I purchased my own equipment for DirecTV from Best Buy around 1999. I signed up for DirecTV and kept the service for a few years until their prices just kept going up and up. I weighed the price increases againts the quality of programming and discovered that I was mostly paying for channels that my family doesn't watch because it either insults our intelligence or isn't suitable in mixed company or around children. So I canceled the service.

A couple of years went by and I received an offer in the mail that DirecTV was offering $10 off per month for a year. My wife likes Food Network and I like Fox News, so I thought I would check to see if the discounted prices might make it worth another try. I had also heard that there was a possibility being considered that allows us to pay only for the channels we want. I called and spoke to a DirecTV representative. They were excited to tell me that, as a returning customer I would also receive an additional $10 off for 10 months. So I was going to get the $49 package for $29/month for 10 months and $39/month for 2 more months. I figured after a year if they went back up on the price I would just cancel again.

During the first couple of days the reception was very inconsistent. It wasn't just the loss of signal from rain. I would lose signal if it even got cloudy. So DirecTV offered to install an upgraded "oval" dish and new receivers free of charge. I told them that my receivers are fine, but maybe the oval dish would help, since my dish was an older model with only one LNB. They insisted that there was no charge or obligation to accept new receivers and that the new receivers would have more up-to-date technology. So I figured for no charge, why not?

The first month's bill arrived and I was charged full price - no discounts. I phoned and they corrected the amount and told me to send in only the corrected amount. The next month I was charged full price again. I phoned and was told to send in the corrected amount and they would note the account. The third invoice arrived, this time at full price and an additional charge for the amount of "underpayment" from the previous month. I phoned. I told them to check the notes from the previous month. The previous month's amount was adjusted for my discount and I was told by their representative how much to send in. This time I heard the words that will always lose my business; "I don't know why they told you that!" Well, I don't work for DirecTV lady, so all I can do is rely on the word of your representatives. If they mislead me, how am I supposed to know? Do I need to be trained in how to be a customer of DirecTV?!!! I told her that after three months of this I am weary and wish to cancel the service. She told me I would have to return the receivers but not the antenna. I said fine. She sent the boxes and I returned the receivers promptly. She said not to pay the current invoice because i would be receiving an adjusted one. I figured this would be a prorated bill for the days of service i did not use. But no, this invoice was for nearly $140, because it included a cancellation fee for canceling my one-year agreement early. Naturally I called. I told them that I did not sign an agreement. The representative told me that, by accepting the receivers (they were refurbished, not even new) that I am automatically agreeing to a one-year agreement. I told them that if they had held their end of the deal, I would still be a customer. But because I had to call each month to get my bill corrected, and in the end was practically called a liar, I canceled. It has been approximately three years since then and I continue to be harrassed by DirecTV and 3rd party bill collectors, trying to collect $141.74 form me for early cancellation and a late fee for not paying the early cancellation fee. I send each one a cease and desist letter and a copy of a detailed explanation I typed up that outlines the entire fiasco and why I canceled. They have threatened to report me to the credit bureas over and over.

If you are considering DirecTV, I highly recommend against it. It's not worth the hassle. I won't even try Dish Network because my friends who have had them have complaints as well. I am happy with the free digitial television available in my area.

I had directv since oct.04..being on disability i was bundled on the bell-south package deal..well to make a long story short .I was having problems with my bills, so i had my phone turned off, well i was still being billed about $100.00 a month not being able to still use my phone..When i called to find out why i was still being billed the $100.00 a month and not having any service they told me i still had their service just had it turned off...So i told them to cut it right off, which they did..But i still wanted Internet so they gave me a new no. for that, well directv, put me into another 18 month contact with them. which i was not aware of at all .now that i wanted to do away with the directv and go to dish or something else they are charging me a early termination fee of $80. some dollars.. I guess what I'm trying to tell everyone out there is..watch out for these companies that have the package deal..Because we are the one's that are getting screwed here, and when it comes right down to it there isn't much we can do about it...more so with att.net and directv ...

I ordered DirectV September of Last Month, only because I saw a great ad online for 150+ channels for only $29.00 for 12 months. After being with DishNetwork for over 3 years and behind on bills, they blocked my service. So, I decided to go with DirectV. I went online to complete an order for their service, but my credit is really bad. So, they asked for $300.00 installation fee, which I can't afford. So, I decided to call them on the phone. Of course, the guy on the phone was very nice and agreed to everything I asked of him - HD DVR and 150+ channels package for $29.99 for 12 months. Plus, when I asked him about the installation fee of $300.00, he told me don't worry about it and that I am only responsible for 29.99 right now. So, I gave him my bank debit card number, he told me it went through and requested if I want this card on autopay. Having had very bad experiences with autopay for anything, I gave him a BIG NO. Also, he told me that my first bill will come in the mail in 5 days and it did. Guess what I find in my DirectTV bill. I am actually signed up for 200+ channel packages not 150+ channel package as I requested. On top of that I am not getting that discount deal $29.99 for 150+channels for 12 months. All in all, my monthly bill is $80.00/month not $35.00 to $45.00/month bill. When I called their customer service, they gave me a run around and couldn't even explain the charges and she kept telling me that she can't help me. If I make any changes to my account or downgrade to 150+ channels service, contract will be pushed forward and the final
monthly bill will be the same, which is $80.00. When I asked her about the deals they had online for $29.99, she told me to get hold of the guy I talked to when I placed the DirectV order. I was laughing at her at that moment. "Are you kidding me? He didn't give me his name or number nothing? Even If I call DirectV you will never get the same person everytime."

Knowing that people always have complaints about any services they receive and with the Internet it is very easy to find these consumer complaints. So, being curious and wanting to know of their DirectV experiences are good or bad, I searched online and found tons and tons of complaints for DirectTV. Then, I immediately cancelled my debit card which DirectTV stored under my account in their system. I have yet to find out what they charged on my account before I cancelled the cards. I hopefully they didn't have a chance to rip me off or clean my bank account clean.

You just can't win - especially when there is monopoly going on. Its like gas company, you can only get heating gas from the company that already has connection to your house. You don't have options.

http://you-me-and-world.blogspot.com

Heaven forbid if your leased DVR receiver should stop working and you ask for a replacement. They start a "new" 2 year contract when replacing it even if you clarify that this does not extend your contract. You will have to pay dearly for incompetent customer service who can not get a simple address change correct. If they see an opportunity to take your hard earn money they will. If you fight for a credit they MIGHT give it back to you in 8 weeks.
Recommendation, NEVER use a service where you have to battle for semi decent service and fair treatment. Directv is one of those companies where you don't matter because there are many other suckers in the fish pond.

Four months short of DIRECTV services, one of the 3 boxes stop showing all channels with a message staying that it could not pick up signal (message code 771). When I check my other TV’s with boxes they were working correctly. I called DIRECTV to complain about the message on my cable box and inform them how most of the channels were working. The service tech had walked me through some steps to do. After he told me to push the red reset button my TV blacked out completely and there was no picture showing on any channels. I called DIRECTV the next day to speak to a manger and was told that since I never purchased additional insurance for the box and that my 3 month warranty was over that I must pay the $50 for a service tech to come out to fix the problem. I informed the manager that I signed up online and it was my first time hearing of some insurance protection plan for an additional cost, plus I was already paying $4.99 for each box with DIRECTV. I find it odd that the 4th month with DIRECTV, I end up with problems with their equipment that they want to charge me because of their so call 3 month warranty had just expired. I was also told that if I try to get out of the agreement that I would be charged $350. BEWARE OF DIRECTV SCAM.