DIRECTV Reviews
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About DIRECTV
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DIRECTV is a direct broadcast satellite provider that transmits to homes throughout the United States and the Caribbean. There are many different packages to choose from, each offering a variety of features, channels and DVR options. It's important to note that DIRECTV requires a two-year contract, and most customers experience an increase in prices after the first year.
- Various programming options
- Easy to relocate with
- Multiple packages available
- Costly to cancel
- Price increases after first year
DIRECTV Reviews
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Reviewed Aug. 6, 2013
I got DirecTV service about a year ago and it came with the NFL Sunday Tickets. At the end of the 2012 season, I called and requested them to take it off my bill for the 2013 season. The representative told me it was taken care. I thought it was until I logged on to my account and see they charged me for the season again. I called to have it removed and the first rep couldn't even speak English and the supervisor wasn't helpful either. I explained it should have been cancelled and she offered the credit to the bill but I told her I need to re amount refunded and she simply wouldn't hear of it. Then of all things she told me I need to read my bill more carefully and pay attention to what the bill says before calling in. The nerve of that **. I can't wait till my contract ends so I can leave this sorry ** service.
Reviewed Aug. 5, 2013
*2/6/13-called DirecTV, charges were reversed, I was told I had a credit of $191.05 + $193.94 for prorated charged 12/31/12 - 2/6/13.
*2/11/13-Bill showed $278.31 credit on my account.
*3/4/13-Bill showed $278.31 credit on my account.
*4/4/13-Bill showed $269.37 credit on my account.
*4/9/13-Bill showed I owed $155.40. I called DirecTV on 4/14 to dispute bill. Got hung up on after I requested a written history of why they were charging me this amount. (The person on the phone could not explain the charges to me and stated he could not itemize the charges when I requested so). I called DirecTV back four times, but was blocked-each time call was disconnected when I put my account number in.
*7/8/13 - received call from collections agency - The CBE Group. We went through each bill together for the past four months, she agreed it was confusing, could not answer why I was being charged. I stated I would send written dispute.*7/28/13 - Received phone call from collections agency - once again discussed the bills, went through them together, he put me on hold to discuss with his supervisor, I was disconnected.
*7/29/13 - Sent letter w/copy of all bills and records of communication w/ DirecTV. Stated I do not believe that I am responsible for the charges.
As of 8/5/13 I have received numerous calls from the collections agency telling me I owe $155.40, and I have continually explained the situation and have stated that I do not believe I am responsible for the charges.
Reviewed Aug. 3, 2013
I should have known better based on my initial contact with their sales representative almost 10 months ago. Now I'm stuck in a 2-year contract. Many times I tried to confirm the exact monthly cost during our initial phone call and he always gave me a very vague confirmation. When the final agreement came via email you needed an attorney. The monthly charges were supposed to be in the $70 range - they ended up in the $90's. Calls to the 1-800 put you on a continuous hold or nothing gets done. AT&T provides their internet service which has during out OK but they do not team up very well together... still like dealing with 2 separate companies.

Updated review: Aug. 9, 2013
OK, to be fair, I need to say something positive here too. Although I didn't particularly like all the hidden charges, I am loving this DirecTV for my first experience with it. I have it connected to the internet and have so many channels on demand that my head is spinning with all my choices! And, my internet seems so much faster than when I had cable. I really didn't expect to like this more than cable, but so far, I am slowly becoming a convert. I'm still waiting for my first bill, but if it's around what I paid for cable, it looks like I may be getting a way better deal now! I'll just have to see how I like it in a month or so.
Original Review: Aug. 2, 2013
I called to get new service. I was told I was calling just at the right time because they had a special. Free hookup. By the end of the call I found out that although I get free hookup, I pay "handling fees." OK, so they renamed hookup fees and called it something else, I get it. At the beginning of the call I found out I was getting another special, a "free Genie receiver (the only receiver that let's me record two shows at once)." By the end of the call I find out I have to pay an additional $25 per month for an "access fee" for the free receiver to work. Sounds like they renamed something else to me. I get it. Other things upset me: This is the ONLY service I'm allowed to have at the apartment complex I'm moving to, unless I want HD-air.
I also had to pay a monthly service fee of $5 per month, just in case you know. And, although I signed up for a special rate for internet and TV, after one year it doubles. And, if I cancel early, I have to pay $20 PER MONTH for each month I didn't finish of the contract, which happens to be a required two year contract or pay double per month for service anyway. Gotta love unfree market!!! I know when my time is up at this complex, I'll be frantically making sure to find a new place that Direc TV is NOT available.
Reviewed Aug. 2, 2013
We've had to deal to with DirecTV twice now, and I mean HAD to because we signed leases at Apartment complexes that had been bought out by these idiots. So it was to pay them or have no television service. The stupid part is (like so many) since we're part of a "multi-dwelling unit", we actually have to go through a "broker" not DirecTV themselves. But they can't seem to understand their own **, because every time we call to fix a problem (and there were many!) with the number they gave us for being a "multi-dwelling unit" nobody knows who we should be talking to. So here are the other issues:
Set up services with DirecTV online, and they called to cancel everything we did (even though they offer the ability to sign up online?) and we had to start all over again by phone (which took an hour and with a newborn was very difficult). Called to get the equipment installed but it was not the "broker" (because I didn't know of such person at the time) and no technician came on the day and time we had set-up. When I called to say, "Where are they?", DirecTV said there was no such Appointment set. I had spent an hour and half on the phone with these people, so I didn't hallucinate a conversation. Finally get a service day and time, and the technician shows up late (outside the 4-hr window they gave me) without his tools (yeah). So he asks me if I'll be around for a while, so he can come back with the needed equipment and tools. Awesome. Finally get service, and within a month it goes out for 10! days and all we get is a lousy $10 credit.
Call to cancel with these people because we HAVE to move, but we've been roped in to some ** two-year contract, even though we live in an apartment and our lease with them was up after 12 months and we can no longer afford to live at this place. But since DirecTV cannot get customers easily or keep them, they have to make people sign these horrible 2-year contracts... And now our acct was just debited $260 without our permission. We have bills to pay and a child to feed, so thank you **.
ONE OF THE WORST COMPANIES IN THE US! And my favorite part, they're always asking if we would recommend their service to other people and when I say "no," they actually seemed shocked. Thankfully we now have Comcast... and will forever or we simply just won't have TV if it has to be DirecTV.
Reviewed Aug. 2, 2013
I am overall pleased with all my services so far. We had a little hang up with initially signing up (some miscommunications on their end) but patiently sat through a two hour sign up. When our first technician came out he quoted us $200 on top of the installation start up because he wanted to pour a concrete slab to put the dish on. We have a lot of trees. Because of the extra work he told us he would come back the next week to do that. Well, due to personal reasons I had to postpone the next appointment which everyone was extremely nice and understanding about that. When the next appointment came around they had sent over two other guys and they were awesome! They were easily able to find the signal without extra work. So it cost us $100 less!
The only problem that I am having now is that my on demand streaming worked great for the first couple days, but now doesn't work hardly at all. :( Such a bummer because I was hoping to finally have a service that worked all the time. It seems so weird to me that I pay so much for tv, but still have problems watching what I pay for. So far, still better than those Time Warner idiots though!!!
Reviewed Aug. 2, 2013
Paid for a year in advance.10 months later DirecTV tried to take a payment out of my credit card. Received a statement from DirecTV stating payment had been received and zero balance. Two days later received another statement saying I owed $70 but didn't say for what (balance zero, billings zero etc - Just pay $70). Apparently Credit Card had been changed so payment didn't go through (Thank goodness). But I am totally confused by now as their paperwork is no help. Tried to access my account online but DirecTV won't let me access my billing info unless I sign up for paperless billing. Don't want to do that. So I can't check anything out.
Call customer "service" and I listen to 5 DirecTV advertisements... two before I even get to press a number. Finally I am connected to a rep who speaks with such a heavy accent, I can't understand him. I am told that I owe $70 because they got paid but they didn't get paid (no joke!). I explain that I can't access my account info because it appears the info is being withheld unless I sign up for paperless billing. I am told that is not correct as I can get the info as soon as I sign up for paperless billing (HUH! Again, this is not a joke). I inform the rep that I paid for a year in advance under contract and ask why they are trying to take more money after 10 months. I am told that the costs had gone up during the year so the advance payment didn't cover a year. I inform the rep that we had a contract and the payments don't go up under contract. The rep tells me that mine did but won't or can't explain it and since they are withholding my account info, I can't check it out
I could go on and on but I can tell you that there is a joke here...and the joke is DirecTV. Loved their programming but can't deal with this disingenuous crap... Going to Dish ASAP.
Reviewed Aug. 2, 2013
For almost 6 months now, we have not had service even though we are paying for service. We have called several time to complain. We have even reported the problem to BBB, all to no avail. They telling us that unless we pay $50, they will not correct the problem. Even though this was the problem created by the technician that came to connect the service. They left wire dangling over our roof. The satellite is not well secured. DirecTV has got to be the worst service provider out there.
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2013
We were in Best Buy, approached by one of their sales reps. I wasn't happy with our Hi Def picture with AT&T anyway. We signed up, were promised a $150 gift card. I sent in all the appropriate paperwork. Never received the gift card. I called their customer service department. They assured me that it would be rectified. After several months still no gift card. The last phone call to customer service they told me that there was nothing that they could do and I was not going to receive anything. They’re real nice when they sign you up. After that they could care less, being that you signed a two year contract. Be real careful when you are approached by one their sales reps. Oh when it rains you lose the picture. It doesn't have to be a severe storm.
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2013
After being with Direct for several yrs, we decided to bundle our service with AT&T. Bad Idea! We weren't happy with AT&T land line phone merely because they raised our phone bill $50 after being signed up for a yr, which made our phone bill $80+. We decided to disconnect the AT&T since both my husband and I had cell phones anyway. When we did this, our Direct bill also went up. Not only that, AT&T was saying that we owed for service after it was shut off and the bill was paid in full! I even scanned my bank statement and offered to mail this to AT&T. Not a chance. They had no interest in seeing anything of the sort.
After all this, we decided to also lower our package so we could save a little more money for buying a home. Well, the bill went down, maybe $5 and the package is LOUSY!!! You cannot get anywhere with Direct customer service. Our bill this month was $90+ and we are 1 package up from the gutter package!! I am disgusted with Direct and once our contract is up I will never have their service again!!! My brother swears that Dish is 10x better and in a few months that's exactly where I'm going! They have definitely lost my business and I will make sure everyone knows what a despicable company Direct is!!
Reviewed July 30, 2013
We originally signed up for a two year contract. This was through their website. NFL Sunday Ticket included for FREE. Sounded like a no brainer. Well first year was great. Second year comes around and we get charged for the second year. We call up and state what's wrong. Their answer to our complaint.... And I quote "we were lied to." This set me off.... Needless to say after talking to numerous reps from 4 different departments, we got the situation resolved.... The kicker of it all was the first two reps we talked to stated this happened to numerous customers.
Reviewed July 29, 2013
After being a customer for 15 years, I decided to cancel my DIRECTV service. They desperately tried to retain my business by offering $50.00 off my $93.34 monthly bill for 1 year and giving me HD DVR for free instead of charging me $20.00 monthly. The thing is, I tried to lower my bill a few months ago, and they would not do anything for me, forcing me to research alternatives. And they wait until I found another vendor and am ready to disconnect to become reasonable. So I already signed up with another provider, so I declined. Then fell the hammer. Turns out I got signed up for a 2 year commitment the last time I upgraded my equipment, and I am 4 months away from the end of that commitment.
So now at $20.00 a month it is $80.00 I have to pay for after. Again 15 years of being a customer and paying between $120-ish and $93.34 a month. "Sorry sir, but those are the terms of the contract." I have left vendors before, and came back to them as service plans or pricing or simply needs changed. Nothing personal. But I will never go back to DIRECTV, and hope the company will crumble under the competition by content streaming alternatives to cable and satellite.
Reviewed July 29, 2013
I fulfilled my two year contract, but for the first 6 months, there was not a day and possibly an hour that we had good service. Our favorite station is Fox News and they do not offer that. For the year after the first six months, the service was not good - no service if it rained, many times the pixels did not fill the entire screen, etc.
Finally, after one and a half years, DirecTV sent someone to re-cable our house and we got fairly good service after that for six months. As soon as our two years contract was fulfilled, we stopped the service. Mailing back all the equipment is very difficult, with lots of threats if you don't do it timely, in appropriate mailers, etc., that we would be charged. I will never utilize their service again as they really provided no service more than half the contract time-frame.
Reviewed July 29, 2013
After reading this forum and all the unfair attacks about DirecTV, I felt I needed to weigh in. I have been a customer since 2002 and have always been more than satisfied. Their customer service people have always been very friendly and fair to me. Did you people ever think the problem might be you? First, these are human beings, try being nice for once and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. Secondly, read your contracts before you sign them. Don't expect free equipment without purchasing the protection plan.
I have had several HD DVR boxes replaced free of charge and even a dish adjustment. The extra 7.99 a month is worth it, people. Last year, after DirecTV had their dispute with VIACOM, they gave me NFL SUNDAY TICKET absolutely free. All I did was nicely ask for a bill adjustment. I do not own any stock in DirecTV before anyone asks. All I'm saying is, for 13 years I have NEVER had a problem... NOT ONCE... I can't possibly be the only one.
Reviewed July 29, 2013
I have been with DTV since 1999. Three years ago, we decided to upgrade to DVR service that was not available when we signed up. I called 4 times and talked with service reps (never the same person) and wrote down my notes from each call. I crossed every t and dotted every i. It was to be free installation. Due to being a long time member, we were due a free upgrade so 1 receiver was free and we had to purchase the 2nd for the bedroom. I discussed issues regarding long term pricing, installation. We did not want to go back under contract so how that was affected, every thing my husband and I could come up with. I paid the cost of the receiver and they shipped the equipment to us.
Upon receipt I scheduled the installation. My son was off on the day of installation and sat and waited. When the installer showed up (works for DTV on contract basis), set up the service in our living room and when he got to the bedroom, he said it would be an additional cost $150 to fish a wire because our service was on an inside wall and not an outside wall. My son called me to question this because he was anticipating payment upon completion of the installation. I called DTV and asked why, if we were to have free installation, why was the tech saying there would be an additional cost?
To make a long story short, their reply was because your service is on an inside wall. I told them I spoke with 4 reps over a 1.5 month span about the installation and never once did anyone ask me which wall my service was located on. I said that should be a standard question because there are only 2 choices, inside or outside, no rocket scientist question. Their reply was it was not their service rep's responsibility to ask that question. No, they do not ask that question because most people will pay the additional cost because they want the service and have gotten this far. WELL, I did not pay the $150. I pay for a DVR that can work just like a regular receiver. I can record but cannot watch it after it is recorded. We can only watch recorded program on 1 receiver. I took the receiver to our camp and brought back our old receiver.
I have spoken with numerous people in the company about this issue and they laugh it off. This is dishonest business practice and something should be done about it. Maybe all of these complaints should be sent to the broadcasting authorities and Better Business Bureaus because it does affect them if there are too many. I am still with them because of the availability of other services in our area. I am still looking and one day will switch.
Reviewed July 27, 2013
I moved to South Carolina one year ago and signed on with Direct TV. The only reason I chose their service was due to the fact that AT&T was not available in the area where I reside. Previously while living in Florida I had AT&T Uverse for many years without any issue. Today I decided to move a TV into my home office and from another room in the house. After connecting it as the house is relatively new and all rooms are prewired I could not receive any service in the new location. I went to my account online to retrieve the customer service number and discovered that my bill had doubled as a result of services being added that I had never requested.
The company’s phone system/automated attendant kept sending me to the new sales department even after I had entered in my account number. After several failed attempts I finally reached the correct department where they removed the charges. I then asked for the technical support department to resolve the connectivity issue. After much discussion that included going outside in the rain to trace the cable into the house the rep concluded that the room where I had moved the TV to was not connected to the system. In an eight room house they only had connected 3 rooms and I would have to pay $50 plus dollars for them to come out and connect the cables. Adding insult to injury the rep required that I provide a credit card to prepay the charge before she would even provide appointment times. I have never paid my bill one day late!!!!
The entire call totaled over 45 minutes. The minute I can cancel my service I will. This is a classless third world operation that has forgotten about the customer! I have spent thirty years in corporate sales and am now entering in to the Real Estate field. I will not recommend this company and will relay my experience whenever the opportunity arises. They may have a huge customer base but with this approach to the customer it is only a matter of time before one or more of their competitors start eating away at their market share.
Reviewed July 27, 2013
Be carefully when you deal with Direct-v, they're very SUCK. Signed up for 1 deal, but received double or triple bills. They'll add everything out of this world on your bills? READ FINE PRINT ON AGREEMENT AND ALL EQUIPMENT LIST AND SERVICES CHARGED ON DOCUMENT BY MAIL TO YOUR HOME, not ONLINE/ BY PHONE OR YOUR EMAIL because they just send the general information through your email, NOT DETAILS. If you avoid all this information, you're will stuck with them with flexible monthly bills up and up like oils stock market. Don't bother to call them, because when you call, after you got through their system, some one live outside of US respond for your called, and if you call them back again in few minutes later for something and asking for the name of previous teller you were talking to, I'm sure they'll say they don't have that name/person in agent list.
Reviewed July 26, 2013
I was living in a apartment 2 years ago. I try get service tech came over. Told me couldn't have service because I was on wrong side of building. I told him he is very lazy. I then told tech I can bring a Mexican here and I would have service. Anyways, last summer, I saw Mexicans hanging out in front of the Home Depot with their lunch boxes and tools looking for jobs. I said to them that DirecTV is looking for technicians. My family said to me that was rude. I hope all those working for DirecTV lose their jobs to illegal Mexicans. They are very lazy and Mexicans everybody and anyone get service + they would send equipment for free.
Reviewed July 26, 2013
When I signed up for DirecTV it was at the end of the NFL season. Since my subscription package included the NFL Ticket at no additional charge, I specifically asked their representative if that meant a FULL year and not just the rest of the season. I was assured it was for one FULL year, so I signed up. A week later I referred my son-in-law, who also wanted to wait for the season to end so he could get a FULL year and not one week. He too was assured by the liars at DirecTV that he would get the NFL Ticket for one FULL year so he signed up as well, and I was supposed to receive a $100 credit for referring a friend. I foolishly also convinced a neighbor to sign up and she was told we would get the refer a friend credit as well.
Needless to say, I never received either credit, and just figured there was a mistake, but when my July bill was $42 and change higher than previous bills, I called and asked why. I was told the charge was for the NFL Ticket, billed at $42 and change a month for six months for $250 a year. When I explained that I was told I would get this free for one year, not two weeks, I was told that to DirecTV, one FULL year really means two weeks and there was nothing I could do about it! I explained to DirecTV's customer service supervisor that I was lied to and he couldn't care any less and said there was nothing he would do to help me.
He suggested that I send an email to the Office of the President and explain the situation. When I did, the answer I received was that to DirecTV one FULL year was actually two weeks for me and one week for my son-in-law. I was also told that I didn't qualify for the refer a friend credit because my friends didn't call a "special" number to register. They actually called the same exact number that I called when I signed up and I did get one $100 credit because a friend referred me. But I referred two friends and got cheated out of $200 and another $250 for the NFL Ticket! To be fair, the office of the president offered me a $100 credit in lieu of the $200 I was promised for referring two friends, but they still cheated me out of $100!
I should have known not to trust DirecTV since my initial experience with a DirecTV installer was not so pleasant. When DirecTV's first installer showed up at my house to run the wires, he told me that I would have to pay $270 ($90 per wire drop that I needed to have run). I explained that I was supposed to have a FREE VIP installation, and he said that didn't include running wires! He even called his dispatcher who confirmed his lie that FREE VIP installation did not include running wires! I wonder how many people have been conned by this liar! Needless to say, I threw the liar out of my home and contacted DirecTV. I was assured that there was no extra charge to run wires! So the installer lied to me at the very start! I wish that I would have been smart enough to see that I don't want to deal with a company that lies and cheats their customers!
To be honest, the office of the president did offer me $100 credit, $50 each for the two referrals I made, not the $200 they promise! That pretty much confirmed to me that they know they are cheating me and don't care, because if I was wrong about the credits, they would not have given me a penny! But they offered me half what I was promised in hopes that I would go away. And I will go away, the day my contract expires. I will leave DirecTV and NEVER look back! DirecTV will not see one more penny from me other than my monthly bill. I will NEVER again watch anything on pay per view, or any of their paid movies on direct cinema. Nor will I ever pay for a premium channel! DirecTV cheated me out of $350 and I refuse to patronize a company that lies to their customers! And to make matters worse, the office of the president doesn't care about the deceitful practices this company uses!
Reviewed July 23, 2013
I have been a DTV customer for over 14 years now and my bill continuously increases every year. It started at $39.99 a month in 2000, to $116.98 a month in 2013. I just don't get it. We were all told when all this new technology came out it may cost a bit more in the beginning but with this new tech, we should be able to lower prices for everything. We've all been hearing that for years now. But nothing has decreased in price in which it should have. Just remember when all this tech. was coming out (if you don't, go back and research). It's going to make everything easier, which it did for them and brought us better service. So that was not a lie but the lowering of prices has never come to be with NOTHING, NOT A DAMN THING...
There is no reason why we are paying so much for TV, phone, electricity, water (WoW) sewer, gas, propane and all the other stuff I didn't mention. It's all about the Mighty Dollar. You really want to do some research find out what someone pays for TV and internet in South America? Hmm. about $10.00 a month for what I am paying for TV, $116.99 a month, Internet I pay $69.99 Verizon; South America, $7.99 a month and remember they're buying it from the same North American Company but they are paying what they can afford, I guess. Don't make a ** bit of sense we have to pay and they send off DirecTV to South America and Verizon for a fraction of the price we pay.
Now I am not sure but I can almost say without pause there are many, many more big companies selling our services for way way less than we do. What a big fat chunk of crap for us. What a bull ** government we have. We need to worry about our people here before we can worry about someone who uses these services for a fraction of what we pay. Greed, greed, greed. What a sad, sad place we have become. Shame on you, DirecTV and Verizon and Dish Network. I am sure. Take it from there. Bye and good luck trying to get any resolve...
Reviewed July 23, 2013
About a year ago I signed up with DirecTV under the impression that I could bundle an existing AT&T internet service and save money. They never bundled the service, oh well. The kicker is that I asked them repeatedly that if I moved and my new landlord would not allow a dish, would I have to pay the early termination fee. I was repeatedly told no. Today, I called to cancel my service. DirecTV does not dispose of their satellite dishes, shocking. They leave them littered about cities for customers to deal with... My new landlord will not allow a dish because a previous tenant left their satellite dish in his yard. After explaining this, I was told that I would be charged an early termination fee. Apparently, you have to base your life around where you can and cannot have a dish. I was also told that the only way to protest the fee is to write an actual handwritten letter to their customer service department. Apparently phones have not been invented yet and horses are needed to lodge handwritten complaints. And the British are coming. DirecTV treats their customers poorly and will say any lies needed to sell their service. Don't trust them, don't recommend them, don't use them. The fee is $20/month.
Reviewed July 22, 2013
I updated the receiver 2 months ago, after 2 years of contract without major issues with the previous receiver. And now, the new system freezes often for 1 or 2 seconds, and also appears some squares/blocks in the screen. Technical support asked me to reset or test the receiver, but don't provide a real solution so far. Today, they said that there is a known issue with the software in the receiver and the engineers are working for a solution. The recommendation from DirecTV is to continue waiting for a solution and of course paying for that terrible service.
Reviewed July 22, 2013
My husband and I had been DirecTV customers for five years and decided to switch to another company for service. We were told we would have to pay an early cancellation fee. My husband told them that they did not have permission to withdraw the fee from our account but they did anyway. We then received a bill after they drafted the fee that said there was no balance due. Today I am reviewing my bank statement and they had drafted another $48 from our account. When we called they told us they forgot to charge us for a UFC fight from FOUR YEARS AGO!!!!! They admitted their mistake but of course would not refund our money. Needless to say we will never go back to them or tell anyone else they should use them either. Apparently their $48 was much more important to them than losing the hundreds and thousands of dollars from existing and potential customers. Hope it was worth it to them.
Reviewed July 22, 2013
I recently purchased DirecTV last week. They installed 2 instead of 3 receivers (genie's). When I called to ask why the third was not installed the customer service ("Rocky") told me that it was ordered as only 2 and that they would have to charge me another $150 to come back out and install the third. He would not transfer me to a supervisor and told me that nothing more could be done. Unbelievable, I am regretting signing with DirecTV if this is the kind of customer service that they give! Wish I had done Dish Network!
