DirecTV Customer Service Sucks.
As some of you may recall, a few weeks ago I wrote about how DirecTV pulled a bait and switch on the service at my house. After about 45 minutes on the phone with customer service I finally gave up trying to plead my case which was that the offer I had signed up for was for $41.99 for 12 months but that I was being charged $67.99 for 12 months…and they said I never got an offer for $41.99, so too bad for me. Nice job, DirecTV, way to care about your paying customers. Oh how I longed for the days of cable TV at that point, which I had had zero problems with since the beginning of time. But I digress. So what’s the issue with DirecTV customer service now? I am going on my third receiver that has not worked correctly in only two months that I have had their service, I have not had TV in 7 days because of it, they still don’t seem to care that a brand new customer is having any problems, and they were so kind to offer a whole $10 credit. Yippee! Ah shucks DirecTV, you are too kind.
Today I was on the phone with them for 1 hour and 42 minutes. Yep, over an hour and a half. I talked to a rep who had no idea what she was doing, would not transfer me to a supervisor even though I repeatedly asked to be connected to one, and then when I finally got mad enough for her to do it, she was in the background talking smack to the supervisor. Seriously? What is this, 8th grade? And you know what I got resolved? Nothing - and they are sending yet another receiver to my house…which should be here in 3 days. And then I get to call them back, go through this whole thing again, and probably have this one be broken too. So instead of them just sending a truck out to my house, they are wasting everyone’s time - especially mine, now that I have spent over 3 hours total on the phone with DirecTV. This company has the absolute worst customer service of any company I have ever dealt with. I would rather stab myself in the eye while buying a new car at MSRP then deal with these people anymore.
At this point, I am starting to think that it would be worth paying the exorbitant cancellation fee just to set my mind at ease. I will warn you one more time as I did last time -
Before you sign up with DirecTV, please stop and look for an alternative way to get your television fix. Even if you have to go sit in Circuit City at primetime to watch your favorite shows, do that instead of signing an agreement with DirecTV. Seriously.
Oh, and it turns out that it’s not only DirecTV; Dish Network has terrible customer service too!
Popularity: 24% [?]
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- Stop Watching Commercials On Television.
Jeremy | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
Honestly, I think every big telephone/cable/satellite company has the worst customer service possible, and you really have to just cross your fingers and hope you get good help. I think Comcast is about the worst, which is why I switched to Dish network, and have been pleasantly surprised with customer service. Yet I know a number of people who despise dish. And my aunt just recently had a horrible experience with dish and moved to DTV, and said they are amazing and helpful. Of course I’ve heard people satisfied with Comcast too, but I think those are just comcast employees posting fake praise
Too bad we don’t have much of a choice if we want a lot of TV channels or high speed internet.
David | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
I kind of hear you on the Comcast thing, I have in fact heard absolutely horrendous stories about them.
Kirsten Jeffers | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
I’ve dealt with the same problem with Directv. They weren’t so bad before they got into bed with verizon. I started our current subscription with a “bundle” package which I later dropped. I tried to drop the directv too only to discover the cancellation “fee” (IMHO $200 is a “fee” it’s extortion). My final solution? Apparently you can “suspend” service with directv for up to 6 months. So I did just that–and no bills for 6 months. Then you have to turn it back on for 3 months before you can turn it off again for 6 months. I’m currently in a 3 month “on” period which is kind of convienent for election coverage, but it’s going right back off the day after the election. I’m still stuck with Directv, but at least I feel like I’m screwing them right back
Jeff | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
Due to living in different places, in the last 10 years, I have had numerous cable/satellite companies. Some of these I have had just TV, and some have had as much as TV, internet, phone. Anyway, here is the order I would rate them in my experience. From best to worst:
DirecTV
Dish Network
AT&T
RCN
Time Warner
Comcast
Just my 2 cents, but after all of this time I think its just luck. Sometimes I get a good box on the day they install, and I never have to call them again. But it seems like if I have difficulty on installation day, then the problems just seem to snowball from there. I’m currently with DirecTV by the way, and I have only talked to them once since I installed in October and had good service. I’ve done any programming changes online and it has been instantly reflected.
Lazy Man and Money | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
So how do we watch our out of town NFL games? I’ll answer that with “go to a bar”, but that gets expensive too.
david | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
True, but the bartender probably knows how to pour a beer. These DirecTV people are about as competent as a 4 year old driving a car.
katie | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
“Baggage” of http://www.baggageandbug.com got her issue with DirectTV resolved after she posted about it on her blog and sent a copy of it to the president of the company. You may want to check out her story and follow suit.
Patrick | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
Try registering a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and/or your state’s Attorney General’s office. That will get their attention.
I wonder if there is a lemon law for services?
david | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
Thanks Katie, I might just do that. And Patrick, I did already - but I doubt it will do anything. I just wanted to get it on record. And I wish there was a lemon law for services, there should be!
Scott @ The Passive Dad | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
I’ve never tried Direct TV, but have had cable reception issues with AT&T uverse. Customer service was ok and I received several credits for my issues, but the tv reception is still poor. Just frustrating that all these services cost good money and the service never is 100%.
BTW, on your front page you had a tivo ad running and I thought wouldn’t it be ironic if the ad was for Direct TV.
David | Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
Scott, I would so love it if a DirecTV ad showed up and they were paying to run ads on a post calling them out. Too funny.
Carey | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
If you haven’t been with them for more than 3 months you should check the fine print of the contract because you can usually cancel, without paying the cancellation fee, in that 3 month window. I learned that to late from DISH Network. I was having technical problems and it was 4 days past my three months and the tech told me if I had called 4 days earlier I would have been able to cancel without the fee.
david | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Carey, with DirecTV there is no grace period. And they now want $470 to get out of my contract.
Frank | Oct 3, 2008 | Reply
David, did you see my blog on sitting on hold with RCN??
Good column….great minds must think alike!!
david | Oct 3, 2008 | Reply
I didnt Frank, will have to check it out.
DirecTV Employee | Oct 16, 2008 | Reply
I currently work for a DirecTV call center. I’ve worked for DirecTV for over a year, and I was recently promoted from a regular CSR (the people you speak to on the phone) to a Coach (the people who coach the people you speak to on the phone). I’m honestly saddened by the fact that many of you have had less than pleasant experiences with our company, but as consumers, we should always educate ourselves on a service before investing our money into it. I’m not saying that DirecTV is a bad company—I love DirecTV, I’ve had it for over three years—but things such as Early Cancellation Fees and important information regarding your service commitment are plainly explained, in full, in your Contract. It’s there for a reason–read it! If there’s something you don’t like in it, don’t get the service. To say that all DirecTV CSR’s are incompetent is a stretch; I will agree that not all CSR’s provide an outstanding customer service experience, but that’s with any job. At any job, you’ll find certain people who are simply “getting by” or who don’t really take their job seriously, but those people will be dealt with accordingly. DirecTV has no problem releasing agents who are not meeting company standards. Also, if you’re having trouble with your equipment, DirecTV offers the Protection Plan for $5.99 a month; the Protection Plan covers your equipment, dish, wiring, etc, so that—should anything happen—you don’t have to pay a dime (other than the monthly Protection Plan fee). To have someone come out to your house and take a look at your receivers, David, without the Protection Plan, would cost you $79.95. That is more than it costs to keep the Protection Plan for a full year. With the Protection Plan, free equipment replacement, free in-house service calls, 24 hour troubleshooting, etc, will be available to you. Consider subscribing to the Protection Plan and scheduling a service call, should you eventually need one. Most companies charge you for equipment insurance monthly by including it in your package price; DirecTV gives you the option to take the insurance, or not take it.
And to the person who says they’re “beating” DirecTV by suspending their account; you’re not. Your service commitment is placed on hold while your account is in suspend; meaning, if you’re under a 24 month commitment, and you’ve had our service for 3 months; and you suspend for 6; technically, you’ve only fulfilled 3 months of your commitment. The time you’ve fulfilled of your commitment is determined by how long your account is ACTIVE, so your commitment is extended by the amount of time your account is inactive. So if you suspend your account for 6 months, your commitment is extended for 6 months. Make sense?
