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K

New Member

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1 Message

Saturday, January 21st, 2023 11:01 AM

Suspend Service for 5 months

I recently arrived in Rwanda for a 5 month stay,  but neglected to suspend or cancel my DirecTV service before I departed.  I also changed the SIM card on my phone, so I no longer have AT&T service.  DirecTV says that in order to suspend my service, I need to call a US 800 number, which will require a significant cost to make an international call to the US.  There also seems to be nothing on their website that would allow me to communicate via text or e-mail with anyone there.  I have clicked on "Chat", but to no avail.  Apparently it won't work with the Rwandan SIM card (no surprise, since AT&T owns DirecTV!)  Does anyone have any suggestions?  If I have to call on the phone, I will cancel rather than suspend service and switch to cable which is cheaper and more reliable anyway.

ACE - New Member

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5.2K Messages

2 years ago

AT&T doesn’t own DIRECTV anymore. They are now two separate companies since TPG has a 30% stake.

Regardless, you need to call to number in my greeting below to cancel. There are no workarounds. While live chat may work, it definitely isn’t the best solution since agents there typically mislead customers and are less educated. Even more often, they make mistakes while performing simple tasks on the account.

If you need support on how to call a US number while in Rwanda (and the costs involved), you would need to consult your mobile carrier.

To cancel, call DIRECTV and say ‘cancel’ to the robot to be sent to the retention/loyalty department. You may not be able to do this though since you won’t be returning for 5 months and ALL leased equipment is required to be returned to a FedEx/UPS location within 21 days. Otherwise, you’d be charged a hefty fee for non-returned equipment.

The best option now is suspending the account for 5 months and when you return to the US, cancelling it.

(edited)

ACE - Expert

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20.6K Messages

2 years ago

The 800 numbers and non 800 numbers Text/chat only work with phones in the US so unless you have someone authorized on the account to suspend it there is nothing you can do.

AT&T use to allow you to call their international number and they could transfer you to DTV but since the sell off of the 30% unknown if they will do it.

(edited)


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