DirecTV has treated me unfairly in that it has failed to make necessary disclosures, given me fraudulent information, billed me for early cancellation of services and telephone agents have out and out lied to me.
DirecTV advertises that all one has to do is call an 800 number to move from one location to another. My husband and I move to a Florida residence for 6 months and the back to our Michigan residence for 6 months. Therefore, because of previous billing issues (like being billed 4 times for March Madness in one season), a DirecTV phone rep created 2 accounts for us, one for the FL address and one for the MI address. Consequently, we have violated their agreement because we do not have 24 consecutive months of service at either location and thus must extend length of service at each location to avoid early cancellation charges.
We purchased a new HD TV and were advised that we would need an HD receiver so we ordered one. The DirecTV rep did not inform us that this would extend our agreement.
We had to get a new Tivo because the old one did not work. We sent the old one back when the new one arrived and this must also extend the service agreement.
When we suspend one account and open the other for use, that also extends the service agreement.
According to this plan of theirs, the consumer who uses DirecTV is locked in for life because their "agreements" cannot be fulfilled as it is impossible to have 24 months of service.
Furthermore, on 12/18, I called to cancel the Florida service because we are forced to sell the residence since my husband has spent the last 8 months in hospitals and medical care facilities which has resulted in amputation of his left leg. Therefore, we will not have a need for this home in the near future. Also, we did not need the DirecTV service at this address.
Joe, the DirecTV rep, told me that there would be no cancellation fee charged since their service agreement was invalid due to the 2 accounts.
The result is that DirecTV has kept $106.00 worth of credit that we had on that account and charged an additional $286.00 to a credit card which I immediately cancelled as they were not authorized to charge anything to that card.
Yesterday I spoke to a rep who got a little testy because I "did not understand", but I do understand: DirecTV is untrustworthy and sneaky. Then I spoke to a supervisor who told me that I would have to pay so I asked for another supervisor who must be paid by the number of words he is capable of speaking per minute. I had to ask him to slow down and explain which he did. Same reasons given: we have violated their contract even though the 2 accounts were advised by a DirecTV phone rep and set up by that same DirecTV phone rep.
We are currently in Tennessee waiting for my husband's physical situation to improve so we can return to our home in Michigan. I will also be charged to cancel that account which we have had for much longer than 24 months because that is just the way it is. Their words, not mine.
I mentioned that the DishTV network advertises no contracts and the DirecTV phone rep assured me that they do have contracts. Guess he knows all.
I would bet that there are many more consumers out there who have had billing problems with DirecTV along with loss of account credits and charges for "early" cancellations. It is time to make this company be accountable to consumers and I will continue to be a pain in their necks by calling daily and writing letters to them and filling out forms/letters on consumer websites.
Thank you.
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