DirecTV review: very poor service and unacceptable contract 1397

I was charged for NFL without my authorization. With Direct TV you are automatically signed up for the next season if you had it the previous season. The thing is I had it for the previous season because it was their promotion.

I ordered Direct TV after 2 yrs. of getting letters saying they wanted me back as a customer. I signed up for a package and the equipment was installed. Shortly there after I was contacted by a rep. of the company by phone, and was told I could get their best package for 4 months for only $5 more than I was paying. Now I have NFL package which I don't remember as being mentioned. Maybe my fault, I really don't know. But I don't even watch Football. I have contacted Direct TV to now avail, they don't want to hear me or let alone remove the NFL package. So far they have proved to me they don't give a damn about their customers, just their bottom line. Rude and arrogant and non caring is all I can say about them at this point.
Don't Use Direct TV
If I wasn't retired and on a fixed income, I'd buy my way out of it in a minute.
Ticked, pissed and flustrated

I recently moved and had to transfer my direct tv account. When I got to my new location I was told it would be 7 weeks before I could get an installer out to my house. But what could I do but wait. So I waited 7 long weeks. I left early from work and sat at home for 4 hours waiting for direct tv to show. I called and inquired about the installer...they tried to reach whoever it was via cell phone...no reply. So after 9PM I had not received a call or anything...the installer just never showed. So I call direct tv back and of course I am livid at this point They give me a $100 credit for my trouble and credit my account for the two months I had paid without service, and put my account in a suspended status so I would not be charged again until I could be hooked up once again. I waited for someone to call me on an install date...they called and had the gall to tell me the next available install date was 12 weeks away! I had already waited 7 weeks! That is unsatisfactory. I told them I wanted to cancel my service then. I was threatened with an early termination fee. I told the person on the phone it was now my goal in life to tell everyone I meet exactly how much DIRECT TV SUCKS! The very next day another payment was auto debited from my account anyway for 84.21 even though I was in suspended status. Again I called...at this point I was done...charge me whatever you want for an early termination fee...I refuse to pay it and I am contacting legal council. I signed a contract with service from direct tv...however...NO SERVICE IS BEING PROVIDED! No reason for a "no show" or the 7 week wait to begin with or for the now 12 weeks I must wait for another install. So now I am still waiting for the 84.21 to be debited back into my checking account. I currently have $300+ credit on my account and I know they will take their early termination fee from that...even though technically it is a refund for my paying for service I had not received. So that will take it and I have no way to stop them. I cannot even delete my bank info from my online account to keep them from charging me for whatever else they feel I OWE them! We all need to join together and do a civil suit!

I am going through the same problem. Directtv has lied to me several times now.
It does not matter what their agents tell you... Its all lies. they do NOT stand behind anything they say.

If anyone else is thinking class action then please contact me.

Thank you
David

1.When i setup DIRECTTV bk in 09-07 apparently there was a promo for free NFL SUNDAY TICKET.This was not written on my bill from DIRECTTV.
2. This year in 07/08 on my DIRECTTV there was a note saying "FREE RENEWAL NFL SUNDAY TICKET".This was also noted on my 08/08 bill.When it showed up on my 09/08 bill it showed a charge of $41.50 per month for NFL SUNDAY TICKET.
This is going to be a monthly charge for 6 months which comes out to be $249.00 total. I called to drop this service and DIRECTTV said it was too late.I don't and never have watched FOOTBALL.They wont check programming for me to verify it has never been watched at my house.I have written letters and e-mails and now have an order for a different cable provider and DIRECTTV said there was nothing they could do for me. They were sad to see me leave as a client.

I don't have $41.50 a month to pay for a service i have and never will watch.

All i want is someone at DIRECTTV to admit this was a sneaky way of doing business. I never ever order this NFL SUNDAY TICKET.

HELP

Please use the following LINK to complain about Direct TV to Government

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en#last

I had an appointement today from 12 to 4 p.m., order [protected], it is almost 5 p.m., DirectTV technician never showed up, no courtesy call that he's running late or if he's even going to show up at all! I already called their customer service, whoever I spoke to supposedly got in touch with a supervisor at this location, and gave them my cell phone to call me with the status update, no calls, no technician, nothing.

