now I have a service that is far from what I expected and apparently will likely get worse as time passes. I recorded a pay-per-view movie and when I tried to watch it again I was prompted to pay for it again. I selected NO of course since I had already paid for the movie. When I called DirectTV to complain I was told some story that I have not been able to confirm so I believe it is a lie. The customer service rep told me that a new law was passed on April 15, 2008 that required the satelite companies can no longer allow any one to keep a movie they have recorded for future viewing. The rep told me that if you recorded a movie you would only be able to watch it again if it was within the 24 hour period, then the movie would no longer be on the DVR and you would have to pay to see it again. This is where the first lie comes in that I was able to confirm. I had recorded the movie the night before and it was still within the 24 hour time frame and I was not able to watch it again unless I was willing to pay the $4.99 again. I told him the movie had been recorded less than the 24 hours before and I was not able to watch it and all he could say was he was sorry about that. He claimed that if the movie was recorded on the DVR that 24 hours later DirectTV would erase the movie. That is another lie that I was able to confirm because more than 24 hours after recording the movie it was still on the DVR, but we could not watch it without paying for it again. So, we erased it ourselves! I told the customer service rep that we would be getting rid of the service and he asked me if we had a commitment of 1 year or something else. I am glad he reminded me of that because if you stop the service with DirectTV before your commintment is fulfilled they will charge you (according to the customer service rep) $20 per month for the time still left on your contract even though you have stopped the service. So I told him, ok as soon as the contract is up they can take there equipment back. I also told the rep that I would never be renting a movie from them again and I suggest the rest of you do the same. You can get much better movie rental service from Net Flicks and you can watch the movie as many times as you want to.
I was going to sell the equipment because I cought it, but with all of this and the problems I see others having I would not wish this on anyone else. Who needs it and why would I even want to sell it to someone else when I have not had a good experience with them. The only real reason why I switched to DirectTV is because they are the only ones in my area that offer the "NFL Sunday Ticket" otherwise I would have stayed with Dish Network and my TIVO! I got this sevice before football season was over, but was not even told which channels it was on until long after the season was over. I am being charged $23.99 a month for this season and have not even seen one game to date. I will be going back to Dish even though they do not have "NFL Sunday Ticket", because at least it always worked and they never lied to me!

DirectTV is just a big ripoff! Warning "IF YOU DO NOT HAVE DIRECT TV, DO NOT GET IT" because you will not be happy with it at all, ever.

I was also ripped off by Direct Tv I signed up for one of their programs and was never charged the amount they said I would get the programing for after 3 months I cancelled but after I had paid for a month of service. Almost double what I should have paid. I was told in 6 to 8 weeks i would receive a refund but none came but I did get a bill for 18 cents they said I owed after they deducted some discounts from my money... All they could say was file a despute with them if I didn't agree.

Direct Technologies in Dallas, NC contracts for Directv and they refuse to pay me the $3000.00 owed to me for working for them. The owners Jessica Long told me I was getting my money back in October 2007 and Stacy Long her husband will not pay me. He has a criminal record for being a thief. If I had known this when I was hired then I would not have worked there. This is a low life ### company. Please avoid them totally. They will rip you off! Why would Directv hire someone with a criminal theift record?

I cannot bad mouth direct tv I never had any trouble with them...

I was a customer in love with DirecTV. Never had one problem in almost four years. I had the wonderful DirecTV Tivo box. While paying my bill online, I noticed that DirecTV were offering boxes that held up to 100 hours. My old box only held 30. So I decided to "upgrade". And while I was at it, I decided to have a DVR installed in our bedroom as well. So DirecTV sent me a box for the living room, and scheduled a tech to come out to set up the bedroom.

WORST MISTAKE EVER!
I did not realize before it arrived that this “new” box was not a Tivo, nor was it new, but refurbished. I was sent the R15 100. It was CLEARLY not a Tivo; the features could not even compare (where is my Season Pass? My wishlist?)! But I figured, ah well, I will learn to love this as I loved my Tivo.

