Direct TV Cancellation

[OneMadWarrior]

Here is the rundown of the situation
-I was forced to get Direct TV when in Chicago due to that being the only TV service available in the apartment
-When I moved back to Wisconsin the account moved with me since then I have had 5 different service calls including 3 just to get the installation correct in only 15 months of service. I have spent sometimes as much as 4 hours on the phone to get my issues resolved.
-The customer service which is one of Direct TV's selling points has been uneven and when I have to transfer over days to get issues resolved the agents NEVER read through the previous agent's help.
- During my service calls the technicians have been undoing each others work and doing things the other ways switching between two different methods for me to get a signal. Each time they comment how they don't understand why the other person had done it that way.
-The last technician here actually stated that you will never get great signal here because I am actually too far from where the dish comes into the building. I am on the ground floor and there are people who I never hear issues from 3 floors higher in the building. He stated the signal degrades too much before getting to my box.
-Despite all this I recently moved to working third shift on the weekend so I miss football and tons of sports. I got the -HD-DVR and was happy about being able to get it so I could tape all the sports I miss and watch it during the weke. When I got it to set it up nothing worked. I was told after the fact I would need multiple signals coming into the building/apt in order to records shows. Well that means I cant' record anything because my wife is home during the day and would also enjoy TV during that time. So I went out and got a lot of good hardware to try and split the signal going into the box myself. I was told that it doesn't work that way either.
-Recently now when I called to cancel they told me it would cost me 400 dollars because my contract was renewed when I go the new equipment. This is despite the fact it has never worked and the box is sitting in my bedroom as a door stop. The customer agent said there is nothing he can do to get me out of the 400 dollars. I feel that it is unreasonable to keep my contract when they cannot even provide me with any of the services I want or even get the most basic channels to work for me. Anyone else experience this with Direct TV? Any way they were able to get out of this charge?

[Coach Norman Dale]

Start climbing the corporate ladder.  That is, do not stop with the customer service representative; they have no authority to do anything.  Ask for their supervisor and if necessary their supervisor's supervisor, ...  Make all kinds of threats to contact the State's attorney general's office in Wisconsin and wherever their HQ is located, the Better Business Bureau, the FTC, etc.  Make notes of the names [first and last] of the people you talk to, when you talked to them, what was said, ...  If none of that works, consider suing them in small claims court.   

Too bad this board does not have someone who works in management at DirecTV.   

[Spotcheck Billy]

instea of settling for the first CSR that takes your call try asking for customer retention and then explain the lack of service and your frustrations to them

not saying you'll have more luck but you might get more help from a better trained CSR

[rocky_warrior]

Too bad this board does not have someone who works in management at DirecTV.   

Chicos can still receive personal messages.  OMW, I suggest you send him a message with your e-mail address and see if he can offer any suggestions...

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?action=profile;u=6747

(I don't believe he can reply to PMs, so be sure to include an e-mail address where he can respond)

[MU82]

Start climbing the corporate ladder.  That is, do not stop with the customer service representative; they have no authority to do anything.  Ask for their supervisor and if necessary their supervisor's supervisor, ...  Make all kinds of threats to contact the State's attorney general's office in Wisconsin and wherever their HQ is located, the Better Business Bureau, the FTC, etc.  Make notes of the names [first and last] of the people you talk to, when you talked to them, what was said, ...  If none of that works, consider suing them in small claims court.   

Excellent advice. Much of this will have to be done by telephone, but if you don't get satisfaction, don't hesitate to write (email, fax, snail mail, whatever). Not only does putting something in writing increase the impact, it also creates a record and a timeline.

Good luck. Dealing with cable companies, phone companies, internet providers, etc., is one of the most stressful things in the world.

[Benny B]

If all else fails, have some fun...

Just cancel the credit card they have on file for you, don't send another payment, and make them come after you.  As soon as you get the first phone call from them, put them on hold and after 25 minutes, hand the phone to a son, grandson or a random 4 year old who won't shut up and tell them Santa Claus is on the phone.

(Some collection departments have a policy where they are not allowed to disconnect a line until the customer does.  I know a guy who got a call from Discover once at his office, he put them on hold, and sure enough, three hours later he picked up the phone and the collection rep was still there.)

[BlindboyPatSmith]

If all else fails, have some fun...

Just cancel the credit card they have on file for you, don't send another payment, and make them come after you.  As soon as you get the first phone call from them, put them on hold and after 25 minutes, hand the phone to a son, grandson or a random 4 year old who won't shut up and tell them Santa Claus is on the phone.

(Some collection departments have a policy where they are not allowed to disconnect a line until the customer does.  I know a guy who got a call from Discover once at his office, he put them on hold, and sure enough, three hours later he picked up the phone and the collection rep was still there.)

Thanks you just gave me a new hobby !!!!

[MarsupialMadness]

Threatening to report the company to the BBB really does work (depending on the company, of course).  Write an angry email to someone in charge, threaten a bad rating with BBB... and even yelp!  Write the email from your work email address to make it seem more important.  Threatening them with work jargon might get them worried.

For instance, I work at a bank and I say that we have a special consumer satisfaction department that works directly with the BBB headquarters in nailing companies that blatantly take advantage of consumers and try and hide behind pages of policy.  This department does not exist, but they don't know that.

That being said, I believe Direct TV already has an F rating with BBB, so they might not care.  The unfortunate truth with companies like this is that they have such a monopoly of the service they provide in the area they provide it, that it doesn't matter how poor their customer service is because people will subscribe no matter what -- they have no other choice!

[Small Orange Soda]

NT

[StillAWarrior]

So, did you cancellize them?

[Hoopaloop]

I had a post in here that was deleted.  Sent a request to moderator to ask why, not sure what was offensive but no response.

Reporting to the BBB is fine but you should be aware they have been under investigation as well.  The Ritz Carlton, Disneyland, Wolfgang Puck's restaurants and many other companies have been given an F rating because they refused to pay to be a member. 

20/20 did a report on this as did the NY Times, LA Times and some other media outlets.  I know this because a relative's business had a poor rating despite zero complaints and the BBB rep told her that he could make it go away if she became a member.  Similar stories are captured in the 20/20 report. 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yo8kfV9kONw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/Yo8kfV9kONw</a>

[reinko]

I had a post in here that was deleted.  Sent a request to moderator to ask why, not sure what was offensive but no response.

Reporting to the BBB is fine but you should be aware they have been under investigation as well.  The Ritz Carlton, Disneyland, Wolfgang Puck's restaurants and many other companies have been given an F rating because they refused to pay to be a member. 

20/20 did a report on this as did the NY Times, LA Times and some other media outlets.  I know this because a relative's business had a poor rating despite zero complaints and the BBB rep told her that he could make it go away if she became a member.  Similar stories are captured in the 20/20 report. 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yo8kfV9kONw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/Yo8kfV9kONw</a>

Obvi, the Scoop is:

[SaintPaulWarrior]

The BBB is beyond lame.....I won't go into specifics with my interaction with them with my business but I would just say the BBB is equivalent to Wikipedia as far as facts.

[OneMadWarrior]

So, did you cancellize them?

Thanks I will do everything in my power to make that a word. I know its wrong yet I still use it. Cancellation