My daughter had to cancel her Directv service because she was moving. She never signed a contract, but was told when she cancelled that she had a two-year contract and must pay $20 a month for the next 16 months. She said that she could not pay it all at once, and was told that wasn't a problem, that she could speak with their payment counselors and work out a schedule. Then she discovered that they had accessed her bank account and taken the entire $400+ out of it, leaving her overdrawn. When she tried to speak to a supervisor, she was told that the supervisor was "busy" (in the Philippines) and that in any case, there was no way to reverse the transaction. what might be the recourse?
Bank account accessed without permission
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She just learned not to enter into a contract she can't complete.
She was charged an early termination fee, simple as that.
Her bank account was not accessed, makes it sound all seedy and fraudulent. She allowed them to charge her an early termination fee for not completing her service contract with them, and signed to that fact when it was installed.
She was charged for service/goods, similar to buying a soda at a convenience store.
She can call and try to get through to a supervisor, minimizing it by suspecting where the call was to doesn't move the blame around any, and characterizing the transaction as fraudulent doesn't really make her case any stronger. She can dispute the charges with her bank, but she will lose because they are valid. She may have some options with suspending the account but if she's already moved and she's already canceled, she's likely not able to take advantage of anything there either.
She was charged an early termination fee, simple as that.
Her bank account was not accessed, makes it sound all seedy and fraudulent. She allowed them to charge her an early termination fee for not completing her service contract with them, and signed to that fact when it was installed.
She was charged for service/goods, similar to buying a soda at a convenience store.
She can call and try to get through to a supervisor, minimizing it by suspecting where the call was to doesn't move the blame around any, and characterizing the transaction as fraudulent doesn't really make her case any stronger. She can dispute the charges with her bank, but she will lose because they are valid. She may have some options with suspending the account but if she's already moved and she's already canceled, she's likely not able to take advantage of anything there either.
I like many others have no sympathy for people that enter into contracts and then break them expecting no consequences.. Your daughter could have shown more common sense than just cancelling a contract that was in force for only 8 of 24 months.
Contract gets signed right after the install, before the installer leaves, he has the customer sign the back of his "work order". The fine print is the contract.
If your daughter gave them her bank account numbers, that was permission to "access".
She probably has little recourse, a legal aid office might give her further advice. I assume a private attorney is beyond her means.
Wish her good luck.
If your daughter gave them her bank account numbers, that was permission to "access".
She probably has little recourse, a legal aid office might give her further advice. I assume a private attorney is beyond her means.
Wish her good luck.
I, like apparently not many others, DO have sympathy. We've been DirecTV customers since early 1999. We've never had DirecTV do any sort of install, and never signed a single piece of paper from their company. Yet, we're told we have a two-year contract stemming from a mythical 2008 upgrade that never occurred. (We last modified/updated our system in April 2007 and I have the paperwork to prove it.) DirecTV first said that, "we signed a contract at install". An "install" that never happened and they refused to provide any proof of. Then they said something along the lines of we, "purchased a receiver from them." Again, I have always bought my receivers from third parties and NEVER directly from DirecTV. They refused, again, to provide any proof, even when I offered to show them a receipt for my last receiver purchase ... from 2007. They then offered up a third bogus excuse I can't even recall now and cut off communications with me saying they had "done their research" and "considered the matter closed." So, without a shred of proof, they can claim I have an "unbreakable contract." (If anyone really cares I detailed the matter here, as it was happening, with all specifics. It's been a bit, so I'm slightly fuzzy on all the back-and-forth.)
Look, I don't know what the particular poster's situation fully is and I'm stickler for paying all your bills, but NO ONE would be happy to find $400 withdrawn from their account unexpectedly ... And no REPUTABLE business would do that. A good reminder to put all auto payments on credit cards that can A) be cancelled and B) disputed.
What other service do you pay for, in full plus up front costs, and then have them come back and say that full payment is not enough? (Other than cell phones, another opportunistic business, but even then you get to keep the phone you paid up from for!) I paid the same exact amount for my "leased" receivers as I did to purchase the SAME UNITS a few months earlier. So, no savings and, unlike with cell phones, no real subsidy by DirecTV either. (Those boxes don't cost them more than the $200 they charge to make, I guarantee.)