Is this how DirectTV treats all new customers? Kind of "let us introduce you to Our way of treating customers!" What a ridiculous way to introduce yourselves to new customer and I don't think anybody at this company even cares! Because of this "customer service", I'm now late to pick up my kids from school and day care, I missed three business appointements today waiting for their tech, this is beyond ridiculous!

Absolutely by far the most awful company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with in my life. Their so called customer service reps are rude and disrespectful if a customer trys to hold them accountable for anything. They constantly will say one thing and do another, my advice is RUN before they can get you to sign a contract. I moved to a rental home that does not allow dishes. When I was forced to terminate my service for this reason, one of their sales reps quoted me an early termination fee of $20. Imagine my surprise when I was billed for $300, in addition to overcharges for 2 months of premium channels I never got. When I called them about this, they gave me some fake sympathy, followed by telling me (more or less) that they apologized that I was told the wrong price, but "oh well" I would have to pay it anway. When I asked why I should have to pay, & why they could not even back up the promises of their own reps, I was answered with disrespect. A supervisor more or less scolded me and told me that I should have read my fine print better. Shame on me for assuming that I could take the word of a trained rep, I guess its my fault that they can't even train their associates well enough to quote accurate prices. And amazing, whenever they want to dispute something I have said in a conversation they give me the old "all our calls are recorded" line, but when I asked them to review the recording so that I could prove that I was quoted a lower price, they magically "don't have access to the records". Then even after I paid the termination fee, I told them I needed some time to gather my billing records to dispute the excess charges. They gave me their word they would not refer me to a credit agency. So I wasn't at all surprised when they broke their word (yet again) and I was (without the slightest written warning) contacted by a credit agency. I paid them and will still dispute the services but I will gladly kiss $300 goodbye to be rid of these ethically challenged crooks. However, I would be first in line for a class action law suit. This company has taken years off my life with every phone call.

I have called customer svc many times and get no where.I am paying for local Boston signal and have not been receiving . Every time I call Direct TV they try to sell me a service pak. Now I lost CNBC signal . I need help or I will cancel. Have been a customer for 10 years.

Please if anyone knows of a class action suit send me the info. Direct TV has locked me into a new 2 year agreement for getting a new receiver without explaining me the terms and conditions... insane!

I HATE direct TV!

Direct TV stole 690.00 from my debit card for my husband's cable account. He and I are and have been separated for about 6 months now, I am not liable for these charges; however, have complied with every request from them, i.e., returning their equipment, providing them with tracking numbers, etc. It has been 7 weeks and they keep giving me the runaround on the refund for the equipment, I have yet to receive. At this point I have not even been asking for a refund for the past due charges for the account they took from me even though it WAS NOT MY ACCOUNT, I just want the refund for the equipment back. They will not comply. They keep telling me different times and dates of how long it takes to get it back. First they said 72 hours, then they said 10-15 business days AFTER they receive the equipment, then after explaining my situation they promised the entire 690 back to me since its not my account, they said it would be 10 business days for a check in that amount, THEN after not receiving that amount 10 business days later, I called once again, they told me I was not going to get the amount of 690 but only 314 for the equipment 30 DAYS after the last time I spoke with someone. Today is the 30th day from THAT phone call and now I am being told 6-8 weeks. This is absolutely ridiculous. I would LOVE to be part of a civil suit to Direct TV. If anyone gets involved in one, or knows how to start it, please contact me!

i want to personally thank all the people that has taken their time to voice their complaints against direct tv. i called to switch my service from dish tv to direct tv because the package deals were so much more appealing to for the price of money for their package.it started with them before i ended my first phone call to them. on their advertisement on the web and also tv they say who ever introduces you to direct tv will receive 50 dollars off their bill and i also would receive 50 dollars. the telemarketer told me that my neighbor was unable to get the 50 dollars because she had already received other breaks from them on other discounts and she had also received to many 50 dollar rebates in the past . and i also would not be able to receive it. so i said never mind just forget and oh by the way isnt this false advertising? let me put you on hold and came back with instead of 50 dollars i would get 1 year of free movie channel and neighbor still nothing. i felf a little guilty but said ok cant pass up such a great deal. afterwards i called my neighbor to tell her the bad news and she told me she has never received anything free from them and that i was the first person she had told about it. this is the part that you will all like. i called the direct tv back and cancelled my order that same nite after going on line and reading all the complaints and terrible way that they have treated most of their customers. today i went to the bank a cancelled my credit card just to be safe that they dont try chargeing something to me. AGAIN i very much appreciate all of you who has sit down and taken your time to voice your regret and opinions of this direct tv. i am totally convienced by your doing so that each of you has saved me alot of money frayed nerves and a whole heap of trouble. thanks again tedjames

