Nabbed by the commitment capper!

[goaliebob99]

What do you do when you have been nabbed by the Directv commitment capper? I upgraded a reciver last july wich was under no commitment (hr21) as the guy at best buy hooked me up, That reciver went bad. It was swapped out by a technican for a good one as the reciver at the time was only seeing one line of the swm and not both (only one side of the tuner was working) . Now when I cancel D* is saying that reciver that was swapped, even though I had purchased the protection plan, because it was swapped im under commitment and I owe them 200 bucks. LIKE HELL I DO. The lady told me to go to directv.com/agreements to dispute it, yet there is no place to go to dispute it. I never signed any paperwork to an agreement and never verbally gave an agreement to directv other than my original contract wich was over a long time ago. Where do I go to have someone fix this as the lady wouldnt even hear me out, all she kept saying yep you are. Even though I asked them to prove where such agreement was signed. She said that by activating programming your agreeing to it. Wich in my book is Bait and Switch as nothing was mentioned nore was any or such agreement made!


So Where do I go, I at one time was happy with directv but have quickly become disgruntled and dissapointed with the worst provider on the planet!

 

[Joe Diamond]

What do you do when you have been nabbed by the Directv commitment capper? I upgraded a reciver last july wich was under no commitment (hr21) as the guy at best buy hooked me up, That reciver went bad. It was swapped out by a technican for a good one as the reciver at the time was only seeing one line of the swm and not both (only one side of the tuner was working) . Now when I cancel D* is saying that reciver that was swapped, even though I had purchased the protection plan, because it was swapped im under commitment and I owe them 200 bucks. LIKE HELL I DO. The lady told me to go to directv.com/agreements to dispute it, yet there is no place to go to dispute it. I never signed any paperwork to an agreement and never verbally gave an agreement to directv other than my original contract wich was over a long time ago. Where do I go to have someone fix this as the lady wouldnt even hear me out, all she kept saying yep you are. Even though I asked them to prove where such agreement was signed. She said that by activating programming your agreeing to it. Wich in my book is Bait and Switch as nothing was mentioned nore was any or such agreement made!


So Where do I go, I at one time was happy with directv but have quickly become disgruntled and dissapointed with the worst provider on the planet!

Read contract law for your state.
Save any paperwork you have and read it.
See what they do.
Don't pay them.

Non lawyer advice only......report back how it goes.

Joe

 

[ChrisK114]

I am not sure how the guy at Best Buy hooked you up Bob. Sounds like he may have told you a fib, unless he sold you the receiver outright. That upgrade may have renewed your commitment. If you have your receipt from that I would read it very carefully. Best Buy only does leases and any thing thru them probably restarted your agreement.

 

[goaliebob99]

I am not sure how the guy at Best Buy hooked you up Bob. Sounds like he may have told you a fib, unless he sold you the receiver outright. That upgrade may have renewed your commitment. If you have your receipt from that I would read it very carefully. Best Buy only does leases and any thing thru them probably restarted your agreement.

It was, I payed 499 for the reciver. All that was on the recipt was the 30 day return policy, nothing on commitment.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

By DirecTV's policy adding and activating a DVR or HD receiver automatically extends your commitment another 2 years.

 

[Dillinger]

Upgrades, additions and new installs trigger a new contract period [for that receiver]. Now, if the faulty receiver replacement triggered it, you have a case.

Be advised, all new equipment you get, regardless of retailer, is leased.

 

[scarebear]

last i saw the boxes sold at BB say on the boxes THIS IS LEASED EQUIPMENT, coudlnt tell you when they started doing that

 

[riffjim4069]

I think I need to start wearing reading glasses...I thought the title read, "Nabbed by carpet munchers!"

 

[charper1]

By DirecTV's policy adding and activating a DVR or HD receiver automatically extends your commitment another 2 years.

Exactly. This is another case of a buyer thinking they no more than the company or thinking they are getting away with something and will be able to complain their way out. This is WELL KNOWN that this "WILL" extend the users contract. I think ALL providers have their faults, but most of the over the top complaints are from their users that just don't read or understand everything they are getting into and then try to dog the provider instead of just man'ing up and admitting their mistake or lack of understanding.

 

[wildbill129]

It was, I payed 499 for the reciver. All that was on the recipt was the 30 day return policy, nothing on commitment.

The Best Buy guy RIPPED YOU OFF! All receivers (except the HR21 PRO) are leased, and when activated commit the customer too a two year committment....

