I ordered Direct TV in November. I had days of no reception almost immediately. I called for service and was told they would service the equipment they had just installed for a minimum fee of $75.00, or I could purchase a service contract. I informed them I would prefer to cancel the service if they could not fix the equipment, which had only been installed for 3 days. I was told that if I attempted to cancel prior to the 1 year contract, they would sue me, attach my assets and ruin my credit, even though their equipment did not work.
I waited 2 weeks for a technician. He arrived with a customer satisfaction form and asked me to complete it before he began the repairs. I refused because no repairs had been done. He stated that the reception was bad and the dish should not have been installed. Whatever he did, we received occasional TV reception until the beginning of March, when all reception stopped. I called Direct TV and was told a technician would be out in 2 weeks.
I complained about the lack of reception over the past month. Again I was threatened that I had signed up for 1 year and any attempt to cancel would be followed by Direct TV suing me and ruining my credit. The technician arrived 2 weeks later and informed me the dish had not been installed properly. He needed to call in one of the company "professionals" to handle the job. Again the wait would be 2 more weeks.
Again I called Direct TV to complain and was again threatened with a lawsuit and the ruining of my credit. The company stated that because of all the problems I had with the service, they would discount my bill by $10.00 per month and refund me for the days of no service. Two weeks later, the "professional" arrived to fix the problem. He told me they were unable to guarantee service and the dish should never have been installed. Again I complained to the company, only to be threatened again. I was told they didn't guarantee service but still expected to be paid even if I had no service. Sometimes I would have service only 2 days out of the month.
In June, 1 of the receivers stopped working completely; I couldn't turn it on. I called Direct TV to report the problem. I did as the telephone tech advised, unplugging and plugging it in again. The problem was not fixed. I again complained of the lack of service and was told that if the receiver did not come on in 24 hours, I should call the company again. The receiver never worked again. I called a week later about the receiver and said that TV #2 had only 4 channels. Again I followed the technician's instructions and got 10 working channels on TV 2. TV #3 had only 30 working channels out of the 200 available. The tech scheduled service for 3 weeks in the future. No tech arrived.
The TV #2 receiver stopped receiving signals completely. I receive infrequent service and limited channels on TV #3. Because of time constraints, I didn't call again until Sept 08. Service was scheduled for 1 week in the future. I told the customer service rep that 1 receiver would work intermittently and the other 2 did not work at all.
Well, today, 9/27/08, the tech arrived. He had no replacement receivers. He stated that he could not get a signal and that the dish should not have been installed. He couldn't fix the problem. He called the repair department, and a "professional" is scheduled to come out 2 weeks from today.
I called Direct TV to complain and told them their service people keep telling me Direct TV cannot provide me with service. The "Supervisor-Andy" told me, "Well, you ordered it in the first place so it's not our fault. Since we discount you $10 monthly, you have nothing to complain about. If 1 out of 3 boxes work sometimes, you are already ahead of most people. We refund you for the days you don't have service. Besides, you agreed to the discount even if you don't get service."
I explained that was not the case: the discount was offered for what happened earlier, and I had never been refunded for any days of non-service. I pay over $100 monthly for services I don't receive. I stated that they were holding my TVs hostage by not removing their equipment and not providing service. The response was "well, you ordered it and can't cancel until your contract is up."
I asked if he would be willing to pay for something he didn't get. Again he stated "you ordered it." I asked to speak with another supervisor. He stated, "I'm the supervisor and I heard your complaint. We can't pull anyone to send there, we have other customers, and you will have to wait for the other tech to come out in two weeks." He then hung up.
Great customer service from Direct TV: providing no service and threatening the customer. My contract ends 11/23/08. My family is waiting for the celebration date. No one should be treated this way. In the meantime, I need legal services. I am willing to join any and all class action suits for lack of service from Direct TV.
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