DirecTV Engages in Shady Practices

Late last year, I decided to cut the COX cable cord and return to DirecTV. In my humble opinion, DirecTV is a better servie at a better value. There’s a catch. DirecTV engages in a very shady business practice. Before I give you the scoop, let me take full responsibility for thinking that a company out there would not only know the right thing to do but do the right thing. I was the idiot for trusting anything that came out of the mouth of the talking head on the other end of the telephone transaction.

I unknowingly had a credit balance at DirecTV from a previous bad relationship with Qwest. When I signed up to reestablish my DirecTV, I did so on a promotional plan that offered savings of roughly $25 per month on my cable bill. The first bill reflected a credit balance of more than $100. What did you do with the last bill you received that had a credit balance?  Exactly. Not a whole lot.

Fast forward to my call on January 23, 2009. It was explained that my monthly rate was billing incorrectly because I had not called in to activate the rebate that brought the rate down to the amount I agreed to on the telephone with the sales representative. The young lady offered to implement the rebate and promised that I would receive the proper rate and that going forward I would be billed properly. That did not happen. I was a little heated that it was never mentioned that I had to call in to implement a rebate to get the pricing structure I was promised.

Upon receiving my most recent bill, I lost it. The proper rate had not been applied and when I called back the new representative was unwavering in applying the appropriate credits even though she admitted seeing the notes and the promise of the prior agent. We went back and forth and ultimately she escalated my complaint only to explain that I would have to wait as long as 2 weeks for any remedy. I was fuming but I realized that the conversation would go nowhere. I asked the young lady for the Corporate Headquarters information. The CEO is Chase Carey. The number to his office is 310-964-5000. Do not tell them early on what you need or they will transfer you back to a switchboard. I ended up speaking with a representative by the name of Ed. He promised that my bill in April would reflect the verbal agreement that I signed up for. I was still miffed about the fact that no one ever mentioned the fact that it was necessary to eseentially turn-on the rebate. Even Ed seemed to infer that he was doing me a huge favor by honoring the rebate even though I had missed the never-before-referenced window.

Further, all of the Reps consistently claimed that there was no mechanism in place to apply credits. I was to pay the wrong amount and receive the right amount on the next 12 consecutive payments. I agreed only because I did sign up for a 24 month service agreement.

To have such a great product and such horrible business practices is extremely stupid. If they are not already embroiled in a couple, I guarantee you, DirceTV will have several Class Action Lawsuits headed their way.

I am still livid that I have spent more than two hours on the telephone trying to simply get what I was promised. I forgot to mention, the installers nickeled and dimed me for .49 cent outlet covers at the tune of $5.00 a pop and blamed the unexplained fees on the sales rep for not talking about the potential charges involved in the free installation.

After some very basic research, it became immediately evident that this is how DirecTV does business. Hey Chase Carey, stop twirling your mustache and do something about the shady practices your employees are executing and remember,  there’s never a bad excuse.

Please provide comments about your experiences with DirecTV and any other company that you love or love to hate.

Technorati Tags: bait and switch, buyer beware, customer feedback, DirecTV, fraud, poor customer service, shady