WARNING to the future customers, don't expect any help on their end. They couldn't care less if they lose your service!
Reviewed July 22, 2013
My husband and I have been a customer of DirecTV for over 10 years. We lived at one location in LA for 4 years - we had DTV. We lived at the next location for 6 years - we had DTV, then we moved in with my elderly mother to help her out and we again ordered DTV. We order TWO receivers: one for my husband and I with our TV and one for my mother for her TV. When we moved out of my mother's home recently and moved into another part of Los Angeles, we ordered DTV, and we made it very clear that we needed to cancel our service at my mother's home and then start up service at our new home.
I called DTV and said, "If my mother continues with DTV, then you need to put the receiver in her name and remove my name from my mom's home and start billing her from the time we leave." Then of course when we moved to our new home, we set up service again with DTV and thought everything was fine. No. It was NOT fine. First, our service was interrupted. I was livid. I called and explained everything and they seemed to understand and agree that I was correct. They told me they would correct the bill and they turned my service back on. We thought all was well with DTV. No. Everything was NOT well.
My husband and I started receiving bills for both my mother and us. We called DTV and told them the bill was wrong. We got a seemingly nice manager on the phone at DTV and explained that my mom should either have service set up in HER NAME from the time we left OR she should have cancelled our service at her home for BOTH RECEIVERS and then set up her own DTV. We also explained that we set up new service with a NEW RECEIVER at our new home and we should only be charged for that receiver and that DTV service. He assured us that he would fix the bill and we thought all was fine. No. EVERYTHING WAS NOT FINE! Every month my husband and I have received a bill from DTV for my mom's service and our service.
Every month I call and explain what the problem was and NOW they tell me I owe it because it's in my name so I should pay it. I have explained that they must have gotten the billing wrong. They don't listen. They just tell me I have to pay the bill or they will turn off our service. I have threatened to cancel our service with them. They tell me that if I cancel EARLY, then I will owe around $400.00. I am at my wit's end. They don't care to help me. They just pass the buck to the next customer service rep and they don't help me at all. I recommend that you NOT sign up for DIRECTV.
Reviewed July 21, 2013
I am new DirecTV customer who had signed up for their service as part of a package deal with Verizon. When the Verizon tech came to my house they realized they couldn't provide me with the internet service they sold me on. I then contacted DirecTV who told me they would honor the package deal price. One month later, the price has gone up 6.00 per month. 6.00 dollars may not sound like much but it adds up over time, and ISN'T THE DEAL I WAS TOLD. I then asked to cancel the service and DirecTV told me they would charge me an early termination fee (which is about 400.00 dollars at this time).
I am very disappointed to learn that DirecTV would lie to me over the phone to get me to sign up and then use that lie to lock me into a contract. I believe the contract should be invalid as they went back on the original price they promised me. I want to leave the company as soon as possible without paying an early termination fee. I think it is only fair that if they want to change the prices on the deal, I should be able to leave the company without being held to a contract.
Reviewed July 20, 2013
My husband referred our neighbor, gave them our account number, and expect a 10 dollar monthly credit, but the DirecTV asked our neighbor if she want the referred deal or a 200 dollar visa, so got the card and we got nothing. They advertise this deal on TV, then cheated us out of our reward. When my husband called, they just said too bad, but they should have never offered her the deal once they knew she had been referred by someone.
Reviewed July 20, 2013
I called DirecTV to cancel my service at the end of the month. I am moving and where I am moving to does not allow me to have any satellite dish whatsoever. I explained that I have been happy with the service, I just can't take them with me. I was told it's my "responsibility to procure a residence that will accept DirecTV", and I was to be charged $480 for early termination. I am mortified. I have read the cancellation agreement posted online. As I understand it, I "may" be charged, I don't see anywhere stating I "will" be charged. So the word "may" means to me, it is discretionary. They decide who will or will not be charged for early cancellation. Nevertheless, where do they have the right to dictate to me where I can or cannot live? I will never ever, ever, ever use DirecTV again... I am a Real Estate Agent. When my clients ask for the names of companies for television service, I will remember this. P.S. when you call to cancel service, they cancel you that day. For some reason I can't have my service ordered for cancellation at the end of the month. Odd that all the other utility companies will, not DirecTV.
Reviewed July 18, 2013
I have been a DirecTV customer since 1994. Yes, I said 1994, their first year in business! My account number is less than 1,000,000. Now they have 83,000,000 accounts. I have 2 houses, 1 in Florida and 1 in North Carolina. I added the service to my NC home in March and I called yesterday wanting to upgrade a box and order a cinema kit and they wanted to charge me an upgrade fee for the new box (?) charge for the cinema kit (that should have been included with the original install) and shipping. Unbelievable!!!!! I also ask for a 1/2 price NFL Sunday Ticket package because I am paying full price at the Florida home and have been since 1994. Yes, I have been a NFL ticket subscriber since 1994!!!! They just laughed at that request.
I was told all accounts are treated separate. Now if I was a NEW CUSTOMER, I could get this season of the NFL Ticket FREE, seriously???? 19-year customers get the finger and NEW customers get FREE stuff. WOW. Well guess what? I called today to cancel the North Carolina account and they wanted to give me that stuff for free just to stay a customer. Screw off is what I told them, should have given me that deal yesterday. So the moral I guess is, if you expect loyalty, as I do, you won't get it at DirecTV. Steer clear!!!!!!!
Reviewed July 18, 2013
Our receiver stopped working about 3 months ago. It "overheated". Every time it was turned on, there would be a blue screen stating what the temperature was. At times it said it was over 40C... That's 104F. When we touched the box it was cold, not even warm to the touch. Occasionally it would work, but it was very sporadic, and no telling what it would do. Sometimes it would record, typically not though. At the time we weren't home enough to really have it be a pressing matter so we let it go for a few weeks. When our schedule calmed down, my fiance contacted DirecTV and spoke with a technician who said they could send a new one out but would charge us $20. Considering we had been paying for a service that was practically unusable for nearly 2 months we thought we had already given them plenty of money for absolutely no reason. We asked when our contract was up. Thankfully it was due to expire in 2 weeks.
I decided to call back a week later to get the accurate date of our contract's expiration. The woman I spoke with was incredibly rude. I told her I would prefer to stay a customer, but I felt the delivery charge was unfair. She then goes to explain we rent the receiver and in our contract it states its maintenance is our responsibility. I told her it just stopped working, these things sometimes happen. And I didn't know what type of maintenance she meant. Were we supposed to open the box up and clean it or do repairs ourselves? I asked to be compensated in the amount of the shipping, whether it was a discount on our bill to make up for it spaced out over a year, or a sample of a movie channel, something simple and worth the $20. Nope, she flat out refused. When I asked for the expiration date on our contract she also refused and asked for the account holder. So they have no trouble taking my money, from my bank account, but won't give me a date. Thankfully my fiance was sitting next to me to take over the call.
A week later we were set to cancel, had signed up for a streaming service to compensate for the loss of our TV provider. It was awful (not Netflix). We decided to suck it up and try to reason with DirecTV one last time. This time they listened and offered to help. They upgraded our box to the newest model for free, and sent it out without charging for delivery. No questions asked. We sadly had to re-sign our contract for another year. I doubt they would have helped if we weren't ready to jump ship that day. Their reps only care to help those that aren't locked into a contract. It is ridiculous and callous. If you aren't a member, just go the other way. They are terrible and will treat you the same. We have been happy customers for years even after the horrible installation guy that came and put in our very first unit. He destroyed our carpet; we lost the deposit to our apartment over it. We stayed with them during that fiasco, and we are sticking for another year but only out of convenience.
Honestly, if you are considering to join, look elsewhere and save yourself the trouble! Their customer service reps are the problem. They have never once made me feel like they care about my business, and that is because they know their customers are locked into contracts and most people don't want to pay the fee to get out from under them.
Reviewed July 18, 2013
We were with DirecTV for 10 yrs. Decided to switch recently to a better bundle deal. Once cancelled and all equipment returned, we were advised of $82 that was owed for numerous PPV and adult films. They could not tell us when these were ordered or watched. Only said within the 10yrs. since we had been with them. We have never ordered either. Anything extra appears within your next billing cycle?? I have always paid online using the one time payment option but when this disputed amount wasn't paid, they took it from our checking account without authorization to do so!
Reviewed July 17, 2013
I have had DirecTV for over 7 years now and I have a few problems during my time of service, but every agent has been able to help me and explain to me why there are certain changes in my bill, understandably there are times when I don't like what I hear but I cant change policy. The service I get is amazing. I have never had better picture quality from any other provider. They are the only company I know that offer decent credits to my account. I was lucky to get a 10 dollar discount last year. It’s wonderful that they make it to where I don't have to pay full price every month. I see all these posts about how the bill is too high and yada yada.
My advice, DONT BUY A BENZ IF YOU CANT AFFORD IT! You should expect to pay for the quality and the premium service they offer. I mean, hello people! They have every NFL game, they have the most hd, they have been rated number 1 in customer service for years now. I’m tired of hearing people complain that they have to pay a full bill. Do you call your electric company and demand a discount! What a joke. All those cheap-o's would be better off buying rabbit ears and common sense. Before you sign a contract, read the darn thing. Every complaint on here can be answered if you just read the contract. And its conveniently posted on their website for everyone to read. I love my DirecTV service and I may be old fashioned, but I believe in paying top dollar for top dollar service!
Reviewed July 12, 2013
I normally don't do this, but DirecTV has pushed me over the edge. I have been a DirecTV customer since 2009. When I moved to my new house, they informed me that I needed a new receiver - which I had to pay for - because they would not give their long time customer the same "deal" as brand new clients. Back in December of last year, my receiver ceased working (yes... the one I paid for). When I called DirecTV to replace it, they wanted to charge me for the new receiver AND pay the shipping. I was appalled.
For those of you who don't know (or who are not aware), you RENT your equipment from DirecTV. So, their piece of equipment that I RENT broke, and they wanted me to pay for a new one. Imagine that you rent a house or an apartment, and the dishwasher or washing machine breaks. Are you expected to PAY for a new one? Of course not. You are already paying them a (exorbitant) fee each month. Maintaining THEIR equipment is THEIR responsibility. I called Charter and set up for a technician to come out the next day. I then called DirecTV back and told them to cancel my service. My contract had long since expired with them.
The "service representative" on the phone gave me several discounts on my monthly bill and beat out Charter's price AND waived the fee on the new receiver. I asked (SPECIFICALLY ASKED) if I was going to have to sign a new contract. He answered "NO". I stayed with DirecTV. I have decided that I no longer am getting a benefit from my satellite service. We are not a heavy TV watching household, and services like Netflix and Hulu do just fine at a far less expensive price. I called today to Cancel my DirecTV service and guess what? Oh yes, I'm being charged a cancellation fee. Talking to a supervisor did no good. I was also (rudely) reminded that if I failed to return my RENTED equipment in time, I would be responsible for that also.
In this day and age where our devices are offering us more and more options for viewing and obtaining information, you would think that Companies like DirecTV would do what they can to retain as many customers as possible. They've lost me. And, I hope that any of you reading this will take pause before signing up with them. DirecTV, your days are numbered. And I will smile smugly as technology advances, and you are left behind, an old expensive relic with way too many commercials.
Reviewed July 12, 2013
The picture goes in and out in storms and sometimes when there is not a storm. The On Demand channels work when they want to work. The worst part is the service that you get when you call because once they have you under contract, they treat you badly. My service is currently down and I pay for the service plan, but they won't get someone out to my house for a week to fix the issue!! I asked to get out of their contract because of how rude they are and because their product was not working and she told me that unless I die, they are not letting me out of the contract unless I pay about $400.00. I wrote to the BBB about them forcing people to stay in a contract when their product and service does not work as advertised! DO NOT SIGN THEIR CONTRACTS! You are better off with Time Warner and their average service because at least their product works 90% of the time and they do not FORCE you to be in a contract. When you count the downtime and the fact that they force you to be in a contract, this, in MY opinion, is just a horrible decision when it comes to TV.
Reviewed July 12, 2013
My experience with DirecTV will go down as the single worst customer experience I have ever had. When you start with them, they give you the moon. After your first year, they change all of that. Your package more than doubles. They told me at the one year mark that they had my debit card account number and if I canceled, I would be charged some huge fee to it. So I downsized after 1 year and waited it out. In that year, I had a few more billing issues all of which were handled like they couldn't care less to keep me.
When I called at 2 years to cancel, then they had the balls to offer better rates after they said they couldn't at the 1-year mark. I told the girl maybe she should have answered the phone at the 1-year date. So they tell me they will send a recovery package and that I have a balance of about a $124. So okay, when you send the final bill, I will pay it and send back your boxes. They also tell me if I don't send back the boxes after 21 days, I will be charged for them also. About 2 weeks go by and there is no word and no package, so I call. They tell me, "Oh sorry, we failed to list apartment number on the order. We will resend."
That brings us to today, I try to get some breakfast for my 7-year-old and my card is declined. They had automatically taken the $124 even though I had told them I would send it when I got the bill. There was no phone call, email, nothing. This shows how dumb and poor at customer service they are. I still have the boxes. I call them and tell them if they refund the money, I will pay next week when I get paid and would send the boxes back like planned. THEY HAVE NO WAY to refund. My advice to anyone thinking about DirecTV is don't, but if you do, make sure you send money orders and NEVER give them your debit card info. This was just dumb, they cost themselves way more business by not working with me. When you make people this mad, they tell everyone, and that is what I plan to do.
Reviewed July 12, 2013
I received a phone call from DirecTV for Starz and Encore for three months at $11.01 a month for three months and then a $25 gift card at the end to make it as though I am paying $8.03 for three months and then the movie channel 1000 for unlimited movies. The lady said that it would be up and running in about 3-4 hours. It's not. When I called back to find out when it would be on, the guy said, "We don't give offers like that and you must have misunderstood." I said that, "No, I asked her to repeat it three times what the offer was and how much it would be, to clarify it." The guy said, "We have no way of knowing who that was and what they told you..." implying that I was lying or stupid, or both.
I informed him that I was a writer and I have lots of time to advise potential customers about the poor treatment I received. By this time it became an irritation to me and I was extremely unhappy. He said, "Have I answered all of your questions?" Why would he ask that question when obviously he had insulted me... Bad from DirecTV, very bad form.
Reviewed July 12, 2013
DirecTV took a final payment out of my account without notification or authorization. When I called them to complain, the first rep gave me information to resolve the problem. When I called to confirm that they got my fax, I was told that there is nothing I can do about it.
Reviewed July 11, 2013
I have had DirecTV for 15 years and recently changed to the whole home Genie in March. I received my statement for June, which jumped to over $230!!! After reviewing this with a rep, there were PPV charges from 2010/2011. I then asked for them to provide me with proof I never paid and was advised they could not do so without a letter!! I advised the rep my bill is paid in full every month and have never disputed charges before. I also advised them if I were behind for $100, there would have been a disconnect notice. I was given the excuse these were found on the previous cards in the receivers ordered by the remote!! I advised we were never able to order that way and always went online.
After nearly 2 hours of requesting this be rectified, I then decided to go up the ladder. I sent a request to the executive offices and received a call 24 hours later and was advised those charges would be removed.. I reviewed a disconnect notice and no adjustment was issued!!! HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! When my contract ends, looking for a new provider!!!
Reviewed July 11, 2013
I tried four yes 4 times!!! And they keep sending the laziest people in town. Because I live in an apartment complex, the people who come and look that they will have to really work, they go for the easy excuse: NOT POSSIBLE. I ask why? They give me the most stupid answers. I did complain to DirecTV but they did not do anything. This was last year. I tried to upgrade again and guess what? Same laziest, horrible people.
Reviewed July 11, 2013
I went into contract almost 2 years ago with DirecTV. I thought I would have their service for the full term, but due to a job change, I moved out of the city I was living in. When I moved to the location I am now in, I found a rental property that was close to my work. The company I rent from does not allow a dish to be put on their building or a pole in the ground. I called DirecTV to explain my situation and asked if they could waive the cancellation fee or at least give me a discount. They flat out refused and told me that my landlord could not dictate to me what service I have. I tried to tell the manager that they can tell me whether I can put a dish on their property or not. She still would not help me in anyway and I even offered to send her a letter from my landlord stating that they would not allow the dish. She said that didn't matter. They were perfectly within their right to charge me the full amount.
I work with contracts every day and know that they can be broken depending on the circumstances. If I were to treat people as they just treated me, I would not be in business very long. I will never do business with this company again, no matter what it costs me to get another service.
Reviewed July 10, 2013
I am forced to pay for television, but every time it rains I'm getting this "searching for satellite signal (771)." When I call DTV, I'm told that they have no control over the weather. My response is I have no control over the weather either, therefore I shouldn't have to pay for services I'm not getting! We've had rain for the last week here in Cleveland. Today was the worst storm we've had and that wasn't bad. Usually it only takes a sprinkle to interrupt the service. I would switch to another provider, but I've been with two others and they are all the same. I think our representatives should allow free TV if we want it (as it was before). This was done so that big money could KEEP their status quo.
Reviewed July 9, 2013
I signed up with DirecTV about seven months ago. In this time, I have had to call EVERY month because of billing issues...from my name, address, and city being spelled wrong (which, in the three times that I corrected them, never got fixed), to misrepresentations made by DirecTV representatives, to being charged more than what I was quoted and being double-charged for things.
Now this month, I have auto-bill pay, and I almost always still pay my bill early before they take it out just so I have my finances in order. My bill is not due until the 8th of the month, and I paid my entire bill on the 6th... On Saturday, I ordered a pay-per-view UFC fight and opted to have it put on my bill instead of billing my credit card. I got on my bank site today to find that they took the fight out of my account before I even got a bill for it. I called them and told a customer service rep that they can't take money out of my account for something I haven't even gotten a bill for. She became belittling to me.
Bottom line: I have been told that I was to have additional receivers for free, which turned out to be a lie, as I got charged for all of them. My bill has gone up three times in seven months, even though I was supposed to be locked into the price I was told for 24 months. They have double-charged me for movies, and then acted as though they were doing me a favor by crediting me a one-time thing, and it wasn't even my fault! Their whole system is flawed, and the customer service reps lie or don't know what they are doing! Also, my friends who referred me who were supposed to get the $10 a month off their bill...NEVER GOT THAT DISCOUNT! You would think they would see how much they have put me through and been happy to let me go minus the early termination fee but no... I am thinking about closing my account and then terminating my relationship with DirecTV. They are leeches!
Reviewed July 9, 2013
Basically, I am concerned as to why I am paying for a cable service that continually removes channels and does not replace them with new or different channels and still charges the same rate. I had a lot more channels when I started the service and now it seems like I do not have as many as I did before. When I contacted DirecTV, they said they were trying to keep the rates down or the same. That's fine; however, what they do is remove the channels so you have to pay more in order to receive the channels you lost. Is this right for the consumer? Thank you so much.
Reviewed July 8, 2013
I want to be as accurate and fair as I possibly can. I wish I could have asked the DirecTV folks to do the same before I began my two-day gauntlet with them. This was, perhaps, the worst customer service experience I ever had. I am a current AT&T Uverse customer. Although I can't say it has been a flawless journey with them, it is finally stable. We have bundled services: phone, internet, and TV. A great offer was presented to us through a flyer for DirecTV. Free this and free that, savings for months 1-12 or $31 off, savings for months 13-20 or $10 off, bundled service savings of $15, and referral discount of $10 for 12 months. The savings were adding up.
The hassle is that each discount required a different phone number, another rep, another credit check, and yes, another price with applied discounts, with varying durations. Each rep was polite (one thought two years was 36 months; oops), and they all transferred me correctly (that's good). What was the final straw, after 2 1/2 hours, was that the final leg landed at AT&T, who could not honor the prices quoted to me by DTV for the bundle of phone and internet. DirecTV quoted $55.95, but because I was an existing customer, my cost for internet would not change and it would remain $86 for super high-speed internet and unlimited phone. DTV failed to point that out. This negated the bundle discount, and I was within two bucks of my existing bill after talking to AT&T the next day. Not worth the effort. So AT&T did me good.
After I negotiated with the AT&T rep, I was transferred to the DTV and AT&T bundle rep, who said he cancelled everything on the DirecTV side. As I did NOT receive a confirmation of the cancellation order, I called DTV to inquire. The order was NOT cancelled, and while on the call, promptly did so. They also said the DTV does not send cancellation or rescission email confirmations, which I find particularly disturbing in that they have no problem sending me order confirmations and customer agreements without any difficulty. A word to the wise: unless you have limitless patience and ample time, don't bother switching for a few bucks. My advice: call your current provider first, and tell them you are considering a switch. They may be as helpful as AT&T was.
Reviewed July 8, 2013
We were Apartment Managers when DirecTV connected their Services to our building. I wound up having to sign up for a 2-year contract. After 1 year exactly, we wound up losing our income (we have a small SS to live on). I informed DirecTV of our predicament. They were very unsympathetic as to our plight. They charged us $266.75 for "early termination". This seems totally unfair.
Reviewed July 8, 2013
I contacted DirecTV when I received a better offer from their competitor, and I asked DirecTV what they could do for me to keep me as a customer. The attitude I got from the woman on the phone was horrible. She said there’s nothing she could do, so I went with their competitor. And when I called to cancel the service, the guy told me there is stuff that could have been done. But I decided to go with the company I just got and he advised me that they would take the early termination fee off of my debit card. I said “NO, I am not going to authorize that.” He told me I didn't have a choice. I told him, “Yes, bill me and I will pay the bill because I am a single mom and $347 is a lot of money all at once.”
He told me I had 21 days from THE DATE I GOT THE BILL. I just got the bill this week and not only did they take the $347 out of my account, they took $517 because the receivers were not returned yet. I did not authorize the $347 let alone the $517. I just got the stuff recently, give me some time. When I called, they told me too bad it’s in the contract. I don’t have a copy of the contract to review for myself. I never got one, and I wouldn't agree to have that much money taken out of my account at once.
Reviewed July 7, 2013
I’ve been a customer to DirecTV since 2007. I cancelled my contract in May of 2013 because I was moving to a historical building where satellite service is not allowed as they do not want to damage the brick. Today, I was notified that DirecTV withdrew 275 dollars from my bank without my permission due to a supposed late payment… I made my last payment on May 16th, two days after the billing cycle started, and afterwards my account showed that I owed $0.00. When I cancelled my contract, a customer service representative also told me over the phone that I no longer owed any money. However, now I’m told I owe the payment from May 14th. I have physical evidence proving that I never missed a single payment in my six years of being a customer and have never received any notice of a late payment. I presented this to DirecTV, yet they still refuse to refund the money.
Additionally, eighteen months ago (Jan 2012), I received a free DVR from DirecTV (unsolicited), a gift, they said, for being a loyal customer for so long. But now they claim I owe an early termination fee because when they gave me the free DVR, they also took the liberty to renew my contract without my consent.
Moreover, when I first tried to cancel the service, I had to explain multiple times that I was unable to carry the contract with me because the customer service representative at the time was steadfast on me keeping my contract regardless of what I was telling him. When I finally got him to understand that it was impossible for me to carry service, he told me DirecTV lamented over seeing me go and that they hoped I would reconsider if and when I moved to a place where DirecTV was available. He then checked my account and told me I was all clear to go and that I may in fact receive a refund due to their advanced billing.
Today, the outsourced customer service representative and later customer service manager I last spoke to told me that she was sorry I had been given this alleged misinformation, but that there was nothing to be done as that is simply the way things are and that a refund will not happen.
I feel like I’m being scammed and that this is some sort of punishment for cancelling my membership. Because of this, I have decided to write this open letter to expose DirecTV’s shady and deceitful tactics.
Reviewed July 7, 2013
I currently have the same issue. I have had service for 8 years and in the last two years due to my job, I have had to move twice. The first move, they messed up my account so bad it took a month and over 8 hours to get it corrected because it was out of state that really confused them. On this last move, they did the same thing, deactivating my old account and starting a new account. I asked why I had to pay a moving fee of $150 and I was told because I would get a new DISH and connections and this was a new account. I told them no, this was an old account and again was told I was not a long time customer but they could not validate and did not care. When the installer came, I already had the services connected and working. WOW, I did his job and I did not get a new DISH or cables as he told me it was not needed. So what did I pay the $150 for, the thrill of moving?
