This is what they are doing to me. A year ago in April of 2009 I upgraded to HD as many people were doing at the time, we had Direct TV for 10 years already and any committment was exceeded tenfold, they even thanked us for being a 10 year customer by giving us $5.00 off a month for 12 months, then the next month they gave me $5.00 off but raised our Choice package charges by $10.00 the second month, this had othi9ng to do with the upgraded HD charges this was the regular package price increase of $10.00. I called and cancelled. The lady told me that I was going to be charged $438.00 early diconnection fee? I said no way I have been a customer for 10 years, never even late on a bill. She said that unles I wanted to keep the service I would be charged. Needless to say this did not go over well and I disconnected as I already had DISH Network installing my new system, she even said she would have someone come out and re install the dish for free if I wanted to keep the service plus another $5.00 off for 6 moonths. I laughed and said no thank you not after you are telling me you want to rip me off after ten years of being a faithful customer. I wrote them a letter after the first bill asking me for thiis absurd amount of money. No resonse no bills even. Now a year later I get a letter from RPM, a collection agency, a year and a month later telling me that I owe $448.00, I called them and they assured me I am under contract no matter how long I have had the service. I said excuse me? I had a contract for 12 months in 1999 and cancelled in 2009, thats ten years, he said it does not matter that if you cancel anytime with them you get charged for disconnection, I said how do you even know my case when you do not even know who you are talking to, I never was asked for an acct number or anything, not even my name, so this is the response they give everyone. I'll be calling my Attorney.
I cancelled after 10 years and they still want disconnection fees.
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Good luck! When you got the hd equipment, you got a new two year commitment. It was in the paperwork you got, even if you didn't sign it. You are stuck for the money, or the hit on your credit report.
I don't think he will be back, to respond to anything.
He came to complain thinking he was right and oh well.....
Sad thing is he probably thinks he isn't under a commitment
with Dish either, It just amazes me how many people don't
pay attention to anything - they just assume.
He came to complain thinking he was right and oh well.....
Sad thing is he probably thinks he isn't under a commitment
with Dish either, It just amazes me how many people don't
pay attention to anything - they just assume.
If he didn't sign or direct cant produce paperwork - he's in the right and direct is in the wrong
That's why I was informed with facts in hand before my installer arrived for my HD upgrade. I had been reading the info here
. It sure made a difference as the installer knew that I had the info before he began the installation.I do remember talking to the CSR when I was scheduling my HD install. She never mentioned the 2-Yr commitment. I mentioned it and I remember her pausing on the phone before answering....."yes, there is a 2-yr contract."
Thanks to you guys, I was prepared
Unless he singed up over the phone, or signed off on the installers paperwork at the time of the installation.
I can't imagine that the installer left without getting him to sign the papers. Perhaps the OP thought he was just signing off on the install, but if he read those papers, he'd find that he committed for 2 years.
Angry customers are the direct result of having a huge early termination fee that isnt openly disclosed to the customer before they purchase.
Its shady and sneaky. Even the cell phone companies are quite up front about the contract period and ETF's.
Of course, they dont want to tell you about it because then a fair number of people wouldnt sign up.
When I did my install, I knew about the contract and the ETF. Nobody at Directv that I spoke with mentioned it. The installer said nothing. He came in from two hours of standing on a 24' ladder in 100+ degree weather with sweat pouring off of him and skinned knuckles and told me he was a half hour late to his next appointment...would I sign this to say I received the installation and that it was okay?
Sure, everyone is going to say "hold on bub, I'm going to read all these documents that you just handed me for the first time and check all the fine print to make sure you guys arent slipping in a $500 early termination fee on me and a 24 month lock".
Yeah, right.
I suspect my experience is fairly typical, and I doubt the average person would scrutinize the document for any unpleasant terms.
When you're asking for a huge ETF and a long term contract, it should be disclosed directly at the time of the order and signed off as a separate document. "Here sir, this states that you agree to a 2 year contract with a $500 early termination fee if you arent happy with the service or want to end it before the contract period".
