I signed up with DirectTV in September 2008. At that time they had a promotion for $ 19.99 a month for 12 months for the preferred choice pacakge. The base price for the package was $ 32.99. I had been getting a credit for $ 13.00. In Feb 2009 they increased the price of the package to $35.99. This meant that I was paying $ 22.99 a month instead of the $ 19.99 a month they had promised me. When I called customer service they refused to adjust the credit appropriately. They claimed they are free to raise prices at any time.

This is a blatant violation of consume rights and protection. Wonder how many other had a similar experience.

I signed up for DirectTV at a monthly price of $30 after various rebates. I was not told that I had to apply for the rebate on the web (luckily I noticed it later and applied on time) or that I had to sign up for automatic bill pay for the last $5 of the rebate. When I did not recieve the rebate the first month, I called and was told I had to wait 4 months for processing. I called after 4 months and was told that had been incorrect. The person I talked to reduced my bill to $22 to account for the error and told me to wait to pay the bill until I received a re-issued bill. I never received a re-issued bill. Instead, when I received my next monthly statement, I was charged the entire "previous" amount plus a late fee. I called once again and was told my entire bill (previous plus current) would be reduced to $61. I was once again told to wait for a re-issued bill. This time I declined to wait and sent the $61. This month, I receved yet another bill with a $36 "previous" amount owed. When I called, I was told that the previous two representatives were wrong and I actually owed money. This person, Cheyanne (ID 100141724) was unwilling to resolve the bill (she's a resolution specialist, mind you). She insisted that the last two people I talked to (and apparently also the salesperson who initially sold me the package) were all incorrect.
All in all, I have probably spent several hours on the phone with these people trying to get my bill corrected.
Worst company I have EVER dealt with (I have been paying bills for > 30 yrs), only time I have ever spent this much time trying to get a straight answer.

I am switching from DISH to DirecTV. DirecTV advertises free "professional installation". I already had cables run through the attic by DISH to my two TV outlets. The DirecTV installer said he had to run the cables to the outside of the house in through the outer walls as coming down through the attic was a non-standard installation. If I wanted him to run the cables through the attic and down the walls (which are already set up) then he would have to charge me $50 for each TV.

I called to complain but DirecTV's response that it is the installers call. So unless you want your house junked up with cables on the outside walls you better be prepared to spend extra for installation. They need to leave the word "professional" out when describing their installation service.

While I still have to pay for the installation, I did get DirecTV to give me a free year of extra HD receiver service ($120)

PEOPLE BEWARE!! I called my phone company to cancel a phone line. The agent talked me into bundling. One of the services in the bundle was directtv. BIG, HUGE MISTAKE. The agent and the installer told me I had 30 days to cancel if I wanted to. First mistake. WRONG. Did not get the equipment that I was told, not informed that receivers for 2 other rooms were $5.00 more a month. The agent told me they were free. After 2 days of service I had problems with equipment and called directtv and to no prevail did not get anywhere. I got so frustrated that I told this man to cancel my service. He informed me that if I cancel I would be charged $480.00. To my surprise he told me that there was a 2 year contract with them. The phone company, directtv, or the installer NEVER mentioned this to me. The installer told me that I was to sign a work order, which it was not a work order. Thank god I found this web-site. I have been a customer for only 1 week today. Yesterday after reading all these complaints against directtv I went to my bank and put stop payment on directtv for any day any amount. I had to give the phone company agent a credit card for equipment. I also yesterday called and canceled that card. So directtv does not have any payment info. on me. PLEASE anyone who may have recently signed up with this company do exactly what I did so you do not have any charges to your card or checking account. My bank did charge me a $29.00 one time stop payment, but I believe it was/is/will be the best $29.00 I could have spent. Beats $480.00. If I have to pay anything to them it will be by a money order or cashiers check. PLEASE, PLEASE PEOPLE BE CAREFUL OF THIS COMPANY. They are scam artists.

The trick is to scam enough people who can't afford a lawyer. All you need is a few customer service flunkies who are willing to pretend to care about the customer. Hide your contract somewhere within the mass assortment of ads and other junk lurking in the envelope that carries the customers statement. Tell the new customer whatever it takes to reel him in. Whatever you say on the phone doesn't matter. Record only the conversations that benefit the company. Then, while he's grieving the death of the loved one he ordered your service for; smack him in the face with a $340 early cancellation fee. Practice this behavior enough and you won't need to be a decent human being, you'll be a rich one. You can start your own business. Call it, oh, I don't know, DirectTV, maybe.

This is the letter that was sent to the corporate office, if there such a place. In my opinion the letters all go to the same office where the customer service flunkies are. They look at your name, insert it in a 'denial' form letter and email it to you. I doubt the letters even get read.

This letter is a chronological report of injustices for which we feel is an unethical business practice on the part of DirectTV, Inc.

On my first contact in late December 2008, I spoke with a female sales representative, by phone, to inquire about having their service installed in my uncle's room at N**** S*** nursing home in Denver, CO. I specifically inquired about what would happen should he pass away. She stated that all I would need to do is provide a death certificate to their office to have the contract canceled. On December 23rd the system was installed at the nursing home.

I have been legal guardian of my uncle for several years now, due to his dementia. Therefore, I have handled all of his business transactions.

On January 21st, 2009 my uncle passed away. On January 22nd my wife, ****, contacted DirectTV's customer service department to cancel service. A male service representative told her, to avoid any charges, mail a copy of my uncle's death certificate, and return the receiver and remote control in the box which they would send us. We returned the merchandise.

On our January 29th statement we noticed a charged of $340 for early cancellation fee in which payment had been automatically charged to our credit card. My wife called customer service. A female service representative told her to fax a copy of the death certificate when we get it, and the charge on the credit card would immediately be reversed. As requested, we faxed the certificate on February 11th.

My wife called customer service at 5:03am on February 13th to inquire as to why the charge still hadn't been reversed. The male representative who answered said there was no record that the fax had been received.

At 8:03am she called again, in hopes that someone working regular business hours would be in a better position to assist her. Again, she explained the situation to the male representative who answered. This time she was told that they had in fact received the certificate, but the charge couldn't be removed because I placed the order, not my uncle. She explained why I had to order for him. He told her there was nothing he could do. My wife asked to speak with the supervisor and was put on hold then was disconnected after a few minutes.

At 8:26am she called again. A female representative answered this time. She apologized, and then told my wife to explain the situation again and she would put her through to her supervisor. Again, my wife was put on hold and again, she was disconnected.

At 8:49am she called again. This representative asked her to explain the situation again. My wife refused and demanded to be put through to a supervisor. Finally, she got put through to a man who claimed to have some authority. He stated that it didn't matter who the service was for. Because I signed for it, I had to pay. I never signed anything. He offered to provide the address where I could dispute the charge.

I can provide documentation that shows that my uncle resided at the nursing home in Denver, CO where the service was installed, and to show that I was his legal guardian. If you check the billing address for the account you will notice that I don't live in Denver. This service was clearly never meant for anyone other than him.

I am hoping that, as a reputable company, you can see the injustice of this charge and see how badly your customer service personnel handled this incident. My wife called customer service once again, on 18 February 2009, as a courtesy, to inform them that we were sending this letter to you and to our credit card company to dispute this charge.