81. I too have been scammed by Direct. I had ordered the new service package some 3 years. after about 1 year I was having a lot of problems with the dvr box. I called and spoke with tech's to no avail. Finally they agreed that the box had some hard drive problems and needed to be replaced. I was sent a new box and unknowingly was signed on for another 2 years. That 2 years was nearly up and I had my service put on hold for 3 months. I called and re-opened the service. I don't know why I thought to call the next day, but I did and asked if I was on a new contract. They had put me on an 18 month contract, starting that day. This is crazy. I told them I had not agreed to any contract, AND I had not even been informed that I was entering into one. I just wanted to let this contract run out and be done with them. I have searched for class action law suits against them and have found none. But thanks to reading all the comments on here, I now will be contacting FCC, FTC and BBB. It may probe an investigation if enough people were to complain.

Posted at 3:17PM on Apr 9th 2008 by Tammy Goss

82. I;ve only been with these jerks for a few months and already it's given me high blood pressure! They never uphold their promises, they keep overcharging us, then when someone says they'll fix it, someone else comes along and says "sorry" we're not going to credit you. We dilligently wrote everything down, time, date, rep's name and badge #, and everything promised (a promo rate of 49.99 for one year) They refuse adamantly to pull the recording of what was promised. Each month our bill gets higher and higher, and you should see the gall! I have contacted the BBB, FCC and now an attorney about dishonets business practices who is filing a class action suit against them although it's about something else (but related). Their site is: https://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/submit_form.html

I just did this, so I do not know if they will take the case and/or what they charge.

I suggest we all write a petition and sign it! Oh, and I am going to the media with this too.

Posted at 11:35PM on Apr 9th 2008 by Janet

83. http://www.petitiononline.com/scam2008/petition.html

very important! please, if you agree, go to the link above and sign the petition!!!! Let's all do something about this!!!!!!!

Posted at 12:11AM on Apr 10th 2008 by Janet Bollero

84. VERY important! please, if you agree, go to the link and sign the petition!!!! Let's all do something about this!!!!!!!http://www.petitiononline.com/scam2008/petition.html

Posted at 12:13AM on Apr 10th 2008 by Janet Bollero

85. I had a dispute last year with US Direct & DirectTV over their failure to install the equipment (HD DVR) as contracted. Ultimately I cancelled service and paid the early cancel fee of nearly $300 just to be rid of them. Now, one full year later I get a demand letter from a collection agent in Dallas for $185. In the call to them, they say they represent the actual installer contractor who did not get paid for the satellite dish that DirectTV instructed me to throw away. If their is a beef it seems it should be between DirectTV and their authorized reseller and/or installer.
Anybody familiar with this, i.e. get a demand letter?
Thanks.

Posted at 4:21PM on Apr 22nd 2008 by jim Webb

86. Thank you for signing my petition. I would appreciate it if you guys can forward this to your friends, family and co-workers and they in turn do the same, since only four of us have signed it and only two have provided email addresses.

For your information, I myself, complained to the BBB and thanks to that, it looks like they are now attempting to make it better. However, their first reponse to the BBB was in fact still a lie. We called them and since we live in the state of Florida, (because they are able to record you, in Florida you are also able to record them) we adivsed them that we were also recording the conversation (which freaked them out a bit but it's the law) and now it seems they are a little more scared to mess with us.

I suggest you look up your law and if it is like it is in Florida, you advise them that you are recording their every word. Ask for a supervisor, get the rep's name and badge number PLS the suprevisor's name and badge # as well.

Florida law pretty much states that if a company advises you that they are recording you, the agreement is mutual. In other words, you can record them and you do NOT even need to let them know. However, it is a good thing to tell them since they will be careful of misrepresenting.

Good Luck!

Posted at 1:16PM on Apr 24th 2008 by Janet Bollero

87. http://ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q5=direct+tv&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21
the above is ripoffreport.com of all the customers who have reported Direct Tv and their illegal practices. Please go there and also file with them. Go to the BBB, go to the FTC, FCC, etc... we HAVE TO STOP THESE CROOKS! We're NOT ALONE! Also sign my petition. Click on my name in this comment and it will direct you to the petition! Please, let's all sign so we can present this to the necessary entities rather than fighting alone! thanks

Posted at 1:27PM on Apr 24th 2008 by Janet Bollero

88. The worst mistake I made was ordering DTV. I orderedd the DVR and set it to record this years superbowl and it failed to do so. They gave me showtime for 3 months which I didn't care for and then billed me for it when I didn't want it. No amount ofcomplaining did any good so I canceled it and being I live in Tacoma WAs got ClickTV for half the price.