Of course, the problem here is that a lot of directv customers had problems with their service or product offerings and wanted to switch to another provider. Instead of fixing the problems, they just introduced a large stick to prevent it from being costly. Great management: "What?!? 10% of our customers want to drop the service months after getting it?!? Well, just charge them $500 to keep them from doing that!". I guess "Why are they leaving so soon and how can we fix that" was a little too much effort.
Its shady and sneaky. Even the cell phone companies are quite up front about the contract period and ETF's.
Of course, they dont want to tell you about it because then a fair number of people wouldnt sign up.
When I did my install, I knew about the contract and the ETF. Nobody at Directv that I spoke with mentioned it. The installer said nothing. He came in from two hours of standing on a 24' ladder in 100+ degree weather with sweat pouring off of him and skinned knuckles and told me he was a half hour late to his next appointment...would I sign this to say I received the installation and that it was okay?
Sure, everyone is going to say "hold on bub, I'm going to read all these documents that you just handed me for the first time and check all the fine print to make sure you guys arent slipping in a $500 early termination fee on me and a 24 month lock".
Yeah, right.
I suspect my experience is fairly typical, and I doubt the average person would scrutinize the document for any unpleasant terms.
When you're asking for a huge ETF and a long term contract, it should be disclosed directly at the time of the order and signed off as a separate document. "Here sir, this states that you agree to a 2 year contract with a $500 early termination fee if you arent happy with the service or want to end it before the contract period".
Of course, the problem here is that a lot of directv customers had problems with their service or product offerings and wanted to switch to another provider. Instead of fixing the problems, they just introduced a large stick to prevent it from being costly. Great management: "What?!? 10% of our customers want to drop the service months after getting it?!? Well, just charge them $500 to keep them from doing that!". I guess "Why are they leaving so soon and how can we fix that" was a little too much effort.
If I were installing for them, that would be one of the first things I would discuss with the sub.... he just spent a good part of his day in the heat busting his arse and you could have said take it down, you were unaware of this.
otoh, the installer I'm sure has presumed that you were informed of all this by the service rep when you called in to sign up.
Whenever I talk to mt subs about getting D* I always point out the fees and commitment ahead of time.
I have U-Verse I can sell also, if they are not in a active area yet, I inquire about D* .... that said,I can also walk outside and pretty much know if they have a usable LOS as well.
Yeah I knew about the contract so I listened pretty carefully for anyone mentioning it or pointing it out in a document. Never happened.
Even if they never mentioned it, if it is contained in the document that you signed, you are still accountable to it.
Yes, and for a reasonable set of terms and conditions I would agree with that.
If they put in there that I had to give them my firstborn male child if I was ever late on a payment, would you consider that reasonable for them to do if I failed to read the back of a document I was told was an installation acceptance?
Of course not. Just like any reasonable person would expect a major clause with serious financial implications to be mentioned by someone and not stuck in the fine print on the bottom of the back of a document thats handed to a customer clipped into a clipboard.
But as I already mentioned they dont tell you about it up front because it'd put a ding in their sales. The installer doesnt want to tell you because they arent paid to deal with that hassle and besides, you might disagree and then they'd have to remove everything they just installed.
I guess this is as gray an area as morality. My morality is that I tell my customers, suppliers and business partners about any significant aspects involving our doing business together. Its harder to do than saying "ha ha, you didnt read everything" when the business relationship has already ended, but its the honest thing to do.
But maybe being honest and up front about everything was why I usually kept customers and suppliers for decades rather than years or months, and the vast majority of them would recommend me to others.
Here you have someone who was an easy income customer to directv for ten years. He got an upgrade and wasnt told about a significant part of the agreement with a significant financial penalty. I believe him. Mostly because I did the same thing that he did about the same time and I wasnt told either.
