DIRECTV Reviews

This is a "scam", and DirecTV should not be advertising prices, which they are not going to honor, unless the unsuspecting subscriber has jumped through all the hoops and asked all the relevant questions at the right time. Most of us, no matter how intelligent, cannot meet these requirements, and therefore get caught in their morass of requirements, for at least 2-3 months before getting their advertised price. I've been charged $68.99, which cannot be changed (according to the person, Bern, who took my phone call), instead of their advertised price of $39.99 (Choice Ultimate) or $34.99 (Choice Extra, which I originally ordered).

I'm a partially disabled senior on a fixed income, with no increase in my pension for at least two years, according to the government). I'd hoped to save some money by changing to DirecTV for at least two years, but their "rebate" requirements have been costly to me.

During this period, I called several times to see if the credit had been processed and to verify that the amount was correct. I was assured that this was indeed the case and that I should receive payment in the amount of $231.00. I called again the first week in November to see where my refund check was. I was then informed that the credits were promotional and I was not due a refund at all.

In review of my statements, enclosed there is not a reference to anything promotional. DirecTV has dragged this on for over six months and in my calculations a refund is warranted. I have spent several hours on the phone with your billing department only to be jerked around and told many conflicting accounts of the refund that is due to me. I expect immediate action on DirecTV's part in issuing my refund.

I was told that my service would be put on hold, but if I cancelled I would be billed $480.00 for breach of contract. I did not agree to a contract. The service was put on hold and I began contacting the Billing Dispute department with no reply. I am now receiving bills for service I don't have at a location I no longer live at. I tried contacting the Billing Dispute department again, this time by Certified Mail. Their response was an email stating this; I am writing in response to your recent correspondence regarding your DirecTV statement. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns. After reviewing the information you provided, we found that your account reflects the correct amount due.

For your convenience, you can access your account online at directv.com. On your monthly DirecTV billing statement, the payment due date is listed at the top of the statement beneath your account number. If we do not receive your payment in full by the due date appearing on your bill, your account will be charged a late fee according to Section 2.c.4 of the DirecTV Customer Agreement. I did not agree to a contract for any length of time and I am not using the service.

Direct told me, I owed for the months left on my contract which they started again when I activated my dish in June. I was never told this. Plus I had to send them the dish I bought for $99.00. Dish also took $115.97 straight from my account without my permission or knowing. I found out when I called the bank. I pay by check.

I talked to 5 people and the last one was a jerk who the company had trained to be a jerk. My fear now is if they say I owe more it will be taken out of my account.

They expect us to pay for their employee's mistakes. Also, the way they charge you and then back out credits is more that confusing such that it would appear that we have never received the price of $19.99 for the third and fourth months. I have contacted them four or five times and they refused to credit us for the $10 a month that was due to over billing. I really wonder how many people are being treated like this? It has all the makings of a class action suit.

He told me they would "review" my account which was in perfect standing and send me a letter stating if they would "allow" me to send in the rebate. Well, I never received anything in the mail and once again called back. You end up being on the phone for over an hour because they just keep transferring you to different people, all the while they know they are not willing to even attempt to keep you as a customer. I couldn't understand why a company would not be worried about taking care of their customers? Until, I told them I wanted to cancel because I could get the deal from Dish Network.

Then he informed me that I would have to pay a $400 early cancellation fee. Oh, I was informed I missed that one also on the letter they sent me. I asked them to resend the letter so I could actually read the small print. I never received that letter; I don't receive bills or anything in the mail since they required me to auto pay my bill to get this great deal.

This company is a joke! They keep your business by lying and being deceitful. The customer service has obviously been trained to answer the phones and not to help anyone with rebate issues.What a joke! I will take this one as far as I have to. I see all of the other complaints that are the same as mine!

As if that wasn't bad enough, we will be charged overdraft fees, and were told that it would be 30 days after they receive the equipment before we have the money back in the account.We admit that we made a mistake, and tried to correct it, however we are completely shocked that they were able to withdraw the funds from our account without our approval, and that they didn't inform us ahead of time for such a large withdrawal! When we called them this morning, we were told that this was standard practice, and even though we had only received the packing materials yesterday that they had canceled our service over 21 days ago and had the right to take the money regardless of whether we had called when we realized we made an error. Had we known they were going to do that we would have simply paid the past due amount then and canceled the service afterwards.

After another call, DirecTV did come out and installed the wiring properly. However, then the phones stopped working properly. AT&T came out, and found that the receive box on the DirecTV did not work, and that was causing problems with the telephone line. We called DirecTV twice and each time they agreed to come out and fix it. They never showed. Today, I called them, and now they claim that they will not come out to review it without first going through a check of the receiver box, over the telephone. These people are despicable! I plan to tell anyone who will listen that DirecTV does not take care of its customers.

I really feel helpless and wronged. This is "Bait and Switch." You can have this and that but in the end you only get this.

The bottom line is I want out of it all with no penalty. Cancel me and get rid of it all and go back to who was honest with my money and service in the 1st place. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Very angry Michelle from Big Lake MN.

Finally, I got someone named Sharee to contact about the installation and she informed me that another technician would come out and verify or disprove the first technician's assertion. I said fine, either come and install the dish or proclaim it un-installable and cancel the contract, one or the other. The technician, who was to make the second opinion or his office, did not call back. We are waiting, with no service into the second week. If we knew that the contract would be canceled we would have the local cable company to come and install the cable service but can't do that until we resolve the DirecTV situation. It is very frustrating. No one seems to know what the situation is, how to handle it or take authority to resolve it. Every time you call it is like ‘Groundhog’s Day’, same machines, same nameless people with hard to understand accents and no decisions, no actions, no resolution and still no service. But they hold onto the contract and will not close it out.

They promise to start taking cash they promise to get bet and lifetime. None of the above has happened. Also with the package I have, you suppose to get Fox, ABC Family, MTV. I feel that they come to the v.i to catch people since we only have one cable company. I am very disappointed with this cable company. I want to cancel DirecTV but I refuse to give them 250.00 for disconnection this was a lie to begin with and just a fraud. I don't want them to put anything on my credit card anymore .

I called today, November 8, talked to 2 customer service reps and they couldn't suspend because I had a balance. She told me that accounting would waive balance and then suspend 6 months. I was transferred again to accounting, she told me "no", I would have to pay and I couldn't suspend no more that 6 months within a year. I talked to a supervisor Greg, he told me "no", I would have to pay the price on the boxes till next May 2011. I told him, "No." He got mad and told me I had to cancel my account return the boxes and pay the early contract fee on the boxes.

I am very upset that they would change policy without notification. Nothing in the mail either. They misinformed me in the beginning, I followed there instructions that we cannot have their service in our location due to the Hoa contract. This is blackmail and unacceptable to a long time customer way over ten years with them.

When I signed up for their service, I was never told that there would be a form in the mail and to look for it that it needed to be returned in order to get the rate they quoted me .I told them that I wanted to cancel my service with them and then they told me they would charge me an early termination fee of over 400.00 dollars. They were unable to charge my credit card on file.

Please help or let others know how shady these people are. I will never do business with them again.

Then, after I finally disconnect, and send them the final $113.24 "Julie" said I owed them. I get a bill a week later, that says, they automatically charged my credit card for the $113.24 PLUS $10 for using my credit card that I did not authorize! That is illegal.

The next bill, I was charged again yet I was on automatic payment as I was charged for my payment. I called again and was transferred after 30 minutes to their promo department. I was told my request was forwarded and I would hear in 7 to 14 days. I got a phone call a week later, a message left on my cell phone, saying that the promo was no longer available and could now not get it.

On Friday, November 5, 2010, I called about it again and was put on hold for over an hour while I waited for a supervisor. While I was holding, I was talking to the customer service person who got my call and she said they would give me free HD for 12 months. I said that is not what I signed up for.

When the supervisor finally got on the phone all she could say was "I am sorry but we no longer have that offer on our system. We can not give it to you." We went round and round for another 15 minutes. I then said, the person who I was talking to before you got on said that you would give me free HD for 12 months. I figured one year is better than none.

The supervisor said, "No, you cannot have that." I will give you a free movie channel. I told her I don't want a free movie channel. I was the free HD service I was promised when I signed up. Then she said, I will cancel your HD service. So I said fine. When I got home that evening, my service had been cancelled. I had to call back and be on the phone for another 30 minutes while my service got reinstated. I am still at the same place of having to pay for HD service. I did go online and cancel my automatic payment since they will not give me free HD service. This was the most frustrating experience and the worst customer service I have ever experienced. As soon as my 2-year contract is up I will cancel DirecTV.

We were told there would be no cancellation fees and there were none for the channels. However, approximately October 22, 2010, I cancelled DirecTV service and went with another service to bundle my TV, Internet and cell phones together. On October 28, 2010, I received, in the mail, an early cancellation fee/bill from DirecTV for $ 220.00 + $ 22.78 Communications Service Tax.

I called DirecTV and explained that I had served my contract commitment that I had signed approximately 5 years ago. They informed me that the receiver change when I added the international channels constituted an additional 18 months contract. We were only told there would no penalty for cancelling the international channels. I was never told, explained to or signed anything to my knowledge, committing to an additional 18 months of contract with DirecTV. Had I known, I would have never ordered the international channels. DirecTV is refusing to waive the "so called" early cancellation fee. This has been less than a month and they have now accessed my debit account, without my approval, and taken money out of my bank account.

I promptly phoned them and was assured no bill was due. On November 4, 2010, $493.99 was billed to my checking account via my check card. I immediately called DirecTV to ask for the harges to be cancelled. I was told nothing could be done and I could "ask" for a claim and get my money back within 6-8 weeks! I was told this by a Supervisor, Lisa, employee number 458968. Since It was still in a "pending" status with my bank, I put a hold on the charges. I then called DirecTV back and informed them of this and they told me they would not re-issue the charge (as my bank requested I do) I was told this by Sarah, employee number 341424. On November 6, 2010, the charge of $493.99 was deducted from my bank account.

In the mean time, my payment to my car insurance company will not clear now because of this unauthorized, stolen money taken out of my checking account by DirecTV. This *** actually stated to me, "it is on the back of our bill that we have the right to take the final payment from any means we have to....". When I asked her if the payment was late on November 1st she stated "No." No, but they still decided to go ahead and take this without any payment being late or notifying me they would be taking it on November 1st. I consider this to be stealing and I will try to have my bank withdraw the payment to them today.