Frank | Oct 16, 2008 | Reply
Interesting string of comments, We do get pretty emotional about TV. Case in point…..RCN was having trouble with their MLB package signal and this caused much Angst in my household. My son said…”dad…get on he phone and get this fixed!” Yeah right……..
I think the moral of the story is that we have allowed large companies to control out media and this is what we get lousy service, long wait times, bad follosw through.
david | Oct 16, 2008 | Reply
You are right, DirecTV employee - we should pay you to protect your equipment that the cable company replaces for free, we should pay you when your service stops working when the cable company comes to our house for free, we should continue pay you when we have been ripped off, even though the cable company lets you cancel anytime. You are right - we should be thrilled to hand over even more money. Please, people - NEVER sign up with DirecTV, EVER - Go with cable or go without. Cable fixes your service for free, they come to your house for free, they replace boxes for free, and you can cancel anytime. DO NOT BUY DIRECTV service, take my (and many, many others) words for it - they are terrible. Glad one of their employees had time to come over and defend them by saying we should pay them more money; just reiterates my thoughts about them.
Rich Wood | Oct 23, 2008 | Reply
I love the comment by the DirecTV employee. A great example of the “the customer is wrong” attitude of their employees. I had a similar experience. We were told we could get a certain package/pricing. After the equipment was installed, holes in the wall and all, we turned it on and we were not getting what they said we were going to get. We called customer service and we were seriously treated like the enemy. They basically treated us like stupid liars. Every time we escalated the issue the CSRs got more condescending and our deal got worse. One guy offered us a deal where we would be paying an average of $35/month and he claimed that DirecTV would actually be paying us to use their service. Not sure how the math works out on that.
The last guy we spoke to was a supervisor in the customer retention group and he essentially threw out the previous offers and said we would have to pay full price as the penalty for escalating the issue. I’m not kidding. We were even willing to accept the offer from the previous guy and he said “No, since you escalated, that offer isn’t good any more.”
He said he had to look out for the financial interests of DirecTV. Either he is incapable of basic math or he was actually just looking out for his own ego. How is DirecTV better off with us canceling the service, which we did? We are actually following the advice in the original post — no TV for us.
david | Oct 23, 2008 | Reply
DirecTV is just the absolute worst company I have ever dealt with, period. Please, everyone, never sign up with them. Ever! Rich, if I could go without TV now, I would - but due to their fees its not worth it. That is, until another week goes by and another problem creeps up and lose my mind!
Rich Wood | Oct 23, 2008 | Reply
Just to clarify — we requested the cheapest package that included big ten sports and a DVR (not high def). The original quote we were given was $17.99. We had called a couple of times on pricing and the worst monthly rate we were given (before we had the equipment installed) was $28.32 a month. So unless they were offering us a net negative deal when they were trying to get our business, the guy was seriously exaggerating about losing money on us at $35/month.
rukus | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Far as DTV customer scv, they might as well be untrained apes and that goes for their installers too. Had 3 out here each one found a problem. As to defective boxes - yup. First one is supposed to be new but each replacement is a refurb. Been through 4 in a year. Best quality is canadian starchoice and I am NOT in canada. I subscribe though here in the states
rukus | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
DTV Employee
Somewhere in the fine print it states “whatever you buy or sub to - you’re stuck with”. Case in point - dtv magazine. I signed up for a trial and got a year I was not allowed to unsubscribe from…………
Probably a Technician | Nov 11, 2008 | Reply
Honestly, it was one technician who gets paid a little over 10 dollars an hour. Bitching and complaining about him/her does not solve the problem.
Take solace in the fact that even though they have access to all of your account information (mostly personal info), they haven’t used it to steal your identity. Trust me, it’s probably enough to open up a bank account and buy a couple of REALLY nice cars.
Just knowing that I’d probably keep my mouth shut the next time I feel like bitching up a storm after lose my DirecTV signal.
Have a nice day!
Sean | Nov 11, 2008 | Reply
I agree- love DirectV, hate hate hate their customer service and tech support- it’s sad when a company has a great product only to drive customers away with their people and low care of customers getting help.
christine | Nov 13, 2008 | Reply
DirecTV treats their customers horrible. I’ve been a customer for over 5 years. I have trouble with them nearly every time I call. First, it’s the awful phone tree that brings me in circles and then disconnects me. Finally, I get through to a person and I always have to spend about 1 hour on the phone with them. The first 30 minutes typically seem to accomplish nothing other than going in circles. Every CSR that you speak with tells you something different in regards to policies and prices. Then you talk to the supervisor and then, he says what they told you is wrong. Whoever you speak to - the previous guy was wrong. You can’t trust what anybody tells you because next time you call they say it’s wrong. My general impression of their CSRs is that they don’t care about their job, do not go the extra mile, and they seem like 16 year olds, as far as people skills and ability to communicate….just not fully developed. DirecTV needs to properly train their CSRs and their supervisors. I’ve talked to plenty, sorry Employee…they’re low caliber….I’ve been their customer a lot longer than you’ve been their employee. A few good ones is not enough, most companies would fail by that standard. Out of the many companies I deal with to run my home, this one is the ABSOLUTE HANDS DOWN WORST. Tonight, I spoke with a supervisor who told me: We don’t have to do this, but we’re doing it as a courtesy. I told him: You’re right, when you have very little competition, you can treat your customers poorly and act as a monopoly. He said: yes. Take heart, friends, historically these situations do not last forever with companies. Eventually, there will be many other superior options and we can drop this horrid company. I’ve seen it happen with my phone company and my bank over the years. They used to be almost abusive until heavy competition stepped in. Now, they are calling me Ms. christine, how can we serve you? I don’t have complaints about DirecTV technology - just the customer service, the company’s tactics and lack of ethics, cancellation fees, etc. Over the past 5 years, I have had many incidents with them and would have cancelled ages ago and kept cable because I dislike this company that much. My husband does not want to cancel, so I’m stuck. BTW, they subcontract their installation services out, so those are not DirecTV employees that are coming into your home.
pokeberry mary | Nov 14, 2008 | Reply
You are so right! My husband gets nearly apoplectic when he has to call them. He’s been talking about getting rid of it soon as he’s about had it.
pokeberry mary | Nov 14, 2008 | Reply
Oh and by the way, one of my kids worked for them–they treat their installers worse than they treat the customers–can you imagine?
Rick Disney | Nov 16, 2008 | Reply
My nightmare started with them 11 months ago with the first install. First they were running behind, then wanted to reschedule then they finally showed up in the dark,in December at 10 degrees. The installer tracked dog poop thru the house, we dont own a dog. Then we had a big hail storm in the spring and the roof was going to get re shingled, since the first installer placed the dishes on the roof rather than the side of the house as I asked, they needed to be moved. Two reschedules and a no show later I moved the dishes myself and have a better signal strength. Now for the HD install (I really should had known better)So I schedule an install. Once again, we are running behind can we come tomorrow? Sure,I’m into self abuse. While talking to the installer he asked about my HD dish, I said what HD dish? I have four D11-100 receivers and no HD service, that’s what you are coming for. Well the mental giants at Directv didn’t place the order for the dish and the receiver, just the receiver. The installer said , good thing we spoke, I will have them bring one, they will be there Saturday morning. At 10am Saturday, no one is here yet so I called, could we be there around 2ish..NO,get here now like you are suppose to. So They show 20 min later and that’s right, with only the receiver, no dish. Its now 11-16-08 and the next avail date is 12-11-08. Directv customer service, a contradiction in terms!!
tj | Nov 16, 2008 | Reply
I had DirecTV try to charge me when Dish Network took down my pole with my DirecTV dish on it.
I told them that my dish was on the ground and Dish Network was out there putting up a new pole and their own dish.
One of the first things they said was sir it will cost $50 so send someone out there. I ended up telling them to cancel my service but the cancellation guy was able to waive the fee.
