Starting several months ago, Direct TV tried to charge me additional fees for continued service after my contract had expired.
I told them verbally, and in writing, that I would not pay anymore than the last negotiated price, with no reduction in service.

I gave them the option to cancel my service. They continued to bill me for the additional amount, where I would call, or write to notify them to either pick up their equipment and discontinue service, or honor the prior agreement.

They tried to get $180 additional funds out of me Tuesday, and when I refused to the demand, the said they would have some one in retention call me.
Instead, they simply cut off my service, after they just received my payment for this coming month's service.

I just spent 2.5 hours retelling this story to over 7 Direct TV representatives. After dumped calls, and much repetition, I dialed "The President's Office at 310-964-5000. This resulted in a contact with a pleasant woman who told me I could hang up with the other folks(on my other phone line) at Direct TV who had had me on hold/standby for over 45minutes on that particular round. She assured me that she was the end of the line, and that a resolution and final result would end with her, at the "President's Office!".

I re-explained the details of situation, and she remained very attentive, and seemed to be understanding.
She stated that the expired agreement required that if I made any payment towards any Bill, that action would make that increase acceptable regardless of my repeated objections to the increase and refusal to pay the increase. That rolled forward into a revised balance, approximately $100.00 off from what i had ever agreed to.

Yet, after not being able to negotiate a reasonable package for my $66.16 per month I had previously agreed to; she (ever so politely) threatened to charge my credit card for their perceived remaining balance due (infact they owe me a credit). I informed her, that I did not have a valid credit card on file with them, and her demeanor changed from that strategy.

We then agreed that there was not a resolution; and she still maintained that I owed the balance in question, and I maintained that I was due the payment I had sent in, plus a reconciliation of the overcharges still reamining on my account.

She said that i was responsible for the payment, and that she would send return boxes out for the equipment.

I told her I would not be returning the equipment until I got a satisfactory and fair balance reconciliation. She said i would be additionally be billed for equipment.

I told her that they would not be getting the equipment from me, but that I would take the equipment, and the boxes to either the Local Justice of the Peace, or Sheriff's Office, whichever entity was most appropriate to file my complaint with.

We agreed that there remained a chasm in our understanding.

She called back a few minutes later offering a package with similar, albeit a few less channels for slightly less than what I had been paying. I told her I though t that was reasonable, as far as plans go, but would not accept any contract, and wanted my balance to be paid in full through this coming month's billing cycle.

She agreed to make the adjustment, and pro-ration to reflect our new agreement, and we both agreed that any price increase would have to be pre-authorized, and that if I did not accept the increase, that I would simply request a disconnect. (I did this with the initial price increase, yet continued to receive service, and no adjustment to my account.

I have no doubt that if I had a credit card on file, I would have not been given this "concession", or in my assessment nearly fair treatment, after several hours invested.

The Woman at the President's office was no doubt a skilled negotiator dealing with my principled Brick Wall.
The "policies" of Direct TV are probably no more pompous, or unilateral than most pig headed Corporations.

I am offering this, not to blow smoke at my own negotiating abilities, but to provide others some hope as to resolving problems with Direct TV. I wish to assure you, it is probably not you if you are getting the run around from them.

I also believe it is high time that we all start quoting more of our own policies to them, and be very careful as to how you trust Direct TV or any other Business with Credit card information. When they have all the cards, you become the servant, not the customer.

John L.
Texas

I ordered direct tv service last month in the middle of the conversation I asked the sales rep. to give me an installation date, because depending ont he date you give me i dont want you to chare my card.He said ok i wont after giving me a date i told him that was too long and he charged me anyway $220 thats goona take 2 months for me to receive back in a dispute.

After they took an unauthorized withdrawal of too much money.
Their system for reimbursement of funds is outrageous. They have been holding almost 700.00 dollars of my money for 28 days and will not release it 2 days early I am a heart patient and a diabetic and can not get my hear medication refilled. One being Plavix another Diovan and the other is Metoprolol and Metforman. I call to see if they would make an exception of a couple of days because my meds run out on the 25th of this month and they have most of my money on hold. They tell you it could take up to 30 days but that is not true they wont even consider it until the 30 days are up then you have to wait another 3 to 5 days for it to go through. The only reason I can figure it would take so long is they want to collect interest on your money before they decide to give it back. No consideration for peoples health. The service will be up in Jan and you can believe it will be canceled them and all receivers returned promptly. Never again will I deal with people like this. The service was turned on for my daughter its not even mine and they told her to have someone turn it on for her to avoid a deposit. She got laid off and she requested that they suspend her service for a while until she could find another job and in stead this was Direct TV's answer to the problem. Take it out on me and hold my money or almost 700.00 for 30 days so I can not refill my heart meds.
Do not trust them they do lie to you there is no up to 30 days it is a flat 30 days before they will even consider giving you your reimbursement of your money.

