Monday, January 10, 2011

Screwed by DirecTV

Friday I read an online post the named DirecTV as one of the 15 most hated corporations in America.  American Airlines led the list.  BP was #15.  DirecTV was #12.

I have DirecTV.  I signed up for it after returning from Iraq.  Like many things I did in the weeks after returning from Iraq, I believed what I heard more than I should have.  It turns out, the lower rate I was promised by DirecTV was a rebate.  It was a word I never heard in the sales pitch.

The DirecTV rep I spoke too last night apologized for the salesman's omission, but she said that I was supposed to notice that I was not getting the discount and contact DirecTV.  I had 90 days to do this which has long since expired.

She also told me my commitment was actually 24 months.  The initial commitment was for 12 months, but there was an additional 12-month commitment in some service I agreed to, which I did not know at the time.  I also had 90 days to revise this, but since I did not know it within 90 days, I cannot revise the contract now.

It will cost $20 per month to terminate the contract early.

Thanks for the Welcome Home DirecTV!!!!!

3 comments:

  1. Hi! I'm so sorry to hear this from you but inside is a little sigh of relief that if such an intelligent person, such as you, can be shafted, I don't feel so dumb (college grad, professional that I am.) I was roped in with the "bundle" with AT&T - finding out that both can lie for the other and not be responsible for what was promised. When the guy hands you the yellow paper and mumbles "delivery acknowledgement" you are really signing a 2 year contract that - although you have 90 days to change your mind - you don't. I went round and round with both AT&T and Direct and just got dizzy. I never watch TV but thought some of sports or public broadcasting would be interesting. As I ait with 3 remotes yelling at the poor service person if I am trying to watch a certain program I give up. My son gets what he wants - but is here every couple months. If you see a light at the end of the tunnel blog it and I will jump on the train. Take care.

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  2. We got rid of our satellite television service all together a couple years ago. We get one local digital channel now via antenna w/tuner (though we lost two other KC channels we were getting before when the digital switchover happened). We haven't missed it. We read more, talk more, get more things done that need doing, are outside more, etc. We get most of the news from the local channel and the occasional show, but otherwise we don't miss all that extraneous stuff we were paying for but never used. We watch DVDs for movies and love not having the commercial interruptions. Also, the 2-yr contract requirements with Direct and the long-term costs just didn't make good sense. Same for Dish Network. It's a longer story, which I'll spare you, but what they consider "value" just wasn't from a practical sense.

    Sorry you had to go through this. Hope something better comes your way soon.

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