Direct TV
Won't Return Deposit, extended my contract, made me pay for their errors! Nationwide

I was forced to use Direct TV because it was the only tv service available. I had to pay a $200 deposit that I was assured would be returned after 1 year if my account remained in good standing. The installer came a few days later and opened my boxes only to discover they sent me a regular box and not a DVR box for my living room. I thought this would be easily corrected, yet when I called, I was told I didn't request it. I argued that I specifically said I wanted DVR because I'd had it for years and was spoiled by in. The rep told me that it was my responsibility to catch the error when my order was repeated at the end of the original call. My paperwork all said I had a DVR box and I had a charge for 5.99 monthly for the service on my installation order, yet she STILL said the fault was mine. To get the correct box sent, I had to pay another $177 for the upgrade. That is $377 and I haven't even turned it ON yet! The installer connected my wires to an exsisting dish on the house instead of mounting my new dish on the roof. Several months later trees were blocking my signal. I called to see if I could have this corrected and I was told it would be an ADDITIONAL $80 or I could have this done for free with the extension of my contract. I FLATLY refused and cut down the trees instead. When the year was nearly up I called Direct to ask when and how the deposit would be returned. I was told that they don't do a lump sum return but that they would credit me $5 a month for up to 40 months if my account remained in good standing.

That was IT. I contacted Charter to set up service and emailed Direct TV to ask what day my contract expired on. I was told 2009. I called immediately thinking this must be an error. I have a one year contract, not two. I logged into my account and confirmed my setup listed me as a 1 year contract as it had for the last 11 months. I spent nearly an hour on the phone with this young woman where I was ultimately told:

1. No deposits are returned. The sales rep was wrong when he said it would be returned in a lump sum and the second person was just trying to "calm me" by telling me about the $5 for 40 months credit. The deposit is really a FEE. If you don't have the correct credit standing, the $200 is a fee they charge to provide their service. Under no condition is it returned to the customer.

2. Regarding my contract length, I was told to log out of my account and go to the directtv main page. At the bottom (the very bottom). There is a hyperlink for information regarding committment times. If you click THAT, it says that with DVR it requires 2 years. When I convinced her to sign onto my account as a customer does and read what information is listed for my account, she had no explanation as to why it was incorrect.

She assured me she would send the issue of my contract length to the next level for review. I told her to make sure she recorded the fact that I had each page shown on my account saved on my hard drive as well as printed in the event that they tried to change the information currently supporting my 1 year contract time.

If they try to bully me I fully intend to break my contract and let it go to collections. I have the 12 checks for my account payment each month and my account info saying I have a 12 month committment. I would LOVE to have a judge tell them what a rip off they are!!

Company: Direct TV
Country: USA
Site: www.directtv.com

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