CHannebaum | Nov 22, 2008 | Reply
I just got hit with a problem I’ve never had before with Directv (I’ve been a customer since 2000). In May ‘07, a technician came to my house on a service call (I was having bad satellite reception). He installed a new receiver and access card, and took the old ones with him when he left. Flash forward to my billing statement of 10-27-08. Upon opening my statement I discovered a number of charges (covering May, June, and July) made on that old receiver and access card. Directv was never able to explain how a monthly billing statement could have 5 months worth of charges on it. The same statement also shows a receiver was disconnected in October. I mailed a copy of the statement along with a cover letter to the Billing Disputes Office. A few days later I received a call from that office. My opinion, that statement should have raised at least some questions as to the validity of the charges. However, the representative with whom I spoke simply fell back on what is apparently Directv’s default positon: the customer is always guilty. I was told my account would be credited, but that it was a one-time deal being done as a “courtesy” and that I would be held responsible for any charges in the future. Directv contracts out it’s technical work but appears to have little to no oversight of these people. The old receiver was never turned in and the access card remained under my name until I contacted Customer Service about the charges on my latest statement. The only advice I can give anyone else is this: if you have any Directv equipment removed from your home for any reason, do a follow-up call to Directv to ascertain whether or not that equipment has been turned in. That was the only advice that the Billing Disputes Office could give ME.
po'd in iowa | Nov 23, 2008 | Reply
to the directv employee, HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Try calling in sometime yourself! I just spent two hrs. yesterday trying to get credit for a cancelled account, the expiration date of which was changed from when we first cancelled, unbeknownst to us.
We had directv since ‘94 and not many problems besides the weather and losing signal.
Anyway, I digress. I was cut off 4 times. dead cut off. finally talked to a supervisor named John and he was a total jerk. He then sent me to the accounting or billing dept. I am supposed to receive a $30 credit but it should be over $50. At that point, I was worn out and said OK. I was treated like crap, but on hold for in excess of 10 minutes, repeatedly. We will see if we get a refund but tomorrow, Monday, Nov. 24, I am getting in touch with the state Attorney Generals office and the Better Business Bureau and a letter sent to the FTC.
The cocky, arrogant supervisor John also gave me the address of Diretvs’ legal dept.
The address is Directv Office of General Counsel, PO Box 915, Elsugundo, CA 90245.
You have to write to them. I also requested a copy of my account and phone logs for the last 30 days and he said he couldn’t do that.
He chastised me for not remembering every detail of what I had said for the last 3 weeks when he had it in writing in front of him. But who knows if what was written was correct?
FYI, I had DishNetwork installed and it’s been a disaster with a receiver. They have been here 5 times in less than 2 weeks. They are to come out Tues. Nov. 25 and change the LNB or eyes to a different one that will pick up different satellites. But as far as customer service, they have been outstanding to work with except for hold times. I have been offered out of my 24 month committment, and no charge for any services, plus my $50 activation fee returned. We will see if that happens if they can’t get it fixed and I cancel the account. Also, be aware that they do a credit check on you. I assume Directv does as well. Anytime you have a credit check done on you whether warranted or not it affects your credit rating score, which I think in today’s world is a very important #.
Enough of my rant. Directv customer service is worse than Dell and that is saying something because that is total HELL.
po'd in iowa | Nov 23, 2008 | Reply
to follow up and continue my rant. When out Diretv service went bad—no signal just searching—we gave it a couple days thinking it could be the weather and were very busy.
Our first contact with Directv said it would cost $79.95 to have someone out and anything replaced we would have to pay for plus installation fees. We then decided to get DishNetwork since it would be free and updated to HD equipment. We got that account set up and then cancelled Directv, Nov. 6. Funny, but then all kinds of offers starting coming out of their posterior. They would send a tech out free and the only charge would be $19.99 for each receiver–we had two. I said no we had already opened a DishNetwork account. I was then offered free equipment(no $19.99) and a new dish but no upgrade to HD. This woman apparently was the one who put our expiration date as Dec.1. My wife inadvertently in my absence paid for Nov. Directv service when the bill came. I called and was told since our billing cycle ended Dec. 1 we would have to pay even though not receiving service. Again, as mentioned by several, it depends on who you talk to what answer you will get. Anyway, my previous statement then applies after this. We will see if we get anything back at all. We are both over 60 yrs. old and don’t have the energy honestly to spend two hrs. every day fighting and getting cut off and put on hold. I might try again today, but think I will see what I can resolve by trying to find some addresses to email. Good Luck, huh?
As many people as I have talked to at Directv cust. service. I have to believe anyone making a positive statement about them works for them and/or is a plant.
carolyn hale | Dec 1, 2008 | Reply
We switched to Direct TV due to being unhappy with the misrepresentation by Dish Network when we signed up with them. They can’t hold a candle to the outright lies we were told by Direct!
To make a long story short, we never got the high def. programming that was promised ie: the satellilte was going to be launched in 2005-it is not there yet.
Some of the programs we were initilally given with our HD package are now not available unless we subscribe to them. We used to have Sunday Football Ticket and got the games in HD until about 2 years ago when we were informed that we had to subscribe to Super Fan to get the Ticket games in HD. I cancelled the Sunday Football Ticket because it was way too expensive to get those games in HD.
We took my husband’s retirement gift from his fellow workers and bought a big screen TV for him to enjoy. We would have a much better picture with our smaller screen TV and could have saved a lot of money over the past 4 years by not paying so much for so little.
The customer service is terrible, there are no two people who give you the same story as to policies, etc.
We don’t have cable available where we live and can’t get reception with an antenna due to the mountains. We are stuck with either Direct or Dish, and I guess we will have to pick the one who lies the least, or who lies the best.
It’s a sad state of affairs when companies are so big that the customer doesn’t matter at all.
Paul Escobar | Dec 2, 2008 | Reply
This morning I just learned that Directv does not install in high rise in Manhattan (I moved from a 3-story to a high rise and I was afraid of the $480- Yes I was quoted $480 to cancel. Doesn’t the numbers change according to their own whim?). The customer service rep that I had called earlier was brilliant enough to not provide this information about what addresses they can and cannot service. I’m stuck right now between having to deal with those ignorant people and having my credit F–ed by these turdheads.
Walter Lott | Dec 4, 2008 | Reply
My problems with DTV customer service are just too numerous to mention. One word of advice. Don’t plan on calling and getting your problem resolved within a few minutes.
Plan on spending at least one hour on the phone.
Plan on getting disconnected at least twice and having to call back again. The techs at DTV customer support have not yet mastered the art of transferring calls. Go figure.
With that said, their staff are very curteous, kind and even sypmathetic even thought they can’t resolve your problem.
As bad as they are, they are leagues and oceans better than ComCast.
Steve F | Dec 10, 2008 | Reply
Me too. They lied to me about what my monthly charge would be. I came right out and asked the guy if this was an introductory price and how much it would go to and when…. he assured me it would never go up. Later, I found out he lied to me and it was a 10 month introductory price. I was so angry not because of the price, because he lied me! and the installation was ridiculous, re-scheduling, not showing up… it took weeks and weeks… I simply cannot recommend Directv to anybody, even though the TV service seems very good to me but the customer service is the pits.
david | Dec 10, 2008 | Reply
I didn’t even get 10 months out of them - I didn’t even get one month! DirecTV is terible!
Guy H. | Dec 14, 2008 | Reply
I started out with Dish, the only problem I had with them was my rates kept going up. Customer service was good to me. Once bought a PPV sport and my power went out soon after it started, called Dish customer service, explained what happened & was never charged. Then started dating a girl installer & changed to Directv, never got the receiver that was agreed upon, rates kept going up & the morons @ customer service was akin to a horror flic. Went to the neighbors to watch (directv) the 10th & final round of the NFR only to see a college basketball game that nobody even came to watch live! The stands were half empty. Not only is directv’s customers service SUCK but their programming does as well. I use netflix now and as lond as the mail run I’ll have something to watch but if I do go back to regular programming I guarantee it will be with Dish. NEVER EVER go with directv
david | Dec 14, 2008 | Reply
I agree Guy!
