DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

I know exactly what you are talking about. I had the same bad experience with Direct TV. I would not recommend it to anyone.

They LIED to me that if I paid my bill via online bill pay it was the SAME as paying on their site - but it isn't. I paid my bill on the day it was due, from my online bill pay, but they cut my service anyway, so I had to pay AGAIN to get service restored WITH THE EXPRESS PROMISE THEY WOULD REFUND THE $$ W/IN 10 DAYS.

Well, you can guess -no refund. Instead, they CREDITED my directtv account! when I called they had the BALLS to tell me they would cut a check and it would be to me ... within 10 days.

I've lost 20 days of interest on $200 because DIRECTTV LIES about how they receive and post payments then DRAG their ### getting my money back. I've been a customer since 1999 and they are starting to SUCK

I had direct TV installed on 11/21/11. I was told that I would receive a discount for 12 months and the charge would be $65.99 less $31.00. No one told me that I would have to go to direct TV web site to apply for discount. I received no billing until 12/30/11. Then I received a past due bill for $189.24. I called direct TV and complained but in order to continue service I have to make payment by service interruption date of 01/08/12.

Today DirecTv stole 475 dollars from my moms account. They took everything that she had in there. We haven't even used it for two whole months because it stopped working. We called them to cancel and they told us that we had a two year contract that was never mentioned when we signed up. Now we can't even finish paying for the rent. DirecTv is the DEVIL. Now she is trying to get her money back because she did not authorize them to take her money. They don't care about any of their customers.

DIRECT TV train their employees good..They will tell you one lie after another on the phone..I just recently called in to have a program added and the lady told me it would be only $10.00 more on the month...GUESS WHAT WHEN I GOT MY BILL IT WENT UP $45.00..OH YES...I will be getting rid of this service when my contract is up...I know I'm not hurting them..BUT I CAN PASS THE WORD AROUND HOW BAD THEY TREAT THEIR CUSTOMERS...RIGHT?

I had mine installed about this time last year and have a year to go before my contract expires. They offered me a super deal with auto bill pay at $24.95 a month for 250 channels and was to increase by $15 after a year. I was fine with that except after two months the bills started to go up with no explanation. I was never late and after many calls of getting the run around I want out too and will call the local media, as they have a complaint department that exposes them for what they are. If that fails I will talk to my attorney.

I was with Dish Network and wished I never left! No complaints with them whatsoever and I could expect my bill to the penny every month!

They did the same sort of thing to me...I ordered them through Centurylink, who had their service incorporated with internet and phone. Crooks! I am filing a complaint.

Directtv is running a complete scam business. They claim they are cheaper then the competitors but in reality it's further from the truth. In my case, it pertains to over billing. My plan with the equipment runs approx. $98.00., each month they say there is a past due amount and that it needs to be cleared up. I've had this RIP OFF FULL OF S*** service for almost 18 months, I've paid approx. $560.00 in over charged billing. When I contact this pathetic DirectTv workers they are completely clueless and refuse to get me to a supervisor. I believe they are schooled in the art of STUPIDITY! and play dumb. Months back their crappy box broke and they sent a new one out. They customer rip off service guru NEVER MENTIONED THAT MY CONTRACT WOULD BE EXTENDED, WHAT A BUNCH OF S*** ! Their box breaks down and they charge me for it with a longer contract? Who knows, perhaps they can manipulate the boxes to break done just so that they can extort money out of our pockets. I BELIEVE ITS TIME FOR THE FTC TO INVESTIGATE DIRECT TV AND BRING THEM UP ON CHARGES IN FEDERAL COURT. I say its time to protest in the hundreds in front of their main business office in El Segundo Cal., plaster negative comments all over the web until they change, SIGNED PISSED OFF SOON TO BE EX-DIRECT TV CONSUMER.

I see the ###s are still posting. Directv has been the best cable/sat company I have ever had.

Diito Tom, I hope this happens soon.

