I started out with Direct TV in Alaska. When I left there to move to Iowa, I was instructed to bring the 3 receivers and 1 DVR with me. That was in July. I did not move into a place where I could have them hook up for me again until April.
When they came to hook me up, the installer brought a new receiver and DVR. When I showed him that I already had the equipment, he decided to use what he brought and ordered the return boxes so I could send back the 4 units I had brought with me. I never received the boxes.
In Feb. of this year, I decided to move to an apartment in the town I work in. The apartment does not allow satellite, so I called to cancel my account with Direct TV for the end of February.
In the middle of February, I called and told them that I now had a total of 3 receivers and 2 DVRs. They said they would send me the return boxes for the 4 units from Alaska right away and the other box for the newer ones at the end of the month.
I was told at that time that I would need to return the receivers within a month or I would be charged for them. I received the boxes about 2 weeks later and found that two receivers would fit in one box and that I needed to match the receiver number to the one in the box. One of the numbers was wrong. It was the number that was on the DVR that I was still using.
I called and was told that they would send a new box. I was not told at that time to send in the 3 receivers that were right. I was told again that I needed to get the receivers back within a month or run the risk of being charged for them.
I received the next box after a week, and UPS left it on my doorstep in the rain. By the time I got home, the box was ruined. I was able to save the number and put it on the first box. I figured I still had a few weeks, and I did not get those two boxes down to be sent when I should have (remember, I was moving and working).
I was checking my checking account online on February 10 (it had not been a month since I called them for the boxes) and found that Direct TV had taken $1016.50 out of my checking account using my debit card. Like an idiot, I had given it to them because they demanded to have a credit or debit card on record, even though I paid my bill every month on time and always had. I later found out that this charge was just for 2 receivers and the DVR.
I called Direct TV and said that my month was not up and I would send the receivers the next day. I was told that it was not a month, it was more like 21 days (?). I was also told that upon receiving the receivers my account would be credited within 48 hours, which later became 4-5 days.
The receivers were sent out on the 11th of March and received by Direct TV on the 13th. After the 5th day, I still did not see a credit to my bank account, so I called them again. I was told that the credit was made to my account with Direct TV and that it would now take 6 weeks for them to send me a check. As I understood it at that time, it would be 6 weeks from the time the credit showed up on my account. After several more calls, I was told it would be 6-8 weeks. I was told that they could not credit the money back to my checking account because I was no longer a customer.
Today I called again and asked if there wasn't something they could do, as I have just barely made it through this month and I need that money by the first of May so I can make my rental payment and/or other payments that will be due. I already have the utilities and other people in my old hometown waiting on them for their final bills.
The person I talked to today said the check should be written 6-8 weeks from the date of my last service, which was Feb. 28, which means I should have it by the end of this month. Or are they just blowing smoke again? I have been told so many things since this started. I did find in their policies on the return of their equipment that it states the equipment needs to be returned within 30 days.
They charged me for 3 receivers, 1 being a DVR, that have been sitting idle in my storage room for almost 2 years! When I went back in to check whether there was a credit to my account at Direct TV yet, I noticed that I am also being charged for some PPV that shows a date of 4/09. When I asked about this charge, I was told that they were charges from Nov. and Dec. of 2006. There is no way I can disprove the charges at this time, so they will get another $23.99 out of me.
The whole time that I was with Direct TV, they were always helpful and friendly and would do anything to keep me as a customer and happy. When I left, it all changed... It is almost like I am being punished. I am also sending this information on to the Iowa Attorney General.
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