I explained to them that "yes, it does reset and work but as soon as I turn the TV off, it goes out again". I asked why I have to pay for service that does not work properly. They had no real answer other than they will charge me a service charge to come out when no problem exists. When there is a problem and if someone comes out, they can see if it does not work.

In this economy with the ever increasing cost of everything, this extra $10 ($120 yearly) is causing financial stress. Not to mention the fact that their customer service is lousy and they're only good to you for the period of time required to get you to sign their 2-year contract. Good customer service means that the current customer is considered first and foremost, and any savings offered anywhere should be given to existing customers first. DirecTV doesn't care about their current customers outside of getting their money.

It is very upsetting to have been told that I could call back in Nov. and get the $10 charge removed, and then basically be spit on by the customer retention dept.

This has caused many repeated visits and wasting of my time. I was told I could not cancel DTV without paying a fee ($320) and they would have to keep sending techs out was my only choice given. On my most recent visit 10/9/10, the MASTEC tech showed up not ready again, did not read the case notes - not to my surprise. I put the MASTEC tech on the phone with DTV case management. They instructed the tech to do a 24-point inspection and take pictures. DTV case management has been waiting over 2 weeks to get the pictures that were taken. Now, I think the tech did not take the pictures or is refusing to send them to DTV.

I have been waiting months and they can't fix a simple installation problem and now don't care to respond to DTV case management or the customer! I have thought about not paying my bill, but then, I don't want any bad credit marks. I am thinking about going into arbitration with DTV as specified in their contract to get this resolved. I just want my TV to work right or stop charging me until they can fix it!

I recently moved and called to take advantage of their free moving service. $75 later, I have a very poor and incomplete installation. I called to have them send someone to fix problem. Guess what, they want to charge me another $50. I asked one of the people I spoke with if they were aware of all the websites dedicated to how poor their services are. She said, "Yes, sir." I asked if management is ever made aware of the complaints they receive, she said, "In extreme circumstances." There really is no quality in service anymore.

I called customer service. They apologized and credited me $50 to my account and agreed to "change" the equipment for free (but they would have to mail me one of the receivers. I would keep the HD DVR until it arrived). Since I was now worried about what my bill would be (since I was lied to about the equipment), I asked the service representative while I was still on the line. She informed me that after the "5-month introductory package" I would start having to pay for the pay channels that I was receiving for free during the promo. This I understood, but I was told by the telemarketer though, that after the 5 month intro was complete, I could switch to their Choice Extra package for $34.99 for the rest of my 2-year contract.

The service representative on the phone told me that "I" was trying to combine 2 different introductory plans. I informed her that "I was told by the salesman that I could do that". Once again I threatened to throw the technician out and cancel. They told me that I could have the service plan(s) that I was offered for the price I was offered. The technician finished the installation, sloppy, but finished and left.

(4) Two days later (after the installation), I received a "Welcome to DirecTV call". I figured that since I had them on the line again, I would inquire about my billing because I did not trust them. I went through the same routine that I just spoke about in the above paragraph ending the same way (Okay, you can have it). Two days later, I received my new receiver. I hooked it up and called DirecTV to "activate" it. After activation, I inquired about my billing again. It happened again. (5) The next day, I received another receiver. I called DirecTV to inform them that they had sent me too many receivers. They have no record that they had even sent it (I still have it). I inquired about my billing (again), but this time, the SVC rep was unwavering about the billing amount. He told me that no one should have offered me that "combination" because it was "two separate introductory offers" that "could not be combined". I told him that I wanted to cancel my service and that they needed to send me mailing packages to send back all 5 receivers.

(6) My DirecTV was turned off (by my request) on day 11 of my service. When I was told that I would have to pay an early cancellation fee of $460.00, I asked why since I was told that I would have a 15-day "grace period" in which to cancel without reprisal. They then told me that the 15 days started on the day I ordered (September 5, 2010) even though they didn't come to my house to install my service until September 24, 2010, meaning that my 15-day trial/grace period ended before I even had service. I was told that if I didn't pay the disconnection fee that they would take it from the credit card that I used to start my service. When I got off the phone, I cancelled my credit card, informed my bank of the situation (to cover other charges), and had the bank issue a new card.

(7) DirecTV only sent me two "recovery" kits for their equipment (for 5 receivers) but made it quite clear that they would charge me for unreturned equipment. I had to call 2 more times to get two more recovery kits. They never sent me the 5th because even though I told them I had the receiver, they have no record of shipping it. I'll hold on to it and wait until the day they "figure it out" and send me a bill. (8) They never removed the dish from my roof. They told me they don't want it. I told them that I wanted it off of my roof. I was informed that it is my responsibility.

(9) Upon receiving my bill, I called DirecTV and informed them that they needed to adjust it. I told them that I would not pay the disconnect fee and that it was ridiculous that they wanted me to pay for an entire month of service when I only had 11 days. After finding out that I had cancelled my credit card and after arguing the "15-day" trial clause that I was informed of, they credited my account the $460 and told me to disregard that bill and I would receive a new one within the week. (10) When I received my new bill, they had eliminated the $460 early disconnect fee, but still charged me for a full month of service and tacked on a late fee for not paying the original bill. (11) During my 11 days of service, I lost reception on 3 separate occasions. Twice were extended periods (hours). I live in Albany, New York (not in some cave or distant unpopulated area) and there are no obstructions in front of my dish (clear view of the sky).

A few weeks after canceling service, my mother checked her account and DirecTV had pulled out $129 from her bank account. My mother was furious because this DirecTV was not in her name, it was in mine. We called them and they threw up their service agreement in my face saying they had a right to pull it from her account because her card was used to pay the bill on my account. I told them that I spoke to one of their reps and a supervisor. I even gave them the names of the people I spoke to, which I called and made arrangements to pay the bill myself once they sent me a final bill.

They verified that I had given them my new address and number but still refused to refund my mothers money to her. I threw my hands up and figured there was nothing I could do and I would just pay my mother back. Well, another few weeks goes by and I still have the boxes that belong to DirecTV. My phone company does a bundle package where you get phones, internet and cable for a low monthly price. The TV service they deal with is DirecTV.

So I called my phone company and told them that I want to set up a bundle package and I told them that I previously had DirecTV. My phone company informs me that I need to contact DirecTV and get them to verify that I have a zero balance on my account so I can set up new service with the bundle package. So I called DirecTV again. I told them exactly what I plan on doing. DirecTV rep says, "Okay, great. Keep the current boxes you have, call your phone company back and we will get this all set up for you."

The very next day, which is today, 10/31/10, Direct TV pulls out yet another $390 from my mothers credit card (bank account) debit. I call DirecTV again. Give names of who I spoke to, told them that I was getting service and told to keep the boxes and we would have the phone company just use those that we have to set up. Well I get a supervisor on the phone, she tells me that the information the reps gave me was incorrect and that they will have to train their employees better. But the only thing that she can do is have us to send the boxes back to them so they can refund the money to my mothers card.

I have the supervisors name and her badge number if needed. She told me that once they received the boxes back in their office that it will take 48 hours for the money to be refunded onto my mothers credit card. So we are sending the boxes off tomorrow morning since the mail does not run on Sundays. But I am very furious that DirecTV pulls this type of thing with people. I have been reading the internet and there are tons of people they do this to and it's *** that they can get away with stealing from someone who's not even the account holder for the services.

This causes a huge problem for me and my family. My mother's rent is due on 11/01/10. Since DirecTV pulled $390 plus the final bill of my account $129, she doesn't have the money to pay for her rent and is likely to be thrown out in the streets. Now, I also live with my mother and father and so do my children. They are ages 10 and 7. I'm a single mother. My husband abandoned me almost four years ago. He hasn't paid me any child support in almost a year so I do not have the money at the time to give it back to my mother. I want something done to Direct TV for scamming people on an every day basis and throwing their service agreement in your face. Their agreement says they pull a final one time fee if any. They have pulled more then once from my mothers account for my bill. Please contact me if there's anything we can do to do businesses like DirecTV from putting further hardship on people.

I filled out all of their rebate information. I called them multiple times to discuss the problem. I even gave them the name of the person who gave me the price quote. They didn't care! It was a complete mess. I called them within 15 days to cancel my contract. I told them to come and pickup the dish, I didn't want it! They said that they don't pickup the dish, and I will have to ship the equipment back.

They have the worst customer service in the world. The sales people will tell you whatever you want to hear! Do not order from DirecTV! I repeat, do not order from DirecTV! This had to be the worst experience in my like! During these tough economic times, they are seriously taking advantage of everyone!

I had no signal and I thought it was a wind problem because I was receiving some error messages. I did not contact DirecTV because I thought they would see the problem and I would receive credit as the problem been fixed. When I called them in August and I explained to them what was happening in the building because I wasn't the only customer with the problems. I have counted more them seven dishes in a dumpster thrown away by the property management. On that note, I am not responsible for the three months bill.

Verizon has suspended my account for failure of paying an amount of $358 which is DirecTV that Verizon paid off. My plan with Verizon is $69.99 every month and I was not behind. When I asked why this bill they said it was DirecTV's bill that they had paid off. Therefore, I am requesting a credit for I am not responsible for this bill. I was forced out of a contract and further more I was told by a customer service representative at DirecTV in order to remediate the problem. I would have to move to another place and get the service or pay for the cancellation fees. I am asking you is that fair. Is that how DirecTV treat their consumers? I have paid the cancellation fees which I was forced out of a contract of, which is also illegal. I am requesting a credit for the three months because I did have service during those three months from June to August.

When DirecTV saw that I had proof of this, all they said was, "I apologize but there is nothing I can do about this." The customer service attitude is horrible. I worry about being in a 2-year contract with them when they won’t work with me even when I have proof that I am right and they are wrong. This cost $35 and loss of faith in DirecTV's customer service, which I am going to have to put up with for the next two years of my contract.

I asked to talk to a supervisor and was connected to Audrey. She explained to me that she had no way of contacting local installers and that I would have to be rescheduled. I was called the next morning on July 21 by a scheduler. I told her I was not happy with the non-service I was getting but I would agree to forget it if I could have the installation take place on July 21 or even July 22. I was told that would be impossible to schedule because there were other customers scheduled for those days and they had to be serviced first. I was then told that my installation could be scheduled for Tuesday, July 27. I told her that was totally unacceptable and that if it couldn't be scheduled for the 21st or 22nd, I would consider that a breach of the 2-year HD agreement on DirecTV's part and would make every effort to switch to cable TV. I did not agree to the July 27 installation date and DirecTV considered that a breach of the 2-year HD agreement on my part.