Dcboy, if we are ###s you must be one LUCKY ### that got lucky or probably work for direct!

on Dec 27th 2011 I tried to move service from old address to a new address and was charged When the Tech came out Service could not be installed so I called the customer service department
I was told I would be refunded the $35.08 for the installation not done
Then I received a bill for $145.16 I called and was told this was in error and would receive a refund in that amount
Jan 20 $145.16 a withdrawel was made out of checking account Direct TV refuses to fix it says their records are correct

This just happen to me today. I got charged over $224 on my card because I cancelled my service early, I think we need to find someone that will take this on for a lawsuit. I am really pissed off that they are able to steal your money without your authorization.

I support this, as a 'would be' customer, and the horrors of my friend Myron of Hamilton, TX and his experiences, I had to tell a sales
rep who were soliciting Direct TV in a blind intrusive telemarketer ad, that I don't agree to the terms of agreement, and I was told there was nothing I can do but pay their price or not get their service! After arguing and arguing with different ###s who worked for Direct TV, and me STANDING MY GROUND, they hung up on me. Hadn't heard from them again. But, I am a happy Netflix customer. For about or at $20.00 a month, for online stream and DVD, I can't complain compared to what everyone pays for in Cable, Dish Network, and Direct TV... I'd say F**k'em, go to Netflix! If you want to watch a movie, get Netflix.. But as it stands... enough people was leaving Netflix and Netflix changed their ways... (Not that others had good luck with Netflix, but in this economy, choose what you can afford)

If enough people left Cable, Direct TV, and Dish Network, and those go to the Bank and tell them TO STOP auto payment to these
loser networks, will get noticed and the little man have to chose, pay for gas, food, and a good Atari 2100! :) Let these networks
know we aren't born yesterday, not stupid idiots (As Direct TV, and Dish Network have assumed you are a stupid fool lemming)
paying whatever the networks WANT you to pay for what kind of channels? Junk?

Simple math.. if you can't afford it, then don't get it. America has enough problems as it is. Gas prices going up, and things to make
ends meet all more harder. I can learn to live without entertainment since there isn't any thing really good on TV anyways. Smart
Phone payments take a chunk of your income. Then again, you decide. It's your money. But as for me... I can't afford luxury, and at
this time and place.. Back to the Bear Necessities. :) Food, Water, Shelter, Food, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Food, Clothes.. gas money, and letting go of services you don't use, don't need and drains your account! Make a Stand, Tell Direct TV, Dish Network and most Cable companies they suck and do what people did to Netflix.. cancel the account, walk away.. pay the fee, but enough people leave WILL scare the CEO's! Think of this... Most Corporations DONT GIVE A RATT'S BUTT / @$$ about you... THEY ONLY WANT YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY! They give you crap service, and crap channels! It's YOUR ECONOMY AMERICA!

signed up for their service, were assured we would get all of our local channels. when installers came and installed they informed us no fox and no cbs. we would not have signed up if we would have known that. i connected direct tv several times nothing they could do. now we get a letter say they are going to charge my card 400.00+ for early termination. bulls

i have seven boxes with direct TV on one room i have a old style box That just have dvr only and the other box just hd only, i call direct TV to see if they could switch the boxes from two to one they wanted me to pay $99.00 for the box, t really after having seven boxes and a customer since 2004 they can just switch boxes, first the guy on the phone is a freaking ### he saw he was talking to child he was rude until piss me off then i let him have it, these crooks wont change two boxes for one after 8 years with seven boxes, come Monday i will cancelled and join dish or Verizon, biggest poor service there is and crooks, , anybody knows CEO of direct TV e-mail please post it everyone send email to him let him know how big of crooks he got working for him so lets get e-mail flood him with all complaints thanks Robert Pena

My satellite stop working right as I was watching the supper bowl. And I guess there was nothing Direct TV could do to fix it. Talk about UNRELIABLE! just right in the beginning of the supper bowl. I just want to say I used to like     Direct-TV, but I think is save to say I will be switching my service provider. And I will also not be recommending any one else to them. 

You should have been able to ditherer the dish, troubleshoot the wiring and replaced a receiver by buying another.

Stop being lazy and complain when in fact you're the only lazy person.