Dtv billed be $290 to cancelled and now they are billing me $10 a monthfor canceling the service. The reason why they have a cancelling charge is because they know they have a lousy product and service. Fortunally with click I will save that much in 6 months. As for that $10 a month they want now, they are not going to get it.

Posted at 5:39PM on Apr 24th 2008 by Don Berg

89. After being with Direct TV ever since they took over Prime Star, which we were subscribers with them also, we were wanting to go with HD receivers. Called Direct TV and they stated it would cost $199.00 for each dish, we had three. That seemed a little steep for ongoing customers that have been with them for 12 to 13 years. Especially when new customers did not have to pay that.

Called Dish Network. They would do our 3 TV’s for $99.00. Well, what person would not take that deal.
So at the end of March, called Direct TV and wanted to cancel. They called back several times in the next week wanting us to reconsider. They even offered then to give us receivers and hook every thing up for free.
By this time it was too late because Dish Network was out 3 days after we called and had everything hooked up and running great.

We called to see what we owed if anything since they bill a month ahead. Talk to a Valerie on 4/7/08 and said we owed nothing., in fact we had a $11.00 credit. Then we received a statement in the mail also stating that we owed nothing, So we thought we were done. Then on May 3rd , we receive a statement saying we have not paid a bill of $ 103.06 due to early contract termination. What Contract? No one said anything about a contract. So it looks like since we did not stay with them, they decided that we need to be penalized. Something does not seem right here. We go from $400.00 for receivers to saying they will do it for nothing if we stay with them and we get a statement saying we owe nothing , then several weeks later, a statement saying we owe them $103. Bucks. Someone needs to get their story straight. I guess I have no choice but to pay this so called outstanding bill and I will but it sure is a poor way to treat loyal customers. It does not pay to be loyal these days. Big business don’t care about that.

If this is the way that Direct TV treats long term customers, I am glad we switched to Dish Network. To tell you the honest truth , we are getting a much better picture with Dish Network then we did with Direct TV and that’s with just regular TV, not even HD channels. The customer service at Dish Network have called several times since we have signed up with them to make sure we are satisfied and wanting to know if we have any questions. So, I would recommend Dish Network to anyone who ask. Infact, have already had several inquiring why we switched, and I tell them my story.

THANK YOU DISH NETWORK.

Posted at 6:34PM on May 3rd 2008 by Kathy T

90. I have a similar story, but mine involves a roomate buying a HD receiver on EBAY and activating it I do not have an additional $400 to pay for the early termination just because I am moving, and Even though my roomates are hooking up a new service with the equipment that they purchased, it remains to be seen whether they will actually be able to hook up the equipment as it is tied to my contract that no one told me I had. I am also willing to add my name to your ever growing list of people disatisfied by their predatory business practices, and should a class action suit arise ,please count me in.

Posted at 3:43AM on May 13th 2008 by Albert Basso

91. I wished I would have read this before I got Direct TV.
I have fulfilled my contract of 1 year, called and confirmed date. They called me at least 3 times a day asking me to come back to Direct TV for a 3 days, I told them no continuously. The week after they took $78.00 out of my checking account without permission...they told me it was for March Madness (I had cancelled in February) I didn't even have service with Direct TV in March, they informed that they would return money in 7-14 day, then 2 week's later they took another $150.00 out of my checking account, called them again, they said it was for receivers that I did not return, which I did and I had the tracking information to prove that they did receive them back, I was told again that I would get my money back in 7-14 days. To this day I have not received my money (5/13/08).

