DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

While some will say customers SHOULD be reponsible and others think they should not...the BIG issue for me is conflicting reports that DoirecTV was issuing in th beginning. Social media for DirecTV has regarded it as a rumor; but emails and reports I got from a DriecTV rep via email, in the beginning, confirmed it...so the jury appears to still be out, in regards to what customers are actually experiencing when they call in or email, this week. One woman reported on DirecTV's facebook page that she had to read the official DTV policy to the rep repeatedly, with the rep telling her it wasn't "in her notes"...and only after a period of time was the offer to adjust her dish for free granted. It appears the problem lies within cutomer service reps in my opinion...whether they are misinformed or following orders, I have no idea.

And as far as filing on insurance...well at least initially it wasn't JUST about equpiment charges, it was also for fees associated with buying out the remainder of their contract at approx. $20 per month. One woman was told initially according to her report that she would be charged $660 and could put it on her renter's insurance. Okay...renter's insurance is usually limited and from what I understand LEASED equipment often isn't covered on policies. I still have no confirmation that the woamn was helped by the FB Rep that offered to assist or that she even made contact. And from her initial story of having to spend 1.5 hours on the phone with a supervisor and still was told that she would owe $660, I personally, wouldn't blame her if she gave up and didn't call, expecting more of what she claimed to have already encountered after losing her rented home.

yes they are horrible!my husband and i had service through them for 10 years, and our bill was always rising, and it was always by a large amount, and in order to fix it, i would have to talk to 3 to 4 different represenatives, and each one not having a clue, so having to repeat myself over and over, and never have used or watched what i was getting charged for, oh and the worst part i found was that each rep has their own set of rules, and in a large company, everyone should be telling u the same thing for the same error, but no!if i ever had to call back after fixing a problem, seriously the next day, they would have no idea, or record of what happend!well now im with dish, and even though it took some getting use to, they are much more helpful, and my bill is always the same, unless i change it:)i would rather go back to bunny ears than to ever have to speak with someone from direct tv!

When the whole house DVR came out, the customer service rep really talked it up & sold my husband on it. Needless to say, they didn't tell us it was in BETA until we had signed the contract & it was installed. From day one we had troubles with the receivers, the signal, the Internet connection, you name it.

In less than 30days we had three different "new" receivers. The service tech was at our home at least five times. He was a sub-contractor, and very nice, but the actual Direct TV employes were completely rude & actually taunted & dared my husband.

One employees exact words to my husband when asked by my husband "I thought your customer satisfaction rating was 99%?", were "Well, I guess you're just in that 1% aren't you?" WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?

My husband finally decided to cancel & go back to Dish since Direct TV obviously didn't hold up their end of the bargain. We requested boxes to send the equipment back & they took a month to send them to us. In the meantime, we received a bill for early termination fees and the cost of two HD dvrs.

We kept receiving threatening letters, each month my husband would call to ask about the receivers we had sent back (at our expense) via UPS. Three months later, they "admitted" they had received the receivers a month earlier!

By then we had been turned over to a collection agency, I think they are on their second collection agency now & we still refuse to pay. It has been a year now & my husband receives phone calls several times a week & letters that we no longer open.

Direct TV was in the wrong, they have crappy equipment, horrible customer service & should be ashamed of themselves.

My husband and I recently moved into a new house, and decided that we wanted Direct TV because my father-in-law has Direct TV & we wanted the same package he has. We placed an order for installation & set up a day to have our services installed. The next day I got a call saying there was a hold on my installation after I already paid $21 for all the hardware. I called the company back like they asked me to, and come to find out that because my father-in-law has a left over balance that he had not paid yet, our services were stopped. I told them that it was bull crap that my services had to be stopped because of my father-in-laws inability to pay his bill, so I told them to cancel my installation & services & refund me my money I paid for the hardware. The told me that they couldn't cancel my services or refund my money until my father-in-law pays his bill. Now tell me why in the world am I supposed to responsible and be punished because of his bill that I have no contractual agreement with? Well after a week of arguing with them & being bounced around between 5 different numbers, I told them that I was lodging a complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau & if I can file a lawsuit against them just for the principal that what they are doing is wrong, I will. All I got was, "do whatever you would like to do ma'am, " and an immediate hangup. Don't ever get services through Direct TV! They will find anyway they can to rip you off & screw you over! I'm filing complaint after complaint against these people just for the principal of the matter!