I have had Direct Tv since July2011, and their "cinema Plus" equipment also. This equipment will not work ! I use an Apple router, and I believe that their cinema plus equipment is not compatible, but they will never say this ! I have been on the phone countless hours, had a tech attempt to hook it up once, had another unit shipped as a replacement because the tech at the time said it was defective. Well, apparently they have no idea what they are talking about, because neither of them will recognize my network. I finally sent an email stating all this, and told them I will not spend another minute on the phone like a dumb animal, and waste my time. Told them the two units are boxed and will stay in the closet until they decide to send a tech to prove my point. Naturally all I got were phone calls, which I ignored. Don't believe DIRECT TV ! THEY LIE THROUGH THEIR TEETH ! They are not forthcoming or honest about their equipment !

This sounds so familiar, we have been customers of Direct TV for over 16 years, 1 year ago December called to upgrade our service to HD because we had gotten a New HD TV for Christmas. We were told that it would be no problem and they arranged to have their service tech come out and hook us up. We told them we wanted the same package that we had with the exception of we wanted the HD upgrades. The tech came out on time and set it all up and we were thrilled to have the service. All was well and we thoroughly enjoyed viewing the HD channels. About 3 months after service was installed we turned on the tv only to find the 721 error message on the screen and no local hd channels. We called and automatically reset the receiver which restored the local HD channels. It was no problem to occasionally have to reset the receiver as it was worth it. However as time went on we had to do this more and more frequently until it became a near every day reset. After numerous calls and taking a morning off of work to meet a service tech at the house to hopefully fix the problem, which turned out to be nothing but a receiver reset visit which infuriated me to no end as we do that on a nightly basis, I finally called again and was assigned to a case management team member which informed me that the HD local channels were not available in our county. I asked why were we not informed of this when we upgraded the system to HD all she would say is local HD is not available in our county, even though I have talked with many others that receive the Local HD channels with no issues. I told her that they should not be charging for HD service if you can't get HD service on the CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX OR PUBLIC TV CHANNELS. I also believe this company is setting themselves up for a class action law suit which I would love to be part off. If anyone else is interested in joining in on a suit of this nature you can contact me at browningstar84@hotmail.com. I would be if you called from our county today and asked for service with hd channels and the local channels they would jump through hoops to get you hooked up. JUST A SORRY ### COMPANY WHICH I PERSONALLY HOPE GOES DOWN THE PROVERBLE CRAPPER SOON.

Applied for programing, was offered free upgrades. Upgrades were not furnished unless an upgrade fee was paid. Installation was unprofessional. Was not told that rebate needed to be requested online. Deceived, twice I called, talked to 3 different CS one supervisor still denied what was promoted. Lies, Lies, Lies! These people are unbelievable.

Have been with dtv under a year. Their customer service is a joke. Not sure where they find their agents. But they are normally useless and I always have to ask to speak to a supervisor. I have service plan protection. I had DTV come out because someone recently moved out of my complex causing disruption in my service. DTV billed me $55 on my next bill. When I called the agent didn't understand why I wanted a credit. After explaining it to him for15 minutes I waited on hold for another 20 minutes only to have the supervisor promptly fix it. Each time I call its a nightmare. After my contract is up I will be cancelling. And going back to my local cable provider.

Absolutely the worse customer service if that's what you can call it! I recently tried to get service with this company and apparently there was another customer with the same last name as mine who left a balance. They treated me like I was this person and spoke to me in an unprofessional manner. When I asked to speak to a supervisor they put me on hold and never came back. I am glad I never subscribed with them. There customer service is a JOKE!

Basically I have been paying for a package that was never programmed in my t.v. I didn't realize I was supose to get the extra channels. I 've been paying 72.99 for 2 yrs! I have done the math, I have overpaid about $600!

I asked for some kind of refund and the best they said they could do is $30 or $10 mo for a yr. What if I don't want to be a customer for another yr? I would like some kind of refund now! The manager I talked to said it was my fault for not knowing i didn't have the channels. I didn't know what channels I was supose to have and never received a channel line up like they said i did! I can't believe this co is #1 customer service! I beg to differ! I would be embarrassed if I were them! I am NOT a happy customer!

