Bank account accessed without permission

[harshness]

Legally, if you move, they can not do that, unless it is within their territory.

If I move away from the water cooperative, I (or the party that I sell my "share" to) am still on the hook for the capital improvements that were made regardless.

If you walk away on a wireless phone contract because they don't serve your area, you'll likely still get dinged.

If you turn in your equipment to Comcast, they won't send you away without settling up if you're under a "triple-play" commitment.

One way or another, you're generally expected to fulfill your commitments; either through sticking it out or paying an ETF.

 

[susanandmark]

If you walk away on a wireless phone contract because they don't serve your area, you'll likely still get dinged.

If you turn in your equipment to Comcast, they won't send you away without settling up if you're under a "triple-play" commitment.

Wrong, in both cases. If wireless service is not available in that area, you're out of your contract (they can't honor their end). Same with Comcast. They may expect you to prove it, but they can't enforce the deal in area they can't offer service. I've even heard of people who, with persistence, got of wireless plans when the company just had BAD (not nonexistent) service in their area.

And I have no idea how the utility co-op you're a part of works. Our electric company is a co-op, but there's no buy in or anything like that. (There are no shares to sell or buy ... At least not for the average user.) We simply pay a bill and that's that. It's our only option for electricity at this address and I have found it no different, save a monthly magazine I don't read, than a standard utility company, i.e. our previous provider. If you own shares of something that can be sold/has value, that's very different than a service only provider arrangement, which is what we're talking about with DirecTV. By being a customer you don't own any part of DirecTV the company or, in fact, own anything anymore, not even your equipment. Therefore there is NO intrinsic value in DirecTV for the consumer, beyond the television provided.

 

[wildbill129]

If I move away from the water cooperative, I (or the party that I sell my "share" to) am still on the hook for the capital improvements that were made regardless.

If you walk away on a wireless phone contract because they don't serve your area, you'll likely still get dinged.

If you turn in your equipment to Comcast, they won't send you away without settling up if you're under a "triple-play" commitment.

One way or another, you're generally expected to fulfill your commitments; either through sticking it out or paying an ETF.

I'm in a water co-op. Capital improvements are made via bonds and paid for in the homeowners property taxes. If you move the homebuyer continues to pay on the bond.

I don't have a problem with the ETF. It's how we get equipment at a well, decent, price. What I have a problem with, and the California Courts (so far) is the unauthorized access of bank accounts to withdraw the ETF. They should send the customer a bill for it, and if they were really nice, allow a payment plan.

 

[meStevo]

Everyone's making it more complicated than it is with all the comparisons to other services, it's as simple as she signed up to be with DirecTV for 2 years, can't fulfill her commitment, and was hit with a fee for leaving.

Everything else is speculation on what if's since the OP hasn't given us any more information.

With the information the OP has given us, she really doesn't have any options. We don't know if she tried to show there was no signal, for all we know she moved in with someone next door and they have cable and she can't put DirecTV in. All we can do is craft hypotheticals to fit our arguments, when we have so few details so there's little point arguing.

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

no one seemed to ask the OP this question, after your daughter moved, did she call directv to try to move her service or just bluntly cancel? Because if you move and there is no line of sight for the dish due to trees or other structures, the ETF IS WAIVED, however, if your landlord will not allow you to install a dish on his roof/building/whatever the case, then you are responsible, technically you could force the landlord to pay the etf through a magistrate or whatever since he/she/they are not allowing you to continue your service.


On another note, they told her there is a payment plan available, and there is, that conversation should be recorded, request a tape pull, and force dtv to honor it.

Also, if there is no line of sight, then directv will role a tech sup to verify that, and if they find that it can be installed on a pole x amount of feet from the property or something stupid like that, then it has to be. Otherwise you have to pay the etf. Your daughter still has a couple options as long as she hasnt burned her bridges rudely or anything like that.

 

[BlueEos]

Verbal contract...

Directv anti consumer business practices. She didnt sign anything there was no contract.

I don't remember signing any contract when I got on board this past March. I "enrolled" over the phone (actually with Qwest and a triple play package). I do understand that I have a "contract" with DTV for 24 months and I intend to honor it fully and then stay with DTV for a much longer period.

That's unless FIOS comes down my street AND I see service comparable with DTV. Our son-in-law down in Oklahoma City has U-Verse (which seems similar to FIOS) and I'm not impressed with it a bit. Way too much de-pixilation.

