DIRECTV Reviews

This means I sign up to commit myself to two years for a service, but DirecTV during that same two years can eliminate channels they commit to provide and raise the prices for those services whenever they wish to, yet according to them, I am committed to pay while their only commitment is to take the money. I signed up for a monthly commitment of $86. Sixteen months into my 24-month commitment, the same channels now cost $112. DirecTV says I am obligated to pay the remaining two years regardless of what they do, which seems very unfair to me. Contracts are supposed to be fair, not completely one sided.

Fast forward a week or two and I was being charged again. Spoke to another customer rep. who told me accounts management was going to review the case and call me back. They did not call me and took it upon themselves with no authorization from me to charge the termination fee of $340.00 to one of my credit cards and sent me a letter notifying me belatedly about what they had done.

I called customer service rep., he did not even know what grounding was. I was transferred several times. I explained the situation over and over and also the dish on the roof needed to be disconnected asap. I was told finally someone could be out in two weeks! I ended up having to call Comcast to restore service. Comcast fixed all of the problems. I wrote a letter to DirecTV concerning these issues and to request a full refund. They responded, no. Now this is still on my Verizon phone bill every month and Verizon wants to be paid. I will not pay for unprofessional services, a product that is bad and certainly this Co. is lucky our home was not hit by lightning and burnt to the ground while we slept. I request a full refund from DirecTV and will be writing a demand letter to them. If this is not resolved I will take them to small claims court.

They charge the customer for it, then at the end of the month they will take it off the customer's bill. This makes no sense. Why is it so hard for them to correct such a simple mistake? My correct bill math is simple. It is $36.99 (jade world) + (9.99 (prefer choice) + one additional receiver for $4.99 = $51.97 + sales tax of I think 8.75% = 51.97 + 4.55 = 56.52 - $5 (this is for signing up for automatic payment from your bank account/debit card/charge card, etc) = $51.52. They are charging me over $57 right now... Directv is very dishonest. I am thinking about reporting them to the Better Business Bureau and can someone tell me where else I can file this complain against them? I am tire of calling them up and they still cannot do simple math...

The lady was very nice offering me a lot of options to not cancel my account so when I said no thanks to everything, she's like, "If I cancel your account as of now it will bee a fee charge of over $200," she said because my contract is over until January/2010 and that's 11 months so it was $20/month. So I end up accepting to put my account in hold for six months while I find a way to cancel my contract without having to pay for something is not my fault. I have the contract in my hand. She also said that I order a DVR about a year ago and that's why my contract is due in 2010. Funny thing I never ordered, never received and never billed for it. I was honest by telling her I can not afford to pay it anymore and that's why I want to cancel it. Can I do something about it?

Any company with great customer service, as Directv bills themselves, would under these circumstances gracefully accept our request to terminate their services and wish for us to come back when circumstances change, but not Directv they are quite obviously in it to squeeze the last penny out of their customer, not to build great customer relations. Anyone who wants to vent their frustration to their CEO, Chase Carey, their email format is first.last@directv.com. Don't hold your breath for a reply. Their favorite game is to wear you out by stonewalling you!

THEN. While turning on the Sunday Game, I noticed it was not coming in, in HI DEF. So I called DirecTV again, saying what the sales girl had told me about NFL Sunday Ticket being in Hi Def, etc., etc.. The guy on the other end says, "You have to pay like $75 extra to have that" and I "lost it" on the phone. Then! To put the icing on the cake! Super Bowl Sunday! Invited a house full of people to enjoy the Super Bowl. About 11am that Sunday I started looking for the Channel that would be airing the "Big Game"!! GUESS WHAT? It was not going to be aired on my TV because I have DirecTV that does not Air NBC... BUT!!! I thought wait! I have the NFL SUNDAY TICKET for the 2008 NFL Season. Right? Well, I did. Until the Super Bowl. Because it being aired on NBC, I would not be watching the Super Bowl on my TV.

I called them voicing my anger and it was if they did not care at all. I told them that I wanted everything of DirecTV's OUT OF MY HOUSE! Cut me off on the end of this business date cycle. Feb 3, 2009 they cut it off. Then... on Feb 17, 2009 I found out they pulled out $453.56 out of my checking account without my authorization! Throwing me into a neg. Balance! I never received a bill! I called them to see what were they thinking? They said I authorized it when I signed the agreement when the installer was here! He never told me about that! I want something done!

I was informed that when I added the extra receiver I signed something that said I agreed with Directv's policy to raise prices at anytime and I can't do anything about it. Now I will start writing letters again to dispute this. Directv can raise prices and the consumer can't do anything about it because Directv claims that I agreed to this by signing a piece of paper that says I received a new receiver. Is this even legal? Once I get out of this contract, I will never use Directv again. I think they have very bad business practice and will do anything to make the consumer a permanent customer even if we don't want it.

On the day of Monday 2/16/2009 I contact by phone to DIRECTV Company questioning the charges that I never know at the time that we ask for the service. I do not have any satisfaction or not even trying to solve the problem on any way. I ask them to at least waive the US$ of 22.77 for the misinformation that we have received from the beginning of the ordeal, with no avail. I considered such activities as a simple consumer fraud! Please analyze the situation and take the proper action, and do not hesitate to contact me for a verbal talk at any time if you need more information.

Then Wednesday, Feb 11th, all the receivers went out and never came back on and we called them again because it had been out since 3pm that day. They said they didn't know why. They lied and we found out the company that they had outsourced to or contracted to keep the function of the satellite in condition in our building was taking it down. Why? We still don't know, and the management told us that they are no longer working with that company and we need to call DirecTV. DirecTV knew that they were no longer using that company and didn't inform anyone. Management were just as bad because they didn't inform us either, until we had to call Feb 11th and ask. What happened.

So now our cable has been out since Feb 10th, Tuesday, and we have to wait until the 17th of Feb until it gets cut back on. DirecTV said they will credit us the days but come on, they did little before and sometimes when they had to credit us for past screw ups, sometimes it took months to show up. They make me want to get Optimum Cable because at least if my receivers go out, we will know it because most of my building has it and the surrounding ones too. But when Optimum was Cable Vision, we had complaints about them too, and they were just as terrible as DirecTV turned out to be.

So with not informing anyone of changes, not crediting properly, adding more money onto a bill in mistake, and then doing it twice before and being slow to respond to correct that change and we had to pay extra money to the contractor that did the satellite hookup in our building because of some kind of maintenance fee every 3 months, it's sickening. I have more, but it's way too much and I want this to get out because it seems like they don't care until someone gets on your side. We are in almost the last day of our waiting since this past Wednesday. They are supposed to come this Tuesday to reinstall the satellite in our building. We'll see what happens.

When I placed the initial service call, I was told that if the technician found anything wrong that the problems would be fixed or replaced at no additional cost to me since I was paying for the visit. The technician was able to identify three issues that he promptly and properly resolved. First, the technician that initially installed the HD satellite dish only secured it with one screw, so the dish was not at an optimal angle to correctly receive the signal. Second, one of the connectors was burned out. And third, the wrong cable wiring was installed for HD service which ultimately caused the receiver card to overheat and melt the inside of the original HD receiver box. The technician said that he would replace the receiver for free since it was the last technician's faulty job that was the cause of my problems.

Fast forward to the present. I was told by the customer service representative that the reason why I was signed up for the new agreement was because the HD receiver had to be replaced, but there was absolutely no mention of renewing my expired contract during the technician's visit whatsoever or during my initial discussions with customer service. Why would or should I have to sign a completely new 2 year agreement to continue as a customer, when it was the faulty work of the service technician that works for their company that caused the issues and ruined the receiver that I owned?

In summary, I had to write a letter to the Billing Dispute/Commitment Department that I would like the contract, which I never had agreed to, to be voided and to confirm that with a written confirmation. They called and left a message saying that my request was denied because I received a new receiver and then left the general phone number to the company so I couldn't talk to them. This shows me DIRECTV is practicing an unethical business.

One other thing, I contacted customer service the day before the Billing Dispute/Commitment Department contacted me and the customer service representative agreed with me about my situation and told me that he talked to his supervisor and canceled my contract. I was really surprised that I heard the next day that my contract was still valid even though that happened.

Currently, DirecTV is sending me bills, asking for $398.17 for an early termination fee! As of this date, they sent me a bill from their collection department. We were 6+ years customer with a history of on time payments and are responsible consumers who always pay bills ON TIME. We have excellent credit and if this goes into a collection process, will mess up our spotless credit!

I called on 1/26 and was told by a Samatha that I had to request it be put back into my bank account... It was credited to my DirecTV account (I DON'T HAVE THE SERVICE ANYMORE)... She said she put in the request for the credit to my bank account and it would be 3-5 business days and it would be in there... On 2/1, I called, spoke to a Susan and she told me I was misinformed that it was 14 days from when the request on 1/26... and that DirecTV financial department was behind. Today is Feb. 13. I spoke with a Jackie and supervisor Nick and now they have informed me it is 6 to 8 weeks from the last transaction charge...which since they downloaded the receiver, saw there were two pay per views that must not have communicated to the DirecTV. So now I would have to wait 6-8 weeks from Feb 1st. Just for information purpose... I NEVER was late a payment to Direct for FOUR years and according to Direct was a PREMIERE customer. Guess that doesn't mean anything when you want your money back.

Two weeks into service, I bought a new HDTV and wanted to upgrade my service. They wouldn't upgrade me because I was already in a contract even though if I had gotten the HDTV before that I would have gotten a HD receiver. So I had to go to Best Buy and buy one for $200. I then had to get the satellite upgraded for HD and they said it would be free. The tech came out and said I needed a new pole and it was $80, so free satellite but $80 installation that they failed to mention. Strike 2.

When I signed up, on my first bill it had a promotion sign up for Starz for 3 months and get a rebate of $25. I called in and got that added on. Three months later, I didn't get the rebate. I called and they said they never did that promotion. It took me 3 hours on the phone to finally prove that they did offer the promotion and get my credit. Strike 3.

During the contract period, service was horrible. Any rain, snow, and even very cloudy days my reception would go in and out. When my contract was up, I called to cancel my service. They said well I got the HD receiver and that adds another year and it would be a $200 cancellation fee. I told them no one said anything about it and she said, "Oh Best Buy should have mentioned it" and it wasn't their problem. I took this up with the supervisor and didn't get anywhere. I was stuck paying the fee, but if I ever wanted to finish up the last year they would return the fee.

It's been over a year and was going to switch back because my cable contract is over. I called the reps and asked about getting the fee back and signing back on. Apparently they don't do that. The rep who said that was misinformed. DirecTV lies about promotions, services, and anything else that they can. One year of HDTV cost me equipment $480 plus $10 per month of service totaling $600. Not including the $50 for regular cable channels. The most expensive services out there. It looks good on paper but it is all a lie.

So, I explained to them that I was never given rebate information, and they told me to call Directv back and demand the rebate and to not take no for an answer because this evidently happens a lot. I've called, and they've filed a grievance, but they will not do anything. When I called them, I spoke with an extremely rude gentlemen who provided no service or solution and that I would just have to live with my mistake, because the rebate information was listed clearly on website. When I enrolled, the rate stated was the quoted rate, and I thought all was settled. (I never received any rebate information also.) It's amazing that in this day and age a company can be in business without being good to their customers. Directv's neglect to help at all is just a sign that one little customer like me isn't worth the $69 it would take to make me happy.

Not sure but her tone of voice was cold and rude. Then she became slightly hostile and kept arguing that there is no proof that I have resided elsewhere during the time this bill became so high. However, I do have a rental receipts and mail from my previous place of residence. Her speech was insulting belittling and just awful. I felt like I hit a wall and was a very unwanted customer. I always paid my bills on time and never would think that Directv would treat me in such way.

When I called demanding an explanation, I was told that I was upgraded to the premier package as a result of subscribing to Sunday ticket. WHAT?!?!? When I pointed out that that was not how it was explained to me, I was told that DirecTV contracted a company that does their marketing, and that they apologized for the misunderstanding, but regardless of what I was told, the deal was free 4-month upgrade w/ Sunday Ticket purchase. BAIT AND SWITCH, ANYONE??? Basically, I'm out $300, for football games that I didn't really watch, just to get free channels - that I didn't really watch. Now I just found out that to upgrade to an HD DVR receiver, it will cost me $250!!! How are these people allowed to run their business this way? Everyone pretty much has two choices - the one cable company in your area, or satellite. Either you fall on the sword, or pull the trigger in your mouth ...