Posted at 11:59AM on May 13th 2008 by Pat

92. Copy of the petition to sign- sign and forward to anyone you know is a victim (click on the URL link above) The petition reads as follows:
To: Direct TV
We, the undersigned, have had at least one or numerous, sometimes equal or different problems with the company Direct TV. Their business practices are unlawful and dishonest. After many attempts of contacting them, they have failed to provide honest and/or decent service to us, being their loyal and trusting customers.
By signing this petition, I acknowledge and assert that I am or was a customer and have been a victim of their scams in one way or another.
After complaining to one or several entities in regards to their dishonest business practices, we have taken upon ourselves to further expose this company publicly to other consumers and have them investigated.
With more than one person acting, someone will take notice and STOP these crooks now from defrauding innocent people!
This petition (unlike a class action lawsuit) may be given to the media and/or published online as well as sent to the Attorney General, BBB, FCC, FTC and/or any other regulatory entity.
Remember, the more information you provide, the better!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Posted at 4:16PM on May 13th 2008 by Janet Bollero

93. http://www.petitiononline.com/scam2008/petition.html

url again for petition

Posted at 4:17PM on May 13th 2008 by Janet Bollero

94. No one should ever use DirectTV they are all liars. My husband and I were customers for several years but after having 3 DVR systems break on us we decided to switch to cox our local provider, we sent back all equipment and cancelled service. we were told we would be charged a $130 fee for breaking our contract because aparently everytime their DVR system breaks and we get a replacement our contract is automatically renewed for 18 months leaving us with 2 choices, renew or pay out the first contract with no cable... that is insane. We were never told this, and so the guy said once we are billed the fee we can dispute it. so we waited and about 30 days later $460 was deducted out of my husband's personal checking account! a completely different account than what our auto bill pay account was so that was quite alarming. We called DTV and complained about the charge and wanted to know what it was for. the CSR said it was for the cancellation of service... and that we should have gotten a statement on it, no statement - we asked when the statement was mailed out... Oh says the CSR, actually the statement was mailed out today... well that seems fair, WTF!! Also we were told the fee was $130 not $460. Eventually we were able to get the $460 fee reversed and then started getting statements of credit on our account for $460.. this is not helping why have they not sent a check or just refunded our account, it was so easy for them to take the money but now so difficult to put it back! we complained to BBB and DTV's response was that the made an error and actually we still owe them $68 WHATTT!!! We called our bank wells fargo and guess what? our banker used to work for DTV and knew exactly what we were talking about, he said they did that all the time that Direct TV still owes him as a customer money too! Wells fargo was so nice to put the money back into our account and bloc DTV from deducting any more money out. Our banker even said DTV does things like charging an extra penny in tax for extra equipment, may not be a lot to each person but when you have 10 million customers that is $100,000 now that seems fishy to me. Any way if people out there can learn from this it is to fight back, DTV should be sued!!! I would be happy to be apart of their downfall because this is such a horrible company that does nothing but seal your money, provide subpar service and crappy equipment. Kristin AZ

Posted at 8:36PM on May 17th 2008 by KRISTIN FRENCH

95. dont get in a contract with these criminals called direct tv!!! dont even give them a credit card number!!! they lie to you, especialy to get a contract. we were told we would own the equipmen, we are paying a monthly lease on all of our "owned equipment" just try to get these clowns to take back a reciever, they will not. now we are stuck in this criminal contract for the next 18 months or so or pay a fee of about 200 dollars, and some folks are saying they just keep on charging their fees anyway. im sure that their customer service people are on a script and cant put two sentences together when they have to think on their own.i want to sue these criminals.

Posted at 10:12AM on May 22nd 2008 by d. woodall

96. I lived in a household with two roommates. One of the roommates opened a Direct TV account in her name. During the course of living in the house I occasionally us my credit card to pay the bill. Not once did Direct TV notify me that they were keeping my card number on record or that I could be subject to any charges associated with this account by using my card to pay a bill. When the roommate closed her account Direct TV charged my account for the early termination fee. A total of $198 without any notice or authorization from me. I called Direct TV and was told they would investigate my claim and it would take 8 days. While waiting for the results of the investigation my card was charged another $200. This resulted in many over-draft charges on my account. Direct TV claims that because I used my card to pay the bill they were in their legal rights to keep my card number on file and charge my card at will without notifying me in anyway. They now refuse to reverse the charges.