Then I received on my bill a $19.95 shipping and handling fee. When I called to complain, I was told everyone gets that fee even though nothing was shipped or handled. Then the fun came. I complained to their relations department. "OH boy, what a joke." I was offered a Genie at $250 off "but I would pay for install again and another $150 with another $19.95 fee" and then either a $10 discount on base programming package for 12 months or $15 off for 12 months with enrollment in Auto Bill Pay. WOW, a whole $10 off a month and the equipment upgrade offer will require a 24-month service agreement. Why the ** would I agree to crap for 24 months when they can't get anything correct in the first week. These people are a joke because they deactivated my old account and I got another flyer in the mail stating please come back and we will pay up to $200 cancellation fee, get a free genie, get free NFL Sunday ticket, and 3 months free HBO, Cinemax, Showtime EXT.
So I wrote back to the relations department and was told the same crap. I think it is stupid they won't keep customers but will pay out their butt to bring you back. My bill is outrageous for the bad customer service and fees. I pay for the XTRA monthly at $70.99 and then I pay $6 per TV, so that is $18. After this, I have to pay for an advanced receiver monthly. What is this stupid charge for? I remember when I first started, the base fee was $43 and that was with 3 TV's. I am switching to a local service and never coming back to this company ever again. They will end up being another Sears with all of the bad customer service and fees. I remember the old DirecTV - wow, that was service. With the new times and values, companies just do not care about current customers. When will they get it that with the internet and people, we can communicate and share experiences? If they don't care about current customers, I say leave and watch the company fail.
Reviewed July 6, 2013
I signed up for a promotional deal. The first 12 months were to be $24.99/month, plus one extra receiver. Basic service, no premium channels or free trials, no protection plans. This was made clear. Deal done by phone. I never got anything in writing after that call. The billing was done by electronic withdrawal. I was never billed the agreed amount. I was billed $56 the first two full months, which slipped by me because I was busy. I was billed $133.98 this month, which got my attention. When I called, customer service was incredibly rude. I got the billing reduced this month and going forward, but no refunds on past overcharges. I complained that TV signal was unavailable whenever it rains or is windy, and was told that's just the way it is. I was told before signing up that this was no longer a problem for satellite TV. I was also told it would cost me $420 to break the contract (that I've never seen) right now. I feel misled, betrayed and helpless without any documentation to back me up. I am angry and consider this company a scam. I do not trust them to stop overcharging me. I cannot afford lawyer's fees.
Reviewed July 6, 2013
I have been with DTV for about 12 to 15 yrs and feel like I have been put to the bottom of the stack!!! Not fair!!!! They give new deals to new customers better than the ones that have been loyal customers!!!
Reviewed July 3, 2013
I had a 2-yr contract. Yes, I understand that I was told that I could move my services once for free. When we purchased our home, I called DirecTV for them to move my services. I was told that it was going to be 200 dollars to move. I asked why as I was told it was going to be free. They said that it was an offer they no longer had. I was very upset and asked to speak to a supervisor. After being on a phone call for over two hours, the supervisor told me that she is going to charge me 50 dollars; however she said, "I am going to give you updated boxes." I agreed and scheduled a date for them to go to our new home the next Saturday.
Friday came, and after mentioning to my mother that the next day DirecTV was going to go to set everything up, she convinced me call them to make sure that the appointment was scheduled. She had made appointments and DirecTV kept her waiting twice! Sure enough, I called to verify the appointment and it was not in their system!!! As a matter of fact, none of the over the two-hr. phone call was in the system! I asked how that was possible. I even spoke to a supervisor!!! Therefore, I had to explain my situation once again. I had to be on the phone with DirecTV for hrs again!!! I could not take it again. I finally canceled my services and paid the disconnection fee. I told the supervisor that I would rather pay the over 300 dollars than to have to deal with their customer services. I went with Dish Network. At first it was a little difficult to navigate their system; however now I have channels, two more DVRs and pay less a month.
Well, a month after I disconnected my services with DirecTV, I got a phone call from them and they wanted me to go back! I explained how I was happy with Dish Network, and the person that called me told me that they were willing to pay me 200 dollars to break my contract with Dish and go back with them!!! I screamed at the person, "All I wanted was for you guys to move my services for free to my new address!!! And now you want to PAY ME TO GO BACK??? You work for the worst company ever!!!" I hung up.
Reviewed July 2, 2013
Having had Dish, Charter and currently DirecTV, searching for the best service at the best price, I’m finding very little difference between any of them in the long run. All give you a good price with their packages, and before you know it, your bill takes an astronomical jump. You can call them back and get another package but never quite as good as the 1st one. The biggest difference I'm finding with Direct is with all the rain this year, I'm spending a lot of time missing programs while looking at (satellite searching for signal). There’s got to be a better way! Allowing competition within the counties for cable companies would be a good start.
Reviewed June 30, 2013
DirecTV hooked up our TV on 6/23/13. We were told that they farm out the phone/internet to CenturyLink. We called CenturyLink on 6/23, Sunday... a phone company that is closed over the weekend. We did not get out phone/internet hook up until Thursday, 6/27. Well needless to say, the phone's full of static and echoes, no internet. CenturyLink just kept telling us, no matter how many times we speak with them, the internet takes time to come up. Well it never came up. We called DirecTV numerous times. They do not accept responsibility for CenturyLink. They claim they have provided their service TV and that's as far as their responsibility goes. I did not ask to deal with CenturyLink. I was told that that's how the bundle deal works. They passed me onto CenturyLink. I told DirecTV that I did have an issue with their service. My package included HD on Demand... We could not pull up on demand. I was told that that's through the internet, so again it was not their problem.
Anyway after many phone calls and being passed onto various supervisors, I asked to terminate. I was told that due to early termination, we will be responsible to pay $460.00... How can that be? We never had full service and it was not even a week. I asked for the Corporate office contact, phone number and address. Hard to believe but not one person I spoke with could or would give me this information. I would have looked it up on the internet... but I had no internet. We called CenturyLink to cancel our phone. Believe it or not, they cannot disconnect me until Thursday, July 4th. What kind of company is this and why would DirecTV want to use them as part of their bundle? Beats me.
Do not use DirecTV. They give you a contract and the only one that has to abide by the contract is you, the consumer... They don't have to shed any responsibility.
Reviewed June 28, 2013
I have been a DirecTV customer since 2009. Over these past few years, I have dealt with a number of issues I would proclaim as theft. For starters, on three separate occasions I have made a payment, my payment shows that it processed through my account; my account gets deducted the amount that I pay to DirecTV. I get a confirmation number from DirecTV, then a few days go by and my service is turned off for non-payment. When I call customer service, it's nearly impossible to access a representative to speak with. An automated service system talks in circles, then tells me that I can speak with a representative after I've made my payment in full, then hangs up on me.
If I do manage to have the chance to speak to representative or a supervisor or a manager, they'll tell me until they're blue in the face that they have no record of my confirmation number and no record of me making any payments. When I try to explain that not only do I have a confirmation number given to me by them, but I'm currently looking at my account and I can clearly see that they have deducted money from my account, I am told, "No ma'am. You'll need to take this up with your bank. When you pay us in full, your service will be restored." I end up having to pay twice for an expensive service that I've already paid for. I'm not sure about anywhere else in the U.S. but from the area of Northern California where I reside, the only way to pay your DirecTV bill is via telephone or online with a credit card. There's no physical payment location where I can pay for the service and be given an actual receipt of payment.
That's just the beginning. They've charged me for Pay-Per View movies I've never watched and the most interesting part about it is, they charge me for movies I haven't watched, in months that haven't occurred yet. For example, in April 2013, I was charged three times in one day for the "purchasing" of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Not only had I never purchased Alvin and the Chipmunks even one time but the date of purchase for Alvin and the Chipmunks, was June 2013. Furthermore, when you do buy a Pay-Per View movie, you get to access it and watch it for 24-hrs so why would I purchase it three different times on the same day? I guess they hope their customers are that dense. I was charged for a service I didn't request, a service I didn't use, in a month that hadn't even existed yet.
One might ask, "Why continue your contract with them and continue being their customer?" Here's why. I signed up for my DirecTV service in mid-2009. In early-2011, I called and requested a new cable/satellite box from them because the one I had had always given me some problems but had recently started freezing up and cutting in and out. I wanted my family to at least have the chance to enjoy the pricey, monthly entertainment before my contract was up so I requested a replacement. They never sent me the new box, never had a technician come out and install one but they, without my knowledge, renewed my 2-yr contract under the terms of "new equipment."
When I called to complain that I hadn't received my replacement DirecTV equipment, they told me it would cost me $200 for a new cable/satellite box. So I found myself stuck with a barely functional cable/satellite box and bound to another 2-yr contract with them until early 2013. Or so I thought. I moved in late 2012 and had to have my service and equipment follow me because I was still under a contract for the next few months. I call to get my service moved and ask if I can finally get the replacement box I had requested almost 2 years ago. I get moved into my new house and DirecTV has a tech come and set up my service, even bringing with him a new replacement box that I had requested in 2011.
As he's leaving he has one of those little electronic sign your name machines, like the FedEx or U.P.S. workers have, and he says to me, "I need you to sign right here stating I was here and installed your service today." I sign my name on something that provides me no information at all about what I'm signing; all I have is the technician's word. After I've signed my name the tech says to me, "You've now entered into a new 2-yr contract with DirecTV. Any discontinuance of service will subject you to a charge of $400 plus payment of monthly services until your contract has expired..." Angered by his last minute disclosure, he informed me that if a customer relocates their service they automatically enter into a new 2-yr contract.
Clever work, DirecTV, always finding some shady way of robbing your customers and keeping your customers trapped into a contract with you, forcing us to have to deal with your less than ethical, borderline criminal tactics. It would be a dream come true if some sort of class action lawsuit could be brought against them not necessarily for any sort of monetary gain but for them to either have to close down DirecTV for good for fraudulent practices. Or, not be able to do any long term contract services anymore, only month to month contracts so that way consumers don't have to be conned repeatedly, with no end in sight. Anyone with any information on how this may be accomplished, please contact me via email.
Reviewed June 27, 2013
I had got turned off for a past due amount of $33 and I have been a loyal customer with DirecTV for 5 or more years. I called them and stated that normally they will send you out an email stating that your account is past due. I have always gotten a reminder about the bill but they didn't send anything this time and just turned me off. But that's not the problem with being turned off. Normally, if you have ever been turned off they would at least let you look at your recordings on your TV. I tried that this morning and I was unauthorized from that as well. I was outdone and pissed because I told customer service if that is the way DirecTV does business with people.
I basically have nothing to look at on the TV until I pay the bill. I didn't know people would be so rude to not let you see anything but a blank TV and I have been a loyal customer with them and even have referred people to try them. When I did talk to customer service about it, they said I needed to just pay my bill and I will be able to see my channels. What kind of mess is that? I am seriously thinking about moving my services to Dish Network and will be trying to get other members in my family to leave them alone and go to another carrier.
DirecTV doesn't care about you. All they want is your money and if you don't pay them on the day they want it, regardless of being a good customer, you get a black screen. Then when you try to call them and talk with them, they block you out from talking with them until the bill is current. You keep getting a voice recording. I have DirecTV and wished I had never joined with them. I hope DirecTV loses all their customers and they go to Dish Network or cable. Don't deal with them if you have to because they are downright nasty and rude.
Reviewed June 26, 2013
I am a 23-year customer. I moved 4 months ago. I tried to restart their service. They charged me for install, even though there was a dish there already, and then sent me a bill for way more than it should have been and no breakdown. I called and spoke to 4 CS agents, and they all refused to send me a breakdown of the bill. I emailed the president, and 10 minutes later, got email with "0" balance. Then I got a bill in the mail with "0" balance. Then I got call from Loni in the President's office and said she had intercepted my email. She had gone into my old accounts from 3 years ago and found a credit card # and put the bill on that credit card. I had not had that card for years, so it didn't go through. And now she wanted me to give her another credit card. I said "NEVER”. So, the next day, without written or verbal notice, they turned off my service.
I filed lots of complaints and will continue. They have not addressed at all the fact that they broke the law in 2 cases by not sending me a breakdown of the charges on my bill, and secondly, by trying to put charges on an old credit card, which I did not authorize her to use. I want them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Also, I believe it is also law that they must give you written notice before turning off service. About 2 weeks ago, I got 3 emails in one day from them. One states I have a credit balance of $19.94, second one states I have a credit balance of $49.45, and the third one states I owe them $66.00. Since these all came in one day, and none has a breakdown, I have no idea who is running things there, but obviously not an adult with a brain.
Reviewed June 26, 2013
For the $150/month that I pay to DirecTV for their service, I expect that their streaming servers for mobile apps provide enough bandwidth to allow viewing a program without freezing or pixelation every few minutes. This has been happening more often within the last week or so. I have reported this problem to DirecTV and they had some very uncooperative things to say, in my opinion. I called and spoke to personnel in the Cancellation, Complaint and Technical Support Departments who all tell me the following: "You don't pay for the DirecTV Anywhere app, it's free! As long as your other services are working, your complaint does not affect the services that you pay for." "We are aware that there is streaming problem, but we are working on it and don't know when it will be repaired."
I asked if I could cancel my service because I don't like companies telling me that my $150/month is not for my internet streaming so I cannot cancel without paying a cancellation fee. I also do not appreciate the lousy picture quality for over a week on my iPad with no given time of resolution. The way I see it, I am being held hostage by DirecTV!
Reviewed June 26, 2013
Recently, my husband and I had to leave DirecTV in favor of Prism by CenturyLink because my husband is employed by CenturyLink. I called to cancel and of course even after 11 years with them, they wanted to charge a $180 cancellation fee because we had added Whole Home recently. I was told by the gentleman who processed my order for me that they would be happy to reduce that to $100 based on our longevity of service hoping to get us back one day. When I got my bill, of course it had not been reduced. I was told that there were no notes and that was that. I was given an address to dispute and as a result of my letter, I got a voice mail stating that there were no notes and that was that. Why not just honor what was promised? This has become principle for me. I am more than willing to pay a fee. I just want to pay what I was promised. Now, I will NEVER return to DirecTV!!! Terrible customer service!!!
Reviewed June 26, 2013
Choosing your service was done through an extensive recommendation. My uncle has used DirecTV for over ten years and contested that he has great service and reports the best internet speed for his surrounding neighborhood, easing my dish skepticism of weather issues and poor internet; the service sounded good. My uncle also added that every now and then, just asking for some extra free channels was rewarded with a few months of Stars and HBO.
Starting my service, I chose the choice package over the phone with a free HD receiver; they said it would be $39.99 a month. I just graduated college and was looking forward to keeping this service for a long time. I agreed to the 24 consecutive months somewhere over the phone and in a week at DirecTV's convenience, my service was installed. Getting internet was a little more difficult going through AT&T U-verse. The house I was renting from was foreclosed, and the new apartment I found already came with AT&T digital TV service.
DirecTV recommended freezing my account for six months and then continuing service. To avoid the transfer service fee or the early cancellation fee during my transition between homes, I froze my account. My service was reactivated and by the time my bill caught up to me, I was now paying $153.38 a month. This amount was for a service that DirecTV was aware I was not receiving. In calling to cancel my service and pay an early cancellation fee of $380, I was informed that I must pay the $153.38 too. Upon talking to a representative, I downgraded my service that I was not able to receive to $109.64.
I paid the $489.37 after talking to a representative named Eliana. Eliana informed that the account was closed and there was nothing she could do about the $109.64 that I was billed for. Hypothetically, in the future if I was to start a service with DirecTV, I could get discounts through promotions from departments. I do not understand what promotions or departments give promotions for early cancellation fees or billing discounts for a service that is not rendered.
Reviewed June 24, 2013
I was told I would get a $200 Visa card for my early termination fee from Dish Network. I cancelled Dish Network and then was supposed to get $200 from DirecTV to pay for this. DirecTV lied as I am now finding out it's done constantly to everyone. I ended up paying Dish Network $400 for early cancellation.
Reviewed June 22, 2013
I have had DirecTV for over a year now. Honestly, it wasn't by choice as the apartment complex I live in only accepts them as a cable provider. I've been having issues with them the last few months with my bill, but I've been calm and patient. The straw that broke the camel’s back however was when I decided to move to another apartment within the same apartment complex. I called them on the 1st of the month to have my cable service transferred, and they said someone would be calling me within 2 or 3 days. I waited patiently for a call that never came. I called them back 4 days later, and one of their incompetent customer service reps tells me they don't know what's going on, but that someone would call me back. This process repeated itself about 5 times until I called them back and asked them if I could speak to manager.
Long, long story short, I am now on day 20 of no cable...By this point, I was at the point of exploding when I realized the rep was telling me the exact thing!!! I held back tears of anger and frustration as I realized this had officially become the worst customer service experience of my life. It's not about the cable service... It's about giving a company money for a service they aren't providing, and then have someone tell you it is what it is. I tried to cancel since I haven't had TV for almost a month now, and they had the balls to ask for a $200 cancellation fee?! DO NOT GET DIRECTV! THEY ARE SCAMMERS, ONLY OUT FOR MONEY! The executives over in DirecTV ought to be ashamed of themselves! They suck **!
Reviewed June 21, 2013
I have been a customer of DirecTV for over 10 years. I have purchased their service at each home I have lived in noticing that every time I would move, the service was horrible. I assumed that they must have farmed out their customer service overseas as well as to one of the states in the south, hiring high school dropouts at minimum wage and putting them on the front lines of phone service to try and help us customers. Each time I moved, they would create a problem and I would try and fix the problem and the problem would never get fixed. Additionally, the problem would almost always create additional services/money we owe to DTV and I could NEVER get a customer service rep or supervisor that would fix the problem. THAT'S STEALING! It is almost like I am dealing with zombies. It's so frustrating.
Most recently, we moved from one town to another town and I canceled service when I moved. But what I didn't know was that DTV just TRANSFERRED the service from the first house to our new house. So now, the account number for the person living at the old house WAS THE SAME AS OUR ACCOUNT NUMBER. Both that person or household and our household are getting billed for both receivers. IT'S THEFT! And when I called to try to get the bills separated, they do NOTHING, or they end up transferring me to the MOVER’S DEPARTMENT... HUH? I am not moving!!! UNBELIEVABLE.
I realize that the customer rep just doesn't know how to rectify my problem and so they transfer me to get rid of me. UGH. I can't cancel my service because they'll charge me over $400 for breaking the contract. Oh AND... I recommended someone to DTV and asked for the $100 refer-a-friend promotion and they say they have no idea what that is... So it's a major scam to get you to sign up with DTV. They're crooks who care nothing of you. They only want your money and they will NEVER help you fix any problem THAT THEY INCUR!
Reviewed June 20, 2013
I had to call 4 times to speak with a supervisor who didn't know anything about my account. It's like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing there. I know my blood pressure went up just having to keep explaining the same problem. Maybe I should have said it in another language. I can't wait for my contract to be over. I wouldn't recommend DirecTV to my worst enemy.
Reviewed June 20, 2013
Four months ago, I ordered the receiver and router so I could hook my DVR up to the internet and get On Demand. I thought that was the end of it, but what I recently found out is that DirecTV actually changed my programming at the time to the Premier package from their Choice package. I have auto pay and was paying for the NFL ticket prior to that so my wife didn't notice the change in the billing. We also don't watch that much TV, so when we had HBO, we thought it was for a weekend promo again.
I finally noticed it this month because I had to update my credit card information and when I called to complain and get a credit for the overcharge, they said it wasn't possible to get the whole amount refunded, but they could cover the prorated portion of the Premier package for the month so far. They told me it is my responsibility to be checking my bills every month and insinuated it is my fault this happened. My question is can they really change my package, charging me an extra $80 each month without telling me? I never received an email, call or anything. So at any point, they can change something on my bill to charge me more and my only defense is to catch them doing it? How is this not illegal?
Reviewed June 19, 2013
DirecTV is one of many companies I will no longer deal with. I should have known when the only way they would provide service is with a credit or debit card. I had service with them for about 5 mo. Within that time, I was unsatisfied so I cancelled their service and was hit with a cancellation fee of over 350 dollars. When I called in about it and mentioned to the rep all the times I called in, for some reason, they have no comments listed on my account regarding any of the issues I had with their service.
Also, when I spoke to a Rhonda, she was adamant about stressing the policy and procedure although when I first received service, none of that information was stressed to me in person or over the phone that I could remember. When I mentioned that to her, she began to state how I received an email about this and that. Who? Find me one person who reads all that crap. Guess I will start so I'm not being charged for what I call hidden and ridiculous fees. I would hate for someone to die and family receives a bill because they had to disconnect their family member's service due to death. Or someone facing financial issues so they have to disconnect to not build up late fees but when you do disconnect, guess what? There is a fee higher than the late fee.
Reviewed June 19, 2013
They con you into signing 2-year contract and don't say what the cost will be after the first year. I asked but got no response. After the first year, they increased the cost several times and duplicated charges on my credit card. They also charged me $299 for a DVR which I understood would be mine, and after I terminated the contract, they took the DVR and found some way of charging me an extra $108. This is the worst company to get into bed with. Everyone should stay far from DirecTV. You will be sorry if you get involved with them.
Reviewed June 19, 2013
After calling and asking to disconnect my service years after the contract was up, they continued the service for another month and are trying to bill me for it. Then two months after they did discontinue service, they are trying to bill me for two pay per view movies that were supposedly ordered two months after service was discontinued. Warning, do not order DirecTV.
Reviewed June 18, 2013
I had problems with my DirecTV April 26th, 2012 which I canceled my service. I lost connection and DirecTV never came to my home to fix so I canceled my service a couple of days later. I was a customer for over 4 years and they just didn't care to fix my service so I could use it. I paid my final bill in May 2012 for service I never received from DirecTV for May 2012. I started receiving calls from collectors stating they were calling from DirecTV and that I owed another $99 for June. Mind you I had no service for April 2012 and May 2012.
The equipment was returned in May 2012. I have tried to just explain the problem but all they did was get more people to call me to collect. I finally broke down and paid again. I required that they send me an email stating that I paid in full. They did. Now they have started again trying to collect for the same bill. DirecTV is the worst company in the world. They steal your money and treat you like you did something wrong even if you have paid for service you never received.
Reviewed June 17, 2013
I called DirecTV and asked if there were any plans less expensive than the one I currently have ($54.99 monthly). The gentleman I spoke to told me there is a $29.99 package available, but I would have 72 less channels. I told him that was fine. He changed my plan.
The next month, I got a bill for $65.99 (I normally pay $54.99). I assumed this was a mistake so I called DirecTV so they could adjust my bill. The lady told me it was not a mistake; I lost a discount because I changed my plan. I was confused, because why would I be paying $12 more to have 72 less channels? I asked to be transferred to a manager, who was EXTREMELY RUDE; she told me there was nothing they can do and that's how they work.
After arguing with the woman for about 20 minutes, I realized they were not going to do anything to help me. I do not recommend DirecTV to anyone! They come off as cheap when really, they are ridiculously overpriced and not customer-friendly.
Reviewed June 16, 2013
I had DirecTV service for three years. During that time, I didn't have any problems other than the service going out any time there was a thunderstorm. I accepted that, though. AT&T Uverse simply offered a lower price with a cash incentive. So switching to AT&T Uverse was a financial decision. It was a bonus that I wouldn't have the problem of the service going out during storms. When I called DirecTV to tell them I had switched to AT&T Uverse, they offered to reduce my monthly fee and have premium channels free. The reduced monthly fee didn't equal the $200 cash incentive I received from AT&T, so I said no. After that, I received so many calls from DirecTV trying to convince me to come back to them that I had to stop answering any calls from a toll-free number. DirecTV told me they would send a box to return my equipment.
Before I could even return the equipment, they sent me a bill. When I called to ask what the bill was for, they said they hadn't received my equipment, so I said it was on the way. Then I didn't hear from DirecTV again until today. Suddenly, they say I owe another $57. I called to ask what the bill was for, thinking they would say they still didn't have my equipment. Instead, they said I owed for Pay Per View purchases made in 2010, 2011 and 2012! I said why in the world are they charging for purchases made that long ago? They said they had no way of knowing I had purchased them. I don't believe that! I think they're simply robbing me. Of course, they offered to eliminate the charges if I came back to them! Unbelievable. I'm going to find out if I can get copies of the bills from those times to prove I already paid. Bottom line, stay away from DirecTV. They so resent customers leaving that they try to bog them.