1. the tech rep comes out to install me Direct TV and now begins the endless telemarketing calls from Direct TV, finally after calling and sending emails they stopped-but you need to talk to a supervisor to spell it out to them to stop.
2. Tech reps rams my batteries so far up the remote that when I finally have to change them the whole remote falls apart and now they seem to think I need to pay for the tech reps inability to put batteries in correctly-this still is not resolved
3. False advertising all the time
4. Customer service does not even read your complaints or cries for help
5. they love to pass the buck so it is almost impossible to get anything done by the company
6. In all worse company and customer service I have EVER had in my life.

We had Direct TV for over two years. When we cancelled our service they congratulated us for never being late with payments. Two months after returning the equipment they billed us for over $156 for Pay for Views from over two years ago...that we never ordered. We never had the capability of ordering! When we discussed it with them they said they had no way of knowing we ordered them until they analyzed the memory chips in our units. ?

You've gotta' be kidding! Can't something be done about such crooked business dealings?

I've been Direct TV for 6 yrs. Direct TV claims to have the best ratings for Customer Satisfaction. I have never received a survey. The representives act nice, but you'll get nowhere. I had a question about credits on my account. I sent an e-mail-- they babbled and didn't answer the question. I called and again they babbled and didn't answer the question. Long Story short-- I can't use them. If your dealing with this company, do not expect much.

well as you know this company is always stealing money from everyone i had service with them & i canceled because they were charging ten dollars more every month and now they are charging me $125 for some movies they say that i dowload wich is not true i never did it now they sent it to colleccion company they say that if i dont pay they going to brake my credict reccord

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Thuy
Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Subject: Failed customer promise
To: "eafilipiak@directv.com"

Good afternoon Ellen,

As a person who convinced my husband, a-10-year-Charter-user, to switch to Directv, I must say I regret doing so. your customer promise failed me miserably.

We had a lightening strike this morning and lost all the satellite signals. We called customer care and after 30 mins on the phone with a tech (Curtis?), we were told that they cant fix it until next Tuesday, one week from today. I asked for a supervisor and was transferred. same story, cant be fixed until next Tuesday. When i tried to explain to her that I could have Tv back tomorrow by calling Charter, she said I could cancel the cntract and it costs only $20/month till Dec2012! Seriously, Ellen, where is the excellence in "settle for anything but excellence" promise? She also said if we cancel the contract, We will have to climb up the roof, uninstall the dishes, gather all the receivers and mail it to Directv! The part of uninstall the dishes IS Ridiculous! When i asked for her manager, the line went dead for 5 mins and then hung up!how convenience! I called back and talked to Latisha(sp), she was nice to offer to reinstall the contract and take care of the whole month bill due to service interuption. However, again, there will be no tv until next tuesday. Please tell me, how could a service provider can't do anything about providing a service to a customer anything sooner than a week? In this hi tech world, anything more than 24hours is considered bad service. What if this happens to you, Ellen, and the service at your home?what would your investors think about this?

To be honest with you, the $360 for cancellation is not a big deal for me. I could have called Charter and get my service back tomorrow, but I would like to hear from you, to be fair. because I believe, you and your Board of Directors did not just have that slogan to display. I can be reached at xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kind regards,

Xxxxxxxxthe above email is what i sent out this morning. This once agin confirms how bad their service is.. Stay clear from directv.

wow, I should of complained here about my Direct TV! I went through 4 months with no service and the reps sucked! They each told me something different and then I get slapped with a $400 cancelation fee! So aparently the $200 fee is on EACH reciever! Well I finally got my issue resloved after talking with over 30 different reps, and I got a BIG discount because of there errors and screw ups! I wish I could of canceled my service without any fees but they werent having that. As soon as my contract is up I am done with Direct TV!