Unfortunately, before I could start this new affair, the box crapped out. Right away it gave me problems: Black screen where recorded shows should be, freezing, etc. After HOURS and HOURS on tech support (resetting, re-downloading updates, finally re-formatting the hard drive- in which I lost all the shows I had been able to record), DirecTV FINALLY said they would send me a replacement box.

However, before it showed up, the installers showed up to hook up the bedroom. Now- while they were setting the room up for DVR, this room already had the regular DirecTV box in there. So when the guy from Ironwood Communications tells me he needs $75.00 before he will start work, I was confused. He mentioned something about having to wall fish and that being the cause for the charge. I felt it was odd since I had been promised “Free Installation” but ah well, I wrote him a check. He does the work, while the “new guy” he was training did god knows what. He sends the newbie out to have me sign saying the work was complete, and while doing so made some off color comments to me. At that point I just wanted them out. They leave, and I realize there is NO mention whatsoever on my copy of the receipt that I paid them any money or that any special work was done. Then I get to thinking, what the hell did they do that was so special? Wall fishing? Uh, there was already a cable going from the satellite to the old box, didn’t they just follow that? Eventually we were able to get Ironwood to shred the check, but I was still feeling a little ripped off.

But then, the next day, guess what? THE SAME DAMN PROBLEMS START HAPPENING IN THE BEDROOM. So I call DirecTV and ask them to send me a NEW box instead of another refurbished one, since so far, the two they had sent me were both faulty. They informed me that was not going to ever happen, if I wanted a new box I would have to purchase one (What was the $99 for, since I guess I am leasing these from them?!) And mind you, this is after night after night of dealing with tech support and lost shows. They do tell me that should any more problems arise, I will be assigned “CASE MANAGEMENT” so that I do not have to jump from tech to tech every time I have problems, and will be given one person who will know who I am and have been going through. That is great, but I hope the replacements will just WORK AS THEY SHOULD and I have no need for any more assistance.

Now, I might also mention that every time I have to unhook one box and hook up a replacement, it means losing any shows I had in my playlist. It also means having to once again set up the Prioritizer, remotes, etc. And it means having to wait for the Guide whiles it S L O W L Y gets the correct info. All of which is taking time and losing shows.

So they send me a replacement for the living room and a replacement for the bedroom. The replacements are R15 500s. The living room one is another refurbished one that is all scratched up, but luckily the bedroom one came brand new.

Everything was fine for about one and a half weeks. I was finally adjusting to life without the glorious DirecTV DVR, when BAM! The living room box freezes in the middle of a show. I had to unplug the box to get it to come back up. I hoped that was the end of the problems, but of course LMAO, it was not. Two nights ago, I happen to walk into the living room at 8:55. I look over at the box, which should have the “Record” button lit up as it was supposed to be recording two programs at 8:00. But of course, the whole box is dark and unresponsive. So I reset, and get the blue “Hello” screen. Then BAM! Back to black. I reset again and it finally comes on, but of course, I am out of luck on my two shows. I also notice that the 2 shows that were supposed to record at 7:00 actually did not start until 7:12, meaning I missed the 1st ¼ of them.

I am really upset now, because once again, I have lost shows and am having to deal with a crappy product. I head to bed, making sure the box is working. Then last night, I get home from work, about to head out to dinner, when I notice that the box is ONCE AGAIN dead. I reset, reset, reset, make sure my shows are all set to record, and then I call DirecTV. I explain the situation, and also mention that I would like to have the Case Management set up, especially since it took going through 3 techs before anyone was willing to help me. 1st, he asks me if the box is plugged in. SERIOUSLY. Can he not see in his computer that I have been through the ringer and have tried all the steps before I call? But whatever, not too big of a deal. Then he tells me as far as the Case Management goes, no problem, he will set that up and be right back. But OF COURSE, when he comes back, he informs me that I am not eligible for C.M. (even though I was previously told I would be) He says all he can do is send out a tech to see what the problem is, and that he will bring a replacement box. I explain that would be fine, however, I do not want anyone from Ironwood Communications coming into my house ever again due to the last incident. He informs me that they are the only company in the area that would be able to assist me (Really? In the whole North Bay?) Then he offers to just send a replacement, if I am comfortable hooking it up myself- which of course I am, I have already done it a couple times by now. And since I am now late for my dinner plans, I say fine, let’s just get this done.

