DirecTV
Mother's TV Service Cancelled With $269.70 Early Disconnect Fee

My mother signed up for DirecTV through a Verizon bundling package. After the installation she could not use the remote and had no use of her TV. I wrote to DirecTV and called Verizon for help and got none. They charged her a $269.70 early disconnect fee.

This is a copy of my letter to DirecTV:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I have been a DirecTV customer for over 10 years, and earlier this year I decided to replace my mother's cable TV subscription and enroll her with DirecTV. My mother is 85 years old. Her husband committed suicide January 2; she walked in and found him after he had put a gun to his head and blown his brains out. She has been dreadfully confused and lonely since my stepfather's death. My thought was to give her a better product and save her some money so that she could be less lonely and at least have some quality entertainment to ease her loss and console her during this difficult period.

After the installation was complete, I received a call from her stating that her TV no longer worked. I was surprised that the installers were not able to instruct my mother properly as to how the system works. I checked out the TV and it appeared to work properly. Since then I have called DirecTV and asked if there were a simpler remote-control unit or some other solution, since my mother was unable to operate the TV.

My mother has called me numerous times and begged me to get her old TV back. I am at my wit's end with a dilemma that I cannot resolve. I am now forced to move my mother into an elder care facility; she can no longer take care of herself, let alone work out the intricacies of the TV remote control. I am appealing to you, since we have to shut off the DirecTV service, not to charge her an early termination service fee because of her difficult situation. She is on a fixed income and can barely survive her new living situation. I truly believed that for her DirecTV would be less trouble and better value than the cable TV option.

Unfortunately, her situation has been a hardship on the whole family and more particularly on my mother. I hope my appeal will reach a favorable conclusion in this difficult situation.

Thank you

The response from both companies has been negative and unfeeling. I feel that this policy of stealing from the elderly should be exposed and terminated by both companies.

Company: DirecTV
Country: USA
State: Colorado
City: Greenwood Village
Phone: 8005315000

  <     >