Directv
Told Philippine Channels Were Offered, Then Held to One Year

On the 10th of Nov 01, I called our local DirecTV inquiring about receiving international channels from the Philippines. Admittedly, the representative I spoke to said we could not get Philippine broadcasting. However, my wife was informed by a friend that you could get it with DirecTV, so she called 1-888-355-7530 and was told by a representative from a location in southern Florida that we could receive Philippine stations, but we had to be more exact about what stations we wanted.

The representative we talked to said we could get ABS-CBN channel 2, GMA channel 7 and IBC channel 13. All 3 are Philippine broadcasts. Knowing this, we agreed to get the DirecTV satellite system. No problem. The equipment arrived within a few days, and we had agreed with this representative that it would be installed the following Saturday, which was the 17th of Nov 01.

The installer did come out that day and installed the system. He told me all I had to do was call the company and activate the system, no problem. I called and spoke to a representative, and they asked me about the package I wanted. At that point I told them I would have to be reminded of what packages they offered with the addition of the 3 Philippine stations. That is when the representative told me that they did not offer those stations. I told them I did not want the service then and asked them to please remove the equipment. The DirecTV representative told me that I was committed to the service for a year. That is where the argument begins.

They admitted that the representative who told me that DirecTV had the stations gave me bad information, but I still had to commit to the service. I disagree! This is not right! DirecTV cannot deliver what they said they could, so I will not pay for it. I want to return the equipment and get my money back.

After arguing with the representatives, who I may add were very rude and kept saying we were committed and sorry for the mistake, I found that the installer was still there. They spoke to him about taking the system down, but he refused and said they would have to talk to his boss, because he had other commitments to customers.

My wife again called 1-888-355-7530 and spoke to a DirecTV representative (a Janet) from Idaho, who told us that we were not committed until the system was activated, that it had NOT been activated, and that they would have Federal Express pick it up and take it back and we would receive a refund. Well, today is 20 Nov 01, and I phoned 1-888-355-7530 and spoke to a John from somewhere in Texas. I just wanted to know when they were going to send someone out so we could be there, but this representative also told me that we were committed. I asked to speak to Janet, the person I spoke to before, but he explained that each time we call we speak to a different person, somewhere not necessarily in the same place. This is not a good practice, is it? I will admit that I was a little angry when I spoke to the representative, because even then they were saying I was given bad info by the person in Idaho, so there are two mistakes they have made, but I still have to pay.

A few minutes later my wife called and spoke to a representative named Imilia, also from Texas, and told her our problem. The only thing different she did was tell us that she would schedule a Federal Express date to have the equipment picked up. First we need to have the satellite dish taken down. I'm getting the impression they want me to take it down myself. I don't have the ways and means to. That should be their responsibility anyway. If I got hurt, they could be liable.

All I want is for the satellite, the receiver and everything else to be returned and my money back. Based on the fact that I was given bad info from DirecTV on the channels I could get, and later found out I couldn't, I don't want their service. That is it.

Company: Directv
Country: USA

  <     >