DTV Contract Issues

[DKOTLAREK]

I, like thousands of others, am recieving horrible service & misleading contract issues with DTV. In short, I just had DTV installed 5 days ago, and though the installers have been back 3 times, I stil ldon't have fully operational equipment or service agreed to. In addition, I noticed on my online bill that the sales rep. did not enter me in the Auto Bill Pay as I requested, therefor I am not receiving the $10.00 discount for Free HD For Life. I have made numerous phone calls, speaking to several alleged managers, but it is the same story..."There is nothing we can do".

The only contratct paperwork I recieved was a yellow copy titled "DIRECTV EQUIPMENT LEASE ADDENDUM". The installers asked me to sign and date the bottom, however I refused until I was satisfied with the install and service terms.

My question: By not having signed this agreement, is this something I could use as leverage to force DTV to fulfill their end of their agreement? I am in the law profession (Police Officer), and know that contracts are binding upon signature. I signed nothing, nor have paid anything other than the $21.50 Shipping & Handling charge at the time of order.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I know that know matter what course of action, I choose, it will be an uphill battle.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[tvropro]

From what I understand if you didn't sign at time of installation you have no contract yet and can request that the equipment be taken back.

A word to anyone having problems before the install or not satisfied with the install. Refuse to sign the paperwork until your satisfied. I actually was lucky (so far) Everything promised with the CSR at sign up has come true on my bill and my install was a breeze. Kinda freaks me since things normally never go right for me.

 

[ryotgz]

I don't think they can legally hold you in a bind if you signed nothing. It will probably be like pulling teeth though.

What equipment issues are you having? Maybe we can help you better than the CSRs. Or maybe Stonecold will be along to save the day.

 

[DKOTLAREK]

Well,where do I start??? After being four hours late on the install date, they spent 5 hours and at the end informed me that they had t call it a "No Line Of Sight" due to a tree in my yard. Shouldn't they have done a site survey, first? They said the only option was to rip everything out, or do a roof mount. They then said they couldn't do a roof mount that day because they don't have a ladder and are out of time. Either way, I didn't have DTV service, nor cable. They said they would check with a manager on any other options, then gat back to me the next day. Several unanswered calls and 2 days later, I got a call saying they would come back out the next day. The next day...No Show. The day after that, a knock on my door at 8:00 in the morning (I had just got off a 12 hour nightshift). The installer spent 2 more hours, and finally got service to work by swapping out something on the dish. However, the HD DVR reciever will not function with the remote. That remote works other recievers and learns the TV, but will not control the reciever. After 45 minutes on the phone with DTV, they told the installer they would be sending me a new remote. Any idiot knows the remote is not the issue if it works other recievers & the TV, but we'll see. Finally, the Whole-Home DVR wasn't set up. The installer attempted it, and then gave up trying to convince me that it must be because the remote is not functional.

This pretty much sums up my installation & equipment nightmare. As you can see, DTV has their hand out for my payment, but I did not get the "Professional Installation" as they stated, functioning equipment, nor the service features I am expected to pay for.

While writing this I just recieved a call from the office of the president responding to an email I sent. He is looking things over, and is supposed to call me back in 5-10 minutes.

If he doesn't budge, I will work the unsigned contract angle.

Stay tuned...

 

[Jimbo]

Well,where do I start??? After being four hours late on the install date, they spent 5 hours and at the end informed me that they had t call it a "No Line Of Sight" due to a tree in my yard. Shouldn't they have done a site survey, first? They said the only option was to rip everything out, or do a roof mount. They then said they couldn't do a roof mount that day because they don't have a ladder and are out of time. Either way, I didn't have DTV service, nor cable. They said they would check with a manager on any other options, then gat back to me the next day. Several unanswered calls and 2 days later, I got a call saying they would come back out the next day. The next day...No Show. The day after that, a knock on my door at 8:00 in the morning (I had just got off a 12 hour nightshift). The installer spent 2 more hours, and finally got service to work by swapping out something on the dish. However, the HD DVR reciever will not function with the remote. That remote works other recievers and learns the TV, but will not control the reciever. After 45 minutes on the phone with DTV, they told the installer they would be sending me a new remote. Any idiot knows the remote is not the issue if it works other recievers & the TV, but we'll see. Finally, the Whole-Home DVR wasn't set up. The installer attempted it, and then gave up trying to convince me that it must be because the remote is not functional.

This pretty much sums up my installation & equipment nightmare. As you can see, DTV has their hand out for my payment, but I did not get the "Professional Installation" as they stated, functioning equipment, nor the service features I am expected to pay for.

While writing this I just recieved a call from the office of the president responding to an email I sent. He is looking things over, and is supposed to call me back in 5-10 minutes.

If he doesn't budge, I will work the unsigned contract angle.

Stay tuned...

Sounds to me like a LOCAL issue, something the installation company should be taking care of.... yes , it's D* essentially, but the installation manager should be out there with his top tech to correct any problems.

 

[DKOTLAREK]

Well, My faith has been restored! I recieved a call back from a manager at the office of the president. I did remove the $10.00 monthly charge. he stated that there is absolutely no reason the first rep I spoke to could not make the adjustment as well as the numerous people I spoke to after her. Also, he diagnosed my Whole-Home DVR issue and found that the installers failed to install the DECA filter. He is sending me one overnight, and described the simple installation. Finally, he diagnosed the remote issue and found that it was not set to the correct IR/RF mode and helped me reteach the remote.

I looked on my online account and it already reflects the adjustments.

Sometimes, you just have to bypass the people who are "Just here for a paycheck" and speak to persons who have a "Vested interest".

Hope this helps anyone who has similar issues.

 

[tvropro]

Glad to hear things are looking up. For the most part Direct has been good to me. Some installers shouldn't be doing installs and give the company a bad name. I guess my install worked out the best since the guy gave me the dish etc and told me I could do it better then him, he saw my bud and other dishes He connected the install it to an 18" I had up already for messing with Direct's guide. All he mostly did was authorize the receiver. I then decided to use my 90cm Primestar dish for Direct since it has better rain fade rejection.

Getting back to installers some know what there doing and some try to wing it. I guess you got a half wit. Seems that going up the ladder to corporate was a wise move.

 

[stonecold]

All OOP did was give a 10 dollar credit and made sure that auto pay was setup. that will cause the free hd for life to kick back on for the following months.

I read that and figured the box was set to a 2ndary remote code, sorry I been enjoying my weekend to make to many posts.

 

[ryotgz]

With my experience I can say the installers can vary one company to the next. The first company in my experience was horrible and have no idea how they are still in business. The local retailer I went through was completely great in every way.

Anyways, glad to hear you got it all sorted out.