IMHO, today's youth expect way too much when starting out and in doing so, get themselves into WAY OVER THEIR HEADS. A good starting point might be BASIC CABLE, but then there would be no ESPN, no PPV movies, etc. Why does everyone coming up want what took me a long time before I was ready to assume the financial obligations.

 

[cfb]

I knew about the contract, yet nobody ever mentioned it when I called directv and while it was in a scad of fine print on the back of the install agreement, I wasnt aware that I was agreeing to anything other than that the install was done to my satisfaction.

Surely I could read both sides of every document ever handed to me, but when theres >$300 on the line, it'd be swell if the other party mentioned that.

But lets be real. They dont mention it because then a lot of people wouldnt sign up for it.

I'm also not buying the "it gives us inexpensive equipment" line either. You can buy a tivo HD for <$200 that has almost the same guts as an HR2x and I bought directv tivo's for <$200 as well a few years ago.

Plus you dont get to keep the equipment and sell it, you have to give it back.

Its simply a quiet way of zippering you up for 2 years, and also if your product or customer service sucks, it takes away the customers recourse of walking away.

I ask you: if its such a reasonable term, why isnt it in 24 point safety orange font on the front of the document you're signing, and why doesnt the nice person in the sales department tell you straight up "You'll have to keep the service for two years or pay $300-something dollars as an early termination fee, okay?"

Riiiiiight....

By the way, do all of you folks know that when you became members at satelliteguys that the box you checked that says you agree to all the terms and conditions included a clause about 35 pages down that says you agree to pay them $400 if you dont make at least 5 nice posts a day?

Come on now, you made the agreement and you should have read it, correct? I'd say "pay up!", but the money was already vacuumed out of your account without any warning. Hope you didnt write a bunch of checks yesterday.

 

[marsworth75]

Get the equipment back, to sell again!

It can't be too bad a deal for for these companies. They get to charge an ETF, get their equipment back and then it's moved out again to the next subscriber who thinks they are getting new equipment. Who know how many times that receiver has been paid for?

 

[susanandmark]

It can't be too bad a deal for for these companies. They get to charge an ETF, get their equipment back and then it's moved out again to the next subscriber who thinks they are getting new equipment. Who know how many times that receiver has been paid for?

While I don't think most receivers are recycled some, obviously, are, at great savings to DirecTV. (Look how much they're saving just by not paying for Versus the past few months.) That's all profit for DirecTV.

Look, companies will do whatever we, as consumers, put up with to make more money. The airlines now charge fees for EVERYTHING: bags, leg room, traveling on a popular day, etc. A move ostensibly made to keep the planes in the sky during the high price fuel days a few years back. Fuel prices came way (WAY) down, but the fees stayed AND ticket prices continue to rise, while service continues to decline. But, people still fly, so the more, and bigger, fees keep coming. DirecTV is no different.

Companies answer not to consumers, but to shareholders. Their only objective is increasing the bottom line. While, classically, that was achieved by providing the best product, at the best price with superior service to your competitors those days, just about across the board, are gone.

 

[mrschwarz]

I'm confused. The OP said that she did not have a contract. Why are so many people so vehement about breaking a non-existent contract? What is Direct doing mucking about in her account without permission?

When I have had a conflict with a vendor who claimed I had a non-existent contract, a simple request for a copy of it is the first thing I ask for.

Isn't the real question why did DirecTV claim she had a contract and why did they access her account without permission? Has anyone contacted local law enforcement or states attorney or something like that?

This is one good example of why not to let a vendor access your checking account. When there is a dispute, it's a lot easier to argue before they get paid. Once they have the money, they're 'too busy'.

 

[meStevo]

'She never signed a contract' is not 'she was not under contract. It's pretty clear she was 8 months into service and canceled per the 16 months of ETF.

 

[susanandmark]

When I have had a conflict with a vendor who claimed I had a non-existent contract, a simple request for a copy of it is the first thing I ask for.

I have asked DirecTV, repeatedly, to show me where I was informed, via any method, that I have a contract and where they claim I signed something. And, even more importantly, where I actually did anything that, even under their Draconian terms, would have "renewed" said contract for another two years when they say I did. I have had no response, other than a form letter that included a link to their website, and a notice that they would, "no longer respond to me about this matter." (I was actually able to dis-prove, with paperwork, the first two things they claimed extended my contract, so they just went with, "because we said so.")