I just got a letter in the mail today, 2/10/09. It congratulated me for signing up for their monthly service plan. I just called and complained that I never ordered a service plan. I spoke to Amber, a typically rude DirecTV employee. Recently, I had a service call. At the end, the technician told me that I had to sign his form as proof that he was there. Now, DirecTV tells me that was to sign up for the service plan.

Direct TV forced me to either give them my credit card number or checking account so that they could take my payment automatically each month. This is now twice they have perpetrated a fraud on me and stolen from my credit card with bogus orders. There has to be some place to complain to. If I stole like this from anyone, I would go to jail but DirecTV continues to do this.

After hours of research for a possible solution and even after having my own electrician come out, the boxes never really worked. DirecTV charged me 300 plus dollars in any case. I even discussed all of this with the actual DirecTV installer and he said he would have to open up the walls or install new cable outside the walls to make it work. I said I did not want to do any of that. So I cancelled my DirecTV account and switched to Comcast cable who had just started offering cable on my street and they had no issues whatsoever. They installed the boxes and all worked great.

I called DirecTV to try to get a refund for an installation that never worked. DirecTV says the boxes were activated and there are no refunds once that happens. I talked to at least 5 people from customer service on the phone. I even had an email conversation with them. They still insisted on no refunds. I sent all the documents of emails and call records to my credit card company and they reversed the charges. So I got a refund from my credit card company. I refused to pay for something that never worked. But DirecTV started sending a bill for the installation. The installer himself knows my boxes did not work but DirecTV does not care.

After a while DirecTV sent the bill to a collection agency who contacted me by phone and also sent me a letter. The first agency was called Allied Interstate and they called every morning at 8:00 AM on the dot. They use a computer and if you pick up, then a person gets on to talk to you. I had to hire a lawyer and she sent a letter to both Allied and DirecTV. So they stopped calling me. But guess what DirecTV did? They passed the bill to a second collection agency. So we had to again send them a letter. Then a few months later, they passed it to a third collection agency. It has been about a year and a half and DirecTV still insists I owe them the 300 plus dollars. All their collection agency guys threaten to send bad information to the credit bureaus which would not be good for my credit rating. But I am not giving them a penny. This saga continues. If they touch my credit report they have been warned to get ready to go to court.

These guys are ruthless. But I refused to get pushed around by a big company that surely is ripping everyone off. I hope this helps someone and if you have any ideas for me let me know.

We were informed of this by the previous tenant and owner of the house. I called to cancel our DirecTV account. I was informed of an outrageous $300.00 cancellation fee. I explained that we have been customers for 7 years and asked if they could waive the fee. I was refused. I reminded them that they still owed us money for the lost service concerning our HD channels and asked that they deduct this amount from the cancellation fee. I was told that they would not refund me the amount because I should have kept contacting them to fix their broken service. They informed me that the most they could refund is $25.00. We are still held responsible for paying the $300 cancellation fee.

I escalated the issue to the manager and he did not listen to my explanations. Finally at the end, he agreed to try to get our service refunded and said he would call me back. He never called back. In hindsight it's obvious he did it to get off the phone. When I called to follow up, no one was able to connect me to him, and he did not document our conversation or his promise to try to get us the refund. I am never going to use this service again.

Since then, I've spoken with four other agents, all promising the same thing, that they've fixed the problem and that I'll never have to call about this problem again. However, I've just received another incorrect bill and spent yet another hour on the phone with them, only to be told that all the other agents have been, and I quote, "lying" to me, that in fact we're not entitled to any discount, that there's no one at the company who can make the promised monthly rate a reality and she's really sorry, she knows this must be frustrating, but there's nothing that can be done.

Of course, to top it off, we don't actually mail them payments... They're taken directly out of our checking account. At this point, I have contacted their Customer Advocate Team who promises they want their customers to be 100% Satisfied. I have yet to receive a response. There must be someone who can hold them accountable for misleading advertising and the lies they tell after you're signed up.

I tried on several different occasions to get through to them at their generic number. I went through their automated system. Eventually, the system told me they were experiencing high call volumes and to call back later or go to their website. Then the system hung up on me. Finally, after writing the BBB and complaining they called me. The person on the other end was not helpful and had no idea why the issue occurred. Her answer to the problem was that there was a new update that should fix the problems. This is just one example of poor customer service.

I have also had multiple problems with the HD Receiver. It has frozen up on several occasions. There have been multiple times where I had to turn the power off to the receiver to reset the receiver. This has been a huge waste of my time. In addition, I have had technicians come out to our house on a couple of occasions. During one visit, the technician had to replace the small piece that hooks to the back of the receiver. Prior to him coming out, none of my HD local channels would come in on the receiver. Not that it matters, but this occurred during football season. If this wasn't enough I have had installation problems with DirecTV too.

When I first had the service installed, the installer asked me where I wanted him to install the Dish. I told him the roof of our house. He then told me that was a problem because he didn't have a ladder that would reach. He then offered to put the dish on a wooden stake in the yard. I explained to him that I was getting married the following week at our house and did not want the dish out in the yard during our wedding. He promised he would come back and install the dish on the house prior to my wedding. No one showed up. I have never experienced so many problems with a company in my life. The worst part is DirecTV in my opinion doesn't value its current customers.

Nearly a year later, I received a letter from a collection agency regarding this account. I again contacted DTV and asked them what was going on. They looked up the fraudulent account and found the information and referred me back to Celia, the individual I had spoken to a year or so earlier. She called me back and told me that she was making my case her priority for the day. That, if she needed anymore information, she would call me the same day. That, if I didn't hear from her, to consider the matter settled.

I have since received a packet with all kinds of forms and documents that they want me to pay to get notarized and various hoops to jump through. All of the time, money and effort spent going after me after the fact. Imagine if they simply put safeguards in place that made it difficult, if not impossible, for crooks to commit ID theft. Since ID theft has been named as the #1 crime in America, you would think that companies would be putting efforts into safeguards. Or is it because the tax write-off for the loss is more of an advantage to their company than protecting the public?

Some time went by. I received an email that my bill was ready to pay so I went to my online account to pay it which was $70.00. About a week later, I got up from sleeping, went downstairs, turned on my TV and I had no signal so I called DirecTV to fix the problem. They then told me my service had been interrupted due to non-payment. I then told them that I paid last month's bill and they told me it was for the installation of 2 receivers.

I then told them that the installation did not happen. They treated me as if I was lying to them. The rep then asked me if I was going to pay with a credit card. I asked her if she heard what I just explained to her. Again, her response was, "If you are not going to pay this bill, your service will remain turned off." I told her, "Fine," and hung up. Some time went by and FedEx leaves a packing box from DirecTV on my porch. I took the box inside and packed up their DVR receiver and call FedEx to pick it up. That was Feb. 2nd. They received the DVR on the 4th of Feb. Before their DVR even reached their company, they went into my bank account and stole over $700.00 from my checking account.

By them stealing the money from my checking account, they have caused my bills to be late. I'm on Social Security and I live check to check. I have no groceries to eat. I can't go anywhere because I have no money to put gas in my vehicle. I can't pay the co-payments on my medications so I have had to go without for the last 7 days and I really need my meds. By them taking that money they have overdrawn my account and I'm being charged every day by the bank for this. They have made my life a living hell.

I have tried to talk with them only to get nowhere. They know that they have received the DVR and they still have my money. I have asked them to give me my money back and they haven't done this. Also they did not even warn me. They could have sent me an email or a letter. This didn't even have to take place. I also found out they are supposed to give you 7 days to mail back any receiver. They didn't allow this for me. They took my money, then sent me the return box. Could you please help me? This behavior out of DirecTV is nothing short of criminal.

When I called, they informed me that the fee was for an unreturned, LEASED equipment!! I explained that (1) I was told that I OWNED all equipment, including the new DVR which had never even left the box, and (2) that my last statement that I'd received DID NOT indicate any balance was owed. Instead... they owed me!! After being hung up on initially after I requested to speak to a supervisor, I was transferred twice. After 40 minutes, I was told that I would be contacted within 3 business days by someone who may or may not be able to help me. Best scenario - I'd get a refund by mail in approx. 6 weeks. Worse case - I'd receive nothing. They stated that since my account was now closed, they couldn't credit my account!! What!??! That didn't stop them from DEBITING my account without notice!! This is a terrible way to do business and I wouldn't recommend Directv to anyone!

January 26th, 2009, I called to see where my refund was at. This time the rep told me it would take 7-10 WEEKS. Did I come unglued. Eventually I talked to a supervisor who said they would put me on urgent notice and it would take 7-10 business days. February 6th 2009 ten days later the money still is not refunded. I called them, the first rep said it would be 7-10 weeks. Again I came unglued. I explained to them again what I was told, and that I wanted to talk to the billing or whoever handles refunds and she said they do not have any number to give me. She put me on hold for almost 15 minutes, waiting for a supervisor, then hung on me. So I called right back and the new rep tried to get me with the 18 month contract - we went back and forth. She put me on hold then came back and said that on my file it says it will be taken care of in 24 hours. I told her I don't believe it. We argued a little more then she said a check will be sent 3-5 business days. So now I will wait again. I just don't understand how they can pull money out of your account without permission at anytime, then they can't put it back in - they have to send me a check.

After two months I decided to switch to another provider, because even if the TV was free, the service was terrible! This time I canceled for good, and my account had a credit of over $150. Imagine my surprise to find a $63 charge on my credit card. I disputed it since I should have owed nothing. I took my argument to the last resort and was denied in my request for reimbursement. Although the amount I got ripped off was small, I can imagine that DirecTV is doing this to tons of other unsuspecting customers. I sincerely feel that my rights as a consumer were violated and would recommend never doing business with DirecTV.

They refuse to respond with any type of documentation that indicate they received a rejection. They refuse to even verify that their information is correct. My credit rating is superb and I don't want it ruined by this company's bad record-keeping or whatever the issue is. They refuse to provide proof of what they say occurred, which leaves me at a disadvantage. They can say this every month for every payment and I would have no recourse but to allow them to ruin my credit. Nothing keeps them from stating that my credit card rejected - they don't have to prove it, just keep erroneously charging me based on this reasoning. This is unfair to me and is probably being done to others. I am locked in by a 2-year agreement that has a ridiculous amount in fees to get out of the contract and move to a better provider. After reading the long list of complaints this company has, no doubt that this company has a reputation for mistreating people.

We are now being told we are getting calls because someone who had the number before us used to have an account that has been deactivated for several years and that is why they will not remove our number. My husband is now talking to someone who will remove our number, telling us our number is now on the Do-Not-Call List (which I have the sheet saying when it was put on the list) and saying it will take 7 - 10 days for them to stop calling us. It has taken threatening a lawsuit to get us the number of the correct people at Direct TV who can remove our number.

So, I signed up for the DirecTV Plus DVR package and had everything installed on 11/08/2008, with the agreed upon monthly rate of $39.99 for the first year of DirecTV service. The agreement was for a full 24-month contract. The problem began when I realized that I was being charged the full $62.99 monthly rate for the same service. I assumed there was some latency in crediting my account for the discounted rate, so I waited to see if subsequent billing cycles would correct for this.

In late Jan. 2009/early Feb. 2009, I realized the DirecTV billing rate was not changing. To complicate matters, my billing for DirecTV services was being handled by Qwest. To say the least, it almost takes a masters' degree to figure out how to read the Qwest bill, the various line items, taxes, surcharges, fees, credits, etc. The lady from Qwest told me that she went to training for a whole month and a half to understand how to interpret their own bill, no kidding! So, I called both Qwest and DirecTV to inquire about the problem. Both companies informed me that I was supposed to fill out an online "rebate" form in order to qualify for the discounted rate. This was the first time I had ever heard of a "rebate" form. No one informed me of this so-called rebate form that I was supposed to fill out. Neither Qwest representatives nor DirecTV representatives told me of such a rebate form. I religiously keep my documents on file and I thoroughly checked my sign-on agreement, my installation paperwork, and my DirecTV Starter Kit...none of which had any hint of mentioning a rebate form that I needed to fill out in order to qualify for the "agreed-upon" rate.

So, I called DirecTV (actually several calls) and they informed me that I was "responsible" for filling out this rebate form within the first 60 days of signing up as a new customer. Well guess what, I was a couple of weeks over my 60-day limit by the time I called. They steadfastly resisted, and I mean resisted, in giving me any kind of assistance in regards to getting my "agree-upon" monthly rate. During the process of the last phone call, I realized I was dealing with a customer service group in India. At this point, I asked to speak with a customer service representative in the United States. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that was not possible. After a more "elevated" conversation and several minutes later, the customer service representative in India put me on a three-way conference call with a representative in Minnesota. Imagine that! The customer service representative in Minnesota was a joke... He had very little to say...very little to offer in the way of assistance...and just gave me the impression that he couldn't simply care less. By the way, I have the entire 45 minute phone conversation recorded (02/04/2009), if anyone is interested.