Reviewed June 15, 2013
DirecTV went into my bank account and submitted a payment request for $629.71 that was paid by the bank without my authorization. When the Bank of America agent and I questioned DirecTV representative on a 3-way call, we were told that anytime DirecTV has a credit card or debit card number on its records, that card number will be submitted to the bank for payment of any balance owing to DirecTV, even it that card number is not associated with their account holder. In my case, the payment was not even for an account that I have with DirecTV. The DirecTV agent said that it does not matter whether or not the account is for services that I signed up for. If my card number got on its records, my debit card will be used to pay the bill. I have no idea how DirecTV got my debit card number to associate it with someone else's account. These actions should be illegal and if not, why not? What has happened to the rights of American citizens?
Reviewed June 14, 2013
Three months after I cancelled my service with DirecTV, they charged $646 to my credit card, claiming it was for early cancellation (I had a 12-month contract and kept the service 18 months), not returning the equipment (which I had done two months prior, but they claim they cannot find it), and my last three months' bills that were not paid (do you really think they would allow an account continue past due without discontinuing service?). I filed a fraud complaint with my credit card company and had to close my account.
These people are a bunch of deceitful, lying thieves. The way they get you is by the clause in their agreement that basically says, "If you use your credit / debit card to establish service, we have the right at any point to use that account for any remaining balance or outstanding charges we deem necessary." So even though they may be mistaken or just outright lying, they can do what they want.
Reviewed June 14, 2013
The guy was not experienced. It took all day; he left holes in the wall; there are wires hanging outside and he kicked over my computer and broke it! They sent someone else. It took him all day and after three months, they refuse to replace or pay for my computer. I will pursue legal action… They subcontract anyone who will work.
Reviewed June 13, 2013
I received a statement today as a final billing notice with a late charge attached plus $43 in pay for view charges from 2012. I was also told when I disconnected that my early out charge would be $60 and it is $80. I was also advised to not pay my bill until I received a final billing and there would be no charges for late fees which were obviously false. I will never recommend your company and will participate in every way possible to warn the public about your poor customer service which I recently read was one of the top five poorest in the country. I participated in a survey that was sent to me by DirecTV tonight and this is my comment along with poor ratings:
My charges doubled and even downgrading my program was way more expensive than where I am today. Furthermore, I changed to total cell service in June 2012 and when I sent my equipment in, I got a bill for $43+ additional amount for Pay per View that the customer service rep claimed were on my card when it came in. I had purchased all my movies via the internet because the system would not ALLOW me to do otherwise. I am paying these charges but I am very displeased because I believe it to be a scam by DIRECTV due to them only appearing when service is stopped. I WILL NEVER USE YOUR COMPANY AGAIN. The agent I dealt with was extremely rude.
Reviewed June 12, 2013
I ended my DirecTV service on May 21 at 12:00 midnight (which is what I was told). I received a final bill of $122.59. I understood that the balance would be withdrawn within 20 days from my credit card on file. Therefore, I called on Friday June 07, 2013 and spoke with Jaymie (this is spelled differently than Jamie). She informed me that I had 150 days from the date of disconnect to pay this, and we set payment arrangements for $24.52 on 06/14, 06/28, 07/12, 07/26 and $24.51 on 08/09. However on 06/11, the full charge of $122.59 posted to my credit card (bank account). I disputed these charges with a supervisor. He read the notes from June 07 that stated exactly what I just typed; however, he could not reverse the charges. The representative misinformed me and I, the customer, am punished.
I asked if the call could be reviewed. He said it could, but it required a process. I was told I could fill out a form online, which I did. I realize that I owe this balance, and I would like for my payment arrangements to be set as discussed. Because of this, I now am in a financial hardship, and I do not feel that my issue was resolved - that the customer service representatives with DirecTV can just tell customers wrong information and the customers suffer. I need someone to help me with this. DirecTV thinks they can just get by with this, and I am one customer that is not going to allow this to happen. There needs to be accountability on this issue.
Reviewed June 11, 2013
I called DirecTV to get a quote on monthly subscription fees. I made it clear to the representative that I was only interested in pricing. He said he could help me with my request. He asked my name and address and I provided that information. After asking me a number of questions regarding my needs, he said he needed my Social Security Number so he could run a credit check. I told him I wouldn't give him my number. He insisted he needed my Social Security Number and again I refused. He finally said okay and he would check on what options were available for me. He came back with a pricing quote and I thanked him, said that was all I needed and that I would call back if I decided to go with DirecTV.
Before I hung up, he said that he had run a credit check on me using my name and address and that if I called back later to sign up, that they would run another credit check. He told me I should sign up with him to avoid the second check as it would affect my credit score. I did not give DirecTV permission to run a credit check as I refused to give them Social Security Number. They then used the credit check to pressure me into subscribing immediately to avoid further credit checks and lowering my credit score.
Reviewed June 11, 2013
I was with DirecTV for years. Then when my contract was over, I was going to Dish because they had a promo but they talked me out of leaving and offered me close to what Dish was giving me. I had about 400 channels. By the time we spent hours and hours on the phone, I ended up with about 40 channels and paying more than what I was paying for the 400. I called them and cancelled. Now they want 480 dollars and they count on people to pay or they put you in collections. Well, my credit went to ** because it's the principle of the thing. Sure, I hurt my credit but I figured it was the right thing to do. This happened in Arizona and the Council on Aging wrote a letter to DTV and the attorney general but they didn't do crap.
Reviewed June 10, 2013
They lie, misrepresent, and can't follow up with anything. The absolute WORST company to deal with. I got it AGAIN for the NFL package... I should have sucked it up and gone to the sports bar this season. I had problems with them when I lived in Boston a few years ago... the same stuff, lies, deception and terrible customer service. The funniest part is during their pitch. They say "we're number one in customer satisfaction"... LOL, what poll? Who took the poll? 3 people in their PR department? SHAME ON YOU DIRECTV. Look at all the negative reviews you have. You are a disgusting company.
Reviewed June 10, 2013
I called DirecTV to cancel my service because I needed to trim my monthly bills. They offered me the option of keeping the equipment in place for six months, at which time, if my finances were in better shape, they would again offer their services to me. I didn't keep track of the time passing and I wasn't planning on getting cable again. However, I started getting bills from them. I called them and said I shouldn't have to pay, since they had not asked me if I wanted to resume services, or even notified me. They insisted I still owed them. I'm sure this has happened to others so beware of this trap.
Reviewed June 9, 2013
I ordered DirecTV bundled with AT&T internet and phone as part of a promotional package back in July 2012. Almost every month (8 out of the past 11), I have to call to get the promised discounts. They always adjust the bill and credit my account, but I spend 45 minutes to an hour each time to do this. Every time, they promise to correct the problem and state it will not happen again, but it does. The internet service is 20% to 50% of the promised speed, and I have had significant outages at least six times, where I have spent one to two hours on the phone where they go through the same routine and tell me it's on my end, but in the end, it is always on their end.
Now I went to DirecTV and purchased a new receiver, and they told me I had to renew my two-year contract to activate it. Now they are telling me I did not actually buy the receiver for $138.00; I only leased it. This is total nonsense. No place in the terms and conditions state I was leasing it. I am now going to cancel my service and will vehemently fight any cancellation fees. At this point, I would rather give my attorney a $1,000 than DirecTV and AT&T a dime.
Reviewed June 8, 2013
I owed money on DirecTV. I had to get it suspended because I was laid off my job. These people would call me every morning about their money. I stated to them that I lost my job. I put my son's money on my credit card on the 7th of June 2013 to pay a bill for him. My son tried to pay his bill with my credit card, but DirecTV took $30.00 off my card that belongs to my son. I talked with customer service (DirecTV). They told me that they sent a letter stating that they were going to use my credit card to get their money. I never consented to this, I explained. They did not care. They had no right to take money off my card. What can I do?
Reviewed June 8, 2013
I have had nothing but trouble with DirecTV since I switched to them on April 6, 2013. I was given the wrong information when I put the order in. When the technician showed up to install DirecTV, he had to phone in and change the order so that I could have the proper set for the high definition TV I have. I questioned what the charge would be for an HD DVR every month. He and the representative on the phone that he called told me it would be an extra $10.00 a month. That was not the case. It was $15.00 a month. I had to find that out when the bill came.
I am new to HD technology. I only have one HD TV and the other two TVs are still standard. The technician was aware of this because I told him. I had to call DirecTV about the cost of the HD DVR and they did give me a credit of $60.00, but I still feel like they got me. That $60.00 will not cover the additional monthly charges I will pay for - for the HD DVR and for the two year contract. I say two year contract because yes, once you are in that contract, it will cost to break that. So, as a customer, you feel trapped. DirecTV knows after the two year contract, we can cancel. Then after this I called tech support on June 5, 2013 about why I cannot view recordings on two of the TVs. They told me it was because I have a standard receiver on those two TVs.
I was upset to hear that because I didn't know that. Before I switched to them, I had that option so it was like I downgraded. The representative on the phone told me that they would upgrade the two standard receivers to HD receivers at no charge because I was not told that. Well, that never happened. A technician was supposed to come out and switch the equipment on Saturday, May 8, 2013 but never showed up. I called and spent two hours on the phone being transferred and then told it would cost me $99.00 to upgrade. It was noted to me several times that that was a big discount because of the situation and that was the best they can do. I was told that it was never noted on my account that someone was to come out, switch the equipment and that there would be no charge.
I asked several representative if they could transfer me to the representative that I spoke to on June 5, 2013 and they all told me that they couldn't because they only have the employee ID number, and that they cannot transfer to a different call center. After spending two hours on the phone, I told the last representative I spoke to that if they could find the phone recording that I had with tech support on June 5, 2013, to go ahead and call me. Her response was that customers don't often get phones call back and that it would be a big if. Isn't that funny how all of a sudden a recorded phone call might never be found and that customers don't get calls back? Bet they would call me if my bill was late.
Once again, I'm in a two year contract so why not get me for an additional $99.00 if they can? As a customer, that is how I feel. This whole situation was not handled properly or in a professional manner.
Reviewed June 8, 2013
My 80-year-old disabled father's only outlet is watching westerns 24/7. We were previously using Comcast, but the prices kept going up even through he was watching only one channel. Based on promotions, his grandson switched to DirecTV which has turned out to be even worse... Constantly increasing cost, two year contract, infomercials all night long and now the final straw today... system failed (their hardware) and now we have to pay $50 for them to come out and fix/replace their equipment. Where are the government regulators watching their scam companies that are cheating everyone with their promotions but not protecting the customers including the elderly and disabled?
Reviewed June 8, 2013
Today is day TWO of my service: CenturyLink rep offered $20 per month savings off of my DISH Network bill if I switched to DirectTV. Offer was $39.99 per month, details on plan and costs to be emailed to me. The email never arrived, I called both companies to find out what plan and my costs, I was told by DirectTV that they do not email, but had sent a letter which should arrive in a few more days. DirectTV also told me that my actual costs would be $54 per month just $6 less than the DISH costs. Why?? Because I need a receiver to get the $39.99 program!!! I could cancel the service within the 24-hr period, or I will have to wait 24 mo. to do so. I could downgrade the service but it would cost me $160 to return the receiver, which I have had for just over 24 hrs. This seems to be outright fraud on the part of either or both companies, a classic bait-and-switch. They use snail mail to prevent the customer from acting sooner, and you are stuck. Cost to me will be $480 over the 24 months before I can cancel.
Reviewed June 8, 2013
DirecTV is an organized group of gang, well-maintained to steal money from customers. And they promise to give good service and saving. What they mean is "I'll give this ** for your money." If you are reading reviews, do not dare to hang this rope in your neck. And if you do, you will regret it.
Reviewed June 7, 2013
I'm being grossly overcharged and no one seems to be able to give me the same answer twice. They're billing for "free" channels and telling me I'd be reimbursed the following month, which didn't happen. They've failed to apply discounts and promotional rates 3 months in a row. I participated in a 3-way call with both DirecTV and my internet provider to determine a resolution, which unsurprisingly was not applied to my next billing. I've made repeated phone calls to customer service staff, who are unable to speak anything other than their lingo with patronizing "what don't you understand" attitudes. I no longer want this service and have turned to the FCC for assistance.
Reviewed June 6, 2013
I have the same issues. Didn't install the genie. They ripped me off $100 to suspend my service even though I never signed or agreed to a year contract, after I told them clearly 6 months. They promised to reimburse $100 to me for this month when I suspended my service in May and then told it's towards whenever I activate my account again. Read **, it talked about the CEO wanting to make money off current customers. I wrote the writer, Brian **, NY times at **. If everyone writes to them about similar stories, someone will step up to sue for unethical business practices. I also am writing the president of DirecTV everyday until I get my promised reimbursement. Good luck.
Reviewed June 6, 2013
I signed up with DirecTV in November 2012. They did not complete the install as I ordered... I moved in with one TV and told them this before they came out. I knew where I wanted all future TVs to be set up but when moving across the country, it takes time for personal property to get here. They did not hook up all four rooms, just one room. Then a few months later, I had two more TV's. They came out to hook them up and said they had to start my agreement all over as though it's day one into their so-called agreement. I've had nothing but problems with them and their idea of service. I am fed up with them and yet, they make me feel forced to staying with them with the threat of taking a hefty cancellation fee over $600 from my bank card account. How can they just rip customers off who are dissatisfied with their service and want to cancel because of it? What happened to protecting the consumer?
These people at DirecTV act like they are Mafiosa or Mafia! Is there a class action lawsuit lodged against DirecTV? And if so, I would like to be part of it. When they take money out of my account without my current day permission, it will put me into a financial hardship! What can be done about this? I told them since they are charging me $20 a month for every month I'm short on reaching their never-ending agreement, I might be willing to pay $20 a month if I have to. But they said they will take it out all in one lump sum! Can they do this legally without any repercussions? The consumer is being ripped off by DirecTV. I see thousands of complaints lodged. How many does it take to create a class action lawsuit? They should be put out of business with the American people and anyone else they do business with. What happened to freedom of choice and competition? Where are the laws that protect the consumer?
Reviewed June 5, 2013
I am an unhappy customer. I have been a DirecTV customer for over three years now. My inquiry of this morning wasn't fulfilled, even after I spoke with Rick, a supervisor at DirecTV. I am not happy that I have to pay $49 for a service call when the problem is my DVR. Replace my DVR DirecTV. I pay a lot of money to DirecTV each month, and that includes the use of the DVR. My signal gets lost on a daily basis. We cannot enjoy our programming. I will post in the customer affairs board and report my experience with DirecTV with BBB. I will have BBB investigate this matter further. It is unfair to pay for a service that is not even being provided.
Reviewed June 5, 2013
If asked for a supervisor, they are busy and cannot talk. For God's sake, what kind of business are they busy with? Are we not paying? Be careful getting their service.
Reviewed June 5, 2013
We just upgraded our DirecTV plan with the new Genie Boxes but found out that the $300 DVD recorder that we used on the previous box cannot be used now. After talking to Direct's Technical Support, I asked them if they could put the old box back on one TV; and they told me it would cost $69 for the box plus an installation charge. Customers need to be informed about this before they commit to any upgrades if they are wanting to use an existing DVD or VCR recorder. Our grandchildren enjoyed getting copies of their favorite TV show on a DVD to play in the car or while staying at the beach.
Reviewed June 5, 2013
We have been customers of yours for about 4 years or more. We took advantage of your free DVR upgrade. We called on a Monday to set up a time for it to be installed. We were told someone would come out on that Saturday between hours 8 am-12 pm. 12:30 came and no one showed. I called your #800 to get an update and I was told I was scheduled for set up between 12-4. I told the rep that was incorrect and I was treated like I was lying and received no customer service at all. I called my husband to let him know and he informed me he just got an automated call saying our tech was running late, which proved that we were set for install time of 8-12.
I then sat and waited till about 4:30 with again no call or update on what was going on. I once again called your #800 and spoke with a rep who tried to tell me I was set up for install between 12-2 and again I was wrong with my install time!!! He then told me he has no way of contacting the tech or finding out any information for me. I asked again, to find out for me where the tech was. I was put on hold and when he returned, he told me he sent a message to have the tech call us back in 20 min. The tech called back in less than 20 min. and apologized for being late and he was located about 30 or so min. away from us and would have to reschedule. I am not upset with the tech, from what he told us, he has no idea where he is supposed to go next until he finishes the job he is working on.
I think your system needs to be looked at and figure out a different way to take care of your customers. My husband then called back to set another appointment and was told they would have us first on the list for Saturday or if the tech was in the area, he would stop by and give us our DVR. We have heard nothing so my husband called today to find out what was going on and he was told the earliest you could come out would be in 2 weeks. This is not good customer service at all. You do not say what you are going to do and we have lost faith and trust in DirecTV. I called today to find out if we could have someone out this Saturday like we were told we were going to have done and there is no earlier time. They could have sent someone out this Monday but I cannot sit around and hope for the tech to show up at 8 like I was being told he would come, so I had to keep the scheduled Saturday in two weeks.
We are not happy customers at all and do not feel valued at all. We are no longer in contract with you and could move on to another company. When I called in today, I finally did speak with a rep who acted like she cared and agreed with me on how we were treated being not good at all. All I can do now is wait and see if the tech shows up in two weeks between the hours of 8 am-10 am like I was told. I am hoping I do not experience the same customer service I received.
Updated review: Oct. 31, 2013
Problem has been resolved and Directv has refunded me for services I did not use and also its equipment.
Original Review: June 5, 2013
I moved into my new apartment March '12 last year. The way my apartment is facing and positioned, I cannot receive satellite service and my landlord did not approve for satellite to be on the roof, so the technician informed his supervisor that he can't make the install. Fifteen months later, I saw a charge from DirecTV for $932 on my credit report. I didn't even use the service. I couldn't even receive the services, and they charge me nearly a grand. They refuse to refund me for the services I didn't even use. This is ridiculous.
Reviewed June 5, 2013
DirecTV has been robbing me for some time with unjustified price hikes, lies and frauds. My contract ended this year on May 28, 2013 .They were trying to hide this date from me but I had taped the conversation when I called them back in April of 2013 to find out this information, complaining about unjustified increases which they increased my bill from $40.51 to $52.04. Out of nowhere, they raised the bill again to $54.22. I called them on May 28, the last day of the contract and told them to turn off the service. The guy that was the rep told me that May 28th looked like May 26 and that he would fix the error. I told him that I had recorded the conversation re what the last day of the contract was which was May 28, 2013. They lie so much and are full of fraud and greed.
The service was turned off on the 28th of May 2013. When the bill came in 2 days ago, it shows that they fraudulently put down May 26, 2013 as the date for the start of another contract period which they started. This is complete fraud, and a violation of honest business ethics -They thought that I wouldn't see what and how they manipulated the end of my contract with them, also they were mad because I was quitting them and they don't want you to quit them because they want to continue to rob and fraud you!!!
These people should be arrested and prosecuted for robbery and fraud to say the least! I have been calling them for two days; after the automated bot asks for my account number, then they just hang up the phone. I will not pay this new bill because it's robbery!! This issue belongs in court. How do they think they can continue to defraud and rob their customers without penalty? If any lawyers are out there, this is a solid class action win for the customers who can't afford lawyers. That's what DirecTV counts on, that they can continue to perpetrate these frauds until time ends. These morons need to be stopped now.
There are over 2000 complaints of a similar nature about the crimes that DirecTV is committing. They should be called Direct robbery because that's what they are doing, robbing and defrauding their own customers. Someone needs to go to jail there and a recoup of punitive and compensatory damages should take place because they have been doing this for a long time to a lot of people. Let the ax fall on their necks, and their fate should be the same as Bernie Madoff!!!
Reviewed June 5, 2013
I am a new customer with DirecTV. Yesterday, I noticed a station I had been able to earlier access was no longer available to me. The channel is listed on my remote brochure dated effective 2/1/13 as being an active channel in my package. I phoned DirecTV and speaking with a rep, I have been informed that the channel is no longer available in my package and that I would now have to buy a higher priced package in order to get the channel. I have been going round and round with DirecTV on various matters. They are always plotting to increase my costs. My satisfaction level with these folks can be summarized in three small words: Spare me my blood pressure!!! This is the sorriest service I have ever encountered in my life and one of my biggest mistakes.
Reviewed June 4, 2013
I called after my bill went up again. She lowered the bill for 1 month. I refused to pay the higher rate and they cut my service off. Now they refuse to send me the boxes to send the equipment back.
Reviewed June 4, 2013
First time they were to set up service, NO ONE bothered to tell us that we needed to have ALL the televisions in the house to set it up, so of course no service that day. The day they were supposed to come out the second time, the guy who was supposed to do the work showed up about four hours late looking totally hung over. He went up in the attic only to come back and say he needed a new dish and wouldn't be setting up service yet again. Third time's the charm (now almost 2 weeks later). We got installation but because we were living in the downstairs apt, while they remodeled the upstairs, we could not get all of the service installed, though they had access to the whole area. Because they had to come out 2 different times to install the sets, we were charged $200 for the first visit and another $400 for the second set up, yet initial set up was supposed to be free.
We had to get a supervisor out because on the second install, they were supposed to fish the wiring through the wall, and they didn't. What a joke. Now on a regular basis, we lose our service and get a code on the TV #775. They have replaced the hardware in the attic that they said was causing this, yet it continues to happen. When you call technical support like it tells you to do (I am disabled and can't go into attic and no one is here, I informed ALL 3 people that I spoke to), so after going up in the attic to reconnect, they tell you there is nothing that they can do. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A TECH COME OUT. Problem is he can't come out for most of the week. Today is Tuesday and they will be here Friday, that was the soonest. HORRID CUSTOMER SERVICE. So today, I will be calling DISH to see about switching service.
Reviewed June 4, 2013
DirecTV bills every 9 days or they have me, and they do not provide the customer service answers. They tell you one thing when you sign up with them, and then they don't follow through with their PROMISES. They do not answer their phones; you get automated operator that only ask questions - no putting you to a person. You have to call at least 3 times before you get a person, and you have to get upset. THIS IS THE WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH AND THE WORST SERVICE I HAVE EVER RECEIVED.
Reviewed June 4, 2013
From the beginning of my order, I have had nothing but misinformation from DirecTV Customer Service reps; my order was wrong. My service is screwed up. I also was told by DirecTV for internet service to bundle with ViaSat which uses Wild Blue. It is my internet provider. I'm now being told they can't support my DirectTV and allow us to use the cinema feature box they have for our service. I hate DirecTV. They are costing me too much money and no resolution that is satisfactory. Supervisors are no help at all. This company is a disgrace and I would never recommend anyone using them. All they say to me is that they understand my frustration, but, but, but... never a solid resolution or information that is given to me by different reps. It's always a different story. If this ever gets resolved to my satisfaction, it will be more than a miracle. They just don't care. They have you by your **.
Reviewed June 4, 2013
I have been in contact with them for the last year 1/2 without a stable place to live. We put my acc. on hold. I stayed in contact with them then they reinstated my service without me actually having service. I've been going back and forth and then today I found they took $363.13 out of my checking acc. When I called, she said we can do this without telling you. I explained that I had been keeping in contact even through the loss of my mother in Feb. I even talked during hospice; I was at her house. And now they do this without even telling me or setting up payments on what they say I owe. This seems wrong to me. They’re not willing to work with me. I get money once a month and have been trying to do the right thing so not to ruin my credit and do ft by my billing poo s, and they take that much money from me with no warning. I’m devastated by this. Need help.
Reviewed June 3, 2013
I recently had two technicians come by to help me with a problem and the one that goes by Sam ** smelt of marijuana very badly. If I have another unpleasant experience again, you will have lost a consumer.
Reviewed June 3, 2013
I am writing this in hopes that other people will not be negatively be affected by DirecTV's unscrupulous business practices. I have been a happy/unhappy customer for 21 months and recently received a call from a member of DirecTV's sales department. The salesperson promised me that I would be happy with the upgrade (the Genie). And that if I did not like the product - that I had three months to send it back at no obligation. I informed the salesperson that my contract would be up in about 3 months, and that I would be exploring other options. He then put me on hold and came back with an offer of twenty dollars off a month for the next 12 months. I went ahead and agreed since I figured I had nothing to lose.
Well, the upgraded equipment that arrived was installed and has not worked properly. So in my opinion it has been a downgrade. And I came to find out that I am supposedly locked into a 24-month contract regardless of if I send back the upgraded equipment. The kicker here is that when I contacted customer service about the offer of twenty dollars off per month that was verbally agreed to, that they had no such thing in the system; and that I would be paying the full amount (they said that they could take ten dollars off per month).