I have also had money taken out of my account today. I was signed up for auto pay bill but when the bank changed the card to a chip card it also changed the expiration date. Well, I got that straight, signed up for auto bill pay in Jan 2012, I didn't understand why they did take the monies out of my account, so I e-mailed them, they told me to pay it. I did, next thing I know, I am getting a disconnection notice stating that my service was going to be disconnected on 03/20/12, so I paid for February 2012. I spent 4 hours talking to every rep there was while they gave me their excuse of why they did not take the monies out of my account when I was signed up for auto bill pay. Then here come the automated collection calls, so I found the corporate telephone number called them and they had them stopped. Well, I cancelled auto bill pay on 03/08/12 since they kept on telling me to pay it. Well, today I come home and find out that they took out $68.57 when my bill was not due until the 25th of this month. Back on the phone again another 2 hours talking to reps and supervisors about the unauthorized payment they took out of my account after I had cancelled the auto bill pay. Their reason being, I owe them money, but the sad thing is it was due on the 25th and not the 21st. I contacted my bank, I will be filing a dispute with the bank and disconnecting my service and also filing a complaint with the BBB. I work hard for my money and no company will take it from my account when they want it.

It would appear, few people contact an attorney, and few people, file lawsuits against
Dish Network, and DirecTV the few things, and few resolutions will be applied. It
appears these 'big' companies only understand legalese, and legal mumbo jumbo! I
say, get organized, get with other fellow Satellite Sufferers to unite, and file a multi-county, multi-state, and multi-platform lawsuit! Pool all of those who are going through the EXACT same thing or worse like you. My advise if you and others can afford it, is have enough on YOUR side, to show of force. I always read the fine print, on some things, and I don't have to have their service. I simply cant afford it, but enough ambulance chasing, hungry, starving attorneys, that 'claim' "no fee till we win" may be the best option. But companies don't want to listen to you, they WILL listen to say a bunch of lawyers going public, getting CNN, and Fox to report these issues. Remember, the Microsoft lawsuit? Lot of people got upset, got organized and now Microsoft and Windows appear to behave themselves. But then again, its your money.

I became a direct tv customer in Nov 2011 under the American Airlines, 12, 500 pkg. I have been fighting with them since Feb to get my miles. At the moment I have spent over 15+ hours on the ph and can never seem to resolve it. I am on hold right now while the person who can not speak fluent English tries to resolve my issue. Direct TV is HORRIBLE on customer service and their channel service is also TERRIBLE. I'm paying for a pkg that is mostly NOTHING in the way of viewing options but I don't dare order other channels! I can't wait to end my 2 yr contract with them! Sick and tired of these companies that go overseas for their customer service reps! Looking for a class action lawsuit against Direct TV...is anyone aware of one being filed? I will file a complaint with the FCC.

Same thing here. Direct TV took out $301.00 without permission. And they would not come and remove the dish from the house either. Dirt Bags!

I have been with Direct TV since 1994. Never really had a problem until now, I have always bought my own equipment. Now I have a unit that went bad (which I OWN not leased and they demand that I send it to them or they are going to charge me 150 Bucks!
It does not belong to them, I paid the $5 a month for the use of it. Why should I have to give it to them? They want to refurbish it and sell it to another customer. What a rip off! Is there any action that can be taken?

Skip in Audio Have gone thru connect and checking for loose cables several times and now getting a tech to come out and check or replace receiver. After five or six calls and talking to reps. all over the U.S. no help. I called to cancel my service and the rep. is going to send me a replacement receiver will have to see if this takes place as promised. Direct TV’s service is almost 0-0-0, after the holidays I will change service and maybe even go back to terrible Cox Cable thier service is better than Direct.When is Direct going to figure it out that one person must follow thru on the complaint until it it is taken care of and be responsible for the complaint.

Direct is so big now that every thing gets lost but the 1st time sale. I know my $120 per mo. will not hurt Direct Giant but maybe a million will. Net Flex paid no attention to the customer and look what happened. Some people has got to have Direct TV. but I don’t. Good bye after the holidays. We purchased Direct Tv with the understanding we would have available one free move within our two year contract. This did not depend on bill paying history or after one year of service. We asked the sales rep from Sam’s club these questions, he assured us that we would be able to do a move for free. We had asked this do to the fact of a potential job transfer.

