The unauthorized placing of a service referred to as NFL Sunday Ticket charges by DirecTV on my bill reflects deceptive business practices. When we initially signed up with DirecTV in January of 2008, we were offered the NFL Sunday Ticket option as a free service, which I declined, however they insisted, because it was "free", so why not (they said that, not me). We were told we could cancel it anytime prior to the expiration of the 3 months "New Customer Offer" and there would be no charge(s). (Please note, no one in my household watches football, and the only males are my husband and 3 year old grandson. Neither of them have any interest in the sport. We did not even "use" the service when it was given to us free as new customers.)

On February 26, my husband called to cancel any and all extra services and maintain only our Choice Xtra program with DirecTV. On our July Qwest/DirecTV bill, the NFL Sunday Ticket showed up again with a charge of $0.00. My husband paid no attention to it as it was a zero charge. However, on our August statement, a charge of $41.50 showed up. So I contacted DircecTV offices to have the charges and service removed. Not canceled, as we did not order it, but removed as an erroneous charge.

I spoke to 4 (four) different very inept representatives in their office and was told that a "mailer" in some form had gone out stating the charges would be placed on my bill. I do not know of any mailer, and do not recall having seen anything saying I was going to be charged for the service. I do not deny if it was sent or not, but if it was, the wording on it must have not left me with the impression that I was going to be charged $249. Apparently, according to the DirecTV staff, the "default" was that my account would be charged, just for having received the mailer and not responding with a resounding "NO". This is where I am stating that the billing practices in this matter are deceptive and perhaps illegal. In order to have a charge to my account for any service, the business must have my permission. An alleged "act of omission" on my part in this matter does not give them the authority to charge my account. Their default should be set to "NO" unless the specific charges are authorized.

I have spent hours with rude customer service reps and their supervisors and all have told me that I can't have it removed. If a credit and/or a charge shows up on my bill next month, I will be in their office in a heartbeat. I have filed a complaint with the BBB (of which they are not a member - go figure) and I am currently filing a complaint with the Division of Civil Rights located here in Denver.

Their customer service is horrible, many of the reps do not speak/understand English. If you ask for a supervisor, they just get one of their buddies in the next cubicle on the phone. When talking to anyone at DirecTV, they cannot give out their last name, however ALWAYS GET THEIR EMPLOYEE BADGE NUMBER.

Approximately one month ago i went from bundling my services with Qworst to Concast.

With Qworst, i had phone, internet and television, the latter of which was via some arrangement they had with Directv. So when i cancel it all, Qwest kndly notifies Comcast of my action. Today i get a $69, 95 bill from Directv for service for the last month, service they knew i had canceled because the billing manager guy i eventually spoke to -- after a painfully circular argument with an unsympathetic underling who clearly had dealt with this exact complaint before -- confirmed receipt, on 8/18/08 i think he said. anyway, he offers to cut the bill by $20 bucks and, after i was assured that this would be the last I would ever hear from them, agreed to send the check, but for the time being i'm going to complain to anyone who'll listen. So thanks for the opportunity.

On or about July 29, 2008, I was contacted by sales rep for DirecTV notifying my that my present equipment was out of date and soon be unusable. I agreed to their suggested upgrade of HD receivers. Their first technical rep, a contract firm from San Antonio- Mastec, arrived Aug 6, for which I took a day off from work. He installed two HD receivers and said that the satellite would have to download the software before I would receive the new HD channels for which I was paying. The tech realized I had the wrong satellite dish, but could not install the correct one because DirecTV didn't have the correct work order.

After several days, DirecTV scheduled another tech from the same company. On his service date he installed a new dish, but informed me that I had the wrong transmission cables for HD service from the dish to the receivers. The original tech should have installed new cables. The problem is that the original TV cables were RG59 which were not thick enough to carry the HD signal spectrum. RG6 was the required cable. This was another day off work for me.

When the third technician arrived Aug 26, he marveled that I was getting any signal at all. The original cables from the satellite were RG59 and were spliced into a previously existing TV cable installed by the previous home owner at least eight years before. There were no RG6 cables in the home.

I had already been paying for HD service from DirecTV for two years at $9.99 per month with their physical system incapable to carry such system. With their initially shoddy technical workmanship when the dish was first installed distorting the services DirecTV was claiming to be supplying me, I have invested about $11, 000 in television and audio equipment trying to compensate for it thinking it was my equipment not theirs.

The gist is that DirecTV knew what equipment was installed in my home to enable them to sell services to me. They had poor if any quality control over their technical installation and service contractors and took no action to correct any systemic problems with them. They therefore knowingly billed me for services which they knew they were not supplying all the while advertising a higher quality service which they were incapable of delivering to me, intentionally defrauding me. My losses cover the HD fees I have been paying, and considering the poorly installed original equipment, the entire fees billed over the history of my account, and the TV/audio equipment I purchased over the years trying to improve the reception.

If they knowingly sold me an HD signal to be transmitted from the satellite to my TV over inferior cables without making the technological changes or before the changes were available, then they my have and are possibly still defrauding millions of customers.

DirecTV charged my checking account twice and although I am now paying insufficient fund fees on that account, and although they acknowledge it was their mistake, they cannot replace that money for a week and a half. After a conversation with a cc rep who can't speak English, I was finally allowed to speak to her supervisor (ERIC) who was the nastiest, most obnoxious cc person I have ever had the displeasure of speaking with. Thanks ERIC, you made my discussion easier... Come my renewal time, I won't be with Direct TV anymore!!!! Customer Service Department - If you’re not going to do your job, you can at least not treat people like crap

I have been a direcTV customer for past 4-5 years. I completed my initial 2 year commitment with them and was on month to month basis. I moved to a new home earlier this year and decided to move DirecTv with me..I called directTv to arrange for a move and they agreed to do it. I didnt know that they are extending my contract by helping me move.
Now I am moving out of the country due to business reasons and when I called DirecTV, they need a cancellation fees from me ($300)...Since I had to make a decision I went ahead and cancelled it. Is there is a way I can lodge a complaint against them and get my money back.