I was told I could write a letter of complaint to supervisor Landon and I did so on Aug. 13, 2010. I outlined all the details and asked that he contact me. I never was contacted by him or his office but I did receive an email from DirecTV customer service dated Aug. 31. In it, they thanked me for my recent inquiry but then told me that I was responsible and that I would be charged an early cancellation fee. My concerns were never addressed or considered.

I will be forced to pay for something I never ask for. Even they told me is "free", but that's is no true. They gave me the chance to fix the problem: Pay $480.00 to cancel the services for early termination of contract!

I am currently disabled and on Social Security. DirecTV debited my checking account in the amount of $453.91. They informed me that they would send shipping materials to return equipment and have not received any to this day. I can not afford to have my checking account debited once again. Their representatives are rude and I was constantly disconnected while trying to get my message across. They should be more considerate. DirecTV has put a strain on my economic situation. I am still hoping that this cancellation fee can be worked out.

He said, "I'm telling you now." We went round and round, to no avail. I finally told him that I will not authorize this debit until I receive the bill and have looked at the final charges. I will stop payment if this is posted to my account. The bank says the dispute could take time and that the funds would be frozen until it is resolved. I have checked online and this complaint will just be added to the long list of people before me who have trouble with this same company.

If I cancel and have a fee, why am I still paying for service? Also, I requested boxes to mail the equipment back three times. I still have not received them. I have moved from this location since June. When speaking with this rep on the phone, he was rude and then he hung up on me. This is after he tried to talk me into keeping my service. Also, he stated that I would have my daughter call back. He said this was documented in notes. This is impossible because I don't have a daughter that lives in the city or is old enough to handle my bill.

I would like my bill resolved. Pay my cancellation fee and not be charged for service I did not receive. Thank you for your help, Marybeth.

(1) I asked more than once if there was any set-up fee. Reply - No. Yet I have already been billed (credit card) for $128.00+ for set-up. I was told that this is a "Wild Blue" Internet set-up fee yet the DirecTv salesman handled the entire transaction so I was led to believe that he was answering the questions as they’re regarded to both services. He never asked for me to speak with a Wild Blue representative. (2) I asked more than once if the monthly charge was a teaser rate. Will the fee increase after 3, 6 or 12 months? No. Yet I have now been told that the monthly rate is only good for 12 months and then will go up. I was also never told that I was entering into a 2-year contract. (3) I was told that I could obtain the major networks free of charge and that I would not be limited to East/West Coast feeds, but could have the technician set it to a local feed (i.e. Houston or San Antonio). Technician says that is not true. He cannot set to local feed.

Not only that, but we have now been informed that a waiver must be submitted to see if we can even get the major networks via DirecTv and if we can (we will know in approximately 45 days), there will be a $2.50 charge per channel monthly. We currently must access them via antenna. (4) The monthly charge quoted by the salesperson is already higher than he indicated and I have had the service 3 days. (5) When I called to complain, I was told that I could cancel for $480 in addition to any fees already incurred. This is wrong. They can lie to you, and then trap you into an extended contract. I did authorize my monthly billing via credit card, but they have already billed me for the unexpected set-up fee and another pending charge that exceeds the monthly billing and I have had the services for 3 days.

On September 28, DirecTV took $76 more than what was suppose to come from our checking that day. I did not check our online banking until later in the day. It was too late to stop payment. I called DirecTV and got several different representatives, all giving me some stupid excuses why it happened.

Finally, I told them if it was not refunded to our account immediately, I will disconnecting with them the next day. That is what we did. I then received a call from someone from DirecTV the next day that I disconnected and said he was higher up in the company. He said that he could refund our money immediately but he tried to make all these great offers to us to stay with them. I kept telling him no but he was very persistent in keeping us as customers.

This problem caused us shortage in our checking account for that month and lots of over drafts. It was very stressful when you live from pay check to pay check and they took our money very fast. Now to get it back, we have to wait for a refund and they tell us it will take 4 to 8 weeks.

I am very disgusted with these crooks and it seems like when people do auto pay, things of this sort happen all the time.

The billing is messed up, and when call and talk to representatives, things that we agree upon are not recorded and honored. Every time I call, I am getting different charges and stories. They have extremely lousy customer service. I have already wasted several hours trying to get to the bottom of this. I tried to get an address of someone who has an authority at customer service, but that is impossible. The only thing one can do is to call their 1-800 number, and get false promises.

I am not happy with service I have, and I am stuck with them for two years. I feel cheated and helpless. Is there anyone who helps customers in these kind of matters?

To date the economic damage is $126, but about 6 months ago, I had a blocked heart artery and had a stent inserted. The doctor advised me to avoid all stress. This has been very stressful and painful for me since I have never failed to pay all my obligations.

A copy of the receipt was sent to them from Best Buy stating it was purchased there. I have called several times and the only answer they give me is that you can only receive one gift card but on the terms that I received from Best Buy and DirecTV states that I would receive one $50 and one $200 ($50 for signing up and $200 for buying a HDTV $599 and over which I did). I am at a loss on what to do from here. No one at DirecTV can give me a reason on why, other than the one previously mentioned, and when I ask for a supervisor I am told they are busy and cannot come to the phone.

About a week went by, and by this time I have already had Time Warner cable installed. I decided to call DirecTV to request boxes to ship back the receivers. When I called the customer support line, it said that my bill was past due. I chose the option several times to speak to an operator, and I would get a recorded message telling me that in order to speak to somebody I would first have to pay my bill.

I called many different numbers trying to contact them and verify that my service was cancelled and I kept getting the message that I had to pay them before I could speak to a representative. So now about two months later after trying to contact and email them, a charge shows up on my girlfriends mothers debit card for almost $800!

I call their customer support line and ask what this is all about, and of course now that they stole $800 from us, they let me speak to a human. Apparently, they said that since we used her card once to pay the bill, they kept the number on file and just decided to charge all of this to her card! They tried to say that I broke my service agreement because I never called to verify that I cancelled. I tried to call them probably fifty times and got that message that I had to pay the bill before I could talk to them.

I told the CSR on the phone that they gave me no way possible to contact them and cancel. They did not send me a letter or bill stating they were charging this. And on top of it all, they charged it to somebody’s credit card that is not even the name on the bill. I am sorry if this is confusing, it would be much easier to say all this instead of type it. So after the rep from DirecTV just kept getting rude with me, I asked to speak to her supervisor and she hung up the phone on me.

I am going to lose everything I have over this. I just want to cry. Please, somebody help me with this. We had a vacation planned for my birthday next week and we also had to call and cancel that, costing us about another $650 dollars for the deposit.

If anybody can help, please email me at **. If you are an attorney, feel free to call me or email. The bank account is completely overdrawn. Our rent check is going to bounce, along with our electric, water, and trash bill. They have just put us over $2000 in the hole with an overdrawn account and we are likely to lose our home.

DirecTV has lies to us over and over again. It's not fair to us and to other consumers that they advertise one price to get your business and then change the price having the consumer stuck with cost it did not agree upon. I changed from Cox cable for the same reason. I'm so fed up with the lies.

It was installed. I used it for one year and four months. I decided to switch providers and called DirecTV to cancel my service. The DirecTV representative offered me some retention perks to keep my business. When I refused to change my mind, he then began to be very rude to me and threatened me that I would have to pay $171. In "early cancellation charges". I reminded him that mine was a one year contract. He denied it and said I owe the early cancellation fee. I had paid all my bills, returned all the equipment and yet this company continues to hound me for this money.

On October 21, 2010, upon balancing my checking account, it showed that $385.00 was taken out without my knowledge causing my checking account to be depleted. I was never told, ever, that they would be taking that amount out nor did I give any permission to have that amount taken out. Please I need help in this matter as I see there are more people who have experienced this fraudulent practice.

Assuming that the rep had sold/setup HD Service before leaving the store, I felt confident that my order had been placed successfully. Installation day came and problem number one was a piece of the technician's equipment was not functioning so I had to assist him with manually getting the desired values on each satellite. That was a pain and took approximately 45 minutes. Once we were through a few features on the system and the tech was about to depart, one of my children stated that their television was not working. The tech then went into the attic and the service was restored in both of my children's rooms.

Planning ahead, I left my old cable service up and running in case of any issues with Direct TV. Two days later, when I went to terminate my cable service, the service in my two children rooms are also terminated. Once I become aware of this, I called Direct TV and informed them of the dilemma. They asked me if I had receivers installed in those two rooms. Be mindful that I never had receivers prior to the installation with my old providers and have never had a Direct TV account before this. I told him I never had any receivers.

The customer service representative now tells me that it will be $154.00 to have standard receivers installed, which I turned down. I was told that the only way I could have it resolved was to return to AT&T. I did as instructed the following day. At the store I took up my case with the person who initiated my order. He, at that time apologized for the inconvenience and states he would call Direct TV. Later that day he called to let me know that the only resolution was what I had previously been told. I stated to him that during my initial purchase I informed him of services I had in place and at a minimum, I wanted the end state of my Direct TV order to be the same. He again apologized, and told me to contact Direct TV.

I immediately asked what the cancellation fee would be. He stated he was unsure but would research it and contact me. Upon contacting me again Mr. ** stated the fee could be up to $400.00. I told him that this was crazy. I let him know that I was going tocontact Direct TV about cancellation. Due to my heavy work schedule this correspondence took place over approximately a week. On Oct 20, 2010, the same day I asked the AT&T rep about cancellation, I contacted Direct TV's cancellation department.

The representative I spoke with explained that she was sorry to hear of all of the trouble I received from AT&T and Direct TV and stated she would do her best to resolve the issue. After being on hold for a few minutes she returned and stated the two necessary receivers would be installed free of charge but the only way she could do it was to charge my credit card then immediately credit the money back to my card. I stated that this would be a reasonable solution. She stated that the transaction would be completed while I was on the phone with her.

Once she stated it was successful, I waited approximately an hour then checked my account. My account showed the charge but not the credit. I immediately called Direct TV again. I let the customer service rep know what had taken place and he informed me the credit would be placed on my upcoming bill. I, at this time, am already furious. I instantly asked to speak to his manager, Brandon. Brandon apologized for the error and stated he would put in a request for my credit card to be credited but it would take up to 30 days.

What kind of cockamamie businesses are Direct TV and AT&T running? This is hands down the worst customer service transaction I have ever experienced in my life. Aside from the one person who made a failed attempt at correcting the issue, they all should be reprimanded and/or re-schooled in their company's services and how they are provided to the customer.

