Complaint Review: Directv

Beware when doing business with this company!

I was a loyal customer to Directv until they locked me into a contract without my knowledge. Yes that is right, without my consent or knowledge.

My service started in January 2005. I liked the idea of owning the equipment and having no commitments. The service was fairly good and I will say that I was pleased. In December of 2007, my DVR experienced intermittant 'freeze -ups'. I called the Directv service department and explained the problem to them. They suggested that the best way to get this resolved would be for them to send me a replacement 'refurbished' DVR. I asked about cost, and was told there would be no cost. I was pleased by this resolution. In two days my system was up and running again!

Shortly there-after, I went to Best-Buy and bought an additional 'standard' receiver, called Directv and activated this box. (Was required to pay an addtional $5.00 per month, but this seemed reasonable.)

Now comes the distressing bit. In the course of a followup call to inquire about service changes, it was brought to my attention that I was now under a contractual committment for 2 years! I explained to them that I had never agreed to any contractual committments; that I had never signed or agreed to any such thing!

I was told that I agreed to this because sometime in March of 2006 they included some sort of flyer in a bill that committed me to this! This is ridiculous... I have no recollection of this... I would not agree to these types of contracts!

It gets worse. Remeber the box that I purchased for about $100 at Best-Buy, well... they informed me that I did not own this box! I was told that I paid for an upfront 'lease fee' and that if I discontinue service, I would need to pay some big fee for not returning the box! The $5.00 per month is supposedly for the programming that I am getting.... not for the box.??

Oh yes, one more thing... the original DVR that I had was owned by me. When their service department sent a replacement unit as a means to 'repair' my broken unit... not only was I placed under a 2 year contract with penalty clauses, but I also lost ownership of the DVR. This replacement DVR must also be shipped back to them in the event of contract termination... or a substantial fee would be assessed. (By the way, I have no idea what this threatened fee is.. since I have never seen this supposed... 'policy' that they refer to!

I had asked to speak to someone in a management position within Directv, the customer service supervisor refused to provide me with any type of contact information. I suggested that I had no intention of discontinuing service prior to learning about all these surprise 'policy changes' that I was unaware of, and questioned how I could be committed to something that I didn't even know existed... They told me that it was my problem that I never received their policy change letter!

I still have a difficult time believeing that a company could operate like this in this day and age!

Disappointed directv customer
Wilmington, North Carolina
U.S.A.