Direct TV

I ordered Direct TV service, which included a DVR, 2 years ago. The

first DVR died several months after receiving it. I called Direct TV and

asked for Tech support who walked me through several troubleshooting

steps. None of which worked, so the technician said he would send a

replacement DVR to me. At no time did he ever mention that replacing

their defective product would automatically renew my 2 year contract

with them. I received the second DVR, which was a used unit, and for

about one month it worked correctly. I did notice that I was missing

channels that I had previously been able to view. Slowly the second unit

began to show the same problems as the first unit. It would randomly

record shows, miss recording, lose previous recordings, etc. In June of

this year, we were moving and decided that due to the poor service from

Direct TV, we were going to cancel and switch to Dish Network. A 38

minute call and 5 different service reps later, I was told that I would

be billed 200 dollars for early cancelation because Direct TV

automatically renews your contract anytime they replace any equipment. I

was never informed of this at the beginning of the contract or when the

faulty DVR was replaced with another faulty DVR. After refusing to

allow me to speak with a manager, the only option I was given was to

wait for the last bill to arrive and then write into a PO box in

Colorado to dispute the charge. I was also told they would be sending a

return box because I had to return the dvr.

I never received the return box and I never received the last bill. What

I did receive was an automatic charge to my bank account for 200

dollars. I was not informed this would occur by any of the 5 or 6

customer service reps I had spoken to. I immediately called Direct TV,

for what turned out to be a 45 minute call, only to be transferred

several more times. Finally, I spoke with someone who told me that 2

months prior they had changed their company policy to allow

automatically charging any credit card, bank number, or debit card they

had on file within two weeks of cancelation. Again, no one would

transfer me to a manager. They did tell me they would send a copy of the

bill, and another return box to me.

I received a copy of the bill, but I never received the return box. I

called in for a third time and tried to speak with a manger, again I was

refused. They did say they would submit my dispute to billing disputes

in CO for me and asked that I find a box and mail the DVR back to them

from either FedEx or USPS. They would pay shipping, but I would have to

pay the gas, pay for the box, and waste my time shipping it.

I never heard back from Direct TV regarding my billing dispute after a

week so I called in again. Again, I got the run-around, but did speak

with a manager, who was no better than a standard customer service rep.

He said he would have his manager, Mike, call me first thing the next

morning. Mike never called. I called back and spoke with reps in

Tennessee, California, Texas, and the Philippines. I was finally

transferred to Colorado where I was able to speak with 3 different

managers until they would not transfer me any higher. They all sounded

like a broke record saying the charge was a legitimate charge and they

would not refund my money on the basis I was the one who broke the

contract and canceled early.=20

Direct TV is the one who never held up their end of the contract and try

to suck every bit of money from you in the process. Two DVR's never

worked right. Channels would disappear and not be available. Their

customer service is horrible. They stole 200 dollars from me. With

Direct Tv, the days of the customer always being right are long gone. I

spent two hours on the phone today trying to persuade them to return the

200 dollars to my account. They could care less.=20

Please tell everyone you know to NEVER sign up with Direct TV. Please

have them tell everyone they know to not sign up. If you are already a

member, do not have Direct TV replace any equipment, because they will

renew your contract no matter what and charge you 200 bucks to get out

of it. Please do everything you can to boycott Direct TV and spread the

word.=20

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Please, if you do not believe me, call into Direct TV and ask them about

their early cancelation policies. Ask to speak to a manager and witness

firsthand the run around you get and count how many times you are

transferred.=20

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I am now a customer with DISH and I have to admit, their DVR, service,

and Customer service blows Direct TV away.=20

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I am still trying to have my 200 dollars refunded and I have filed a

complaint with the BBB.=20

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Sincerely,

=20

Robert Anderson

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Direct tv is a bias company that wont air commercials showing how Israel is murdering Muslims in Palestine,but at the same time will show negative images of palestinians fighting for their freedom with a spin on it of course,trying to make americans believe that Palestinians are terrorist when in acctuallity it is the zionist Jews here in America and in Israel that are terrorists.....boycott direct tv for not being fair when showing commercials or news programs

Comment On This

Well I'm not going to say Direct TV is faultless. I will say this - I was trying to save money so I opted for a bundled package with ATT. That meant we were going to switch from Direct TV (TV)/ATT (internet and phone) to Dish Network and ATT. We were supposed to save $40 a month. Dish Network was installed and 2 more techs visits later our TV would still randomly jump to new stations, show error messages, etc. So we decided to go back to Direct TV for TV. Direct TV never sent a return box. In fact they told me that for some unexplained reason my acount was never cancelled so all they had to do was schedule a 'reconnect'. The reconnection went well, Dish Network has still not sent that return box, and I'm wondering if I will be charged for the Dish Network DVR. I guess stupidity is all around us.