Truthfully speaking, even though I like some of the features on Direct TV, if it wasn't for a $400.00 cancellation fee, I would return to my old provider without question. The sad part is, even if a representative from Direct TV or AT&T were to contact me in reference to compensation, I would be extremely reserved about the credibility of their offers.

Our September bill arrived and did not reflect the rebate so I called the customer service number on the bill which went to AT&T. While I was on the line, AT&T checked with DirectTV and clarified that my rebate was "processing" and issued me a $21 adjustment, and they assured me that the rebate would be reflected on the next bill.

Now, my October bill has just arrived and the rebate is not on there again. I called customer service and this time they told me that I needed to call DirectTV about this problem. I first spoke with Susan, who told me that she couldn't adjust my bill but as soon as the rebate was processed it would be valid for 12 months. I told her that football season only lasted 5 months so I didn't intend on keeping the expanded package for 12 months and really need the rebate now. I asked to speak with her supervisor. Susan, the supervisor got on the phone and told me the same thing. I told Susan that my husband applied for the rebate two months ago and she told me that the rebates can often take up to 8 weeks to process.

I would not have signed up for DirectTV if I knew that the rebate wasn't instantaneous. The man who sold us the package made it seem as though he was giving us a lower price deal, not that we needed to apply for a rebate that we may get in the future. Now I am stuck paying an extra $21/month or I have to pay 20$/month for the remainder of my contract to cancel early.

I called several times and was given the run around. One agent told me to send DirecTV a fax asking that they return the funds due to the circumstances. I did this and called to see if they got the fax. I was told that they would not send the funds back. I told them this was not an authorized action they did and that I had no money in the bank and that what they took is all on overdraft charges to me that I can't give. I am getting nowhere in this and I need help. This has strained us financially, I explained to the agents that I can't cover this we are on a fixed income.

I was promised help with this and am getting nowhere. I really feel that I was discriminated against because I was taken advantage of, lied to and the withdrawal was not authorized. Please help me. I have enough to worry about with my husband being ill. Thank you for your time and concern in this matter.

When I called them they said I would have to pay the bill. I have the name and agent # of the person I spoke to yesterday. DirecTv will rip you off! I guess I'll have to go through the hassle of arbitration and possible small claims court. I've paid these people for many years and this is how I'm treated? You'll be sorry if you do business with DirecTv. I wonder if there are any active class action suits against DirecTv.

And as I explained, the money they took out, which I wish they would have told me, was for our car payments which I'm now behind and also now house rent and etc..Trying to do catch up w/ little income I am getting in, making this all very upsetting to us. My husband, I wonder if they can do this to us. They are not saying it but seems they are holding our refund amount, just to pay monthly bill from my account of DirecTV. I need answer return soon. Also I told them they didn't contact me w/ email or phone call, to let me know this was going to happen regarding the money they took out of my husbands acct. My name isn't on his checking acct.. only savings which is zero balance and checking too.

When I contacted customer service, I was informed that they automatically renew the subscription unless I cancel it before it starts. I informed the customer service agent that I never ordered the Sunday Ticket and should not be charged. He indicated that since I did not call in before it started, I was bound to a 6-month contract to pay it. I asked how I can be charged for something I didn't order. He replied that I was alerted of this possible new charge on my June bill. When I looked back at my June bill, in small print to the right, it stated that I would be receiving the NFL Sunday ticket for 6 months which quite frankly I did not notice before. In addition, no where did it say on the bill that I would be bound to a 6-month contract to pay it, whether I wanted the service or not, if I did not call to cancel before activation.

I also found out that I now owed $291.00 instead of $256.58. I asked to speak with a supervisor who also refused to give me his name. When I explained to him that I did not order this product and should not be bound to a contract I never agreed to and for a service I never ordered. He indicated that I was bound by their service agreement. I asked where in the service agreement was it written that their company can automatically bind me to a contract I had no knowledge of or given my consent to. He said that it was in their service agreement on their website.

When I asked him where I could locate it, he said go to the website and look it up yourself. I indicated to him that it was a misleading and a fraudulent business practice for this company to charge me for a promotional add-on that I was unaware of then turn around and renew it without my consent. I purchased Choice Ultimate and apparently the NFL Sunday ticket was connected to it for free last year. Unbeknownst to me, it automatically renews the following year and they charge the full price which is $49.99 a month for 6 months.

What is upsetting is I never wanted it to begin with and never ordered it. The supervisor I spoke with was abusive and threatened me that if I did not pay the bill, they would send me to collections and it would ruin my credit. I have been a good customer and have paid my bills timely to this company and to be treated disrespectfully, threatened and forced to pay for a product I did not order is not right. My account number with DirecTV is **. I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau (ref no. **), the Federal Trade Commission (ref no. **) and the Attorney General's Office in California. I want to break my contract with DirecTV because of their unfair and misleading business practices and not be forced to pay for a product I did not order.

I will not be able to afford a $290.00 satellite TV bill every month for the next 6 months. I do not want the threat of my credit being ruin as their leverage to get me to pay for something I did not want or order. I am on a limited budget. I have small children and this will be a hardship for me if I am forced to pay for this service when I never ordered it.

Was informed great, my total monthly bill for the first 12 months will be 64.99. Scheduled installation, cancelled my other TV service. Installer finishes and shows me the system, I said why is there only HD in two rooms not 4. Tech says, I had to call DirecTV. I call and was advised that in order to get the other two rooms HD, I need to pay 198.00 leasing fee upfront. I said, "What?" I argued and argued, got nowhere.

I then informed the tech that I was supposed to have wireless hook up for On demand. Tech informs me, they didn't send the right equipment but he can do a hard wire now for 50.00. If I wanted the wireless that I requested I would have to wait. So of course, I make a check out for 50.00 twice the amount I was told and not what I asked for. I made the check out to DirecTV, the techs leave and come right back, and advised me that I need to make the check out to them.

Hmm, that right, there isn't right. So I do as this is what I was told I had to do. I then proceed to call DirecTV and argue with them again about me signing up for whole home/HD DVR for 4 TVs but only have 2. Again, I am told the same I will have to pay 200.00. I informed them that if I was told this upfront I wouldn't have ordered the service and that I want to cancel it as they didn't provide what I asked for. I am being told if I cancel they are going to charge me 480.00 disconnect fee. There is more as well. All I want now is really I want the two missing HD boxes that I asked for with out paying 200.00 as this was not stated before. If I do have to pay the 200 then I want out of my contract being they have not provided what I requested.

You can imagine how much more distraught I became as the girls in the office came to tell me my card was declined because of this disgusting company. I am not even on the contract, I just pay the bill on occasion out of my account. I now have received 2 bills on 10-14-2010, $172.10 and $137.68 due 10/29/2010. No explanation, nothing. I have a website that received more than 1 million hits a month and have decided I feel the need to mount a consumer revolt against this company. I know it only takes 5 people for a class action suit.

Ok "Undercover Boss", see how the consumer really feels about your company, good job, show this on TV. You get nowhere on the phone, totally useless. They just tell you sorry no refund. Why do we allow companies like this to do business as it hurts so many people? Had I done my homework and saw the F rating with the BBB, I would never have even given DirecTV a thought.

I received a bill after my months were up for showtime and called the customer service line and they said I had to call directly and they would cancel. I told them that the guy said, it should be cancelled because he was supposedly wrote something down to give to them. I later asked what my total would be and they couldn't quite figure it out which kind of startled me because I think I spoke to about 3 foreigners before I spoke to someone that spoke English and told me what my total would be.

I was furious, anyway afterwards it was cancelled. I was told my bill would be 41.23 around that amount after credits. I received my credits and deduction and that was fine. I started receiving all different totals and called back because I was told a certain price, the customer service reps did not have accurate information so I asked about how to cancel. I was told I was in a 2 year contract which I thought I had the special they sent out to me for $29.99. I was very upset and I told them that was not what I signed up for, and that the representative did not mention that on the phone while she was telling everything else otherwise I wouldn't have signed up with DirecTV.

I was told that if I cancelled I would be charged almost $300.00 dollars for the cancellation or they will bill me $20.00 a month. I also was told that after 1 year my bill would go up which made me even madder. I was not informed any of this at the time I contacted them for service. DirecTV is a scam and everyone needs to know. I would never recommend anyone, half of the channels are blank, they are horrible.

Pay immediately. I called to see what it was for; they said I ordered dirty movies in March and April of 2009, one and a half years later. I never ordered nor would I have ordered such movies. I told them that, they said I ordered through the card in the receiver through my phone land based line. I don't have a land line and haven’t since 3/06/09. Now they change the story. I asked why I haven't received a bill. No one will answer that. I have been hung up on a least 8 times. They have charged my credit card, only 10 days after I received their e-mail, $48.91 for movies I never ordered and would not have.

I am disputing with the card company and through the Attorney General’s office, the BBB, and the FTC. I’m glad to see you're here also. DirecTV needs to be stopped. I was told by one representative that he doesn't show that I ever ordered those movies, but it shows on the card in the receiver. I don't think the cards were cleared.

There were so many other issues that continued, too many to list. So, when the date came up that we could end service, we did on 8/30/10, a few days earlier than what we had paid for in the billing cycle. On 10/12/10, I was billed $49.95 for a PPV boxing match in 2009! I spent more than 1 hour speaking to various representatives trying to get a supervisor on the phone. The first representative explained to me that this was for something I had ordered with my remote control. The reason it was being billed until now was because I had returned the service equipment and they had run the card (in the satellite box) and noticed I had ordered this with my remote. I told them I did not have home phone services during that time or internet. And I said that up until now that she had informed me, I never knew we could order with the remote despite the receiver not being connected to a phone line.

She asked if we were boxing fans. I told her yes we were and that I admitted to ordering PPV boxing matches but never by remote. And I said that if she looked back on our records, she could see I always ordered by my cell phone and paid the extra $1.00 service charge as a result. She asked if my husband was from Mexico. I told her what his nationality had to do with anything. She said because Marquez was a Mexican fighter. I was very offended by her interrogation, felt it was unprofessional and bordering prejudice and stereotyping (this was conversation with Mariela **). Finally on my second call, I spoke to supervisor Kevin, who was of no help. I explained the story to him once again and said too bad, and to try writing up a complaint on DirecTV.com. The fee stands to my bank account which they processed without my permission.

