Complaint Review: DirectV - Internet

As before, as in the title of this complaint, I briefly mentioned it without giving specifics in conjunction with a complaint I filed with commission junction.

I ordered a dish and service from DirecTV through an affiliate link I had obtained from Commission junction (cj.com), as a publisher...They, DirecTV, offered reduced rates as a way to lure you into a contract of one year at that reduced rate that would automatically increase to the full normal monthly rate after the one year has expired.... 

 In the case of the offer I signed up for via the internet through their site, it was 180 channels with 3 month free premium channels that would expire after three months that, if you wanted to keep, would have to pay extra for above and beyond the special introductory offer... that, was supposed to honored by them for a period of a year, with no increase of the monthly rate back to the normal monthly rate, till a year later, after your special introductory discounted rate expired.

That offer included the following:

And, Oh by the way, before going into the details ;  I will give you a link to the complaint I filed about CJ.Com with you so you can get the info on that as a lead in to the aforementioned which I felt inclined to expound upon since these greedy big companies don't have a clue as to how some of the people they hire are either left out of the loop, incompetent at their job or just don't give a rats a*s about resolving legitimate complaints from consumers.

Here is that link

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Department-Outlet-Stores/CJ-com/CJ-com-third-party-company-of-3CCCC.htm

And in fact, These Companies seem to ignore  complaints like these and assume the company and the employees that work for them as well as themselves are  infallible from making any mistakes or errors in either honoring of the service promotions they sponsor and what is to be included in their special offers as by the advertising campaigns they run along with the special discounted rates or that they are not supposed to expire till after the end of the introductory special offer time period (usually a year) they used to lure you into a contract with.

First of all, at the time, DirecTV was offering all new customers $50 cash back to you and $50 cash discount to anyone you could refer to DirecTV that ordered the service and became a new customer...

They were also at the time officering the entire $100 to any Publisher that joined Commission Junction (CJ.Com) and obtained a Publisher account through CJ.COM and afterwards applied to DirecTV through their Polisher account "back office" once logged into their CJ.com account as a Publisher... And, if DirecTV viewed your website and approved you as a Publisher after you previously agreed to the terms and conditions of contract they, (DirecTV) offered, at the time of your application to them for affiliation, through CJ.Com as third party, to be approved by them (DirecTV) for an affiliation, would be granted access to text ads and banner ads provided by them (DirecTV) to CJ (Commission Junction) who in tern provided them to you, the publisher, only after having been approved by their client (DirecTV) by giving you access to the text or banner link codes so as to past the links of your choice from the ones offered into your html code of your website as Html or java script...

I put up the DirecTV link on my website and clicked it which took me to DirecTV's website. I decided on a plan, filled out all the forms, even selected a day to have it installed from the days listed available for my area. When I proceeded to the shopping cart to finalize the purchase, DirecTV was asking for my Social Security number so as by their explanation, could check my credit at the credit bureau prior to accepting my debit card payment information... i.e., they had a link that said "Why are we asking for your SS #" ... when I clicked it, they stated they needed it to check my credit... and, that If you declined to provide it, that you would be required to pay a up front $200 deposit to be added to your shopping cart along with the first months lease payment of their satellite service... since I wanted the service and did not want to give out my Social Security Number, I agreed to paying the $200 deposit since I do not give my SS# out to anyone that has no right to be asking for it... especially over the internet... and besides, they had no right to be asking for it...

The special they were offering at the time was 180 channels for  $34.95 a month, normally something like 44.95 per month... Also, there was to be no charge for the equipment and you were to be given free installation... in addition, they were going to give you a 7-inch portable DVD player when you sent in a coupon you were suppose to receive in the mail...

The special was to include some free premium channels for the first three months... Also, to make the deal sweeter, they were offering an additional $100 cash back rebate that could be applied either as a discount on the purchase of a new DVD player should you opt to buy one from them; or,  you could accept the $100 cash back as an additional $10 off each months payment of $34.95 for the first 10 months of the minimum 12 month obligated contract which would  put the payments for the first 10 months at $24.95 then the last two payments of the year at $34.95 and, after 12 months, they would jump up to the normal monthly rate of $44.95 a month.

I opted for the additional $100 cash back so that the first 10 months payments would only be $24.95 instead of purchasing a DVD player. there was no charge for the dish or the receiver or the installation as they said.

Before they even came to install the dish and service a week after I had ordered it on line and paid for the first months rental and $200 deposit since I did not agree to give out my SS# over the internet to them, I logged into my commission junction to see if the $100 commission had posted and to check out some of DirecTV's other banner ads to choose from that would go better on my site then the first one I had placed on my site inwhich I had ordered the dish...