Posted at 9:46AM on May 30th 2008 by Tabitha

97. If anyone is starting a class action lawsuit against Direct TV I'm in. They took over $700 out of my checking account without my consent. I was behind on my bills by 2 month. My husband is out of job and of course we still have to pay our mortgage, so naturally TV is the last thing on our mind. They sent me a letter saying that they would cancel my account and any balance would be sent to a collection, and didn't say anything about them dipping their hands in my checking accout and take all the money I had there. So I thought, I will just have to get to it when I catch up with other more important things like Gas and electric bills.
They told me it was part of my contract that they access any of my credit card or checking account that I hava used with them in the past to cover the balance. We were supposed to pay child support and go see the child out of state with the money, but we couldn't because of it. I renew the service with them just to get the cancelation fee back (totaling about $400), but I haven't seen the money back in my account yet. I'm gonna make sure that I will close my checking account as soon as (if) I get the money back. And from now on, I will pay my Direct TV bills with money order.

Posted at 11:45PM on May 31st 2008 by CW

98. We bought a home on Feb. 22, 2008. We moved into the home on Thurs. Feb 28, 2008. We called DirectTV and ordered HD/DVR service to be installed in our LR and regular DVR service in our MSTR BDRM. The tech came out on Thurs. Feb. 28, 2008 to install said services. There was 3 ft. snow on ground & on roof at this time. Tech said he could not install HD/DVR service because there was too much snow, which prohibited him from getting to roof to do installation. He suggested for us to get the regular service for now and once snow melts, call DirectTV and they will send another tech out to install the HD/DVR service. That’s what we did. About a month later, we received a statement of the package we purchased from DirectTV, which stated HD DVR System, 5LNB Multi Satellite dish (which was already on home when purchased), Plus HD DVR, Standard receiver. We were charged $99 for the equipment per their promotional deal at the time. We did not have the HD DVR receiver, but did have 2 standard receivers. Not to mention, they have listed the satellite dish which was already on home when we purchased it- they did not install it at that time. On the same statement, they have listed for “Programming Selections, Special Offers and Services:” 1 year free Showtime, DVR Service, HD Access Tier 1 P6376/001, Plus HD DVR P6364/001, HBO/Starz/Showtime/Cinemax. It further states to refer to my 1st bill or visit directtv.com for monthly service charges. We never received the HD DVR service we ordered and were charged for. They could not provide the service. We also never received the first bill on paper. My husband went online and looked up the bill which was inaccurate as it still billed us for the HD DVR services we were not getting. He called DirectTV’s customer service department and had them change the bill to reflect what we actually had. When that was completed verbally over the phone, he paid said bill. We never received any corrected statement or bill via mail. My husband did not feel the need to check it again since it was handled over the phone and the price reflected more accurately what we were supposed to be paying for regular services. Snow melted in beginning of April. We called DirectTV for a tech to come out & install HD DVR service since we were never refunded the $99 charge for the HD DVR equipment. 2nd tech comes out and states there was no way to install HD DVR service because of line of sight with the dish on roof and trees located on our property. He suggested he could install a dish on treeline which is located off our property (& belonging to the town of Goffstown) roughly 200 ft from home and we could get a clear signal with all 5 satellites required to get HD service. The other option he suggested was to get trees cut down, but that it wasn’t guaranteed either because there were more trees behind those located off our property. My husband got on the phone immediately while the tech was there in our home and called DirectTV’s customer service department. He asked for our account and service to be cancelled because they could not provide the HD DVR service we ordered. The CSR told my husband we could not cancel without a $495 fee for cancellation since we went passed the 48- hour cancellation policy. Since we didn’t receive a 1st bill with the terms and conditions listed, we checked online and nowhere does it state a time limit for canceling, just that you are locked into an agreement based on the service you are charged. My husband asked to speak to a manager, the manager refused to cancel our account as we requested unless we were willing to pay the hefty fee. The tech even talked to them and stated we could not receive the HD DVR service that we ordered. They would not “budge.” We were stuck with what we got and trapped into a contract we did not sign. A tech supervisor came out a few days later and took pictures of the home and satellite dish on top of roof and stated there was no way we could get HD DVR service from that dish without the trees being removed, but that wasn’t a guarantee. My husband called a few landscaping places to price out cutting the trees down, it would cost us $400 per tree. There are 3 particular trees in the way, so it would cost us $1200 to get rid of said trees with no guarantee it would resolve the problem. We went to the Town Office to seek permission to have the dish installed on the treeline and permission was verbally granted since there are powerlines behind property- technically the Public Service of NH owns those lines and the dish would not be seen or affect the operation of powerlines. Second bill goes by and we receive paper bill.