I have so many of the above complaints I not sure were to begin...the service is all farmed out to independent contractors with little or no regard for your time. Direct TV has directly resulted in 4 days of missed work, several hours of trying to navigate through their phone system and various representative who have consideration for your time and physical well being. My 90 year old mother fell down the steps after being without TV on the level she lives on and is pending surgery.

Service time is too long. It will take 17 days for a service person to fix our sattelite. That means no TV for 17 days. We even purchased insurance for service and it still is lousy service.

THIS COMPANY DIRECTTV THE DEPARTMENT THAT TAKES CARE OF RESTORING SERVICES REALLY HAS EMPLOYEES THAT ARE SO UNPROFESSIONAL I TRIED TO GET MY SERVICE RESTORED AND I CALLED SEVERAL TIMES I TALK WITH A BAD ATTITUDE LADY NAME STEPHAINE, LOUISE, AND KIMBERELY AND THE DEPARTMENT WITH THE TELEPHONE NUMBER YOU SUPPOSED TO CALL [protected] THOSE GIRLS REALLY DO NOT NEED TO BE WORKING WITH THE PUBLIC THEIR ATTITUDES ARE EXTREMELY BAD THEY KEPT TELLING ME DIFFERENT ANSWERS I WILL CHECK BACK TO SEE IF THEIR HAS BEEN ANYONE THAT LOOKED INTO THIS COMPLAINT BECAUSE THEIR ATTITUDE WAS UNACCEPTABLE.

they are not a cable company so dont worry bout them being the last cable co on earth cause that prob wont happen... and if i dont want a co taking money out of my account i dont give them my account information and/or my debit card # so my advice is dont give out your banking info, pay your bills and youll be all set

Debited my account for early termination fee when i was told they would send me a bill because they didnt have authorization to use debit card and put my account in the -253. 00. So now they wont do anything about it and act like they dont care. Personally you tell someone not to use your card and they do it anyway that is against the law. So personally they should suffer in jail for being thieves because that is all they are... I tell them know and they steal my money anyway.. I think they should do what they did to thieves in the old days... Never use direct tv.

I do not know how direct tv could be in business they are theives. They used my bank card without my permission. I was told the one time use of my bank card for delivery of my recivers and my card will not be used again WRONG they did and it over drew my account. I am livid over this. I am going to take them to court it was done without my permission and I was told they would not use it again and that it was not in their file.I have filed with the better business bureau. I am also going to get an attorney I am going to sue them. I am also going to write their corporate the address is2230 E. Imperial Highway El Segundo, ca 90245 telephone#[protected] just incase anyone else needs that info. there it is. The president and ceo of direct tv is Chase Carey his e-mail is chase.carey@directtv.com I bet all of us with this problem with direct tv is paying his bills thats why they feel they can steal from people like us.

Direct TV is cheating people because of the new HD TV they are not able to supply HD in all areas because of Trees. They come to your house and you can have an HD TV and they will put a regular box on the TV and lock you into a longer term contract and you HD looks like crap.

I agree 100% DirecTV are crooks. They are trying to charge me 380.00 for early termination of an account I have had for 10 years. They said its because they sent me a new reciever and they did it just wouldnt work when I got it. So I dumped them and went with dish netowork. Direc TV said it doesnt matter that they couldnt get it to work only that they sent it to me. I mean come on that is just wrong. I have filed a formal complaint with the Attorney Generals office . Please do the same and maybe we can get a class action law suit together.

anyone who is totally fed up with direct tv business lies and fraudlent practices, and wants to do something about it please contact me via e mail. or send a lett to the office of the president.CHASE KERRY, PO box 6550, greenwood village, Co. [protected]

