DirecTV
Hour-Long Monthly Billing Calls, Double Bills, No Confirmation

After about an hour each month spent on hold and with account representatives at DirecTV, mainly "Billing," I am fed up. Doesn't anyone in this company have the ability to put something in the record on your account, like a simple change, so it sticks? Apparently not. You talk to one rep one month who assures you "the change is recorded," only to speak to a different rep the next month and find out that no, it sure wasn't, and yes indeed, it's on your bill again...

This time I asked for some kind of confirmation code, and no, they don't do that. You just take the word of whoever you are speaking to that the problem is fixed. Maybe they will... maybe they won't... Maybe it's time for lunch and they are late for their manicure appointment and oops! Overlooked that!

I had signed up with them as part of a package deal billed for their services through my local phone company. One day this all changed and no one could explain to me why. I've paid every single bill, either through the phone company or, now, billed directly through them. Only I am sent "double" bills with the excuse of "Oh, we always bill one month in advance." If you are caught up, just having sent them a check, you get a "Past Due/Service Disconnect" massive bill 30 days later with the excuse of "Oh, we sent you out a bill, it must have just not gotten to you."

No, it wasn't due until now. You just decided to ignore my last month's legitimate complaints about double billing and chose to do it anyway, now with the excuse that you sent a bill out and I must have just missed it.

Sorry, I didn't dust off my crystal ball. Having paid last month, I didn't anticipate a mid-billing cycle/15 day bill for that extra month of service you've been trying to stick me with the past 3 months...

Yes, the woman I spoke to today told me I should have anticipated the extra billing within the past 30 days and in all good conscience should have rushed straight to my telephone and called. Uh huh. No, the bill IS here, and it is WRONG again, and I'll bet you my first born you didn't send out an extra bill between June 11th and July 11th. So from being paid up June 11 & July 11, I owe you $198 bucks. Just like that.

What a bunch of liars! They will try every spin excuse in the book, from "Phone company didn't send us the payment" to "the bill must have been lost in the mail" to "we always bill a month in advance." Yes, obviously, that is why I had to debit your first bill out of my checking account when I signed up, before your guy even showed up to hook up the dish, and I haven't missed a payment SINCE. But now you want ANOTHER advance payment since you are billing directly instead of through my phone company.

Sigh. Yes, this is a rant all right. I feel like ranting. Every month I've had to waste a minimum of an hour on the phone, on hold and getting bumped from person to person, blood pressure soaring to near stroke level. But hey, this internet rant is good. My prevailing thought at this moment is to rip the dish off the side of the house with my bare hands, put it on a nice neat pile in the street along with the receivers and remotes, put my truck in 4 wheel drive and drive over the whole sorry pile.

Several times. Maybe about 25. Because that's what I make an hour, and because I've spent about 3 hours in the past 3 months on the phone with you during my working hours, you owe me.

Yes, I will cancel them. I'll even pay the current plus advance payment I don't owe just to get away from them! From the complaints I am reading about them on the web, that isn't going to be an easy task, either: people are saying that when you cancel, they will not credit the equipment you return to them for an average of about three months, and they bill you for said equipment (back in their possession) in the meantime. Great, huh? Kind of like a parasite that refuses to leave its host. Better stock up on the blood pressure meds. Better yet, don't sign up with DirecTV!!!

Company: DirecTV
Country: USA

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