I placed an order for DirecTV in April. While doing so, the agent wanted my debit card details. I wondered aloud why my card was needed if connecting the services cost nothing. He answered that it was to verify that $99 for the connection would be available should my credit history not pass. I gave him the numbers, though I never ended up owing that $99.
By June I had lost interest in DirecTV and changed to another cable company, but I only phoned to end the service in July. DirecTV cut me off for unpaid bills and mailed a statement afterward.
In mid-July I rang them to ask what I owed in order to settle, and said I would pay during the next week. I also asked for boxes in which to send back the four receivers that I had leased. The agent warned me that I would be charged for any receivers not sent back, which he said is common practice. I answered that there was no need to worry, because the receivers were useless to me without service. I think this call was on Sunday, July 22. The return boxes were delivered to my porch on August 2, a Thursday. The very next day, Friday, August 3, DirecTV pulled $587.67 from my bank account for the unpaid balance and the equipment fees for receivers not yet returned. I only found out about the withdrawal on Saturday, August 4.
On calling them, I met the most discourteous customer service of my life. I asked how and why they could take the money, and pointed out that I had not been given any opportunity to mail the receivers after the boxes showed up. I talked to a number of employees. One, named Amanda, would not tell me her surname. I admit I lost my temper somewhat, since they had taken the money meant for my mortgage. When I asked to speak with her supervisor, she flatly refused. I asked whether she was taking away my rights and told her not to treat me that way. After arguing for a while, and saying I should expect to be refused my refund too, she finally passed me on to a supervisor, who I think was called Kim. Her heavy accent made her hard to understand, and she would not say anything a second time. I laid out what had happened and said I would keep phoning all day until somebody helped. Her reply was that I was welcome to phone all day, but no refund would come before the equipment arrived back at their end. My point, which nobody seemed to take in, was that I had never had a chance to send the receivers after I asked for the boxes.
I added that the withdrawn money was for my mortgage and that the DirecTV building is not somewhere I can live. She told me to wait, and then she hung up. None of the staff I reached could depart from what was clearly a script. Nobody could explain directly how or why this had been done. Every answer boiled down to company policy. On the Tuesday after, I phoned to find out whether the boxes could be left at an office, so the refund would come faster, and I was told flatly that I could not. When I asked how long a refund would take, I was given a figure of two to four weeks. I pointed out that taking the money had been instant, and the reply was again that this is policy.
I arranged for FedEx to collect the boxes. The following day I called and at last reached a considerate person named Shawn, who answered every question and walked me through the situation. I thanked her for the full explanation. She said she would trace the packages to verify they were on their way, and after that she could get the money back into my bank account in a few days. It is now August 21 and nothing has arrived. A representative I just spoke with says a check will reach me in six to eight weeks. When I asked the reason for the delay, he said it was because my service had been disconnected. I asked what that had to do with a refund, given how quickly they had taken my money and how slowly they were now returning it.
It feels as if they are treating me badly just because I have stopped being a customer. His only response was another apology and a mention of policy. So I am left waiting six to eight weeks for my own money. The company and the people working for it are awful, and this whole thing is a rip-off.
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