Shafted by DirecTV

[TBuck07]

Long, long story...I'll summarize to the best of my abilities.

I called this time last year because my contract was up. I talked to a guy on the phone who offered me a ONE year contract, gave me discounted rates, got NFL Sunday ticket discounted, yadda yadda. I made sure and verified with him this was not their Two Year deals, where the first year is super cheap and they stick it to you the second year.

So I call the first week of this month to see what offers they can give me, as my contract is coming to a close. (I know this because my discount offers are showing 12 of 12.) The lady on the phone says "I can't give you any offers at this time as they won't populate until after your contract is up. So call back in the last week of this month, or first thing in August. We'll take care of you, get you another HD box for free, possibly get you NFL Sunday Ticket for cheaper, etc."

I call back on Monday. The woman on the phone tells me "Your bill is actually going up from $70 to $120 a month, and the best I can do is $5 off a month."
I was baffled by this, as she explained to me that I was not on a one year contract, but I signed up for a two year contract and that was why my bill was going up. I was floored by this, and said that that was not what the guy told me last year, I made sure of it at that time.

I sat on hold, for 40 minutes to talk to a retention supervisor...And of course, my call was dropped. So I called back, and of course was directed to a different call center. Spoke to a supervisor after waiting another 30 minutes, and they are going to pull the recorded conversation from when I called a year ago. I should hear back in a few days...

The whole point of me calling originally was to try and keep my bill the same and maybe get a discount on NFL Sunday ticket, now I'm fighting to not pay $50 more a month for the same channels! Can't wait for them to review my call from last year. I'll be asking for a copy of that too so they can't pull any crap.

 

[Zemedici]

Its a shame that companies do this. Same shit with comcast out here. Their service/coverage is GARBAGE (I cant play xbox with my girl, and we're on 150 mbps connections) but since they're the only ones around, no point in arguing with them, as they can literally tell you to piss off, they're going to get everyone else's business anyway.

 

[YJSONLY]

Its a shame that companies do this. Same shit with comcast out here. Their service/coverage is GARBAGE (I cant play xbox with my girl, and we're on 150 mbps connections) but since they're the only ones around, no point in arguing with them, as they can literally tell you to piss off, they're going to get everyone else's business anyway.

This is Windstream in my area. All tho their speed has gotten better... 12 or 25 now. But it's going to be $100 a month.

As far as OP its all a game. In the end they will WIN.

 

[mustangvsix]

Literally sounds like the same shit my wife and I have been through with them when we moved. Were moving again in Nov to our new home and will be canceling them. Tired of being bent over for over priced TV. May go dish, or may go antenna/netflix/etc route...

 

[Sladester2]

Pretty much the same thing we went through. We cancelled and did end up going the atenna/netflix/hulu route. Much cheaper and just as good IMO. I can stream every sports game I watch on my pc anyway.

 

[weems]

They did the exact same thing with me, except they weren't able to "locate" the recordings.

 

[ON D BIT]

Email: get it in writing.

Something similar happened but not with cable bill but my mortgage. Got shafted 10k because the broker wanted to make more commission going to a sub prime loan with a 10k prepayment penalty. Now all my contract from word of mouth need to written down which I save on back up hard drive.

 

[nxhappy]

I cancelled them several months ago. One of the best decisions I have made LOL. I even paid early termination because I didn't care anymore.

Read the other thread about cutting the cord/DTV

 

[Lambeau]

OP:
1) DirecTV sucks.
2) Keep calling back, and asking for the retention department until you get someone who will cut your monthly bill.
3) Call back again tomorrow, then the next day, etc... IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHO YOU TALK TO.
4) In June our bill went from $83.60/mo to $36.35/mo with no changes to anything, still have 5 receivers. I just agreed to a one year deal. That's the God's honest truth. I have no idea why it dropped, I just kept my mouth shut.
5) I've put up with DirecTV's horrible service and "we charge whatever we want each month" since '08.
6) I would drop DirecTV in a heartbeat but I must have the NFL Ticket Max with the 1 mobil device streaming.
7) NEVER, EVER AGREE TO AUTOMATIC BILL PAY.
8) DirecTV sucks.

Good luck Tyler, I feel your pain.