That's the thing about their "contract." You don't have to even be told about it. Simply by using the service, you're "under contract." That is exactly the kind of thing that has me so irate about the whole thing. It's far from unique to DirecTV, but they're certainly among the worst offenders I've had to deal with.

 

[raoul5788]

I'm confused. The OP said that she did not have a contract. Why are so many people so vehement about breaking a non-existent contract? What is Direct doing mucking about in her account without permission?

When I have had a conflict with a vendor who claimed I had a non-existent contract, a simple request for a copy of it is the first thing I ask for.

Isn't the real question why did DirecTV claim she had a contract and why did they access her account without permission? Has anyone contacted local law enforcement or states attorney or something like that?

This is one good example of why not to let a vendor access your checking account. When there is a dispute, it's a lot easier to argue before they get paid. Once they have the money, they're 'too busy'.

Where do you think Directv got her bank information from?

 

[JAG72]

The problem is that they don't need a signed contract. When you activate your account you agree to the terms and service agreement that they have. In the agreement it states that you will be charged a fee if you leave before the 2 years is up. If you don't agree with the terms then you just don't sign up.

 

[iwc5893]

I'm confused. The OP said that she did not have a contract. Why are so many people so vehement about breaking a non-existent contract? What is Direct doing mucking about in her account without permission?

When I have had a conflict with a vendor who claimed I had a non-existent contract, a simple request for a copy of it is the first thing I ask for.

Isn't the real question why did DirecTV claim she had a contract and why did they access her account without permission? Has anyone contacted local law enforcement or states attorney or something like that?

This is one good example of why not to let a vendor access your checking account. When there is a dispute, it's a lot easier to argue before they get paid. Once they have the money, they're 'too busy'.

Unless the customer 100% owned the equipment, if the system was installed after March 2006 then the they are under a contract. The installation requires at least two signatures from the customer (or their representative): one on the work order, and one on the lease agreement. Now whether or not the customer was the one to sign the paperwork at the time of install or a representative, we have no way of knowing but the paperwork was signed by somebody. And that signature obligates the customer into the contract.

As far as the law enforcement issue goes, my guess is that their response would be, "It is a civil matter" and suggest that a suit be filed in small claims court.

 

[cfb]

I never signed a lease agreement. All I was every asked to sign was a document that I was told acknowledged my acceptance that the installation was done to my satisfaction.

On the back of that sheet, in pale gray text, it mentions that I agree with directv's terms and conditions of service. Nothing about an early termination fee.

So basically to be aware of this, when the guy who just spent a couple of hours in 110 degree heat installing my dish came in and said "Hi, if everything looks good, can you sign this so I can get going because I'm late to my next appointment", I could have read all the fine print on the back of the installation document, then gone to directv's web site and read many pages of service terms and lease agreements. In there, I might have seen the early termination clause and costs.

That doesnt seem reasonable.

This is a civil matter and you can contest it in civil small claims court. From what I hear, directv generally either doesnt show up (because it costs them more to appear than the fee is worth) or isnt able to produce a document with your signature on it that a judge will accept to be an agreement to a large cash penalty. In most situations, a judge will want to see the original document with a signature below the terms and conditions. A signature on the opposite side for the purpose of accepting an installation, along with a reference to other terms and conditions that dont appear on the document, is usually not acceptable.

 

[stonecold]

Bottom line Never use your bank card/checking account with directv


Does anyone ever listen to what I say

 

[meStevo]

Bottom line Never use your bank card/checking account with directv


Does anyone ever listen to what I say

IMO not only did the OPs daughter do this, but she was using autopay, otherwise im not sure why she'd have been auto-charged.

I recently had a IRD go bad on me and was charged for it because we've been busy preparing to move and kept putting off dropping the box off after getting the replacement. I pay usually with my debit/bank card like everything else... I had a charge on my account, not on my card.

Without auto-pay, wouldn't they have just kept sending a bill and eventually taken her through collections?

susanandmark I think you've got a valid gripe/situation, but this thread is about a much simpler one.

 

[wildbill129]

Bottom line Never use your bank card/checking account with directv


Does anyone ever listen to what I say

Nope....cause you work for the Devil!

I use auto-pay. If I ever decide to cancel my service I will change my CC on file a month before to a Shop Safe number, which only allows up to a date I set or an amount I set. That way they can't charge me something I don't owe them.

 

[Mike0616]

<lots of text deleted>


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.

Just for the record, what is your interest in D*? Do you work for them? Have stock in them? Just wondering........