Several months later, my landlord cancelled the service and arranged to make $20 a month payments to them until the balance was paid in full. They said that was fine and then turned around and charged $383 to my bank account. I called my bank and explained what happened and they told me that what DirecTV did was fraudulent and they would investigate. They also said that they get hundreds of complaints each month from people who were also victimized by DirecTV in this manner.

My landlord is on disability so he is on a low fixed income. That is why he agreed to make the $20 payments despite the bad service we received and all of the lies he was told by DirecTV. I am unemployed and have almost no income. I am living on $100 a month. They took money out of my account that I didn't even have in there. No one at DirecTV sent me any notice that my card was being charged $383. I did not receive anything from them by mail, phone or anything else. They just stole $383 from me and my name is not even on the account.

I never signed anything saying I was on the account or would be responsible for the account. I never signed anything with them, period! They are telling me too bad. One rep. apologized and told me I would be refunded the money via check in 8 to 10 business days. When I called to see if the check had been mailed, I was told I wasn't getting a refund and according to their policy they had every right to take money from my bank account without notification. Then they said that the rep who told me I would get the check had lied because they didn't know what they were talking about. I told them that the whole company of DirecTV consists of liars and thieves

.I urge everyone who has been ripped off to contact the Better Business Bureau about it. Perhaps we should all get together and file a class action lawsuit against DirecTV for fraudulent practices. That seems to be the only way to put a stop to their dishonesty. They need to be shut down altogether!

They said they have researched this and it was shown that we live in the home since May with the same phone number as her. So my husband calls and tells me this so I call. I get some lady (wish I knew her name) who put me on hold for 5 minutes and came back and told me that it was researched and the case was closed there was no reopening the file. She said have a nice day and hung up on me. So I call back again and get a guy claiming he was a supervisor. So I tell him the whole story again and he puts me on hold for 3 minutes. He comes back saying they have linked me to the girl by my phone number and there is nothing we can do but pay the $583.00 bill they had showing and we could have our service back. He said have a nice day and again I was hung up on.

So I stopped calling till I got home from work. I called again, this time taking notes and making sure I get all the information. So this time I get Bar; he was very polite and listened to my story and looked into the matter yet again. I asked him to tell me what exactly was linking me to the account so I could fix this. He said it was just the address. He said nothing about the phone number just the address we lived at. He also informed me that there is a number to the research department which I could call as well. I was told the two times before there was no number and I couldn't call anyone in the department.

He transferred me to the supervisor who looked at my account and told me pretty much the same thing that I can call the research department. The other two should have given me the number in the first place and told me to call them in the morning. He told me an account in a minor’s name should never had been opened and it should be deleted and my account will be fine. He also explained to me that if someone lives in a house prior to you moving in and leaves a bill on the account you can never get service at that house till the prior balance is paid off. How crazy is that?

He said they are not like utility companies; it will sit at that house. He told me I should be ok because she was a minor. So I call first thing in the morning and get another guy in the research department who claims he is a supervisor. I tell him the story and what is going on and how I just moved in in August and the account in questions was opened in May. So he puts me on hold for 8 minutes, coming back once to say keep holding. So he comes back and says I am sorry this case has been closed. We have researched this and it shows my phone number linked to her account in May.

I asked him if I could prove that wasn't true and he went on to tell me no and that all we can do is pay the bill and we will restore service. He also hangs up on me and would not let me get a word in to explain. So after talking to 5 people and two supposed supervisors, not one would let me do anything they were set that this was my account. So I hang up furious and think what is going to happen with this account: will it follow me even though it belongs to someone else that, I know from the landlord telling me, has DirecTV at their new home?

So I call back the same department and get Lasonya and ask her if this bill will follow me. I add that I will never get DirecTV no matter where I live. So she eventually asks to look at my account and she does. She puts me on hold for 3 minutes and comes back to me. I figure I am getting the same sorry-it’s-closed response. But this time she comes back and says to fax my lease and something from the phone company showing when I first got the phone number and she would authorize my service to be restored if everything checks out. She also told me that it shows the people whose bill this was had put in a move request and that DirecTV even moved their service; yet I was still stuck with this bill and they couldn't explain that to me except for the phone number.

I was so shocked that I now talked to 6 people and she is the only one giving me a shot. So I do exactly what she says and within an hour she calls back. I missed the call, so I returned it. I get Deiter who says Lasonya has approved my services to be turned back on and that this account will no longer follow me. My services got restored a full day after being told for sure by 5 different people that it was my problem and they wouldn't help me. What kind of company are they running? Not one customer service rep there was on the same page or had the same story. Poor service and I was treated so rudely. I missed time at work to fix this problem.

It of course did not work. I again called DirecTV and after speaking to a few people, asked that they cancel the service wince this was not what was promised or wanted. I then went through the step of cancellation speaking to a nice young lady who tried to help. I then asked to speak to her supervisor Bobby # who was not very nice and was willing to refund the money for equipment I did not need and wave a fee that I should not need to pay since it was not fully installed and then charge me the full price for the equipment I needed in the first place.

Now, I can't understand how twice the idea of Whole Home DVR was misrepresented or after all is said and done that I would need to waste more of my time to have the correct equipment installed should cost me the full price. I also went for Bobby's manager Greg #417775 to try to resolve the problem, he also informed of the same things Bobby said. I was willing to split the cost of the additional HD DVR receiver that was needed but this was still not acceptable. Not only that but if I cancelled I would be out the $99.00 for a standard DVR and a few other fees. At that point, I was not willing to do anymore bending. I was so angry at this whole thing I did cancel. I am out $127.00 a delivery fee and and a standard DVR. Plus I will need to miss work again to have another service installed.

I called them on 10/12/10 and the billing supervisor stated that the charges were valid and they had the authority to get payment from my credit card. I have no problem with paying, but I do have a problem with their practice. It’s bad business practice and I am still dealing with the dispute which he stated he will not issue credit for. They have an internal system issue because the representative stated they cannot go back on closed accounts.

I need to resolve this and they are not being helpful and will not honor my credit of $7.98. It’s not the money, it’s the principle and it’s wrong. Can you imagine all the money they are taking from consumers? If there were a class action law suit against them on unauthorized charges, I will definitely join in. Not only do I need to deal with my credit card, but they also have the authority to ruin my credit if I do not pay.

DTV was charging me for HD reception but because I did not catch their overcharge, they refused to allow me the services they had promised I would receive for free. When the service man came out to install the dish, he left such a mess inside my house and outside in my roof gutters. My husband had to clean it all up and throw it away.

The service person is supposed to dispose of the boxes and mess they make themselves. I am now being charged a $400 early cancellation fee because I cancelled their sorry service after 6 months. I called and talked to one of their supervisors in the Retention Department on 9/28/10 and he said he understood about the bad reception and they would send another service person out. I told him I was sick and tired of having people come to my house and then get the same crap I was getting before. He said he understood and would cancel my service and I would not be charged the early cancellation fee. But, guess what, I received my DTV bill today and there was a $400 early cancellation fee on it.

When I called customer service today, they said there was no notes in their system to verify that the prior supervisor in the Retention Department had authorized a credit of this fee and by their contract, I am obligated to pay the fee. This is bogus BS! Would someone please tell me how DTV can get away with this. The state law says the customer has to be receiving good reception or the service can be cancelled without a penalty. So, after talking to a supervisor in Customer Service, I was more or less called a liar because the person I spoke to in the Retention Department did not do what he said he was going to do and remove the early cancellation fee. Besides being overcharged, I am also being fraudulently charged. This will also be sent to the BBB.

With all that said and done, I explained that I was not aware that I was under a new two year contract. I have been with the company since 2002. The service representative was very nasty to me and told me to send in my payment. My statement was dated 9/26/10. According to the paperwork, you should send payment in 19 days after your statement.

Well, I got an email from my bank on 10/09/10 stating that my account was overdrawn $217.00. When I called, DirecTV had debited by account for $356.09. This was not authorized by me. I have never ever had any automatic payment come out of my account for DirecTV. I always pay each month online. I called the customer service department and was told that I had a bank account number on file and they took their money.

I am writing this complaint because I am pretty sure that if you do not authorize anyone to debit your account, that it is illegal. Lucky for me my bank understands and will refund me the overdraft fee and amount.

Please do something about the misleading practices and blatant actions of DirecTV.

With all that said and done, I explained that I was not aware that I was under a new two year contract. I have been with the company since 2002. The service representative was very nasty to me and told me to send in my payment. My statement was dated 9/26/10. According to the paperwork, you should send payment in 19 days after your statement. Well I got an email from my bank on 10/09/10 stating that my account was overdrawn $217. When I called, DirecTV had debited my account for $356.09.

This was not authorized by me. I have never ever had any automatic payment come out of my account for DirecTV. I always pay each month online. I called the customer service department and was told that I had a bank account number on file and they took their money. I am writing this complaint because I am pretty sure that if you do not authorize anyone to debit your account, that it is illegal. Lucky for me, my bank understands and will refund me the overdraft fee and amount. Please do something about the misleading practices and blatant actions of DirecTV.

On October 8, 2010, we noticed a charge from DirecTV in the amount of $526.77 taken directly out of my bank account. I called DirecTV and spoke with Brandy #**. I was told the charges were never taken off the account and that we were responsible for them. She offered me no other explanation, stating that they had every right to take the money out even without my permission. I then called my bank and told them the situation and filed an unauthorized use on the account. This account that was charged is only used online as a one-time payment method and was never given to them to process any future or pending payments.

I went through 2 reps and a supervisor who all stated, "Sorry, but there is nothing we can do because you did not call 24 hours in advance". Nowhere on DirecTV bill does it indicate to call 24 hours in advance so I asked the rep how is a customer supposed to know that and she replied, "We can not disclose everything, some information you'll find out when you call", per conversation on 10/11/10.

I have never had such terrible customer service and now have been placed in financial hardship because instead of $37.46, I now have to pay $155.26 or be without TV for 2 weeks. I think it is awful how DirecTV Customer Service is being trained to service their customers, and honestly I don't think they really care if they keep customers or not. I really hope someone looks into this financially-schemed company and do something to help us consumers who are trying to make it.

Today, I noticed a charge on my bill for the NFL package. When I told them I never ordered that they said that not only would they not remove this month’s charge, but I will continue to be charged an extra $50 per month for the remaining 5 payments. I hate football and have never watched a game in my life. Nice little scam they have going there.