I feel like I have been painted into a corner here. I signed a 24-month agreement and I fear if I cancel my service, I'll be slapped with a large premature contract termination fee. So I'm stuck with the bill, as the saying goes! I find this kind of treatment of customers inexcusable and downright wrong, from any vantage point. I feel that DirecTV and it's so-called representatives directly misrepresented themselves and their services, or, at the very least, failed to provide necessary information at the time the contract was to be signed. There was no FULL disclosure when we entered the contract agreement (no mention of a rebate form or the rebate process), and therefore, I believe that this is a breach of contract!

I was later absolutely amazed to find just how many complaints have been filed with Consumer Affairs, dealing with the almost identical situation as mine. My fear of early termination fees appears to be completely justified, based on other customer complaints. Based on the sheer volume of complaints just with Consumer Affairs, this seems to be getting to the level of a class-action lawsuit!

I don't know what else to do or where else to turn. I'm stuck... because of the power and clout of a big company that feels that it can hide behind its own bureaucracy and the disguise of a very suspect rebate (?) program (see the numerous customer complaints concerning just the rebate program on the Consumer Affairs website). It feels no sense of responsibility to the little guy, the customer, even when complaints are valid and justified. I hope that this complaint gets into the hands of someone who can actually do something about this whole fiasco.

Thank you for your time.

Apparently, that same day that I was issued a credit it was reversed because it was found to be an invalid credit. I was never notified of that. When I called today that I could not be credited for the NFL Sunday Ticket because they do not allow you to cancel it once the season has started, despite the fact that my DirecTV service just happened to begin during the season and I never did request the Sunday Ticket in the first place. The customer service agent was very rude, as was Deborah, the supervisor.

I feel it is completely unacceptable that a company would lock you in a contract under a package/program that was different than the one you had originally intended to purchase. Every time that I have called DirecTV the customer service representatives have been rude and unwilling to resolve the issue. I DO NOT RECOMMEND DIRECTV TO ANYONE!!!!

This was not my fault, and therefore I had to cancel the DirecTV service. I spoke with a DirecTV supervisor regarding the issue, and she assured me that I would not be penalized with the cancellation fee because I was not at fault. On 2/3/09 I checked my bank account and I had a debit from DirecTV of $403. I immediately called them and the representative I spoke with told me that the charge was due to cancellation fees. I had to explain the situation again to the lady and then she told me that she didn't understand why the charge was made and that it would be credited back to my account within hours. As of today, 2/4/09 the credit has not been made. The unauthorized charge that DirecTV made, made my account go into the negatives and now I am being charged overdraft fee.

The next service appointment was made for 12-4 PM on a Monday. I was told by the installing company he was in the area and was running late. About 4:15, I received a call from the installer that the chimney straps were back-ordered from some warehouse and another service appointment would have to be made. I called them back and got into a discussion about the back-ordered chimney straps and the never ending appointments. The person I spoke to had no answers and passed me on to a supervisor. He indicated that they do not install HDTV dishes on chimneys with chimney straps and have no idea who gave me that information that it could be done that way. Apparently at some point in time, there was damage done to chimneys by mounting the large HD dishes that way.

Now I have a supervisor telling me one thing and an installer telling me something else. At this point I'm not very happy considering I found out the initial installation back in 2006 was done without ever being grounded. I wondered why I was getting a shock when I touched the coax connections. Apparently, the installer was planning on strapping the HDTV dish to the chimney, regardless of what might happen. I could just see some sort of damage to the chimney happening and finding out that I have no recourse since DirecTV does not mount HDTV dishes to chimneys according to the installer's supervisor. Apparently, even the Customer Service Rep from DirecTV who called me about the cancellation knew about not using chimney straps.

At this point, I have no confidence in anyone to do the correct, safe thing and decided to drop the entire service. Then I find out from the Cancellation Department since I had a DVR installed, it changes my contract and I'm supposed to be hit with some large penalty for canceling prior to 24 months. The person who canceled my service told me, "It's not our fault you can't change to HDTV Service. You could just stay with the basic service for 2 years and not be penalized." Excuse me? Was I just supposed to accept this as my resolution? (1) The installer wanted to install a dish improperly possibly causing damage that would have never been covered. (2) The installation company he worked for knew it was not allowed. (3) DirecTV did care or even consider these factors, just that I invoked an early termination and wanted $350.00.

The ironic part is that the Customer Service Rep that called me regarding my cancellation agreed with my story and that none of this was my fault and that she would have done the same. She also informed me that she was going to add her feelings to my account file. On 2.3.09, I get an email. "After reviewing your account, we found that your DIRECTV account was downgraded, disconnected or terminated before your DIRECTV programming agreement was met. Therefore, following the terms of the agreement currently active on your account, we have charged an early cancellation fee to your DIRECTV account." They really don't care what the circumstances or who's at fault. They just want their money.

Well, my first bill was $45.64. That was okay because he told me this. My next bill was 50 something dollars so I called and the lady said she could fix it and that not all my rebates had been applied and that all I would have to pay was 19 dollars and some change so I paid $20.00 because I could not remember the change. Now, today, I got a bill and it's for $55.28; I called and got run around. One person said they failed to apply all my discounts and that it would be fixed by the next bill but that my bill from now on would be 38 dollars and change. I said, "What? It is supposed to be $19.00 and change." I said, "You can't go back, see who sold this to me and see what price he gave me?" He said no.

Well then I said, "I don't want it; I can't afford it. I'm disabled and only have so much money." He said that I would have to pay a 350 dollar fee for early cancellation. I said, "Let me talk to your manager." He let me talk to her and she said they don't have any programs for $19.00 and some change. I said, "That is what you sold me," and that they needed to talk to the one that sold it to me about not telling the truth. She said they didn't know who it was. I can't believe that. I'm sure he got commission and they've got the paper trail back to whoever he is. She would not help me. Can you?

I HATE THIS Company!! They said they would not release my credit card, that all fees will go on that, and if I want my money back, it will take 6-8 additional weeks. How is this legal? How can they keep doing this to people? Did I mention they hang up on you??? Someone please help!!! Oh, and then they gave me a number to call. It was the one I listed above. The old number that has been changed and takes me back to them...... They are LIARS!

When I ask to PLEASE transfer me to a manager, he again said to hold putting the phone on the desk again. For 15 or 20 minutes I wait again, I said “What are you doing??” He said “Oh I got an e-mail back and it says that you did only have 1 year contract and it was up in Aug 2008.” I said “that is what I told you...” He said “well, I do not mind being wrong.” But I do mind because it was very bad customer service. Then the end of Jan 2009 I get the bill and there is an 87 dollar early cancellation fee on the bill.

I called and spoke with Mary this time and she put me on hold again. After about 10 minutes she said there is no cancellation fee but that I would have to call back in 7 days to be sure the procedure that has to take place was completed. That 2 review boards would have to look at it. I told her that I would pay only the true amount. I clearly asked her that if all that I need to pay and her response was YES. We will wait and see... if I get another bill. I just wanted to let someone know the customer service and billing has to be the worst that I have ever had to deal with. If there is any hope on getting a name of someone high up at DirecTV about this. I have worked in call center for most of my life and this would never been acceptable.

In the days prior to the setup I was called to confirm my time, which was between 12:00 and 4:00 pm, November 10, 2008. They also asked me to confirm my order and informed me I was paying a $21 set up fee. I said I was NEVER told anything about this.... I should have known then the dishonesty that was to come. On November 10, the tech from the company arrived ninety minutes early. I work in my home, and was very busy in my office, on the phone. I was not ready for him because two of the TVs had to be moved to be accessible. While I was on a long-distance conference call to Connecticut, one of the men said he was finished and handed a clipboard and a pen to me and told me I needed to sign something so he could leave, which I did, as I continued my phone conversation. Then they left.

I noticed they had left boxes, and packing material in every room. There were holes in the eaves of my attic where I can now see daylight, for the wires to come through. I also found broken pieces of wood in the attic crawl space where they had worked. I had to call the company because the men told me nothing about how the system works or how to use it. The main receiver had to be re-set to make it work at all. All this would be ignored IF their marketing methods were intended to give people what they believe they are selling them for the cost they want them to believe they are to pay for this service. I soon discovered I was unable to get some local channels they had said I would be able to get. Before I had even learned how to use the thing, a bill arrived. When I opened it and saw the amount, I was sure it was a simple mistake.

I called DirecTV. First, I was told that it was because I needed to apply for a rebate which hadn't arrived, yet. I said, "I don't know anything about a rebate." I was then referred to another representative. This one hung up on me after putting me on hold. I called back. The next operator couldn't find my account and referred me to another person who looked at my account and then told me that they had signed me up for the Choice Extra Package so I was being billed more. I said "What?" I said I wanted only this: to pay the $29.99 a month I was told I would pay for the basic offer with up to 4 rooms included. He said, "Ok, we can change that back." But this did not address the extra charges of $4.99 per extra room.

After the third call back to them asking to speak with a supervisor, they then told me I had to pay $4.99 for each receiver, except the first one, per month. I said, "What? I did not sign up for that and I wont pay it!" No where in this advertisement does it tell me that the other three rooms will be billed $4.99 each a month. At no time did the sales people I spoke with on the phone inform me that there was a monthly charge for the other 3 rooms. My whole reason for doing this was to cut my costs on cable and I had specifically told them that! I was then told that I had no choice because I signed a contract. I said, "Then, in that case, I will fight it because this is deliberately misleading. Disconnect me, immediately. I don't want it. Get this crap out of my house, now!" At that time they disconnected my service and told me they would send a package out with instructions for returning the equipment. I had to crawl up into my attic and spend hours trying to clean up the mess they made to reconnect my cable TV. I have returned the equipment as required.

Immediately, a bill for $325.36 arrived with pleasant threats warning me of what they would do if I don't pay. I made numerous calls over a period of three days, asking to speak with someone in accounting and waited for them to return my phone calls which they never did. I was finally able to reach someone who seemed to be in Pakistan. If they were speaking English I could not tell. I was informed that if I want to go to arbitration it costs me $125. I asked her for the address to write to. I then wrote a letter explaining the situation, sent it off, and waited. The charge then appeared on my credit card for $325.36. I called and told them, "Why have you charged my card? I have requested a review and under your own contract it is not legal for charges to be made." She ignored me and simply said, "You must pay."

I called my credit card company and reported the charge as fraudulent, explaining the situation to them. Capital One removed the charge. Soon more bills arrived. After about a month a letter arrived saying they had received my letter, addressing nothing that I had said, and saying basically "We have decided that you must pay us..." Oh really! I am now ready for war.

The latest status from DirecTV is that I'm still obligated under their agreement for 2 years and that now I owe a cancellation fee of $595. I have written to Verizon as well as DirecTV's Customer Service with no resolution. I have also searched the Web and have found thousands of complaints of how other customers are being fraudulent charges these cancellation fees under this false agreement contract. An investigation should be launch to stop these types of practices by DirecTV toward consumers. With the condition of the economy, no company should be taking advantage of consumers that are working hard to pay legitimate bills.

A week and half goes by when I discover that DirecTV charged $112.60 on my debit card. I immediately called their customer service representative who told me that since they had my debit card on file they could charge my card for any amount I owed them and that they were under no obligation to inform me before doing so. The amount that they charged was more than what my bill is typically. I was not expecting nor was I prepared for this amount of money to be deducted from my checking account. I had to scramble to transfer funds and obtain funds to cover other obligations pending.

I had a three way conversation with DirecTV and Discover in December to correct this. But nothing has been done since my January bill had a charge and reversal on it. I have paid over six hundred dollars in charges in the last month, besides my charges. My service has been disconnected three times and is now off again. Every other week, I receive a past due notice from them, and then they cut it off the same day and the cycle starts over. I am unable to reach anyone who can help. I don't know what's going on with this account. Besides the humiliation and stress from dealing with these people, I'm afraid they may ruin my credit by this false credit card they keep charging on.

Why am I paying premium rates for below average service? They didn't even have the courtesy to offer to exchange the set-top-box. Rather, they tried to get me to change the type of cabling that I use in an effort to circumvent the problem. The last time that I checked, HDMI connectivity is one of the main selling points of the type of boxes that I am paying for. Obviously I am only a valued customer so long as I have nothing to complain about and continue to pay my bills.

