Direct TV advertises their move service at a charge of free, but when customers try to take advantage of the "free" offer, they are advised the move is actually a fee of $50. These fees are based on unwritten and undisclosed determinations made by Direct TV.
I cancelled my Direct TV service in December due to the charge of $50 for a move of service. On January 11 my checking account was directly debited for the amount of $269.36. This was for the early termination charge of $200 and the last bill for service. I called in to Direct TV customer service to complain about the direct debit because I did not approve it.
All that I requested from Direct TV was to pay the $200 termination charge at a later date rather than immediately. The only comments the agent and a supervisor would make to assist me was refer me to the service agreement. It appears that if a customer agrees to pay their bill on-line with Direct TV, the customer also acknowledges that Direct TV will have the authority to debit the customer's account without consent. On January 27 my checking account was again debited without my authorization in the amount of $274.77.
Although both debits by Direct TV have caused me financial hardship, the reason for my complaint lies more with the second debit than the first. When I initiated the cancelling of service from Direct TV, I was in the process of moving to another address. I was asked to return the Direct TV receivers, so I left my forwarding address. The Direct TV return kit was mailed to my old address after I had already moved out. Since I never received the return kit due to Direct TV's error, my account was debited. Since this was of no fault of my own, I expected Direct TV to make this situation right and compensate me for the stress of dealing with customer service agents that hung up on me twice, calling my bank to have them conference call Direct TV, and not receiving adequate assistance.
Direct TV would not refund the money debited from my account until I returned the receivers with the return kit they mistakenly sent to the wrong address. I then had to call Direct TV to give them the correct address, which they already had on file, and initiate them to send out the return kit again.
As of five days later, I still have not received the return kit, but the customer service agents assured me it is enroute. Meanwhile, they still are not willing to refund the money they debited from my account due to their error.
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