We subscribed to DirecTV in Nov. 2006. Our contract was for 24 months, which I think is the norm. In Feb we cancelled our account. The rep on the phone said no problem. They shipped us some boxes and we sent the equipment back.
Two days later, DirecTV pulled over $500 from our checking account, which was linked to our MasterDebit card. I said huh??? I called DirecTV to let them know there must be a mistake. They said no, your contract was re-extended in October because we sent you a new box for one of our TVs. This was news to me!!! The box in October stopped working, so I called and let them know. A tech came out (after an act from Congress) and said yes, your box is prone to failure and DirecTV knows this (I think they could have called ahead of time?). So they sent a replacement in Oct.
However, nothing was spoken or written about our contract being extended, or we would likely have decided to go without for 1 more month (24 months would have expired) and cancelled. Adding fuel to the fire, they said we had signed up for a $5.99/mo protection plan at that time (Oct 07), which somehow extends your contract an additional 24 months! What really happened was the rep offered it over the phone, but we DECLINED, stating that we were already paying nearly $100 a month for cable and didn't want protection for something we are already paying dearly for. This apparently is what set the 2 year extension in motion.
So, without informing us at all, they took $500 from our account exactly 2 days after we cancelled by phone. When we cancelled, the rep on the phone said a bill would come 7-10 days later and even mentioned that we had been long time customers and they would like to keep us.
First of all, I'd urge anyone to remove any and all cards on file with DIRECTV if you are even close to cancelling service! When I called back to get some reasoning and a refund, they said there was nothing they could do (and this was the supervisor, after 30 minutes on hold) but give me a billing dispute address. So we've filed a claim with the bank for unauthorized charges, which could take a month or maybe longer.
DirecTV are swindlers in our eyes now. Hopefully they can make this wrong right. Hopefully this isn't typical behavior for them!
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