Also, then, when I did the upgrade of HD to one unit, they restarted the date of my entire two-year agreement with clearly telling me that would happen. I have three units in my home, four at the time. They were not clear about all the re-starting of my terms when I had to re-order the HD in general. Whenever I called to complain about it since day one, they insisted that I simply agreed to everything and there is nothing I can do period. They don't acknowledge any mistake or wrongdoing at all and are incredibly rude and totally indifferent in every single conversation I had with every single representative on the phone.

I found out just now that on top of all this, my 24-month agreement had been turned into a 28-month agreement at a higher price because of the so-called upgrade I had to order that supposedly let them negate my original agreement. Their original contracts are so dense and difficult to match to the mailer offer that it's hard to know the terms at all. Same thing when they describe new offers by phone. There is never any written material follow up available for documentation even when I asked for email of something. Obfuscation and intentional punishment for not getting a lawyer to look over simple, stupid TV agreements are the techniques of the day at DirecTV.

I am going to pay hundreds of dollars more than I was told, for less service, and they extended the contract time four months more than my 24-month agreement is supposed to end (when I had planned to cancel). So even more money is being squeezed from me unfairly. If they were not holding me hostage with ridiculous termination costs (that amount to not terminating) are the only reason I haven't ripped their dish off my house and burned it for TV news cameras downtown on the Strip of Las Vegas. Please call so we can stop mobsters. Jess xxx-xxx-xxxx.

When calling about billing issues, I did inquire about searching for signal errors. I was told, "Don't worry, the receiver needs to download over a period of time." Also, I was informed that there was a piece of equipment between the co-axial cable and the receiver that I needed to unplug and reconnect. I informed them that I did not have it. Then I was informed, "Oh, you don't need that after all."

This has never been right. Yet, I still receive my full billing. In my last three calls, I was told I either had to pay a service call or sign up for a protection plan for a fee.

My auto payment went to Multi-band, which did not forward it to DTV, then gave me credit for it but didn't bother to tell me. The DTV service was stopped due to nonpayment. I called both companies for resolution, and was given the information above. However, neither company contacted the other about the lost payment or credit issue. I was passed from entity to entity with no resolution in sight.

Finally, I got a refund check from Multi-band. Billing amount changes from month to month for the exact same plan. Rebate was set for 10 months. it's only been 6 months but the bill went up. I canceled the service as of 7/13/10, then I received a statement with a credit for $61 and change. I called and was told that the refund would take 6-8 weeks. Nine weeks later, I called again and was told my credit card would be credited after they have verified the cancellation. I said I didn't use a credit card to pay, and that I paid with bank check. I called again after 12 weeks with the same story. Only now, I'm told, they finally submitted the refund request on 9/27 and that it will take another 6-8 weeks from that date to get a credit of $41 and change. Again, I told them I didn't use a credit card but I used bank check to pay. I asked about the $20.00 short change but got no response. This is the 8th of Oct and still no refund of any size. Rip-off artists!

After a period of months, my DirecTV receiver box broke and I called to have it replaced or repaired as I had purchased equipment insurance. As a result, DirecTV replaced my equipment then decided since I used the insurance to replace my equipment I was now under contract. They said they upgraded my equipment so, therefore, I am now under contract for 2 years. I never agreed to be under contract nor did I agree to upgrade equipment.

The consequences to fail by not maintaining the programming package for a period of not less than 24 months, does not consider the initiation time as a customer satisfaction by agreement. Although I was warned by the DirecTV technician that I have 24 hours as a grace period, I called the next morning (October 9, 2009, 9:30 am) to cancel the service. Karen as a DirecTV representative in front of my determination to retract the service persuaded me to try it since for Florida State the grace period is not 24 hours but 15 days.

Thirteen hours far away the installation was completed I was cancelling the service, but persuasion was so strong to enclose me to try the service for 15 days. However the next day, October 10, 2009, I reached again a DirecTV representative. At this time with Marco, it was 11:15 am. He transferred my call to Lizette, who took note of my petition of cancellation and she let me know to return the equipment between 3 to 5 days.

I returned the equipment on time, but I was concerned when I noted a charge on my bank account in the amount of $498.77 on October 19, 2009 an early cancellation fee; Even this charge generated 6 overdraft fees ($204.00).

Immediately I contacted DirectTV on October 20, 2009 at 4:45pm. The call was answered by David, who attended my claim and who informed me on a waiting time for a Resolution equipment determination or escalation in 4 to 6 days. On October 26, 2009, Marysol got my call at3:45 pm; she asked me to call back in 15 days.

On November 11, 2009 at 11:03AM, Daniel announced to me favorability on determination and my money should be reimbursed between today and tomorrow, he said. At 10:05 am of November 13, 2009, Eder responded to my call and transfers me to Silvia, who asserts that my refund will be effective within 8 business days. Milton took me on November 25, 2009 4:30 pm and informed me on an (other) escalation, conclusion: to wait. My confusion is increased and the skepticism is born from the Olympic way in which the ball is running. A new DirecTV representative on November 30, 2009 11:13 am, Rogelio is his name, told me to check out my bank account these coming days or call on the other Monday. On December 8, 2009 12:00 am is Julian's turn, who asserts a waiting time of 4 to 6 weeks.

I called back on January 17, 2010. Cesar affirms that there will be a cash refund, and while holding a DirecTV statement dated January 9, 2010, I think, I was doing prejudgment wrongly.

Since my bank account does not show a credit for the refund, at the end of January, 2010 I went to my bank (CHASE, Osceola Square Kissimmee), and an associate Nick **, intercedes on my claim. He spoke with Frank, agent of DirecTV, and this concluded in no refund. Exactly, later I received a statement dated February 9, 2010, with adjusted balance to $0.00.

Today I ask, is their company's good sense for commercials rules in DirecTV, or their representatives (employees, associates or whatever name they have) have problems settling in to give an honest customer service? If it does not satisfy either one, there is a hybrid, and the discredit will come to the most advertised of TV companies: DirecTV. This hybrid emerges as indulgence of its board in the chess game movement of their representatives, since my suspicion is to evaluate Karen's attitude, who attended first my petition of service cancellation before it started, most probably while the first 24 hours from the installation time happened (? )

Although there was telephone conversation recorded as proof, related to 15 days trial to Florida State, and the lack of written express literature on signed paper at the installation time, I believe to be in the right to demand the refund of my money.

Then maybe I can afford to purchase a football package from them and still pay less than you charge me every month. Please advise, I am dead serious about this. Other than my grand kids, football is my one true love. Please, please fix this!! !

This was on or about June or July of 2009. I called the number and got DirecTV customer service and told them everything I had just told you. Customer service told me that they would indeed be carrying this local station. I ask them would there be a contract? I was told there would be 1 year contract. I agreed to switch my service from Dish Network over to DirecTV.

As I stated before from day one, I began having problem with the service and installation. After the installation, I had a gray block around the outside of the picture of the TV. I called after the installation and told the company about the problem. They told me that at the time of the installation that I did not fall under the new and upgraded boxes and that it would cost extra for me to upgrade to the new boxes in order to get the gray box out of the pictures. I told them then that I had made a mistake switching over and I wanted to cancel the service that was when they disclosed that I was under a 2 year contract with them.

I was not here when they install the service and my husband sign for the installation. DirecTV advice me that in order to correct the problem, I would have to purchase another upgraded box and I think it was $198 or $148 somewhere in that price range. I did purchase another box. After the installation of the new box, I was still having problem with the service and had to call and have the installers come out on three service calls. This all happen within one month period, if not a couple of weeks. They tried to charge me for them coming out to resolve the problems. After that, I notice my bill kept going up and up. But what the straw that finally broke the camels back was the bill kept getting higher and higher, my service was disconnected. I think it was on July of 2010. I paid the full amount. In August of 2010, my services got disconnected for the amount less than $30.00 and I ended paying $160.00 because I was told I was billed a month in advance and I had to pay reconnection fees. That was when I decided I had enough. I notified DirecTV and inform them that I had switch cable companies. I was told to return the equipment.

They sent one box, when I have 5 boxes. Well I am sure you know the rest. I was charge with the price of the equipment and end the contract fees. They charged my credit card. This has all been in the time frame of 3 weeks. Please help.

When I gave them my address, they found out that Verizon no longer serviced my area. DirecTV offered Wild Blue for Internet service but it was only 1/10th the speed of Verizon and my current subscriber, Comcast. As I sometimes work at home, I need a fast connection. I called DirecTV back and they could not offer anything better. I told them that they could not deliver what they promised me so I was cancelling my service. They said that there would still be a $460 charge for early cancellation. I told them that wasn't right because they couldn't provide what I was told.

So I asked to speak to a supervisor. After the agent left me on hold for a few minutes, she got back on the line and said that the supervisor approved waiving the fee because DirecTV could not provide what was promised. Later, I found a charge on my credit card for $378 by DirecTV. I contacted them numerous times via email and every time they said that since it was an early termination, even if they couldn't provide the promised service, that they would not remove the charge.

I cancelled HBO and downgraded to the family package. I feel this is not my fault that my bill was not being bundled I should not be held responsible for it. I will like my full refund returned to me.

I thought the door would need to be replaced, so I got an estimate from overhead door, took pictures and sent everything to their claims department. They sent their adjustor, Jared **, to review the damage. He procured an estimate from Affordable Door in Centennial, CO, which was for $525 to replace the panel. It noted on the estimate that the panel might not match the rest of the door and that painting/matching was our responsibility. Nicole sent us an offer for $525 along with a release form, which we have not accepted to date.

Our garage door is damaged due to DirecTV's installer's negligence. I can accept the possibility that only a panel needs replacing, as opposed to the entire door, but in my opinion we shouldn't have to paint the door or do anything to restore it to its previous condition. It's a steel door, factory painted. I think DirecTV should foot the cost of replacing the panel, adjusting the door to accommodate the new panel, and painting the door. Why should we have to spend any money fixing what DirecTV caused? Meanwhile, the door has two 5/8" holes in it. Furthermore, why should I be expected to release DirecTV from additional claims if their "fix" doesn't work out? I have stated my concerns to Ms. Naylor several times and am getting no response.

When I called to address it, they told me that they would refund the early cancellation fee and equipment charges since I did not want to cancel the account. Five days later, there was no activity in my bank account. I called customer service and the agent I spoke to said that there was never a request made to return the money. Unbelievable!

Furthermore, he told me it will take 30 days for the money to be refunded. I cannot believe that after the primary insult, they took it even further by not performing a refund transaction nor informing me that the money they erroneously took would not be returned for 30 days. I feel shocked and robbed. I cannot believe a company like this is allowed to operate. They are unequivocally the most criminal company I have ever dealt with.