I'm a 10-year-plus customer at this point, always with the highest level of service, always paid in-full and on-time and yet they treat me like dirt. They've more than made their money on me and, yet, it's still not enough. And two MORE years every time you make ANY change? Really?! Greedy doesn't even begin to cover it.
You say you have no sympathy for people who, "enter into contracts and then break them expecting no consequences" and I would agree, if we were talking about a marriage or a mortgage or something equally grave. But TV? Really? C'mon!
Yes, you SHOULD read all the fine print before you sign anything. But how many people really do that with some glorified delivery guy standing there, tapping his foot and looking annoyed? Very, very few.
You enter into "contracts" with almost everything you do nowadays ... Playing a DVD, visiting a website, installing software, going to the dry cleaner.
And comparing this to a soda purchase is equally ridiculous ... Unless you think it's OK for the store to charge your bank account even if you don't buy soda one day, because they expected you to.
And what about DirecTV's "contract" with the consumer? Oh, that's right, their contract states they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, and consumers have no recourse. But no leeway is allowed the other way. So, they can remove channels, fail to live up to written promises of channel additions, raise rates or whatever else they feel like, at any time, with no notice, and the consumer can't even leave, because it's on the "contract."
DirecTV is a very big, very profitable company ... They charge "termination" fees for two reasons. First, because consumers like the two posters above are willing to accept Draconian terms without protest (and even defend them) and secondly because IT MAKES THEM EVEN MORE MONEY! There is NO other reason! And as long as consumers continue to support such a business model, greedy companies will continue to act in ever more onerous ways in order to expand their bottom lines.
Look, I don't know what the particular poster's situation fully is and I'm stickler for paying all your bills, but NO ONE would be happy to find $400 withdrawn from their account unexpectedly ... And no REPUTABLE business would do that. A good reminder to put all auto payments on credit cards that can A) be cancelled and B) disputed.
What other service do you pay for, in full plus up front costs, and then have them come back and say that full payment is not enough? (Other than cell phones, another opportunistic business, but even then you get to keep the phone you paid up from for!) I paid the same exact amount for my "leased" receivers as I did to purchase the SAME UNITS a few months earlier. So, no savings and, unlike with cell phones, no real subsidy by DirecTV either. (Those boxes don't cost them more than the $200 they charge to make, I guarantee.)
I'm a 10-year-plus customer at this point, always with the highest level of service, always paid in-full and on-time and yet they treat me like dirt. They've more than made their money on me and, yet, it's still not enough. And two MORE years every time you make ANY change? Really?! Greedy doesn't even begin to cover it.
You say you have no sympathy for people who, "enter into contracts and then break them expecting no consequences" and I would agree, if we were talking about a marriage or a mortgage or something equally grave. But TV? Really? C'mon!
Yes, you SHOULD read all the fine print before you sign anything. But how many people really do that with some glorified delivery guy standing there, tapping his foot and looking annoyed? Very, very few.
You enter into "contracts" with almost everything you do nowadays ... Playing a DVD, visiting a website, installing software, going to the dry cleaner.
And comparing this to a soda purchase is equally ridiculous ... Unless you think it's OK for the store to charge your bank account even if you don't buy soda one day, because they expected you to.
And what about DirecTV's "contract" with the consumer? Oh, that's right, their contract states they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, and consumers have no recourse. But no leeway is allowed the other way. So, they can remove channels, fail to live up to written promises of channel additions, raise rates or whatever else they feel like, at any time, with no notice, and the consumer can't even leave, because it's on the "contract."
DirecTV is a very big, very profitable company ... They charge "termination" fees for two reasons. First, because consumers like the two posters above are willing to accept Draconian terms without protest (and even defend them) and secondly because IT MAKES THEM EVEN MORE MONEY! There is NO other reason! And as long as consumers continue to support such a business model, greedy companies will continue to act in ever more onerous ways in order to expand their bottom lines.
A lot of 'down with the big bad corporation' here.
Don't know the details of your situation, but clearly more complex than someone who simply can't complete their service commitment they agreed to when the system was installed.
Bank accounts can be closed and charges can still be disputed, difference only being it's money and not a credit line. DirecTV is plenty reputable for those who have reasonable expectations of it.
You own your cell phone because they are arguably cheaper to produce and are signifigantly less reusable. Otherwise yes, the business models are identical. Otherwise we'd have no contracts and everyone would pay $500+ for cell phones.
