Direct TV
Required Upgrade Claim Followed by $480 Cancellation Fee

We received a call from a Direct TV representative who said we must upgrade our existing equipment by Jan. 2009 or we would no longer receive the Direct TV channels. This was a Direct TV upgrade, and the representative said there would be no additional charges or fees. Guess what? The bill increased.

I tried to cancel their service and was told by 5 different phone reps that there is a $480 cancellation fee. I explained that we did not request the upgrade and did not want it, but we were told it was required to continue service. The phone rep even said that the Direct TV equipment we had was 4 years old and outdated and that an upgrade was required to continue getting the channels, but the cancellation fee was still required.

I was never given a new contract. We were never told that this new equipment, which we did not request or want, would require a new contract, nor were we ever told that there would be a fee to discontinue their service. The reps said it is in the small print on the back of the contract we signed 4 years ago. The only offer Direct TV gave us was a discount, back to where we started before the upgrade.

After numerous calls and conversations with the phone reps, I have emailed Direct TV. Hopefully I will receive a phone call and a favorable response to my complaint. As a consumer, what rights do we have not to be taken by these companies?

Company: Direct TV
Country: USA
State: Arizona
City: Phoenix
Site: directv.com

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