I signed a one-year contract with DirecTV in October. In May, I decided to go with a cable service and cancelled my service. They informed me that I was breaking my contract and that I would have a final bill of $212.00. Needless to say, I argued this fee, as I did not re-sign any contract. I asked for an itemized bill to be sent to my address so I could dispute the charges through their account management department. The representative confirmed that it is their standard procedure to send out the paper bill. A few days later, $415.00 was taken out of my bank account by DirecTV! I was absolutely furious, as I did not authorize these charges to be taken out of my account.
I called DirecTV to have these charges reimbursed. On the first call, I was supposed to be transferred to a supervisor but was disconnected. On the second call, I had to argue with the representative just to be able to speak to a supervisor. I was put on hold twice and was never allowed to speak to a supervisor, and finally I was disconnected again. On the third call, I was again treated like a delinquent with no right to dispute these exorbitant charges that were automatically withdrawn from my account, and once again I was disconnected before I could be transferred to a supervisor.
I sent their customer service department emails and received replies stating that they were well within their rights to charge the credit card on file for any final charges. They did not address the fact that I did not authorize any card to be "on file" with them. I had simply used a debit card in the past to pay my bills, but I never signed up for automatic payments or anything of that nature. Additionally, they cannot produce a paper bill itemizing the charges, which are now $203.00 above what their representative originally told me. According to them, I am unable to get a bill because it has already been "processed."
Another concern is that I was paying for NFL Season Ticket on a monthly basis, but because I cancelled early, I never used that service. They said they were unable to reimburse funds for it because that service "can never be cancelled."
I wish there were something more I could do to ensure this company is not able to rip off another person, so I am trying all avenues available to me. I have reported them to the Better Business Bureau, to my bank and to a local TV channel. This is all I can do, as they already have my money.
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