I received a call from DirectTV and I have never had services with them saying that they are suing me for unpaid charges from a residence in another city that I have never lived in. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

I canceled My contract with Direct TV due to the shoddy reception and service not to mention the terrible customer Service. They STOLE 224.43 from my checking account and even added a $5.00 late fee. These companies think they can get away with Murder!
I want to join that lawsuit! Please contact me. Mark Turner nilnutt@yahoo.com

I recently canceled my Direct TV account after being with them for over 8 years. I paid my final bill and returned the one DVR they requested. Today I check my bank account and there's a $218 charge. I called and asked what this was about and was told 1. they didnt recieve the reciever I returned in their pre paid box. 2. They are charging me $25 for PPV moives supposedly ordered in 2005! I KNEW we did not order these movies since the rep said they were ordered through our main DVR using the remote and a phone line hooked up to the reciever. We NEVER had a phone line on the reciever and ALWAYS ordered PPV through the website. My next step will be to go to my bank tomorrow and file a dispute. How in the world can a company charge you without telling you. Shame on you direct tv :(

We were just billed on our debit card for $335.00 without authorization by Direct TV... they just went ahead and took the money without our knowledge. Spoke to many people there, and they want us to start up a new contract in order to reinburse the money...

They kept us in the loop of conversation without anything meaningful for over an hour

Have filed with Chase, but nothing can be done untill it's out of the "pending' status. Two schuld payments will now be late and have late charges because of this. Direct TV refuses to put the money back and even hung up on us

When you sign up for a 1 year promotion, according to them, you are committing to a 2 year service agreement that does not require that you are explicitly informed that you are doing so and does not require your signature. This is at best deceptive, at worst fraudulent.

We changed from Dish to Direct TV November 30, 2010 because we had a package deal with AT&T and their personnel kept telling us we could get a big discount if we change to Direct TV which was a joke. When Direct installed their equipment one of the cables was bad and we started having audio problems. Everytime we called and reported our problems they would say it must be out TV. Well after seven months they finally sent a technician that knew what he was doing and he found the bad cable that was causing our problems. So far it seems to be working ok. I think Direct should make restitution for these seven months we have had this problem or let us out of this lease so we can go back to Dish.

This is my first ever public online complaint. Direct TV is the worst company in the US to do business with. I actualy expect a future class action suit to be filed by customers against this company as I am sure that they are violating contract laws. First off you pay for all equipment up front. A standard receiver box costs $100 dollars & they say that you will receive a $5 dollar refund per month which you will never receive. Secondly I was offered free movie channels for three months which I w5as billed at $45 dollars a month. When I called I was credit for one month only. Secondly I was quoted a price of $35 dollars a month and was billed $80 dollars a month. When I called I was informed that I needed to fill out a online rebate form which apparently they forgot to tell me about when I ordered or was installed. I am still waiting to see this rebate. These people are crooks. When you call they are rude. You will be treated like you are asking for a government run welfare program and that they are giving you free monthly tv service. I told them as much that they needed to treat me like a customer and that I was paying alot of money for a luxury service. For three months of tv service I have paid $500 dollars plus the movies that I odered which I have not stated. The commercials that you see on tv stating free upgrades to HD DVR service do not exist. A HD DVR costs $299 dollars plus a fee of $50 dollars to upgrade plus $19.99 shipping plus a $10 dollar a month charge for HD service. I currently do not owe this company any money. I hate them & I am actualy goin to seek advice to terminate the contract.

Close your bank account

A Direct TV commercial showing a black wealthy boxer, black entourage, black family, and white butler demonstrates racial tension and degredation toward the white butler from the young black child. The child turns and punches the elderly white man in the stomach with a tone of celebration. The commercial is inflammatory and offensive for that reason alone. I will never consider subscribing to Direct TV until that form of commercial is removed.

Actually I felt the exact same way the moment I saw it. The only people who would actively like this commercial are exactly what it is. Racist. If you think the roles were reversed, I.E. a white stock broker with a black butler and a little kid giving the butler crap, would make this commercial racist then guess what...IT IS racist. No matter what colors are switched around. Direct tv can suck the bick one on this. I will never give them my business.

Direct TV has horrible service. Beware of company which doesn't have any respect for the customers. Their only motto is to make money, money and money. companies which try to build the business like this will be extinct in few years. After struggling with multiple receivers and paying more than 140 per month fo rthe last 5 years I had enough and cancelled my service when they discontinued my international channel. I was charged cancellation fee of $125 even though I have been with the company for about 5 years. I didn't realize they extended my contract when they one of my receivers.
Beware of signing up with DIRECT TV EVER.
I AM NEVER GOING BACK IN MY LIFE TIME.
GSR

123321 why are you such an antagonist. You are the biggest bully I have encountered in a long while. Are you being paid by Direct T.V. for harrassing customers that complain? The reason I asked is because you are on almost every forum being a negative voice against those that have complain.