Our service went out the other day yet again - for about 5 hours. Did they care? Nope. They told me to jiggle the cables. Geniuses, all of them.
Directv is absolutely horrendous and I am either going to suck it up and keep it for the contract or I am going to be forced to pay the cancellation fee instead of having a heart attack over this. Horrible, horrible, horrible.
Jerry | Dec 23, 2008 | Reply
After stumbling onto this discussion about DirecTV I just have to add my story. I had used to have DTV (can’t remember for how many years, but enough to be out from under their “screw the customer” contract) before we sold our house and moved in Dec. 2006. I called DTV and told them I wished to terminate my account. They gave me the usual bait about using their “moving” service. I told them I would consider it when I finally got settled again. 90 days later they call me (they had my cell #) and asked if I’m ready. I told them no, not yet. They called again later and asked and I gave them the same answer. Now, understand at this point, I really intended to go back to DTV. I didn’t hear from them again, but in Dec 07 they began billing my credit card again. I told the credit card company not to pay the charge. The next month they billed again! I was being charged for something they were not furnishing and had no way of furnishing! I canceled that credit card account so they could not keep automatically charging these bogus charges. To make a long story short, I fought with them for months before I finally got them to agree to cancel my account. However they still wanted that $162 they had charged me for. At one point, I even offered to sign up with them again if they would accept me as a “new” customer with all the “offers” they were baiting the new customers with. They refused. They are now using a Collection Agency in an attempt to collect that bogus charge of $162. I am now being harassed with 2-3 calls every day from that Collection Agency! Since I never have been able to get past DTV’s “Customer Service” Reps to successfully plead my case (the Collection Agency doesn’t want to hear it!) I finally wrote a letter to them, with a copy to the Collection Agency, explaining what happened and why they will NEVER get the money they are demanding. I am now planning on asking my cell Co. to block the calls from that “harassing” number. If that does not work I will be changing my cell phone number. Gee, I wish there was some way to let all the potential customers for these Satellite TV providers read this site before they decide to sign their rights away. It should be against the law for any Companies to have such a monopoly.
David | Dec 23, 2008 | Reply
Wow, that’s terrible Jerry. Good for you for fighting, I know I will do the same when that time comes. It is a shame more people won’t see this before they order!
Laura | Dec 29, 2008 | Reply
I too am dealing with Directv issues which lead me to your story. We’ve been customers for 10 years but since we moved and had it installed in our new home it has been nothing but a headache. We regret ever picking them. The technicians caused damage to our house when they installed the dish and cords. They never set up the recvr’s. We had to do it and one of them is not even wired. Customer service has been awful and I’ve spent hours on the phone and keep getting the run around. Finally after so much frustration I decided to cancel and they have informed me I’m locked into a 2 year deal. I have caught customer service in numerous lies. It just feels slimy. This is the same company that won awards fot their customer service when they first started. I am disgusted. I even had a friend over today and she was stunned by how rude customer service was. I really could go on and on but read any of the many complaints about them and its the same old story. It should be illegal!
Ex Directv Customer | Dec 29, 2008 | Reply
I HATE DIRECTV!!!!! Worst customer service on the planet. I had a manager by the name if Gina (yea im callin her out) laugh at me, put me on hold for 20min, then hang up!!! Use these contacts to call corporate. Have fun raising hell!!!!
Here are some executive email addresses and phone numbers if you need to escalate an unresolved problem with DirecTV:
bruce.churchhill@directv.com, bbchurchhill@directv.com: EVP
john.murphy@directv.com, jfmurphy@directv.com: SVP, Controller, CAO
patrick.doyle@directv.com, ptdoyle@directv.com: SVP, CFO
HZBitew@directv.com: Heywot Bitew, Business Operation Analyst - 310-964-6508
eafilipiak@directv.com: Ellen Filipiak, Senior Vice President of Customer Relations
To send a valentine to DirecTV’s CEO, Chase Carey, email chase.carey@directv.com.
The corporate switchboard is 310-964-5000. You might be able to get to his secretary by calling that number and saying, “Carey’s office, please,” in a professional and composed tone.
Jason | Jan 6, 2009 | Reply
I think Directv is great. I’ve been with them for over 5 years now. Customer service is going to be different depending on when,where, and why you call. Blanket statements saying they all are ignorant is basically informing anyone reading this of your ignorance. All of the whining on this site is ridiculous and completely explains how incompetent you people are. Do something about it and stop crying. Jesus people grow some.
Jim Porter | Jan 7, 2009 | Reply
DirecTV has the worst customer service that I have ever experienced. This is my worst experience as a consumer. The system was installed 3 weeks ago and still does not work. It will go off “Searching for Satellite”. DirecTV and their sub JP&D has not been able to find the problem (after serveral trips) but they refuse to remove the system. They expect me to pay for a service that I do not receive!!!! Stay away from DirecTV and Dish Network.
Betty June Kiley | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
I live in the Salt Lake City area and changed from Dish to Direct a few months ago. At the time we were getting a local channel on station 14. Recently Direct cancelled their submission of this station that carries many of the JAZZ games and other programs we like to watch. I feel it is a breach of my contract with them and I would like to cancel but of course there would be that exorbitant cancelation fee. Calls to Direct get no action. I am really angry about it.
BJ
Katrina | Jan 17, 2009 | Reply
Please be careful when using Direct TV services. My account has been suspended for about 6 months. I recently checked my bank account statement to find $836.00 was withdrawn from my account with Direct TV listed as the payee. It was withdrawn from the account listed in my profile. I was told by a supervisor that it was an error on their end and I will be refunded. I’ve waited and have reveived nothing but lies, I’ve been given the run around by several reps and sups. I’m pretty left no choose but to file charges and get an attorney to settle this matter.
BECKY M | Jan 17, 2009 | Reply
BEEN DEALING WITH DIRECTV BEFORE THANKSGIVING WHEN OUR DVR QUIT WORKING. SENT US NEW ONE, SENT OLD BACK 12/01/2008. REVIEWED BILL, CHARGING FOR NEW DVR, CALLED 12/21/2008, WAS TOLD TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER HOLIDAYS TO SEE IF DIRECTV RECIEVED OLD DVR. REVIEWED YET ANOTHER BILL IN JANUARY. CALLED 1/13/2009 THE DAY BEFORE AUTOMATIC PAYMENT IS TAKEN OUT ( ANOTHER STORY THERE WITH DIRECTV). $286+ TAKEN OUT, REP STATED IT WOULD TAKE 24-72 TO GENERATE REFUND SHOULD CHECK MY BANK ACCOUNT THEN. CHECKED ACCOUNT NO REFUND, CONTACTED DIRECTV WAS TOLD 8-10 BUSINESS DAYS. TOLD THEM NO NOT ACCEPTABLE. GAVE THEM UNTIL THE 1/20. WORDS WERE EXCHANGED ASKED FOR STUPIDVISOR WAITED 1 1/2 HRS ON HOLD. STUPIDVISOR INFORMS ME THAT REP MISINFORMED IT WOULD TAKE UP TO 30 DAYS FOR REFUND. WORDS AGAIN EXCHANGED, ASKED HIM TO TAKE ME OFF AUTOMATIC PAYMENT PLAN AND GO GREEN PLAN WANT SNAIL MAIL. SENT EMAIL TO WHO EVER AT DIRECTV. AS IF THEY CARE
Jerry | Jan 18, 2009 | Reply
HOOORAH! After more than a year, it’s finally over! This last week I received a letter from DirecTV Collection Department, stating that they have admitted their mistake and are calling off the dogs, (the Collection Agency) and (I quote) “instructing them to cease actions and clean up any negative reports to your credit history caused by DIRECTV.”
