This was such a bad experience a few years ago that I am still upset over the way I was treated. Even though it is not a recent experience I just wanted it to be a warning before anyone makes the decision to sign up with Direct TV versus one of their competitors. I had been a loyal customer with Direct TV for about three years and as can be expected the satellite dish periodically will need to be realigned. Most people like me do not know how to do this so they call Direct TV like me.
That's where the ripoff begins. I was told it would cost me $75. That is one of those hidden charges they do not tell you about when you sign up. On top of that I was told it would take 9 days before a technician would be able to show up. I was shocked and disappointed but no tv is no fun so I went ahead and told them to go ahead and put me on the wait list.
But after stewing over it the next day I called Time Warner Cable. They offered me a great package and would even have someone out the next day to hook me up. The package was much better than what I was getting from Direct TV but that can be expected with promotional offers.
I called Direct TV that day and told them to cancel the service call since I was switching over to Time Warner. I just got a simple "oh okay" from the customer service girl. Imagine my surprise that 9 days later that the tekkie showed up for Direct TV anyhow but he couldn't do anything because the Direct TV box was given to Time Warner as part of the promotional package.
But here is where it gets REALLY disrespectful. Direct TV had the gall to charge me $75 for the visit anyhow. They then began a campaign - sending me bills and calling me. Despite telling several of their collectors what happened they refused to waive the fee. I thought it was over with when I complained to one of them and the calls and the bills stopped. Imagine my surprise almost a year later when I got a notification from a law firm that the bill was now in collections and they were threatening me with legal action.
That was the last straw. I called Direct TV and told the customer service rep I did not want to speak with their supervisor but their manager instead. I got his full name and advised that if the fee was not waived and the harassment stopped I would contact the state attorney general and the Better Business Bureau. He begrudgingly assured me that the fee was waived and the harassment would stop.
One final note - about the second day of my 9 day waiting period I was driving early morning in my area and there were two Direct TV vans in front of me at about 8am. Apparently, they were out installing dishes for new customers and not servicing enrolled customers. The focus was to get as many new customers in the corral and not taking care of loyal customers tech issues.
Why should I have to wait 9 days for one of their techs to drive by and spend 30 minutes or less to align the dish? Why should that be acceptable??!! If they are experiencing peak business with new enrollments wouldn't it make sense to offer their tekkies bonuses or overtime to meet the demand? If this was the norm, why not hire more tekkies? Adapt, adopt and improve, right? If not, then customers like me switch over to Time Warner Cable Which is where I have stayed since this experience. I will NEVER go back to Direct TV because they talk a good game to lure you in but once they have you in the corral you are money on the hoof.
In conclusion, if you sign up for Direct TV you can expect that the dish will get misalligned from weather and then you will have to pay their service fee of $75 or more to get it realligned. And if the weather misalligns it again lets say in two more months then that is another $75. And that is not to mention when it gets very cloudy or rainy they reception is pretty much useless. Not so with cable. Oh - and Direct TV was offering me free maintaince call if I paid a few dollars more each month on my bill. So what is the point with that? They still get their money over the long haul - it is just pro-rated into each month.
So if you contact Direct TV and are considering getting hooked up you may want to ask them if it will take 9 days to service the dish and if they are going to jack you up for an easy $75.
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