So now I am ticked off about my ongoing drama with my once beloved company. I push past it though, and try to enjoy my dinner. Once I get home, I am relieved to see that the box is still up and running. UNTIL I CHECK THE PLAYLIST… and find that Survivor is missing. I guess the DVR just decided that I did not need to see it. You know, regardless of the fact that it is the top show on my Prioritizer. In the History list, not even a mention of it. That is bad enough, as I am ready to throw the freaking box out the window, but then when we sit down to watch Lost, about 10 minutes in, THE BOX SHUTS DOWN AGAIN. So, knowing the drill by now, I go and hit the reset button. Nothing. So I repeat. Nothing. This goes on for about 5 minutes, sometimes the box coming to life to say Hello, and then shutting down again, other times just ignoring me altogether. I finally unplug it, let it sit, and then plug it back in. It comes up, and we have no more problems the rest of the night. Oh, except the fact that one of the shows I was recording when the box shut down, is now completely gone, not a mention of it anywhere.
And now today. As I get ready for work, I head to the living room, and find that once again, the box is dead. I do my little song and dance with the reset button, and the power cord, but alas, nothing. So now, I am without a working box in the living room.

Will I be compensated? Hell no.

Will I have to continue to pay for service while I wait on the replacement to show up?
OF COURSE.

Will the replacement be another refurbished piece of crap that will in almost certainty screw up again? I would bet on it.

I might also mention that over the course of all my phone calls with tech support for each of the boxes, I have spent about 10 hours of my time and energy. When I asked a supervisor about any kind of compensation, he said all he could do was give me $5.00 off my Showtime for 3 months. WOW! A whole $15.00 off! So basically, my time, energy and such is worth a whole $1.50 per hour. Thanks DirecTV! Thank you so much!

How about this- if you are cutting ties with Tivo, and are going to offer your own DVR boxes, how about you MAKE SURE THEY DAMN WELL WORK BEFORE YOU SEND THEM OUT?! How about you don’t dick me around by sending me refurbished box after refurbished box and give me something that has even a chance of working?
Or better yet, how about you let me hook up my trusted Tivo again, and NOT charge me the $150.00 fee you say you will. I mean, crap, I agreed to another two years with you before I realized you were going to make my life hell, so you could at least do that.
Or wait, I know, what you really could do is check yourselves, and lick Tivo’s heals in hopes that they will take you back. If I had not agreed to the 2 more years, you can bet I would be long gone.

All I want is a product to work the way it is supposed to. And if said product fails to do so, that the company behind it remedy the situation. And if they cannot, then they should not be charging me for said product. In the whole time I had the DirecTV Tivo, I NEVER had one problem. Not one! Isn’t that pretty much how things are supposed to work?

Throughout this entire thing, I have remained calm, and friendly with the techs. I have not become one of those irate screaming customers, because working in customer service myself, I am fully aware that it is not the techs fault for the company’s bad business. HOWEVER- the buck now has to stop somewhere. I am LIVID and WILL be getting results, however I can.

All I wanted was to expand my hours from 30 to 100. That was it, simple and easy. And now I just want to be done with it. The pure and simple fact is that I am paying for a service that is not working, and that sucks. I want a resolution.

If you have read this far, bless you :> If you have any suggestions on how I could handle any of this, please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it!
Have a great day, and may Tivos be bestowed on all

I signed up for direct tv service 2 wekks ago. They have promised to come out to set it up on 2 seperate dates and have been a no show both times. The direct tv costumer service has been no help. I am going to contact the better business bueau and encourage all with problems to do the same.