When calling your "Technical Dept." they knew about the so called engineering problem with the local Fox channel. The offered no apology, no estimated time of repair, no compensation, and no understanding of human compassion. Most of all no understanding of business! I told Debbie to make a phone call to find out when it will be repaired and she said she can't! Ugh! Why, does she not have fingers or a phone or a professional expertise to call the engineers of is the problem that she knows it will never be fixed and this is what she is being told to say? When I said I would find another carrier if you can't give me an answer she replied " That's up to you". Wow what is a CEO going to do if the customers all leave because of this "go @*&%$# yourself" attitude. I wish I could afford to throw away paying customers like you do! Oh well, I guess the taxpayers money will bail you out when you go belly up. For now Verizon-Direct-tv package is on the outs for timewarner cable with the magic jack.

I scheduled a repair for my parents (actually correction of initial installation that was never completed last FEB!), and was assured that my parents would not be charged. The service man came in this morning, did the job, then told my father he wanted 30 dollars or would submit a bill for 85. My father, a fearful 85 yr old with an invalid wife, complied. Cash. No receipt. I am appalled and disgusted. I would like to know who the man was and what will be done to keep him from doing such things in the future. I am considering calling the Philadelphia Police. Further, I have been on hold for 40 min now waiting for local Cust Service.

In October I telephoned Direct TV sales to enquire about the 'Cricket Ticket' After speaking with a sales person and supervisor I bought an HD package and Cricket Ticket. On installation (by a very surely individual) I found no Cricket. I telephoned customer services and spoke to a number of people including the international dept. I was told the 'Cricket Season' was 'over' and there was no future schedule available. As I had only bought Direct TV for Cricket I cancelled the service straight away having been connected for about 30 mins.
I had paid $428.17 fraudulently obtained by Direct TV -$300 as a differentiated payment as I have no credit rating in the US. I am told I will receive no refund. This is THEFT. I was not informed that my $300 was a gift to Direct TV...Their customer service people are laughably unhelpful and I was 'cut off' by financial disputes!
I have, as a last ditch effort e-mailed the office of the Vice-President for customer relations before utilizing the Small Claims Court.

It is unbelievable that a company can operate in such a scandalous fashion in todays America - any advice is welcome.

I am SOOO sick of these corporations! First they terminate my service without my prior knowledge, and I was current, by mistake. Then the deduct almost $500 from my account for the early termination fees! Two weeks later they put the money back but not after I have incurred $300 in bounced check fees thanks to the unauthorized withdrawal. Now a week before Christmas, with my husband laid off, Direct TV is fighting me to pay back the fees and I can't even pay my morgage! But all these big companies cry that they are hurting financially. They have NO idea what that means. Putting food on the table and paying electric and heat, now thats what is important. I will never watch Direct TV again for as long as I live and will proceed to tell EVERYONE about this, including the govenor and attorney generals office. Thank you for letting me vent!

Direct tv is a rip off, I have owned my equipment for years and just recently moved with the movers package and now i lost my job, can't afford to have tv anymore so I canceled it now they tell me I broke this contract that i didn't know about, I want to sue direct tv, who is with me.

I just had the most awfull experience with Direct TV. I ordered for my son for christmas. Was installed and installer said he did not sign up for dvr and the origianal work order did have dvr on it. I called Direct TV and they told me installer said my son denied the dvr. That was a lie and they didnt want to fix it. I had to tell them I would have my attorney call them to straighten this out. Then the order desk finally, after 3 days of phone calls and holding, placed the order for the dvr. Needless to say it would take a month to recieve the dvr. I told customer service I would never deal with them again. I will keep my eye on the statement for any additional charges. Good Luck, anyone who would deal with this company. Karen

