To whom it may concern: I am writing this letter to explain how we have been treated and the events that have occurred, to help you understand how unfairly and unjustly we have been treated. I would hope that someone within Direct TV/Verizon would be able to rectify this. We have been lied to multiple times now and at this point have run out of further options.
When my wife Laura signed up for Verizon, I, her husband Chace, was the one helping with this. On our initial call to set things up over the internet, we spent over 2 hours on the phone with Verizon because they had issues checking our credit. After finding out that our credit was okay, they proceeded to take the order and told us that everything was okay.
After two days of not hearing back, we called in to see when they were going to be able to set things up. We were told that the order had not gone through and that we needed to start the whole process over. So here we go, spending another two hours setting things up and checking credit. Not only did they check the credit once, but according to our credit watch they ran it twice, which negatively affects our credit and is something we did not allow.
Just for clarification before we get into this: Laura and I signed up for a bundle package for $79.99 a month, then added an HD DVR to our package and upgraded to an HD package through Direct TV for an extra $10 a month. We were told Direct TV was to come out on Saturday, Dec. 14th, and Verizon would be out on Dec. 17th. We asked multiple times if we could get FIOS instead of Direct TV, and they told us that it was not available in this area, even though my father right down the street and the neighbors all have Verizon and had told us this on many occasions.
When Direct TV came out, my wife was home and did not know that they had not installed the HD DVR as we requested, and she signed the papers stating things were installed correctly. So I called Direct TV the following morning as soon as I turned the TV on. I was told that I did not order this service, although I absolutely did, through Direct TV, just after I got off the phone signing up for the bundle package. After going back and forth with the person on the phone, I asked to just cancel the bill, please, and come get the dish, box, etc. He told me that since my wife signed the papers on installation, I was not able to cancel my account and would be charged to do so, and that I was on a 2-year contract.
I was a bit more than upset at this point that I could not even cancel a service that I got the day before that was not even what I asked for. I got upset, and at that point they told me that they were going to take care of everything and apologized for the occurrence, and they said they would not even charge for shipping the correct items. We waited to receive the DVR/HD box that we had initially signed for in the mail, but after not receiving the items, we called DTV only to find that a technician has to come out to install the new satellite, and that was never scheduled. So we scheduled that for Monday.
My wife stayed home from work that following Monday and waited for DTV to come, and they never did. We called them about noon, and they could not come until Thursday. So we are taking a considerable amount of time, not only on the phone but also waiting for the technicians from both companies.
Verizon did not come out until Thursday, December 19th, and when they got there it was a huge mess. They sent one guy out, and he said he could not do the work that day, then called my wife back and said he could. Then another technician showed up as well and wanted to know why we did not have FIOS since we were in the FIOS area. I told him about my journey to this point with Verizon and Direct TV and said I really wished we could have gotten FIOS. I called in with the technician there and tried to change, and they still told me that I did not have FIOS.
At this point we just want to get our service going and get the $89.99 package that we signed up for. We have been talked to horribly and have spent so much time on the phone with Direct TV that we are both just worn out from it and want the dilemma over with.
Monday rolls around, and my wife takes a half day off to be able to wait for the Direct TV guy to come and install the new dish and give us the new box. This is 9 days after we got the initial install. About 12:30 we thought something may have been wrong, since he was supposed to be there between 8 and 10. We called, and they told us he was running late, had no DVR box, and did not really understand what it was that he was supposed to do out there. I explained the situation to them, and they then told us it was going to be the next day before he could actually do the install. Tuesday rolls around, we get the install done, and all is working fine.
A few days later we decided to have a party for the Texas football game at our new place and celebrate with some friends. We got to just about the second half of the game, and Direct TV turned off the TV signal. We and our party guests had to leave and go to a restaurant to watch the game because of this. I called Direct TV, and they told me they got instructions to cut it from Verizon, so I called Verizon, which said customer service was not open until 9 am and to call back then.
The next day I called Verizon back, and they said at this point they had nothing to do with it, it was all Direct TV. Direct TV cut it off because they told me that Verizon rejected the bundle plan, which is essentially the only reason that we chose this route to begin with. After spending over 2 hours on the phone with Direct TV, they supposedly had this solved and had worked through the problems. They told me that all was figured out, that they had bundled everything, and that we were good to go. Well, that was short-lived, to the tune of about 10 days.