Now after discussing the issue once again with one of your Customer Service Representatives - Britton, I find myself at odds with my choices: sever my ties with your company while sending letters of complaint to the PSC, the FCC and the BBB or do I continue to pay premium rates and suffer in silence. I am of the mind to choose the former. Since when after exploring all of the channels of troubleshooting does the customer have to pay for something that is acknowledged as being the fault of the service provider? Not even a new box?

I spoke to a supervisor who told me she could not waive the contract. My only options, according to her, were to have a new contract or not activate my receiver, but I still have 20 months left on my previous contract, so in effect I would be obligated to pay for 20 months of service, which I cannot receive. I am so frustrated because technically they own the box, we lease it, yet they take no responsibility for their equipment and act like they are doing us a favor by sending a new box for free with a 2 year contract attached.

And I agree with previous posts, nowhere can you find the mysterious contract terms they claim we all agree to. I was told it was written on my first bill, sent almost 7 years ago, which they probably count on people throwing away. I am shocked that there has not been a class action against them for the ways they treat their customers. Please - someone start one!! They need to own up to their terrible customer service and shady business dealings.

We then had a charge for $465 dollars for the service being turned off (i.e. early termination fee) and another similar fee for the HD - DVR all while never receiving a refund for the original HD DVR. After spending hours on the phone, I was able to get those charges hashed out. Well now we are being told that, even though we qualified for that Circuit City offer in the beginning, they are now saying that we no longer qualify for the Circuit City offer and that we are responsible to pay for the NFL Sunday Ticket (even though football season is now over)... and that original $128.1... still has not been refunded. So currently our bill stands at $175.56 plus that $128... puts me in the hole.. over $300 for a service that was originally supposed to be free for four months.. I really don't get it.

I just got off the phone with the customer retention manager who basically told us that there was nothing we can do. She wasn't there when we signed up, and that if we were unhappy and wanted to cancel we would still owe the money and an additional cancellation fee. I feel totally bait and switched and every day.. I hate DirecTV more and more.... I am at wits end.. I have tried everything I can think of.. and I am out of ideas..... Does any slickdealer have a clue as to what to do... Customer Retention is no help and no one else seems to want to help. FYI.. I live in Las Vegas... Sunday Ticket isn't really that important.... I really wanted DirecTV for their NASCAR coverage, which they have since canceled for 2009.

Today, 1/23, when I called to follow up, I was not allowed to talk with Teresa, another gentleman spoke with me. He was very coy and not very forthcoming. After much prodding from me, I finally got him to agree that Teresa had offered me new boxes. He kept asking me what I wanted and I told him I wanted new boxes and a $10 a month discount--he offered me $10 a month for 6 months, on an 18 month contract. I told him that was unacceptable and I wasn't interested in him throwing me a bone.

All was well until we planned on moving, they said I was under contract. That we were told incorrectly that it would not extend a contract. That if we wanted to send them the equipment (that he had purchased at Best Buy) that it would take some off the balance due. I felt that since we purchased this item for over 400 dollars, it was ours. They disagreed, and felt that we were leasing the equipment, even though my fiance hadn't signed anything, and the account was in my name. I refused to pay them anything. They have now sent me to collection and put a negative on my credit report.

I checked my bank account on Dec. 11th and the full amount of $393 was withdrawn. I logged onto DirectTV's site only to find that I had a $256 credit on my account. I called again and asked for a refund. The man I spoke with told me if they were to refund it back to my debit card, it would take only a couple of days. I waited until Dec. 23 at which point I had incurred $70 of overdraft fees. I called DirecTV again and this time spoke with a supervisor. They told me they weren't sure why the person I spoke with on the 11th said it would take only a couple of days. She said she would escalate the issue to the finance team at that point and it would take another 10 days for me to receive my refund.

I asked them to pay me for my overdraft charges, and she would not. She only would credit me back $10 a month for 12 months on my account. I accepted that thinking I would have my $256 back in 10 days. Another billing cycle passed and they applied part of the refund to my monthly bill. I called back again on January 13th because I still had not received my money back. At this point, I have $245 in overdraft fees and no refund. I told them in no uncertain terms that they had no right to withdraw that money and it took them one day to withdraw the money and over 30 days to give it back. Again, they told me they would escalate the issue to the finance department and that I could fax my statements from the bank showing the fees and I would be refunded.

I called back on January 22nd to find out if they received the fax, because they had not contacted me regarding my request. The woman said she didn't see the fax on my account and that I had no way to find out if they received it, but that the refund would take another 10-12 days. As of today, I have $280 in overdraft fees because I can't get out from under this withdrawal.

On 05/12/08, I again called to report the additional error. I was again told that the problem was fixed and DirecTV promised that I would receive an additional $5 per month credit for 3 months as compensation. The total amount of credit promised was $45 and the total amount of credit received was $19.39 on statements dated 05/07/08, 06/07/08. There was no credit issued as promised on statement 07/07/08. Not only was this not what I was promised, it did not even cover the charges I was billed.

On my statement dated 07/08/08, I was billed for the NFL Sunday Ticket which was fine because I did not read the fine print on my statement from the previous month stating that I would be charged for this item if I did not cancel the NFL Sunday Ticket package. On 07/15/08, I called DirecTV to cancel the NFL Sunday Ticket package and to have it removed from my bill. At that time, I also reported that I had not received the credit I was promised from previous billings. I was told at that time that the NFL Sunday Ticket package would be cancelled and that it would be removed from my bill within 24 hours. As of 07/22/08, it had not yet been removed from my online statement, so I again called to have it removed. It was also at this time that I had the customer service representative add to my customer notes that if I had to call in with one more billing error that I would cancel my account and I would not pay an early cancellation fee. I also had the customer service representative read back what was written in the notes to make sure that it was added per my request.

On the very next statement dated 08/07/08, I was again billed for the NFL Sunday Ticket package that I had already cancelled twice before. By this time, I had had enough. On 08/08/08, I called DirecTV to again have the NFL Sunday Ticket removed from my bill and also stated that as soon as I had another service connected, that I would be cancelling my service with DirecTV and that I would not pay for an early cancellation fee. On 08/12/08, I called to have my DirecTV service cancelled. I was notified at this time, that despite all the trouble I had with billing errors and despite my customer note from 07/22/08 that I was still being billed an early cancellation fee of $361.25 to be charged to my Discover Card. I was also offered a $125 credit on my account to stay with DirecTV, but I told the customer service representative that DirecTV had not yet kept a promise given, that I already had another service connected, and that her offer was too little, too late.

On 08/15/2008, I was charged $361.25 ($340.00 cancellation fee and $21.25 taxes) on my Discover Card by DirecTV. I provided Discover Card the above sequence of events along with supporting documentation in order to dispute the charge. Discover Card did a temporary chargeback on my behalf due to the well-documented repeated poor service and billing issues of DirecTV. Discover Card gave DirecTV the opportunity to respond, which they did, but their case was insufficient for Discover Card to allow the charge. Discover Card agreed with me that I was within my rights to cancel service with DirecTV and made the chargeback permanent on 09/09/2008.

As you can see from this account detail, I made every effort to honor our 2-year agreement, but it was DirecTV who failed to supply adequate service. I should not be forced to do business with a company who wastes my time continually. Now, DirecTV is relentlessly threatening me in an attempt to collect the $361.25 early cancellation fee. I am now getting letters from DirecTV and collection agencies attempting to collect this charge. They are also threatening to report this matter to the credit reporting agencies. I have an 800 credit score and have worked very hard to attain that high of a score. I honor my debts and am overly cautious to make sure that I have no late payments to anyone I do business with. Now, my credit rating is in jeopardy in this economy for a debt that I do not feel that I owe. In all honesty, I feel that it is DirecTV who owes me for unpaid promises. I understand that in business, there will be billing errors, but to make the same mistakes over and over is unacceptable to me. I simply want this matter dropped and not reported to any credit reporting agency. However you can assist me in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

All together, they wanted to charge me $496 for 3 weeks of service. I asked, “Wasn't there a period of time that a person could cancel if not satisfied with their service?” They told me 24 hours. I didn't even have a TV in my house when they installed it! I have spoken to several of their customer service reps whom are nothing but RUDE. They laugh right at me when I speak of a lawyer. I have documented everything. I wrote their legal department twice (you see they have no phone # - wonder why!). I have written the president and have gotten no response. The legal department finally wrote me back saying I owe $118 and without giving me a week to respond, a collection agency called me on New Year’s Eve. So I just paid the $118.

I have worked so hard on my credit to have these scam artists mess it up. You would think I would finally be rid of DirecTV, but two weeks later, the same collection company calls me again wanting $334. I said no way. The collection agency says they are sending their collection back to DirecTV. Also, they kept charging my cc time after time. I had to dispute this with my cc company. I am so tired of dealing with these crooks. So many of us are getting taken for a ride by this company! Someone PLEASE help!

I got my DirecTV bill today (1-20), and I'm being charged the same old amount - no sign of that promised discount! I called DTV, and the rep says there is no record of me ever having called, and anyway they are not authorized to give such discounts. I said, "Fine, let's just cancel." She says it will cost me $140 to do so, because my agreement goes through August 2009. I asked for a copy of the agreement. She says they don't have one. As I argue, she says that the installer's work order is the contract, and then says the service agreement is the contract. I ask for documentation that I ever agreed to their early cancellation terms, whatever form that documentation may take. She puts me on hold, then comes back and says it's all taken care of, no worries, it will be cut off today. I ask if I need to send the box or anything back, and she says no, that I bought it all and own it.

So what happens next? They DO NOT turn off the service - they just bump me down to the lowest package and send me an email to that effect! I called back, and yet another rep says don't worry, it is scheduled to be cut off later. We'll see... I'm skeptical. If you are reading this because you are considering DirecTV, RUN - do not walk - in the opposite direction. Their customer service is atrocious, and these ghost contracts that only they can see are dastardly.

I called today, 1-20-09, to find the status and she read Gary's notes back to me stating I would have a paper check by the 22nd. She said it hasn't been sent yet and she was going to put back on my cancelled debt card. I told her what my financial institute said, that it was impossible. She then said that she would escalate it AGAIN - that would make 4 escalations. The last escalation number is **. She then stated, "Thanks for calling" and hung up.

These companies can take money from consumers, but when the tables are turned and they owe consumers money, it never happens. I cancelled my service clear back in April of 2008, but they continued to charge my account. They took out $450, but they said since I still had a bill what I would get back is $255.00. How can they get away with this?!

Well, as I should have expected, although my 4 months was not up until Jan. 26, I find today, Jan. 19th, 2009, that my bill has gone from $52 to $132. I called and they said, 'Yes, they show I am within the allotted time to cancel and my bill will only be $116.' After numerous attempts to explain this to the rep, it was clear she did understand but had no authority to do anything about it. So I asked for her supervisor, and after a 5-minute wait, Ryan ** (he could not give his last name) basically said that the person who called me must not have taken partial months into consideration and that the $116 would have to be paid.

I explained to him that his company should have a recorded conversation with the stated promise of no higher bills, etc. and for that reason alone did I accept the temporary upgrade. Ryan was very courteous, and by his demeanor, I believe he believed everything I said but simply could not do anything about it. I asked for his manager's name or ID number. He said she does not talk to customers and he was not allowed to give her ID number. No wonder there are websites dedicated strictly to complaints about this company.

A year later, I got a 50 inch HD flat screen and wanted my HD back. So I made the first appointment to get my 2 dishes (YES, 2 ** dishes - one in the front from the OLD HD and one in the back for the regular receivers) slim lined. They were going to put up just one dish, and hook all my receivers up to one central dish. 2 receivers would be HD and 2 would be regular. The first appointment, the tech did not show, and no one could account for why not. The second rescheduled appointment was for 12-4 pm. The tech called at 4:30 pm and said he could not make it.

I rescheduled (weeks and weeks later because they were "so busy") and the tech shows up with an HD receiver and a work order that says just dropping off the receiver. Definitely NOT the complex work that needed to be done. The tech couldn't do the work because it was not in the work order. So he left, and I got rescheduled for the FOURTH TIME!!! The company called me the day before my 4th reschedule to confirm the appointment. I reminded them of all the work that needed to be done, switching the receivers around, and putting up the new dish, as well as hooking up a new HD receiver. They said OK. The fourth tech person came with the same work order from the last time, JUST DROPPING OFF THE HD RECEIVER!!! Yet again, he would not do the work because it was not in the work order! The customer service and subcontractors are horrible.

