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2 Messages
What does it take to get an employee of Direct TV to actually follow through with what they say they are going to do?
I have been calling Direct TV for months now explaining to them that we only have 3 TV's not 4 so we should be getting one TV for free and then being charged for 2 ($7.00/Each) which would be $14.00 per month. They have been charging me $21.00 per month for months now. I gave them the serial numbers of each box that we had and still saw a charge of $21.00 on my bill. Frankly, I'm so sick of having to call about this because they won't fix it for some reason. At one point we tried the new Voice Activated Remote which ended up being a joke. After barely using it because it didn't even work that great, we got rid of it 2-3 weeks later and was still charged $120.00 for activation and shipping and handling fees. Even though we didn't have the equipment anymore, my bill was over $400.00 last month because of this stupid activation fee and shipping and handling fee of $120.00, which I guess they charged because their technician carried it in from the truck? lol - I don't know. I'm about ready to just go back to regular TV and forget all of these paid services that keep bleeding my bank account every month. I think it's downright wrong that they start a series on a local channel get you hooked then switch to a streaming app that you have to pay for to continue watching the show. There should be something illegal about conducting business like that.
Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23.1K Messages
5 days ago
If your account is legacy (activated before late 2015) than the Primary TV fee is free. Might show as $0, but it could also show as $7 but with a credit for $7 to wipe it out. Newer accounts pay that $7 for the Primary TV fee and don't see HD charged on bill (but other costs were raised to make up for it).
Doesn't matter 3 months or 3 days, once a new box is activated the order is final. That means cost of the order is not refundable and the 24 month service agreement stays. However, calling DirecTV to deactivate the box and then ship it back to them should have removed the additional $7 fee.
I would review the order on the exact charges. Boxes don't have an activation fee, and shipping and handling certainly wouldn't be $120 . So double check the exact charges and what they are called. A one-time lease cost of the box (if you didn't have a free upgrade available) and $19.95 delivery (instead of the full $99 for tech install) would make sense for the $120 if you rounded.
Verify you're calling DirecTV itself and not one of their authorized 3rd party sellers (number below if needed). If you've been calling the correct number and it has been several calls over several months, I would consider a BBB complaint. That gets forwarded to the corporate level which usually contacts you within a few business days to sort this out and give you a final answer.
Channels/content owners will only include so much on their channel, or even their On Demand library. More than then that and they want you to pay so they can capitalize on the binge watchers who are hooked on a show and have little to no patience. That is not up to DirecTV as like any TV provider they are just a rebroadcaster and do not control the individual content and its availability.
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Miss_Demeanor
New Member
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2 Messages
5 days ago
Yes our account was activated before 2015 so our first TV is supposed to be free. I've literally talked to customer service reps more then 5 times about the correct number of TV's in our home and all of them assured me that our account would be fixed and to my surprise when looking over this month's bill, noticed that nothing had been changed. You are correct about the $120.00 (rounded) price of the voice activated box/remote. It was $99.00 + $19.99 for shipping and handling and was both installed and uninstalled by a technician and I understand that we got the box and therefore had to pay the fee for activation. I was just irritated by the price and the length of time we had the box. I double-checked the number you posted for Direct TV and it's the same number that I've been calling.
I really appreciate you answering the questions I had. Hopefully I can get this straightened out soon.
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23.1K Messages
5 days ago
You had it a few weeks and tech uninstalled it? That may be a problem. DirecTV doesn't have techs go out to remove equipment. You call, they deactivate, you ship back. If tech took box with them, once deactivated correctly this risks getting a non return fee (NRF) as they don't have tracking of the box.
As long as the $120 (rounded) was just the one-time lease cost (since not a free upgrade) and the shipping, then that is as expected. If tech had you pay additional to them as an "activation fee" I would mention this in your dispute as there are no box activation fees. Correct that DirecTV has never had a grace period for upgrades, so even a single day there would be no refund or reversal of the new service agreement.
Hope the guidance will be enough to help you get this all cleared up. Good luck.
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