You paid electronically, unless you walked into the DTV accounting and handed them money. They are returning electronically, using a third party to do this, as they have come to the conclusion that this is the easiest and cheapest way overall to get it done. Also, as far as the applications, they are lying to you. You can be put on a do not contact list, and you can go through the United states Postal Service, and apply to have your name removed from receiving advertisements. If they continue outside a reasonable time, they are committing DNC violations, which you can turn over to the FTC. Now you refusing to do business with them any longer gives them no reason to want to expedite you refund. You are already in a state that is going to tell people how bad they are, so they can do it in what the general populous would consider a reasonable time(aka courts). When you do get your card, jsut like the electronic payment made to them, you can use it electronically to pay what you need to pay. And the cycle of life starts all over.