I then called DirecTV and told the service rep I did not want to speak with her. I wanted a manager. After bickering with her for about 5 minutes, she finally gets a manager on the phone. She kept telling me a manager was not going to be able to help me, and that I needed to call the subcontractor company! She really did not want to give me to a manager! That really was not good customer service! I have had a new HD TV now for 3 months without HD service! Headaches, days wasted spending time sitting at home ALL DAY WAITING FOR A TECH TO COME OUT!

Then on the 12th of January, my other TV went out and I called to inform them again. I still have to wait for someone to come out on the 22nd, because now, they must have had an earlier day than the 23rd. Now I want to cancel my service because I have no TV and I don't think I should have to stay with a company that is giving poor service. Now for me to cancel, they want me to pay for the remainder of my contract and I don't think that is fair. Please help me.

My husband paid a bill from DirecTV for $9. I thought it was a bill for this month. I called today, 01/13/09, and I didn't believe what they did to me again. The $9 my husband paid was for the free movie channels. They cancelled the movie channels again. I asked for local channels. I was told they will send someone here to upgrade my system. I asked, "Will you bill me for this?" She said, "No, this service is for free." I received an email from them. My bill is now $196.00. I called back and they were telling me I ordered for something. They didn't even know what it was until I told them. They were rude to me in the end because I am not an American and I have an accent. Told me he can't even understand what I am saying and asking if there is any other person he can talk to.

I am really upset about this. Really think DirecTV is here not to provide anything good but to cheat us. They inform you about the contract only when you want to cancel.

What can I do? I'm paying monthly for this package without getting it complete. It's their fault, because when I upgraded it, they never told me that I needed to change the dish. I called them every month, and the last time that I called, they asked me why I waited too long to tell them that I wasn't getting these channels when I have called them every month about this problem. I don't get no solution and I don't get any credit for the channels that I didn't get.

I work 8-5pm and some of these were ordered at 8am, 1:30pm. She said that I was basically lying and that there was nothing she could do. Also apparently, since I have had my Dish account in 2007, I have had PPV charges on there every month. I never looked at my bill closely before I figured it was surcharges and such and never looked it over as I did today because the bill was so high. So for the past year, I have been paying for these movies that I in no way shape or form ordered. I asked the rep if there was a way that someone could hack in and she said absolutely not, and that I had to order them through the remote.

Now because of this I am forced to pay a bill again for charges that I did not do. I even told them I could provide my time sheets from work that shows I was working my 40 hours a week and could not have been home, and they said there is nothing they could do. So for the past year, I am estimating that I paid over $500 in charges that I did not accrue.

After many emails, I telephoned DirecTV today, 1/9/09, about the $52.99 first month charge. I talked to Dave (1-877-286-4808), Rebate Dept., and I explained that I originally agreed to the $29.99/mo. for 12 months contract w/ no installation charges, no equipment fees and no other charges as shown on DirecTV's mailing flyers, online advertisements and contract papers. I HAVE submitted and been approved for the $23.00/month for 12-mo. refund program within 6 days of System installation (contract says I have 60 days to do this). My first month bill AND my Master Card account both show that DirecTV charged me $52.99?

I told Dave that I wanted an immediate refund of $23.00 or remove their equipment from my residence and cancel this Service. He said, "Okay," and he would transfer me to someone who could authorize this. I was transferred to Angello (1-800-531-5000) who insists that it will take 6-8 weeks for the $23.00/mo refund to go into effect and that from the day it DOES go into effect, I will receive 12 mo. Service for $29.99/mo.

My rebuttal is that BEFORE the Refund goes into effect, I will be paying an additional $46.00 [($52.99 X 2 mo.= $105.98) - ($29.99 X 2 mo.= $59.98) = $46.00] above the nominal Contract $29.99/mo. rate. I told Angelo that I would NOT agree to this and that I wanted the $23.00/mo. rebate to start immediately on this billing. He said that he could NOT do that. I then asked him to disconnect the service, cancel my subscription, remove DirecTV's Equipment, re-install my original Dish Network Dish (that their Service man had removed) and refund my MasterCard charge. Angelo said he could NOT do this and would connect me to the Disconnect Dept.

I was forwarded to Mark; I relayed all the information from the former 2 Representatives. Again I told him that I wanted either an immediate activation of the $23.00/mo. refund (including application to the current billing) or remove equipment and cancel subscription, etc. After a long pause and being put on hold twice, he said he would give me a $5 rebate in lieu of my requests. I told him that was an insult. I also told him I could envision what DirecTV was doing; i.e., if they charged an extra $46.00 to 1000 Customers with contracts for 12 mo., they would make an extra $46,000.00 for the 12-mo. period PLUS they would tie up Customers for an additional 2-month period. I told him that further discussion was pointless and for DirecTV to contact me, in writing, of the Equipment removal schedule and verification of the Service cancellation. I then hung up my Cell Phone around 4:10 PM PT on 1/9/09.

To date, I have NOT received a reply. I have tried to stop the automatic charge to my credit card, but I am unsure if this has been accomplished due to the ambiguity of DirecTV's website. I do NOT want my credit rating adversely affected.

For the whole month of December 2008, I paid both DirecTV and my previous cable company because my DSL internet was not connected. I learned that some idiot in their company cancelled it, so I tried to cancel my DirecTV account on the 3rd day after installation but I was told I have to pay $20 for every month for the remaining months of my contract which basically is 24 months as per their argument. I tried to reason out that since they talk about contract, my understanding was that I will only sign up with them if I have my DSL internet connection which they promised they would. They failed to deliver that part of the supposedly contract which I haven't signed nor given a copy of it, if ever I did. Isn't there a grace period to cancel that contract for unsatisfactory service?

I don't find a link in their website to get a physical copy of said contract. Talking about fine prints... DirecTV has a phantom contract. How can we win over that? With all the class action lawsuits being filed, is there no one here who can legally spearhead this movement because I'd like to sign in my name now. I'm not after any settlement but just to make this company and its employees learn some basic business ethics. My DirecTV was installed on Dec. 2 and my DSL internet was installed sometime on Jan. 5, 2009, but no thanks to them. I was on the phone the whole afternoon New Year's Day talking to some overseas call center operators who know only whatever prepared info they read from their monitors.

At the time of installation, the technician told me he knew nothing of the rebate and that I should contact DIRECTV about that. He also asked me to sign 3 papers as part of the contract. I read all 3 and noticed that one of the 3 was for a warranty contract that would have been an additional charge and I refused to sign that one. Feeling as if why should I pay for a warranty on equipment that I do not own, I am just renting from this company anyway.

Since my contract began, I have been billed and I have paid $89.79 for Nov. service, $130.03 for Dec. service and this month of January, I have been billed $191.31. This totals to $174.13 more than I was supposed to be billed, if you include the rebate. By the way, the rebate is a fraud because whether you try to apply through the internet or over the phone, all you get is the run-around or a caption that reads, your account info is not on record. There is no way to get the actual rebate.

The customer service, when I call, keeps telling me they have no record of my rebate or prior attempts to collect my rebate. Of course not for the internet, because it always kicks it back that it is an invalid account number whenever I try to apply through the web. This account number isn't invalid because it is the one I pay my bill through. How could it be invalid?

So they come in the house and I show them where I want the receiver jack installed. They tell me it's impossible to put it there. I asked them if they would run a line over the roof, and just come in through the back of the house. No, it's impossible. So they want full access to the house to program the receivers. I tell them absolutely not, they can do it off of the jack in the dining room. They "program" the receivers and leave. I go to hook my old DVR up that came from NY with us and we get an error message.

I call the customer service line, and they upload new software and tell me everything is fine and to reset the box. They also tell me that a service call is being set up for Wednesday the 5th between 8 and noon for someone to come fish the wire. Well, after resetting the receiver, it still doesn't work. So I call back and get someone else to reprogram the box. And I reset it once again and this time it works, but none of the extra programming we ordered worked. So I call back a third time and finally get everything straightened out.

Monday the 5th, I hook another receiver up in my bedroom. None of the programming we are supposed to have is working. So I call and spend another hour on the phone getting that receiver programmed and when it was done, I tried to confirm our appointment. The first person never put it in, but he assured me he would put a service order in.

Tuesday the 6th, I call to confirm the appointment and it was never made. So the girl tells me that the installation company would call me at some point during the day to make the appointment. It never happened. So when I get home from work, I spend over 3 hours on the phone to get an appointment made. So yesterday, I went to set the DVR to record the hockey game as I had to work late. We ordered the NHL Center Ice package for an extra $150. Well I'm flipping through and my game isn't on. So I call up DirecTV yet again and they tell me that the game is blacked out. Their advertisement says "get all your favorite teams and players even if they aren't in your local area". When we ordered the package, we were told there would be no blackouts. Why did I pay an extra $150 for something that I'm not going to get to use when I want to use it? They used a bait and switch tactic to get me to purchase the extra package.

So here it is, Thursday, the 8th of January at 11:09 in the morning. The service tech was supposed to be here between 8am and noon. I haven't even gotten a phone call. Needless to say throughout this whole ordeal, I have spent over 12 hours on the phone with DirecTV customer service. I have been hung up on, yelled at, and been treated like a piece of dirt. I'm just about ready to rip all of their equipment out of my home and sell it to the scrap yard. On top of all of the frustration, my cell phone bill is going to be around $600 for this month because of all the time spent on the phone with these people. What ever happened to customer service?

I was not provided a copy of the agreement with my first bill. My first bill was actually a statement that my account was PAST DUE (and included a $5 late fee), even though it was my first bill! When I called DIRECTV and complained, they removed the late fee and accepted a credit card payment over the phone. When I moved out of the apartment after 10 months of service (which included numerous problems during that period), I was told by the Customer Service person that there would not be an early cancellation fee if I returned the DVR with programming card, which I did.

I received a final bill which includes a $120 early cancellation fee. I called DIRECTV and was told that I must pay the fee. They apologized for anyone who told me something different previously. When I continued to complain, I was transferred to the Cancellation Fee department (I now understand why they need such a department after seeing so many other complaints about their deceptive practices). That person gave me the same apology line and finally indicated that I could dispute the bill by writing to the address on the back of the bill. I have done that and am waiting to hear from them.

I cannot believe that companies are allowed to use such deceptive practices. I am amazed they are still in business. I found a link to a law firm which is preparing a class action lawsuit against DIRECTV. I plan to join them if this isn't resolved to my satisfaction quickly.

When I spoke to Richard today, he said I was to be segregated. I can only assume this meant treated differently because I am a woman. He had a strong foreign accent. He refused to call me by my proper name. He used INAPPROPRIATE inferences. James informed me that there is no way for the consumer to contact DirecTV at their main location even if they cannot answer any questions.

The technician that came to fix my service was subcontracted by DirecTV and didn't know any information about their service. I want to bundle my service with Dish Network but now I have to wait a whole year in order to do it. Had he been able to explain all of this when he was in my home, I would have told him not to do it. All I signed at the time was the paper work which stated that he completed the service at my home.

After I cancelled my Comcast cable, I now have to wait until February? Does DirecTV not know Chicago's architecture? Not only did they want me to pay an additional $75 for this pole, what happened to number 1 in customer satisfaction? After all of this, when I called back to DirecTV to cancel the order, their technician beat me to the punch, and misinformed them by stating she had to cancel the order because I did not have a written letter from the owner of the building. Guess who's the owner, Direct TV? Me!

Then today, while writing this complaint, I called again and spoke to Kyle the supervisor and he hung up on me. I asked Kyle to give me a breakdown of the refund to verify that the amount being refunded is correct and I also advised him that I was recording the call and then he hung up. I called again and spoke to Jenny and she transferred me to Bryan. I have asked for a breakdown of what they charged me for and no one has been able to give it to me. I want a letter stating why they billed me $280 to my card. Also, I never renew my contract, so why are they billing me for 12 or 18 months of cancellation? Please help me with this issue.

I continued to complain and demanded a supervisor, which took about five minutes to get on the line. The supervisor was a fast talker and told me all that he was going to do for me. It took me some time to figure out what I was actually getting. It occurred to me that if they had under-billed me, they would not hesitate to recoup the entire amount. What I got was six months of free DVR service, meaning that I can only get some of my money back if I stick with them for another six months - I had indicated that I was going to look into replacing DirecTV with cable.