That is when I found that the commission had not posted and, DirecTV was nolonger in my list of affricates so as to select a different banner... I immediately contacted commission junction as to why. they had no answer. they said that I could re-apply to DirecTV for affiliation despite the link DirecTV gave me through commission junction initially was still functional and up on my site from which I had ordered through... I asked them I f would be paid my commission or should I cancel the order and reorder after I reapply and get a new link that would then be in CJ's system for tracking... they said that if they approve me again, there should be no problem and that they should pay me...

I re-applied and was instantly approved... I selected a new banner to replace the banner DirecTV gave me initially that was better both size wise and as far as color contrast for the location in which I placed  it on my site in my directory under satellite TV.

The dish was installed on schedule as initially ordered and it had been a week with no reply as to why the commission had still not posted... As by Contract with DirecTV, commissions will posted will be paid 30 days after dish is installed. As by CJ Commissions and transactions earned will post and be pending for payment until a $50 minimum is reached in total commissions earned before check is sent...

I submitted a  complaint in writing to CJ.com because the $100 commission was not being posted and they got back to me and said that they had contacted DirecTV on my behalf and argued for them to pay me the commission as by contract. They said that DirecTV argued that it was my fault I did not read the fine print and that they were not going to pay me. I was extremely agree because of all the work I put into my site placing over 500 affiliate links with other companies besides DirecTV... and, I wanted to take the link down as I did not want them to get any more sales from me if they were not going to pay me but I realized that I needed the link up as proof I had the affiliation with them and that I had ordered from the link and that I had a commission rightfully due me...

Therefore, I contacted DirecTV and no mater what number I called, nobody knew a thing about the $100 commission offer through CJ.com nor could they provide you with a number to who was in charge of their affiliation with CJ.com as a client...  They did however know about the $50 to you for every new customer you got them as a customer of them by simply referring a friend to a phone number to call and order the dish and providing the one at the other end the account number of their friend who referred them which inturn, they themselves were to get a $50 discount or $50 off their order...

It was before the end of the first month in which I had prepaid the rent of the service and the dish along with the $200 up front deposit (which by the way, they would not of charged me that $200 had I given them my social security number at the time I initially ordered the dish online through my commission link so that they, as they claim, could verify my credit before accepting my credit or debit card payment in the ordering of the service and free installation...), in which I decided to tell them that they will either pay me the $100 commission owed me or they could come pick up their equipment and cancel the service... There attitude was not to resolve the complaint or escalate the complaint up the chain of command for a resolution, but was rather a rhetorical "you want us to cancel the service, fine, I can cancel it today and since tomorrow is the beginning of the next month billing cycle, you won't be billed for next months rental." I said fine, you can take your dish and stick it up your a*s and I will take your link down.

They deactivated the receiver and I got a letter with a bill for the next months service I never received  along with an additional bill of  $270 called an early cancellation fee along with a threat of charging me an additional $300 if I did not return the receiver with no mention about returning my $200 deposit.

By the way, Their intent was to only give me my $200 back in $5 a month increments as long as I kept the service... thus instead of my first 10 months payments being 24.99 a  month, they were to be 19.99 i.e., (24.99-5.00= $19.99/month)...

When I called them to argue that I did not break my agreement with them, they broke their written contract agreement with me on the other contract I had with them in which they were to pay me the $100 commission by paying it to CJ.com who was to in turn, pay me... and, That if they did not give me my $200 back they mad me pay for not giving them my Social Security #" that I would file a complaint and that why would I agree to pay them a $275 early cancellation fee for eleven months of no service due to it being canceled by them when; A) They are sitting on $200 of my money I paid as a deposit which they had no intention of giving back, telling me that I forfeited that by choice when I threatened to have the service canceled as a barging chip to try and get them to pay me my $100 they owed me... The way I saw it then was that they  owed me my $200 deposit back along with an additional $100 commission and that I had paid them for the one month I had the service before they  chose to cut off the service after I had ordered it and prepaid along with the first month service I only received rather then paying me the $100 commission I had coming.

I argued over the phone that before I would pay them a $275 early cancellation fee and get nothing in return when they had no intention of giving me my $200 deposit back or the $100 commission and still charge me $275 (the equivalent of paying for an additional 11 months rental but not providing a service for  it ... that is, for 11 more months of no service... i.e., time remaining on the one year obligation, that I would demand they re-activate the service so I could receive a service I was expected to be paying for whether they felt they should get paid for it without providing it or not.

