Refund for unused monthly service fee

For anyone else who comes across this question, the billing policy changed a few years ago. Here is the notice from 2018:

Please read this if you receive DIRECTV, AT&T U-verse® TV, AT&T Internet, AT&T Phone, and/or AT&T Fixed Wireless service(s). We want to remind you that you’re billed in advance for recurring service(s) and/or programming charges and applicable fees based on the terms of your current service agreement(s) with us. Starting January 14, 2019, subject to applicable laws, we’re updating your agreement(s) to include your recurring service(s)/programming charges and fees won’t be prorated if you cancel the above service(s) on any day other than the last day of your billing cycle. Your service(s) will continue until the end of your billing cycle but you won’t get a refund (prorated credits) for any remaining days left in your billing cycle. For products not listed above, refer to their terms of service for more information.

Questions about this change? Go to att.com/ProrationPolicy for more information and to see the revised section of your service agreement(s).

I received a bill today for Directv service and I have not had service for months; nor do I want service.  Directv does not have 24/7 customer service to assist me with this so now I wait til Monday to resolve this issue.

Hey @SunMoon, we want to help with your billing concern.

Let's meet in a Direct Message to take a closer look on this. Please check you DIRECTV Message inbox (it's the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums)

Katherine, DIRECTV Community Specialist

@SunMoon 

So you created an account on the forum to tell people you are waiting until Monday?

DirecTV may not be open 24 hours a day (well limited technical support after their normal hours), but they are open 7 days a week. Just make sure you call the DirecTV number as the AT&T side works more traditional business hours/days.

If you have not had service for months, but got a bill for normal service, than there is a couple possibilities. When you called to cancel the service the agent instead put it on a temporary suspension (max 6 months). Over the years there has been the odd agent out who has pulled this trick to avoid a cancellation on their stats. Though in that scenario you should still have received a monthly bill to show the status of the account. Alternatively the account was recently reactivated which could be on purpose or accidental.

Either way call DirecTV, which you can do so tomorrow (Sunday) as they are open.

Billing & Account

Everyday 8am-midnight ET

Technical support

Available 24/7

I've had technical issues quite often like the dish going out, etc., and programming/channel questions.  Chat on website doesn't work half the time, and no one answers a request for representative in the messaging on Facebook for Directv official page most of the time.  always end up having to call and sit on hold forever before getting a live person.

I have been upset at the removal of One America News, and that I cannot get Cowboy Channel on my package which is a rather high package, just not the top tier.  DirecTV also removed PBS channel from Virginia few years ago, by cancelling their contract.  And DirecTV removed the channel 56 I believe it was, that had foreign news and shows on like foreign (Edited per community guidelines) mysteries with English subtitles.  But the straw that's broken the camel's back is removal of One America News.  How many subscribers have you lost because the board of directors caved in on their own Values statement and on Free Speech, and listened to less than 20 individuals/organizations instead of listening to millions of subscribers?

Plus, we just got new equipment and were told it would not go out as much in rain or light snowfall as old dish and old standard def boxes, but it does just as much if not more.

@historian1861, we value your feedback to improve our service everyday.

Regarding the OAN, every year the owners of the television channels you watch demand higher prices, this is the reason why some channels are removed from the programming.

On the other side, the best way to improve the satellite service with the equipment is making sure there are not obstructions for the signal, and keep in mind a very important factor is the weather. You can also check here what to do in case of interference.

By any chance, are you getting any specific error code after you got the new equipment? So we can check further and step in.

Veronica, DIRECTV Community Specialist

Yes, can understand renegotiating contracts, but why did they remove it after receiving a letter from 16 individuals representing just a handful of organizations?  Why did they decide to cancel a channel that is considered "(Edited per community guidelines)" when keeping other media channels on the air that were completely wrong about so many major news stories last few years? 

Most would like a more transparent answer from AT&T/DirecTV regarding OANN, more than just a decision from an "internal review". As it was announced months ago, seems doubtful we will get more of an answer than that. But at the very least it is not a violation of Free Speech as there is no requirement that DirecTV does or does not carry it. That is their own business decision to make. And of course to comply with their agreement with OANN, they didn't cancel it early but simply let the existing agreement run out and not negotiate a new one.

Local channel could be they no longer have an agreement with the affiliate owner of the station or that the Designated Market Area (DMA) lines got redrawn by Federal regulations, which happens occasionally. However, PBS gone for an entire State seems unlikely. I would double check the availability of the channel for your exact area. www.directv.com/locals 

Yes under normal/light weather conditions signal should be fine. But per the nature of technology, satellite is not immune to weather. Those old SD boxes were MPEG-2 only. DirecTV requires MPEG-4 going forward as the old feeds have been shutting down. The MPEG-4 feed does require a more precise line of sight than the old one did.

In general any issues from weather should be minimal. Though if you do have your setup connected to internet as well then On Demand, as well as anything already recorded, can be used as a backup.

I would caution against using "chat" as too much bad info comes out of there these days. Not staffed always and no "hold" option like with calling so you just keep trying (if you really want to). Plus no transcript are saved to the account apparently so once it is done, there is no record unless you saved anything yourself. Social media contact (Facebook, etc.) can be hit or miss. Getting a Direct Message (DM) through the forum from the official help team is a bit more reliable (though I think they have some new agents still learning some of the basics). But from my understanding they are a smaller team which can only do so much, so they can be helpful on occasion but are not a pure replacement for calling customer support as normal.

Regarding the OAN, every year the owners of the television channels you watch demand higher prices, this is the reason why some channels are removed from the programming.

@historian1861 Do some research on why OAN was cancelled.  What was posted above is what one calls Fake News.  It had nothing to do with “higher prices”.  OAN has facts posted on their home page… see complaint OAN filed against DIRECTV. 

@historian1861 

There has been allot of threads over the OAN removal and many customers have dropped DTV as I did. I have found I can get allot of FREE over the air (OTA) stations as well as a plethora of channels through streaming. Not the DTV streaming but Pluto TV, Fire TV, NoraGo VUTV and many more. The Firestick sold on Amazon also has OANN, NewsMax Fox and more. I saved well over $150 a month ( I did have 2 accounts).

I am an EX-DirecTV and AT&T customer. I dropped DTV because of two issues. 1. The nonrenewal of OANN and the extremes in WOKE programing. 2. The cost almost doubled for service.

They are gonna say the Visa gift card is in the mail and it never will be. This guy says they changed the fine print, that’s fine but when we canceled the guy tells me don’t worry we will send you a refund and our service got cut off. So they cut our service and won’t give a refund. I’ve never truly hated a company more than DIRECTV/ATT.

@GodIhateDirecttv 

If there is a refund, yes it is now done in the way of a prepaid card. However, if the agent said you were getting a refund for remaining days in the service months, so prorating the bill, the agent was wrong. I would expect either the agent is brand new, or outsourced possibly looking up outdated information. The update to final billing occurred over 3 years ago.

Be aware that many service companies have made the change to not prorating final billing, both before and after AT&T/DirecTV made their update. It is pretty much the standard now. I agree that the agent was in the wrong for not setting the correct expectation.