DIRECTV Unneccesary installation charges, poor customer care, Internet
My wife and I contacted DIRECTV to add another HD DVR to our account. We have been customers for almost four years and have never been late with a payment. Imagine our shock when we were told that we would have to pay over $300 up front to add another receiver! Add to that the fact there is a $50 installation charge (we are more than capable of plugging in the receiver and connecting the cable to the back of the t.v. set).
DIRECTV shows absolutely no customer appreciation (most other companies would add the cost of the receiver to your bill), and they are quick to apply unnecessary charges (installation for plugging in a box).
DIRECTV management is shielded by employees that will not route your call beyond a first level supervisor, and by being shielded in this way, they cannot be expected to answer for poor customer service and/or customer care.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Carie
San Diego,California,
U.S.A.
Some Reading Material
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, November 21, 2010
Imagine my shock, when I read your complaint and headed to the Directv website and found this:
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/equipment/hd_dvr_receiver
An HDDVR for $199, not $300. They also will ship it to me for free.
As far as the installation charges, $50 does seem a little high to "plug it in", but that may not be the case for all subscribers. Do you have a SWM system (where only 1 cable is required for a DVR to function properly)? If not, the technician will need to run a 2nd cable = time and $$. Are you putting the HDDVR in a new room? If so again time and $$ to run the cabling. Are you expanding beyond the initial limits of your system (i.e. more than 4 tuners)? In that case a multiswitch would be needed ($60-100), however that is provided at no charge to you.
So what you consider unnecessary charges, may be in fact, necessary. If all you need to do is plug in a HDDVR, by all means order it off their website.
I just don't want to see the post "Directv wants me to pay to install their equipment"