Maybe it's me, but if I report a box as broken, I think it should be deactivated immediately, especially when I have other boxes that could be labeled as primary. This is incompetence on DirecTV's part. They told me that it was my responsibility to check the bill and I suppose there is truth in that and I now know that DirecTV is incompetent and must be watched. I didn't check my bill because I pay my bill through my bank's Bill Pay system. I will be watching it from now until I cancel service (I'm also tired of pixelated broadcasts).

The phone calls continued, and I continually told them I was not paying for service on a cancelled account. In August, I received a statement saying they were disconnecting my service, which I had requested in June. Then in August, I noticed an unauthorized debit from them out of my checking account for the full amount. I did not authorize the charge and therefore filed a complaint with my bank to reverse it. They did.

DirecTV then began an onslaught of phone calls where the reps were rude and often hung up on me when I wouldn't let them know what my current address is, or verify personal information when they contacted me. Finally today, I called to try to get this resolved and I still get stonewalled. They maintain my service was functional through August and therefore I owe the money, plus late charges and fees. I maintain that I cancelled my service in early June due to non-performance of their techs to replace my system.

Furthermore, the documentation they have on file is suspiciously inaccurate, incomplete and some of it misdated. They documented that I requested cancellation in late July. However, that particular call was a collections call where I refused to pay since I had cancelled. The rep told me they had no documentation that my receiver wasn't working. I told the rep I had already cancelled in early June because they never replaced my system, which was not functional. Apparently, the tech used that as my request to cancel on that date, more than a month after I originally called to cancel. And, they still did not cancel it until August.

At this point, I refuse to pay for service I did not receive up to and including the tech never showing up, plus any charges accrued since I cancelled my account on or about June 7. My checking account was debited without my consent. I have never authorized DirecTV to auto-debit. Furthermore, I am still being billed and harassed by DirecTV for payment. Next, it will harm my credit.

Today, 1-5-09, I went to their website to make sure they had not changed my package to include the free channels. DirecTV showed my bill had doubled what I had been paying, so I called. My package had changed to an 18-month commitment with DirecTV due to me activating the new free receiver they sent me. Upon doing so, I unknowingly committed to the 2 movie channels that were free and a sports package. When I told them I wasn’t told about an 18-month contract, they told me they had sent 1 through the mail and since I had not received, I could go to their website to view the agreement I committed to. I told them I never signed an agreement and would not have, and if I authorized it over the phone, I wanted to hear that conversation.

So now, I am stuck in an 18-month contract I was never told about. There is an early cancellation fee on my next bill for unsubscribing to the premium channels, and if I cancelled all service with them, I will be charged $344 early cancellation fee for not remaining in my contract. My point to them was I was not told by any service rep about this 18-month agreement prior to receiving or activating the receiver and was told all DirecTV customers have a copy of this agreement. They weren’t in any previous conversations I had with other reps and couldn’t attest to anything I was or was not told.

I called them to find out what is going on. I was transferred to tech support who said we didn't owe them anything because the new DVR was sent because of technical issues. However, she couldn't do anything with the bill so she transferred me to Claudette in billing, who literally spent 15 minutes reading me a contract. I kept asking her to put me on hold while she tried to sort through it, but she wouldn't. She very rudely told me I was going to listen to what she had to say. After not coming up with anything legal to hold us to their illegal garbage, she transferred me to a supervisor, who made up a name I found out later. Anyway, this supervisor was by far the absolute rudest person I have ever dealt with in my life. She actually had the nerve to yell at me! I was beyond furious at this point. She just kept repeating over and over that, “Equipment means commitment ma'am.” The call ended with me telling her that they would be contacted our lawyer to get the mess straightened. She told me that was fine with her, and that DirecTV would win because they always do!

Then on 12/17, I called back to let them know that we had contacted BBB and a lawyer who said that there is nothing in any of the contracts that we had, and there is nothing on the website that specifically states technical issues with the DVR requires the contract to be extended. After telling the agent that, I was transferred to a supervisor who told me she would escalate my case to an account manager. They would send me something legal in the mail within 10 business days. So, today is January 5th, and we still haven't received anything. I called them again this morning, and I was told that a letter went out with information regarding our account being sent to a collection agency. So again, I got on the phone with a supervisor and was on hold for 92 minutes. After all that, I was told that they would reverse the charges, and we didn't owe them anything because they didn't want to deal with any more attorney threats from customers.

What does that say about the company? What a load. I shouldn't have had to go through any of that at all. It took over 6 weeks from the day I canceled to get this resolved. I never once spoke to anyone that was nice or caring or anything remotely close to what I would consider customer service. I have told everyone I know about this experience, and I have warned them to never get DirecTV. They are horrible scam artists, all of them. The worst customer service I have ever dealt with. They should all be embarrassed by the company they work for.

After two days, the receiver no longer worked. I called DirecTV, and they said not to worry, the receiver was under warranty. They would send me a replacement free of charge. A week later, I still had no receiver, so I called in and they told me it was because they were backordered. They said they needed to cancel my first order and put in a new one, which they then tried to charge me $95.62 on my bill. I called to complain, and was told they would not credit me the shipping, even though my receiver was working when they took it. Two days later, I received another bill for $24.99 in ** from, get this, two years earlier in 2006, even though it was 12/31/2008. I called and spoke to a supervisor about all of these problems and explained to him that it is impossible to order Pay per View through my remote since no phone lines exist in those areas. I explained that my husband and I physically built our home, and that phone lines have never been connected to the receivers, nor are phone lines near them. I also asked them to look at our accounts, and they would find that we have no record of Pay per View requests. Any that have been made had to be requested by logging into our account and paying with it through a credit card.

They still refused to remove these charges. Instead, they offered me a $10 off a month’s credit for 6 months, basically forcing me to stay with their horrible company in order to get my money back. To top it off, I then got my receivers. That’s right, two of them. They sent me the standard, which is what I ordered, then tried to send me an HD, and of course, no way to send back the faulty receiver. After over an hour on the phone with them, they made me open both receivers, tear open the cards, provide the RID numbers by opening the packaging, and then boom…disconnected. God only knows what they will try and charge me for now. So I call back and 1 hour later, I am told that the order was not completed. So then the guy (Derek) says just return to sender the receiver we aren't using. I explained that the girl (Raelle) had me open it up and provide the serial number, RID number and ID card number.

This company is out of control, charging consumers two years later for charges they didn't make, providing refurbished (per our tech) equipment, then trying to charge the consumer for the malfunctions by either trip charges or service calls when they already charge to rent it at $4.99 per month to rent the junk. I would absolutely love to get rid of them completely, but have very few options in my area. I can assure you, I am actively looking for a replacement as soon as I break even on the erroneous Pay per View charges!

All in all the whole experience took 1 hour on the phone, 9 DirecTV people. At least 3 of them tried to convince me to stay, offering all types of discounts. I have a feeling the whole charade is set up to keep you as a customer at all costs. In my case it backfired. I don't think I will ever consider DirecTV for TV service again. Installation was also a nightmare. It took many, many calls to get the correct programming. It's been a year so I don't remember all the details, just that it was very difficult to get things done. But at that time you are a new and hopeful customer so you take it all for granted.

I called DirecTV and they could not resolve the problem on their end. I informed them that I am canceling my service. They made numerous offers to keep my business, which I declined. They informed me that I would be subject to a penalty for early termination of an agreement. I told them that my agreement with them was up years ago and they told me that when they sent me the replacement equipment that they extended a new agreement. I told them that I was never informed about an agreement and that I certainly never agreed to a new agreement.

I asked them to send me proof that I have a valid agreement; either an agreement signed by me or the recording of our conversation, which they tell callers about when calling in. Of course, neither of these items exists because I never agreed to a new agreement. Why would I do that with all the problems that I was having? I have copies of all written communication to and from DirecTV that I am happy to provide to you. DirecTV is billing me for $331.68 for early termination of a non-existing agreement, and for equipment and mailing fees that they stated they would not charge me for (I have the emails from DirecTV confirming this).

I was transferred from department to department, and was hung up on once. I was not irate or yelling. I simply wanted to know what the charge was for. I finally got to speak with a supervisor who informed me they had received the two receivers but had not processed one of them. She stated because their warehouse had not processed them, they charged me for the receivers. I asked how it was legal for them to automatically take money from my account, without any notice to me, for equipment that they had in their possession. The supervisor said she was sorry and I would have a refund within 3-5 days.

Approximately one week later, I still had not received the refund so I called in again. At that time I was told it would take 7-10 business days. After another two weeks, I called again and was told it would be 6-8 weeks. Well, here it is December 23, 2008, and I still have not received the refund. I called once again and was informed they would send me to their dispute department because I should have received the refund. I was assured someone would contact me. I was not contacted so I called, again, on December 29, 2008, and was told I would receive my refund by the 6th of January. I am at a total loss... How is it they can get away with this type of behavior? They took money from my account for equipment they assured me they had. This is absolutely ridiculous!!!

The packages I had ordered were not given to me. Some of the channels listed were not even showing. I called to ask what happened with the package I chose and that's when the runaround began. I wasted about 4 hours trying to see if someone in customer service explain what happened with my service but it was useless. The problem incremented and instead of solving it, the situation worsened. Within the 4 hours I spend, I spoke to 6 individuals and the last one was a supervisor. Which he was no help at all.

The technicians who came to our house caused damages by drilling through our wood floors instead of the wall. They used a drill to make a hole in the outside of our house to the inside, fed the cord through and left it like that, they thread another cord through the heating system and never connected the other receiver. I talked to a guy named Chris in customer service and could not believe how rude he was to me. Every person I talked to gave me a phone number and each time I called the phone number, I was given another #. This is a true scam. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T EVER GET DIRECTV!!

This is not what I want. I want what I paid and was part of my agreement to stay with DirecTV. I will not be penalized due to their installer either not showing at the appropriate times or not showing at all or installer coming with the incorrect equipment. When I called, they (DirecTV) act like there is no notes on my account with these regards. All I am asking is to have this deal fulfilled.

It is not possible to find out what programs are going to be shown at any time in the future for approximately 50 channels. This is an essential part of the functionality of the receiver which they are no longer supplying, and they have offered no solution, no reasonable alternative, and no offer of compensation for not supplying the full service contracted.

The rep there told me again I would need a new box. I told him it's a crock... I'd been watching tv all day... no problems. When I followed the channel guide to reset the box because I was getting the finding signal, the box stopped working. So I exchanged one of my other boxes... They were all working but as I reset another, the same thing happened. I believe it's a scam to get me to upgrade my boxes. He kept telling me they were outdated... I now have to wait 2 wks for a tech... I now only have 1 box that remains working. I don't dare touch it...

Well on 12/19 my checking account was debited $253.27 of which $220.00 is an early termination fee. I have phone DirecTV several times in regards to the matter. It wasn't until I started crying once faced with the realization of just how long this is going to take me to fix and the bounced checks, etc. I would have to deal with. I phoned my bank to see what could be done. My bank told me to have DirecTV write a letter explaining the mistake and they would release the funds back into my account.

DirecTV refused and would not even provide me with a courtesy letter explaining that they were correcting the problem. They will not fax or mail any documents for my records to help me in the event that I have to take them to court to get my money back. DirecTV also advised me that they will not provide last names and they do not have extensions. They will not let you speak with their Accounts Receivable Department - I was advised that they do not have a phone in that department and can only be contacted through interoffice email. They lack professionalism and a chain of command.

I have paid DirecTV over $315.00 in less than a month. I think someone needed a lovely Christmas at my expense. I think that is a lot to pay within a month's time for cable. It is almost the amount of my utility bill. What is DirecTV doing? I don't think I am being billed correctly. Where are all these charges coming from? The rep couldn't give me an explanation. I didn't get his name but, he reconnected my service after the four hours when I paid my bill. Which should have only taken an hour to reconnect. If I had not have called, my services were still be disconnected.

Overcharged in the first bill of $52.99 instead of the $29.99. Damages to my siding by installer. Additionally, the $200 deposit they were supposed to credit $5/mo they tried to say it was their giving me $5 discount and gee I should be happy with that new one! DIRECTV AND QWEST ARE THE BIGGEST SCAM ARTIST IN THE COUNTRY right in front of all the regulators and gov't agencies. AND no one is doing anything. Someone needs to break them up and be accountable. They BOTH need to be accountable!!!

After about 45 minutes of attempting to get the replacement receiver functioning, I was frustrated and asked to cancel my subscription. I was told that we were under contract until May 2010. I informed them that I should be out of the 2-year contract for service started back in 2004. They informed me that because I had accepted a receiver replacement back in May for a problem that we were experiencing then that my contract was now extended 2 years from that time even though I was not informed that this was the case. They also stated that my contract would again be extended once we get the new receiver active.

