I called Direct TV and asked about their promotions. After a long conversation I thanked the sales rep and told her I was not interested in making a change. She offered a 4 month promotion that included introductory pricing and the NFL Ticket for free.

When I turned her down her offer went to nine months. I couldn't refuse at this point and I agreed to become a customer. Other than taking 30 seconds to change some channels and haveing problems in the snow, it was fine for 4 months. Than my promotion ran out. It turns out the sales rep flat out lied to me.

I called and explained the situation to a customer service rep. Than another and another and another and another manager and another manager, etc, etc, etc. After 10 calls and Direct TV failing to live up to their original offer I have given up.

Recently I noticed a $399.95 charge on my credit card. I called again multiple times to explain they were never given permission to bill my credit card. I just filled out an affadavit accusing Direct TV of theft and had to cancel the card to prevent further charges. They say I'm under a contract I never signed. I refused to sign after installation because the installer never heard of a nine month promo.

Today I received an $800 bill from Direct TV. They won't see a dime. This is the biggest joke of a company I have ever seen. DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

I ORDERED DIRECT TV OVER THE PHONE FROM MY HOME IN WORCESTER MA. THE SERVICE WAS FOR MY NEW HOME IN PANAMA CITY FL. THE INSTALLER AIMED THE DISH RIGHT AT LARGE GROUP OF TREES. I QUESTIONED IF HE WOULD GET A GOOD SIGNAL THERE. HE INFORMED ME IT WOULD BE FINE. THIS MAN NEVER EVEN HOOKED A HD TV UP TO TEST THE SYSTEM. WHEN HE WAS DONE I ASKED ABOUT THE ANTENNA FOR THE LOCAL CHANNELS I WAS INFORMED IT WOULD COST 250 DOLLARS MORE. I TOLD HIM THAT IT WAS TO BE INCLULDED IN MY INSTALLED HE SAID IT WASNT. THE PACKAGE I ORDERED WAS TO INCLUDE HD CHANNELS 18 TO 20 I GOT 2. I CALLED DIRECT TV ON THE THIRD DAY OF SERVICE TO COMPLAIN THEY TOLD THERE WAS REALLY NOT ALOT TO DO BUT MOVE THE DISH. I TOLD THEM THAT THE ORGINAL INSTALLER HAD SAID THERE WOULD BE TO MUCH SIGNAL DECAY FROM THE OTHER END OF THE HOUSE. AFTER 25 MINUTES I ASKED TO CANCEL THE SERVICE THEY HUNG UP ON ME. TWO DAYS LATER I CALLED BACK TO CANCEL AND WAS INFORMED IT WOULD COST 285 DOLLARS. THAT WOULD HAVE MENT IT COST 595 DOLLARS FOR DIRECT TV FOR FIVE DAYS. I REFUSED TO PAY.
DIRECT TV STOPPED SERVICE I WAS HARRASSED WEEKLY BY BILL COLLECTORS UNTIL A GOT NEW PHONE NUMBER AND HAD IT UNLISTED. SINCE THEN THEY HAVE PLACED A DEROGATORY REMARK ON MY CREDIT REPORT. THIS IS NOTHING BUT EXTORTION THEY EVEN OFFERED TO SETTLE FOR HALF THE MONEY.

Where to begin...?

I had Direct TV several years ago. They were ok, but I had to cancel service for reasons not related to Direct TV.

Then, I got High Def, and Direct TV called me in 2006 and offered a deal: The new HR20 HD DVR system at a reduced price of $250 (half price from the $500 purchase price). Ok, I signed up.

Problems began almost immediately. Color of picture would go green, system would freeze while recording or playback, etc., etc. Had to reset system every time. Direct TV replaced, three times, by mail.

This last time, they told me: You own the system, so you either have to pay a $79 fee for a technician to come to your home, or buy the extended protection plan. So I bought, technician came to my home, and dropped off a unit I had to plug in myself. Ok, it is working fine.

But, here is the problem. Now Direct TV contends that if I cancel, I have to send this box back as it is a "rental". So, think twice before going with Direct TV. According to them, the $250 price I paid was for the "privelege of renting; everyone pays it" (so it is now unclear why it was a special deal). When I called to inquire, I too was placed on hold so they could "research". I waited 36 minutes the first time, and 25 minutes the second time, before hanging up and going with email.

According to Direct TV, the $250 "purchase" price was really a rental fee, so I am renting, but, I am also responsible if the box fails or is otherwise defective, and I have to pay for a new box, or repairs, if the box starts acting up. Go elsewhere, its not worth it.

