Problems with DTV and non-return fees--Extremely Frustrated

[leifkenn]

Hello,
Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction here.
I canceled my DTV service in early July on a Friday.
It took 5 days to get my Return kit from DTV and I finally received it on a Friday.
Of course right before the weekend.

I shipped it out on Monday the 20th and it was at the sorting picked up by agent on 7/23.

I Looked at my online account on 08/01 it said they had charged my a non return fee of 175.00.
I called on 8/2 and asked them about this and they said they received the units on 7/29 and would issue a reversal of charges in 24-48 hours(Which was a lie of Course)

I called 3 days later and the CSR said that I had to wait 10 days as the HW group had not yet updated the status if the returned equipment.

So I Waited again for for another 8 days and called again .

That was today and after waiting on hold for an hour waiting for a supervisor was told that I would need to wait another 5 days for an answer.
This is bull.
Has any one else had this issue.

I shipped to receivers in 1 box DVR,Standard and they said they received the DVR but still charged me the Fee anyway but they say that the standard receiver was not included WH?.
I am so frustrated on this issue after 5 hours on the phone no resolution.
Does anyone have a Number or something that I can get for the HW department or ?

Thanks for letting me rant.

 

[MikeD-C05]

YEp that sounds like some of the problems I went through with DIRECTv when I canceled a couple of years ago. NEVER will I use their service again. They rip you off when you leave .

 

[stonecold]

Sorry no number to the warehouse.

The 5 days is generally for account managment to investigate they usually get everythign resolved by the end of the 5 days. Do policy changes supervisors can no longer reverse nrf fees everything has to go through corporate now.

 

[leifkenn]

Sorry no number to the warehouse.

The 5 days is generally for account managment to investigate they usually get everythign resolved by the end of the 5 days. Do policy changes supervisors can no longer reverse nrf fees everything has to go through corporate now.

The issue is that they have had the receivers for over 14 days.
And they should not have charged it in the first place.

They can take my money fraudulently but will not return it.
on top of that the supervisor was pretty much calling me a liar.

 

[mitchflorida]

Do you have proof of delivery? If so, I wouldn't sweat it too much. Just send a complaint to your credit card company if they refuse to credit your account.

 

[stonecold]

The issue is that they have had the receivers for over 14 days.
And they should not have charged it in the first place.

They can take my money fraudulently but will not return it.
on top of that the supervisor was pretty much calling me a liar.

First I will say I understand how frustrating it is, but you really cant say fraudulently as it was part of the agreement you signed when you set up service.

I will be more then happy to check on the escalation and make sure everything is in order if you felt the supervisor lied to you.

 

[leifkenn]

First I will say I understand how frustrating it is, but you really cant say fraudulently as it was part of the agreement you signed when you set up service.

I will be more then happy to check on the escalation and make sure everything is in order if you felt the supervisor lied to you.

Not really as I signed up for service before there was leased receivers.
But what I am saying is that they should not have taken the charges out at all as they had the equipment all ready on site so there should not have been a non return fee assessed.

There needs to be a way for a customer to contact the HW department directly.

The supervisor said that the DVR had been returned but that the standard receiver was not in the shipment( which is wrong).
But I was assessed with fee for the DVR and not charged for the standard . How can that be if it was all ready received.

 

[stonecold]

Not really as I signed up for service before there was leased receivers.
But what I am saying is that they should not have taken the charges out at all as they had the equipment all ready on site so there should not have been a non return fee assessed.

There needs to be a way for a customer to contact the HW department directly.

The supervisor said that the DVR had been returned but that the standard receiver was not in the shipment( which is wrong).
But I was assessed with fee for the DVR and not charged for the standard . How can that be if it was all ready received.

The agreement you sign states it can change at any time, it also states if you get leased equipment that you bound by the leased agreement.

But generally you should not have an issue getting this resolved if you kepy the tracking number you have proof of delivery , or I cant get you the tracking if you lost it. When you can then take you bank.

 

[teachsac]

YEp that sounds like some of the problems I went through with DIRECTv when I canceled a couple of years ago. NEVER will I use their service again. They rip you off when you leave .

E* is no better in this regard. Been there done that with them. Face it, they both S*** when it comes to this particular issue.

S~

 

[leifkenn]

E* is no better in this regard. Been there done that with them. Face it, they both S*** when it comes to this particular issue.

S~

Yes I am done with all of them and will be doing FTA from now on.

 

[spokybob]

When I took my DISH 622 to the UPS store, the lady says, "Hang on to your receipt so they don't charge you $600." Good advice, but I had no problems at all.... I'm not sure why they wanted both remotes and the LNB, but I sent them per agreement, along with a diplexer thing.

 

[cfb]

The issue is that they have had the receivers for over 14 days.
And they should not have charged it in the first place.

They can take my money fraudulently but will not return it.
on top of that the supervisor was pretty much calling me a liar.

Now you know why Directv has an "F" rating with the BBB. They have a complex and customer unfriendly agreement that allows them to pull all sorts of stuff and they firmly stand behind it. If you read the BBB report, more than half the complaints involve instances where the BBB felt the customer was right, but Directv would only conform to their 962 page customer agreement that says they can do pretty much anything they want. The BBB concludes that Directv operates in an untrustworthy manner.

Dispute it with your credit card company, file as many complaints as you can with as many agencies as you can find, and let things sort themselves out. Maybe if Directv has to handle a 6-12 complaints every time they do this sort of thing, they'll change their procedures to be more customer friendly.