For the last few months,I have been receiving one of their “promotional” letters almost every week, offering me everything (the things they offer to snare a new customer). These letters all came with my name printed on them, so they weren’t just random solicitions. Wouldn’t you know it…yesterday I got another one of those, again with my name of it. I guess, at DirecTV, one Department doesn’t know what any of the other “Departments” are up to, or this could have been resolved back in Jan 08, like it should have been. BTW: What finally got their attention was I sent a letter, explaining the whole situation, and addressing it to as high a DirecTV person as I could find. So, as usual, when these type situations come up it pays to go over all those stupid “Customer Relations” smart-asses and go right to the top! Unfortunately, it’s often very difficult, if not almost impossible, to get through to the top person.
david | Jan 18, 2009 | Reply
That’s great Jerry, so glad to hear they finally admitted their mistake. Doesn’t seem like they do that too often!
Rebecca Tindall | Jan 18, 2009 | Reply
I am a direcTv employee & loathe it in the very worst way not because I am not a star agent which i am. I just do not at all agree with the ethics that dtv sets forth, Direct sales which sells consumers the dtv rarely if ever tells customers that there is a rebate that u have to submit right away online or you will not get that low intro rate of price & you have to submit rebate within 60 days or it will be gone & it takes 6-8 wks to “process” which is a way that dtv shows you how expensive yur first bill is & that when u actually get the rebate that u feel like yur getting a good deal. If u dont agree with this which who would u can have the pleasure of speaking to a probable incompetent sup that is trained explicetly not to give credit & you customers should know that any time a csr gives you credit it was taken off our incentive so we get a pay cut so thats why csr’s are reluctant to dole out credit then if u do give credit then its like the movie office space you get a “talkin” to from 2-3 sups, coaches & or managers which just patronize you so much you end up feeling crazier than they are! I do applogize & understand how you feel I am just the person at the other end that you’re probably calling horrible names.
rrgg | Jan 30, 2009 | Reply
Try Dish Network instead. I love them!!!!!!!
Jen | Feb 7, 2009 | Reply
I was sent a link to this post on Twitter while I sat on the phone with Direct TV and vented on Twitter. I feel your pain!
Jason | Feb 12, 2009 | Reply
I’ve had one problem after another with these bozos! I canceled my service in late January to go with Verizon FiOS. My problem today is that I had a bill due on 1/28. When I canceled my service on 1/20, I was told to ignore that bill…a new one would be sent. My mistake though…I already had a payment scheduled thru my bank that I forgot to cancel. So Directv re-processed my account on the 27th, prorates most of what I owed, giving me a credit, then charges my c/c on file for the balance. New statement dated 1/28 comes to me, $0 balance, everything’s great, right? Not so fast…my previously scheduled payment (which I failed to cancel w/ the bank) gets processed the same day (28th), and today I get statement dated 2/9, showing I have a credit due. I call this evening to find out how to get my credit sent to me. It was my fault, I simply overpaid a bill. The idiot customer service “supervisor” I’m talking to starts telling me that they cannot issue payment for that credit b/c they have to make sure they get their receivers back! According to Fedex, they got their receivers back 6 days ago, and besides that, one had nothing to do with the other! Had I remembered to cancel the scheduled payment, this never would have been an issue. Apparently, this idiot “supervisor” was in fact the CEO of Directv, b/c when I asked for her supervisor since I still was not satisfied, she starts telling me there’s no one above her!
I started my account with them in 2002, and the first 4 yrs were great, but since the beginning of 2006 when I upgraded to DVR & HD, I’ve had continuously increasing problems.
I will absolutely NEVER go back to them, and I don’t advise anyone to ever start!
david | Feb 12, 2009 | Reply
Wow, that is terrible Jason - but not at all surprising. As soon as my agreement is over, I am gone.
Shelly G | Feb 17, 2009 | Reply
I work at a class action law firm and we are investigating this issue. I would like to talk to people and hear their experiences. Please contact me at shelly1100ny@yahoo.com if you have been charged an early termination fee by DirecTV, or if you have any questions on this investigation.
Thanks,
Shelly
david | Feb 17, 2009 | Reply
If you work at a class action law firm, why would you have a yahoo email address? I am sure people would love to talk to a real firm about their issues, but it is doubtful anyone will respond to a yahoo address.
Ralph | Feb 25, 2009 | Reply
I am a DISH network Retailer and installer. Like any product, the product itself may be okay, but who you are dealing with makes the difference. Possibly the worst way to go with any satellite TV is to use the 800 number. If you can, use a local retailer who is able to provide references. Ask around to see what kind of reputation they have. We do very little advertising. Most of our business is word-of-mouth. I do the installs myself, and we are local. That means I have a local reputation to uphold.
Remember that be it DircTV or DISH, they exist to make money. There are always details, fine print and catches.
david | Feb 25, 2009 | Reply
The installation is one thing; but unless my local guy does my billing, that doesn’t really solve my issue. My problem is not with the equipment, per se, but with the billing - the parent company.
Ralph | Feb 26, 2009 | Reply
We have no direct control over billing, but we advise our clients to NOT call DISH before they contact us. We have them bring their bill by our office. if the bill is incorrect, we call the billing dept with the customer present with us. They give the billing dept consent to speak to us on their behalf. We are then are able to speak to the billing dept for the customer.
It is sad that many times the cust reps in billing, tech support, etc. are unaware of many things they should be aware of. There are times when it takes 3-4 calls and several service requests (a special in-house email system for retailers) to get issues resolved. A good, local retailer will at least try to help you.
Trista | Mar 6, 2009 | Reply
My DVR stopped working after I signed up with Directv. After numerous calls they agreed to replace it. My service was shotty at best, it would go out if it rained or snowed. My bill increased almost monthly without adding any additional programing. Everytime I called Directv I was on the phone for at least 1/2 hour.
The customer service representatives are the rudest I have ever delt with. Toward the end of my commitment I called for the exact date. I was told that my commitment was increased because I received a replacement DVR. I never agreed to this increase in time.
I have talked to numerous people at Directv about this situation, very few were kind and none were helpful. They all just say the same thing “you recieved an upgrade and therefore an increase in your service commitment”. When I ask them what I upgraded to? They say I recieved a DVR. When I explain that I received the same model DVR to replace the broken one; they repeat the previous statement.
When I ask to speak to a supervisor I am informed there are none. Or I am placed on hold for at least 20+ minutes and then they either hang up on me or the supervisor says the exact same thing as the customer service rep.
Currently, Directv took $62.00 from my credit card to pay for my early cancellation fee even though I completed my 24 month contract.
I feel lied to and cheated. I hope their treatment of customers catches up to them and they get to feel all the misery they have given to others.
david | Mar 6, 2009 | Reply
I feel for you Trista, they are absolutely horrendous.
Barbara | Mar 7, 2009 | Reply
My Directv receiver has never worked. Never. $120.00 mo, and it never worked. So, yesterday I talked to Sam (Who certainly was taking the call from India, and he was definitely not Sam. I think he in some foreign language and, finally, as a special favor, for $90.00, he offered to send someone out to make my DirecTV work.