I called in to complain about the sound..On most channels the sound is so low you cannot enjoy the movie. I have my volume turned all the way up on the tv but you still cannot hear the sound. or a person talking at a normal voice.. Yes I have reset my receiver and done all the the crap they told me to do..BUT IT STILL DOSE NOT WORK... THE FREEKING COMMERCIALS HAVE BETTER SOUND THAN THE PROGRAMING. I NOTICE THEY ARE RUNNING THE COMMERCIAL EVER 5 MINUTES AND THE SHOW LAST FOR ABOUT 8 MINUTES BEFORE THEY RUN ANOTHER 5 MINUTES OF COMMERCIALS... i f U K ___ PAYING 79 DOLLERS A MONTH TO LISTEN TO YOUR FU! COMMERCIALS! IM PAYING YOUR AIR TIM SO YOU CAN SEND ME A fu COMMERCIAL! YOU HAD BETTER CUT THE FUCING COMMERCIALS OUT OR IM GOING TO SUE DISH TV
FOR POOR QUALTY SERVICE... IM THE CUSTOMER IM PAYING FOR A SERVICE NOT FOR A FUKING COMMERCIAL! GO RUN THE FUKING COMMERCIAL ON A PUBLIC STATION...NOT ON MY TIME WHEN I PAY YOU FREEKING 79 DOLLERS A MONT.. I WANT QUALTY SHOWS WITH GOOD SOUND...NOT SIT AN LISTEN TO YOUR FUKING COMMERCAIL EVER 5 MINTES! KEEP IT UP AND I['LL TERMNATE MY SERVICE WITH YOU!@!@@@

I did not or do not have direct tv. My debit card was used to make a payment for someone and they debited my account in total of $615.71. And all of you are right they do not answer your questions. I have spoken to so many different people. I advise no one to use your debit information to pay a bill for someone else. Its very wrong the way they treat you and its very wrong to take money from someone elses account that does not have any thing to do with direct tv. Please stick with cable i.e. BRIGHT HOUSE or your local cable company.

I was thinking of switching from my Dish network to Direct TV, but after reading all the complaints (Thank goodness for this site) I think I will be staying with Dish.

Ordered Direct TV Choice XTRA pkg with HD/DVR, was on the road when ordered because I drive truck, could not be home to receive confirmation order to see if it was right. When it was installed, step-son signed, this was Dec 23, 2008 @ approx 11:00 AM, I got home for holidays @ 3:00PM that day, noticed no DVR, contacted Direct TV to tell them, only to find out that now, less then 6 hours later, I was considered an existing customer and would need to pay $199 for DVR, I explained that rep took order wrong, but because I never saw confirmation, and wasn't present when installed, that there was nothing that they would do, no matter who I talked to. Yet, if I chose to cancel due to their mistake, it would cost me over $400. They would rather lose a good new customer then to make this mistake right. NOW, I'm stuck with something I no longer want, but can't get rid of unless I pay there disconnect fee. I will NEVER recommend this company to anyone. And, all this because they wouldn't make their mistake right, even though I told them I couln't get to my mail to confirm.

If you have any documentation of what you ordered, take them to small claims court.

Called this number and got the service call moved possible to 4 days instead of 7. also promise to credit for time lost. we will see if it actually happens.

Worst Company I have ever dealt with. The customer service can't connect you to anyone and they don't contact you when they say they will. Noone ever said that there was a service contract, nor did they say that signing for the installation was signing the contract. It took the installer 4 boxes to finally get one to work. The only reason we choose direct tv was because that was what verizon was offering, when my service was not working (apparently they couldn't fix the line after 4 trips to my house), we decided to cancel both services and go back to Comcast. Direct Tv is now trying to charge us $415 for cancelling a contract I didn't even know we had. I dug around their website after getting no where on the phone and sent a complaint to the VP of customer service which does no good either. Funny how the guy kept telling me that service contract is sent a number of times, but noone ever actually speaks of a contract. Buyer Beware. I have never had a problem like this with any company and after seeing all the other complaints, I am surprised they are still in business.

For several days now we have not been able to get half our channels. Including the local channels that we pay extra for. All we get is searching for sattelite! What is going on? Are we expected to pay for this?

I cancelled Direct TV 8 years ago for all of these complaints. I would rather pay more somewhere else then keep there service.

They recently offered me a great deal with free stuff for like 3 months and I refused to get it. I am glad to know they are still up to the same bull as in the past.

My employer transferred me from Tennessee to Florida in July 2008. I canceled my service with Direct TV in July 2008. (Early termination)

I wanted to return the equipment but was told they would send return boxes. I gave Direct TV a local address as I was leaving the state shortly.