I have been deceived in the past by their customer service reps. Once I tried to get my bill lowered by changing my programs and my bill actually went up. So, I actually got a downgrade in service but an upgrade in my monthly bill. And there are other instances when dealing with DirecTV. I advise any and everybody to shop around when considering a cable provider. And please do not be fooled by the promises that DirecTV makes because I have come to find out that they are more often than not, " BROKEN PROMISES". I will update everybody I have written contact with about my continued proceeding dealing with DirecTV and the verbal agreements made over a recorded conversation between me and the DirecTV staff.
Reviewed June 2, 2013
I am not a DirecTV customer. I paid a bill for my mom (who is) a couple of times. When DirecTV kept adding Sports Packages (and the bill) to my mom's account without her consent, after 12 plus years, she cancelled the service. By the way, my mom does not know a football from a baseball. Because I paid (last year) a couple of bills for her, my Visa Debit account number was kept on their file without my consent. When my mother didn't pay her balance due, they debited my card (1st time for $51.03) because that was every penny in the account. I called, complained (I am not on my mother's DirecTV account and she is not on my Visa Debit account) and was asked to go online, submit a claim and wait 10 business days for my refund.
Well, I got the refund in 6 days and the same day that they refunded the money, they DEBITED an additional $250.01. I called to get a supervisor (Rose) on the phone, who I was explaining that I am not waiting 10 business days for a refund this time and that I want my refund now. She assured me that it would be processed in 24 hours. I, again, asked that my bank account info be removed from my mom's account. AGAIN, DirecTV debited an ADDITIONAL $2.81 (that's all they left from yesterday). People... DirecTV has to be stopped. This is theft on every degree. Paying a bill for someone does not give them the right to retain bank account information, especially if it's not your account. They didn't do it once, not twice, but three times, with a complaint after each unauthorized debit. If you have a similar case, please email me. Let's get a class action case going. This is ridiculous!
Reviewed June 2, 2013
Like many here, I switched to DirecTV because the initial rates, as I was quoted, seemed a lot cheaper. That price went away on almost no time. But here is the big kicker. I've run into some bad times financially. Big time! I couldn't pay my phone bill with the local phone, but since I used my cell for all my calls, it was no biggie! They terminated my phone line, but not my phone service! While I was unable to use my phone, I was still getting billed each month, I found out. Next to go was DirecTV. No service. I tried to ignore it because of all my problems. I called (and called and called) and finally got a number where I could talk to someone. Too many of their numbers were auto-responses that wouldn't let me talk to someone, unless I paid my bill. I finally got a hold of someone. I explained the situation and want to know if DirecTV continued to bill like my phone company did despite having no service. I was told that they didn't do that. Technically, they didn't lie.
I called the other day and I talked to someone who, unless they can prove otherwise, must have been 12 years old. I asked direct questions, and she would ramble on about something else. I eventually told her, politely, that I was going to hang up and call again because she was upsetting me, and I didn't want to yell at her. I called back. Fortunately, I got someone else. I asked about my bill, and that's when the fun began. How is the bill still getting higher if I don't have service?
"But you still have service…""No, I don't."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't. I'm looking at the TV right now!"
What they do is, they were providing me with 4 channels to keep my service active and continue billing me for a fee. The 4 channels, none of which I have programmed to view are: EWN (Eternal Word Network -religious channel), Bloomberg Financial (how ironic), BYU (Brigham Young's channel) and supposedly NASA, except I wasn't getting that one. I'm exploring getting an indoor antenna and a converter box (I'm still analog), and watching other stuff on the web. I am still awaiting Apple's iTV.
Reviewed June 1, 2013
I took my time and shopped when moving into my new house to get the best deal on cable/dish. When speaking with the rep at DirecTV, I told him I wanted to know exactly what my fees would be every month. It was somewhere in the $55 a month range for just dish and DVR. I repeatedly asked about any other charges and was told no, that with my rebates and discounts for signing a 2-year contract, it would stay the same and would be $55 a month. First bill comes - $69. Second bill comes - $75. I called to find out why and was told that though the DVRs were advertised as free, to USE the DVRs is $4 a month per DVR which was $16.
So, apparently, if you want the DVRs just to collect dust, they are free, but if you want to use them, there is an additional cost. Okay. So, every month for the next several months, my bill went up. It's now around $100 a month 9 months later (mind you, I'm locked into a 2-year contract that if I cancel, I will be charged $20 a month the balance of 2 years so it's around $300 to cancel). I have called several times to find out why it went up, but all they do is read me the charges on my bill. Nobody there can tell me why it went up. "It could be the Billing cycle"; "It could be because our rates went up. If our rates go up, your rates go up". So I asked the woman to look at my first few months' bills and then the last couple of months' bills and then sat on the phone while she sat with a calculator and added line by line for each month... even though the billed amount is on the bill already! Yep, it has gone up, but they're not sure why. And this was a supervisor I was speaking to.
In addition, I was signed up for automatic payment - withdrawn automatically from my checking account. My card expired so I called and updated my card information. Next month comes and I get a call that my account is delinquent. So I called and asked why it wasn't automatically withdrawn and was told I was supposed to tell them to set me back up again for automatic payments. Then I come back from being out of town this month and my cable is off. I called and found out no payments were taken out. And, I've been charged late fees. I called to find out why it's not being taken out and I was told I have to go online and set it up; they can't do it. Nobody told me that the other two times I called. So I had late fees, no service, and increased rates because of wrong information or lack of information.
Nobody at this company has the right answer for anything. I have spent so many minutes of my cell plan on the phone and still no resolution / no answer, except they did tell me if I cancel they will charge me $300 for early cancellation and it will automatically be deducted from my account. So, they can't automatically deduct my payments (even though that's what I signed up for), but they can automatically deduct cancellation fees if I choose not to use their service. This is by far the worst experience I have ever had. They simply cannot/ will not tell me why my rates went up even though I had a contract for a set amount. Horrible experience! Very frustrated!!
Reviewed May 31, 2013
I had been a member for years and their prices kept going up, so I could no longer afford to pay the bill. So after I stopped paying, they terminated me. I had to change satellite service providers.
Reviewed May 30, 2013
I have had nothing but problems with DTV from the get go! They are always passing me off to someone else every time I call. One person will tell you one thing and then another person will tell you something quite the opposite. My mother had service with them for just 9 or 10 days and then was moving out of state so she called to cancel services and returned the box in the suggested timeframe. Actually the same day, services were cancelled and they ended up charging $500 to her debit card because of early cancellation which caused checks to bounce because she was unaware they were going to do that. My mother has since passed away. That was back in 2008 or 2009. She was elderly.
I wrote to DTV to try and get some kind of resolution on the subject but they did not respond back. They didn't care, they had their money. As far as myself goes, I had a lady yesterday saying they would restore my service for $112 but when I called them today after being passed around to 2 different people and having to explain my story again, they tell me that I have to pay the full balance due. It is like a pre-pay deal with them. I don't know how I ever got to the point of getting behind on my bill. They didn't send me anything saying that after so long of just paying the past due amount, they would interrupt service before the first of the month. Next thing I know there's no more service.
Nothing is being resolved with my situation either. They could care less if you cancel your service or not. They will not budge to try and work with you in order to keep your business. They also burn my phone up when the bill is coming due, calling 3 times a day, and on Sundays as well as on Memorial Day. It also seems very ironic to me that around the time your bill is due and after you don't answer all the phone calls from them because you know why they are calling, it always seems as though something starts messing up with the DVR. It is like they are doing it on purpose so you will contact them. Coincidence? I think not. They are terrible to deal with, no compassion, they are right and you are wrong, end of story.
Reviewed May 30, 2013
What a joke. I wouldn't sign with this company if it was the last choice in the world. All I wanted was information to make an informed decision prior to signing a contract - most important I want information regarding internet service. The "INDIVIDUAL" I was dealing with continuously insisted I had to open an account before she could transfer me to the internet service information. So, I complied. I gave personal information such as social security number because she "insisted" she had to do a credit check on me for the best deal. In short, after many, many personal information question, an account was open, so I asked could I please be transferred to internet service so I may decide if this was the right choice for me. And she was insisting I make an appointment for a service man. I said NO, just attempting to obtain information. She finally transferred me.
Next, the first question, all my personal information... so I immediately questioned why? Her assumption was I was signing up, service man on the way. I quickly realized I was being SCAMMED. I immediately requested to be transferred to customer service. She put me on hold. After several moments, she returned and RUDELY STATED, "YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN CANCELLED," and then HUNG UP IN MY EAR. I am outraged at this company. I am so very happy I haven't signed with them. The more time went on, the more upset I became. So I took matter into my own hands. I attempted to notify customer service and that is impossible because they do not provide that on their service. Again, I am a woman of action. I notified the Executive Customer Care Contact and obtained a list of the Executive of the company.
I immediately sent an email to the Chairman, President and CEO, Michael White. About 2 hours later, I received a telephone call, followed by an email from a women representing Mr. White. She attempted smooth things over, but I repeated the same question over and over, “Why obtain such personal information when I was still obtaining information to make an informed decision???” NO ANSWER. She kept repeating herself, “We have to have all your information.” Bottom line, we are the consumers, and we shouldn't be treated as if we are stupid. Of course, nothing was resolved as this was just another attempt to sign a contract. NO WAY. In closing, to anyone who reads my post, my suggestion, as consumers, we all send emails to the CEO and inform him of our complaints. Maybe nothing will be done, but he will get the picture.
Reviewed May 30, 2013
I have not been under contract for 3 months now. I called to cancel a month ago. Not only did they bill me for the next month, but I have gotten nailed 2 $300 fines in 2 days. The first one was because I didn't return equipment. I understand that, and later yesterday, I returned them. Today I got hit with another $300 fine. When I called to find out what was going on, I got hung up on. I called back, and as soon as the lady got my account information, she hung up on me. This has happened 5 times today, and each time I didn't say anything but my phone number.
Just filed a complaint with BBB, State Attorney is next, and I will start writing letters to everyone and anyone that will take them along with telling the story on every forum and Facebook account I can get ahold of. $600 is more than a week's pay for me, I have a baby on the way, medical bills and normal monthly bills piling up. I can not be dealing with them stealing money from me!
Reviewed May 29, 2013
I am a decades-long customer, a disabled Senior Citizen, and in the process of leaving DirecTV, which in the past provided me with a PLUS HD DVR Package, which included a DVR. In January of this year, DirecTV, without notice, switched my Package to CHOICE XTRA CLASSIC, which supposedly was less per month, BUT now charged me for both the receiver ($10) AND the ability to receive HD ($10); that same month, they increased the fee for the CHOICE XTRA CLASSIC! MY BILL INCREASED!
When I called to complain, the first Customer Service Supervisor (Madeline, in the Philippines, I was told) hung up in the middle of the conversation. The second Customer Service Supervisor (Betty, in Mexico) politely told me, that there was nothing she could do, but provided me with the address of the "Office of the President". More than frustrated, I was bullied into a 'take it and swallow it' attitude. Now my only alternative to being bullied is to leave, and pay an extra cancellation fee of $140 (according to Jake in DirecTV's Accounting Department).
Hopefully, some enterprising attorney will start a Class-action against this deceptive 'bully' organization, which I will eagerly join.
Reviewed May 29, 2013
I have had service with DirecTV for a number of years and always received very good service and accurate accountability. Whenever I had a problem and reported it, someone was there promptly and ready to take care of my problem. I lost my husband a year and a half ago and needed to downsize to fit my budget and was assisted by a representative. I think this is when my trouble began. I was told by the representative that to begin right away with the new amount of my bill. I noticed every month there after I was carrying a balance due. I thought for about 2 or 3 months the new rate would kick in and it would be okay. Well no, I called and was told that I had a past due balance because and had never paid my bill in full from the time the rate was changed. I argued but to no avail.
The bill was $134.00 and I had to pay or it was going to be shut off because I was totally at fault - I had not paid my bill. I should have paid the old bill and then began the new rate and repeatedly I told her no, that is not what I was told - I paid. In March, my bill suddenly went up so I called DTV and was told they had mailed me a notice of changes in my bill in December, written on my bill. When I told them I did not receive a notice, I was instantly transferred to someone else. This man began kinda rude and said, “Yes, you got that notice mailed to you in letter form not on my bill.” I received the said letter last week (May 25, 2013). The next week or so, I had a new roof put and had no idea the dish would be moved. My service was interrupted on TV only. I spoke with about three people before a test was made and determined that I needed a service call. I was told that I had a Protection Plan and it would be covered.
The tech came out 3 days later, checked everything out and said, "You know since we change these satellites out every 2 years, I'll just change yours." He did and then checked all TVs to make sure they were working. All was well and everything worked. For the month of June, my bill came and man I had all sorts of charges listed. Now the Protection Plan means something else totally different and for $10.00 more a month I will receive a complete plan that covers everything. I asked “If I am leasing your equipment, why do I have to pay to maintain in it?” Well I spoke to 2 people before I was transferred. The last person did not tell me she was transferring me. She grunted when I asked if she was still there. The phone rang and there was a woman who identified herself as Protection Plan person.
Of course I had to give my name, acct. #, phone # and the spiel of why I was calling. She agreed with everything I had to say even to the point that her coworker was inept. Finally after being put on hold, never got a sound reason why I was charged after being told I would not be, I gave up. This lady told me, "Well you should not have moved your dish to do your roof." I just told her how badly DTV has gone down and I will be seeking a new provider, and I would pay this bill. I asked her what the criteria for turning were over the equipment. She told me, but when she said I had to keep the dish on top of my house, I lost it!!! I have not ever felt so deceived and lied to. This company makes a lot of money from their customers and the total disrespect and misrepresentation is just incredible. To pay for services rendered is one thing, but to get lied to and passed from one person in their company until you just give up or out is bad business. Thank you.
Reviewed May 29, 2013
I have been a DirecTV customer a few times in the past. It's always a pain, but what isn't when it comes to telecommunication companies? This latest (and last) time I encountered the ridiculous policy of needing to send my receiver box back after service ended. I was moving asked the DirecTV customer service woman to send me the mailing slip to my old address - EARLY - so I could mail the box back EARLY. I repeated this a few times so it was all clear. Of course this did not happen and the slip arrived after I had moved.
Rather than lug it around on the move, I left the box with my apartment manager and asked DirecTV to mail the slip to her. She put the box in the mail and now all I get are automated/harassing phone calls from a 3rd party company saying the box hasn't arrived. This is what I get for being a customer? 1) I have to talk to customer service idiots and 2) mail the box back myself? 3) I get automated calls from a different company - and when I call back, it's all automated? 4) No one to even scream at? What is this? A "technician" can't get the box himself? The return label can't be provided in every box automatically?
This company is a joke - really. Good companies don't need to do this. I get this is a clever way to extract money - a series of frustrating time-consuming steps when there are so many easier, more respectful ways to part with a customer. It's just so incredibly lame. And of course, the people ushering you through this final process are themselves lame brain, obtuse morons. I would honestly much rather just get a bill for the stupid box and be done with it. Instead, I'm sure it will go straight to collections no matter what I do. I only wish I had kept the box so I could take it out in a field and beat the crap out of it with a bat - as in Office Space. DirecTV is everything that's wrong with a modern, short-sighted company. I hope more people keep cancelling and getting TV via the internet.
Reviewed May 28, 2013
DirecTV customer service is always great for me, but not anymore. They treat new customers like Gold, but old, loyal customer gets screwed to death on outrageous increases every month. Calling them to discuss a lowering of the bill is like talking to your own wall. They tell you to downgrade to fewer channels. So what good is that? They will still continue to raise the bill. To add insult to injury, I requested cancellation of the Protection Plan and they slapped on a $10.00 hidden fee just to cancel it. That is criminal in my opinion. I thought highly of them when I joined, but now I am just DISGUSTED. $100 a month and counting to sit and watch endless, stupid commercials all day. It is just plain GREED.
Reviewed May 28, 2013
In the beginning of May, I called DTV about information on their bundle packages. They said I could get DTV, high speed internet & phone service for $164.97 and all on one bill. I explained that I was told they could not do the bundle package with Verizon FiOS and they said that I was misinformed and that they could do bundle package with any Verizon service. The tech came on May 10th. I got my first Verizon bill on May 23rd and DTV was not on the $152.47 bill. I called Verizon and asked why. I was told because DTV cannot do bundle packages with Verizon FiOS.
I then called DTV and was told this was correct and that I would get a separate bill of $86.98 from DTV. I explained what I was told when I signed up and i was told I had a 2-year contract with DTV and would be charged $400 for early termination. I only got the package 18 days ago and she said that didn't matter. I asked to speak to supervisor and she said, "Fine, but he will tell you the same thing." I did speak to AJ who said he was a supervisor and he was even colder than the first person. He said that I had a 2-year contract, no ifs, ands or buts.
I explained that on my original call, I asked at least three times about the FiOS and was told would not be a problem. He said they had my recorded conversation that I would get the $400 charge and I said they needed to listen to the call and see that I asked at least three times about FiOS. He said that it didn't matter. I would be charged $400. DTV is horrible & cold, I don't think I should pay the $400 and they should be fined.
Reviewed May 28, 2013
I own a rent house in Wichita, KS. After my renter moved out May 1, 2013, I found that DirecTV had installed a dish on the roof and run cables through the outside siding into two different bedrooms. I've been trying to find someone that can be responsible to get these removed and have had an exercise in frustration with these guys. I've called so many 800 numbers and have gotten nowhere.
Last week, I talked to someone named Anthony in customer service, and he told me that his supervisor had contacted the local manager and that he would call me back within the next 20-30 minutes to set up a time to remove the equipment. Well, that was last Thursday, today is Tuesday, and no one has called. I've called several numbers this morning and the last two calls were disconnected before anyone ever answered the call. I need some ideas as to what to do with a company that just puts you into a loop of phone calls and you never get anywhere. Terrible customer service, I know I won't ever have this company in any home I ever live in!
Reviewed May 28, 2013
We have been customers of DirecTV for about 7 years now and finally got fed up with their poor customer service, obsolete equipment, and lack of program choices. After 8 months, they still did not honor their 'refer a friend' credit, and my bill continued to go up. Any time I wanted to upgrade my equipment, they wanted to charge me as if I were buying at a chain store but with a renewal of term contract - no way! Refer a friend is a gimmick campaign to reel in new customers - even with a 3-way call during our friend's set up, DirecTV said they had no record of our referral.
I told them of my issues when I closed my account and sent back my dusty old equipment. They could care less. I got a closing bill and was scheduled to pay it through my normal utility account on the 1st when it was due. Today I discovered that DirecTV automatically took the money out of a different bank account that they must have had on file from a few years ago. Why would they send me a bill with a due date - then a few days later take money from an account that we haven't used with them in years?
When I call to speak with them, the auto service sounds like it's dialing a number then hangs up. I can't even get through to a human being. I regret referring anyone to DirecTV. In fact, the friend I referred had to move 8 months after getting in their contract and DirecTV wanted $400.00 to move them or cancel - because they hadn't been in for a full year yet. I will never do business with DirecTV again and never refer anyone to this despicable company. Read the fine print- if you're lucky enough to get a copy of your contract. My friends never did get a copy of theirs. It must be online somewhere. DirecTV is really geared toward strapping new customers with escalating contracts. Once you're in, they treat you like trash.
Reviewed May 27, 2013
They put my account into collection, negatively affecting my credit.
Reviewed May 27, 2013
My service with DirecTV coincidentally became compromised exactly 1 year into my contract. I have been receiving the "searching for signal..771..." message on some of my channels. Upon calling DirecTV, I received the same spiel as everyone else... I have 2 choices to resolve this: 1. pay the $49 service fee for a technician; or 2. Get roped into the "service protection plan" which requires a monthly fee.
I refuse to do either of these options and expressed that accordingly. It has been a week since my phone call to DirecTV, and now even more of my channels are "searching for a signal!" It seems to only be the main channels that I watch. I have a year left in my contract and am extremely dissatisfied. I am one to jump through all of the hoops in order to receive "justice" and I will most definitely warn as many people as I know to stay away from DirecTV for this very reason. If they can't deliver the service they promise, they are in the wrong. More people need to educate themselves and read blogs such as this before they make a choice for their TV service.
Reviewed May 26, 2013
About six months ago, I received in the mail an ad from DirecTV which advertised for $39.95 one year free HD and a bunch of other things... I went on my PC and signed up for the program I wanted. I was told a price so I said okay, I want it. My first bill came in and it was $40 over the price I was quoted. My wife called and got no help. They transferred her to someone else... She talked to four different people and they all said something different. This went on for 3 months. Finally, one person said our price was higher because we have HD. We told her it was free, but still she said you can take $10 off of bill if we cancel HD. We did cancel HD and still got a high bill.
So we called again and complained. This time, the person said if we pay this bill, it will be lower every time after that ($61.95), which is what it was always supposed to be. Well, we said we are not going to pay more now ($109.95) so that we can get a lower bill next time... So we didn't pay our last bill for $109.95 and they shut us off. After they turned off my HD, we called to get it back (because no HD and you lose about 15 channels) but at that time, they said we would have to have special equipment to receive HD. Funny, we didn't need anything different when we got it for free!
Reviewed May 26, 2013
I have two large screen TVs in the same room. I got DirecTV with the understanding they would operate okay with a Genie DVR and a standard HD box. The tech set them up just fine. About 15 months later, for unknown reasons, I was unable to watch a recorded show on TV 2. It gave me an error. The bedroom TV, same thing? I powered down the boxes. After a couple of days, the bedroom started to work but not TV 2 in the living room. I tried the on screen help but did not work and now the remotes stopped being separate and started affecting both TVs.
I called customer service and they sent me to tech service. No help. After a few nasty emails, I called again and a repeat, tech service NO help. They refuse to send a technician to my house without a service charge. I have been paying a protection plan fee but oh that problem is not covered. It states in their own policy if unable to resolve over the phone, a tech will be sent to me. Oh no, that's not covered. I do not recommend DirecTV at all. Excuse after excuse, it may end up in legal.
Reviewed May 24, 2013
We have had DirecTV for 1 year and 3 months and our main receiver broke. I had to call and argue on three separate occasions and for many hours in order to get another receiver shipped to me. They kept insisting that I had to pay for their protection plan in order to get another leased receiver from them. I told them that was not going to happen. We finally got the new receiver and it did not connect. One person told me to set it up as single and another said dual. I was on the phone with them for 3 hours last night. Their customer service does not know what they are doing. I eventually got to the point where I said, "Enough is enough. I refuse to troubleshoot with anymore of your people!"
It was also raining last night and every time it rains, we lose our signal. I absolutely hate DirecTV and they refuse to let me out of my contract. They are not providing the service I am paying them for and will not make things right. They keep giving me account credits. This month, I have a $20 and a $50 credit on my bill! Plus, they threw in Showtime for three months for free. I think that in itself shows what kind of problems I am having. I actually said that I would not even take their service for free. I just want out of the contract. Best of all, I was on the phone with them and got an email thanking me for enrolling for the protection plan. Ummm, I never talked to anyone about the program last night and definitely did not sign up for anything. They are fraudulent and deceitful. They should be sued.
Reviewed May 23, 2013
I owed a cancellation fee. On February 7, a collections agency offered a settlement on behalf of DirecTV to settle the account in full. I agreed and paid the settlement amount on March 7. On March 12, DirecTV used the credit card number I provided the collections agency and took the remaining balance of the account out of my checking account without my permission.
I caught the unauthorized charge and spoke with both DirecTV and the collections agency, who both informed me it was an error. The charge was reversed. Now DirecTV continues to pursue me for the balance of the account, stating that I only settled with the collection agency but I still owe them the full amount of the original debt. They will not accept the settlement letter I received from the collection agency stating the account has settled in full. They said a settlement does not close the account or wipe out the balance owed and that I remain in collections until the full amount has been paid, not the settlement offer amount. They call me 14 times a day, send me bills and emails about this amount they continue to claim is due to them.
Reviewed May 22, 2013
Your company has horrible business practices, and I want out of a fraudulent contract that I never signed up for. I have had nothing but rude contact from their fraud department especially a girl named Pia at 800-860-8542. She will not allow me to speak to a qualified person. She is quite stupid and rude and cannot handle a job in this department. I have had the displeasure of getting her three times I have called. I am still waiting to find out if the service was disconnected although I was told that doesn't mean I am out of the contract even though I never signed up for it. I am posting this sentiment everywhere and every day until I get justice.
