I’ve been a DirectTV customer for over 6 years paying about $100.00 a month for services. I’ve recently switched to FiOS and called DirectTV to disconnect my account. Imagine my surprise when I was told that:
1) The replacement DVR I bought for $200.00 is considered “leased equipment” that must be returned to them. This is a tremendous rip-off. It was never disclosed to me that I purchasing “leased equipment” at the time and I certainly wouldn’t have paid $200.00 for something that I would not own.
2) When I replaced the DVR, they activated a two year agreement. Keep in mind, I’ve been a customer for 6 years at this point and have NEVER had an agreement with them. They said the agreement was disclosed to me on my next bill after the activation. We use online bill pay so we did not see, nor do I think I would have noticed it on a bill had they sent it (who reads the small print on every bill they get). Also, it is unethical business practices to disclose a new agreement to someone 30 days after the transaction and activation. I can promise you I would not have agreed to a 2 year contract for satellite TV services which I have always purchased on a month to month basis for 6 years.
The end result: I have have to ship them back a box I paid $200.00 for AND I have to pay a $360 cancellation fee. Even when talking to a supervisor I could not get them to budge on this.
I will never be a DirectTV customer. I would warn anyone considering them to stay far away.
UPDATE: May 8, 2009 – It turns out that Directv never cancelled my service! I had to call and go through the process and now I have an additional two months of charges to dispute! This company is a fraud. I’ve filed a better business bureau complaint. I would encourage you to as well.
http://www.la.bbb.org/Home.aspx
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6 Responses to “Boycott DirecTV”
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http://www.directvscams.com Would you reward a kid for stealing from your purse? Of course you wouldn’t.Then why is the NFL rewarding Directv with exclussive rights? They lie , cheat , and steal.They charge you to lease their equipment , then charge you upto $5.99 to protect it against repairs.They will also make unauthorized charges to your credit/debit card.This is 100% accurate , google directv complainsts , it will blow your mind , they had over 20,000 complaints in 3 years , thats a BBB record.They have 3 lawsuits pending , in California , Washington , and Oregon.This does not include the silent suits.My goal is to get congress to open the NFL Sunday Ticket to cable companies , And all Satellite companies , At the top there is a Petition , my goal is to get 10,000 signatures then I’m sending the petition to congress.America needs competition , what if there was only 1 electrc company , gas company , Or auto maker?You Get the point , Thanks for your support! Earl David Evans
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David says:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/getNFLback Would you reward a kid for stealing from your purse? Of course you wouldn’t.Then why is the NFL rewarding Directv with exclussive rights? They lie , cheat , and steal.They charge you to lease their equipment , then charge you upto $5.99 to protect it against repairs.They will also make unauthorized charges to your credit/debit card.This is 100% accurate , google directv complainsts , it will blow your mind , they had over 20,000 complaints in 3 years , thats a BBB record.They have 3 lawsuits pending , in California , Washington , and Oregon.This does not include the silent suits.My goal is to get congress to open the NFL Sunday Ticket to cable companies , And all Satellite companies , At the top there is a Petition , my goal is to get 10,000 signatures then I’m sending the petition to congress.America needs competition , what if there was only 1 electrc company , gas company , Or auto maker?You Get the point , Thanks for your support!
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Pasquale Argenio says:
I too have had less than stellar interaction with DirectTV. I called to cancel service after many outages, and they cajoled me into accepting a free month and a service call. The people they use in my area are unprofessional and gave no notice so of course I missed the servicer more than once.
Meantime, DirectTV assumes its fixed if you don’t hear from them, starts billing again. I switched service.
Long story short: they wanted several hundred $$ plus equipment. When I sent it back, they claimed they never received it!! I’m an extra busy individual with no time for these kinds of games. I just settled with their collection agency but I own rental properties and now:NOT ONLY DO I SWEAR NEVER TO USER DIRECT TV, BUT I MAKE IT A CLAUSE IN ALL MY RENTAL AGREEMENTS THAT MY TENANT CANNOT EITHER.
After all, they do make hole in my roofs for those dishes. I hope they go out of business, die and rot in hell. I urge everyone to BOYCOTT DIRECT TV!!!
M@th%r F()ck#rs!
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Hanna says:
These people are crooks and need to be run out of town.
I was a DirecTV customer for over 2 years. I got tired of paying $80 for one tv and no premium channels, so I canceled. I decided I would save some money and just use a converter box for a while.
When I called to cancel, the rep said I would be charged $300+ and it would be taken directly from my bank account or credit card. Then he realized I had already fulfilled the time commitment. He really seemed disappointed that he couldn’t stick me with that fee. Then he went on about how if I didn’t pay my bill they would take it directly from my account. Unbeknownst to him, I had already researched cancellations with DirecTV and read the horror stories on the internet. So, before calling to cancel, I created a temporary Shopsafe credit card and updated my DirecTV account information online to show this credit card. That card will only allow the amount of charges I specify, and I can delete the card whenever I feel like it. Once deleted (or depleted), they can’t charge anything else to it. (If you aren’t familiar with Shopsafe, Google it. It’s a great feature offered by Bank of America. I’ve heard Citibank has something similar.)
DirecTV sent me a box to return the receiver. I noticed on the return shipping label it stated in big bold letters “Must Be Delivered by June 19″. I had just received the box the day before, and it was already June 19th. I telephoned DirecTV to find out what was up and was told that it meant deliver to me by June 19th. I question this, since that statement was not on the label of the box that was shipped to me, but it was on the return label going back to them. What kind of sense does that make? It makes me think they are up to no good here. I am wondering if there might have been a problem with Fedex accepting the box for shipping payment by DirecTV if I hadn’t shipped it back that day.
