# Directv screwed me again!



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

I canceled my DirecTV service right after the super Bowl. I've been a customer since 2003, They annoyed me at the time, (see http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=464314) but now they have made me MAD. Not only did I not get the ~$50 refund I was owed, they charged me $264!

I had no commitment remaining. No one mentioned a disconnect fee. When I called today, they agreed that was the case. Just a "mistake." A $300+ mistake! They finally agreed to refund the charge and send me the balance on my account. Grudgingly.

Why are all the DirecTV errors always in their favor? If I ever get out of their clutches, I promise NEVER to use DirecTV again as long as I live.

PS: I switched to Netflix at $12 per month. Two Blu-ray discs a week and all the TV and movies I can download.


----------



## cartouchbea (Jan 14, 2009)

DBCooper said:


> Why are all the DirecTV errors always in their favor?


I sincerely doubt anyone is going to go on a tirade and complain about DirecTV errors that benefit them.


----------



## sean67854 (Jul 11, 2001)

Freakin' DirecTV!!!! They give me service I'm happy with for a price I find acceptable!!! ARRGGHGGAGGG!!!!


----------



## egkor (Jan 19, 2004)

sean67854 said:


> Freakin' DirecTV!!!! They give me service I'm happy with for a price I find acceptable!!! ARRGGHGGAGGG!!!!


Those Ba$tards!


----------



## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

Time to hijack another plane?


----------



## EscapeGoat (Oct 12, 2008)

When I canceled service they told me they would send me a box to return their DVR, and that if I didn't return it withing 14 days, they would charge me for the DVR. Thirteen days later they charged me for the DVR, three days after that I received the box to return the DVR.

When I called to complain they said they would reverse the charges, in a month or two, because while they were able to make charges to my card right away, giving a credit would take weeks.

I expected this since they had pulled the same trick when I returned a defective DVR a couple of years ago. 

Other than trying to rip me off on hardware returns I got pretty good service from DirecTV. If I ever want to spend too much money for TV service again, I'd probably sign up with them.


----------



## Noland (Jan 28, 2005)

Stories like this are why I won't ever have another piece of DTV equipment.

I have four series 2 units that I will continue to use. They were purchased back when purchases were still permitted, but I will never lease a unit from them or anyone else.


----------



## texasPI (May 9, 2010)

Ironically, my cancelation experience was a positive one once I got them to agree to let me out of contract due to a change in terms. I had braced myself for the bogus charges I thought they'd hit my credit card with but it never happened. I returned their recievers and they charged me my final amount and that was that.

I'm surprised I was able to get out of contract without penalty, I'd read it was next to impossible to do. They fought me hard and it took an hour of back and forth but I did it. :up: Then I immediately jumped into a contract with Dish


----------



## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

As far as DirectV is concerned every baby born has a three year committent for DirecTV service. It is not possible that any human could cancel without penalty. They'll even draw from your checking account to make you pay for your dead neighbor's bill.

You can expect DTV to "accidentally forget" to credit the charge back to you until they send you to collections. Join your local AG in the DTV fraud settlement.


----------



## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

netringer said:


> They'll even draw from your checking account to make you pay for your dead neighbor's bill..


No they won't.

My brother died last month and I called DirecTV to cancel his service. They were very nice about it, sent a return box for his R15 (ptui ptui) right away, and even said that he'd get a pro-rated refund for the partial month.


----------



## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

What those Consumerist posters don't know if how DirecTV gets access to your checking account. I wanted to ePay exactly one bill for my mother. The only way you can send _one, one time payment_ is to agree to eBill and automatic deduction from checking account from that point forward.


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

I am still waiting for the OP refund from DirecTV, money they have owed me since their 9 February error. On the third call they finally admitted their error, but it took a fourth call 14 March to get them to actually schedule a refund. That's when I got an email saying my AmEx would be credited with $300. Well, that was NOT what they owed me. The total was $314.51 including the $250 "early termination fee" (after eight years of service on purchased receivers!) More phone calls later they agreed to the total amount and said it would take 30 days to process the refund. I have yet to see a dime.

Actually, in between all of that, I got a bill for $4.00 for PPV charges that they found on the cards I returned. Never mind that the charges were made a year before I owned the receiver. It took two calls to get that charge removed. In retrospect, that was a miracle. I guess they see little benefit in a $4 ripoff if they have to answer phone calls about it. It was one of those "maybe they won't notice" charges.

