DirecTV
Overcharges and attempts to make unnecessary service calls costing hundreds

This report is regarding how DirecTV attempted to rip me off for hundreds of dollars for unnecessary service calls. On numerous occasions my service has been interrupted for whatever reason, usually a power outage. Each time I call the solutions they give me don't tend to solve the problem, and my secondary receiver ends up being out of commission for a few days until I have the time to give it the attention to fix it. DirecTV is very quick to want to set up a $50 service call, however the problem always ends up working itself out with persistent troubleshooting. On numerous occasions they've told me that my receiver is busted and that I need a new one, and that it'll cost the $50 to bring a specialist out to install a new one. I've asked them if I could just have one mailed to me, and they told me that the cost of mailing one would be $35... I live 20 miles from their location where they keep receivers.

The most recent debacle occurred over the "any room DVR option." I saw this on TV and it seemed really neat, so I figured I'd see what it would take to make this happen. I called an associate as I was restructuring my programming and asked him, and he said my whole house would need to be rewired, and that I'd need new boxes. They said this was a $200 job. I refused and said I'd just deal without having it. I received the same answer a few weeks later when I spoke with them, and they said that if I wait until I've been a customer for a year or so there may be some sort of promotion. Yesterday I called them and asked them the same question. This associate said that after looking at my equipment everything seems to be in order, and that there's no upgrading necessary to make the switch to the any room DVR package. She said that the only cost would be a $3 monthly charge on my bill which I was glad to pay.

DirecTV will attempt to milk you for all that your worth. I really enjoy the channels that I do have, and feel like the picture quality is better than the cable services I've contracted with in the past. I don't appreciate them trying to bleed me dry and set me up for service calls that cost an exorbitant amount.

Company: DirecTV
Country: USA
Site: directv.com

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