Well we had to move to another state. Now Direct Tv wants to charge a $100 fee not free to transfer service. This would not be an issue however when we were told it was for free and assured it. Now it is an issue. Does anyone have a really good number to Direct Tv to truly voice a complaint? Oh and they said they would get back with me right away, lol that was two weeks ago. I guess I call the FTC and FCC like i’ve had to with Sprint.

I feel as though I have been scammed. Direct TV installed last week. The equipment never worked correctly. I called and they troubleshooted for me but it still would not work. They made an appt. for a tech to come over on a Friday he never showed up. I called and was told they “got hung up at another appt.” and that I would be the first appt. on Monday. They still did not show up at 8 am. I called and they said he would be here at 10. I called again. To say this is not working and I don’t want it…I was told I would have to pay a cancellation fee of $480.00. I feel scammed. I will follow through with the attorney generals office.

In october of 2010, i had moved into my new house and got set up with direct tv, but in november we were robbed, loosing all of out electronics and etc. including the direct tv box and remote. my insurance company wanted a statement from direct tv, showing what it would cost to pay for the box that was stollen, and how much it would be to put another one in the house. the total was around $530.00 (and the insurance that i signed up for through direct tv, covered nothing).

I was on the phone with them for 4 days straight, once for over an hour, trying to get them to send, or fax me a statement showing what this was cost. i pretty much got the runaround. one lady said that they didn’t have a fax machine and she would turn me over to the department that did have one, i was on hold for 45minutes, before someone got on the phone, and claimed that they didn’t have one either. another lady told me i could go ahead and pay up front for the next box and then i would have a statement telling me how much it cost.

I didn’t end up getting anything from them, and my insurance would not cover it because they had to have something on paper.
i ended up paying $450.00 just to brake my contract with them, thier services, was the worst i have ever had with anyone.

People want to know why there DirectTV receivers die...Easy.. They are made in Mexico..And use cheap chips..Just like junk made in China...Why do you think Zenith went down hill after they moved to Mexico..Like most electronics today nothing lasts due to real cheap parts inside...I like DirectTVs answer they said well it's old they do die...I have heard horror storys on there replacements I hope mine works that they are sending me that takes them 3 days to even ship it from there warehouse...I asked if I get a new remote..And she goes no your remote should work the one you have.Ok how much do you want to bet my remote does not work with the new receiver..So many of these companys are half assed now do to the govenment not doing anything to help consumers...

5/15/12 8pm This company is terrible when it comes to customer service. My experience was HORRIFYING! I BEGAN THE CALL AS A NEW CUSTOMER, AND THE WAY THEY TREATED ME...OMG They ran my credit and I was declined for there new offers. They then transfer me to there sales line where a customer service rep mentions to me that I already had an account Feb 15 2011 that just needed to be activated. She spoke to her supervisor and he told her to transfer me to technical support. I told her the story and what the sales lady said and she got an attitude and was very snappy with me. "Well mam you don't have an account so there's nothing I can do" I then tell her "her supervisor wouldn't have said transfer me if you could not activate..." she snarly cuts me off and says "There's NOTHING I can do I can transfer you back to sales" I then get upset. I am put though to the automated system and once again I am sent to another dept. who then transfers me back to sales. I am furious by then and I must admit I became very ANGRY. i DEMANDED to speak to a manager.. and you know what happened? he was nice at first, but when I began to tell him how upset I was about everything, he was very short with me. As if my complaints and hours on the phone with direct TVs customer reps didn't matter to him. I finally broke down and said I'll just pay the $200 deposit, his smart remark "do you HAAVE the 200?" I was very upset by that. The fact that my birthday is the year 91 does not give him the right to judge my income. I am a college student who works 2 jobs how dare he. I then stated harshly " yes, I have it" he then says okay I'll set you up with the new account. He goes through his whole spiel and then mentions running ANOTHER credit check. I told him I do not want another credit check because the other guy ran my credit and I did not qualify. He then becomes overly irritated, you could hear it through his voice. "It won't hit your credit, because it's the SAME company" I said no I don't another credit check why can't you use the one the other guy did. We then get into a yelling match of him trying to convince me. I tried to explain that I've called dish time Warner and neither company gave me this much headache. We yelled a little bit more...and he HUNG UP ON! I was mortified and a little hurt and disrespected. All I wanted was to sign up for cable and Internet so my roommate and I could move into our new apt on Friday, and I was horrified with the way Direct TV treated me. I am not much of a type but I new I had to let other people know how this company operated. I wish this on no one. And my advice to anyone is that time Warner or dish might be expensive, but I'd rather pay the expensive amount than what this company put me through. I will never ever raise my hand to call direct TV. I'll happily take my money to another company who shows, and TREATS there customers with RESPECT.