this is a copy of my email sent to the ceo of direct tv

PLEASE, I NEED YOUR HELP ON THIS

I am new to your service and I was treated beyond awfully!!! to be honest with you, I was treated more like...SHIT! this treatment came from your customer service reps; your installation tech; some jerk supervisor; and a "new installations" rep!!! they all were ganging up on me and hiding behind their "regulations" blanket instead of fixing an error that was caused by a direct tv tech in the first place! I was even willing to pay, yet again, for this issue to be corrected and done right. I had to pay for a previous installation mess-up that your direct tv tech had done when I first had your service installed.


PLEASE REVIEW THE TAPINGS ON MY CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR DIRECT TV C/S REPS TO VERIFY

I had new service installed.
my house is pre wired with cable outlets leading to an existing direct tv dish
the tech set up two boxes in two rooms connecting both to my pre wired cable outlets
the third box, he said that he couldn't find the cable outlet so he ran HIS own cable through MY FLOOR!!!
in order to make his new design work, he disabled one of my bedrooms and connected HIS cable in its place
HE DID NOT TELL ME THAT HE DISABLED ONE OF MY BEDROOMS IN ORDER TO MAKE HIS STUPID, NEEDLESS CABLE TO WORK!!!
I called direct tv c/s and had another tech come out and fix his complete SCREW UP!!!
I HAD TO PAY FOR THIS CORRECTION!!! I HAD TO PAY FOR HIM TO REMOVE THE CABLE FROM MY FLOOR AND RECONNECT IT TO THE EXISTING OUTLET!
and you know what? the damn cable outlet that he said he "couldn't find" WAS ONLY THREE FEET AWAY FROM HIS OWN STUPID CABLE!!!
ALSO, THE CABLE COMING FROM THE FLOOR WAS ALMOST HALF WAY IN THE MIDDLE OF MY DOORWAY!!!
Latter on: I went to move one of my cable boxes to my bedroom
that's how I found out that he disabled my bedroom outlet!
I called your customer service and scheduled a tech to come out and re-connect my bedroom that this tech disabled
ONCE AGAIN, I AGREED TO PAY FOR THIS TO BE FIXED!
the customer service rep entered the order wrong. apparently he entered it as a "service call" rather than an "install"
so, that same tech that screwed up my bedroom first place, came out to work on this order. he looks around and says he can't do anything because the order reads incorrectly.
WHAT!!! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT BECAUSE THE ORDER WAS ONE WORD OFF THAT HE CANNOT DO ANYTHING? what is he, a robot that needs to be pre programmed?
your customer service rep said that because the order was entered wrong, the tech "wouldn't know what to do..." YOU GOT TO BE SHITTIN' ME!!!
OF COURSE HE WOULD "KNOW WHAT TO DO.." BECAUSE HE'S THE ONE WHO MESSED IT UP IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!
So the guy leaves without fixing HIS screw-up
I call customer service and ask them to send him back in order to complete his job that I am paying for!!
at first they agreed and tried to call him...hours past, so I call again. another c/s rep said that he would have a supervisor call me...
I got a call from the tech's supervisor and he totally understood what I was needing and what his employee had incorrectly done
he said that he was gonna try to get a hold of him and have him come back today.
hours pass
more hours pass
I call your customer service again...and now the shitty treatment begins.
quickly I notice how each person that I talk to starts to indirectly blame me for "entering the wrong type of service" in the order
one rep said that I personally ordered the service wrong..WTF?!!! HOW IN HELL AM I GONNA PLACE AN INCORRECT ORDER????? I DON'T WORK THERE!!!
LOOK, I CALL YOUR C/S DEPARTMENT; I TELL THEM WHAT I NEED; THEY ENTER IT; AND THAT'S THAT!
again, the c/s rep tells me that a supervisor will call me back...he does and all he tells me is that direct tv did everything by the book and all the regulations were followed
he keep getting in an argument w/ me about how he and his "people" always comply w/ Colorado laws and regulations...he kept hiding behind his code blanket and...