You are a customer. Period. DirecTV is a very customer-centric company, but being an older customer only gets you so far. If you expect an installer to show up and wash your car because you've been with the company 10 years... you'll be disappointed. If your anniversary rolls around and you suddenly get a PPV or 3 months of Showtime, you may not be quite so disappointed. They just don't provide the kind of extraordinary service you're expecting I think.
It's a contract. Really doesn't matter how much you try and marginalize it because of what it centers around.
Again, really doesn't matter. She entered into a contract, and likely doesn't have some elbaborate sob story about her installation to fall back on. She simply moved. That's it.
Then you missed the point. The OP is all but accusing DirecTV of fraud. The transaction is as legit as buying a soda at a convenience store. Your comparison to the convenience store then overcharging isn't equal to being charged the termination fee.
Your point? And is any other service provider any different? All you're doing is dramatizing their CYA policies because adding/removing things are not always in the best interest or under the direct control of the company or it's customers.
They charge termination fees so people don't suddenly 'move' every x months and get out of service contracts. They have an investment into consumers and contracts ensure it is recouped.
ETFs help recoup an investment, they'd much rather have you as a customer for the same period of time, afterall, that's much more than the $20/mo they're charging.
Don't know the details of your situation, but clearly more complex than someone who simply can't complete their service commitment they agreed to when the system was installed.
Bank accounts can be closed and charges can still be disputed, difference only being it's money and not a credit line. DirecTV is plenty reputable for those who have reasonable expectations of it.
You own your cell phone because they are arguably cheaper to produce and are signifigantly less reusable. Otherwise yes, the business models are identical. Otherwise we'd have no contracts and everyone would pay $500+ for cell phones.
You are a customer. Period. DirecTV is a very customer-centric company, but being an older customer only gets you so far. If you expect an installer to show up and wash your car because you've been with the company 10 years... you'll be disappointed. If your anniversary rolls around and you suddenly get a PPV or 3 months of Showtime, you may not be quite so disappointed. They just don't provide the kind of extraordinary service you're expecting I think.
It's a contract. Really doesn't matter how much you try and marginalize it because of what it centers around.
Again, really doesn't matter. She entered into a contract, and likely doesn't have some elbaborate sob story about her installation to fall back on. She simply moved. That's it.
Then you missed the point. The OP is all but accusing DirecTV of fraud. The transaction is as legit as buying a soda at a convenience store. Your comparison to the convenience store then overcharging isn't equal to being charged the termination fee.
Your point? And is any other service provider any different? All you're doing is dramatizing their CYA policies because adding/removing things are not always in the best interest or under the direct control of the company or it's customers.
They charge termination fees so people don't suddenly 'move' every x months and get out of service contracts. They have an investment into consumers and contracts ensure it is recouped.
ETFs help recoup an investment, they'd much rather have you as a customer for the same period of time, afterall, that's much more than the $20/mo they're charging.
Good post above. Like you, I've always paid my DTV bill on time with auto-pay and before that, with a check on time. I'm a "model" customer (DTV's word, not mine 
) .
Regardless of that, something a little similar happened to me back in Sept '08 when I upgraded to HD. Here's what happened:
About a month into my HD upgrade, one of my HDxx boxes developed an intermittent problem. I called DTV and they sent out a tech who replaced the box. He took the defective box with him when he left my home. I considered the matter closed and was pleased at the response time of the DTV tech. I figured that the tech's taking the DTV property with him to be routine and normal. Is that something we all should read in some fine print or prevent the DTV tech from leaving a home with defective boxes?
The next month, I discovered a $400 charge on my auto-pay online acct for a HRxx box that I didn't return to DTV. Funny, right? Is this some kind of violation on my part of me breaking a contract? That, imo, isn't right for any Co to apply that kind of charge before checking with their own people to determine the location of their defective property. At the very least, I should have been contacted by phone about it. None of that occurred before the charge appeared on my credit card.
I got the matter resolved without a problem by calling a CSR and I was very polite in the conversation and all went smooth but I thought it was interesting that the CSR offered no comment in at least a "sorry" about what happened.
