Complaint Review: Direct TV - Memphis Tennessee

I hooked up with Direct TV on May 16, 2003 getting the two receiver deal that was available at the time. The activation contract stated that I needed to have service for one year or I'd be charged a disconnect fee or I could ship Direct TV back their equipment. On November 6 2003 I upgraded and added TIVO service at a cost to me of $100.00 for the equipment and $15.00 service fee. Even though I paid full price for the new equipment and no added wires or hardware were needed for the hook up I again needed to keep the new TIVO activated for a year or be charged (they missed two previous appointments before reluctantly showing for this one). Once again it also said that I could contact Direct TV and ship the receiver back to them instead of making this payment.

In late May 2004 I was told by the company I work for that I was going to Temporarily (for a period of around a year or longer) be relocated out of state. I decided to rent out my house and disconnect all extra services. When I contacted Direct TV and told them of my situation they told me that I would be charged for the remaining time on my TIVO equipment (their dish mover program would not work in my case). I then reminded them about the clause in the contract for sending back the equipment to them. After checking with his supervisor the customer service rep told me that I did qualify for this and transferred me to the office that handled this procedure. The woman I talked to there told me that she would ship me empty boxes with pre-paid shipping labels for the equipment and I needed to package all three of my receivers, the smart cards and the remotes. She said that I needed to take care of this ASAP and she would call me back after I received the empty boxes to offer any assistance I might need. She said she did not want or need the dish itself and added that she hoped I would hook up with them again when I returned. Doing this would waive any cancellation charges. Sending them the TIVO made sense but the two original receivers seemed excessive since I had satisfied the one year contract on them. Nevertheless I agreed to fulfill all their requirements.

On Friday June 18, 2004 the empty boxes arrived via FedEx. They were well put together with enough bubble wrap for all the receivers and remotes, tape for the boxes, pre-paid shipping labels and an instruction sheet. I packaged all recovers, remotes and smart cards, properly attached the shipping labels, called FedEx and they arrived the following Monday morning June 21, 2004 and took the packages. I tracked the shipments through FedEx and observed that the packages arrived at Direct TV's shipping and receiving department in Memphis, TN on Wednesday morning June 23, 2004 and were signed for by a R. McKnight. Everything seemed to have worked very well with this being the very definition of timely on my part.

However, one week later on June 30, 2004 I got a message on my answering machine from a Maggie who worked for Direct TV Customer Care saying they did not receive the packages yet even though their records showed I had received the empty boxes. They left this number 1-866-587-3850 asked me to call them if I had encountered any problems. She also said she would call me back in a couple of days and check on this again. I called them back immediately and got their voice mail. I left a detailed message telling them who I was, all my vital details and the details of the shipment and asked them to return my call. I called them back several times (including today) and each time I only got this voice mail. I thought/hoped they had corrected the situation but then I checked my credit card balance on line and noticed a new $50.00 charge from Direct TV dated July 19, 2004 almost two months after I disconnected service.

When I called to complain I was told that this was a cancellation charge. I told the rep of my situation and she took down all my information and promised that it would be sent to the appropriate department for resolution. She said this would take less than a week. She (nor anyone else) can seem to tell me why I got charged when I fully complied with their procedures and returned all the equipment to them. It's now been two weeks and still no answer from Direct TV.

This whole thing seems rather cheesy. First thing is why I'd need to do a year commitment on equipment that I fully paid for? Second is why offer the return of equipment offer in writing if it's not really an option? Why have me send them back their equipment and then charge me the $50.00 cancellation fee..And then hope that when I returned to my house that I'd hook up with them again? Why do this to a good customer who always paid his bills on time and had their top of the line Premier Package the whole time? My final concern is what will keep Direct TV from adding more charges to my credit card account in the future?

I will be disputing the charge on my credit card but no matter what the outcome there I'll never use their service again and will use whatever forum I can to publicize what a dishonest company they really are.

Patrick

Ferndale, Washington
U.S.A.

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