I d/c service 11-07 Direct tv fraudulently charges my account for 118.00 plus change for their crummy equipment which i waited weeks for for them to send return fed ex boxes. it is 4-10-08 and 15 plus calls and still no return of monies owed to me, Yet if your late they flip a switch turning off service, If payment late they charge late fees. Every call for refund they read cue card like a broken record 6-8 weeks for refund, Do the math 11-07 to 4-08 much longer than 6-8 weeks. doing this to every customer do the math do you realize what a scam for interest they earn by defrauding and delaying refunds to customers? Further more I believe I should charge late fees and interest to Direct tv plus the wasted air time on cellular phones when it takes an average of 40 minutes per call to get no resolution. 15 calls times 40 minutes? A lot of poor customer service and a lot of air time charges. Basis for class action suit? I am working on it. Businesses that operate in this manner should be shut down...

I am just going to include here the letter I just sent off to Direct TV, and let it speak for itself.

Direct TV Office of the President
P.O. Box 6550
Greenwood Village, CO 880155

RE: #025697778

To Whomever Might Listen to My Case, and Stop Quoting the Customer Service Manual,

I could take you through the hours spent on the phone, the letters faxed and mailed, and the complete and utter frustration of just having spent valuable time speaking with no less than four of your agents/supervisors in Phoenix. But instead, I will tell you that Agent #1, Agent #2, Dexter and Alexandra all repeated the exact same information to me, ad nauseum, no matter how many times I explained to them that no, I did NOT receive notice of "pending programming activation", and no, I was NOT "fully and duly aware that service would resume August 12, 2007.

It would appear that what gets typed into a customer's account becomes sacred, no matter what misunderstanding might have transpired, and that no pleading of the customer to say, be human and have a heart, will be heard.

Bottom line. My account says we owe $80.17 in service fees I was "fully and duly aware of", and I say this is not true. Some mistake, somewhere, occurred. $80.17 means something to my family, with four children, on one income. It is probably not such a huge deal to Direct TV. I was told that no matter what my stance, "integrity is valued in our employees at Direct TV", so whatever note was on my account was there to stay, and influence the reversal, or lack thereof, of the fees aside from the early cancellation fee. What happened to the customer being valued? What happened to, oh, I don't know, giving a person a break and maybe admitting someone on Direct TV's end somehow could have misunderstood the situation?

To quote that last letter from Phoenix:

We could only assume service was satisfactory because we received no request to extend the suspension when we sent notification of the pending programming activation, and no statements were returned to us as undeliverable.

We suspended service in July of 2006 because we had to move to take a job. We moved in with my parents, who had their own TVs and systems. We had no means to use the services of Direct TV, and to this day, do not. I never received any notification of "pending programming activation", or interim statements, making me aware of compiling fees.

No matter how many times I tried to explain that I would have never allowed charges to add up, that until I started receiving bills in the amount of 164.17 in Sept. of 2007, did I even know this was an issue, I was repeatedly told "we have a notation that you were aware". I called in September of 2007 to be sure the account was canceled. I began disputing the charges in late fall of 2007, and in January of this year, received the letter stating that the charges remain valid, and therefore, should be remitted.

And really, while the money is an issue, almost worse is the most insulting, offensive tactic to repeat over and over "I understand, BUT..." as your representatives did today. If someone understood, I wouldn't have spent 2 hours on the phone while my baby was cranky and crying, and my neck got wrenched while trying to prepare lunch and simultaneously handle this matter, while being told each supervisor on up the ladder was going to be harder to convince to even take my call. Oh, and then the endless time on hold. Hearing the cheery lady tell me how great Direct TV is and how simple simple simple it is to sign up, and get what I really want in total entertainment. Really. Someone should really explain how difficult difficult difficult it's going to be if you have unexpected circumstances derail your plans to to be able to enjoy fast-forwarding and rewinding live TV for a contract minimum of two years. Also, you really should just tell your representatives to say, "tough shit sherlock", because that's really what they think. And honesty, while potentially brutal, is always so much easier to swallow. Or if they do care? Then give them the power to choose who they may think they might help out.

My dealings with your company over the last few months are exactly what all "The Man" jokes are about, and why we, who are not The Man, really love to hear stories about how somebody finally got to stick it to Him. Big corporations who play all that "we care about you, our customer" jazz on their automated phone systems, where it is nearly impossible to get a real, live human (and who does finally answer, is questionable, here) while we languish on hold, just waiting to ultimately be told we, and our case, don't amount to one tiny ant crap.

So yes. I am disputing the $80.17 in assumed satisfactory service. And you may decide I have not one child-clung-to leg to stand on, but I just couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't one person in all of Direct TV who might just have the power, the cajones, and maybe even the kindness to say, "Hey, we're sorry for all the trouble, the time, and effort. Somewhere, clearly there was a misunderstanding. Here. We'll take care of that, for you."

Wow. Wouldn't a little of that go a long way.

Very Unsatisfied,
A.T.