Now I get my monthly bill which should have been about $106.00 and it was $238.40! Another round of calls, pass the buck to several departments and phone numbers. I have been told it will take about 5 days to get the billing straight and they will call me with the correct billing amount. I seriously doubt this will happen. I'm 70 yrs. old with numerous health problems and right now I'm so upset I can hardly type this complaint. I hate big business! There are no alternatives since the government has allowed free TV to be a thing of the past. All businesses have become a monopoly now and we have no free choice of where to do business. I never thought I'd live to see the day I would be living in a 3rd world country. It's a shame you have to fight every day for what used to be free and unencumbered.

On September 16th 2010, I called and cancelled my service of over ten years because of financial hardship. They charged me a $240 early cancellation fee. I had a long conversation on October 4th with DirecTV about both issues. They agreed to refund the $240 to my credit card within 30 days which they agreed was incorrectly charged but did not wish to help me with the refer a friend credit.

I got $440 -- $240 overcharge to my credit card and $100 to us for referring a friend and $100 to the friend that was referred.

They came this morning without calling ahead and took one-half hour deciding how to go about the install. After that, they came in and said they would have to re-schedule because they brought the wrong box for the order. I told them to cancel the order and I was done with DIRECTV. They got in their truck and drove away.

I called DIRECTV to cancel the order and was put on hold for 45 minutes and a lady finally came on and gave me a hard sell to give them one more chance. She could finally tell that I was losing patience and cancelled the order.I will never use that company again. Something needs to be done with DIRECTV and Dish Network to improve on their business practices. This was a joke. The time wasted on the phone was at least two hours. The people took an hour inside of my home. I took off work to be here both times. I earn $45.00 an hour. Three hours of my time is approximately $150.

Each time, I speak with someone different who gives me different rules. I spoke with someone in June, a supervisor, who said that he would waive the early termination fee as my situation of moving to a new place where I could not get service qualifies for a waiver. A few weeks later, I received a bill with the $380 early termination fee. I called DirecTV and spoke to someone else who said they had no notes about the supervisor and did not know who the supervisor was. They said they would not waive the fee, but that I could contact the Billing dispute department by mail explaining my situation and they would decide. I wrote Billing Dispute a letter and mailed it on July 12th. I never received a response from them but then just received calls asking for the money.

I spoke with someone at the beginning of August, who was trying to collect the money and I explained to him that I wrote Billing Dispute. He said he had no notes of this. I explained my situation again, but he said there was nothing he can do. So they obviously disregarded my letter and did not care enough to take any notes on my past calls into supervisors or customer service. DirecTV customer service is horrible, they do not care about their clients. They tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone and then do not follow through. Then they do not put notes in the system so that they don't have to honor what they said and the conversation can't be traced back. Their early termination guidelines need to be clear and fair. They are running a scam on consumers. I will never use them again!

In this age of electronic debit/credit and the ability to regain service while I was on the phone, I indicated that 30 days was unreasonable. I also recorded this conversation "for quality assurance". I understand that this is not a charity, but do we really need companies like this? They are allowed to invade your bank account without due process and if you manage to get it straightened out they hold your money hostage and try to tell you that there is nothing they can do about it.This was a partial check due to new employment timing and I am in the same situation as I was in last month. This wasn't even being billed by DirecTV, this was a "bundle" program with Qwest.

The amount of greed it takes to hire a team of lawyers and service representatives to jerk you around, so they can keep doing this just boggles the imagination. If they hold $400 from 5,000 people for 30 days that is $2.000,000. What is the interest on that? It seems to me that is a whole new source of revenue which can only explain why such a business decision like this is policy.

When this is finally over I will never do business with them again. I will be sure to let everyone that I know of my experience and personal opinion of a company that would rather ** you one time rather than build a relationship that would be more beneficial over the long haul. Good business and great public relations? Thanks for letting me rant, my e-mail is **@yahoo.com if there is anyone who can help me quickly resolve this.

They informed me that when they got the receivers back, that there were adult movies rented from the remote. I told them that I don't have a phone line and didn't even think I could rent from the remote because I had tried once for cage fights and couldn't so I have always rented online and had it billed to my account. They told me you could rent some things up to a certain amount, which I didn't know. I asked them from what room it came from, and they told me the master, living room, and spare room. I know the spare room was impossible because I didn't have a working receiver in there and it was my daughter’s room, and her TV had been broken for quite some time (she is 8 by the way).

I asked whether they could have given me a card from a previous customer and maybe it never got cleaned out. They said no, of course not. I asked them to remove the charges because I had never bought anything from my remote. They refused saying that they were valid charges. What they did was they took the credit owed to me and applied it to these bogus charges and said I still had a balance of $66.03, which they just took out of my account without my knowledge or permission. The only time I had ever given my card number was to pay my bill online.

I later got an e-mail from a friend who I had told about this and she had found a website of consumer reports with statements from people who have had the same exact problem, so it seems there is something fraudulent going on. All I would like is the $66.03 put back into my account plus the $48.30 credit that they owe to me. I have spoken to a representative and a supervisor at DirecTV and they absolutely refuse to do anything about it. I made a complaint to the Better Business Bureau also. As of yet, I have not received a response. I know there are people who try to lie and say they never rented movies, especially adult ones, but I am not one of those people. I am an honest person who always paid my bill on time. I think a class action lawsuit should be put in place!

I have called and talked to so many people to try and straighten this out to no avail. I have told them repeatedly that I only asked for the $29.99 package! Now, I got a bill for $112.44, which I called again, and was told that I ordered the "Extra Choice" package. I did not order that package right from the start! I have been lied to right from the beginning! This company has to be stopped with the con business that they're getting away with! I would be happy to just pay them the $29.99 a month for the time that I have had this service and be done with them! Now, I am finding out that they can charge me for the remaining months until 24 months are up. I was never told about that either when I called to get DTV. If there is a class action suit against this company, I want to sign up! They need to be stopped!

A month later, I wanted to resume service, but the customer service rep had no idea what she was doing and ended up terminating my account. Now DirecTV said since I terminated the account, I have to pay a $50 customer fee, a $49 installation fee, $99 for each receiver, and sign up for a new 2 year agreement. I argued about all the fees, but got tired of waiting for them, and said go ahead and install it.

I paid $200 for the installation, the service man came to my house and said DirecTV gave him the wrong paper work. I called DirecTV, and they said they had to cancel that, refund my money to my credit card, and re-charge me for him to do the installation with the corrected paperwork, but they wanted me to pay the new fee that day, and the refund for my prior payment would be sent to me in 3-5 days! I was fuming mad, and have been trying to get someone with some authority to review my account. I looked at my account online, and in the past month, they've added numerous charges, then reversed some, then added more, then reversed those, terminated my service again, and still want me to pay more money.

I've written them 3 emails. Each time, they reply that someone will contact me within 48 hours, and I still haven't heard from anyone. My account is such a mess, I think it would take a large spreadsheet to figure out what they've done on my account. I'm extremely mad. I have had automatic payments taken from my checking account, for service I haven't received, and want to sue them for this behavior!

This is going to be a legal matter as requested to speak with someone higher than a floor manager but he told me that he will not allow me to talk to his supervisor. I can see the big headlines on a newspaper country wide that reads "DTV lies to get you to lock into a contract!" This will definitely catch the eyes of many other customers that are in my position right now. I would like a DTV Regional Manager to call me as this matter should lead to legal actions.

A few days later, the installer still did not complete the installation, so I called the company & cancelled the order. Thee told me they would refund my deposit by crediting my bank account. I took their word for it & forgot about it. The installer come out & picked up the parts I had. Then, on 4/5/10 DTV DirecTV service Segundo, CA took out $101.38 without my knowledge or permission the next month. They did the same on 5/5/10 then again on 6/4/10 & again on 7/6/10. Then again on 8/4/10 which caused an over draft $93.00, then on 9/4/10, they did it again & caused an overdraft of $90.00 plus.

I called my bank, they told me they used my debit card for the withdraws. They told me it was DirecTV, we cancelled that card, so they can't do it agin then i called DirecTV on 9/7/10. Carla told me to fax my bank statements to them. I did on 9/8/10. I called them to make sure they got them. Carla said, they got them & told me the accounting office would call me in 15 days. On the 16th day, I called them & they told me 15 working days. I tried to contact the company that hired the installer but Wild Blue don't have access to their phone #s & don't have any record of the transaction & DirecTV can't find it either.

During these months, I was always billed erroneous charges and I would call and complain. They fixed my bill twice but continued the erroneous billing on the subsequent bills. I complained over and over and only paid my agreed upon sum each month. On the 6th month, they disrupted my services claiming I owed them over $500 in charges. I again explained to them that I had four referrals amounting to $400 in credits not to mention the other $200 in credits they offered me. I should have known the old rule, if it sounds too good it usually is.

After months of complaining, I went online and researched and found thousands of similar complaints just like mine. I went online and researched their main headquarters office in CA and looked up the President and Chief operators. I wrote the president a letter plus I called his office. I spoke to his secretary and reiterated my whole drama billing mess to her where she claimed she would pull the phone records to listen to the conversations of the reps., who offered me my package. She put me on hold a while and came back claiming that she had to order this phone record and review it and would contact me in a couple of days with their decision to remove the erroneous charges plus the cancellation fee. I informed her that I did a lot of research on the internet about their many complaints from all these consumers and if they didn't correct it I was going to add my name to the lawsuit list plus write to the BBB and Attorney State General and the Consumer Complaint list.

In the meantime, I contacted my credit card company and informed them that they might try to debit my credit card with their erroneous charges so they cancelled my credit card so they can't charge it and were sending me out a new one with a new number. It is unfortunate that this company is so greedy and fraudulent. Their bait and switch schemes are very obvious now that I look back. Hopefully, with all of us taking the time to complain to these authorities overseeing their business practices, we might all be able to force this company to do business in a more professional ethical manner and stop them from taking advantage of all the consumers.

Hopefully with the class action lawsuits, the attorneys add damages sustained to our homes because once the contract is cancelled and it is usually due to their errors that we as consumers are left with these ugly dishes on our homes that they claim are ours to keep and to be removing these dishes with all their wiring to our homes is damage to our properties along with their illegal billing practices.