Isn't is strange how they can charge you in error the very next day, but it takes ten weeks to correct their mistake?

PS: They now tell me that they will NOT replace the cards they stole from me. If I sell the receivers, the new owner must buy new cards at $20 each.


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

cartouchbea said:


> I sincerely doubt anyone is going to go on a tirade and complain about DirecTV errors that benefit them.


No tirade required. How about reporting just one instance? Face it, there never has been one.


----------



## Ilovetorecord2 (Mar 21, 2000)

If you are talking to someone that you are not happy with and use a tone of voice as such, you will treated accordingly.

I have always had to pay for the cards everytime I have activated a old receiver and I have lots of them. The card has nothing to do with the value of the receiver from my point of view as I have always going back maybe 10 years had to pay for a new card for my receiver. When I bought the receivers card or no card was not considered to me as to whoever I bought the receiver from. But I think most of the units I bought were from members from this forum.

I don't recall also about any committments to directv in the last several years or contracts for me. I had left Comcast in 2000 or near to that time as they had came out with new boxes that my vcrs could not control as I do not and have not watch lived tv since almost 1985. 

Directv is not worse than Dish or Comcast as they all have some way of trying to get us to part with our money. I am not saying that I am a big lover or Directv either. One of my boxes started have problems with the picture and I get a new hard drive and installed it and called Directv and since the box had no RID it could not be activated so I had to find a box that did since I did not want to go to Directv box. All my tivos are hacked and my wifes is not. Once I cannot use my boxes I am not sure what I will do.

I am not a big fan of Directv, not Comcast. Best thing to do is not get so worked up over things. I was going to drop Directv for AT&T until I found out that AT&T cannot give me what i have now which is 3 directivos (1 R10 directv) for 6 lines and so we would lose the option of me or my wife not being able to record which was not acceptable plus the fact I hacked my tivos and have large drives in them with much more space than I would get with AT&T.

I don't care for Comcast, AT&T nor Directv as I have found they all have problems which we have to try and work out way through.

Good luck.


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

Call number thirteen to DirecTV today because the PPV charge showed up on my account again! They promised to remove it March 8th and after yet another call on March 14th, it actually did disappear from my account on line. Today I got a statement in the mail confirming they still owe me ~$318 but the PPV charge reappeared and will be subtracted from what they promise to return to me on 14 April. I called and was connected with "May" whose accent is not in my book of memories.

She had the audacity to tell me that she couldn't remove the charge from a closed account and I would have to re-activate it to get the charge removed! It is really difficult to determine if these people are idiots or they think that I am an idiot.

I explained to May that I had called DTV twelve times already on the matter of what they owe me and eleven of those times the agent lied to me. I suggested that she not repeat that mistake. She put me on hold and, a few minutes later, as if by magic, _she said_ she has removed the charge.

We will see on the 14th exactly what really happened. I have little faith that May was truthful.

As to ILOVETORECORD2's comments about tone of voice, I can assure him that DTV agents will not hesitate to hang up on anyone who gets rude. I suggest that he simply shut up unless he actually heard the conversation. I get enough crap from DTV without another load from the gallery..


----------



## Ilovetorecord2 (Mar 21, 2000)

I was not trying to against what you are saying so your comment is not needed. I have unfortunately spoke like a jerk a few times to customer service.
Good luck.


----------



## snickerrrrs (Mar 31, 2006)

DBCooper said:


> No tirade required. How about reporting just one instance? Face it, there never has been one.


Remember DB, Directv is #1 in customer satisfaction. Can you imagine the service #3 is getting? Where are they on ex-customer satisfaction?

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/secondaryIndex.jsp?assetId=2500004


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

Unbelievably, DirecTV has found another excuse to delay payment. They were supposed to refund the erroneous $300 charge plus 18 days of February on April 17th. (Don't asked why it took two months.) Now, after call number fourteen asking where the money is, they say that since I called them on March 29th, the dispute clock was reset and they have another 30 days to send me my refund! God only knows what will happen after my call today asking where my refund went.

Meanwhile, despite promises by two agents, they have yet to remove the $4+tax PPV charge for 11/06/2008, a date when I didn't even own the receiver in question. This charge resulted from their current insistence that the activation card be returned when service is canceled, something they were not doing when I bought the receiver.