When I moved, I signed up with Verizon to for a 3 package deal, which included satellite through Direct TV. After a year or so of spotty service due to poor reception, I called Verizon to end my contract and go to a internet/cable deal. We made a 3 way call to Direct TV to tell them I was unhappy with my service and was going to end my business with them. After hours of phone calls to switch my service, I received a bill a few months later for hundreds of dollars of Direct TV fees. I called Verizon, who I was also paying for cable now, and they made a 3 way call to Direct TV to inquire about the charges. A very rude and apathetic employee argued with me that I was still signed up and had never officially ended my service, despite my telling the operator for Direct TV (with a Verizon operator listening in on the conversation) that I wanted to end my business. I demanded to speak to the manager of Direct TV, who was even ruder and less accommodating. The Verizon representative intercepted and also argued with the manager that what they were doing was unethical, and yet the manager would not relent. After at least an hour of angrily arguing with this person, we finally ended the conversation. For months now I have been trying to pay off this massive illegitimate bill and now have collection agencies calling me, which is definitely ruining my credit. I have no idea how to argue against this cooperate bully and am also frustrated that Verizon could do nothing to fix the situation, even though they included Direct TV in their 3 package plan. There seems to be no victory for me, the poor, lowly consumer against a bully corporation. I would not recommend Direct TV to anyone who demands quality consumer service and ethical practices. If anyone knows of a lawsuit against Direct TV for unethical billing like my situation, I would appreciate any information. This type of uncontrolled corporate thievery is completely unacceptable.

I agree the commercial is RACIST

ellen67,
actually they were racist but it is accepted if done on a comedy satire or by a comedian especially if they are black doing the reverse racism toward another race be it Mexican, White, Native American ( BTW I'm Cherokee ) or Chinese or so on. That is why they are known as the cry baby race ( they cry when they think they have been wronged no matter what type of action it is ( not the job they wanted, not enough employes *even though they may not be qualified to do the job* especially if it is done toward them.

Racist from the core.

Stay away from direct tv! We didn't have issues with direct tv until we no longer had their service. My husband speaks to them on a wednesday, then, without giving us enough time to receive their equipment shipping boxes, they pull over $300 from our account on friday! Not once did their rep even imply this would be done. When i call to demand they refund my bank account, i get the "nothing we can do " story. Save yourself stress and absolutely find a different company unless you don't mind unauthorized, deceptive practice!

Was the $300 an early cancellation fee?

All of you are full of it, You are crying about a freakin commercial? I bet that White butler was getting paid which is more than I can say about many of the black butlers in real life that were tormented by rascist white children. Although I am not a supporter or the promotion of violence nor rascism, I must say that you have some nerve to complain about this one commercial when it really happened to hundreds of black butlers. And as far as the cry baby race comment, Knowing that thousands of people, especially when they were your family members and decendents where enslaved, beaten and raped. Forced to work out in the hot sun or otherwise brutally beaten or killed for over 100 years and even after it was illegal, were still killed and tortured for many years after, you would have something to cry about too. The same people who are crying about the rascism in this commercial are more than likely descendents of slave owners themselves who actually had black unpaid butlers who were tormented in REAL LIFE. So stop your whining and complaining about one freakin commercial. Ever watch a "classic" film? Many of them had black butlers and in some of the movies they showed how the young white kids treated them and other black staff like crap.

i suppose, never in history has a white person been a slave as well?! the reason why people see this particular commercial as racist is because they like to throw the race card out in front of everyone because they are a bunch of [censored].

I had subscribed for Select montlhy costing 44.99, however they included HBO/STRX/SHOWTIME/CINEMAX, costing $45.00. These channels where not authorized by me. They say that they had given these cahnnels free with my previous package, and since I cancelled the pervious package they are now chan=rging me for the special channels. I was not informed about this before. I have called direct TV for immediate cancellation, however they are not going to credit me the chan=rges for the past month.
Since I have not subscrbed for this service, I think, they have charged me un ethically.

