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!
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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.