I contracted with Direct TV to come out and do a installation for a system with a DVR. First, the Direct TV tech did not show for two scheduled appointments, (I should have canceled the service then). Finally on the third time someone showed up and installed the TV boxes and used the old dish on the roof from the previous home owners. After a few hours of playing around with the system I noticed that I could not record anything without having to watch it too. I scheduled another appointments for the tech to come out and do a proper installation and once again they did not show. I scheduled one last appointment and the day of the appointment I received a phone call form the service tech saying that because my home is a two story house they could not do the installation.

I want to take a moment out here to state something. If the tech had told me that the company did not do two story installations when they finally showed up on the third appointment to do the original install I would have never entered into the agreement. I am under the personal belief that if the service tech who did the original installation knew that a DVR system was being installed and did not do the cabling installation correctly and then enter into a contract for a service that he knows he has not set me up to receive represents the elements necessary to prove fraud.

After calling the corporate offices and talking to a manager I was told that I had two options. They could give me a $75 credit and I could get another company to come out and do that actual cable installation or I could do it myself but that Direct TV does not do two story homes in Houston TX. I informed that manager that he had two choices either someone comes out and install the system per the agreement or they cancel my contact. The manager then proceeded to cancel the agreement with me over the phone.

I know I will have to fight them when they try to charge me a early termination fee but I think I will cancel the credit card I used to set up the service just to make sure they don’t rip me off.

Long story short if you are thinking about going with this company DON'T.

To Whom It May Concern:

I had such a bad experience with direct tv customer service. This is not on just one occasion, this is 3-4 times that I called and I get rude employees. I can’t even believe the way I was treated. I got direct tv with a 300 deposit because I had no credit and was informed that I will get all of it back, by them taking off a certain dollar amt off my bill. I was okay with that knowing that It would be credited towards my account. I was in the middle of moving and had a lot of other bills so the account went to collections. I called them back once I was finally settled and told them that I would like to get my service back on. The rep that I spoke to at that time told me that it would be 203.00 that I needed to pay. I told them that I would pay them as soon as I get paid. A week before I got paid which was a couple of days before I spoke to that rep, I got a phone call from a collections agency saying that I had to make a payment. I then told them that I would be getting my services restored. They said I can give them the payment and they will post it with direct tv. I called directv a day before the scheduled day for payment (talked to a rep name leah) , and they had no record because the collections agency has a different system then they do, which I understand. What I was surprised to hear is that they have no record of what collections agency my account was sent to. WOW! I was really surprised by the fact that an account is sent out and you have no idea where it went to. Not to mention how rude that girl was, I can just picture her sitting there rolling her eye as she’s talking. I got to the supervisor and he was a little bit helpful giving me the info that I needed to know but still didn’t know where my account was. Anyway, so I go through my file found the collections that my account was sent to and called them back and gave them the name of the collections my account is with. I get paid and still no money was taken out for like a week so I am thinking they are probably not going to take it out since it was an automatic payment and they haven’t taken it out. I spent some money out of that payment and then they take out the money, and over drafted my account which was partly my fault so I take the blame for it. I call and get a rep name Marquita who was so extremely rude & was even worse then the other one. She tells me “I do see a payment posted on the account but you are 17 dollars shy so we cant get the service back on.” At this point I’m upset so I say to her “ So I made this payment, that collections took it out late, so I now have over drafted my account 70.00 not to mention the fees that I am going to pay along w/ it and you’re telling me that I cant get my service back on because of 17.00”? She says to me… YES! I am telling you that very rudely. I said to her what type of customer service she has, she should consider taking a class on how to treat callers better, and she says well do you want me to transfer you to someone else since you want me to take a class. I ask for the supervisor and she hangs up on me. I call back finally get the supervisor on the line and he was rude, I was yelling because at this point I’m pissed. He says there is nothing I can do for you. I say okay for 17 dollars, can you bill my account or take it out of my 300 dollars deposit that I made? When they billed me they only take out 5 each bill which means I would have had about 285 left. He tells me I lost the 300 because my acct went to collections so I need to pay end of story. I ask to speak to a manager, director, or a department where I can file a grievance. He tells me that they don’t do them over the phone that I would have to write a letter, and I cant speak to a manager or director. I called the Better Business Bureau the next day and they needed the location of the call center that I spoke with. I call them back to ask if they can look at the notes on my account to see who I spoke with and which city the call center is located. They said names are not posted on the account so there is no way of telling who you spoke with and which call center it was. They really need to change their system so they can be able to track who you spoke with for quality purposes! The only thing which they were able to provide me was the address to send complaints to which is Attn office of the president Direct Inc. P.O box 6550 Greenwood Village, Colorado 80155. I advice anyone who is having problems with directv to report it to the better business bureau.