NOT ONCE DID HE TRY TO GET THE TECH BACK TO FIX THE TECH'S INITIAL F-UP!!! HE KEPT TALKING OVER ME AND QUOTING COLORADO CODE as scripture!!!
HE KEPT TELLING ME THAT IT WAS NOT "THEIR FAULT AND NOT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO FIX ANYTHING THAT HAS GONE WRONG"
HE KEPT SAYING THAT "YOU NEVER HAD A BOX IN YOUR BEDROOM IN THE FIRST PLACE, RIGHT? SO, IT'S NOT OUR JOB TO ENSURE THAT EVERY OUTLET WAS WORKING..."
GOD DAMN IT!!! THAT'S NOT THE DAMN ISSUE!!! Whether I had a box or not in my bedroom is TOTALLY irrelevant (sp)!!! THE GUY DISABLED MY OUTLET!!!
I tried to explain to this supervisor jerk who was more worried about liability than correcting an error, that the room was disabled by your tech when it shouldn't have been!!!
of course, he kept arguing w/ me about, what? Colorado codes
this jerk puts me on a three-way-call with yet another direct tv c/s rep. and of course, they stick together and gang up on me defending their tech's work and stating that I was at fault for this mess
the woman rep said that when a tech leaves "all sales are final" and that I accept full responsibility with the work done
she even said that the tech "explained to you what he did with your bedroom outlet...before he left" . WTF?!!!
HOW IN HELL DOES THIS WOMAN KNOW WHAT THE TECH TOLD ME OR DIDN'T TELL ME? SHE WASN'T AT MY HOUSE WHEN THE TECH SCREWED UP MY CABLE WIRING!!!
I DIDN'T SEE HER IN MY KITCHEN AS HE LEFT!
SHE CAN'T JUST ASSUME THAT CONVERSATION TOOK PLACE BETWEEN ME AND THE TECH...!
FOR THAT MATTER, THE TECH NEVER TOLD ME THAT HE DISABLED THE FRONT BEDROOM!!! HE NEVER OFFERED A WALK THROUGH TO SHOW ME HIS FINAL JOB!!!
I FOUND OUT ON MY OWN ABOUT MY BEDROOM BEING DISABLED AND LATTER ON ABOUT THE CABLE COMING FROM THE FLOOR!!!
So she and this jerk supervisor get into an actual argument with me about how, once again, direct tv techs follow "Colorado code and laws..." and again, WTF?!!!
I cut them off and said "...look, I just want you to send someone out here to fix this guys screw-up! that's all I want!" I just want you to re-connect what he disconnected in the first place/...THAT'S ALL
So finally she agrees to send someone out...but then...she says, "we want payment up front" OH MY GOD!!! WHAT?
THIS WOMAN SAYS THAT SHE WON'T SEND SOMEONE OUT TO MY HOUSE, TO FIX THIS IDIOT'S ERRORS AND MISTAKES, UNLESS I DISH OUT MONEY FIRST!!!
SHE SAID IT'S "POLICY" THAT "WE GET PAID UP FRONT"
If that's so, then why wasn't I charged up front when the other tech came out to fix the cable coming out of my floor?
I mean, we order cinnn movies and they are always added to the bill, anything we add on, another box, additional channels, all are added to the bill...
so, in the end, my bedroom is still disabled, the jerk supervisor and the rude woman c/s rep win...and I get nothing but shat on!!!


this has been the worst experience ever!!! I haven't posted this on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or w/ my local news channels until you had a chance to help me w/ this issue, and help me get this whole mess fixed


Raymond LEYBA

3091 Renshaw St

Strasburg, CO 80136

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 58578522
720 249-7155

720 422-1103

Stay away from Direct TV!! They are scam artists and they did the same thing to us. They quoted us one price over the phone and our first bill was triple (3X) the price they quoted over the phone!! When I called them they told me I should have read the contract. When I asked "what contract", they said the one I signed after the installer completed the installation. I told them I thought it was a work-order they said I should have read the fine type on the back. I was then charged $450.00 for early termination. That was over 2 years ago and I am still receiving phone calls and letters from Collection Agencies. My credit was over 800 points before this incident and it has since dropped over 100 points because of this one issue with Direct TV. Stay away fom them unless you have extyra money to burn.