) .Regardless of that, something a little similar happened to me back in Sept '08 when I upgraded to HD. Here's what happened:
About a month into my HD upgrade, one of my HDxx boxes developed an intermittent problem. I called DTV and they sent out a tech who replaced the box. He took the defective box with him when he left my home. I considered the matter closed and was pleased at the response time of the DTV tech. I figured that the tech's taking the DTV property with him to be routine and normal. Is that something we all should read in some fine print or prevent the DTV tech
The next month, I discovered a $400 charge on my auto-pay online acct for a HRxx box that I didn't return to DTV. Funny, right? Is this some kind of violation on my part of me breaking a contract? That, imo, isn't right for any Co to apply that kind of charge before checking with their own people to determine the location of their defective property. At the very least, I should have been contacted by phone about it. None of that occurred before the charge appeared on my credit card.
I got the matter resolved without a problem by calling a CSR and I was very polite in the conversation and all went smooth but I thought it was interesting that the CSR offered no comment in at least a "sorry" about what happened.
She can try to dispute the charges with her bank. Depending on how the charge was originally set-up, bank routing or visa/debit, there is some time to dispute the charge.
This situation is unfortunate, and it is why DirecTV is being sued in a class action suit for their early termination fees policy. They can charge the ETF's, the dispute is if they are authorized to deduct that from a bank account without approval. We shall have to see how that plays out in court. Here are details...sound familiar?
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/07/ca_directv.html
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/courts/articles/?storyId=29649
Why did she not get DirecTV at her new place? She also could have suspended her account and tried to get DirecTV later.
I am not aware of any service for $9.99/month that Directv offers. Can you provide a link to it?
Family at $29.99 I believe is the lowest qualifying package. That is still $9.99 more than ETF but it would be paid monthly not as a lump sum.
Contact the back and get the charges reversed.
This is something that DirecTV says that they don't do, yet we see stories like this again and again.
Trust me I know as it happened to me.
This is something that DirecTV says that they don't do, yet we see stories like this again and again.
Trust me I know as it happened to me.
No, they charge termination fees to make money. Period.
As someone else stated with receiver return "fees," DirecTV has become notorious for charging onerous fees for no good reason, usually with no notice and often incorrectly. Sure, you may be able to get them reversed (or not) but why should you have to? They're certainly hoping you don't bother and they get to keep your cash. (The OP can try and reverse the charge with the bank, but DirecTV will fight it, and also likely send her to collections, resulting in a big credit rating hit ... Not usually something you want when moving.)
I was charged for a "non-returned receiver" when I upgraded my last SD receiver to HD in 2007. The replaced unit was a standard, $49 receiver I'd had since 2000, at least. No agent at DirecTV EVER asked for this receiver back and no mention was ever made of it ... Until a $300 or $400 charge should up on my (auto-pay) monthly bill. When I called about a charge that was 5 times my regular total I was told it was for not returning a box within 60 or 90 days (can't remember which). I said no one ever asked. They claimed to have "sent a box" ... But could provide no tracking or delivery information. (Because, of course, I'm positive nothing was ever sent.) I told them I'd already given the box (sans access card, by the way) to Goodwill, because I didn't want or need it anyway and would have been happy to give it back, even though it was a fully owned receiver, which even DirecTV acknowledged. Their story of why I had to return it was "copyright," because apparently their technology is top-secret, making it "illegal" (I remember that word being used) for me to donate it. Really? I can donate a top-of-the-line, brand new computer or any other electronic device, but a seven-year-old DirecTV box is more sacred and top secret than anything else and some guy at Goodwill is going to ruin their company with it?
They did issue a credit to my account, but not my credit card, which I pay in full every month. So, I still ended up paying DirecTV, up front, for a charge that never should have been made. I might very well have left this company then, if I had been under a new two-year "contract" for replacing that box. (Something I acknowledged I did.) A "two-year" contract that somehow just keeps growing and growing. I'm gonna' guess that when I call back in 2010 to cancel, I'll again, somehow, be under contract, at least in DirecTV's eyes. (This time, though, I have it in writing from them when it ends and I will fight tooth and nail if I have to.)
Look, right now I'm lucky enough to be at a place in life where it's hardly the end of the world for me to stay with, and pay for, DirecTV for another year, which I've determined is cheaper than trying to fight with them (especially when they refuse to even speak to me, so I'd have to hire a lawyer which is ridiculously big bucks, something I'm sure they know). And I can afford to pay an extra $500 one month if I have to. But I also remember, very clearly, what it was like when I couldn't swing an extra $10 expense, let alone have $400 I was depending on go suddenly missing.