 

[NastyNate420]

DTV does suck.I used hulu and netflix and piratebay. For all the people that need the NFL ticket try this site http://www.vipleague.se/sports/american-football.htmlL . You can watch any sporting event! the ads have fake "X"s on them. Give it 30 seconds and the real "X" will pop up! and you can close the ad. does NOT require any info (email,cc,,etc)!

 

[Steve1578]

Just went through the same BS with Comcast. They have the shittiest customer service I've ever dealt with. I call them at least 6 times a year because something is wrong. I called just a week ago because my bill went up $20 bucks with no reason.

 

[MassCobra]

DTV does suck.I used hulu and netflix and piratebay. For all the people that need the NFL ticket try this site http://www.vipleague.se/sports/american-football.htmlL . You can watch any sporting event! the ads have fake "X"s on them. Give it 30 seconds and the real "X" will pop up! and you can close the ad. does NOT require any info (email,cc,,etc)!

Gonna have to check that out. Thanks.

I'm just gonna say I'm not thrilled with DTV either. Subscribed about a year ago for the first time. I've been wanting to cut the cord for a long time and the only thing that has kept me from doing it is sports.

 

[ViciousJay]

I cut the cord 2 years ago. I did hear though in my area there's a new company offering TV, Fiber internet and phone for $65 a month, no contracts. I think I might jump on this.

 

[Blackoyote]

Yep, went through the exact same shit with them and ended up paying to cut the contract short, couldn't be happier.

FYI, they say they're looking for the recorded conversation, but they aren't...and if they do find it and it's damning to them they won't reveal it. This is why I also ask what state they're in so I can Google if I'm allowed to record it myself or not (found this was a great way to cover my ass in these phone call contracts).

 

[32ValveRom]

All those companies have crap customer service. The thing is they use 3rd party companies with low employment standards. I used to work for one of those companies and I can tell you first hand that many of the folks I worked with were straight from the ghetto. Some of the people did their jobs properly but many were just there for a paycheck. Those who did their jobs properly were smart enough to recognize they're better than that and ended up getting jobs elsewhere. I was only there for 5 months and I can't tell you how many times customers called saying they were promised one thing or someone was supposed to call them back.

Honestly, if I were any of you, I'd consider going the cable-cutting route. Or perhaps try Playstation Vue or Sling TV. Imo, the companies with the bad customer service don't deserve loyal customers

 

[M91196]

If you do have to deal these azz clowns use the chat feature and get the transcript.
Helped me a few times.

 

[djclark]

I cut the cord 2 yrs ago. Had DirecTV ( comcast before that ). Paid a ton each month.

Cancelled that stuff and ran SlingTV and now Playstation Vue

Total $$ for TV each month - $29.xx ( plus whatever I rent/buy from iTunes )

Dont miss cable/satellite at all. I'd even hold off on the HD antenna, I got one and haven't really used it at all.

 

[HudsonFalcon]

Dropping DTV in December when our contract is up and going the FireTV/Netflix route.

As stated, i think it depends on the rep you talk to. Our bill was over $100 and i told them that we simply couldn't afford it and they could either lower it or come get their equipment. They lowered it a good $40 a month. At the end of the day something is better than nothing in their eyes.

 

[TBuck07]

Update...

Never received a phone call, but got this email this morning:

Thank you for your recent inquiry concerning your DIRECTV account. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

We reviewed your account and waived any existing agreement. If equipment, installation and/or programming are ordered in the future a new agreement may apply. We significantly discount the price of equipment, installations and/or programming and we pass the savings on to you. In exchange, we ask you to keep your programming for a specified amount of time.

---

So naturally I called them to see what was going on. The woman on the phone was a total *****. Basically I wanted to know what this meant for my account, just to clarify. She kept saying "What is it you want me to do. I can give you $5 off a month." In a really shitty manner. She told me I'd need to call back on August 1st for the better promotions. She also told me I am still under a 2 year contract because I upgraded my equipment in April. So..I don't have a programming contract, but a hardware one? Not based on what that email says. If I don't have a contract, how the hell do they know what to charge me?

IMO, based on this email, they know they f'ed up. If I were a company that gave a rats ass, I'd be apologizing and trying to make things right. But that's not Directv's MO I guess. We'll see what happens when I call back on 8/1.

 

[KingBlack]

this reminds me of time warner when i had them...now they are doing a lot to get me back. i keep telling them 'you should have cared this much when i was a customer'