Sincerely,
Tanya Lodge

Sub: Billing and agreement

This is highlight the lack of integrity in Directv operations. I had called you direct tele sales and booked my account with direct tv on 3rd April 2007. The agent told me that I would get 20$ discount on my bill for 10 months and signed up for direct tv on 5th April.

Today i got a bill with no discount. I called retention department and they told me that there was no such scheme. I requested to get my account cancelled and they tell me that I have to pay about 12 $ per month penalty.

This is not a ethical practice. First their sales team promises some discount then they do not give that discount and charge for de- activation of service. Its just 7 days that I have used the service. When I call their call center I am put on hold by for hours and then disconnected. Now I am helpless and I cannot do anything.

Dont get carried away by all the offers and promises they make at the time you become a new customer.

They promised me a FREE PORTABLE DVD PLAYER for which i dutifully sent the registration/rebate form and waited patiently for 3 months. After this i kept following up and sending emails for 3-4 months. After all that, they sent me a very ordinary, cheap basic DVD player instead of the promised PORTABLE DVD PLAYER. I still plan to follow up with them but i am already so frustrated about fighting for something that was promised to me.

My suggestion is that instead of the portable dvd player you should bargain for a cash back or something.

Dont trust them. They are cheats.

Good luck.

Ironwood communications is a very lazy company, right now i am a sub contractor for them and the inhouse guys are the laziest half ### workers ever. ironwoods call center is always down and activation is also a pain, the people at the call center in salt lake never answer the phone, the training process is the weirdest where they make you ride with a guy for 3 days and kick you out on the street on your own, I've encountered situations where ironwood left some customers real pissed off for us subs and never done anything to help. George needs to be run out of business (ATI [install techs]) for his payroll deductions for non responders on telephone lines. and hes a weasel. he bought tables and plasmas for his office but takes money out of our checks and says its all out of his pocket, yeah right! and hes fat!

Copy of Letter sent to Directv

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to you to issue a formal complaint about services I received from Directv between May 2006 and July 2006. In order to best explain my complaint, I will describe the events that have occurred over the last 3 months in chronological order:

Early May 2006- I called Directv to schedule a “Movers Connect”. This was scheduled for May 27, 2006 between 1pm and 5pm.
A few days later I called to order DVR. For the sake of convenience, I asked that installation of the DVR be combined with my already scheduled appointment for the Movers Connect, but I was told that this would have to be a different appointment. Coincidentally, this was also scheduled for May 27, 2006 between 1pm and 5pm.
May 27, 2006: The technician for the Movers Connect (Anthony) and the technician for the DVR (Sal) arrive between 5:15 and 5:30pm. The technicians had difficulty deciding what should be done and who would install the satellite dish. It was eventually agreed that Anthony would install it. Sal decided that it would be best for him to leave since the dish was not up, despite Anthony telling him to wait and set up his wires. Sal told me to reschedule and left. Anthony finished his job of installing the Movers Connect. Evidently out of anger towards Sal, Anthony told my family and I that he arranged the wires so that it was easy for him and so that it would be “difficult” for the next person who came to install the DVR.
May 30, 2006: I called Directv to reschedule the DVR installation. I found out that it had already been rescheduled without my knowledge or consent. Despite this unconsulted and unilateral scheduling by your company, I rearranged my schedule to make myself available at the convenience of your technicians. The installation was rescheduled for June 1, 2006.
June 1, 2006: Technician arrives at the house. He stated that Anthony did not do a good job installing the dish. He stated that “the wires are a mess” and “they are not grounded.” The technician decided that he would need to put up a new dish. This created a situation where we would have two dishes on our home- one that was connected, and one that was not. Despite this fact, at 3pm, the technician stated that he would not be able to remove the original dish because there was no work order to do so. Between 4:30 and 5:30pm I was on the phone with Directv. After enduring the painstaking process of speaking with 7 different customer service representatives, and being passed around and transferred on the phone between the representatives for over an hour, I was told that the job to remove the original dish could be completed. I was given the following work order number- 213376. At this point, I had 2 satellite dishes on my house. Even with this work order, the technician at the house could not obtain permission from his supervisor to remove the dish. By 6pm that night the DVR was working, but 2 dishes, 1 of which was completely non-functioning, remained on my roof.
June 3, 2006: 7:10am- Received a call from technician from Directv. He stated that he would be coming in the afternoon to complete the job. Evidently, yet another appointment has been scheduled without my knowledge or consent. Since I did not know of any job that was rescheduled I called Directv. At 7:40am a representative from Directv told me that the technician would be coming out to remove the satellite dish. I called the technician back to confirm this appointment. I specifically told the technician not to come to the house unless he was going to remove the dish. He stated “I can do everything you need.”
3:30pm Technician calls to say that he will be at the house in ½ hour.
5:00pm Technician calls to say that he will be there in ½ hour.
7:00pm Technician calls to say that he will be there in a few minutes.
8:45pm Technician calls for directions.
9:15pm Technician finally arrives. During that day, a minor problem arose with respect to our ability to switch between video 1 mode (on which our Playstation could be played) and video 2 mode (on which we could receive Directtv programs). Upon his arrival, the tech was entirely unaware that this problem even existed, as we had not informed anyone of its existence. In a matter of seconds, the technician fixed this problem. We then proceeded outside to look at the satellite dish that the tech had agreed (14 hours previously) to remove. The tech stated that it was too dark. The technician then told me that he would only be removing the satellite dish as “a favor.” Although I was upset by this I explained to the man that after all day of waiting, this was the only job that he had been expected to do, and requested that he proceed to remove the dish. He replied “If you were nice, I would do it for you.” He was then asked to leave, but refused to leave until we signed a paper stating that he had completed his work (which he hadn’t, but we relented so he would leave our home). On that paper, we wrote in by hand that the technician had failed to remove the satellite dish, as we requested.
Shortly thereafter, we called to reschedule removal of dish. The dish removal was scheduled for June 11 between 1 and 5pm. When we called to reschedule, we requested that Tech 3811 not return to my house.
June 11: We received call from Ironwood Communications stating that due to “overbooking” they would not be able to keep scheduled appointment. The removal of the second unnecessary dish was again delayed.
The appointment for removal of our dish was rescheduled for June 17 between 1 and 5 pm.
Around 5pm, Ironwood called to say that Technician was running late, and would be unable to even arrive at our house by 5pm. Since we naively credited Ironwood’s statements that it would arrive in the time it promised to do so, we made plans for that evening. Although we had already been waiting all day, we were again forced to reschedule the removal of the unnecessary dish due to Ironwoods’ inability to keep a scheduled appointment.
The appointment was rescheduled for June 25th. This appointment was kept and the job was completed by a courteous technician.

As I hope you can appreciate, the experience recounted above left us drained and exhausted with your company. Each time that we call Directv, we are thanked for being your “best” customers. The treatment that we have received over the last 3 months has been anything but the best. Regretfully, we must inform you that we are sorely disappointed and frustrated by the continued incompetence demonstrated by your company. The associates you routinely send out are discourteous, unprofessional and untimely. These unfortunate facts have caused not only frustration, but great inconvenience.

In case you have any questions or interest in our experience with your company, please feel free to contact us.

At this point we must decide whether or not we will continue to use Directv. We have, and will continue to, let all family and friends know about the treatment and level of service we have received from your company.