DirecTV is terrible and rude. Please find another service people! I had my social and name used in AZ for a two year contract with DirecTV at the tune of $55 a month. I live in Chicago. Pia thinks she is a lawyer. She told me to go down to the Chicago Police station to make a complaint against the girl in AZ. Like the police here care what happens in AZ. She said that is the only way to get out of the contract even though I never signed up and it wasn't even my credit card that was connected to the bill.
So now my credit is going to be affected due to DirecTV's inept business practice of not requiring the person whose credit is being used to be present and to sign at time of installation. Or even to ask who ordered it and show ID from that person. They are trying to cram their service and accounts down throats at the expense of innocent victims' credit. I am going to try and call the AZ police to see if they will file a charge for me. But so far I can't get a call back out of state.
Reviewed May 21, 2013
We have been loyal, through outages, etc, customers for twelve years. My husband is now ill and we have to move in with our daughter. We had a year left on our service contract for something they sold us last year. They refuse to negotiate on that service contract, disregarding completely the twelve years the fact that we have also had internet through Hughes and the fact that our house has been sold to someone who also would have been a good customer for them. Not now though! And at some point, had they cooperated on any level, we might have returned to them. What a very, very shortsighted way to run a business. They won't have the almost monopoly forever.
Reviewed May 21, 2013
We have been DTV customers for about 20 years. We live in the land of no cable. We have lived through bad installers; we have been through bad service; and had them try and charge us for thousands of dollars of equipment we could prove we returned (FedEx had to step in for us on this before DTV would admit they had the box back!). Recently, we were repeatedly told we were not eligible for a Genie DVR update. The other day, I had a problem on their site paying my monthly bill on line - like I always do. The site was down and so no payments could go through. Okay this happens.
When I went to pay the next morning, I got a screen that told me I had already paid. Hmm, since I could not find this on my bank site, I decided to call and find out what was going on before I ended up with two payments. This proved almost impossible. The site refuses to allow you to speak to a human - endless prompts and then it says goodbye and hangs up! We finally managed to get in through the "back door" of tech support and spoke to a non-native English speaker who I had a hard time understanding and who was reading off a script and had no answers for me. I asked for a supervisor and was told that this might not be possible! It turns out the supervisors allegedly work complaints as a chat room.
The "issue" is tossed into the arena and whoever is "interested" in it or whoever is low man on totem pole gets to "help" you. This was again scripted and not very helpful. And meanwhile, I was being told I was not signed up for "paperless" viewing to see my own DTV account. Well I did this while on the line with them and still can’t see the amounts, etc. they claim we should be able to see. I also asked about the Genie. Why are $29 a month promo newbies "eligible" for this, and long standing customers are not? - got nowhere. I found a site that had a link to Mike White CEO (at $5.9 million a year salary!) and sent off an email. I was surprised when this was answered within 24 hours on the phone.
I had done some online research into DTV by them and had noticed a very disturbing pattern of DTV "snatching" money out of DTV customers and former customers - bank and credit accounts, with no warning. And there is no appeal on this. They consider it their money. When I spoke to the CEO rep Veronica, she was all smiles and cuddles about the site phone issues. Oh my feedback was ever so important to them! But her whole demeanor changed when I asked about this money grab practice. She declared, with venom, that "This is our money. We are not running a non-profit and we will get this money any way we can. And if those people (those people?) can’t manage to pay their bills and manage their money, we will get it from them" well!
Allegedly, people have "agreed" to this if they have ever used an electronic payment. And even if the card or account was not held by the account holder, the account "on file" was used. So if someone used their CC to pay for you in a month when you had a financial problem, or as a gift say, then that info is on file with DTV forever ;and they will not hesitate to snatch money from this account even years later! And they will not refund. There is a lawsuit ongoing about this in CA. I also asked “How do I remove this info from your site?” I was told “this is impossible”, and if you change your bank account number, they will still manage to get the bank to pay them even though this new bank account has never been used to pay DTV. And this was also reported over and over again on complaints.
Now, how can this be legal? She then told me she was not going to discuss this with me because it had not happened to me! I was kind of surprised when she then offered to give me a Genie DVR for free! Wow! We have been told for a year we were not able to get one for less than $300. However, since we pre-date the age of contracts with DTV, this would mean we would have to submit to a 2-year contract with a $500 (possible) early termination fee - one of the things most mentioned in the complaints about this money grab! Well I did not sign up for the Genie. And I suspect I will not be signing up for the free Genie. And I will be speaking to my bank and other financial sources to find out how to not be stolen from by this unscrupulous bunch of thieves! And you should too!
Reviewed May 21, 2013
I called a month ago about a fan failing. They would not replace at that time. The fan failed. Now, they're saying that it takes three days to replace. They can install in one day but it takes three to find a replacement. This shows where their priorities are.
Reviewed May 20, 2013
I saw their ad on the internet. I had HD blinking on the bar representing their entertainment package. I thought I would service for their quoted $ 29.99 per month service. At the same sales call made to them, I stated I wanted service for two rooms (2 TVs) and was told extra $6 per month for a second box. I told them the deal was off, did not want their service. Sales staff came back and said they would hook up both of my TVs with same box and I would not incur the extra $6 per month charge. Installer showed up and said I needed to call sales if I want HD service. Also, I looked at this box. There is no jack to even hook up second TV.
So now, my monthly bill is $46 per month without including sales tax. Next statement emailed says $7.99 per month for equipment maintenance, net price $0.00 with fine print stating next month I will be charged $7.99/month. I called them again and they told me a $10 charge will be on my next bill to cancel the $7.99 per month charge. I called their billing dept and they said they would take off the $10 charge. But next month, there it is on their bill. They lied to me again and again. I want to dump their equipment in the street.
Reviewed May 20, 2013
I signed up for the bundle with DirecTV and AT&T. I was told that DirecTV's bill would be $54.99. After first billing cycle, it was $74. I called them and was told that next month, the correct price will be charged, second month the same, and then I was told it takes up to 3 months for billing to figure in discounts. After the 6 month, they're now telling me someone should have told me that the discount doesn't start until the 13th month. Why would I sign up for a discount that doesn't start for 13 months? Now, they have me stick in a contract for 2 years along with automatic payment. I'm basically screwed. Do not sign up with them. I'm sorry I did. I'm sick of calling them. I'm going to file complaint with the BBB.
Reviewed May 20, 2013
After 10 years of being a loyal DirecTV customer, we got burnt out watching the company give away great pricing and the NFL package to attract new customers but nothing for the existing customer base. It seems like a business model that is doomed to fail. You would think that DirecTV would be contacting existing customers to give them the best pricing throughout the term of their contract. Why should anyone have to leave DirecTV to get the price they are giving to every new customer they can grab but ignore the loyal customer who have been with them for years? All those deals felt like they were on our backs. And that's the way you lose a loyal customer. It's DirecTV's loss and U-verse's gain.
Reviewed May 20, 2013
I had service with this company for two and 1/2 years and had nothing but problems when I needed assistance with equipment or a question about my bill or service. They will not let you speak to anyone when you need to ask a question about your charges, until you pay the balance you owe. They simply hang up on you! When I moved this month, I decided to switch companies, called and spoke to a person that told me that they would like to keep me as a customer and on and on. When I informed them I was not interested in any offer, I was upset with their lack of customer service.
They informed me they would charge me with a $300 disconnection fee. I had been told by a previous person in their company that I had fulfilled my obligation to them, and that I would owe nothing. I told the person that and was told that I owed the money and my last month's bill. I told them they could bill me. Yesterday, I looked on my checking account and noticed a $466.33 debit off my account. I had not authorized any automatic payment, but they had my numbers from the over the phone payments I had made in the past. Who would believe that you would be charged without an authorization from a company you had been a customer for 2.5 years? I tried to call them, many times, and my bank tried to call them. They said they would transfer the call, and then it hangs up. I have told people about this and they thought I had been mistaken.
My bank was amazed. They reversed the charges after investigating the complaint. They told me this was not the first case they have had with this company. Now the kicker is, I will have to change my account number and cards with all my other accounts in order to ensure they don't try it again. I want to file charges against them for the stress and to ensure they do not charge me the $300 d/c fee. I wish we could band together and put a stop to this type of business practice. I am a professional woman and fought this, but what about the elderly little lady that has no experience with pirates? I am sure they have scammed so many people in this way. Thanks for listening to my venting.
Reviewed May 20, 2013
My husband and I were moving out of my mother’s home and move in with his grandmother to help her out. Everybody told us to get DirecTV because they are the best. So I talked to someone online and got a moving deal bundle. I was told that if for any reason that I had to break my contract that there would be a fee. I thought okay, no big deal. We moved and everything went smoothly until something happened and my husband and I had to move back in with my mother (their cable provider is Comcast) and I didn't want to have to deal with two separate TV providers.
We only had DirecTV for no more than 3 days. But when I called and talk to an agent to tell her what was going on, she told me that yes, I would have to pay an extra $420 cancellation fee. I thought that was totally bogus having to pay that much for barley having DirecTV. She talked me into staying with them and told me that she would not charge me a mover’s fee since I recently moved. Now, I am having trouble with my bill. There are all these small charges, early cancellation fee, and a mover’s fee; now my bill in up in the $700's and won't let me cancel it. I am very frustrated and do not know what to do. I can't afford a $700+ bill. I don't think I should have to pay the $420 cancellation fee when I only had it for 3 days.
Reviewed May 19, 2013
We have been a customer of DirecTV for over 13 years. After being overcharged for almost 2 years, we will not be staying with DirecTV. I had to call 5 times in order to receive my check for overcharges. DirecTV disguised my bill so I did not know that I was being charged for four receivers, when I only had 2. Then I had to stay on the call for 1 hour while they researched the problem. After reviewing my account a week later, I found that they credited my account instead of issuing a check. It took two more weeks before I finally received my check. Unfortunately, the people at DirecTV cannot even write a check properly; they only put my husband’s first name on it. Do you think any bank would take the check? The answer is no. Finally, I received my money. Now, I am not going to continue with DirecTV service when I move into my next home. I wonder how many other customers that DirecTV is over charging. I am sure I am not the only one. Never again will I be a customer of DirecTV.
Reviewed May 17, 2013
I am so sick of DirecTV. After waiting my entire day and four phone calls into DirecTV customer service, I still have not seen the tech that is supposed to be here fixing my issues. DirecTV is a horrible company with horrible customer service. I have been in constant battle with DirecTV lately. They are overpriced and have poor service. I am done with you, DirecTV. You no longer have my money.
Reviewed May 17, 2013
I signed up for DirecTV in the spring of 2012 because the monthly rate was substantially less expensive than my current provider, Comcast. A year later, my monthly rate has increased by $30 per month. I called DirecTV to inquire about lowering my bill, however, to lower would mean removing channels my family views and none of the packages offered equaled the original contracted rate. I contacted my previous provider, Comcast, who offered much more for less. I called today to cancel my service with DirecTV.
I will be incurring a $200 termination fee. Never was I advised on my original call to DirecTV that I would incur a cancellation charge nor did I think to ask as I assumed my contract had expired as my rate increased. Isn't that part of a contract, the rate? I am infuriated. I am now waiting on a call back from a third level manager. No one on site to speak. Callback is within 24 hours. I never would have signed up for DirecTV had I known the contract did not include the price for the life of term. This is deceitful and wrong and all consumers should be aware.
Reviewed May 16, 2013
I have been absolutely railroaded, raped, and put on the wrong road when it comes to adding a single additional receiver to my account. They want to charge a 1-time "Lease" fee of $199 plus tax to add a receiver to my account. When asked why multiple times, the people on the phone have said, "Because DirecTV knows people will pay it" or "I don’t know why it is so high, I am just answering calls." It is completely insane to go through so much to add a receiver to an account. Comcast or Dishnet would NEVER charge this absurd amount.
After several emails of complaint, yelling at people on the phone, asking to be transferred to someone that can help, I am left a needing customer refusing to pay hundreds of dollars to add a box to my house. Do your homework and make sure you get enough boxes when you first sign up, because if you need a box later down the line, they will charge you astronomical amounts of money to get one added. FORGET IT.
Reviewed May 16, 2013
No good deed goes unpunished! I paid a bill to DirecTV for a friend a few months back. I paid by Visa debit. It was a one-time payment. Apparently, this person was behind on payments and when DirecTV tried to debit from the account holder's bank, there were insufficient funds. They saw the prior payment from my Visa debit and deducted from my account. I have no contract with DirecTV. This is criminal behavior and highly unethical action on the part of DirecTV and now, they say I have to wait for 10 days for return of the funds. This company should be fined and penalties paid directly to me!
Reviewed May 15, 2013
My employer is from India and does not speak English well, so he asked me to set up his internet and TV service for him. I contacted Centurylink and got it all set up. Never was I once told that this was a contract that he would be under or I would have never agreed to it. So after 5 months of service, he has decided he no longer wants the service and Direct TV is charging a $380.00 cancellation fee. As I said before, this was set up by Centurylink and they never informed us of it. Direct TV has absolutely no proof that either he or I were informed of this and yet they say they will not waive the fee. This speaks very badly for Direct TV and Centurylink. My boss owns 3 businesses, all with multiple phone and internet lines, and it is likely that we will take all of our business away from Centurylink. Centurylink says they can do nothing to help us, so in my opinion, they should not be in the business of setting the Direct TV up in the first place. I will let as many people know as I possibly can of the bad service we have received and have already filed a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General's Office against Direct TV.
Reviewed May 14, 2013
I paid my bill and cancelled on 5/9 2013. On 5/12/2013, they billed my bank account and denied doing it. They are thieves and should be sued over and over until they are bankrupt.
Reviewed May 13, 2013
I have been faithfully with DirecTV since 2009. I have moved a few times since I have been with them. Well, I just moved again and they charged me $200. I called to speak with someone about it and the answer was that it is a legitimate charge based on different reasons such as previous late payments since December (although, I have also paid my bill a lot of times before it was due) or maybe how long I've been with them (I've been with them for 5 years). They kept telling me how they value my loyalty, but where is their loyalty? How do I smile after all these years with them and tell people how great they are and they should switch? I think it's ridiculous especially to a loyal customer who has never thought about leaving until now!
Reviewed May 13, 2013
After a half hour of pointless troubleshooting by a truly inept service agent, and another half hour of a woman accusing me of causing my own reception issues, I have finally realized DirecTV wants us all to know that if you have a problem with your service, you will pay for someone to fix it or it won't be fixed. Regardless of who is at fault or who should claim responsibility, you will pay for it or just live with sub-par service for the remainder of your contract. That's called offering a service you don't stand behind (unless the customer pays you an additional $5.99/month).
Bottom line, DirecTV treats customers without insurance like they are stupid and don't matter. So apparently it's my fault the ESPN channel isn't working during nationally televised games but does every other time. I was literally told it doesn't matter if they gave me a bad receiver, conducted a faulty setup or if I threw my dish off the deck into traffic, it's $49 to have someone show up. No refund or account credit if they realize it's their fault, just a fat bill and your time wasted. So, not only will I not pay $49 for someone to come out and realize what your problem is, but I will also not stop until I convince everyone I can to not use DirecTV. So, congrats on having the worst customer service on the planet. You deserve to become extinct at the hands of the cable companies. At least they understand the importance of customer satisfaction.
Reviewed May 11, 2013
After 7 years of service that consisted of multiple lies and several service calls for faulty equipment, we decided to switch companies. After calling and advising we needed to cancel, the representative tried to bully us into staying by saying we signed a new contract that required us to be with them for 2 years. We asked to see it and 8 days later, nothing. I called a total of 8 times today as they have tried to charge us this bogus charge and whenever they transfer me to billing, it just hangs up. I advised the rep to send me the so-called signed contract and he said there wasn't one but since we had DVR added 1 1/2 years ago, that meant we were required to be with them two more years. I asked him to provide that and all he did was try to get me to switch back to DirecTV.
Finally, they transferred me to billing and once again, it disconnected me. The amazing thing is the DVR quit working two months ago and when we spoke with them, they said to throw it away as it was way out of date. No new DVR was sent to us and our bill credited. But now, they want to bully us to stay with them by saying we owe six more months for equipment that we don't have because it quit working two months ago. Terrible service. Second rate equipment and could care less about your concern. All they want to do is sell you something because of their incentives they are given for keeping your business. Stay far away if want a company that actually looks out for their customers.
Reviewed May 9, 2013
Since I switched from the other satellite provider, I have had nothing but problems. I experienced loss of service in one room so I had a technician come out and get it going; then there was loss of service in another. My latest problem is that my guide on the main DVR does not work. We cannot record the shows we like. Also, the receiver in our guest quarters is not receiving a signal. Sigh. I am not happy with DirecTV, and I cannot recommend them.
Reviewed May 8, 2013
I am a current account holder with DirecTV, Inc. and I recently moved (after approximately 8 months of service). When I called to get my dish moved, I was told the cost would be approximately $250! Nearly right after that, I was told that it would cost $320 to get out of the service altogether! My girlfriend expressed to the sales agent at the time we signed up that we would be moving before the contract was signed. She was told that yes, (we) could move the dish, but no implications of the costs associated. We have since put the account on hold, and I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau about DirecTV's excessive costs and failure to communicate those costs.
Shortly thereafter (8 May 2013), I received a call from a DirecTV representative regarding my complaint with BBB. Instead of being offered a more reasonable cost to transfer services, I was politely told that the costs were the costs and that I would have had to have owned my account for a longer period of time in order to reduce the cost, as the contract states. I was later informed that the discounts that had been applied to our account would be removed per a calendar day, and not by the terms of our service. So, for each day we have the account on hold, the discounts we have get one day closer to expiring. This was never communicated to us! It was also never communicated to us that for every day we have the account on hold, those days get added to the end of our contract!
We were simply told that (paraphrasing quite closely to verbatim here) "DirecTV understands financial struggles and allows you to suspend your account for up to six months without paying anything." The representative that contacted me regarding my BBB complaint had no interest in helping me resolve the dispute at all! It is no wonder why this company is held in such poor regard by the BBB and Consumer Affairs both! I will never sign another contract with this company and never sign anything without first consulting Consumer Affairs & BBB. This is going to be (when I bite the bullet and cancel) a very costly mistake for a college kid like me to make. I am so incredibly frustrated.
Reviewed May 8, 2013
We have been DirecTV customers for over 8 years in 3 different states. I am very upset and disappointed in a company as large as DirecTV, which cannot adjust their policy to accommodate my circumstances. Because of a job change and move out of state, we are canceling our service only 10 months into a 24-month agreement (of course, I don't remember it ever being a fixed subscription). There are too many other things to think about when you are moving. At any rate, when I asked for the agreement to be waived, I was denied. Talking to a supervisor didn't help. An early cancellation fee would be approximately $280. I will never use them again. Their service isn't that good anyway. Any time it sprinkled, we lost our connection. Given a choice, I will pick another cable provider.
Reviewed May 7, 2013
I never post on pages like this, but I really wanted to get this off my chest. I have been a customer of DirecTV for 6 years. I started having trouble with the box in my master bedroom in March so I called in. Over the next month and a half, they sent me 3 new boxes and made several service calls but could not fix the problem. I was told by a customer service rep that if that final service call on May 4th did not work, that I could call back in on Monday May 6th and cancel my service early without having to pay the cancellation fee. But after the service call still didn't fix the problem, I did exactly what I was told and called back into DirecTV. They didn't stand by their word. They told me that the CSR that I spoke with informed me incorrectly, and that there was no way that I could cancel my account without paying the cancellation fees.
I was passed around from person to person, who all stated that they saw in the notes that they could clearly see what the CST has said. But they would not stand by their word and charged me $300 to cancel my account even though I have been paying them $110/ month for the last 1.5 months for something that doesn't even work. I will definitely not recommend this company to anyone, and I will do whatever I can to steer them in a different direction if they are thinking about getting DirecTV.
Reviewed May 6, 2013
I received an advertisement in the mail for DirecTV bundle packages. I decided to give them a call to find out more because I was (still am) paying $50 a month for internet through Time Warner, and I thought that was a ridiculous price. When I called DirecTV, I told him my issue with paying such a high price for internet. He told me he could get me TV and internet for about the same price, so he went through his spiel. He told me he could get me internet and TV for $59.99 a month. I thought great because I was paying $50 for internet and $15 for Netflix with no regular channel TV stations.
I asked him if I could call back so I could talk to my husband about it. He said no because you cannot get this price with anyone else. I asked my husband and he said okay, get it. I told the man I would get it, only if the price was $59.99 for one year. He told me yes, that will be your monthly billing for one year. He helped me with setting an appointment for the DirecTV installation but never told me how to obtain the internet (the reason I called in the first place). So a few weeks went by and no one told me how to get the internet through them.
I called up DirecTV. They told me I was never signed up for internet and I need to call AT&T to connect service. I called up AT&T and they told me my bill will be $79.99 a month with DirecTV and internet for only 6 months, then the price goes up! I called DirecTV again to see what happened. They told me that they sent me emails about the contract and other stuff (which I never received!), and that they could not help me. Now I am being forced to pay 20 more dollars than I was agreeing to when I signed up!
Reviewed May 6, 2013
I had originally negotiated $75 a month for DirectTV and Century Link. I ended up receiving no bundling and two bills for almost double the amount from each company. After seven phone calls and an hour and a half with Century Link, they adjusted my bill, but referred me to DirectTV for the bundling credit. Three phone calls, being purposely hung up on later, I was told that Century Link would have to unbundle so that DirectTV could bundle. My protesting this and asking for a supervisor got me hung up on again - worst customer service ever! I called back again and the agent said it looked like the original order was to bundle the accounts, but I still have not gotten resolution.
I feel like DirectTV expects you to forgo work for the entire day to work with them on even a tiny billing issue with the amount of calls and different departments I had to call to try and resolve my still unresolved issue. This is ridiculous. They deserve their 79% of customers choosing a 1 star rating. Go with Xfinity.
Reviewed May 6, 2013
My husband and I have been DirecTV customers for seven years. But in the past year every month, they have increased our monthly fees. So every month I have had to call them to fix the problem. Finally, I decided to change our cable company and when I went to cancel, they had told me that I had a new contract for another year. However, I never renewed my contract with their company. They then told me to not worry because they would fix everything and everything was going to be okay. Three days later I received a letter that stated that I had to pay $120.
I called approximately 10 times and they would keep transferring me. At the end, they would hang up on me. Later I got a hold of a manager. He told me to send a letter to DirecTV. Therefore, I did but since then I have not received a reply. In addition, in this month, they took money from my credit card without my authorization. I am now frustrated and do not know what to do. I am not receiving any help. How can this be fixed?
Reviewed May 3, 2013
I switched from Charter to a bundle with DirecTV and a local phone company. Satellite was in and out initially and then my Blu-ray wouldn't work to get Netflix. DirecTV blamed it on the phone company. I had to have a tech come out which they told me I may have to pay for. Then after two techs at my house and untold hours on the phone with tech support, I was told that if anything went wrong or bad in my home, I would have to pay for it along with a service call charge unless I paid a monthly fee as insurance on the equipment and lines.
My cable line is still not buried after two months and when I called today, I was told I may have to pay to have them bury it. That was after an hour-long phone call where I was transferred from one tech to another untold times. I was also told that when I signed off on the initial tech call for the install, I was agreeing that everything was in order, including the unburied cable. Really? This is ridiculous! I should have stuck with Charter. I am utterly frustrated.
Reviewed May 3, 2013
I pay well over $2k per year in service fees for DirecTV and do not get value for my money due to service outages and boxes going bad. I have been calling for service for around a week this time, but they cannot seem to get a tech to make a call despite my paying for free service calls. I am a doctor and cannot drop patient care to go at their convenience. I am tired of people like Andy, your customer service rep, trying to tell me what motivation is and being argued with and tell me what my problem is. I have asked for them to contact my wife to arrange some service time but she is a healthcare professional too. I will post my complaints over many complaint boards.
Reviewed May 2, 2013
We are retired & supplement our SS with rentals. We have 4 rules regarding satellite TV: 1) No dishes on roofs, 2) No exposed wires on the siding, 3) No trimming of trees and 4) No dismantling of the competitor's equipment. DirecTV put their dish on our new rental roof, ran wires on the outside of our alum. siding (with many holes), scalped our Blue Spruce tree (then didn't put the dish anywhere near it) and totally dismantled the Dish TV dish (cutting many wires & leaving the mess scattered over the lawn). Then the DirecTV bill at our home increased $30 per month. They said the HD credit had expired; they always said it was free and now they say it never was, but they said they generously gave us the credit previously.
