In October I ordered Directv for their special of $29.99 per month. Had a guy come out and should have thought about the company when he arrived and did not know how to program my television and did not have a guide for me. Anyway, they took it upon themselves to charge my Visa account for 61.71. I did not give them permission to make those charges, I was told they needed myVisa to charge the shipping and handling of the equipment. This is the third month and I have yet to see a bill for 29.99. They have numerous extra charges that they ad on and for some reason, they said I was to call them for a rebate to get the 29.99 fee. They finally gave me acredit of 23.00 and 4.99. And guess what? You can not get anyone on the telephone that can give you information because you can not understand them as they are from a foreigh county and the accent is strong, all they say if I am sorry, no lets go over dis again and see how i help you on htis day. I hang up and try again, today I get a call from a man who threatens to turn the service off. Happy to get a call from an american I explained what I was trying to get across and why I would not pay the 61.00 a month. I wanted a credit back to October. He said I got a credit for Dec to Dec and basiclly take it or leave it. I told him it was not my agreement and he told me basiclly that I was a liar. I requested a corporate contact and guess what? No one that works for Directv seems to know anything about a corporate office to file a written complaint. I will file a complaint to the Better Business Bureau and pursue this company until they make things right. DO NOT USE DIRECTV EVER.

I called up DirectTV to cancel the service. I explained that somebody broke in to my place and stole my TV. I have not watched TV for a month and I had no intention to buy another TV set.

She said I had EIGHTEEN month commitment that I do not remember if they told me about and I would be with them for 4 month at the end of January. I agreed on them charging me $280 which is 14 months X $20 early termination fee.

Now, I remember, even during the installation, the contractor came in and charged $70 for the tripod which you can buy at $14 from online stores.

So, it seems that DirectTV strives on ripping people off. I would stick to bigger name companies from now on. Not really related to DirectTV but one of the reasons, I believe, that my unit was attacked out of hundreds is I had the outstanding satellite dish on my deck.

On May 29, 2008 I noticed my satellite service was not working. Thinking it was because I was behind on my bill, I contacted DirecTV and made a full payment on my account in the amount of $92. I was told by the rep that zeroed my account. However, paying the account in full did not fix my service. The tech told me my receiver was dead and needed replacement.

They scheduled a tech to come out and replace my system with a new HD system. However, the tech never showed up. I rescheduled for the next weekend. Again, the tech never showed up. So, I called DirecTV and requested they cancel my service. Apparently, they continued billing my account after cancellation. In July, I start receiving phone calls from them demanding payment. I refused, saying I had cancelled my service since they never had fixed my system.

The phone calls continued, and I continually told them I was not paying for service on a cancelled account. In August, I received a statement saying they were disconnecting my service, which I had requested in June.

Then, in August I noticed an unauthorized debit from them out of my checking account for the full amount. I did not authorize the charge and therefore filed a complaint with my bank to reverse it. They did.

DirecTV then began an onslaught of phone calls where the reps were rude and often hung up on me when I wouldn't let them know what my current address is, or verify personal information when they contacted me.

Finally, today, I called to try to get this resolved and I still get stonewalled. They maintain my service was functional through August and therefore I owe the money, plus late charges and fees. I maintain that I cancelled my service in early June due to non-performance of their techs to replace my system.

Furthermore, The documentation they have on file is suspiciously inaccurate, incomplete and some of it misdated. They documented that I requested cancellation in late July. However, that particular call was a collections call where I refused to pay since I had cancelled. The rep told me they had no documentation that my receiver wasn't working. I told the rep I had already cancelled in early June because they never replaced my system, which was not functional. Apparently the tech used that as my request to cancel on that date, more than a month after I originally called to cancel. And, they still did not cancel it until August.

At this point, I refuse to pay for service I did not receive up to and including the tech never showing up plus any charges accrued since I cancelled my account on or about June 7.