For free, I told them to pound sand. I switched to Dish.
david | Mar 7, 2009 | Reply
Barbara, were you out of your contract? That is what I am waiting for now!
laurie | Mar 13, 2009 | Reply
In Nov 2008 we ordered directv. At that time we told the sales person we are moving at the end of Feb 2009. NOT a problem was the sales ladies answer, we will follow you any where you go. We will come and get the dish, all you need to do is bring the receivers with you. We also asked if there will there be a new connection fee of any sort. No, no fee for anything. So we went with Directv. After moving to our new home, I called to get our Directv service hooked up. Ha what a joke. The kind “gentlemen” that works for Directv asked me for a credit card number. I reminded them there was no fee. The employee of Directv stated to me that we did not live at our previous address long enough to “establish good credit” there for there is a $50.00 transfer fee in which stupid me, I paid it or else they will not give us service (per the kind Directv worker). When my fiance’ got home he called Directv and told them they should not have charged us and that we would like a refund or account credited. Directv’s EXACT customer service friendliness staff told him TO BAD! she (meaning me) paid it already The next day, I called Directv @ 800-531-5000 and spoke to another Directv worker, explained my situation and was told well, there is nothing I can do to help, they charged you for a reason, I’m not sure why, but they did. I asked to talk to a supervisor and was told they are all in meetings however, I could talk to a “floor” supervisor Leon. He was just as rude and would not help me with my $50.00. I asked if I could leave a message as long as they would not transfer me to a voice mail Leon snickered and said sure. NO one has called me as to date. Am I the only person they are charging extra fee’s to and not refunding back? Is this some sort of commission in the sales persons pocket? I just don’t get it.
laurie | Mar 13, 2009 | Reply
Contact the attorney generals office
Tony | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
I feel I was royally screwed by DirecTV. I signed up for the famously advertised $29.99 deal and in the past 3 months, from January 3 to March 3, I have paid $182.92. In their defense, I have an HD receiver, which would bring my monthly payments to around $40. The key to their scheme is to get you to go Green, by asking you to sign up for Auto Pay. This consists of you giving them your credit card and they are free to charge you whatever they want. To get the $29.99 deal, you have to sign up for Auto Pay and also to receive all promotions and spam e-mail they want to send you. I would have done all this, but they do not tell you up front. Once you get the first bill, which in my case was $76.27, then you call them and they tell you what you needed to do to get the discounts. Lastly, the discounts have to wait from 6 to 8 weeks to take effect, which means that up until then, they can charge you the full price. If you learn anything from my experience, learn this: DO NOT SIGN UP FOR AUTO PAY!
At this moment, I’m filling a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Affairs:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
In case you need to do the same.
STEVE | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
Laurie: I’m not surprised by your story. The sales rep lied to me also when I signed up. I think that the reps are trained that lying is okay, the most important thing is getting the person to just agree to sign up. I was shocked; it was the first time I could ever remember being blatantly lied to from any company, especially what I considered to be a very large, respectable company.
Paula | Mar 25, 2009 | Reply
Currently in a dispute with DIRECTV stealing money from my VISA account after cancelling and paying them in full. We are up to $423.30 and everytime they say they credit my money back they steal more. Terrible customer service, you’re not allowed to speak to a supervisor and I’ve been hung up on everytime I ask to speak to someone other than the flunky on the phone. I’ve sent a certified letter to the President of DIRECTV, Better Business Bureau and my credit union is currently in a dipute with them trying to get the stolen money back. This Company SUCKS go to DISH.
david | Mar 25, 2009 | Reply
Dish is no better…
DL | Mar 31, 2009 | Reply
Directv customer service is made up of robotic individuals trained to repeat exactly the same thing no matter what the issue. I wrote about similar situations and got almost identical emails back. Not the same situation, mind you, but similar. The wording in the reply was not similar - it was very close to a duplicate. I began testing it and discovered they are not at all interested in the opinions or needs of the customer. They just hope to wear you down. Make sure at least 5 other people know how horrible this service is.
G. Davis | Apr 2, 2009 | Reply
I’ve been with DTV for many years now and have not had any issues with their Customer Service until yesterday.My wife who works as a Customer Service Representative for a major hotel chain was inquiring on a discount DTV was offering Hilton employees through a corporate memo, however when she called she was told that the offer is only good for “NEW” customers only (forget the loyal customers who have been with them for years). Even though she got a better quote from one of their representatives a few weeks ago when she inquired about it,our new bill showed an increase in their rates.When my wife called yesterday and asked the customer service person about the rate increase, she was told that they won’t honor what was quoted by the representative a few weeks back and that our rate was adjusted due to our new lease agreement. My wife mentioned that we’ve been with DTV for almost 10 years now and have not signed a lease agreement of any kind and that we purchased all of the equipment.
Seems like when we purchased a new receiver two months ago from Best Buy (a DTV receiver)to replace our old RCA unit which was damaged, an automatic 18-month lease agreement became effective. What a crock.All three DTV Customer Service reps she talked to were rude and their basic bottom line was “the lease contract is in effect, deal with it because we’re not going to make any adjustments”. I told the wife that she should send off an e-mail to Hilton Corporate to make them aware of DTV’s supposed “discount offer”.
David | Apr 2, 2009 | Reply
I would imagine DTV would not like Hilton canceling their agreement with them… Someone told me that every time you get a new box because the previous one broke, they restart your agreement.
I seriously cannot believe how bad this company treats customers.
Steve F | Apr 2, 2009 | Reply
and what’s most bizarre, is that is that you buy the receiver yourself with your own money, and they re-start your two-year contract. In addition, I asked them if I buy the receiver myself, will they drop the 5 dollar a month lease charge (for my second receiver) and they told me no, I still have to pay the lease charge per month even if I own the receiver. Does that make any sense?
david | Apr 2, 2009 | Reply
That makes no sense whatsoever, Steve!
mary | Apr 4, 2009 | Reply
i second this! i hate directv!!!!
i was ripped off… have gone through 2 rcvrs!
Bootsy | Apr 10, 2009 | Reply
I am a customer service rep for directv. I deal with morons all day long (sometimes taking 80+ calls a day). Put yourself in our shoes for just a minute. I deal with people who can’t add or subtract, don’t understand the concept of pushing a red button to reset their receiver, refuse to hear any explinations of price increases, use profanity, threaten me with bodily harm and complain about the wait time for a supervisor. I expect respect and fair treatement when I call a company. I give what I am given in return. If you act like an ass, yell into the phone and demand respect at the same time you are going to get put on hold, wait a long time for a supervisor and its going to ultimately get you nowhere
david | Apr 10, 2009 | Reply
Thats funny Bootsy - I didnt act like an ass, yet I was treated like one. Customer service is supposed to be just that; Customer. Service. Sorry to tell you that WE the paying customer pay your salary. Keep that in mind next time you treat someone like all these readers have been treated.
Bootsy | Apr 10, 2009 | Reply
Sorry David I did not mean to imply that you were an ass. I was just simply trying to make the point that customer service reps always get the blame. You are right -there is no excuse for poor customer service; however, we have our limitations. We listen to your concerns and explain the policies to you… BUT we do not impliment the polices that complicate your life and seem to endlessly frustate. Men in suits who have no concept of the average consumer impliment these stupid policies and we deal with the impact. I wish that I could take away committments for people that don’t deserve them but I don’t have the ability. I can only listen to the complains and locate a supervisor when you don’t like my explination. 9 out of 10 times there is a wait time for a supervisor that is unreasonable. Again, this is not the fault of customer service. It’s the fault of under staffing (damn those men in suits again). There are approximately 16 million direct customers and 7200 customer service reps taking phone calls in various call centers across the country. That’s a pretty large customer to csr ratio… I hear complaints daily about fees for new customers, too long for new customer offers to process, $10 discounts are not good enough etc etc. I hear that in this economy there should not be a price increase. People do not understand that directv (or any tv provider for that matter) have to pay networks for the use of their channels. They go up and we have to or we will no longer be in business and you will be looking for another provider to complain about. It’s all trickle down. Corporate America makes the policies that complicate our lives not the customer service rep. If I have ever spoken to anyone of you with a harsh tone I am sorry. You might understand if you took 80 calls a day from pissed off people everyday that want to complain about a three dollar price increase.
david | Apr 10, 2009 | Reply
They dont want to complain about a $3 price increase. They want to complain about being lied to about everything under the sun, as evidenced by posters here and all over the internet.
If the customer service reps don’t want to be yelled at by paying customers, they either need to:
A. get a new job
B. organize and go after those who set up these policies in the first place
We yell, call, complain, bitch, moan, etc. because we don’t like being ripped off. I am sorry you are on the other end of the phone, but it’s most certainly not our fault that you are or that we have a problem with your company. You voluntarily accepted a job to be the face of a company who treats customers like dirt, so like it or not you are going to have to deal with that decision. I wouldn’t work for a company I had no respect for or that treated customers like this.
