Here is an email recently sent to DirecTV:
Dear Ellen Filipak,
This is an email I hope you will take very seriously as I feel
it will bring to light a problem I think your company needs to
take very seriously.
I have been a DirecTV subscriber for the past 10 years, slowly
adding new services to the point that the company considered
me a "Premier" subscriber (whatever that actually entails).
You would think as a long-time subscriber in excellent standing
that I would be treated in a respectful and appreciative manner
by the staff and their Supervisor who are employed within the
calling center. I must say, the more I researched the amount
of complaints that were reported across the Internet, the more
my eyes were opened concerning the type of company that I have
been dealing with all these years....but I am getting slightly
ahead of myself, so, allow me to start from the beginning...
Quite simply, I have had intentions of leaving DirecTV for
about a year now. I had a good 10 year run, but with your
escalating prices and a new kid in town by the name of
Verizon Fios, I decided it was time to give someone else
a try. Only thing holding me back was that Verizon Fios
was still negotiating to get MSNBC (which they finally rolled
out this month).
Over the past year I had been receiving mailings to my
home telling me that DirecTV was upgrading their equipment
and that unless I had my current MPEG-2 Tivo and dish
replaced I would lose channels. I hesitated to upgrade since
I did not want to get into a new 2-year commitment knowing
I was eventually going to Verizon. I threw all the upgrade
notices in the trash,
Then your mailings suddenly changed. As of October. You
were offering a FREE "HD SWAP" stating that it was absolutely
a necessity that I upgrade my equipment and that it would be
done for FREE with absolutely NO COMMITMENT. This was
confirmed by your phone rep when I signed up for the upgrade
and by the installer who came to my home. Both told me these
were necessary upgrades, I would lose channels without it, and
that there would be no commitment.
So, imagine my shock this morning when I called DirecTV and
tried to cancel my account and was told I would be slapped with
a $480 early termination fee. I argued my point to the phone
rep who knew nothing of the FREE HD SWAP offer.
Next, I was connected with a Supervisor by the name of Chris
who was the most inconsiderate SOB I have every had the
displeasure of speaking with. He was condescending, kept
cutting me off and was totally unsympathetic to my situation
to the point where I was yelling at him that his company was
a "bunch of F'ing liers." Let me make it clear that I never used
the actual expletitive other than the letter "F." I usually never
get to the breaking point with a customer rep that I feel I have
to say something like that, but Chris made it clear in his tone
and mannerisms that I was bothering him, I was wrong, and he
was not going to assist me.
The next thing I did was pick up the phone and called the office
of DirecTV CEO Carey Chase. It was there I spoke with the
first real humanistic person related to your company, a lovely
lady who took the time to listen without any argument. She admitted
that DirecTV did have a FREE HD SWAP with no commitment, but
that there is a widespread problem of accounts being tagged otherwise
as the DirecTV computers can't tell the difference between a
contract and non-contract account. By the end of the phone
call she made certain that I would not be charged a termination
fee.
I then started doing research across the Internet to see just
how many people out there were having the same problems
I was. Ellen, you should really do this kind of research. From
Tivo to DBS forums alike, there are a lot of angry people out there
who are accusing DirecTV of all kinds of deceptive practices
that could be considered criminal. You should see the amount of
complaints from people whom were led to believe they were being
upgraded without any contractual commitment and then told otherwise.
Here is one of several websites I found that you might want
to browse through:
Consumer complaints about DirecTV
Additionally, there seems to be a disturbing trend amongst the
reports concerning the attitudes of DirecTV customer support and
their Supervisors towards consumers with legitimate problems.
As one phone rep explained to me, "The Supervisors and phone
reps do not have the power to credit accounts." In fact, they
told me to write the Billing Dispute center and then wait up to
two weeks for a response. Is this how you convey satisfactory
service towards your consumers?
I have found Internet forums where Insiders who work for
the company are reporting that reps do their best not to mention
commitments of any kind to customers signing up for service. It
seems obvious that "commitment" is a taboo word to mention to
customers.
Based on my experiences today, I am confident there is a problem
with DirecTV. Phone reps and their Supervisors have no authority
to handle problems so they become argumentive and condescending
towards a customer who should be treated with much more respect.
As much as DirecTV has tried to "woo" me with offers to stay
with them instead of going to Verizon, I must say that I am a bit
shaken by my experiences today. I have never, ever, been
treated so disrespectfully by any company and I feel that Chris
the Supervisor owes me a phone call of apology.
Furthermore, I feel it is my duty to further educate other people
who may be leaning towards going to DirecTV and are not aware
of the deceptive practices that are going on.
I plan to post this letter on the Internet, as well as my own forum
which is one of the largest and most read Home Theater discussion groups. I
genuinely feel that DirecTV is in a nasty decline as far as the manner
in which they advertise to and treat their customers. I feel this is
information that needs to be put out there so that nobody has to be
treated as poorly as I was today.
Thank you for your time.