When I ordered I asked how long my remorse period at the beginning of my contract was, if there were charges for changing packages and if existing customers were charged differently for upgrades than new customers. I was advised that I had 30 days to decide if I liked the svc, there was only a charge if I downgraded my package and all customers are charged the same price for equipment. I called in Jan 25, 2008 and was told that because I was not a tenured customer I would have to pay $250 to upgrade to a HD DVR. I asked to cancel my svc. I was advised I would have to pay a $480 cancellation fee and there was a 24 hour cancellation policy. After some time on the ph, he agreed to let me have the HD DVR for $99 plus S&H. After my promotion of getting the premium channels ended, I canceled all the premium channels with the exception of Showtime. In April I canceled Showtime, but I did not change my package. The following month I was charged $10 for canceling Showtime. I was told by customer svc this was a standard fee. Nov 11, 2008 I called to upgrade my 2 standard receivers to HD receivers. I was advised I would get the upgrade free with no new contract since I was not changing my svc. My acct was charged for both receivers. I called back and while this was being corrected I was advised there would be a new 2 yr contract. I advised her to cancel the order due to the misinfo. I asked to have my cancellation fee waived and was told it was a valid fee. I filed a complaint through the BBB and was sent this response. "We regret any misunderstanding surrounding the Early Cancellation Fee (ECF). Our records indicate you placed your original DIRECTV order on January 5, 2008, which included one DIRECTV® HD Receiver and three standard receivers. This offer was provided to you as a New Customer Offer at no cost, and the equipment was installed and activated on January 8. Our records indicate you contacted DIRECTV on January 25, in regard to a DIRECTV Plus® HD DVR. As you were already an established customer and already received a New Customer Offer, the upgrade fee for the DIRECTV Plus® HD DVR is $199.00, plus $19.95 delivery/handling. As we did appreciate your business with DIRECTV, we made a business decision to offer the DIRECTV Plus® HD DVR at a low cost of $99.00, plus $19.95 delivery/handling fee. The DIRECTV Plus® HD DVR was installed and activated on January 30. At the time you placed your DIRECTV order on January 25, we advised you there would be a twenty-four month programming agreement associated with the equipment you were acquiring. We also communicated the agreement in the order confirmation letter and in the DIRECTV Equipment Lease Addendum. We significantly discount the price of equipment and installations. In exchange, we ask our customers to keep their programming for a specified amount of time. Customers who acquire standard receivers accept an eighteen month programming agreement and customers who acquire advanced receivers (DVR, HD, HD DVR) accept a twenty-four month programming agreement. DIRECTV has a twenty-four hour period in which a customer has a right to rescind without penalty. If an account is active longer than twenty-four hours, we are unable to reverse or remove the ECF from an account. Once the equipment is installed you have accepted the terms and conditions as noted in the first paragraph of the DIRECTV Customer Agreement. As a result of not fulfilling the programming agreement, a valid ECF was charged. No credits or refunds will be issued. Our Premium Services are offered on a monthly basis. There are costs associated with connecting and disconnecting packages. We charge this fee to offset costs of removing channels for services not maintained for 30 days. Since the SHOWTIME UNLIMITED® was not an active billed service for 30 days; a $10.00 fee was charged. As noted in the DIRECTV Customer Agreement section 1 (d) Our Programming Changes: “….Accordingly, we must reserve the unrestricted right to change, rearrange, add or delete our programming packages, the selections in those packages, our prices and any other Service we offer, at any time…..” We show a credit was issued on October 11, in the amount of $10.00. As a result of not fulfilling the programming agreement, a valid ECF was charged. No credits or refunds will be issued." I replied back with the following. "This is completely unfair since you are expecting me to keep my end of the agreement when your company is not keeping your end of the agreement. Your company makes it sound like you are giving me the equipment at a discounted price in exchange for this agreement, when in fact customers lease the equipment and therefore I had to return the equipment to you when I canceled my service. DirecTV never really gave me anything in exchange for this contract because I had to return the equipment. Your company failed to hold up your end of the agreement by not providing proper customer service as my original complaint explained. Another example of this lack of service is that I have had to call customer service 4 times since I canceled to try to get a 2nd box to return my 2 standard boxes. Every time I was told a box was on its way. Finally on the 4th call I escalated the call to a manager and he advised me that I could "discard" the 2 standard boxes because DirecTV simply didn't want them. This ECF should be waived due to this continuing lack of customer service. I wish your company would reconsider and try to resolve this issue so I can leave your company on good terms." Their final response was this. "We provide the lease equipment at a reduce cost. For customers who want to purchase equipment without the programming agreement, the standard receivers are $149 each, DVRs and HD receivers are $399 each, and HD-DVRs are $499 each, plus installation charges. Leasing allows customers to acquire equipment at a low upfront cost and provides the added benefit of enjoying ‘worry-free’ service on the leased receivers. “Worry-free” means affordable upgrade options and if a receiver fails, we will replace it. This is similar to leasing a car; you pay a small amount upfront and that allows you and the company to keep the monthly lease fee low. Because the equipment is leased, it must be returned to DIRECTV. When customers purchase equipment, they do not return it to DIRECTV. Although we are sorry you were unhappy with the customer service provided, this does not nullify your programming agreement. No credits or refunds will be provided."

