Direct TV
Account Debited $64 After Cancelling Despite One-Time Payments

I was a loyal customer for over 5 years and always paid online. This was until our DVR box decided to stop working the morning after they had sent one of their usual automatic updates to it.

I called the rep and was told I would have to pay $70 for a tech to come and look at the box, then pay an additional $300 if it had to be replaced. I had no time-limited contract with them, having been a customer for so long, and I also found out that I owned the DVR box, so it was my responsibility that it broke.

You can imagine my surprise. I requested to speak to a supervisor and, after being on hold forever, I was hung up on. I called back and was told by a different rep that I also had the option to sign up for their monthly service plan, which would eliminate the tech fee but would be an additional $5 a month. I explained my frustration that they were the ones in control of the box, I had done nothing to it, yet I had to pay for it. So why would I have to pay for a service when they could just send a signal and kill your cable box whenever they wanted to? It sounded like a scam to get you to sign up for their service plan.

It took me 5 minutes to cancel my service with Direct TV and sign up for a much cheaper bundle package with Comcast. A few days passed, and I regularly check my bank account. I found that Direct TV had taken my last payment of $64, which was not even due yet, straight out of my account. I was not on any form of automatic payment with them, and I had chosen the option to pay one time only via credit card each time I paid my bill online. I called them to ask why they had done this, as it was not authorized. Their answer was that they had updated their contract agreement recently and I would have gotten a copy with my statement in the mail. If you cancel your account, they are allowed to take the remaining balance immediately out of whatever account you have saved with them online that you have been making payments with in the past!

So beware of making any payment online to them through the Direct TV web site. Stick to making payments directly through your own banking system or send a check when you get your statement. If not, you will get an unpleasant surprise, probably with a lot of NSF fees to follow.

Funny thing is that they now call and send me junk mail trying to get my business back. Not in a million years, Direct TV. You lost a very loyal customer, and you're not the only ones to offer all those channels anymore!

Company: Direct TV
Country: USA
Site: directv.com

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