I have seen the television commercials and have often considered giving that offer of $8.00 for the first month of unlimited use and all the movies I can watch. Direct TV says in that commercial that it is a trial for the first month, right? If you are not satisfied with the service, is it hard to cancel? I can't seem to find any information online from the Direct TV website about what the monthly charges are to be after the trial period, do you know what they are if you decide to stay with that service?
Thanks

We moved. Called Direct Tv. They wanted 50.00 to move the service to another address. I refused. They went into my bank account and withdrew 886.00. I was leaving the next day for work which is 1800 miles away. The money they took was all I had left in my account for travel.They tell me to reinstate my service and they would refund the money, So I payed an additional 22.50 reconnect fee. It has been 47 days and no money has been put back in my account. These people are thieves. Where are the lawyers? I would love to see a law suit brought against Direct Tv for their billing practices.

I had the very same thing done to me recently too! Our son went through a bad divorce and had trouble meeting his bills so I paid his Direct TV on occasion for him -- a "one time only" charge...so I thought. When he and our grandson moved back in with us and he cancelled his direct tv service those SOBs debited my disability account for the receiver money! We have a signed receipt from Direct TV that that receiver IS IN THEIR possession and they have had it for over a week. After talking to "someone" again this morning, I am at a loss as to how to go about getting it back! Direct TV ran it through as a regular payment but admits to us "they made a mistake" - DUH! Since 11 July, we have been lied to over and over and over again from folks from Mexico, Southern Mexico, the Philippines, India -- not ONE American...not one! I was told there was NO ONE in their finance department to speak with -- guess that's all automated too! If anyone has a clue - a remote clue as how to recover $262.50, I'd love to know! Thanks for sharing all!

My card card is on file at direct tv. They have charged my credit card three diffrent times. One didnt go through. AND is LYING on me saying that I called those payments in! WHY when i barley have GAS money to make it to work, WHY WOULD I TRY TO PAY THEM 3 TIMES IN ONE MONTH WHEN MY BILLING HAS ALWAYS BEEN BEHIND! NOW THEY WONT CREDIT MY MONEY BACK BECAUSE IT WAS MY ACCOUNT BUT I DID NOT AUTHORIZED ANYONE NOR DRECTTV TO CHARGE MY ACCOUNT. ITS ALL GOOD I BET YOU WONT HAVE ANOTHER CREDIT CARD OF MINES ON FILE!

If you can barely afford gas perhaps you should rethink the luxury of having satellite tv.

It stinks read all the above - it is true. Customer service is a joke. Billing is too. Do not give them your debit card or credit card. I learned that from previous blogs. Read the customer agreement on line that you have to agree to get service They try to tie you in to contracts verbal or on line. If you do not agree you do not get service. If you decide the service is bad - they go into your debit account or credit card and take what they decide is appropriate. I did not fall into that because, I have read these blogs. Think twice before you give them a credit or debit card and read their disclosure. I am in an area where the only other option I have is Insight, which if you look at reviews is not a good option. I will say I am pleased with the menu selection and and layout and the information presented on programs and movies. But if you have an issue, they have degraded their service to the customer and put the responsibility of resolving the problem on the customer. I am currently into an upgrade and I have spent 2 hours on the phone, 6 customer reps or tech and lack of service because a service tech install the wrong equipment, which they acknowledge. The sad thing is that they have made it my problem not theirs. I hope this help someone become more diligent about what they agree to and that they compare the customer service of other companies with this company.

You know I had Direct TV for 2 years then cancelled it 6 months ago, never experienced any of the problems people talk about, infact they bent over backwards to keep me, and when they couldn’t promptly sent boxes and cancelled my account. I guess that is what happens when you pay your bills on time every time.

I had the same thing happen to me after cancelling my service within the 24 hour period and being assured by several different reps that I would get a full refund. I cancelled service because rep told me I would be able to bundle my phone service which I could not do due to lack of service in my area. I have tried for over 7 months to get this money back. I am now filing a small claims suit against them.

Direct TV has falsely billed me after I sent back a reciever they claimed they never recieved. The agent Michelle employee code 30533 was rude and kept me waiting on the phone for over 45 minutes. When she went to "transer" me to another group she hung up on me.