In September 2008, (two months later) a Direct TV charge turned up on a credit card which I had paid off and thought was closed. When I called Direct TV they informed my my service had not been terminated. They contended that I had accepted their offer of a transfer the account and I was still being charged! By now I had service in Florida with Comcast for two months.

Three calls in October, two in November they finally sent the boxes and I had their equipment back by November 21, 2008.

By December 2008, I was told I would have a credit for the equipment within 72 hrs of the equipment being checked out. (When might that be - they had it for 2 weeks.) Ultimately, I proved to them that they had the equipment and in December a credit was made to my account. Yeah - Right!

In January 2008 I was told I would get a check in 6 to 8 weeks. (There policy is that they can't credit the credit card where they put the charges in September, because it wasn't used on Auto Pay".)

I have had 12 telephone conversations thus far and written two complaint letters and they still have my money. My credit card keeps accruing the interest for the 8 weeks it takes to get a refund.

Six months to close out my account, 4 months of interest on unauthorized charges, 12 phone conversations, two letters and they want early termination fees!

I cancelled my Direct TV account after suspending it for several months after I moved. When I suspended it, I was told that I could cancel the account within 6 months. When I tried to do that, I was then told that I would be charged for canceling it early, even though this was never mentioned to me when I suspended it. I was livid. A few days ago I received a letter from Direct TV stating that I needed to return equipment, which I did today. The letter suggested that I had been ignoring previous letters when in fact this was the first one I received. Today I found that they took money out of my checking account that I never authorized. I called immediately to complain (about 9:58pm) and the man on the phone told me that I needed to talk to their equipment dept and then transferred me. He also said that it could take 6-8 weeks to get a refund check (interesting, since it didn't take them 6-8 weeks to take money from me). He transferred me and I got a message saying that they closed at 10:00pm and that I would need to call back tomorrow. I tried to call the original person back and got a message saying that they, too, were closed. He essentially blew me off, knowing that I would not be able to talk to anyone. I am beyond livid. They had no right to take money out of my account. They gave me no warning that they would do this. This company has been a nightmare to deal with.

NEVER AGAIN will I deal with Direct TV in any way, shape, or form! Talk about a total nightmare! They practice some very shady tactics, and EVERY aspect of my dealings with them was sheer horror! I experienced much of what the rest of you have described, and I cancelled my service within HOURS of activation, so I was well within the grace period. The representatives I spoke to in regards to cancelling were rude, even hostile, toward me, and they all kept trying to give me the runaround, in hopes of stalling me long enough that I would miss the grace period in which cancellation was supposedly possible. Good gravy, what a disaster this whole thing was. NOTHING about Direct TV appealed to me after I was installed and dealing with the [censored]storm that would immediately follow. Thank GOD I hadn't yet cancelled with Dish, and when I called Dish to explain to them what my situation was, they were sympathetic and offered me all kinds of perks to renew my contract with them again, which I should have done in the first place, rather than attempted any kind of dealings with Direct TV. I GLADLY renewed with Dish, and actually, they have been VERY helpful in assisting me in sorting through the mess I have with Direct TV. I called the bank and cancelled my VISA account so that hopefully, Direct TV can't sneak up on me and deduct anything from my account without my authorization. The bank manager assured me that Direct TV will NOT have access to my new VISA account number, so that gives me a great deal of peace of mind. Now, I will vigilantly watch for the return boxes to arrive so I can send back these hideous receivers to my newest mortal enemy...Direct TV! TELL EVERYONE that you know to avoid them completely! I am going to write into my local paper as well, and given the headaches that this awful company has caused me ( and everyone else here, it seems! ) I am going to run Direct TV's name into the ground to anyone that I can!

Direct TV wants me to pay a bill that is not due for 10 more days. I have a past due balance to of 141. to restore service and they will not restore until I pay 280. that my statement says is NOT DUE until the 25th of the month. Today is the 15th. Direct TV has never had good customer service. I have put in 4 calls to them today. They claim in order to talk to a supervisor they need to take a call back number and return your call... Its been 3-4 inbetween calls and I still have not received my call back that they promised. DO NOT USE DIRECT TV... Stick with you local cable company and you are sure to have excellent service compared to Direct TV.