Reviewed May 1, 2013
On Feb 13, 2013, my clear view account was charged in the amount of $380.74, and on Feb 14, 2013, it was charged $101.52. And I don’t even have DirecTV - I have Comcast. I've faxed you a copy of my bank statement and I haven't heard anything and it’s been three weeks. I checked my bank account and you still did not credit my account. I was wondering what was the holdup.
Reviewed May 1, 2013
After having two days of communication with five different people, I have a resolution to my problem. However, I did contact the NC Attorney General office to file a complaint. I have never had to deal with something when people were so rude and disrespect. On April 30, I called in to make a payment in the amount of $96.25 for the current bill. I had my computer up and saw that they have taken out $197.30 from my checking without my approval for my May 19 payment which was not even due yet or been billed for it in the mail. I contacted and spoke with Sam, employee batch # **. After a long conversation with him and being on hold for 14 minute, he came back and told me the refund will be back in my account in 14 hours. He gave me a number, **, to confirm the refund. Well, no refund happened.
I called on May 1st and talked to Jess, employee # **. No results. He put me to a supervisor who never answered and then my call was disconnected. This is my third call by now talk to Suzie, employee # **. No results. I was transferred to Ross, supervisor # **. I told him the whole story and told him about the confirm number for the refund to be put back into my account and he stated there was no such thing in place that it could be put back in 14 hours. It had to go through a review process and could take up to 30 days if approved. So you are telling me without my approval, you can take funds out of my account in two seconds but for me to get money back I didn't approve 30 days plus and still don't know if I will get it back?
So with much frustration, I called back and ended up with Alyssa, employee # **, to cancel my services with them. She asked why so I told her. She pulled up the info and again told me a different story that the review can take up to 72 hours and maybe a refund in 10 days but couldn't give me an answer as to if I would get the refund. And if I had a bill coming up for next month, they might just apply it to the account. I love the way people can control my money without my permission. Also, they have a rule that you can never talk to or contact a previous person you talk to even with the employee batch number. This was unreal what I have gone through with this and the only thing I do know is I am cancelling my services with DirecTV. They have gotten the last dime they will get from me. I hope this helps someone. We have to stand up to businesses and if we don't get treated right, complain and discontinue business with them.
Reviewed May 1, 2013
I have been a DirecTV customer for nearly 20 years. In January, I noticed my bill crept up a few dollars and then a few more in February. My $66 bill was now up to $98. This is for basic service and not movie rentals. I called DirecTV to discuss it. They recognized the problem and said they would give us the $10 HD service and $10 DVR service free for 6 months because of our inconvenience. My next bill went up $20. I called again. They recognized the mistake that they had actually added instead of subtracting my $20 credit.
I went through the bill with the representative and we both agreed on a final number of $71.49 (basic fee with taxes, etc.). I had a new Genie receiver put in. This was free because it was a promotion and all that was required was to pay a $49 installation. I received my next bill for $145.48! I called once again. I was told that I had to pay a partial month on the old receiver and a partial month on the new receiver plus my service fees were now being charged when they were not supposed to be. I was told all the billing is tied to a receiver not your account so when you change out the receiver, credits and all were lost. Funny however, that the charges for movies, etc., don't seem to be lost with the receiver. They also agreed that they misbilled and we once again agreed to $71.49.
I received a bill yesterday and it was just over $98. I have not called yet, but will this evening. Each time I call, they assure me all is right. Also, they will never allow me to talk with a supervisor who can make a decision. They always tell me there is no supervisor available and will never give me a number direct to a supervisor. Unfortunately, I have a 2-year commitment for the new receiver. I suppose since I am receiving good service, I have to honor that contract and the billing issues would not cancel the contract, but rest assured, as soon as my 2 years are up, I am going to Dish Network or someone else to see if they can work with customers.
DirecTV has the most inept customer service I have ever worked with. They are incompetent or they don't care or both. Their billing system stinks. The consumer cannot interpret their bills if you have other than a basic charge - just an incredible company to work with and hopefully I won't be long. Buyer beware!
Reviewed May 1, 2013
I was able to cancel due to a move, but it didn't go without the representative on the other end being rude. I told him I could potentially be a future customer where I was moving when I decide to get hooked back up again. He suggested that I could potentially become one, but his attitude and words were rude, condescending and arrogant. When I get settled in where I'm going, I'm looking for another cable company. As long as you give them your money each month for the bill, they're fine with you; but as soon as you pull that rug out from under them, it's vicious. It shouldn't be this way. They just lost a future repeat customer.
Reviewed May 1, 2013
I recently wrote to complain about DirecTV adding a "protection plan" for $5.99 a month and how they even charged me for the few days it was on my bill, even though I didn't want the plan. Well, I removed the plan on their website under my account. Then they billed me another $10 because I supposedly agreed to carry the plan for one full year and since I cancelled it before the year was up, there is a $10 fee. I am currently awaiting their response, having reiterated to them that I hadn't wanted it in the first place and I had not agreed to anything. I told them that if they insist on my paying that $10, I will cancel my account. I am so angry now that I am willing to pay the early termination fee just to get away from this horrible company.
Reviewed April 30, 2013
My sister had just passed away less than a week before this incident. Yes, she misread the due date and paid late. It was less than 12 hours past due. However, she had just lost her daughter (who was 37). She called customer service and told them what happened. She had never made a late payment to them before and that is when customer service took over. The rep stated to my mom, "I am sorry for your loss, but it is time you get over it. You should start paying your bills." Again, may sister passed away less than a week before. When I contacted DirecTV, the rep I talked to said there was nothing to complain about. If we didn't like it, we could switch services. "We don't need your business." She then hung up on me. I would not recommend them to anyone.
Reviewed April 29, 2013
As I arrived home today, I went to turn on my television to find that our DVR was completely without power. I tried resetting it, unplugging it and even trying a different outlet. No change. So I was resigned to having to make the dreaded call to the support line. While on the call to the CSR, I started to notice a wretched, chemical-like smell. As I leaned into the DVR to see if it was coming from it, it started smoking like crazy - coming out of the box itself. I freaked out (all while on the phone with the rep) and frantically removed all the cords from the back for fear of a complete electrical fire and losing my home (never mind that I was petrified of being shocked/burned myself whilst touching the wires and DVR).
Amazingly, the lady on the phone was not concerned at all. She didn't even apologize. Instead, she said she would FedEx a new receiver and then continued on to try and get me to upgrade my account. Absolutely horrid. This is so dangerous. What if I wasn't home?
Reviewed April 29, 2013
We have had service with DirecTV for a little more than a year. On the morning of April 24, we had a terrible storm during which lightning struck very close to our house. I felt the house "buzz" and within seconds, we lost internet, satellite service in 2 rooms, and 2 TVs (one a year old and the other 4 months old). We called our internet provider and they had 3 trucks here the next morning. We called DirecTV and even though we pay the maintenance service fee every month, they offered no service call. We were told they would mail us a receiver leaving us to install what I feel was their job.
While waiting on the receiver, we had someone look at the lines and we were told that the DirecTV technician who installed the line had failed to ground the line coming into the house; in turn, this caused any lines from the house to the pole to "fry" actually melting all of the equipment inside the box on the pole. Our TVs and boxes were all connected to surge protectors but since the line ran straight in, it "fried" everything connected to that line - internet modems, satellite receivers, and TVs. Had there been a loose wire anywhere in the walls of the house, it would have incinerated our home.
We contacted DirecTV again after finding this out and they sent out a tech this morning (4/28/13) who confirmed to 3 of us that the person who initially installed the line had "totally screwed it up". He left us with 2 new receivers, grounded the wiring outside, and informed us that once we replace our TVs, we can hook up the receivers - again, this is not our job or what we pay a monthly maintenance fee for!
All DirecTV has offered is an apology and refuses to release us from a contract which I feel they not only violated, but they endangered our lives! Their lack of concern or sense of urgency in handling this problem astonishes me. I feel that DirecTV is at fault for improperly installing their equipment causing the destruction of our property. I also feel that they are liable for the replacement of our 2 TVs which will cost nearly $2000 to replace.
Reviewed April 28, 2013
Roomer I rented to in January 2013 needed connection in room, so I called around to purchase additional receiver from Wal-Mart and Best Buy. They were out of stock, so I contacted DirecTV to purchase a receiver. Upon being told by DirecTV rep that to own the receiver as the roomer wanted, I had to make sure it is a purchase receiver from other source or DirecTV and not a leased unit, illegitimately sold outside DirecTV or it would not work. This was represented to me as a purchase, not a lease. I was quoted $112 total with first representative, $65 for receiver itself and $47 for installation. This changed to $125 total when transferred to another representative to confirm order and he wouldn't confirm as I told him I was quoted $112 total by first representative.
I was transferred back to a sales rep, who then quoted $115 total and I confirmed this as my roomer needed the receiver. When the roomer moved out 3rd week of March 2013, I called to discontinue the additional TV and was now told it was a leased receiver, no sale and had to return it or I'd be charged $250. They were sending a box which would arrive in 2 business days and I had to return it within a week. I was out of town and found a box on my front porch on April 13. I opened it and it had no instructions for return. The box is way too big. It is the size for a bigger DVR unit apparently by graphic on the box flap. They are sending another one. This was misrepresented as a sale as first rep told us we had to make sure it wasn't a leased unit bought from outside source and it had to be a purchase from DirecTV or purchased vendor unit to be supported by DirecTV service.
Reviewed April 28, 2013
This is a complaint regarding DirecTV that I originally posted on the contact help, but I'm posting it again if it can help warn others from going through what I went through with this underhanded company. If you are thinking about signing up with DirecTV, all I can say is watch out. The phone reps will say anything to get the commission off your business. I specifically told them I could not have a big satellite dish on my roof due to the strong winds where I live, as well as per the strict rules of my townhouse complex. The rep assured me that it would only require one dish which was no more than 12 inches big. But when the installation man brought the two dishes to my townhouse, they were so big they were bigger than the roof of his car. The two dishes were over 4ft in diameter. They were huge.
When I told him that I didn't want his services, he got mad at me having to come all the way over to my house and wanted to fight me. We got into a shoving match and almost began throwing punches at each other, when reason prevailed after I yelled how would he like it if the wind ripped a 4 foot dish off his own roof, taking off a part of the roof and sending it straight through his neighbor's window. I called DirecTV immediately to complain about their rep's false claims (I took the day off work to stay home to wait for DirecTV to come to my house). I complained about the installation man who I got into a shoving match with. I didn't even get an apology from them.
They said they didn't know why the rep said what she said but two 4ft dishes are standard for what I wanted. As for the installation man I got into a fight with, they wouldn't take responsibility for that. I am still angry at DirecTV for all they put me through - for the day's pay I lost, for the false claims by their rep, for the fight with their installation worker, for all the time I wasted on the phone trying to resolve the issue and not even getting an apology from them (they acted like this was all my fault). I swear I will never ever do business with DirecTV again and hope to warn anyone else with my horrible experience.
Reviewed April 26, 2013
DirecTV fully admits that their HD channel changing is flawed and requires a "mild delay". Yet I must pay 100% for such inferior service. What if I bought a car and the brakes didn't work? I do not recommend them for their service or customer service. I tried numerous times to fix and they could not fix the known problem. I then had the pleasure of paying a nice fee to leave them too!
Reviewed April 26, 2013
What they get away with - I cancelled my service with DirecTV and then they offered me some incentives to stay with them. I accepted the offer and they said that nothing would change. In a few weeks, I got threatening calls and a bill of $515.14 on my credit card for equipment that I didn't return. I didn't return it because I am still using it as a customer and they knew it! They wouldn't take it off my bill or refund the money unless I caught it and complained. Now they will refund the money but it will take 5-10 business days at least and no use of the funds on my credit card. They offered nothing for my loss of time talking to them on the phone, hassle, etc. Now they wonder why their customer service is horrible when they treat their customers as bad as they do and then offer nothing for the suffering. Are you kidding me? Wow!
Reviewed April 25, 2013
I signed up for DirecTV under a promotion they had going on where I was supposed to get my first year for $43 and then it was only supposed to go to $53 the second year. This didn't happen. After my first year was up, they started charging me full price. They told me they had no record of me signing up for that promotion. I still have the email I responded to when I signed up. I've heard of many people signing up for deals like this and not getting what they signed up for.
Reviewed April 24, 2013
I have two DVR whole home HD system with ethernet connected. I was informed by DirecTV in 2011 I needed the Cinema Connection Kit to be able to get on-Demand programming. I ordered same and installed according to instructions. Last week, I started having errors, Wireless connection found, along with some 771 searching for satellite and pixelation. Today, the technician found issues at satellite dish wiring and the unnecessary wireless Cinema Connection Kit, which he disconnected and offered to take with him. He was excellent at his job. I told him I would try to get a refund because it was sold as necessary and obviously was not needed.
In my opinion, the sales staff I dealt with at that time either was incompetent or misleading. Today, I called and asked for that refund. The person I spoke to indicated he could understand my concern and frustration and would have to talk to his supervisor. The supervisor there denied any refund due to time passed. Buyer beware! I've been a supervisor and recognize that customers sometimes have unreasonable expectations, but mostly expect only what they believe to be fair and make whole. I will be looking into Dish deals.
Reviewed April 24, 2013
I wish to share my deepest dissatisfaction and unprofessional experience with DirecTV over the past year and half. I had two accounts and had gone round and round with several issues: billing, failure to receive billing and notices and inability to log on to my account to see what and why the charges to my credit card. After calling numerous times over the past year and a half and without any real professional assistance to truly address my consistent issues, the exorbitant amount for service to one Television was over $100 a month. What? With such consistent complaints that I called in to try and get my issues resolved, all I could receive was, "Let me transfer you over to someone that can help," of which, they would do the same until I would get to a person who said, "Sir, there is nothing I can do." I have had several other TV providers before, but DirecTV was worse than all the others combined. DirecTV is a major rip off. I canceled to never return.
Reviewed April 23, 2013
This service is getting from bad to worse every time I call to get any type of customer service. I called today to remove a receiver from my account and instead of my bill going down, it went up. I was talking to Dante, who then transferred me to Deneilia, who informed me that my contract was extended without my consent. I asked her to talk to a manager to get that resolved. She just put me on mute or something and left me there. This is the worst service that I've ever had when it comes to TV. Not only do I lose picture whenever it rains, but every time I call for any simple issue, it does not get resolved.
Reviewed April 23, 2013
DirecTV likes to play games. I cancelled the service and they are charging me $200 on cancellation fees. I was 3 months to the end of the contract, but they claim my equipment was upgraded when I called to have them come in and do an installation because I had moved. So I had to pay $100 for the moving fee and on top of that, apparently my 2-year commitment was extended. I had no knowledge of this. Had I had knowledge, I would have never let the moving guy installation continue on with the installation.
Reviewed April 23, 2013
It was about a week ago when I cancelled my account with DirecTV. I did this due to the fact that they were charging me $150 just to transfer my account over to my new address. I went with AT&T U-verse to set my service up for 50 bucks. Long story short, upon cancelling the account, the lady I spoke with assured me that I would not be charged anything else after the fact. A week later, I was charged taxes that should have been applied right upon my cancellation and a protection plan charge, a few days later after the taxes charge. I was wondering if this was legal considering that I was told everything was closed out. It is not about the money. It's about warning other consumers before it happens to them.
Reviewed April 23, 2013
I told DirecTV what I was paying and they said they could beat it. I changed, and I ended up with a $40.00 a month change of what they quoted. That was wrong then. They charged me a $700 disconnect fee. My wife and I cannot afford this. My wife just found a job, and I can`t work and am applying for disability. I told this all to DirecTV and they told me I will be paying $6.00 a month less than Time Warner which I was already hooked up with Internet and TV. They tried to charge my credit card and we did not have the money on the card, and they charged me another $69.00 for the credit card denial. I need to find an attorney fast so we don`t have any more damage to our credit to add to our problems. Please help. Thank you.
Reviewed April 22, 2013
I don’t even really know where to start. My problems with DirecTV began about 4 years ago, long before I was actually a customer. It was that issue that ultimately forced me to get service with them. We rented my former home for one year because we got military PCS orders that were cancelled after our tenants moved in. We lived in the same town. One day, I noticed an awkwardly placed dish on the fence and 50 year old lilacs chopped down to get sight of the satellite. I was furious with my tenants - they didn’t even ask or tell us about the DTV install and it was a lease violation. I found out that the installer had removed all of the existing cable from our 85 yr old house and had run lines throughout.
The house had been renovated sometime in the 90's and the cable was sort of custom installed at that time. I tried calling DTV over several days and couldn’t get anywhere because I didn’t have an account number. I finally just started entering random numbers and got a real person. That person told me that whoever did the install should have had the homeowners release to alter the property and install a dish. They did not. I asked how they would know and they said if the tenant says they’re the property owner, the installer wouldn’t know. True. I wanted to be compensated for what I felt was destruction of my property and was told by their legal dept. that I would have to sue the tenants. Not worth the time or hassle.
When the lease was up, we could no longer use our cable provider and were basically stuck with DTV. It had something to do with whatever type of cabling that was installed, not sure, but that’s what our cable guy said. So, we went with DTV. No real issues at that time, except for when I tried to call Customer Service for any reason, I was told that I was not authorized to have access to anything with the account because my husband was the primary. I stood there as he authorized me as a user.
We moved in January to a new state. This house is up in the mountains and there is no cable, no cell service, and we were looking for alternatives for internet and phone. We called DTV to inquire about bundling our services (advertised constantly). They referred us to Verizon for phone and Excede/Wildblue/Viasat or whatever they call themselves for internet. The Verizon installer never showed. We already had our dish and receivers, so didn’t need DTV to come out. The satellite internet installer did his thing and we got online. About a week after we moved in, we finally got a hold of Verizon to figure out what was going on with the phone. They said that they connected us remotely and that we had phone service all along, despite no dial tone. An hour later, the phone began to magically work.
About 3 weeks after the supposed bundle, I called Verizon to find out how the billing worked - no one had explained who the bill would be coming from. Verizon first said that we had internet through them even though I stated repeatedly that we did not. After being transferred to 6 people (must be the magic number) and 1 hour later, I was told that we didn’t have a bundle and that we can’t have internet at my location because it is provided via cell towers. Yeah, duh, that’s what I said. I asked if we were somehow being charged for internet and they said no. In regards to the bundle, I was told that it takes a while, sometimes, and to just pay all 3 providers individually until the bundle kicked in. First billing cycle goes by. I called Verizon in mid-Feb and to ask if the bundle had kicked in. Again, I was told there was no bundle and that Direct TV must have messed up. When the CSR tried to initiate a bundle, she was shocked to see a pending bundle. She told me that my DirecTV balance would have to be zero before the bundle would take effect. She told me to call DirecTV.
I called DirecTV, who refused to talk to me because I was not the account owner. I handle the bills; my husband does not have time to deal with it. I told them that I was an authorized user and that I was the one who set it all up in the first place. They said to have my husband call them. I had to wait 2 days before he had the hour or so it would take to do that. In the meantime, my DirecTV bill posted and I would have to pay that down to zero again. I called them and they said that they submitted the bill to Verizon exactly 2 days earlier and that I was good to go. A week later, we get an email saying something to the effect of effective immediately! “Your DirecTV services are no longer being billed jointly with Verizon. Please contact DirecTV to set up payment arrangements.”
So, I called Verizon. They said that they had no idea what was going on. I noticed at that moment that the phone number listed on the email as the account was one digit off from my phone number. I pointed it out and the Verizon CSR said, “Ahhhh, I bet that’s it!” They tried to apply the funds to an account that didn’t exist. She then asked if my DirecTV bill was paid. I said yes because when I looked online, it showed that it had and that I had a zero balance. She then tried to resubmit the bundle.
I thought all was fine until the end of March when $314.00 came out of my bank account as an ACH withdrawal. I saw it was DirecTV. My husband and I have separate bank accounts because we never joined them 10 years ago when we got married, but we have full access to each account. I did pay DirecTV with my debit card about 2 years ago one time. I called and again was told that I was not an authorized user on the account and that they couldn’t discuss billing or account info. I seriously wanted to scream and break something. They can take money out of my account as an unauthorized user but can’t even tell me why?
Again, I reiterated that I was authorized and asked them to look back through the notes. I asked the woman why anyone would keep something as silly as television such a big secret that they needed such intense privacy policies. She insinuated that it had a lot to do with adult programming. Are you serious?! I’m a grown woman and have full access online. I am practically the only one these people deal with and you’re going to assume that we have all these crazy secrets regarding adult content on TV? Gimme a break lady! She was able to see that I was authorized and supposedly updated the account to reflect that.
Apparently, my husband’s card info disappeared from their system (don’t know how), and when the bill wasn’t paid, they went after my account. I receive $1600/month in VA Disability and that money is primarily used for food, gas and whatever else isn’t big like a bill. My husband’s account is for the bills. DirecTV said that Verizon did pay the monthly bill in February, but that they reversed the charge because it was an unbillable account. 2 days later, the day I had called, someone annotated in the DirecTV account that customer requests to unbundle services. Back to square one, 3 months in.
We then get a strange letter from DirecTV stating that they’ve been trying to reach us regarding our opt-in and that the email address on file has come back as undeliverable. The email address was like nothing I’ve ever seen. It is a Verizon.net email (which we’ve never had) and the address is basically gibberish. Unbelievable. They stated that our services were going to be interrupted if we don’t contact them. This letter arrived and was post-marked mid-April but was dated early March. When I called to find out what it was about, they have no record of any paper letters sent and only one email address (our correct one) on file. They said that they don’t keep historical records for contact info - but they sure do for finances, don’t they? They literally had no idea what I was talking about.
Now I’m on month 4. I spoke to Verizon and DirecTV in early April to make sure this was going to happen and I was assured that after the $314 came out, that were at zero again and the bundle would go through. Their notes even reflect that conversation.
I called today because we got an email saying something about automatic bill pay being stopped (because of the Verizon billing) and that we are losing our $10/month credit for HD. That’s when I found out that not only are we still not bundled, but that I have a bill due to DTV and that our internet is not and will not ever be bundled. Why? Because DirecTV didn’t set up our internet. Instead, they transferred me. How was I supposed to know that’s not what they just do when you call the Bundle Dept.? After a half hour of research, the CSR (the only one who’s ever been helpful and honest) told me that even though they do partner with Wildblue/Viasat/Excede, they’re not part of any bundle because it’s only if I get my phone and internet both through Verizon. They also said that on 17 January, according to notes, customer declines Excede bundling. What?! That is crazy?! Is someone messing with me? Is there some weirdo out there who steals people’s account info just to call up and cancel services or authorized users? So crazy. I was told to not worry because as long as I pay my $151 bill today, Verizon can resubmit for the bundle when my balance with DirecTV gets to zero. Ahhhhhhh. Stay away from all of it. Ridiculous!
Reviewed April 22, 2013
DirecTV claims at Costco locations and over the phone when speaking with their technical support that they have "wireless" technology allowing TVs to receive a signal without a coaxial cable. However, they cannot provide installers who know anything about this system. The installers simply say the technology does not exist with DirecTV. After 5 phone conversations of which each lasted between 20 and 40 minutes, starting with a DirecTV rep in India (!), I have been unable to get the Samsung RVU TVs that the DirecTV reps at Costco told me to purchase in order to make the wireless system work.
Now, I am being billed nearly $400 for the installation of the system that never took place because the installer said it could not be done. In addition, I am receiving harassing phone calls now from DIrecTV for not paying the bill! They will not even talk to me unless I pay the bill for service that was never installed. I have filed a complaint with the FCC for deceptive advertising.
Reviewed April 22, 2013
FYI, do not ever use DirecTV. Do not bundle DirecTV with Century Link. The reason for the above is if you ever cancel, they are 2 different billing departments which do not communicate with each other. So if you have a billing question, it is impossible to get any questions answered because they transfer back and forth until you get so mad you hang up. I spoke with 2 different customer service reps from Century Link about the same issue and got 2 different answers. In conclusion, I will not ever use or recommend DirecTV or Century Link to anyone. In fact, I will tell everyone how horrible they are!
Reviewed April 22, 2013
My mother-in-law died on 12-15-2012. Her son had the billing switched into his name which never should have happened according to DirecTV. The matter was handled by me and a representative. The issue left a $38.00 credit due by DirecTV. I have made several attempts to speak with customer service and after every time that I'm asked for my home, I become disconnected.
Reviewed April 20, 2013
I recently became disabled and knew I would not be able to afford the programming I did have. I called customer service back in March and arranged to return 2 of my receivers and changed my programming package to the lowest-cost one available. Now my bill is the highest one I've ever had. So I investigated and saw that there are over $60 in charges that are not mine. I can't get a human being on the customer service line unless I pay the bogus charges first?! Lousy service and security!
