Service contract

Hey, @Ballarog. All new DIRECTV Satellite customers are given a 24-month contract which includes 2 years of price protection. Your term commitment may change if you upgrade or add more equipment to your account, or move your service to another address. More info here: Understand Your DIRECTV Programming Commitment | DIRECTV Support Rhyan, DIRECTV Community Team

DTV has had the 2 year service agreement for new customers for thirty years, it is in all advertising and in the TOS you agreed to when you ordered and had it installed.

Many intro discounts are for 12 months. The 24 month service agreement is because with satellite you are provided equipment.

It is in the details of all intro offers, the order confirmation emailed to you upon order being placed, and reminded on the handheld you sign when tech installs. The 24 month agreement is a standard part of the service for approx. 30 years.

Years ago you could add another TV with an SD non-DVR with a 12 month agreement, but all intro offers and other upgrades (SDDVR, HDDVR, Genie, etc.) have been 24 months. Though SD service is no longer offered (equipment no longer available), that is primarily where the "up to" comes from.

Since the 24 month agreement is in multiple locations to make sure the customer is aware, even if an agent doesn't go over it verbally (accidently or on purpose), DirecTV has covered themselves on the consumer being informed.

Going to DirecTV's website and going to any offer there is a "see details" link that provides all this standard info.

Early termination fees apply for a maximum of $480, prorated at $20 per month over the 24-month term. 

Though DirecTV may have some parts of the business that need improving, especially (in my opinion) during AT&T's temporary ownership, in this case they certainly are not clowns. Lesson learned, make sure to read in full all the paperwork and specific offer you are looking into.

But it's not in any paperwork I have, nor did the sales person I talked to say this. Like I said, closest it says is "up to 24 months" on the first bill I received, and 12 months is included in "up to 24 months." So if that's the best they have, then I don't see this holding up. It being on a website that I never needed to look at in order to sign up for services, sure doesn't sound good enough to me. 🤷🏻‍♂️ And I can't see how the length during which they've been lying to customers really makes a difference. Didn't the government crack down on them over this 10 years ago? And yet they changed nothing about these practices???

I very much DID read everything. You're telling me because I didn't read any online offers and instead just called them, that's a binding contract???

I've read the agreement, the contract I signed, and the first bill I received in full, nothing says I've agreed to 24...

If the only way I could have signed up was to go to their website, and it's located there somewhere, then that would be one thing, but it isn't. 

You're basically giving me logic equivalent to "they posted it on a Myspace page, therefore it's legally binding." 

They definitely are clowns, but that's more of an figurative insult. The proper term would be "scammers." I was honestly hoping you'd point me to something I actually missed, as this is much more about the principle of the thing, and not the 250.

I can't have agreed to anything they never told me and isn't in anything I signed. You guys are just kind of confirming what I thought, in that they don't actually have anything concrete.

In response to this direct tv responding this,

Hey, @Ballarog. All new DIRECTV Satellite customers are given a 24-month contract which includes 2 years of price protection. Your term commitment may change if you upgrade or add more equipment to your account, or move your service to another address. More info here: Understand Your DIRECTV Programming Commitment | DIRECTV Support Rhyan, DIRECTV Community Team

Nope. Its not in the contract agreement I was sent, the contract I signed, or literally anything they could have confirmed I was informed about. I've read over literally everything I have. This is not me missing something. If it says that somewhere where you have "offers" and I call to get services, bypassing that, how is that legally binding? You guys just say yes you did agree to something you weren't informed about in any way, let alone signed?

It's not that I WANT to sue, but this is a issue about principle.

No need to start a new post. I merged your new post with your existing discussion thread. 

This question does come up every so often. Post here to complain about it won't really get you anywhere. This has been DirecTV's policy forever. And threatening to sue won't help, either. The contract that you didn't see also limits you to binding arbitration.  

You can try filing a BBB complaint.  Good luck. 

Well you can't directly respond to things, so I don't know what anyone will actually see.

You guys can keep saying this has been there policy for however long, since the big bang, for all that matters.

Its not a threat. The contract I absolutely read in full does mention that, and I'll go through arbitration first, but that doesn't mean I can never sue. I've already contacted lawyers. All I'm really doing here is asking if anyone can give me information that I might have missed. Not "well here's a letter we wrote after the fact," or "here's some hyperlinks that obviously weren't in the contract agreement or signed agreement," or "it's on their website you never needed to go to in order to acquire services" and it doesn't look like anyone can do that. 

Thanks. 

You have a signed contract?  Can you share it with us?  Crossout any personal identifying information.  I'd like to see what someone who signs up from a phone conversation gets.

The only thing I still have is a contract agreement in my email from 7 years ago, which is what I'm guessing is what they sent me after the phone call. The collections agency eventually sent me the contract with my signature on it, which is when I read it in full, but I don't still have it. Then when I asked to point out where it said I agreed to 24 months, and they couldn't, they dropped the case for 5 years, only to start it back up again now. I'd upload the contract agreement for you to have a look at, but it doesn't look like I have the option to upload PDFs here.  

https://www.directv.com/legal/directv-residential-terms-of-service/ under the equipment lease agreement..  This was signed when the installer handed you the handheld when you where installed.  

No it wasn't, or they would have shown it to me 5 years ago. The collections company is required to send me all the information they have, and like I said, I read through it thoroughly. Not to mention I definitely only ever signed one thing from them, so there's no other hidden thing that I forgot about, unless they just refuse to show me for some reason. The only thing they have with my signature on it says absolutely nothing about agreeing to any 24 month contract. 

I mean... I was on the phone with them recently. They tried to tell me they usually do it verbally, and that they never forget to mention it. Then they asked if I wanted a letter sent over without my signature on it, at which point I laughed and asked if they wanted a letter telling them they owe me a million dollars. 

Seems to me that they MEANT to have me sign something deceptive, but couldn't even manage to remember to do that. 

That links to a blank page, by the way. But also, thanks for the information. This actually helps. I figured this whole thing was one of three possibilities. Either they know they messed up, and figured most people just won't fight it. There was something I missed. Or they don't know they messed up but absolutely did. 

This is a customer to customer forum with no access to any accounts.  

The installer doesn't get paid nor does DTV provide you any service without you doing something to the handheld.   That link is working when using my laptop and Firefox web browser.

Well... Again. I signed one thing from them in totality. And it said nothing about a 24 month contract. Sooooo, they and you guys can make all the excuses you want, but unless they have evidence of it, it's not going to hold up. No amount of "we usually do" or "this and that wouldn't happen otherwise" is going to materialize evidence out of the aether.

Yeah, I'm on a phone. But even if that link says something about me agreeing to a 24 month contract, it doesn't matter unless they can prove, or at least have a reasonable expectation to me seeing it. Which if they can, and I for some reason forget signing a second thing, it sure is preeeeety questionable as to why they refuse to show it to me.

But thanks. At least I'm narrowing down why they think they'd win this. Which was again my whole reason for this thread. Still seems pretty open and shut on my end.