Needless to say, at no time did I ever see an invoice reflecting exactly what was charged and why. When I canceled, all my invoices and payment records on line were deleted and since then all I have received is a statement by mail.

My advice to one and all is NEVER to give DirecTV your credit card. Better yet, never do business with them in the first place.

I've called my credit card company and disputed the charges. They promised to reverse the charges on 20 April if DirecTV has not done so by then. But that never should have been necessary.


----------



## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

And to think I was considering going back to DirecTV if they ever sold a box with TiVo again. I must have been out of my mind.


----------



## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

DBCooper said:


> Unbelievably, DirecTV has found another excuse to delay payment. They were supposed to refund the erroneous $300 charge plus 18 days of February on April 17th. (Don't asked why it took two months.) Now, after call number fourteen asking where the money is, they say that since I called them on March 29th, the dispute clock was reset and they have another 30 days to send me my refund! God only knows what will happen after my call today asking where my refund went.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


Be careful! You probably have a new two year committent each time you call.

DirecTV settled with the AG of most states over this fraud. Call yours and let them know that they have an unreformed defendant.


----------



## chamelea (Feb 19, 2004)

@dbcooper,

Hey Dave, it's been a week. 
Curious about your credit?

FWIW, after some PMs with you, I was able to register a used HR10-250 for just the cost of the replacement card. They initially claimed it was a leased unit, but I told them at CardActivation that they'd better read the notes on my account. They (CardActivation) had pre-confirmed, in my account notes, that it was 'an owned unit' a week prior to my making the eBay purchase.

CardActivation agreed to hook it up, but said they'd need to charge me $10/mo for HD service, clearly another screw-up. I refused.

I told them that's not logical since DTV has changed their HD signals and my unit is no longer capable of receiving their HD signal. CardActivation agreed with that logic, but claimed they weren't capable of making that change.

CardActivation made "yet another" notation on my account, but couldn't re-activate the used box. IIRC ... they then switched me to the CustService Tech guy, and HE was finally able to activate my unit as a non-HD receiver.

_FWIW again ... I've had Comcast, AT&T uVerse, and DTV. 
I find DTV continues to be the best of the bunch._


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

chamelea said:


> @dbcooper,
> 
> Hey Dave, it's been a week.
> Curious about your credit?


Not a dime so far. That bunch of crooks uses every excuse to keep all the "mistakes" they make in their favor for as long as possible. I wonder what this tells us about their cash position. Are they that desperate?

I repeat. NEVER give DirecTV your credit card number. There are many other ways to pay your bills that don't give them the keys to your piggy bank.


----------



## Marrelli (Jan 12, 2007)

DBCooper said:


> I've called my credit card company and disputed the charges. They promised to reverse the charges on 20 April if DirecTV has not done so by then. But that never should have been necessary.


Has your credit card company reversed the charges?


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

Marrelli said:


> Has your credit card company reversed the charges?


Not yet. They originally told me they would reverse it 15 days after receiving my mail containing DirecTV's statement saying they owed me $300. Now the CC company is saying it's 30 days, not 15. It's all very strange because I don't recall ever having to wait for a charge reversal in the past. It may have to do with the fact that the charge was for something like $269, not $300+, because DTV subtracted my refund for the unused days in February. The 30 days is up on 11 May. Current promised date for the DTV refund is 29 April.


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

Well, April 29th has come and gone and, predictably, DirecTV has not paid me the refund to my AmEx that they promised 45 days ago, but have owed me since 6 February.

The only word that comes to mind to describe these people is "crooks."


----------



## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

I would call them EVERY DAY, and escalate the issue to a manager EVERY DAY; until they finally figure out that you're sick of this crap, and they realize its more cost effective to make sure you get your money right away vs. you keeping their customer service reps (and managers) on the line. This works really well if you have a commute to/from work, where you have an hour of time to just kill.


----------



## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

I would have only contacted them one time and if the money wasn't refunded by the end of the next business day, I would initiate the credit card charge back.


----------



## mrdbdigital (Feb 3, 2004)

netringer said:


> What those Consumerist posters don't know if how DirecTV gets access to your checking account. I wanted to ePay exactly one bill for my mother. The only way you can send _one, one time payment_ is to agree to eBill and automatic deduction from checking account from that point forward.