Please be advised that this company does not care about their customer service. As you can see from this situation, they do not feel canceling service due to repetitive bad customer service issues is a valid reason. They obviously feel that because they have their customers locked into a contract, they can treat their customers any way they want.

I had been using DIRECTV for a few years and I thought everything was fine. Admittedly, there were times when I was late making a payment, but they were always congenial. Then, (last year), we left on an extended vacation to South America and I asked DIRECTV to put our service 'on hold' until we came back.

When we came back we found out that DIRECTV had disconnected our service for non-payment and we had to pay over $100.00 to re-connect. To make matters worse, one month before I left, I called them and asked what the best procedure would be to temporarily interrupt service until our return.

I followed exactly what they told me. Just to make sure, two weeks before leaving, I emailed them twice and called them twice. 'No problem Mr. Hasty'. 'Everything will be taken care of with out any interruption'. 'Have a nice vacation'.

In October of this year, unfortunately, we had an emergency in the family and had to leave the U.S. (again) for South America. I called DIRECTV and told them of this emergency. They said they understood. I paid them what I could and apologized for any late payments that would follow. I tried to tell them we had to use all the funds we could just to get there at this time of family crisis. Again, they said they understood.

No, this time I did not ask for any kind of 'extension'. My mind was on my family.

Which brings us up to now. I have been emailing back and forth to DIRECTV about my latest bill. I told them to please hold off for just a few days, that I was in the middle of changing banks and would send a payment in full on the 10th of December. Their customer service rep, one 'Allain L'. id# 100164310 emailed back saying they would not 'automatically' deduct any payment from my Visa card.

However, I only had a few days to make a payment or, it would be sent to a collection agency (collection agency my a__) and I could deal with them. I also told them that there would not be enough funds in my old bank account to take care of a payment and (again) to please wait for just 3 more days.

I emailed back saying that I would pay when I said I would pay and that would be on the 10th of December. 3 days from today. I also told this person that it would be a hardship if they took out funds which were not there at my old bank. I did leave enough funds in there to cover some small auto draft bills, but not enough to cover what I owed DIRECTV.

As soon as I finished with that, I went on-line and checked my (old) bank account. Sure enough, they took out $267.00 which threw this account into the red and they took out that amount on December 6th. The entire time I was emailing this person.

I realize that DIRECTV is not responsible for me not having enough funds to cover payments to them, but as a moral issue, there was nothing stopping them for showing a little courtesy instead of the way they handled this situation. They gave their word and did not keep it. Nor, did they care if it caused any hardship or not.

I would love to know if I can sue these idiots. I have it in writing that they would NOT automatically take any funds out of my account. They did and I am mad as hell about that. I did not want to leave my old bank with this hanging over our heads. Now, I have to re-pay that which causes us more hardship financially. What can I do?

We all have to pay our bills, that's a given if we want to maintain any kind of good credit. The way they treated us was not only unfair, it was 'dirty tactics'. Never again will we use DIRECTV.

As mentioned earlier, is it possible to sue them? THis might be a minor issue to some but not to us. Thanks.