I have a bundled service with AT&T for satellite (Dish Network). I got the service last year after I dropped cable. I recently had a reception problem on my TVs, and called the support line which was on a little sticker on the side of my Dish satellite box, placed there by the installer. I reached the support center, and explained my reception problem, and was transferred to another number and I thought I was talking to a support technician.

He assisted me getting the reception corrected, and asked me what kind of box I had and when I told him, he insisted that the box was obsolete and I needed to upgrade to a new box which would give me more channels and improve reception. He offered to send me out another box, dish, and I would pay $29 for the shipping. I agreed, believing he referred to DISH NETWORK. DUH! When the box arrived, I saw that it said Direct TV on the box.

A few days later UPS delivered a box while I wasn't home and when I saw it - it was a Direct TV box. Without opening it, I called Direct TV and of course, could get NO ONE on the phone. You can imagine how angry I was and called them repeatedly to ask why I got a Direct TV box but there was no answer. Finally I reached someone and had to fight with them for TWO days to get the whole thing cancelled. They claim that I agreed to contract with Direct TV and my contention was why in the world would I do that when I already had a contract with DISH???? And why would I risk being penalized for who knows how much money? Originally I was just calling about getting my reception corrected, how did that turn into my being switched from DISH to Direct TV?

I was literally screaming my head off to anyone, the manager, the technician, the supervisor over there at Direct TV. I think they are scammers, liars and frauds.

I called Direct TV back again today and was told that my so called 'account' with Direct TV would be cancelled and I need only to return the Direct TV box unopened. It sits in my living room and UPS is still not here to pick it up. There's another pain in you the know what. A delivery service that DOESN'T deliver! What else is new?

I started having problems with picture quality ("freezing" or no picture) about a month ago. I put in calls to DTV tech support to try to fix the problem. After several back and forth efforts, punching buttons, technical mumbo-jumbo I didnt understand and resets galore, they determined that they could not help me and would need a technician. When they mentioned a charge to come out I specifically said I did not want a person in my home if there was a charge associated. They did some "checking" and determined that no charge was needed. The technician came, blamed a tree that has been there the whole year I've had DTV (no problems before) and switched some cable in the back. The TV worked fine even though I didn't chop down the tree as was suggested.
I received my bill this month and saw a charge of $80 for the service call. I promptly phoned, expecting that they must have made an error, only to find out the true nature of DTV. The rep informed me that no one had noted on the account that there was not to be a charge and so there was nothing he could do. I was not allowed to speak to a supervisor, only told "he'll say the same thing". When I expressed concern, the rep offered a "solution" of decreasing the cost of the service fee if I would sign up for their protection plan for a monthly fee. I was not happy with this solution, because at this point i was getting the runaround and feeling duped. I told the rep that I would do the plan, but my intention would be to cancel the account as soon as I got set up with another provider. I expressed dismay that they would not waive a fee I shouldn't have been charged in the first place, only offering a reduction by strong arming me into a plan I didn't want. He infomred me that if I signed up for the protection plan and then cancelled, I'd have to buy out my contract. I refused and decided to eat the cost of the service call and go back to cable.
I called today to cancel my service and was informed that there would be a $150 early termination fee. I have had the service for a year, which was my understanding of my "contract", however since I have the DVR, I was informed that it is a 24 month contract. I was not aware of this, as I was told it would be a year committment. I was also never informed of this fee when I expressed my intent to cancel last week. I feel like the surprises never end with these people.
Incidentally, when I called to cancel today the rep tried to retain my business by offering to waive the previously unwaivable fee that started this whole issue in the first place. Of course, I'd still need to sign up for the extortion... I mean protection plan. After what I've been through, I have no faith in their deceptive practices. The icing on the cake is when I told him I was done with them and just wanted them out of my life, he reminded me of their "returning customer" incentives. They truly have no clue.
They have you going and coming with this company. Its no wonder the customer service is so poor; they have nothing to lose b/c they make money if you cancel. I have read the horror stories about being charged for boxes b/c it takes them forever to send the fed-ex return boxes or they fail to log them as received. I changed my debit card info on their website but have a feeling they'll still find a way to suck something from my account. I anticipate a long road head just to get rid of them. I read every page of the complaints and they're all pretty consistent. I will never do ANY satellite company based on my experiences with this one. I only wish I had seen this site back then.

I had ordered the new set up with Wild Blue Cody S the salesman told me that with wild blue and direct tv it included all of the bells and whistle's hbo, stars, cinti-max and all for the duration I had the equipment so I said ok 7-14-2008 @7:50am I did some checking and found out that he had lied so at 7-14-2008 @ 9:16am I called and cancelled still have not received credit for the equipment cost, can't get the money but can get a run around every time I call

I was a cable (Comcast) customer and switched as part of the AT&T package bundle promotion. I received several rebates and thought I would be delighted with not having to deal with Comcast's sometimes bothersome lack of customer service. WAS I WRONG! I switched to Direct TV and whenever there was a bad storm in my area, I could't watch TV as it would pixelate and/or I would receive messages about receiver errors. I also missed ON Demand terribly! I called May 2, 2008 and cancelled my account with the billing representative. I signed on with Comcast and thought that was the end of it except to wait for the promised boxes to return the equipment in. I received two boxes on July 11, 2008 (ship date from whse indicated July 10, 2008) and returned all equipment on Tuesday, July 15th -- WELL WITHIN THE STATED SEVEN DAYS on the letter they place in each box that states "IMPORTANT: Make sure to return your receiver within seven days of receipt to avoid a charge of up to $470, depending on the type of your receiver." Also, "...Simply follow the steps below to send your old receiver back and AVOID ANY CHARGES." I called my bank on TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2008 (3 business days after receiving the boxes) and Direct TV had charged by debit account $758.42!!! Yes! They had my debit on file and charged me not only against their own stated policy of no charge for seven days but also from April to mid-June because they say I didn't cancel with the correct representative! Apparently, my crystal ball wasn't working that morning (or maybe their representative's aren't well trained) and I was suppose to KNOW somehow that when I said "CANCEL MY ACCOUNT" that it didn't really count because I had to speak with a SPECIAL person! This company is a joke! I devoted almost the entire day on Tuesday trying to sort this out. The first call to Direct TV and the representative hung up on me when I insisted on speaking with a billing supervisor. The second representative put me on hold --- eternal hold of 42 minutes before I finally got the hint and decided, hey, I think they are ignoring me!" Imagine that! Don't learn the lesson the hard way like I did -- get the hint. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! I called again (many times) and finally spoke with a billing representative that promised to take the bill down to $371 (aren't I lucky) and that charge (credit?) still hasn't went in but the $758 is still gone. Amazing how that works! They debit and hold the money immediately and the credit is still not in. I called Fed-X, they received all of the equipment at the whse and still no credit. AGAIN - DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! CONSUMER BEWARE!

Someone ordered a pay for view Wrestling to my account, by phone, in March and I was charged $54.95. I complained because we never ordered anything and was told I would get a rebate, but as it was ordered through an agent(?) they refused to honor a rebate. Beware, put a password on your phone and online service with these people or you WILL be charged! We are all liars to them.