According to the representative their equipment is only warrantied for 90 days but every time you get a replacement unit, our contract is extended 2 years from that date and that they did not have to inform me of this because they state it was part of our original agreement. They said that I had agreed to extending my contract every time I received replacement equipment under warranty when I first signed up with DirecTV. In fact, I had never signed nor agreed to any such contract. I asked for a copy of the contract. They said that they could not provide me with a signed contract, nor any proof that I had agreed to this contract and that all contracts were verbal.

I asked what the price was to purchase the equipment in order to prevent an extension of the contract and they said that the equipment could not be purchased and that the only way for me to get a new box was to receive a warranty replacement and this would again extend my contract. I would never have been told about the extending of the contract if I hadn't inquired about cancelling and feel that their policies in regards to the contracts and statement of their policies are not fair or ethical. They said that a supervisor would call us the next day. They did not. I am currently shipping back the replacement receiver and doing without service until I hear from them.

Due to the fact that I had an extra receiver, the phone technician suggested that I replace the DVR with the other receiver until a technician could come to my home. The receiver worked, and this temporary solution appeased me for the time being. Although, I was not happy about missing the local news. An appointment was scheduled for Saturday, 12/13/08, between the hours of 9:00am--12:00pm.

On 12/13/08, at about 12:42pm, the technician had not arrive so I contacted DirecTV. I spoke with a supervisor by the name of Fred, ID# **. When he checked his records, he advised me that my appointment had been scheduled for 12/20/08. I disputed this date with him because I would not have agreed to be without local channels for over a week's time. Fred appeared apologetic and offered me a new appointment, scheduling a technician for 12/18/08. He assured me that while my time slot was between the hours of 12 to 4pm, he would make a note advising technician not to arrive until after 4:00pm. I reluctantly agreed.

Subsequently, on 12/15/08, I lost all T.V. services. Now, not only did I not have local channels, I had no cable channels as well. Again, I immediately contacted DirecTV because at this point, although I have an 18 month contract with them, I no longer wanted their services because they were failing to live up to their part of the contract by providing service.

I spoke to technician, Patrick, ID # **. He too was apologetic and pleads with me not to cancel DirecTV. He offered a $50.00 credit, $5.00 off my bill for the next three months and credit for any days without service. I urged him to have someone come to my home ASAP as I had no TV service. I stressed to him that while I was being compensated for my troubles, their services was unacceptable. I stressed to him that if I did not have services back on by Wednesday 12/17/08, I no longer wanted services.

Despite my threat, due to the fact that an appointment was already scheduled for the next day, and I didn't want to break my contract, I waited. On 12/18/08, I arrived home from work at 3:45pm, with 2 voice messages from a DirecTV technician, James. His 1st message was left at 11:25am, advising that he finished a job early and wanted to know if he could come by. He then called a 2nd time a little after 12:00pm, requesting that I contact him. Please keep in mind that he should not have contacted me until 4:00pm or sometime after as noted by their technician Fred. I did attempt to contact him to let him know I was home but all attempts were unsuccessful.

At 4:05pm, I placed a call with DirecTV and spoke with Patty ID# **. Patty was apologetic and contacted their local office. She advised me that the technician would be back to my home. At about 6:20pm, the technician still not had arrived, and another call was placed to DirecTV. A lady technician whom I failed to get her name, placed me on hold at which time she contacted their local office. When she returned to the phone, she initially stated that the technician was claiming he was at my home as we spoke. When I disputed this, she again placed me on hold at which time she transferred me to their local office. I was placed on hold from 6:20pm to 7:23pm, before being disconnected.

At this time, I am requesting that you assist me with resolving my contract with DirecTV. I currently have no TV service and while I have tried to work with them, their services have been unacceptable and I should not be held liable to abide by a contract where services are not being rendered accordingly. Thanking you in advance for your time in this matter.

When I called, they said, "You had to mail in a rebate request, which takes 6 weeks to process. After that is done, your bill will be $56.00 per month plus 4.99 for each TV receiver." I told them this was not the agreement we had made, but they didn't care and said they would charge me if I discontinued my service. I'm ready to sue them for false advertising! Help me with this lying, SOB company!

I called DirecTV this morning at 9:35 regarding the transfer of this balance and was bounced around (transferred from Lashay to Christina)... disconnected. I called again (transferred from Wykeisha to Naomi)... then referred to 888-259-2983, Equifax Credit Bureau. Spoke with Kay who referred me back to DirecTV at 800-347-3288 and got the initial representative, Lashay, who could not recall our previous conversation 15-20 prior stating that there was no phone log of the call. After asking for a supervisor, I was placed on hold for several minutes only to be disconnected once again. Seemingly, DirecTV would be glad to gain a new customer by resolving this matter, rather than giving a prospective customer the runaround.

This fraudulent practice is unacceptable in my opinion, and needs to be reconsidered. It's not about the money (even though I paid $180.00 cash for the receiver), it is the principle. I have called several times to dispute this only to be told it belongs to them. I have written to their billing dispute office and have not received a reply back.

So one day back in Oct. 2008, I decided to call Dish network to check their priced out. Got a terrific deal which is saving me about $35.00 a month plus I have a lot more features & a dvr. Anyway I called Direct the next day when Dish came and installed my equip. & canceled my Direct acct. Gentleman I spoke with said I needed to send receivers back or I would be charged. I sent receivers back in boxes that they had shipped out to me to ship in. I got bill in Nov. 2008 for $0. Then first of Dec 08, I received a letter saying that their records indicate that I'd been sent out a final bill for $400.84. but haven't received payment. I had not received nothing as far as $400.84 bill until this letter. I was floored. I called Directv, they said they hadn't received them. I asked them if they would track the packages with the shipping label# they had sent to me for shipping them back. She said they kept no records of this. Thank God I had filed the stubs from the labels after being transferred 4 different people & being put on hold numerous times & 2 hrs. later they had found the receiver, but the rep told me that I still had cancellation fee of $340.00.

I told him why I didn't believe I should be charged this. He said I would have to write a letter of dispute. I sent in a letter of dispute on 12/15/08, on 12/16/08 I got a call from Directv regarding $340.00 cancellation fee. The rep told me I had until 12/26/08 to dispute. I told I had already sent in a letter. Then 12/17/08, I had $320.00 withdrawn from Direct without my authorization, the only authorization I ever gave them was the $50.00 deposit when I took their service back in 2003, & then again when I ordered the HD receiver. So how by law can they get away with this. I've read the customer contract I had with Direct no where it states they have the right to take unauthorized funds. As many complaints that has been made against Direct why can't we as the consumer take legal action. This wasn't nothing but ROBBERY!

So, I called to inquire about why no one showed up and why I did not receive a phone call advising me that the installer could not make it. I talked to someone in Georgia and he told me that my address in the order was filled incorrectly with my first name and that was why the installers could not come to my house although I had received a call on Saturday night informing me that I am scheduled for installation on Sunday between the hours of 12 and 4 pm. No one bothered to check my account information such as my address!! Well, the representative asked me for my address and I gave it to him again. He updated my address and gave me new installation date, Tuesday December 16 between the hours of 8 and 12 pm. On Monday, I called DirecTV and asked to speak with a salesman. I explained to him what happened and wanted to file a complaint. He checked my order and apologized and advised me that my installation is scheduled for Tuesday between the hours of 8 and 12 pm and there were no missing information on my account. I complained about the fact that no one called to reschedule me or advise me of any changes. He kept apologizing which meant nothing to me.

I believe that he was reading a script on his computer monitor like a monkey. I asked to speak to a supervisor and I was told that there was no supervisor available to take my call. I asked him if he is sure that this will not happen again, I do not wish to wait all this time for the installer and no one shows up and I end up wasting my time just for the wait. He confirmed that everything is ok with my account. I thanked him and hung up. Today is Tuesday and at 10 am. I received a call from a lady called Monica with DirecTV, advising me that they do not have my installation address, and if I gave it to her over the phone, she could not entered into the ticket because the order was filled incorrectly. She asked me to call the office to ask the customer service representative to update my address. Furthermore, she told me that there will not be any installation services today because my order was filled incorrectly. I was furious, so I called the idiots at DirecTV. I explained to them what happened and they were as usual reading the script off the monitor like trained imbeciles. They told me that the order is bad and they need to create a new order for me, and gave me a new schedule date.

I asked to get a customer service manager or someone of authority to speak to. The representative told me that there was no one available, but he gave me an address of the Office of the President as follows: **. He offered to open me a new account and I said no thanks. My experience with your company is memorable and I do not believe that I will ever do business with your company ever again. If you are unable to take a simple order over the phone, how can you stay in business? These representatives that I talked to are all in the US. Maybe the guys are so incompetent that DirecTV needs to outsource their jobs to India where they have better educated workforce. DirecTV hires idiots. My advice to other consumers, avoid DirecTV. They hire incompetent workforce. Be aware.

I NEVER CONTACTED DIRECTV AT NO TIME TO HAVE THEM INSTALLED THEIR SERVICE IN MY HOME. I WAS WITH COMCAST BEFORE THIS SWITCH. EVERYTHING WAS DONE BY VERIZON. I later received a DirecTV bill for $412.56. This includes 69.56 for TV & 343.16 for breaking the contract. I spoke with Jenna @ DirecTV-1-800-531-5000 on 3/11/08. She advised me to write a letter, which I did on 3/17, to the Billing Dispute Dept. stating what I just outlined to you. I have not received any more correspondence from DirecTV. I thought this was settled.

The problem as we were told is that even though we were told they would sync the next billing cycle, they never did because DirecTV would always add a couple dollar charge to bring our balance above zero, thus preventing the bundling and costing me more. Each time we thought the bundling was taking place, so we never paid DirecTV, just Qwest. This led to several service interruptions and more fees for me. Every time I'd go through the same process and verify that my balance would be zero so the billing could sync and each time I was told it would, and each time another fee was tacked on afterward to prevent the bundling from taking place.

Qwest has these same issues logged in my Qwest account as well, as I had a three-way conference with Qwest and DirecTV to resolve this. Qwest was appalled at the lack of cooperation from DirecTV. On 10/2/08 we called to have a service tech come look at the poor reception our TV was getting. DirecTV tried to troubleshoot over the phone and when that didn't work they offered for a tech to come out for a $40 service charge. I've wanted to ditch DirecTV for some time but my fiance was a loyal customer and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. But when they said it would be $40 for a tech to come out, fixed or not, she finally joined me in my desire to leave DirecTV. On 10/12/08 we established our Comcast service and cancelled DirecTV.

On 11/14 DirecTV contacted us regarding our past due account. My fiance explained that we cancelled our service last month when our Comcast service started. When that didn't get results I took the call and asked for a supervisor. I was transferred to Adolfo the night shift supervisor (I lost the employee ID). After 10 minutes or so I realized and was insulted by the fact that he didn't even know my name and kept calling me Jason **. The Rep that transferred me knew my name but not the supervisor. Adolfo verified the year plus problem with the bundling but said that there was no record of a call in Oct to cancel. I requested that the account be cancelled and all fees be credited since I had the service cancelled in Oct. I outlined the numerous and constant mistakes DirecTV has made and wanted nothing more to do with them. He said he could not do that. I asked if the day supervisor could and he said yes and that he would have one call me.

I requested that he tell the supervisor: 1. That a supervisor not knowing a customer's name is repulsive; 2. The account was cancelled on Oct 12 and I could provide proof of Comcast service starting on that date; 3. That I was going to notify Qwest and tell them that the reason I left their service was because of DirecTV; and 4. I want all balances owed and early terminate fees (which I don't believe should have been applied in the first place) be credited.

I never received a call but did get another Rep calling about my past due account on 11/29. I asked to be transferred to a supervisor and was hung up on. I don't remember the woman's name. On 12/2 another rep called about the past due account. Still no supervisor. I asked to be transfer to an escalations department and got Vashaun. He finally cancelled the account, and initially refused to answer any questions about the account but finally verified the bundling problems since Dec. 2006 and said that their policy overrides all else and all fees and balances are my responsibility. Finally, they deducted money from my Fiance's bank account without notice or permission for the cancellation fee I shouldn't be charged.

We called to see what we could do about this. SO the company said we had to buy brand new boxes. We can purchase them from the company OR from best buy or circuit city. We checked out pricing and they were too expensive. So we were going to cancel since our commitment was over already. A friend of ours sold us 2 boxes for cheaper so we called directv to get them Transferred over.

