I cannot believe all of the complaints that I have read against DirecTV. I, too just had the same experience. I had absolutely no idea all of this was going on with DirecTV or I would have never signed up for there so-called special offer. I had service with them for just 3 days. They did not get my order/equipment correct. When I talked to them regarding the incorrect equipment, they wanted to then charge me an extra $100 to get the correct equipment that I ordered in the first place. I canceled my service that day. I was told there would be NO additional charges. Several days later I received a bill with a $460 early cancellation fee. Of course this fee was never mentioned before, much less at the time I canceled. I called and spoke with a representative and was assured that the charges would be credited. Well, almost a month later my credit card is charged. I cannot believe they get away with this time and time again. I called DirecTV and what a nightmare. I spoke with 8 different representatives, got disconnected 3 times and was told about 4 different stories. I was told by the first Rep that my credit card would be credited and to call a number to verify that it had in fact been credited and to confirm it was the correct amount. The number I was given was a fax number. Another Rep told me that my credit inquiry was still with the "Account Management Team" and to give it another week. I insisted to be transferred to a supervisor and was disconnected. I called back again and spoke to a so-called Supervisor who then told me that this "Account Management" Team had all of a sudden miraculously came to the decision that if I reactivated my service the fee would be waived. Umm...NO! He asked me if I now had service through another provider. I told him that was none of his business and that was not the issue. I insisted on speaking with someone else and guess what...disconnected again! I called back. The next Rep stated that since I live in Texas - as well as 14 other states - that there is a law that requires DirecTV to give us a "trial period" without early cancellation fees. (I'm not sure if this is true, but was told this initially from the Rep I called the first time I saw the charge on my statement.) This Rep was going to transfer me to the "Customer Retention Group" - Disconnected once again. I called back again...the last Rep I spoke with told me that there was nothing I could do about this charge and there was nothing anyone could do and there was no one else I could speak with. I asked to speak with whomever made the decision on my account to deny the credit back to my card and she stated that the "Customer Retention Department" does not take phone calls!!?? She also stated that she did not know why the previous Rep told me that there was a 15 day trial period or about the law in Texas and other states. She did not know where they got this information from. Again - UNBELIEVABLE. How can this company keep getting away with illegally taking money out of peoples accounts? I really hope this problem is resolved and that people keep speaking out about it.

I called directv after i had paid my bill and was trying to see when my service would be turned back on. I was told 2 to 4 business hours by one of their so called managers.This was on 11/6/08 and was further told that if it wasn't on by the next morning to call. On 11/7/08 when I arrived home from work it was not on. I called and was told that "we have not received your payment yet." After I was on the phone for over 1 1/2 hours with them i was transferred to another dept. where I talked to a Denise, so I was told. She told me to go and fax her the receipt and put attn: RSH on it and when she receive it she will turn my service back on. So here I go trying to find some where to fax it to her. I did and she had given my a callback number to call when I had faxed it to her. Then when I called back I talked to another person and she said that I could not get my service on until they received the payment. I tried to explain to her what Denise had said and she wasn't hearing none of it. She wouldn't even let me talk to Denise she said she couldn't do that. I tried to expain to her what Denise had said and she said that Denise had noted on my account that srevice will not be turned on until bill is paid in full and when she asked me when will I be paying the rest I told her in two weeks. We didn't receive the bill until after I had made the payment. I was also told by another csr that services were not to be turned off until 11/10/08 anyway. What can I do about this? For #1 they are all rude and don't tell the truth.

On October 22, 2008, when I called DIRECTV to get information in my process of making a decision on switching from Cable to DIRECTV, I specifically asked about getting local Dallas channels. I was told that I could get them, I just had to sign a waiver and wait 4 weeks. The sales woman said the local cable company had a monopoly on the local channels, which the FCC was requiring them to discontinue as of February 2009. The sales woman gave me a great deal, so I went ahead and signed up for service. One of my co-workers lives near me, same county, same zip code, has DIRECTV and they get the local Dallas channels, and they never went through any waiver process to get them.

A few days after installation, I was talking to a guy who used to install satellite TV service in my area, and he told me that everyone he new, recently, had been denied local channels. At no time was I informed by the DIRECTV sales woman that only 1 out of 5 waiver requests are approved.

For the past week, I have been having almost daily e-mail correspondence with customer service reps from DIRECTV. The first response to my question on the waiver was that only 1 in 5 requests are granted, and that it is not DIRECTV that has any control over this situation. Here is the latest e-mail response on this subject: "I understand your frustration with not being able to get local channels in your area. As you know, we don't carry locals in your area right now and we don't currently have plans to add it to our lineup." He stated that the waiver request submitted on my behalf has been sent to New York and LA. He also stated that he knows nothing about the FCC requiring the local cable company to discontinue their monopoly on the local channels.

If they don't carry local channels in my area, then why was I told that I could get the local Dallas channels, and why does my nearby co-worker get them?

Now I'm locked into a 2 year contract with no ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, etc. I expect that I will now have to purchase a new outdoor antenna to receive these channels, and then I will have to use an ancient VCR to record my series programs when I am unable to watch them live. My service includes 2 DVRs, but they won't record channels off the antenna.

I would be very interested to know if anyone else has been deceived regarding local channels in the outlying areas of Dallas, Texas.

Join with me in a starting a CLASS ACTION SUIT!!

I dont know a thing about how to do it.

I initiated service less than 6 months ago and have been very happy until the last week. My HDTV service has stopped working entirely (I don't know if it was related to the software download Directv uploaded, but it happened at around that time). Now Directv customer service people inform me that I have 2 choices: 1. pay $50 for someone to come out to fix your service, or 2. buy a warranty on THEIR equipment. Before I take either of those options, I will choice option 3. disconnect Directv service and go back to Comcast where I was never charged for service calls and where I was always credited back for time that service wasn't working perfectly (which I never had to ask them to do).

I did read accounts just like this online before getting their service and I didn't believe they could be true. Until this one bad experience, I had been very happy with their installation tech who was thoroughly professional and careful, happy with their excellent HD DVR (much better than Comcast's), and happy with the service. It just goes to show how far bad customer service and charges will get a company.

I will resort to reading and/or talking to my wife before paying their ridiculous fees.