Bootsy | Apr 10, 2009 | Reply
I don’t actually work for directv. I work for a company who provides customer service to directv customers. This is the case with most large companies. I always get a good laugh from people who say they are going to go to comcast or dish network or time warner cable. We provide their customer service also. The corporate world is one giant hampster wheel. I wish you happy directv viewing and in the future read the fine print. It’s all on the website. http://www.directv.com/agreement
DAWN COOKE | Apr 13, 2009 | Reply
Dtv, I hate to even speak the name. I signed up for the $49.99 plan. They never sent me a bill. It takes me 3 months with them to find out my bill is actually $104.00 per month. I of course want to pay, what I asked for, but no! They require that I pay the bill in full before they will turn my service back on. This is a question of ethics. The ‘customer service rep’ was rude and absolutely no help. She hung up on me. I called back got the ’supervisor’ I felt as though they should let me pay the original 49.99 and carry on from there. I had already paid 189.00 for the first month and a half. Now they wanted an additional 189.00. I know I don’t get it either. Anyway she also hung up on me. I finally got my first bill on paper. It is almost a $1000.00. You know, early termination etc. I never canceled. Now i’m afraid to send their gear back. I’m pretty sure they won’t credit that cost back to me. They’re very shady.
pokeberry mary | Apr 14, 2009 | Reply
I know this is a really old post–but my gosh! We cancelled our Directv last week– They tried to tell us we were still under contract–not true.
Since then there have been an average of 4 to 5 phone calls DAILY, its not noon and they’ve called twice today! This has gone on for a week. These are poor slobs probably working for commission trying to talk us into taking a new deal with them! They’ll cut the cost–etc..
Most of the time the callers hang up if I pick up the phone–sometimes they go ahead and talk–but I tell them not to call, I’ve asked to talk to a supervisor–to no avail.. they will not stop calling us! Good grief!!!
NORMA | Apr 14, 2009 | Reply
I have had DirecTV for a year now and am stuck with another year of their lousy service. Every little rain or wind knocks the satellite out and you have to wait until it recycles before you can watch anything. this usually takes about 20 minutes each time. i’ve had the DVR and one other box go out and they wanted to charge me $19.95 each for shipping a new one to replace their defective one. I told them to cancel the one and i’d go without service in the extra bedroom. They did finally agree to send me another DVR without the shipping charge. Their customer service waiting time is horrible!!!! i can’t wait to go back to cable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What ever you do - don’t ever subscribe to DirecTV!!! You’ll regret it.
david | Apr 14, 2009 | Reply
I cannot wait to go back to cable either. Free repair, free boxes, no contract, no weather-related outtages. Cannot wait.
r.j. | Apr 18, 2009 | Reply
directv is the worst company ive ever delt with. and im 48 !! dont want to waist my time to tell you all that ive gone thru. just dont get directv. but david it sounds like you “ARE” the cable company.
Ivy | May 1, 2009 | Reply
When you ask for credits from directv, just make sure you deserve them! Pay your past dues & make sure you make payments before the cut off date to avoid service interruptions. The CSR’s are working day & night from all corners of the globe just to serve you yet all you do is curse us & demand not just to get undeserved credits but escalate your calls to our supervisors thinking that if you do, your demands will automatically given. Did you even read the service agreement before you sign it? Better yet, just stick on to your local stations & be contented if you got so much to say about us! Racist!
david | May 1, 2009 | Reply
Wow. Yes. We are all racists because of the horrible customer service at DirecTV. That is a new one I hadn’t heard.
woof | May 22, 2009 | Reply
Bought my directv kit in 1999, put it together myself, aligned the dish, called
the number in the instructions to get the receiver turned on then kicked back with a
brewski. They even gave me access to every
channel for a week at no extra charge. A few years ago, I upgraded to HD. They came to my house replaced the dish and set up the new receiver. My experience both over the phone and in person has been exceptional. They get a Bravo Zulu from me.
Wood | May 24, 2009 | Reply
When you sign up for any NEW Equipment from Directv now ,YOU AUTOMATICALLY SIGN UP TO LEASE THE EQUIPMENT; plus the addendum ALSO REQUIRES YOU TO BE SUBJECT TO FORCED ARBITRATION.
YOU GIVE UP YOUR LEGAL RIGHT TO SUE THEM.
ALL NEW DVR’s are UP FRONT PAID LEASES ***
EVEN IF YOU PAY 169 (COSTCO), 199 Best BUY YOU DO NOT OWN THEM & the EQUIPMENT ISSUED is LEASED AS IS. THERE IS NO WARRANTY.
YOU MUST PAY THEM FOR A WARRANTY NOW CALLED their PROTECTION PLAN @ 6.00 a Month.
THis is WHy Direct TV has been bought by LIBERTY MEDIA ; its BIG BUSINESS NOW & BIG MONEY.
YOU ARE FINANCING THE CEO of LIBERTY MEDIA’s CORPORATE JET.. My Advice tou you is to Do what I did.. GET the BEST OTA Antenna for HDTV ; Bought A BLU RAY PLAYER & Got a SUBSCRIPTION to NETFLIX.
NOT GOINT TO PAY $100 a MONTH FOR TV. THEY CAN’T TALK FAST ENUF…
~ PLUS the NEW DVR’s DIRECTV HAS DONT LET U RECORD PPV movies but for only 24 hours; then they DELETE them off the Receiver. Plus you cant Move the DVR to another room in your house or to your vacation house and play what you recorded.It must remained hooked up to the original SAT DISH to which it was installed!!!~ They Don’t tell you these things before you get one..BTW Don’t get the AUTO PAY.. They will screw U so fast it will take a year to get it cut off (or you will have to change Banks) JMHO Had Directv for 15 years.. but no more…
Steve K | May 27, 2009 | Reply
I had Directv service 3 years ago. I was signed up for automatic payments, which meant they charged my credit card on the day the statement was issued, not on the due date. That always bothered me a little, but I let it go. When I moved, I assumed that I would get the option to use their well-publicized free moving plan. However, they said I didn’t qualify and they wanted to charge me a $200 fee, that they would give back in $5 statement credits. I asked for an explanation and they could offer none. It seemed that they didn’t care to even attempt to keep me as a customer, despite the fact that I paid on time and order NFL Ticket.
A year later I tried to get service at a new apartment. It ended up being impossible because of line of sight issues. They refunded the equipment costs, but never refunded my first month services fees. I made numerous calls over the next three months. Each time they said that the refund was in process and that I should see the check in a couple of weeks. They also would frequently say, please don’t call back for another month. I was charged in July for service I never received, and was not refunded my money until October when I threatened to bring it up to my credit card company.
Now for some reason I don’t quite understand, I want to try to get Directv again, but it appears they have no interest in my business. First, they won’t let former customers get the deals listed on the website. When I called up, they wanted to charge me $99 for the HD DVR receiever, not the free offer that the website listed. I was annoyed and said I needed to think about it. When I called back, I was told that there was no discount on the HD DVR and I would have to pay the full $199 price.
I was told that there is some code on my account that restricts me from getting better deals. Perhaps it is retribution for my complaining about the moving special, or the fact that they didn’t refund my money for three months. That hadn’t really occured to me until I read some of the comments here.
If Directv didn’t have the exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, then I would have no interest in it. I always thought they paid all that money, so they could get people to switch to their service, but it seems that they don’t really want some customers.
david | May 27, 2009 | Reply
That’s quite a story Steve…it’s amazing how bad customer service can be, no?
NOTW | May 31, 2009 | Reply
I find it amazing to read about so many “additional” unsatisfied customers. I was feeling like the only one. I have had an ongoing issue with my payment being removed from my account and applied to someone else’s. It’s been 5 months now and the problem have yet to be resolved. They are idiots and I hate that I have been tricked into a contract with these people.