We got a bill from Direct TV for $99 for the first month, and we already had a $36 credit on the account, so basically our first month was $135 when we had signed up for it to be $39.99. I called in and asked someone to explain this to me, and no one would explain. We asked four times this day to talk to a supervisor, and four times we were told they would call us back, and not one time did they ever call us back.
I tried to cancel because a Direct TV representative had told me it was still before the 15-day period, and they would not allow me to, stating that it was going to be a $200 early termination fee.
At this point I was beyond mad, so I called Verizon and spoke to a supervisor who handles everything there, and he told me it was all solved and we should have no problems from here, since he had spoken with a Direct TV consultant and bundled and we were all okay.
I walked out to the mail a few short days later and received a $355 bill from Direct TV. Keep in mind we started service on the 14th of December and this was the first week in February. I called Direct TV, and they told me that we were being charged for the DVR box because we decided to upgrade the box. I repeatedly told him that it was a mistake, either on Verizon's or Direct TV's part, initially, and that by installing the DVR they were essentially making right what was wrong from the very beginning. I was amazed by the response of the guy, who just continually talked over me, telling me it was an upgrade and there was nothing else they would do about it. If I returned it I would still be charged, and if I kept it I would be charged the same. I got extremely angry at this point that we were unwillingly being charged for something that they did wrong initially, and that the representative had told me I would not be charged for the first time I called in.
So just to recap, we tried to cancel Direct TV on Day 1, Day 10, Day 14, and again shortly after, due to major inadequacy from the two companies, and were told that we were not able to do so. We have been treated with a complete lack of respect and have been given things that we did not ask for, and then forced to pay for the things we did initially sign up for. What we have experienced is a complete violation of rights, and we are amazed that something such as this has even transpired in this day and age. We have spent over 14 hours on the phone trying to get things taken care of, to the point where we cannot do it anymore. It is too frustrating to deal with a customer care department that does the opposite of care for its employees.
What we want to see done is for our contract with Direct TV to be terminated from receipt of this letter forward with no charges at all. We should never have been charged for an upgrade for the DVR when this is what was initially ordered from the very beginning, and we should have been able to cancel from Day 1. I think if you go back and listen to the recorded conversation from Day 1, where I informed the Direct TV representative that I wanted to cancel and he misinformed me that I would be charged, that is enough evidence in and of itself. Also, you will hear in this conversation where I repeatedly asked and made sure I was not being charged for any upgrades by getting the DVR box that I initially asked for, and was told I was not.
What is written here is a very vague recap of what has occurred, and I do not have the time or space to tell all the details. What we signed up for and what we received do not even begin to match each other, and I have never seen the likes of the way things have been handled in all of my 32 years. We have been far more than taken advantage of and want this situation rectified, or further action will be taken.
So all the above was written and sent in to Direct TV as well as Verizon, and we had no response. I called in a few days after I was told that I would get a response and asked once again about a cancellation. I was told this cancellation fee was going to be $200 and would have to be charged. At this point I was debating just paying it so that we could get FIOS and this experience would be over.
A few days later my wife was at the Verizon store and started talking with a representative and telling her story. This guy went to bat for us and spent many, many hours on the phone with Direct TV because he could not understand the bill or what was going on. My wife spent many hours in the store and on the phone with Verizon and Direct TV and was told that if she cancelled there was going to be a $200 fee and that we would be charged no matter what. We decided that it was in our best interest at this point to do it, because we had recently received a bill from DTV for $137 and another from Verizon for $150 or so.
We proceeded with the cancellation and got FIOS installed, thanks to a lot of help from the Verizon technician. We are happy at this point and everything is fine. A few weeks later, on February 27th, we noticed that we were charged $587 by Direct TV on a card that we have never used and, to our recollection, never gave DTV consent to debit at any time. We called Direct TV, and they told us that we had been misinformed the previous times we were told the cancellation fee was going to be $200 and that there was nothing we could do. Not only were we told this, but the Verizon representative as well. I am just in awe that this could happen at all after being told on at least three occasions that the cancellation fee was $200.
Nothing upsets me more than a company that deceptively takes advantage of unknowing consumers by misinforming them and deceptively getting contracts signed while not fulfilling their own side. I spoke to the bank shortly after getting this debit from a Bank of America account and was told that their number one most disputed bills come from DTV. Shortly after, I stopped by a tenant's place to show it to a client and was told the same story had happened to him as well. It is horrible that things like this are allowed to go on, and it really should be stopped.
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