I was a Direct TV customer in Gulf Shores, AL 36542 and terminated my service in February. I paid my balance in full at that time and was instructed that the only means to return their equipment was to wait for boxes and labels to be delivered to my new address in Gulf Shores AL 36542. Nothing has been delivered and today, they deducted 550.00 from my bank account. I called them regarding this matter and was told that I violated the terms of my agreement by not returning the equipment and was therefore charged this amount. I asked about the return and was informed that their records indicate that according to FEDEX tracking number, the package was undeliverable at my address and returned on March 5th. They indicated that they were sending a new box out immediately and that I could expect a refund about 5 business days after they recieve and inventory the returned equipment.
This is outrageous in my opinion. They control all the means for a return and have my full contact information in the event those means fail as in this case and yet I am bearing the burden of this process. They are a large corporation with deep pockets and 550.00 is a significant portion of my monthly retirement income and represents over 50% of my disposible funds after bills. I have been repeatedly rebuffed throughout the day by customer service representatives based in the Philippines who are unable to comprehend English and a system that makes no provisions to speak to a representative who speaks English as a first language and can comprehend situational facts. Their responses are boilerplate and a restatement of their terms of agreement without any recongnition of the particular facts and their failures in this process. They bombard me with daily promotional emails to their advantage and yet, cannot use the very same email address to notify my of the failure of delivery to my very valid mailing address. I get USPS mail each day and have had at least one FedEx delivery in the month I have resided here.
To further clarify the matter, I had terminated part of my service earlier in the year and it took a long time for the return box to arrive so I was not alarmed when it was approaching 30 days since I have terminated my complete service and no boxes had arrived. I could provide the exact dates of this previous transaction but Direct TV has terminated my access to my online account and their Filipino representatives were incapable of understanding my requests for that information. I even waited for and extended period to speak with a "supervisor" and "Heidi" (not a real name as she too was based in the Philippines and I never met a Filipino named Heide in the two years I lived there), and she too was not able to understand or comprehend my request for dates of my first service transaction or she pretended to not understand so as to prevent me from gaining relevant complaint support. I asked each person that I spoke with to be transfered to an English speaking representative and was finally told that I just had to continue to call the one number and wait for the luck of the draw to end up with a US based representative. This too seems outrageous to me.
I would like for my funds to be immediately returned and if I fail to comply with the terms of thuser agreement after I receive the boxes and labels, then I expect to be charged. It seems suspicious to me that they do not follow up in these situations where they have sophisticated tracking systems to ensure that they track returns and yet they fail to use this same system and my account information to notify me when there is a significant failure. I am also suspect because it is widely known that they have recently updated their equipment offering which renders my equipment obsolete and the more customers that can be charged the inflated original full price for this outdated equipment, the greater the financial windfall for Direct TV. It is likely that many customers that terminate their accounts are engaged in a more significant relocation and may not notice or be too busy to act when similar deductions are made and it would not surprise me if this whole circumstance is a well orchestrated business enterprise intended to increase profits.
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