Reviewed April 19, 2013
DirecTV offered us a deal to bundle with AT&T U-verse Internet verbally. Over the phone, they offered us a package that would include $29.95 Internet and $42 TV services, totaling $71.95/month. Our first bill read $98. I called in and they said there was no record of that deal being made. $98 is the best deal they could offer us, but since I had already installed DirecTV in my home, that was a binding contract. I have to pay the $98/month for 2 years or suffer a $450 penalty. The verbal contract meant nothing. They promised to pay my early termination fee from Dish Network that I had incurred by switching to DirecTV, and they claim to have never promised that either. This is complete Bait and Switch and all they can keep saying is, "We never made that deal." Yes, you did! And I bet it is recorded. Call me a liar? Shame on you, DirecTV, shame!
Reviewed April 19, 2013
Direct said they could do $97 a month. They came out, hooked Direct up and the installer said all he does is TV. I called Direct Back. They said that there wasn't an internet service for our address. I asked, "How do they quote a price without knowing the bundle if there is one?" The man said that, "It doesn't matter. You are now in a two year contract and I have your credit card number. If you cancel, I can take what I need." I was appalled at that comment, which was very true. They found an internet provider and my monthly bill became to be $140. I was at $111. I spent numerous hours on the phone begging and pleading to get out of the contract. I explained before we started that I was applying for disability and my wife was looking for work. We were counting every penny that we had. I was misled and now I owe over $700 for leaving their service that I could not afford to stay with or leave. I need to find someone to help us.
Reviewed April 18, 2013
I responded to an email offering 25,000 American Express airline points when you signed up for DirecTV which is the only reason I switched from my old provider to DirecTV. The representative told me that 30 days after installation, I could go to Directv.com/rebates - enter my DirecTV account number and my frequent flyer number to get my points - not true! When this didn't work, I called and was told that I was not entitled to any rebates; nobody seemed to know anything about the American Airlines points offer - not even the supervisor. So, if you are counting on getting a rebate, don't count on this company! They make it all sound good, get you under a contract and don't honor their commitments. In fact, I will change back to my old provider when this contract is up. I don't like doing business with a company that isn't honest!
Reviewed April 18, 2013
I have had problems with this company since the beginning. They lied about the cost. They installed the service, gave me a price with rebates and then refused to give me the rebates that were promised saying that they didn't offer these rebates. It took consumer protection and my telephone company to get the rebates promised for the first year. The second year, rebates never came and consumer protection is no help. The company lies about everything so you have to record each and every conversation you have with them. The heads of the company are worse than the customer service reps. When you talk to them, they are condescending and offer script written responses.
The packages offered don't even come close to the number of stations they advertise. Most are duplicate stations and/or garbage stations with advertising for products. I have heard many complaints on other companies such as Dish. DirecTV is worse as far as I am concerned and should be sued and put out of business by the consumer. From my experience with this company, I would not recommend buying into their crap and Mr. White should be put out of business. I don't believe he has any moral values as far as giving customers what they pay for. Take the junk out of your homes and go back to antennae. Put these companies out of business or make them beg for your business by lowering cost and giving you what they are supposed to give you.
Reviewed April 17, 2013
I have been a subscriber to DirecTV since June 2012. I have a basic package billed to my credit card monthly of $32.04. I was notified on Feb. 21, 2013 that there was a breach in security with my card and a new one would be sent to me. Meanwhile, I was advised to contact vendors that I did business with to advise them. I contacted DirecTV and told them I would pay by check. The rep stated not a problem and fee would remain the same. I received my first paper bill on April 16th with charge of $42.04.
I called customer service, spoke to a rep (Tori) and then asked for supervisor (Dennis). The increase of $10 as they explained is because I broke the original set up (not to my fault). Payment date for invoice states before May 2, 2013. According to the supervisor, I could give them the replacement cc # for future to avoid the extra $10 per month but he could not adjust this month back to $32.04. I feel deceived and scammed! Today is April 17th, giving me plenty of time for due date of May 2nd. I'm very unhappy with the outcome.
Reviewed April 17, 2013
I am writing to express my continuing dissatisfaction with your company's service, lack of knowledge and experience with the issue of placing someone else's credit card information on my account. DirecTV intentionally sent equipment that should have not added a two-year contract to my plan. DirecTV is the most unethical company I have ever dealt with; they are unwilling to read notes on an account or help to resolve an issue at hand, but will transfer you several times over to different departments that can't and will not help you.
DirecTV has threatened to cancel my service and charge my account an early cancellation fee even though they have repeatedly sent me bills that stated no balance due. I have had a lot of stress from them, and I have been lied to and misled. I am so sorry that I signed up to DirecTV. They may be a big company but the service they give out is very, very bad. They need to figure out a better way to run business other than scare tactics. DirecTV is dishonest, encouraged lying, has contradictory policies, offered promos to customers then when it came to claim time, quietly erased all records of those promos from the systems and claimed that the customer must by lying about information on file.
They start the service agreement for 2 years the day your service is hooked up if you're a brand new customer. If you upgrade an existing receiver to a new one or add any additional receivers, standard receivers have only a 12-month while advanced receivers (HD, DVR, OR HD-DVR) require another 24-month agreement. It is prorated ($20 for each month not completed/left in the agreement), billed all at once, and they will attempt to charge the credit or debit card on file if the full account balance is not paid on day 20 (from day account is closed). They are very foul with their business practices!
Reviewed April 16, 2013
If I could give them negative stars, I would! They are extremely anti-military! They have no desire to help out military families and only want to take their money and run! Mike in customer service is extremely rude, unhelpful and argues with his customers. Rose in accounting is a broken record, will talk in circles and repeat the same information over and over again, but listens to nothing you're saying. John, her supervisor, does not care to help either. He said his hands are tied and he isn't going to do anything. Joseph is John's manager and he is extremely anti-military! I explained the situation to him, turned the tables and put him in my shoes. His exact words were "that sounds terrible, I know." When I asked him if he was going to fix it, he said there is nothing he can do and that even though he had his manager's number, he wasn't going to call and fix the problem. He also said that he didn't care that they took $350 from me for the receivers that were not returned, when in fact, I told him I requested boxes three times from them and they haven't been delivered.
I offered a solution to drop them off in person at a DirecTV store or physical building. He, along with many others, said no. So therefore I am out $350 until I eventually get the boxes. I find that my solution now is to physically hand them over whether they like it or not. NEVER use DirecTV! They do not care about their customers! They do not care about the military! They do not care that they have wronged you!
Reviewed April 16, 2013
Last June I paused/suspended my account because I moved. I thought I was going to temporarily move in with friends and I might want my DirecTV service when I found my own place again. The customer service rep I talked to told me that all I had to do was give them a call when I wanted my service resumed. I asked her twice to confirm that they would not reactivate my account without my say so and she assured me.
Fast forward 8 months, I discovered that DirecTV actually reinstated my account two months after I suspended it. They had been charging my account $80-$90 per month for 8 months. So, logically, I gave them a call and explained the situation. I didn't really expect a refund for the entire 8 months but perhaps for at least 4 since my receiver was in a box in the garage and not hooked up to a dish.
The first customer service rep I talked to said that the refund wouldn't be a problem and she understood that I wanted to terminate my service with DirecTV since my living situation wasn't likely to change. She said she had to forward me to someone else who could help me. The next person I talked to told me that it wasn't possible to refund any of the over $800 they had taken from my account because it wasn't DirecTV Policy to give refunds. So, after an hour on the phone with them and after I made it perfectly clear that I wanted nothing whatsoever to do with DirecTV ever again, the customer service rep told me that if I'd ever care to come back to DirecTV I'd be welcome.
I told him that it was enough for me to picture some DirecTV executive using my hard-earned $800 to take a nice Caribbean cruise and told him in no uncertain terms that not only would I never come back to DirecTV but that I would let everyone know my situation and how inhuman DirecTV was being. I didn't use my DirecTV for 8 months and they reinstated my account randomly without my call or permission. I feel they have essentially stolen $800 from me.
Reviewed April 16, 2013
because I do not want to open my window and see an antenna that does not belong to me and it is not my video service. It is obstructing my view (what little view I have). I have informed the apartment building owner and property management. DirecTV is not owning up to the fact that they are the company that calls independent contractors to perform installation. And they should not say "have the customer call" when they screen contractors to have a state license and carry liability insurance, so that in the event work needs to be done with quality to correct any problems which includes complaints.
DirecTV is in denial. They have installation supervisor but will not send out a supervisor, nor will they take responsibility for non-quality installations that reflect quality of work. When a potential customer has decided to sign-up for service, they don't think about if there is going to be complaints. I called DirecTV and was told someone will be out within three days. They lied. They pass the buck when it comes to doing quality installations that do not block next door tenants. Is this their way of forcing me to be a customer? I hope Consumer Affairs will see pictures.
Reviewed April 15, 2013
DirecTV set up my outside TV in December. I have been paying for HD on three computers since December 2012. I did not go outside to see if TV was hooked up correctly. They made a mess of the cords, adding cords I do not use. Tech did not bring HD cable to make it high definition. I spoke to tech on 4/12. He refused to send tech out to fix problem. I told him I am 86 years old and I can't see. He told me he would charge me $49 for tech because I did not contact DirecTV in first 90 days. He said more executive agent would call me back in next 48 hours. Never received call.
Reviewed April 15, 2013
In February of this year, I placed an order with AT&T for a bundle of phone, internet and TV. They told me the TV service would be with DirecTV. I was not told however that DirecTV would not honor the amount I had been quoted or that if you order their service, you are locked into a 2-year contract. I recently cancelled their services and AT&T's, and they are billing me $440.00 for not keeping their service. They do not care that I was not informed about a cancellation fee or that the billing is not what I was quoted. I suggest that people not use them for services.
Reviewed April 15, 2013
I called for DirecTV. I got through to the sales people, and we talked about my needs. I need 3 rooms with HD channels and a 30MB internet connection. The saleslady gave me a price of $44.95 plus tax. The deal went okay. Then, she transferred the call to another person, and he tried to charge me more. I cancelled the order, but the sales people misguided me.
Reviewed April 15, 2013
I called to have the premier channels deleted from my package because my 3-month trial period was up. I asked to be put back on my original package (Choice Xtra Classic) but was told it was no longer available to me! I was a grandfathered account but once I added the Choice Xtra Classic for a trial period, I was deleted from the grandfathered account. When the salesperson I spoke to signed me up for the extra package for trial, I was never told I couldn't go back to my original package! I didn't even know I was considered a grandfathered account. I feel I was lied to and important information was kept from me just to get me to sign up for extra channels. Now I have 10 or 11 less channels than I had before, but I am actually paying more money. And if I want to add the extra channels that I once had, I will have to pay more.
The lady I was speaking to (Lidia) kept speaking over me and basically just said there was nothing I could do about it. Pretty sad that a company so big and worldwide would keep such information from a customer just to make a sale. What's wrong with the world today? So many dishonest people!
Reviewed April 15, 2013
We moved from one location 9 months ago. We sold our home and had an offer on a short sell. The time has gone much longer than we expected. The first time, DirecTV emailed us and told us we needed to extend our wait time. We did so. The second time, they claim they sent post cards but no email. We received a bill for $152.65. We called to resolve this and were told they can prorate it, but that the billing period started a month ago and there's nothing they can do. So they are billing us for service at an address we no longer own or reside at for a period of time, we weren't aware of. They have lost us as customers and we will not be paying. We’re very disappointed. We would have loved to stay, but in one billing move and customer no service action, they have lost us. I'm now worried if they can hit my wife's credit, but we are going to fight this.
Reviewed April 14, 2013
I did not receive a bill for the final amount of what was owed. I never had direct billing withdrawn from my account. They shut off my cable for six months and still continued to charge me for having no service. I finally was able to mail the receiver back. Their billing amounts are not clear and their business practices are horrific to their customers. I will never ever get DirecTV.
Reviewed April 13, 2013
No one is going to drill holes in my roof to mount any TV dish. This high school dropout tried to pull his 45 degree angle basic geometry BS on me, and I asked him what is the azimuth to your satellite? He replied 205. I clearly pointed to SSW, which is what 205 degrees is. I would not let this clown drill into my roof, so he said he could erect a pole in my yard. I about fell over as I live in a city. I also have CCR's on my deed. I refuse to let anyone mount anything on my roof, as holes in shingles will cause leaks plus drywall repair.
Reviewed April 11, 2013
We switched from cable to DirecTV to save money. We've had them one month and are very disappointed with their service. We received a package in the mail telling us we have to pay $5.99 to cover "their equipment". I called and asked about this. I told the woman when we had cable TV, if there was any problem with the equipment, the company (HTC) would come out, replace the DVR or whatever the problem was. In fact, when we first signed on with HTC, they replaced the DVR box 3 times at no charge to us.
Now, DirectTV is telling us if there are any issues with their equipment, if we don't buy their protection plan, we will have to pay for it?! I told the woman I was not paying for that equipment protection and would take my chances. Well, today, I received our next monthly bill, with $5.99 added for DirecTV Protection Plan. I called to ask that this be removed but encountered their automated phone system. I asked to speak to an agent to have this protection plan removed. The automated voice told me she could handle this for a fee of $1.50 or I could speak to an agent for $5.99! I hung up.
Fortunately, I was able to go to their online site and remove it. Then I found that they even charged me $1.40 for the 6 days between when the bill was issued and today. I am so sorry I signed up for a 2-year contract. If any of their equipment fails in that time, I will terminate the contract and suck up the early termination fee. I'm hoping it will hold out until then and that I will not need any further customer service since they obviously charge you for it.
Reviewed April 11, 2013
I called DirecTV Cancellation Department today and I was greeted as a loyal long-time customer (14 years). The problem all started when my oldest HD DVRs bit the dust 2 months ago and they wanted to charge $21.95 to ship a replacement. No thanks, I've paid around 13 thousand dollars to DirecTV over the last 14 years and they could have replaced their defective HD DVR at no charge. Instead, I discontinued programming on that DVR and they sent a recovery box at no charge. This was the first issue I've had with DirecTV over the past 14 years.
My recent bill is $6 less since I have only one HD DVR and the contract on it does not end until December. I don't think so anymore; it's time to end the insanity. I was thrilled that the customer-no-service representative did not offer any incentives for me to remain a loyal long-time customer and they disconnected my service immediately. It cost me a $140 cancellation fee but it's worth it to have DirecTV out of my life all due to being a loyal long-time customer, refusing to pay a $21.95 shipping fee.
My hope is that everyone will get Zero TV. I will install an HD antenna for free local stations and we recently subscribed to Netflix at $7.99 per month. Good job, DirecTV, and good bye!
Reviewed April 11, 2013
I decided after 9 years with DirecTV to switch to AT&T U-verse for my TV carrier. When I called DirecTV to cancel, they told me that I would have to pay an early exit fee of $120. I asked why. I was told by the supervisor that because I moved in September 2012 and switched my service to my new address (DirecTV) that this automatically committed me to staying with DirecTV for 1 year. I told her that I had no knowledge of this and I never agreed to such terms by writing or verbal agreement. She told me that they sent me an email to those terms. I told her I never received such an email stating those terms. I asked why they did not send me a letter in the mail stating those terms and she told me that they do not do that because mail gets lost? I told her, "However, you send my bill to me every month by mail. Are you not afraid this will get lost?" She made no comment. The end result, they automatically went and used my current debt card information that they had on my account and took the $120 without my consent or knowledge.
Reviewed April 11, 2013
I moved from FL to New York and couldn't find a place that I can use DirecTV with. When I moved from FL, I told them to suspend my account until further notice. They said they would. 4 months later, I call to follow up and find out they started charging me one month after I moved. I now owe $1,000, and they sent my info to collections and to my very good credit report. I sent letters and all they did was send the cancellation policy. So I'm responsible for $1,000 despite the fact they said I can suspend the service until I find a place that gets service.
Reviewed April 11, 2013
On 4/05/13, I called Century Link for internet services as I was unhappy with the spotty service I had been getting. I was up-sold to a bundle package with DirectTV for $84.94 + tax a month including phone service and internet from Century Link & a DirectTV package, the entertainment package, including 140+ channels, 3 months of free HBO, Cinemax, Starz and Showtime, a free upgrade to Genie and HD included. This was all for $84.94 a month and we were told with taxes that would run at right around $100 a month for the bundle. I went through the whole sign-up and was scheduled for a DirectTV installation for only $21.35 (including taxes) the next day, 04/06, a Saturday. Great deal, right? I recorded this 72-minute call. I was then billed the $21.35
On 4/06, the installer, Joe, came out and started setting up. My boyfriend pointed out that the installer did not have the Genie included in our package. He told the installer that he did not want him to continue the installation without the correct equipment. The installer said that he had us set up with a work order for the choice package and that was what the equipment was for. We told him that we would not sign for the installation and we wanted either the correct equipment, the correct package or he should take the equipment and go. He stated that he did not actually work for DirectTV and could not take the equipment. We refused to sign off on the install.
He called into DirectTV retention department, explained that we were refusing to sign off on installation, and his work order was incorrect. He told us that it would be $105 for us to get the Genie we originally ordered. We stated,"No thanks; we were told we were getting a free upgrade to the Genie." He told me that I would be getting a call from DirectTV and left refusing to take his equipment with him. I called Joe's boss and explained to him that I wanted the equipment out of my house. He stated that he was not allowed to take the equipment out.
Then Danielle from DirectTV called. I explained that we were told the Genie was a free upgrade, that the package we ordered was $84.94 a month. I told Danielle exactly what the rep on the original call told me. She stated that she was trying to get us the Genie but that it had already been ordered on Joe's call and that we would be billed $105 for it. I stated no and that if I could not have the package I ordered, I did not want DirectTV service. We spent an hour on the phone (a 51-minute call that I recorded) while Danielle spoke back and forth with her supervisor and then disconnected our call. I called back in and spoke with Sterling, a supervisor, explaining that I did not want the service if they could not give me the package that I ordered at the price I was promised. That call lasted 22 minutes before Sterling disconnected the call.
On 04/08, I noticed a charge to my credit card for $45. I called in again and asked about this charge. I was told I would be billed in advance every month. I explained to the rep, another Danielle, on a 54-minute recorded call that the service was not correct; it was not what I ordered, that I wanted the service I ordered or I did not want DirectTV service. Danielle told me that she understood I was to get a free upgrade to Genie, 140+ channels, 3 free months of specified channels and HD included. She told me that she ordered my Genie and there would be a credit on my account for $105 for the Genie and that she was sending it out. She understood that I was to get HD included so she was adding a credit of $10 to my account so that I would not be billed for HD and that my bill from DirectTV would be $29.99 a month + taxes after credits. She stated that I had 2 weeks to cancel the service without penalty so it was best to let DirectTV fix the issue as it happened all the time. She also noted that while DirectTV had noted on the 5th that they sent emails to me, they had no email address on file for me so they did not send me any emails. She got my email address at that time.
I made it clear to Danielle again that if the service was not the one I ordered, I did not want it, that I would like to cancel and start the process over again. She told me that the account was perfect, that I would be billed the agreed amount only of $29.99 + taxes a month for the DirectTV portion and would receive the free upgrade to genie, 3 free months of service for HBO, Starz, Cinemax and Showtime, and HD channels.
On 4/10, I got a phone call from Sharon (20-minute recorded call) telling me that I was going to be billed $105 for the Genie that had been sent out, also that my bill would be $76 a month +tax with my Choice Package. I called DirectTV again on 4/10 and spoke with Mike in "customer retention". I explained to Mike that I had been telling DirectTV customer service since the installer arrived, that if I could not have the package I was told I was getting at the price I was told, then I did not want service with their company, that I had been trying to cancel for days even before the installer left my home. At this point, I had spent so much time on the phone with customer service that it was insane. I felt I was getting the runaround. Mike told me that he could get me the Genie with the $105 credit, but that I would be billed $10 a month for HD, an extra $7 for the equipment that the installer had left here in my home after I told him it was wrong and to not leave it here and $26 a month for any of the services to actually use the Genie.
Mike told me that it was just too bad. He could give me the free Genie so I had to accept it as he was honoring the contract. I explained to Mike that this was not what I had agreed to; I should not have to pay for equipment left when I told the installer not to put it in and to take it with him. I had not been advised of any additional fees for anything at all. Mike told me that I was under contract and it was too bad. I asked Mike if he could cancel my service. He said yes, but that I would be charged $400 early cancellation fee. I asked Mike if he could waive that fee as it was clear that I had been attempting to cancel this service even before the install was complete. He told me that yes, he could waive that fee but that he was not going to do it. I told him that I wanted to cancel the service and I wanted him to waive the fee. He disconnected the call.
I called again on 04/10 and spoke with Marielle (on a 28-minute recorded call). I was told that my service was canceled and that I would be billed a $400 early cancellation fee, also the $21.35 that I had been billed for the installation, the $45 that I had been billed for what, I don't even know, and another $18 for something else in the (?) category. Marielle read through the notes, said she could see that I had been calling in since 04/06 when the installer was here to cancel and that it was noted that the work order was incorrect. She noted that there were also noted from when the installer called in saying we were refusing to sign off on the service and wanted to cancel if the order was not what we were told initially. She noted all of the calls with me passed over to Customer Retention. I explained that the order still was not correct, would never be correct and that DirectTV could not actually give me what I was told I was getting initially. Why should I be charged a cancellation fee for a service that DirectTV could not get right? I felt scammed by DirectTV. She told me that I "should honor my commitments" then she disconnected my call.
I am at my wits' end here. The Century Link portion hasn't even been installed yet. I wonder how that's going to go!
Reviewed April 11, 2013
I am a new DTV customer, but so far my experience with them has been horrible! When I first signed up with them, I was not told that I had choices with what kind of box I wanted to order. After a few months, I had people over my house and they informed me that I had a dinosaur box! Why did I have a smart TV with HD with that box? When I called DTV, I was told I can pay $300 for a new box. I asked them why if I was never informed by your agent in the first place of all the different kinds of boxes. I was pretty much told, “Oh well, sorry, can’t do anything for you.” I will definitely be canceling with them!
Reviewed April 10, 2013
Please read - this is a big DirecTV customer service issue.
In 2007, I got divorced and cancelled my current DirecTV account. I was told the account was closed and the account would be reopened in my ex-husband's name. Little did I know, DirecTV kept my social security number associated with the ex-husband's account. I moved into another house and opened up a separate DirecTV account.
In February 2013 (six years later), my current husband and I were in the process of refinancing our home to a much lower interest rate when we discovered a delinquent credit account in collections from DirecTV. Apparently, the account in my ex-husband's name went to collections, so DirecTV dinged us with the credit hit. Remember, I was told the account was closed in 2007 by DirecTV customer service.
Because of the credit hit, we don't get to refinance which has cost us close to $600 a month. To add salt to the wound, I paid the delinquent account of $475 off and have talked to DirecTV "customer service" people for the last two weeks trying to get confirmation the account has been paid in full. Finally, due to our frustration, we decided to close the DirecTV account and find out that they are going to charge us $380 for a "cancellation fee". Really?! After everything they have put us through?
I will gladly pay it to get DirecTV out of our life. My advice, go with another company.
Reviewed April 10, 2013
I think DirecTV is a very dishonest company. They lie to the customers over the phone a lot, and conversations are never recorded so we cannot prove anything! Everything I just read from others is true, and some of these matters happened to my family and friends! It is so sad that we are hard working people, and we never get what we pay for; and nobody cares! We now have Apple TV, and it’s awesome! I devoutly recommended it to everyone. It’s the way to go these days to save money!
Reviewed April 10, 2013
Today, I called DirecTV after having service temporarily suspended due to a move and when I called in, I found out that my service was not suspended for the time that the original customer service rep said it would. And Customer Service rep Carina, employee ID **, advised that due to the original agent noting that I agreed to have service reinstated in her notes, it was literally her word against mine and that they would not pull up my original call to verify what I was saying (after I asked if this could be done). I'm very disappointed with the service that was provided. In addition, when I asked if I could speak to a supervisor, she told me, "They are going to tell you what I just said." It's very obvious why DirecTV has poor reviews everywhere you search. I'm never doing business with them again.
DIRECTV Company Information
- Company Name:
- DIRECTV
- Company Type:
- Public
- Ticker Symbol:
- DTV
- Address:
- 2230 East Imperial Highway
- City:
- El Segundo
- State/Province:
- CA
- Postal Code:
- 90245
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.directvbundles.com