M.C. | Jun 2, 2009 | Reply
Sadly I have had nothing but problems since I signed up in Nov 08. I’ve called probably twenty times, since I never got my first billing statement that had the “rebate” information that I was never told about when I signed up, I never got the deal I was promised. It’s been a call center transfer nightmare! I actually, today, sent an email to: chase.carey@directv.com their CEO and got a call back to finally offer me a resolution. The woman I spoke to said I had no calls logged until the end of March!! I have been actually been calling since January when I cancelled their movie channels, and placed that call back in March, when it apparently wasn’t done! Last month I was offered a ten dollar credit for the next year, never saw it on my bill and called today.. The CR said “I see where they offered it to you but it says you declined.” Definitely not! Lies on top of lies on top of more lies! The woman that called me said that the credits were never issued and she was unable to apply it to my account so she just gave me a 120$ lump refund.
It’s sad when a company is paying for customer service reps who don’t do their jobs. I’ve worked at call centers and I know they’re able to do a lot more than they’ll admit to. Not buying it!
If you’ve exhausted all other channels, place emails to people higher up in the company but do it in a nice way, they’re usually more apt to get something done for you.
Dave | Jun 10, 2009 | Reply
We canceled our service with DTV only to be contacted by a retention specialist. They offered us $100 to stay but we said no. We’ve since gotten a bill for $100 and they told us that we accepted the $100 and therefore did not cancel. We told them to pull up the “This phone call is being recorded for quality assurance” to prove that we turned down the offer and they said they couldn’t do it. They said, according to our records you said yes. I told them that this is a flat out lie and what kind of BS operation and scam are they trying to run on people. Stay away from these people at all costs!!!
Bob | Jun 24, 2009 | Reply
I recently purchased two Ethernet Powerstrip Adapters from DirecTV to enable DirecTV on Demand, received them Monday, installed Monday night successfully, tested download speed Tuesday night (very slow!) and decided today to return the equipment to DirecTV. After talking to several CSR’s and a Supervisor I was told DirecTV has a strict policy not to provide refunds on equipment returns. I can’t believe they have such an unfriendly customer policy. There is nothing wrong with this equipment and it is brand new, it just did not perform as advertised. Any one else run into a similar situation? I plan to return the equipment anyways and dispute the charge on my credit card.
Betty Yake | Jun 27, 2009 | Reply
I have read numerous posts on 3 separate websites about all the problems with Directv.
I HAVE numerous misgivings myself, many of which have already been posted by others.
In addition to the problems posted already, I have some which I have not seen on the posts of others that I have read.
I cannot understand how this company continues to operate. Its’ days surely must be numbered.
I am a new customer, just signed on in the last 2 weeks. I am so VERY SORRY that I made such a mistake. My problems with this company are so numerous that I do not wish to elaborate with such a lengthy post; however, sadly, this post is extremely lengthy anyway because of the depth of the problems involved. My Directv nightmare began just 13 days ago. WHAT A MESS! These people are con artists. I see where someone is wanting for people to sign on for a class action lawsuit for the early termination fee problem. This would be a good thing, provided it was with a reputable lawyer: I have no idea if that is the case. However, the problem of them injecting themselves into peoples bank accounts and charge card accounts has not been much mentioned. It is their charging whatever, whenever they so choose, without consent of the customer that is the major concern of mine.
My contract is for 2 years. I read it. Okay, I am stuck for 24 months. Don’t like it, won’t bite again.
I originally thought that because this company had been doing business for so long that they were reputable. As it turns out, they do have (lately) quite a reputation all right. I did not check until AFTER I had run into all those problems, to see the massive complaints. I was not forewarned, and therefore, was easily duped. Keep in mind that unscrupulous business practices run their course: their ability to do so has a time limit; the word is getting out, albeit in a painfully slow manner.
One way to deal with some of the charging problems is to keep a close eye on it. You can do that by signing onto your account online and checking it frequently. And calling every time there is an unwarranted charge. And, then, continuing to sign on and check for the next debit or credit event posted. This way, you can call them every time you get ripped off. Take the name of the person you are speaking to, note the date and time of the conversation, and what was said. Those people will tell you that they are crediting your account: give them only 4 hours before you log on to your account to see if they lied. It could take 4 hours for you to see the credit. Yes, they will either lie to you or only follow through part way and drop the ball. Using the internet will give you eyes into what they are doing to/for/against you.
In my experience, most of them talk sweetly and friendly enough. But when you hang up the phone, they have either taken no action that will give results, or they have taken the wrong action which will give further damage to the ulcer they have already caused you to develop.
And in parting, I must tell you all that I had Dish for 3 years: never a problem of any sort whatsoever.
The monthly bill just crept up and up and up. I was up to around seventy some odd dollars per month and I am retired and on a fixed income: my income does not go up and up. I called them and they cut HD and they cut some other item that we do not use and were able to drop the monthly down by $20. But, even so, the bill was still about $55 something per month. Then I ran into the touted $29.99 that Directv was advertising and we bit on that bait. That package did NOT work with the viewing equipment that we had which was actually a large screen HD computer monitor. How would we know? We are not knowledgeable about such. Nobody ever asked us about our viewing equipment. Our awareness began when the installer showed up and that is when the nightmare began. He put me on the cell phone with a woman that was very hostile and quite surprised me. The experience was shocking and horrid. In the end, she had a vendetta against me and so to get me back for telling her that I would not pay for something that we already bought and owned, she tacked on a charge to my account (against my charge card) unbeknownst to me and not stated by herself a charge for an extra receiver. Now we live in a very small cottage (only one bedroom) have only one television, can never have more than that, but that charge posted against my charge account for the second receiver which never existed. This is not a real thing, it is only something that those people on the other end of the phone line do to/against you to harass and hurt you. It was malicious and intended. I still do not have my credit back, even after 3 telephone calls to 3 different customer service reps. I need to tell you that the installer was a good man and had no part in the problem, I like him very much and he did a very good job. The problem was with the woman on the other end of the telephone line, she was an evil and malicious person. She had umbrage because I was taken aback about the receiver which hubby had “purchased” 3 years prior and paid $100 for and which she was claiming belonged to Directv. Three years is a long time and now I needed to dig back into historical records and she was demanding an answer immediately. I was not there at the time of purchase, I needed to retrieve the records, she was extremely impatient with it.
In the end, I called BestBuy and they told me that the box was not “sold” to hubby, but was just a rental charge and did, in fact, actually belong to Directv. Now, there is many a man who could have explained that, but instead, I got this awful and hateful woman who explained nothing and just lashed out at me. We never used it, because we subscribed to Dish and never had need of it. All of a sudden there was a vehement woman on the other end of the line telling me that we had to pay rental on that equipment. What a shock! Right then, I knew that I was about to be ripped off, I was very upset about it. Also, whatever happened to that $100 “rental” fee for something that was never utilized? This is robbery. BestBuy are also tricksters, they never made it clear that was a rental, they came on like it was his, like he bought it. I am appalled at these tactics. Also, that advertisement said that there would be no charge for equipment, and now, all of a sudden, in the midst of getting hooked up, there was to be an unexpected charge for rental of equipment that we thought that we had purchased.
There is trickery here: BestBuy is guilty and Directv is also guilty. They both share in this guilt.
I do not care; if I had a choice, I would personally deliver this equipment to either one of them. It is the scam that I object to. They are both guilty of this scam. If I had a choice, I would immediately do whatever necessary to cut off all communications with the both of them and simply forget about them both. But they have hooked us, roped us in, and the law is not protecting us from their scams.
If I could backtrack just 2 weeks: Dish never tricked me, never lied to me, always gave me good service. My only problem was finances: I was trying to cut down on the budget expense. I would go back to Dish in a heartbeat, if I only had the opportunity to do so. Now, because of the scam, I cannot go back to Dish for 24 months. The button punching required to use and change channels with Directv is so much work and so user unfriendly, I will be counting the days in the full 24 months in eager anticipation of going back to Dish. Dish was so easy to use, it was so free of problems. I now feel so estranged.
Today marks a very new age in my life: we have now backtracked into an age that our ancestors knew, and we are all getting an education into the world that they warned us about.