(Request for paper bill on 4/17/08 furnished upon request). DirectTV was still charging us for Plus DVR monthly, now charging us for HBO/STARZ/Showtime/Cinemax @ $43 which was supposed to be free for 3 months and Showtime was supposed to be free for 1 year. They also have listed several adjustments and credits for partial month charges of the above mentioned services. We NEVER had DVR or HD service- there shouldn’t be any charges or credits by this time. My husband calls again and has it corrected and pays the bill. He is on the phone for more than 2 hours this time because they kept no record of us ever ordering HD DVR service or free Showtime for 1 year, etc. He has to explain the story again several times before reaching a manager. Never received 5/17/08 paper bill. Husband goes online and pays bill, which is mostly accurate. Sunday, June 1, 2008, husband calls customer service to schedule a tech to come out and try to install HD DVR dish on treeline as previously suggested by DirectTV 2nd tech and to cancel the STARZ and Cinemax channels since the 3 mos. free was expired. We just wanted to retain the HBO and Showtime. My husband was on phone for over 2 hours explaining the situation we’ve had with DirectTV and the fact they have not been able to provide HD DVR service we originally ordered. They had no record of anything we ordered 3 months ago. He scheduled a tech to come out and set up the HD DVR dish on the treeline. Wed., June 4th, between 8am & noon, 3rd tech (Lee #17263) came out and my husband explained the situation to him and what the other tech suggested. He walked to the treeline and said it was not possible to install HD DVR service because the length of the line he would have to run would be longer than 150 ft and it would cut out the signal. We would be able to get a small signal, but we would burn out HD receivers by doing it (at now a $199 per receiver). The tech called his manager and his manager said the same thing. Tech called DirectTV customer service and he told them we would only get maybe 2 or 3 satellites at best and the weak signal draw would burn out the HD receivers- they told him to set it up anyway. He told my husband what they were saying and my husband refused to let him do that. Later that day, we gathered all our bills and information and I called DirectTV customer service 6/4/08 @ 3:50pm. I asked for a manager and got Sherman #U6053. I explained to Sherman what was going on with our account and satellite service and the fact that we’ve had 3 techs and 2 managers working on this problem since we’ve ordered our service. I explained to him we wanted three things done- 1st, our account be credited $199 for another charge for HD DVR equipment that was placed on our acct Sun. June 1, 2008 and was never taken off, 2nd, we wanted our $99 charge for the first HD DVR equipment purchase that we never received. 3rd, we wanted to cancel our service and supposed contract with no penalties or fees charged to us since we were never provided the service we ordered, were charged for and promised. I suggested they were in breach of whatever contract they supposedly have over us because they never provided the service we went to them for. He said he could provide service, and I argued with him that I did not want regular service, I wanted HD DVR service and they can not provide that. Therefore, we wanted out of our contract. This time we were going to be charged a $360 fee for canceling. End result, they will never let us out of our contract unless we pay the $360 fee for canceling. He also said we could cut down trees, and I asked him if DirectTV would like to pay for that expense and that it was not guaranteed by their techs that cutting down trees would resolve the problem. He of course said no they wouldn’t pay for that expense and they still were not going to let us out of the contract unless we paid the fee. I got frustrated with talking to him and hung up.

Posted at 1:03AM on Jun 6th 2008 by Stacey Rice

99. We have been a with direct tv for about 8 yrs.Haven't had a problem ,until we got the hd recivers. Pictures go in and out , sound too. We have had about 8 diferent recivers sent to us. All the same, sound and pictures go in and out. We were even told by the techs that came to the house that there was a problem with the hd recivers.(I have a reg. reciver and it has no problems)The people at direct tv say there are no problems going on. That is a lie or else they would not be giving me a $5 discount on the hd service. I would get rid of the service, but I can't get dish network at my vacation place because of the tree line. We tried to have it installed but couldn't get a signal.

Posted at 9:35PM on Jun 13th 2008 by Marie Starrs

100. Well, if you aren't aware yet and you are subscriber to DirecTV you will soon learn. They automatically reinstate a 2 year contract if you have any equiptment replaced or change your plan. I am having papers served tomorrow to them because they have crossed the lines of "screwing" the small guy... In the state of Texas, in order for a contract to be valid over 1 year, you must have a signature. Case closed! I wish you all luck and becareful, they are out to get you before fiber optic services take satellite providers out of business!

Posted at 2:03PM on Jun 18th 2008 by JinDallas