I had no intention of letting them screw me over and I returned the receiver as by their threat of charging me an additional $300 since my intent was to follow through with my threat to cancel the service unless they pay me the $100 Commission rightfully owed me as by the terms and conditions of the other contract they had entered into with me through CJ.com. And since it was obvious that it was going to take some time, and that I did not have to be accused of not retuning the receiver or face an additional $300 loss, I sent the receiver back...

It was obvious that these jerks were not going to resolve this issue and were content in not having any intent in refunding me my $200 or paying me $100 commission and restoring the service as by the terms of the initial original contract I entered into in the ordering of the service from them  via the internet, that I had no choice but to absorb my losses and for me that would only be the $100 commission they refused to pay me if I had them re-activate the service and bring the receiver back that I had returned or, I was going to lose the $200 deposit I paid them which they told me they were not going to give back and that I forfeited the $200 as I had canceled before the one year contract I entered with them despite the fact that it was them that chose to cancel my account then provide service and pay me my $100 commission due... which of coarse, they were not going to count the $200 deposit I paid in advance  as going toward the $275 early cancellation fee they were going to  charge me for telling them to stick their dish up their a*s... in essence, their intent was to keep the $200 and charge me an additional $275 or $475 for early cancellation for not keeping the service for a year which would of only cost me $24.99 a month for 12 months had I not insisted on getting paid my commission...less the first month I had paid for and less the $200 deposit I paid up front... 

Meaning I essentially had already paid them in advance for 9 months of service in which they at that time had only provided one month and then cut off the service expecting me to pay them more for not providing the service then if they were to provide the service...

I finally got through to someone that was able to bring up my account at DirecTV and understand what my grievance was... I provided them with a link to my website which still had their Banner to their DirecTV website from which I had ordered that had the package details of what I was to receive and I gave them the link to CJ.com to and told them why should I keep your banner up on my web site and promote your business and send potential customers your way that may order a dish if you are not going to hold to your agreement and in return, pay me my rightful commission. Why should I trust you will pay me a commission when the only way to really verify is to order from the link myself to see if you pay on that sale as you supposedly would on any other sale acquired through that link?

It gets better, my complaint that is...

They apologized for the one who rather then tried  to resolve the commission issue obliged my recourse of what I would do if they didn't and deactivated the receiver to stop the service for which I had paid an up front $200 deposit.

They gave me a phone number to call to contact the ones in charge of the paying of commissions and said they would send a guy out to bring back the box I returned and reactivate the service for no charge even though they normally charge something like $75 to re-establish the service and return the receiver once service is canceled.

They sent a different guy who brought a new box (receiver) and when he used his cell phone to call to have them activate it, the party at the other end asked him to ask me what plan I had... I said the same one I had before...  the 180 channels ...

When I got the first bill for the second month of service since it had been disconnected after only having received one month of service, the bill  was for more than $65.99 per month instead of the 19.99 it should of been given the 24.99 - 5.00 each month credit back from the $200 deposit I first paid...as was the way it initially was set up plus, there was a $75 re-connect fee which they said they were not going to charge...  and yes I was pissed because now I had to call them again and complain and try to explain all this bullshit all over again to some other new person who answers the phone.. i.e., every time you call the DirecTV toll free line you get someone different and have to explain it all over again in order for them to correct the problem with the bill...

They put me on hold and did some checking and got back and said " no that's right you are getting the 180 channels and that is the charge for the premium channels...  I told them that the premium were to be free for the first three months and that this was the second month furthermore, I told them about the deposit I paid and the plan and that if you bring up my account you can see that the monthly payment on the first bill for the first month and that for the first year it is only to be $24.99 for the first 10 months less $5 each month deposit since the plan of 45.99 per month was the rate for 180 channels normally but because I ordered during the special they were running, I was to get that for 35.99 less $10 a month for the first 10 months ... the $100 cash back... that is, not the $100 commission by the way... that was never paid me either by the way... that is the commission... nor did I get any of my the remaining $170 back of the $200 after the 2nd cancellation because they screwed up my account a 3rd time in which I shall explain after this screw up in which I told them they will get their box back when I get my deposit back and my commission and you correct you if-ups and get my bill back to what it is suppose to be... 19.99 a month...and, if you don't I will take the dish and smash the sun of a b***h and see your a*s in court if you defame my character and damage my credit with a false report by falsely accusing me of owing you money for a service you failed to provide while you slammed me into a higher monthly rate than I had entered into and then refused to correct your mistakes...and insisted on over billing me again after I finally got this problem resolved but not the next one I had with them which I had to call about at which time they talked on all the previous resolutions and said who ever credited your account last time did so in error and you actually owe us more then the bill your complaining about and would not acknowledge my original introductory contract at $24.99 per month and said that was a mistake... i.e., read on...

