AT&T Direct TV The absurdity of this policy is beyond comprehension Rochester Nationwide
My housemate moves out, and I now want to get a direct TV account in my name, after he cancels the current account in his name.
Because I have lived in the house for a number of years while his Direct TV account was active, AT&T will not allow me to open a new account in my name at the same address. This, according to them, is because "I benefited from their service while I was a resident at this address, and in order to open a new account in your name at that same address, the current account must be canceled for two years before your new account can be opened"
Now, if you just said "what?", you had the same reaction as me.
"so, let me get this straight" I said, "if I lied to you, and said I was a new tenant just moving in to this address, I could get a new Direct TV account in my name, but because I have established a long term residency here, I am not able to get the same account as I could if just moved in five minutes ago?"
"Yes Sir, that is our policy"
"So, what your telling me is, rather than taking my money every month for the next two years of the required contract, you want me to hang up the phone, cancel the current account, and call your competition, Dish network, and give them my money for the next two years. Am I really understanding you correctly?"
"Sir, as I stated, AT&T, and Direct TV cannot allow you to secure new service at your current address for the next two years."
Dear AT&T, your policy is beyond ridiculous, and you have ensured one thing; I will never buy ANY AT&T product, or service. Rather than try to negotiate a new price (your customer retention dept. called me after the fact) to keep the current Direct TV service in place, I will in fact cancel it. I will also share this enlightening customer service experience on every consumer complaint website I can find.