If I move, I don't have to pay a "termination fee" to my electric company. Or my phone company. No matter if I lived there for two months or 20 years. The same goes for cable, which should be apples to apples with DBS. If I move, or even just want to switch to satellite, a "right" DirecTV itself defends to the death, I can do that. But I can't switch the other way? Totally unfair.
Oh and, there's plenty of research/mock-ups that show an iPhone costs a lot more to produce than a DirecTV DVR with technology many years older and easier to buy. Yet, when I pay $199 (or $99 or even $49 for a one-year-old model) for my iPhone, I own it. Forever. Yes, I have a contract too, but the hardware I bought up front is mine, regardless. DirecTV would want not ONLY an early termination fee, but return of all years-older hardware (all bought an fully paid for) OR charge fees for each box as well. Utterly ludicrous and nothing but greed.
It's also worth noting that I've never had a single issue with ANY cell phone provider showing me a bogus contractual obligation. The ONLY thing that extends your contract is adding/buying a new phone, which they do, clearly and provably, subsidize the cost of. (And, even then, T-Mobile is having great success with it's bring a phone plan that has no contract and offers unlimited voice and data for any phone that will work on their network. In fact, ALL cell phone providers offer contract-free plans ... Unlike DirecTV.)
Oh and, by the way, I don't think I should be treated "special" as a 10-year costumer. I just think it's crazy than someone who has been with them for LONGER than a decade could still be under an unbreakable contract, for any reason. They've long ago more than made back any loss (which I doubt exists, especially since I paid for ALL my own equipment, including dishes and installs) they sustained acquiring me as a customer ... Ostensibly the reason such contracts exist in the first place.
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Two points:
1. The commitment is clear. That she didn't work out the payment terms prior to cancellation should not be hung on DIRECTV.
2. DIRECTV is sometimes more understanding about these things if you at least attempt to have the service installed at the new location and the install fails. They don't accept your word that you can't get the service as a reason for breaking the commitment. Obviously, if you just want out, they're going to play the commitment card.
1. The commitment is clear. That she didn't work out the payment terms prior to cancellation should not be hung on DIRECTV.
2. DIRECTV is sometimes more understanding about these things if you at least attempt to have the service installed at the new location and the install fails. They don't accept your word that you can't get the service as a reason for breaking the commitment. Obviously, if you just want out, they're going to play the commitment card.
In all cases, if you are operating under some sort of commitment with your utilities, they will come after you for an ETF. I'm personally in a situation where I have to pay $26/month to a cooperative water provider as part of a capital improvement project that "we" engaged in. I get all of my water from a well on my property. My power company has programs that come with commitments.
The terms are pretty hard to ignore in most cases and if you don't completely establish alternative arrangements in advance of canceling, you should expect that they will go with the default terms of a lump sum payment.
Legally, if you move, they can not do that, unless it is within their territory. When we built a new house outside AT&T territory, there was never even a question that we owed them anything for DSL service, though we technically had a one-year obligation for our rate, because they didn't offer service where we were moving to.
We're a member of an electric co-op and there is no commitment. Also, if we don't use water, we don't pay for water. (Some people here, too, have wells.) At our old residence we had to pay for capital improvements in our water service too (though not a co-op), but when we moved, that bill stopped and the new homeowners, who weren't there when it went into effect, didn't have to pay that small, monthly surcharge (about $5, I think). My grandmother lived in a house built in the early 1940s until she died more than 60 years later and, when her well went bad, the city did force her to get city water (wouldn't allow her a permit to drill a new well) ... and she had to pay for the piping to her home at her own expense. But she didn't enter into an unbreakable contract by doing so, and didn't pay for water until she was using it. Yes, some cities do divide that capital improvement cost amongst all taxpayers, but that's also usually done via vote, so you have the opportunity to make your voice heard.
I've never, personally, had a commitment for ANY basic utility and I've lived in six states in my adult life, in both large cities and in rural areas, so you can hardly claim your experience is what is true in "all cases." Some do OFFER services, like setting your rate, for a certain time period, but that's a choice, not an obligation. (As in, you can choose NOT to do it too.)
DirecTV offers the consumer NO choice and REQUIRES an onerous two-year obligation that is not significantly (or at all) offset by reduced programming or equipment cost. Yes, there is a cost to acquire new customers--a cost documented in the $200 range by DirecTV to shareholders--but they continue to impose this obligation on ALL customers, no matter how long they have been with the service and long, LONG after DirecTV has recouped their costs.
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