Of course, there isnt much customer advocacy for former customers and I guess they dont care that you'll probably never be a customer again and will tell your story to hundreds of thousands of internet viewers, causing them to lose other potential business.

Dish is just as bad. After my short experience with them and their similar cancellation fiasco I'll never be their customer again. I'm not signing any more contracts with Directv either, so my time with them will obviously be limited.

 

[FED-UP-INSTALLER]

I wonder how many boxes of dog crap get mailed to direct on a weekly basis?

 

[cfb]

I dont think theres a lot of that, but now that you mention it, perhaps some folks might want to rub some on the receivers before mailing them back in. After all, "the agreement" simply says that they have to get them and they have to work. It doesnt say that they have to smell good.

 

[ranmic]

Now you know why Directv has an "F" rating with the BBB. They have a complex and customer unfriendly agreement that allows them to pull all sorts of stuff and they firmly stand behind it. If you read the BBB report, more than half the complaints involve instances where the BBB felt the customer was right, but Directv would only conform to their 962 page customer agreement that says they can do pretty much anything they want. The BBB concludes that Directv operates in an untrustworthy manner.

Do you base your entire existence on the BBB? I'm not saying they can't be used as a source, but you quote them way too often on here. The BBB holds very little weight with me.........and to prove my point, we have a builder here in NH that has a B rating with the BBB but yet everyone I have talked to about his homes have nothing good to say and have ALL had or still have issues with him yet complaints filed with the BBB rarely get addressed and he continues to carry a good rating. Explain that one for me.

 

[stonecold]

The BBB really is crooked in alot of ways. The local office here I went to complain about a local company when that complaint when into the "round file" as the owner of the company was on the board of the local bbb chapter I didnt even get a so sorry but there right and your wrong response i got no response and then when i went to ask them about that i got tol it was removed do to being a fraudluent complaint. Not all BBB's are like this but i nee enough that are that they are not to be trusted.

 

[cfb]

I quote it often because lots and lots of people report having the same sorts of problems that are reported to the BBB and with the same results. I guess I felt like it was pertinent to let the OP know that he's in good company with lots of other customers with the same problems, and that directv by analysis has shown a pattern of not doing the right thing by the customer and rather prefers to hide behind their contracts and agreements.

Directv has a complicated agreement that gives them carte blanche to do anything they want, since they state they can change it any time without your consent and there isnt anything you can do about it while under contract unless you want to pay an early termination fee.

I predict they'll have a lot of government regulation landing on their heads shortly.

I cant really comment about the BBB's analysis of the company you mention, but I'd suspect it has something to do with the BBB rating companies within their peer group. Some businesses just carry a lot of complaints, and building homes is certainly one of them. If you'd let me know the name and location, I'll be most pleased to look at it and let you know what I think.

The BBB certainly isnt the be-all, end-all of everything. But whenever I've had problems with a company that they wouldnt resolve internally, they've often had a bad BBB rating. When I've had good experiences with a company, they've usually had a good one.

Directv's BBB rating used to be good, before they implemented their crazy lease model, early termination fees and started treating the customer like the enemy. They also used to lead in customer service, but dont any more.

However, if it helps, I'm willing to look up at least a half dozen different metrics in which directv performs poorly and randomly rotate among them so as to keep the experience fresh for you. Or we could go the other way and just tell anyone who complains about directvs actions to not post about it, because you've already heard that one.

Besides the BBB, we've got that customer service survey, we've got a couple of state attorney generals who are getting prepared to sue, there are a whole bunch of bad Cnet reviews, hundreds of one and two star reviews on amazon relating to the products, directv service and contract issues. I might even be able to come up with a dozen solid instances to rotate between.

Let me know how you'd like me to proceed. We want your experience here to be a rewarding one.

 

[RandallA]

Both companies do the same crap. IMO, their expected time to return the receivers is unrealistic. Too many things can go wrong with their return procedures and of course the customers pay for their bad management and procedures.

 

[tigerfan33]

Let's face it. Both companys will put a lot more money into getting your business than spending money to make things right when you are leaving. They could care less.

 

[stonecold]

Here is my take on this little post of CFB's

all the "bad" stuff happened because of bad customers. Termination fees " Lease recievers are a good thing over all and most of our long time customer appericate not having to spend a fortune on a hddvr as they use to spend 200 dollars on a sd box " etc.

Lets say I am Directv, I invite everyone i know to my place for some free beer some football and good times. and We do this every month for a year. Now after I feed and gave free beer to lets say Random customer #1 and Random Customer #2 they say bleep off punch me in the stomach . Ok I am a little up set to these guys what did I do I gave them foot ball and beer and munchies. Well my next door neighbor Dish network hires strippers i found out and my supposed friends the customer who punch me left me for some cheap boobs. So I get a bigger tv with a better picture and even better munchies and Customer 1 and Customer 2 come back and act like they never punched me I not sure about them but I let them back . Dish network gets a bigger tv and even more cheap boobs. again customer 1 and 2 punch me in the gut less then 6 months after asking to come back. I say I am tired of being beat and taken advantage up so in aother 6 months when Dish looses ESPN NEws and some other hd channels and I have some new dvr tech, 1 and 2 come back but this time I tell them they are welcome to come back for free but they have to stay with team directv for 2 years but if you leave early you goin to have to pay me for all my beer and munchies i give you. they agree and then throw a fit after a year when they want to go back ove to the cheep boobs and I say fine but pay up.

Customers jumping ship caused this.

Customers who said owning equipment was too expensive caused leasing .

Customers who think everything should be handed to them caused both companies to be more strict on there policies.