I had to go through a lot of mental anguish in getting this resolved by calling several times and having go get out the paperwork I printed out when I ordered the service over the internet that listed what I was to get and how much it was to coast... that was, to summarize, 180 channels free premium for three months normally 44.99 for 34.99 plus a $100 cash back given as an additional $10 off on the first 10 months into the 12 month contracted special locked in rate with a minimum one year commitment... thus, the first 10 months would be $24.99 which for me, because I refused to give my Social Security number out over the internet as requested with the explanation it was needed to check my credit. the $24.99 was reduced to $19.99 because I had to pay a $200 up front deposit for not giving out my Social Security for them to trust in me to be good for the money as a condition for free installation and no equipment to buy... it was after I had ordered the service that they informed me as to how they intended to give me back my $200 deposit... it was to be given back to me in $5 increments provided I pay my bill on time and would show up as  a $5 monthly discount or reduction on each $24.99 monthly payment reducing them to $19.99 for the first 10 months then the last 2 months of the 12 would be $24.99 then the thirteenth month should I choose to keep the service would go back to the normal rate of $44.99 per month....

Well, when I had to complain and straighten all this out after they apologized and brought back the receiver and re-activated it, as they said they were not going to charge me the $75 reconnect but then did on the next bill along with attempting to billing me $64.99 a month... i.e., the normal $44.99 plus $20 for the premium I did not order that was supposed to be free for 3 months and then auto cancel and if you wanted it put back on would have to call and order and agree to the additional charge that would be added to the locked in special rate I was supposed to get which I had no intent of  ordering after the three months had expired as I knew that to be a gimmick to get you to pay more besides, I was to get the special rate for the first year...

They fixed the bill and said they would give me two more months of free premium since I had only received 1 month so far and that after that, if I wanted to keep them, I would have to order them after it expired...

Well here is what happened, when I got the 4th month bill in advance, my bill shot up and they were going to bill be for the premium channels I did not order... I called to complain and this time I got a real b***h that was rude to me and put me on hold, came back and said I owed even more because who ever corrected my bill  before, did so by mistake and should not of and that I know owe the $5 reconnect fee and owe from day one for the premium channels which by the way were suppose to be free and this was the 4th or fifth month in which I was complaining and they were going to charge me the full rate going back retroactive and told me I now owed $200 more dollars in addition to my current bill that was in error... They had it al f-ed up and were not going to correct it. I exploded, told  them to go to hell and take their dish and stick it up their a*s and that the F-ing thing only worked half the time and always went out when it rained and that due to the trees and how it was mounted on the roof did not provide a good path... the thing fell off the roof 6 months later due to it not being properly fastened to the roof. when it hit the ground, it broke... I finished the job of breaking it in to sufficient pieces and s**t canned it.

They to this day are still harassing me via collection agencies attempting to get me to pay for over charging me an amount I do not rightfully owe and, never gave me back the remainder of my deposit ($180 of the $200 ) in which I only got back 4 x $5  or $20 for the 4 credits payments I made while I had the service before they unaccredited all the credits I had coming and jacked up my monthly rate far above the original agreement and insisted on disregarding my original plan that I had ordered or the special rate I was to get...

since I do not throw out any receipts and printed all the transaction online and have all the original paper work, I can prove all of this and could sue them for defamation of character and attempting to damage my credit by insisting I owe them money I do not rightfully owe...  in fact, I explained all of this to the first collection agency they turned it over to and they sent it back to DirecTV... then DirecTV turned it to another collection agency and they harassed me and said I had to put all this bs in writing rather  then explain it over the phone... I told them I was not going to the effort and they could stick it up their a*s and not to call me again... they turned it over to another collection agency which kept calling and leaving messages on my answering phone... I finally called them and explained it to them and they said I had a legitimate complaint and said they will not be calling me anymore and are closing the file and will be sending it back  to DirecTV... funny thing is DirecTV agreed to lower their claim to the amount of my deposit... but they are not considering my deposit payment... I paid them for 9 months service and got only 4. they were not willing to correct billing mistakes on their part for overcharging me for premium channels I did not order.