"Shame on you for not reading all the stuff I didnt want to tell you about!" has a pretty low rating on the morality scale, at least to me.
If they put in there that I had to give them my firstborn male child if I was ever late on a payment, would you consider that reasonable for them to do if I failed to read the back of a document I was told was an installation acceptance?
Of course not. Just like any reasonable person would expect a major clause with serious financial implications to be mentioned by someone and not stuck in the fine print on the bottom of the back of a document thats handed to a customer clipped into a clipboard.
But as I already mentioned they dont tell you about it up front because it'd put a ding in their sales. The installer doesnt want to tell you because they arent paid to deal with that hassle and besides, you might disagree and then they'd have to remove everything they just installed.
I guess this is as gray an area as morality. My morality is that I tell my customers, suppliers and business partners about any significant aspects involving our doing business together. Its harder to do than saying "ha ha, you didnt read everything" when the business relationship has already ended, but its the honest thing to do.
But maybe being honest and up front about everything was why I usually kept customers and suppliers for decades rather than years or months, and the vast majority of them would recommend me to others.
Here you have someone who was an easy income customer to directv for ten years. He got an upgrade and wasnt told about a significant part of the agreement with a significant financial penalty. I believe him. Mostly because I did the same thing that he did about the same time and I wasnt told either.
"Shame on you for not reading all the stuff I didnt want to tell you about!" has a pretty low rating on the morality scale, at least to me.
I agree with you to a point, like I think the installer should be up front about the potential charges, but then again, he isn't selling the system or programming, only installing the equipment. It's really up to the first contact at Directv to make sure the customer is properly informed. Also, many customers go out and get new equipment at Costco or Best Buy, then complain about not owning it. The boxes have stickers on them that plainly state the equipment is leased.
I agree, directv should tell people up front about it, not dump it on the installer. There isnt a whole lot of 'win' for the installer to bring it up.
I havent seen the directv units at best buy but I have noted that Costco seems to do a decent job of letting you know that you're leasing and not buying. Although the whole idea is a little bit orthogonal. What else have you ever bought in the electronics section at costco or the entirety of best buy that was leased? Especially when for the same money you can buy a tivo hd that has almost entirely the same innards for less than $200 and you own it may be a bit challenging to grasp.
I realize that not everyone is that bright and half the population is below the median in intelligence and grasping concepts like paying $200 for something you have to give back or having to lay out $500 if you get a service and it doesnt work well for you.
I think the big issue here is one of precedence and when one is creating precedence, the onus is really on the creator to make sure the customer gets it. Before this move by directv to get into leasing, I dont think anyone made you pay a big up front fee AND a monthly fee to use the box AND made you give it back when you stopped using the service. Plus for any 'utility' type service like electricity, gas, phone, cable tv and the like, nobody whacked you for an early termination fee if you wanted to disconnect it after a few months or a year.
So my question is when theres no precedence for paying a decent up front fee for a tv related product and not owning it, and no precedence for a home connected utility service to lump you with a long contract and a big early termination fee, what would be the driver for a new to make them think to look for the lease or termination clauses in a bunch of paperwork?
In my opinion, directv is double dipping by charging a big fee up front, having the customer shell out $7 a month for a lease fee, and then expecting the box back at the end. Maybe when the box cost $500 or $1000+ to build there was, but they dont cost that much anymore.
See, the cell phone business went through all this stuff already. They charged up front, they charged a monthly fee, and they silently signed customers up to contracts with early termination fees. When the customers, who had no reasonable expectation to look for a contract or ETF when they'd never been assessed one before, got hit with the fees they went through the roof. After gently suggesting that they be more up front with their terms and conditions, we ended up with a bunch of laws that made them compliant. Plus they have to let you out of the contract if they raise prices, which is the foul that the OP ran across.
I suspect directv will end up on the wrong end of a set of the same sort of laws. While you can argue the relative merits of protecting the weak of mind, the truth is that most people cant balance a check book and couldnt explain their cell phone plan if their lives depended on it.