 

[markfp-1]

When I got a new DirecTV DVR at BB to replace a TiVo that died, not only was there a sticker on the box, but I was told twice that it was a lease and that even though it was replacing another unit, there would most likely be a 24 month commitment when I activated it and the asked me if I understood what both meant. I guess they couldn't make it much clearer. I'll bet that BB has gotten a lot of complains from folks who didn't know about the lease or the commitment and are pushing the sales folks to be more clear.

 

[sonydude1966]

$499 seems very high for a leased unit. If you had the protection plan, why didn't you go through Directv to get the replacement? Something just doesn't seem right about a $499 receiver through Best Buy. You mentioned the HR21 Pro, correct? Isn't that a purchased unit?

 

[jcrandall]

Bob - I'm guessing the commitment was from adding the receiver, not having it swapped out under protection plan.

How far apart were the dates? Perhaps the CSR just mispoke regarding the swap out.

You really paid $499 to BBY? All their stuff is leased, I didn't think they ever had HR21Pro?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Exactly. This is another case of a buyer thinking they no more than the company or thinking they are getting away with something and will be able to complain their way out. This is WELL KNOWN that this "WILL" extend the users contract. I think ALL providers have their faults, but most of the over the top complaints are from their users that just don't read or understand everything they are getting into and then try to dog the provider instead of just man'ing up and admitting their mistake or lack of understanding.

Apologist alert!

Most of us here are in the know, and some of us still get screwed. Can you actually believe their shady practices are fair for Joe Schmo who doesn't know anything about Satguys?? Guy I work with got screwed on a failed rcvr replacement, which is just ludicrous. All D* is doing is ensuring they force you to continue to be a sub, or pay dearly to move on. Eventually, as with some of Dish's crappy practices, this will catch up with them.

I went back to Dish, my co worker paid their BS fee and went to Dish too, thats TWO.

Whatever.....

Its a crappy policy, and another reason I'm done with Directv.

 

[joed32]

Best Buy never sold HR2x for $499.

 

[ghc37]

where I saw the agreement

I had a hd dvr/receiver fail a couple of months ago. I called, they shipped me another one for $20. I got it , opened the box and the activation card was packaged and taped on top of the receiver. If you read the little bitty tiny weenie writing on the package that the activation card was in it says that when you stick that card in and activate you are agreeing to commit for 2 yrs

 

[Ayjent]

Exactly. This is another case of a buyer thinking they no more than the company or thinking they are getting away with something and will be able to complain their way out. This is WELL KNOWN that this "WILL" extend the users contract. I think ALL providers have their faults, but most of the over the top complaints are from their users that just don't read or understand everything they are getting into and then try to dog the provider instead of just man'ing up and admitting their mistake or lack of understanding.

Do you think that it is legitiment practice for a company to send out equipment that frequently fails within a commitment period - thereby putting the customer in a situation where they have to accept renewing their service commitment for 2 years or else pay an early termination fee because of equipment failure? I don't.

This scenario of equipment failure isn't something that consumer knowingly enter into - most consumers don't know that the equipment they are about to "lease" (which is also a wild stretch of the general understanding of the word in many situations) frequently fails before the expiration of their commitment. Should consumers just accept getting the short end of the stick because they were not aware of the trap? This isn't simply an unjustified complaint, it is an underhanded practice to reduce churn and keep their subscribers on the hook. There are reasons for consumer protection laws because of the unfair bargaining positions of the good/service provider. I think that such practices need to be addressed and made unenforceable or illegal.

 

[raoul5788]

Apologist alert!

Most of us here are in the know, and some of us still get screwed. Can you actually believe their shady practices are fair for Joe Schmo who doesn't know anything about Satguys?? Guy I work with got screwed on a failed rcvr replacement, which is just ludicrous. All D* is doing is ensuring they force you to continue to be a sub, or pay dearly to move on. Eventually, as with some of Dish's crappy practices, this will catch up with them.

I went back to Dish, my co worker paid their BS fee and went to Dish too, thats TWO.

Whatever.....

Its a crappy policy, and another reason I'm done with Directv.

This has nothing to do with being an apologist! Charper1 is on the mark with his comments. When you add a hd receiver or hd dvr, you extent your commitment. Period! Why do you call Charper1 an apologist? I think you owe him an apology!

 

[moghedien14]

I've never liked the fact that the 'commitment date' doesn't show up under your user account on the website, nor does it show up on the online bill. It seems to me if Directv was so proud of their commitment extending policies, they would be more upfront about it...

 

[Proc]

...D* is saying that reciver that was swapped, even though I had purchased the protection plan..

If you have the protection plan and you are replacing the bad receiver, then the new one shouldn't invoke the 2-year commitment, should it? If so, what good is the Protection Plan?