I called to cancel my DirecTV service in Sept 2010 and was notified that I was under contract with DirecTV until Feb 2012 as a result of my equipment purchase and subsequently liable for $20 per month for the remainder of the supposed contract. At the time of the DVR purchase and DVR activation, it was never disclosed that a purchase of their equipment came with a binding contract. I never received, signed or verbally authorized an agreement with DirecTV. I cannot see how one could possibly be bound by what DirecTV says is a "policy" which is not disclosed to the customer and which has financial implications. This cannot be legal and should not be allowed to happen.

The president offered to sell it to me for $299.00 and I was never told it was a lease. They fought for over a year and charged my bank $299.00 for the HD DVR I did not return. I said, “Send me a contract where it states it is a lease.” They said that everyone knows it is a lease and even when you buy it at Best Buy, it states it is a lease. I didn’t buy it at Best Buy. I bought it directly through the president of DirecTV. About 6 months I wanted to get a bundle package through AT&T and if I had known that DirecTV was their TV, I would have not gotten it. They had me on the phone for hours and the AT&T man said they never did DirecTV bundle packages. I could not believe all the nonsense I was hearing from the AT&T and the DirecTV representatives. So I got the bill in June and that’s when I noticed it was not a bundle package.

They told me that I had to sign up for the automatic withdrawal in order to get the HD for life. I told them why on earth would their representative tell me in June that she would take care of the bill and the changes and charges would reflect on the next bill? Then on my next bill I was getting charged for a program I never even heard of and no it was not Starz or Showtime. Five months later and I still have the HD charges. They got me enrolled and then they said I would not begin getting free HD, and the manager said I would get to talk with an associate to see if they could get me something to compensate for the last 5 months of charging me $10.00 for the HD.

Wow, I got, “Can you hold please again for the 8th time?” And even my phone died from them keeping me on hold. Then the guy comes back and said, "You are not enrolled in that program and you cannot have it because we sent you an email in May in which I never even spoke with them until June because it was AT&T who I signed up with. Then he said no HD for life. Again, after they kept me on the phone and hung up for 3 hours. I told him that the representative said she would take care of it in June and he said I already had signed up for a special. Yes, I know it was $34.99 and free HD for life and you should have enrolled in that program in May.

I told him I was not associated with DirecTV until June, but he said, “Oh, well, we sent you an email in May.” They contradicted themselves so many, many times in the last 3 hours. I get nauseated from being on the computer and they are cowards saying I overlooked an email in May. I didn’t even have a working computer in May and could only use my son’s computer when he got home from college and they never mentioned anything about enrolling in an automatic payment in order to get the free HD for life. They said they would take off those charges.

This is what you call deceptive business practice and so many, many more things they did. I don’t want to waste my time. If anyone wants to do a class action lawsuit, email me at **.

One month later, I received a service bill from DirecTV for September service in the amount of $69.99. I contacted DirecTV to find out why I was being charged and they explained to me that in canceling my bundled service with Verizon, all I did "unbundle" my service and I was obligated to contact DirecTV directly to cancel their portion of the service.

This arrangement is sneaky and underhanded at best as it's the exact opposite when you initially join for service with a bundled package. Verizon is the only point of contact for initial enrollment in the bundled package. There's no need to contact DirecTV, it's all handled very smoothly and easily. But when it comes time to cancel, the "backdoor" practices ensue. I can't imagine how much money DirecTV makes on unwarranted monthly service fees at the expense of thousands of unsuspecting customers who are led to believe that the account is closed out when in reality, DirecTV lurks in the darkness, continuing to rack up charges.

After arguing this point with the DirecTV operator and Supervisor and ensuring they understood that the account is to be closed immediately, I was informed that I would receive a $200 early termination fee because I was unknowingly still under "obligation" for service until April of 2011. When I asked how that was possible, I was informed that when on August 8th, 2009 I upgraded my DirecTV receiver to an HD receiver in response to the national elimination of analog receivers to digital, I was automatically forced into a two year contract from that date. Keep in mind, that without the upgrade, I wouldn't have been able to watch TV.

When I explained to them that I was never informed of this contractual obligation, I was told the installer (who is a 1099 employee for a third-party contracted installation company) was "obligated" to inform me that by simply upgrading my equipment, I was automatically forced into a two year "obligation" to DirecTV.

Furthermore, the upgraded HD receiver that I purchased from Best Buy for the sole reason of not leasing a receiver from DirecTV, is actually the property of DirecTV and is being subleased by Best Buy! They then informed me that unless I return the receiver that I purchased from Best Buy, they would automatically charge my bank account an additional $275 for the balance of the receiver! When I asked about the legality of something like this, I was told that this contract is in the fine print on the back of the purchase receipt at Best Buy and should have been explained to me by the Best Buy customer service representative who sold me the machine. In speaking with the supervisor about this appalling sales practice, I was told that it's my responsibility to read all of the fine print (even if I don't know where it is and it's "hidden" on the back of a third party receipt).

I asked the manager on the phone why any logical person would think to read the back of a Best Buy receipt to read contract information about DirecTV?! I also asked her when the last time she read the back of a receipt for contract info. She told me and I quote: "Since working here at DirecTV I've learned to read everything I sign or purchase because I've learned the hard way." I told her that her admission is pretty telling about the integrity of the company you work for when its own employees are have to be paranoid about every purchase they make for fear of getting ripped off or tricked into a contract.

It's clearly a tactic to leech money from unsuspecting consumers and DirecTV is undoubtedly making millions by duping it's customers into contracts with very expensive consequences. I have no idea how this is legal. It's unethical at the very least and should absolutely be criminal. DirecTV hides behind third party entities who are "supposed" to inform it's customers of specific details about fees and contracts, knowing full well that it doesn't happen at the sales table in many cases, but still being able to take advantage of its customers with strategically placed and almost hidden "fine print".

One month later, I received a service bill from DirecTV for September service in the amount of $69.99. I contacted DirecTV to find out why I was being charged and they explained to me that in canceling my bundled service with Verizon, all I did "unbundle" my service and I was obligated to contact DirecTV directly to cancel their portion of the service.

This arrangement sneaky and underhanded at best as it's the exact opposite when you initially join for service with a bundled package. Verizon is the only point of contact for initial enrollment in the bundled package. There's no need to contact DirecTV, it's all handled very smoothly and easily. But when it comes time to cancel, the "backdoor" practices ensue. I can't imagine how much money DirecTV makes on unwarranted monthly service fees at the expense of thousands of unsuspecting customers who are led to believe that the account is closed out when in reality, DirecTV lurks in the darkness, continuing to rack up charges.

After arguing this point with the DirecTV operator and Supervisor and ensuring they understood that the account is to be closed immediately, I was informed that I would receive a $200 early termination fee because I was unknowingly still under "obligation" for service until April of 2011.

When I asked how that was possible, I was informed that when on August 8th, 2009 I upgraded my DirecTV receiver to an HD receiver in response to the national elimination of analog receivers to digital, I was automatically forced into a two year contract from that date. Keep in mind, that without the upgrade, I wouldn't have been able to watch TV. When I explained to them that I was never informed of this contractual obligation, I was told the installer (who is a 1099 employee for a third-party contracted installation company) was "obligated" to inform me that by simply upgrading my equipment I was automatically forced into a two year "obligation" to DirecTV.

Furthermore, the upgraded HD receiver that I purchased from Best Buy for the sole reason of not leasing a receiver from DirecTV, is actually the property of DirecTV and is being subleased by Best Buy! They then informed me that unless I return the receiver that I purchased from Best Buy, they would automatically charge my bank account an additional $275 for the balance of the receiver! When I asked about the legality of something like this, I was told that this contract is in the fine print on the back of the purchase receipt at Best Buy and should have been explained to me by the Best Buy customer service representative who sold me the machine.

In speaking with the supervisor about this appalling sales practice, I was told that it's my responsibility to read all of the fine print (even if I don't know where it is and it's "hidden" on the back of a third party receipt). Why would any logical person think to read the back of a Best Buy receipt to read contract information about DirecTV?! ! It's clearly a tactic to leech money from unsuspecting consumers and DirecTV is undoubtedly making millions by duping it's customers into contracts with very expensive consequences. I have no idea how this is legal. It's unethical at the very least and should absolutely be criminal. DirecTV hides behind third party entities who are "supposed" to inform it's customers of specific details about fees and contracts, knowing full well that it doesn't happen at the sales table in many cases, but still being able to take advantage of its customers with strategically placed and almost hidden "fine print".

We asked DirecTV to cancel our local channels. They said they couldn't do that, as it's part of the base package. We asked that they cancel Sunday Ticket, and they said no, they can't cancel after the season starts. So, because they're unwilling to cancel Sunday Ticket (about $300), we're switching to cable and DirecTV is losing a $1,200+ yearly customer. Not a smart business practice. I realize that the neighbor's trees aren't DirecTV's problem, but it's disappointing that they can't be as adaptable as we are.

Well, I received the box on 9/22/10 to return the receiver. I also was debited by DirecTv 214.00 that I did not authorize which put me in the negative in my account. I called and they stated anytime you make a payment online we are allowed to hold your banking information. We are also allowed to direct debit your account when it is past due with out your authorization. I was livid.

The next evening another charge of 57.00 shows up on my account as well. I call them again, this time in tears because I am a single mother and they took all gas money as well as grocery money that we have for an entire week and subsequently put my account into the negative in a major way. When I called about the 57.00 charge, it was the same story, we are allowed to debit your account bla bla bla.

I asked, "What in the world are these charges for?" She did not give me an answer. I said, "I haven't had service since August how can I be getting more charges?" She offered no answer. I went online to see what they were charging me for and they charged me a termination fee of 15.00 and they charged me for the HD box that I am sending back for 125.00 for a total of around 143.00 with taxes. They charged my account for 57.00 of this and I have no idea why. These people are criminals and they can't be allowed to do this to people. I do not know how I am going to be able to recover from this.

After he left, the DirecTV Signal failed and I was left with no telephone and no TV. I contacted them and made them aware of my dissatisfaction. 10 days after the initial installation, I persuaded DirecTV let me out of my contract. They agreed not to charge the $480.00 cancellation fee; however, it was deducted from my bank account.

After 2 additional weeks of complaints, they had another department credit my DirecTV account. This left a credit of $480.00 on my DirecTV account, yet they did not credit my bank account. I was told that it would take 6-8 weeks to refund my money. On 09/23/10, I called to check the status of my account and I was told that the refunded was already processed on 08/26/10. I have not received a check or a credit to my back account from DirecTV.

I asked to cancel the service and charge me for the four days of service I received and told me send the all devices and pay $7.35 but four days after I received a bill to cancel the service for $517.70. So, please help if anyone knows how. Thanks.