This is not true. I have been manually paying my DirecTv bill each month online with the one time payment option for over 2 years, using my checking account, and without signing up for automatic payments.


----------



## parzec (Jun 21, 2002)

DirecTV makes tons of billing "mistakes" -- too many to be mere oversights, and all too often abuses its access to customer credit card information and electronic check processing. I really would like to see the Feds get involved and prosecute them for Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices. I'm thinking about putting together a site for DirecTV customers to aggregate their experiences with DirecTV to see if a substantial case could be presented to the FTC on this matter. Of course, aside from the FTC pursuing DirecTV, there is also a private cause of action clause that allows a class action for treble damages. The only question I have, is the true extent of these billing practices.


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

ducker said:


> I would call them EVERY DAY, and escalate the issue to a manager EVERY DAY; until they finally figure out that you're sick of this crap, and they realize its more cost effective to make sure you get your money right away vs. you keeping their customer service reps (and managers) on the line.


I didn't escalate but I did call them 15 times. Each call seemed to make things worse. They used it as an excuse to restart the 30-day clock for when they had to pay me.

PS: I have NEVER received an invoice explaining why they owed me $315. For all I know, that number is phony.


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

shwru980r said:


> I would have only contacted them one time and if the money wasn't refunded by the end of the next business day, I would initiate the credit card charge back.


But the credit card charge was far less then they owed me. They charged me $300 "early termination" but credited me with the money they owed me for pre-paying February but canceling about the ninth. Instead, I had to wait for a statement from DirecTV showing what they owed me, submit that to the CC company, and wait the 30 days they required to credit me if I wasn't credited by DirecTV.


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

Finally, on April 12th, DirecTV credited me with $315 on my AmEx that they have owed me since February. At least I assume that was DirecTV because I had only proven to my CC company that I was owed $300. The statement showing a credit $315 came much later.

They owed me more. There was an erroneous $300 "early termination fee." There was an erroneous charge of $3.99 they never removed. And they owed me 19/28ths of $70 prepaid for February - another $47.50. So they have still screwed me out of abut $37. Good riddance to bad rubbish.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Arcady said:


> And to think I was considering going back to DirecTV if they ever sold a box with TiVo again. I must have been out of my mind.


Yeah, cause one customer having a bad experience should make you not buy that service. If you did that for every store/business, you would save a ton of money. You wouldn't own anything or get any services, but you would save a ton of money.

BTW, you were going to go back for Tivo. I am sure they have their billing all correct.


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

TonyD79 said:


> BTW, you were going to go back for Tivo. I am sure they have their billing all correct.


I used TiVo to test the local cable service. I canceled cable TV quickly. TiVo refunded my first month service immediately when I canceled before 30 days. I sold both Premieres.


----------



## mbates73 (Nov 4, 2010)

+1 to DirecTV billing errors - Cancelled service and they charged my credit card after they supposedly didnt have on file anymore - I removed auto-bill from my account a few years prior. $220 early termination fee after being a customer for 10+ years owning HR10-250's - They said the tivo's were leased equipment. Lots of fighting, screaming and threat's plus waiting 10 weeks, they sent me a check for $220.

Switched to Comcast and never looked back. No contracts, service is reliable and when you call - people assume you actually have a problem and want to help.

DirecTV = Pure Evil 

My $.02


----------



## DBCooper (Aug 15, 2000)

mbates73 said:


> +1 to DirecTV billing errors - Cancelled service and they charged my credit card after they supposedly didnt have on file anymore - I removed auto-bill from my account a few years prior. $220 early termination fee after being a customer for 10+ years owning HR10-250's - They said the tivo's were leased equipment. Lots of fighting, screaming and threat's plus waiting 10 weeks, they sent me a check for $220.
> 
> Switched to Comcast and never looked back. No contracts, service is reliable and when you call - people assume you actually have a problem and want to help.
> 
> ...


I think the word you are looking for is "crooks." Nobody is that incompetent for so many years without making the needed corrections.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

DBCooper said:


> I used TiVo to test the local cable service. I canceled cable TV quickly. TiVo refunded my first month service immediately when I canceled before 30 days. I sold both Premieres.


Goodie for you. Not everyone has your experiences. But i will make sure to check with you before I make any purchases since your experience trumps anyone else's.


----------