Also interesting to note that there is a huge shift away from lease phone plans with contracts towards purchased phones and prepaid cell plans. That might be a harbinger for the future with regards to directv. Cable and the fiber optic providers dont charge up front for the receivers. Hell, they'll hand over the equipment, install it for free and give you $200-300 in your pocket to sign up.
I havent seen the directv units at best buy but I have noted that Costco seems to do a decent job of letting you know that you're leasing and not buying. Although the whole idea is a little bit orthogonal. What else have you ever bought in the electronics section at costco or the entirety of best buy that was leased? Especially when for the same money you can buy a tivo hd that has almost entirely the same innards for less than $200 and you own it may be a bit challenging to grasp.
I realize that not everyone is that bright and half the population is below the median in intelligence and grasping concepts like paying $200 for something you have to give back or having to lay out $500 if you get a service and it doesnt work well for you.
I think the big issue here is one of precedence and when one is creating precedence, the onus is really on the creator to make sure the customer gets it. Before this move by directv to get into leasing, I dont think anyone made you pay a big up front fee AND a monthly fee to use the box AND made you give it back when you stopped using the service. Plus for any 'utility' type service like electricity, gas, phone, cable tv and the like, nobody whacked you for an early termination fee if you wanted to disconnect it after a few months or a year.
So my question is when theres no precedence for paying a decent up front fee for a tv related product and not owning it, and no precedence for a home connected utility service to lump you with a long contract and a big early termination fee, what would be the driver for a new to make them think to look for the lease or termination clauses in a bunch of paperwork?
In my opinion, directv is double dipping by charging a big fee up front, having the customer shell out $7 a month for a lease fee, and then expecting the box back at the end. Maybe when the box cost $500 or $1000+ to build there was, but they dont cost that much anymore.
See, the cell phone business went through all this stuff already. They charged up front, they charged a monthly fee, and they silently signed customers up to contracts with early termination fees. When the customers, who had no reasonable expectation to look for a contract or ETF when they'd never been assessed one before, got hit with the fees they went through the roof. After gently suggesting that they be more up front with their terms and conditions, we ended up with a bunch of laws that made them compliant. Plus they have to let you out of the contract if they raise prices, which is the foul that the OP ran across.
I suspect directv will end up on the wrong end of a set of the same sort of laws. While you can argue the relative merits of protecting the weak of mind, the truth is that most people cant balance a check book and couldnt explain their cell phone plan if their lives depended on it.
Also interesting to note that there is a huge shift away from lease phone plans with contracts towards purchased phones and prepaid cell plans. That might be a harbinger for the future with regards to directv. Cable and the fiber optic providers dont charge up front for the receivers. Hell, they'll hand over the equipment, install it for free and give you $200-300 in your pocket to sign up.
Just some points
1. its not 500 but 480 ( 20 x 24 months )
2. If you order online is it listed on the site and it something you have to click pass to continue with the order.
3. New customer rebates at the end also state again that you are agreeing to the contract by accepting the 12 months of credits
4. when ordering equipment ( existing customr ) ACE agents are required to disclosed it will cause a 24 month contract ext , and then Ace or Tech will state it a 2nd time when they go to activate. Failure to do either of these is considered a red flag 2 red flags and you fired. So it is something we take seriously most customers do not open there ears and listen.
1. its not 500 but 480 ( 20 x 24 months )
2. If you order online is it listed on the site and it something you have to click pass to continue with the order.
3. New customer rebates at the end also state again that you are agreeing to the contract by accepting the 12 months of credits
4. when ordering equipment ( existing customr ) ACE agents are required to disclosed it will cause a 24 month contract ext , and then Ace or Tech will state it a 2nd time when they go to activate. Failure to do either of these is considered a red flag 2 red flags and you fired. So it is something we take seriously most customers do not open there ears and listen.
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