they tried to charge me several times for nfl sunday ticket without my consent. i spent hours on the phone trying to work it out multiple times. they would not credit the money back to my credit card and instead kept it and i had to work it off my bill. they said there were no options.

here is how i dealt with direct tv:
-skip calling them initially.. too aggravating - you'll spend hours like i did.
-followed them on twitter first and then announced my complaint with them regarding unauthorized charges on the general twitter stream which resulted in a direct message from them asking for my account number. they didn't call me and i was really pissed so i kept working on this by continuiing with these steps
-first went to the website and clicked on the fcc spot (can't remember what it is called - at bottom of the page) - i recall someone saying they must track these clicks somehow because i got straight through with the next step
-followed someone's advice here who said to keep saying to the automated recording "complaint" in response to their inquiries about which department i wanted to talk to - after the thing on twitter
-filed a complaint with the better business bureau through the website. i did this BEFORE it got resolved on the phone with them and i'm glad i did because they tried to extend my contract based on adding a dvr. i don't want to stick with them any longer than i have to (which was 18 months from the inception of contract) and i'm negotiating that with the better business bureau. i think i'll be successful - it's in process right now. i want out of that contract asap with no penalty and i think they'll settle to get rid of my complaint.
-put a password on your account so no changes can be made by phone at all
-have the representative that you speak to read back your notes - add anything you want clarified and make him read those back too. get his name and badge number and make sure you make a note of it somewhere you can find it should they screw up again.

note: now that i've shared this, if i have another problem with them, i'll go straight to twitter, then go to the website if i don't hear back in 2 hours and click the fcc button, then call and say complaint, then get the rep to read the notes back to me and make sure that they have in them that no changes will be made to my account without my express consent and using the password since i'm the only one who can change it here. it should take 15 minutes instead of hours.

this works - promise.
-got the information to file a complaint with the fcc.
-write an email to the vp with a high priority and read receipt

First complaint- Direct TV debited my checking account on July 31st for equipment they received on July 7th and now my checking account is overdrawn for $461. when I called, they said they cant credit my account back for another 5 days. I never authorized the payment. Second complaint-Direct TV debited my account for final bill before I received the bill and I did not authorize the payment. They did not pro-rate my bill accordingly. Third complaint- George out of Arizona call center #441200 stated it was their error but it was nothing he could do about it. Spoke to his supervisor Paloma #463451 and she said I could not complain to someone above her, there wasnt anyone above her to complain to and unforturnately they could not give me my money back for another 5 business days even though it was their error and they would not pay the bank the over draft fees. This is totally unacceptable, because their equipment was returned in the timeframe that was allotted and now my bank account is grossly overdrawn. I work for Contra Costa County and this is the website my complaints department gave me. Please, please, please help.

After final bill paid and equipt. returned I received a collection letter from CBE Group on behalf of Direct TV for movies that were, according to them, ordered in 2006 but were never billed. What I am wondering is if other customers are aware that even if you have a block on movies and do not have your equiptment hooked up to phone lines that you still can bypass somehow so that they will not show up on your bill until you close your account and they receive your equiptment back. How ever long that is or how ever many movies that were ordered will be sent to collection and you are going to be responsible for the bill or they will report it on your credit report. Did I mention that they said these were adult movies (not sure if they were trying to embarrass me into paying or not). I just think that the consumers should be aware that even though we had a block on movies for just this reason in the end we were billed for movies 4 years later. If this is not illegal at least it is very bad business!

I live in Southwest Arizona. I have been a Direct TV customer for 5 years. When I first signed up for service, I opted for the highest possible channel package they offered. I chose the package based on the pamphlet the installer gave me when he hooked everything up. I am origninally from the East coast, so my favorite sports teams are back east. According to the package I purchased, I was paying to view the NY City news channels, as well as local sport networks, including YES. However, when I tried to view any channel that originates on the east coast, I would get a message on the screen "Channel Not Purchased." So, I called and spoke to customer service, they claimed that east coast channels are only viewable on the east coast. I was told by a SUPERVISOR that "The east coast signal doesn't reach that far west." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It's SATELLITE signal. The physical signal that is transmitted completely covers the continent. IT's JUST LIKE SIRIUS / XM Radio. The ONLY thing that restricts which portion of that signal is viewable is your RECIEVER. Direct TV either transmits the the code telling your box to unlock the channel, or they do not. (Call them and tell them you have moved your dish and receiver to somewhere thousands of miles away and give them a false service address. They will unlock the channels for that region. They'll also cancel your service if they catch wind of this, but I've seen it done. ) The bottom line is this : Direct TV openly advertises channel packages and networks to ALL customers EVERYWHERE, but doesn't allow you to see everything you're paying for. They WILL NOT pro-rate your bill based on their choice to not allow you to view some channels. You cannot cancel your service before the contract ends (not even for this breach of contract on their part) without getting a big bill.
Additionally, if you move before your contract is up, they bill your new address as a "new service, " charge extra install fees, and re-start the calendar on your contract terms. (I went from renting to owning a home and moved one street over and one block down...and am locked in for additional time - even though I hooked all of my boxes up at the new house BY MYSELF.) It makes no difference to them that I had been a customer for 4 years already.
Their channel guide is routinely wrong. On TWO occasions, I ordered a UFC fight in HD by selecting the channel on the guide that advertised the HD verison of the event. Both times, the channel that opened on my screen was NOT HD. Both times I called within 1 minute of the start time demanding that they rectify the situation. The first time it happened, I told the lady exactly what channel I ordered and she claimed that "that's not the HD channel. There's no way the guide would list an HD event on that channel." Basically, even though I was reading the channel information directly from their channel guide, they claimed I was mistaken. Coincidentally, the Direct TV "billing system" that customer service reps access when you call, does not update automatically. In fact it can take up to 24 hours. So, when I called to get the charges reversed (the second time I had the problem), they couldn't do it because there were no charges in the system for them to reverse. So, my guests and I had to watch the event in blurry, non-HD (again). I called the next day and was told "Sir, we can't delete the charges because you did in fact view the program."

Terrible service, no loyalty to long-standing customers, mis-leading channel packages / selective delivery of services paid for. Oh...and the $199 dollars I paid for my HD DVR box at hook-up (and the monthly equipment "rental fee" to keep that box) don't count for shit. In the end, they get it back or they charge even more $$. When you're the biggest company on the block, I guess it pays to bully everyone because you already know the competition is worse.

They screw you out of money promising they are the best, but they don't keep there word the cost is riduculous i wanted to switch companies