Thanks,
A concerned customer
Kim

I signed up for the $29.99 plan for basic TV. The installer said I would get all the premium stations for three months, and my package came with two room installation. After I received a $62.50 bill, I began to question things. Turns out I only get Showtime, and I have to pay for box use in both rooms, those are "additional" TV charges. My prospected "deal" actually costs $105.97 minus the rebate of $43.99 leaving me the balance which is NOT $29.99. I contacted Direct TV. But what chaps my hide is next March it shoots up to $81.00 when my "deal" ends. Claiming $29.99 is a lie.

Direct tv took money from my child support payment. their service was horrible. i did not get any service at all. it took three men to come and accomplished nothing. i cancelled right away. they told me i would not charge me for anything. not even early cancellation. 7 months later they steal 271.00 off my account. this is illegal and these people are very rude. i'd rather use a coat hanger than direct TV. time to sue Direct TV.

i have a direct tv account now, i switch over to att uverse & they told me i would hae pay $500 to cancel my service, thats ### on top of that. i called back & they told me that if i suspend my account i have to pay them $132.00 before they can cancel my account, I also heard they can take their money out ur bank or credit card, my advice is to call your bank or credit company to block them so they cant get their money if you want to cancel anthurize payments with them & your bank should be able to block them & direct tv can only send you to collection & you set up a payment to pay out the the bill that way so it not on ur credit report

do not fall for the free move service, it automatically renews your contract! also your next bill will be at least doubled! they hit you with all kinds of charges for changing your programming service in the middle of a billing cycle..

They are still doing this a year later. I wish I had seen these before I had signed up for directv. I never authorized Directv to do auto debits from my account, not even with my monthly bills. On January 17th, 2012 I called and paid my final bill with them. Told them I would be moving and calling back. On January 29th, 2012 I called back and they wanted to charge me $200 to move my services across town, because I was lacking about a month from being at my one year of service. I tried to get the lady to cut me a deal, and NOPE. So I said OK, well I am no longer in need of Directv's services, I will be switching to Dish Network. She asked if I was sure. YES! She said OK, is there anything else I can do for you? I said NO, she then ended the conversation. They had my new address because I had given it to her when I was trying to move my service, and my phone number never changed. She NEVER said anything to me about needing a cancelation confirmation number or anything about returning equipment. I have had all three receivers in their original boxes in my closet since. Today, June 1st, they debited my account $605! They never canceled my service and charged my card that I made that ONE TIME payment with back on January 19, 2012. My bank gave me their number. After going through 3 people a guy tells me if I ship them the three recievers (1 non HD dvr, and 2 regular non HD receivers) back to them they will credit all but $133.15 back within 30 days of receiving them. I said how about I take them back to Radio Shack where I got the service started to begin with, call them back so they can confirm with Radio Shack that I have returned everything-- in their original boxes -- and refund my money immediately! They said I can try. So I did, and nope. Radio Shack tried to help but Directv then insisted I ship them back directly to them. OH! And Directv also ran this charge through as a pre-authorized charge, when it fact it was never authorized. NICE Directv, what a way to do business!

My one year contract with Directv expired last month. When I called to cancel my service, Directv stated that it was a two year contract. And if I cancel they were going to bill me $20 a month starting in July 2011 to June 2012. I requested a copy of my signed contract and they stated they do not have the contract.

MsMichelle79,

I'd like to let you know that we'd love to have you apart of the DISH family as I came across your post! I'm always here if you have any questions about the service and would be more than happy to assist you if you wish to give us a try. Let me know or feel free to call us at [protected]!

They did the same thing to me except they actually took $225.10 out of my checking account without authorization!