A few days later I received a final bill with a $10 cancellation fee. It states it’s for canceling the protection plan (which costs $5.99). The bill stated it is “due upon receipt.” I decided to wait until my next payday and pay everything except the $10 cancellation fee. When I got ready to pay the bill, I went online and noticed it was $5.00 higher than the bill I received in the mail. They’ve now charged me a $5.00 late fee for nonpayment eight days after the date of their mailed statement. I decided to look up their terms of service so I can dispute these charges. It’s unbelievable what their Customer Agreement lists. Here are just a few.
Up to $100 Account Activation Fee, upon activation of your Service account
Up to $300 Access Card Replacement Fee
Up to $10.00 Change of Service Fee
Up to $5.00 Order Assistance Fee, if you order a Pay Per View Service by calling and speaking with an agent. A fee of up to $1.50 may apply if you order via our Automated Phone System. Fees are per movie, event or program so ordered, even if later canceled.
We should be reporting DirecTV to as many agencies as possible. According to the Better Business Bureau report I looked at today, they have received over 4,300 complaints in the last 3 months.
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nannette says:
please note they did not charge me 304 dollars but took 409 dollars from my personal account.
Complaint ID: 98396334
Complaint Classification:Complaint Description – Posted 3/25/2009 9:52:13 AM
i have been a dtv customer since 2006,never been late on payments, always been optimistic about dtv. as of march 16, i need to disconnect my service due to the hard times i have to do it!! and they are charging me 340.00 of cancellation fee. August of 2008 we have moved to another house and was happy for the fact that the move was free for them to give me that good option of upgrading one of my units ( i have 4 units installed in my house eversince and paying almost $100.00/every month) at no chrage at all, i have signed no contract at all, yes there are glitches but nothing major. I have to disconnect my service for whatever reason, if i did not sign a contract with anybody it is not binding. They have affirm that the disclosure they have sent me duting the process seals it. NO..i do not believe that. My husband works at the LAUSD and he is doomed to be laid off, i have been unemployed since this recession started. they said they will chrage my debit card on file no matter what because of the cancellation fee, thats our means to survive and they are taking money from me because of bad selling practices? i asked for a consideration on this, they said they could not waive any binding contract, i sa told them there is no binding contract, but what else can i do? bu ask for your help.
Complaint Summary
cancellation fees
Resolution Soughti would like to thank them for the credits they are giving me despite of the fact that i know i paid them one month in advance when i started their service. they could keep the money if they want, i will return their units as they requested. BUT DON’T CHARGE ME THE 340.00 CANCELLATION FEE FOR A NON BINDING CONTRACT. Everbody are making these difficult decisions because of the recession.
Additional Information
Date Problem First Occurred:
3/16/2009
Product or Service: cable company
Model Name or Number:
Date Purchased:
Order Number:
Amount In Dispute: $340.00Company’s Response
Company’s Initial Response – Posted 04/07/2009
We are very sorry for any misunderstanding or inconvenience. When you placed the order for the additional DVR with your DIRECTV MOVERS CONNECTION®, you were advised there would be a service agreement associated with the new equipment you were acquiring. The service agreement was also reviewed in the order confirmation letter that was automatically mailed to you. During installation the DIRECTV Equipment Lease Addendum was provided, this paperwork also included the service agreement information. We significantly discount the price of equipment and installations. In exchange, we ask our customers to keep their service for a specified amount of time. Although we understand that circumstances change, it is the customers’ responsibility to consider this possibility before they place an order and activate new equipment and service. While the current state of our economy is unfortunate, we are unable to waive any service agreements based on financial difficulty. We have reviewed your account and unfortunately, we are unable to waive your Early Cancellation Fee. Respectfully, DIRECTV Office of the President
Initial Response Summary
We have reviewed your account and unfortunately, we are unable to waive your Early Cancellation Fee.Consumer’s Rebuttal
Consumer’s Rebuttal – Posted 04/09/2009
as i have explained since the first time i have disputed this concern, i was offered a FREE Upgrade of one of my unit by your agents on the phone. It is also the company’s responsibility that your employees’ commitment to your customers whether impressed, implied, authorized nor agent’s level of authority to be monitored. Yes, circumstances change; but Direct TV has to be also be responsible of the consequences they do, sales practices and business ethics. Taking money out of my bank account before sending out your bill and without due explanation of the fees applied to my account,unauthorized collection of fees from my personal bank account is unacceptable.Closing my DTV account is a desperate move on my part but your agents should know and has to be retrained on the consequences of their actions and thus company liability is part of its daily business decisions, regardless of needs of sales or quality of service. I have been a loyal and consistent paying customer and it is obvious that my side is not being heard, by providing me a no reply email and a one sided decision of this issue.Company’s Final Response
Company’s Final Response – Posted 04/13/2009
Upon reviewing your account, we found when you placed the DIRECTV MOVERS CONNECTION on August 19, 2008; we noted we advised you of the 24-month service agreement. We also found a copy of the order confirmation letter which entails the details of the offer including the service agreement. You will receive this in the mail within 5-7 business days. Once you agreed to activate the receiver on August 27, you accepted all the terms and conditions of the offer. Unfortunately, we will stand behind our original decision not to remove the valid Early Cancellation Fee from your account. The DIRECTV Customer Agreement advises our customers by providing a credit card they authorize us to apply this method of payment to satisfy any and all amounts due upon cancellation. A revised DIRECTV Customer Agreement was provided to all new and existing customers in February 2007, advising how any outstanding balance on a disconnected account will be collected. You can obtain a copy at directv.com/agreements. Again, no refunds will be issued. Sincerely, DIRECTV Office of the President.
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