The only thing they told us after we told them we bought the boxes was that we were getting charged transferring fees. After my husband was told that he asked if there were any other fees or stipulations added and they said NO. He then made a further point to ask will this prolong our commitment with Directv and they said NO.

Fast forward to today. We signed up with Verizon because these new boxes started acting up. We didn't want to pay again for replacing them and verizon was offering us a sweet deal. SO I called to cancel. Speaking with Brandy she was very polite and very nice. UP until I mentioned Verizon. I guess once you aren't a customer they treat you like crap. She started off by saying that by buying those boxes we signed a commitment for 2 more years. AND that we had to return the boxes to them at OUR cost, and $480 in disconnection fees. SInce I didn't speak with a rep to transfer the boxes I put my husband on the phone and they told him we still have to pay. Even after speaking with a manager.

If we had known this company was going to be a shady one in all their dealings we would never had been with them for 8 years. (We had the service under both our names.) This company is so dishonest in their dealings with unknowledgeable staff. If they cannot stand by their promises or behind their employees they don't deserve anyone's money. I will no longer highly recommend them as a matter of fact I will now recommend VERIZON. We should've known they were crooks when they wouldn't stand behind their equipment.

I continued to have the problem and contacted them later in November or early December and they still did not have a fix and they credited my account for, I believe for 6 months of DVR rent that would be applied monthly. I told them at this time if the problem continued I would cancel my service. On December 12th, 2008 I contacted them again as I was still having the same problem and wanted to cancel my account. I was told that I could not cancel my account as I have a contract. They again admitted that there was a service issue that was not resolved but could not cancel my contract. I asked to speak with someone that had authority to cancel my account and was transferred to another department that reiterated that I could not get out of my contact even though I had a service issue that they did not have a fix for.

This department offered a exchange receiver, but as I understand the issue I have is a known defect in both of their receivers, and I declined their offer as I missed programs or the programming has been cut short and I do not care to continue with DirecTV. I also told them that we were going south for the winter in a few days, leaving on the 16th of December, and that I was going to dispute their unwillingness to cancel my contract with the Washington State Attorney General's office. I told them that since they would not cancel my contract, and until this was resolved, I wanted to change to the lowest cost service they provided and that they could send a new receiver to my winter address in Arizona and connect service there.

We recently received a bill for $85. This is nowhere close to what was promised to my wife via the phone by 3 different customer reps. My wife called to get this situation fixed and customer service/supervisors were not flexible and not helpful at all. The manager basically said whatever we were promised by the reps, they weren't responsible for because those reps misspoke. They were only responsible if it was invalid information. Even during the conversation, his numbers and reasons changed constantly and each time we got, "Sorry, I misspoke" and that apparently was supposed to make up for everything.

In the end, they offered to letting us out of the contract if we pay them $400 or we can try downgrading our deal until it matches the other price we were given. Now we are stuck with a 2-year deal, feel betrayed and lied too, and overall unhappy with the business dealings of DirecTV. Lost a deal we had with our cable company that they no longer offer. Once we canceled it, we can't go back. Paying $20-30 dollars extra a month over what was promised/discussed. Big advice... Get all quotes/deals in writing before you let them into your house to install anything.

This is fraudulent. I have paid 599 a month for years plus paid for the equipment and I get lied to and screwed around like this. We have missed so much work waiting here to finally call the company an hour after they were to be here and find out they had no intention of coming! And didn't even call us. I'm still paying for a dvr service I don't get to use. And the ins on the new equipment I haven't even got!!! I know this is trivial tv right but to a lot of us it's our only form of entertainment and it has caused so much distress. They lie!!! about their service saying they are #1 they can't be???

As I did not find this an acceptable solution -- since it required my finding and purchasing the cover and then installing the cover myself, which was not part of the original service agreement, I cancelled my service with DirecTV. They then informed me that they would charge me an exorbitant cancellation fee of 340.00. I complained to their consumer complaint department by letter dated September 25th, 2008 about the fact that they have an implied warranty of fitness of purpose for the equipment they provide as part of their satellite service and their equipment was obviously unfit for the purpose they advertise; furthermore, their contract fails to mention anywhere that light rain and snow will disrupt the incoming signal and cause interruptions of service for which they do not provide any kind of recompense.

In addition, I complained that while I had only had service from September 3rd to September 8th, they charged me 57.23 for a 'previous balance', which I questioned as I had not been a 'previous' consumer. They then sent me a form letter dated October 14th, 2008 stating that since the service was disconnected, I owed them 340.00 for the early cancellation plus a rendered programming service charge of 57.23. I complained to the Massachusetts Attorney General's office on November 3rd and requested mediation. The AG's office received a letter dated November 26th from DirecTV stating that I had cancelled my service in violation to their Equipment Lease Addendum requiring a service contract for 18 months and thus I owed them the cancellation fee plus the 57.23 rendered programming service fee for a total amount owed of 328.25 (after they applied some credits).

They stated to the AG's office that during my phone call with the service representative on September 8th, I had been offered and had refused a free service call appointment to fix the satellite dish and the system. This was a blatant untruth as the only thing I was offered by the service representative was the opportunity to purchase, at an additional cost, a cover for the satellite dish that I would have to install myself. On November 29th, 2008, DirecTV sent their bill to a collection agency; I did not receive the copy of their letter to the AG until I spoke with the mediator and he sent it to me (received on December 10th).

DirecTV not only has violated implied warranties of fitness of purpose in claiming that their product will deliver a signal in all but the most severe of weather, but they have also violated good business and good faith practices by submitting to a collection agency a bill that is currently under dispute and being discussed. And, finally, they have blatantly lied about what they offered at the time I called their office to complain (which was the first working day after a Saturday service failure).

DirecTV demands that I keep my 2 year contract (which they first said was for only 1 year), although they make false offers and never keep their word or follow through. They're liars and thieves. I now pay twice what I paid for Cablevision and hundreds of dollars every month - so much for that $30 a month incentive. I want my contract ended because of their refusal to meet their own offers. None of them ever materialized.

I called DirecTV and they said they would walk me through it, but could still not get it to work. It was agreed that a box would be sent and it would be returned and the receiver would be removed from the bill. During this time period my bill arrived and had MLB Extra Innings Early Renewal in 4 Payments for $42.25 each. I called DirecTV and told them I did not want this and please to not put anything on my bill unless I order it. One month later I receive my bill and the charge of $42.25 is still on my bill along with a notice of late payment. I called again and was assured it would be straightened out. In addition to the charge of $42.25, I am now being charged a late fee. Approximately 10 days later, my DirecTV service is temporarily disconnect by DirecTV for non-payment of the bill.

Even though I have already made my payment due less the $42.25 plus the late fee. I then called DirecTV on 12/5/08, and told them to immediately cancel my service effective immediately. I was told I would be charged $375 on my credit card for breaking the contract. However, it is DirecTV who did not honor the contract. First, by not bringing the correct number of receivers, then having one receiver not work properly, and the third not work at all. In addition, after shutting off my service for non-payment of a charge I did not ask for is totally unacceptable and I will NEVER pay DirecTV another cent. They can sue me and ruin my credit. It is the principle of the whole situation. What they are doing should be illegal, if it is not already, and they should be stopped. I will see them in court!!!

About a month later I receive a bill from DirecTV stating I owe them $398 for a cancellation fee. I called their customer service department and opened a claim. About 30-60 days later I received a letter from them stating I am fully responsible for this cancellation fee. I have told them multiple times I was told I was not responsible for this fee by their representatives and I was mislead in to understanding that and I am not paying them this money. Now I don’t know if this has gone on my credit or not but I feel it was very unprofessional of their representatives to have mislead me to believing that I am not responsible, and all in all now they are saying I am responsible.

When the final statement arrived, it wasn't a bill. They had charged my wife's Discover card for $380 plus the bill for the portion of the service I received for a month. They said when I parted ways with Qwest that I had agreed to a two-year service plan. I never agreed to ANYTHING. I didn't sign anything. All I did was change my billing from Qwest to DirecTV. They also said I received a Customer Agreement with my first bill. I never received a Customer Agreement since the billing was from Qwest. The representative and supervisor I spoke to couldn't answer why I was told there wouldn't be a fee. They also couldn't tell me when I signed a service agreement since I NEVER DID! All they could say was that I agreed to it since I had service. For now, my wife has disputed the charge to her Discover card (which is NOT mine, she had it before we were married).

On Oct. 1st, 2008, I received a bill with a credit for the cancellation fee in the amount of $348.47. On Oct. 17th, 2008, I received another bill indicating that I had to pay the cancellation fee. I contacted DirecTV about this matter and they were unable to assist me. All I want is fair treatment as a consumer. I should not have been billed for their false advertisement. There was no wrongdoing on my part. I had to pay the bill so that my credit would not be ruined but the matter was handled unfairly. This company is unfair and I am filing a formal complaint.

I assumed they had put my account on hold. Well 12-01-08, me and my husband had to sell very important item just to make our 850.00 rent. When we checked our account to see if our landlord cashed the check, we seen that DirecTV had took 698.00 of the rent money. My landlord check bounced and now me and my 5 kids are at risk for being put out. I don't know what I am going to do. Why is it not illegal for people to unauthorized take money from your account. I have no way in coming up with this rent money. What can I do? I no longer trust banks, your money is not safe.

I confess that it is my fault that the thing isn't working, and I have no problems paying for its repair or just getting a new one. But what is really ticking me off is that I have been trying to get a hold of DIRECTV but all I ever get is a busy signal. I don't even get a voice machine to give me the run-a-round, just the busy signal. How can I ask for help if I can't even get in touch with DIRECTV?

I get another bill, same thing, $125. I call again, same answer, don't pay it, we'll fix it. I get another bill, $125, plus late charges now. I call again, suddenly my contract wasn't fulfilled, I owe it, I can't do anything about it, they won't let me talk to any one in authority, and if I don't pay it it's going to outside collections. They said sorry that the first 3 reps told me something wrong, said I signed 24 month contract. I didn't sign anything, I agreed over the phone to a 1 year NFL network deal. Do you know what collections do to your credit? Ridiculous, I will tell every person that I ever meet not to deal w/ deceitv, crooks.

I lost electricity, phone, and internet for hours because the tech that went into the attic tripped and messed up our electrical wires. They scratched my entertainment center from moving the big TV around in it. Tracked dirt and pine needles all over the house because they ran out of their little blue footies, wouldn't take shoes off. After a three page letter and a couple more emails to DirecTV, they finally sent their quality control lead out and she investigated. Her report was that this was an extremely bad install and would have to be redone. I was told a senior tech would be out to reinstall on the 21st of Nov.

We waited and waited and nothing. I finally called DirecTV after the holiday on 12/1 and I still cannot believe their customer service. I told them to turn off the service and then I was told to ship them the equipment back to them with the boxes that they would send. I have had to have an electrician and a general contractor come out to get estimates and am now trying to get my damage claim to go through. Save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and stay with Comcast Cable if available!

Today I received a past due bill. I called which Nanette answered. I asked to speak with a supervisor, she placed me hold, after 20 minutes the line disconnected. I called back and spoke to Bobby, explained someone disconnected on me and wanted to speak to a supervisor. I was placed on hold for 15 minutes, then spoke with Mike. I asked why am I being billed for service that was disconnected at my request, in April 2008? He explained that the service was suspended and after 6 months it is reinstated. I told him that I did not know this policy, and do not feel I should be responsible for the bill. I asked Mike to have corporate contact me and Mike said he could not do that. Mike also stated that it is not Directv's responsibility that I did not receive the postcard before the due date, and that is a US mail issue.

In November, we switched to Comcast, and DirecTV tried to charge us for terminating our contract early. We went over the whole thing and they agreed that they were wrong and that the early termination did not apply. They still maintain that they own the two new boxes and we have to return them or be charges 480.00. We will return the boxes to avoid (hopefully) more problems, but how can an item we purchased that is replaced under a policy we purchased belong to them? It seems that they have done this to many others and I wonder why something cannot be done to stop them from stealing from the public.

When I called DirecTV, they said it was a non-refundable item! Nowhere is it indicated at either Circuit City or on the packaging that you can't return the product nor that it is non-refundable! Misleading advertising for sure! No one with DirecTV was helpful. The first customer service rep offered to send a box for me to return the equip, but then couldn't tell me when I could expect a refund so she disconnected our call. Subsequent calls resulted in an escalation to a supervisor who was rude and arrogant. I hope DirecTV goes bankrupt and fails miserably as a company!

We need a class action lawsuit against these thieves for unfair and deceptive trade practices. I filed a complaint with Federal Trade Commission and NC attorney general. Small claims is next.