DirecTV Distorts Contract to Retain Subscriber

Sophia Johnson    DIRECTV, Malpractices    

Truly, DirecTV is leaving no stone unturned to retain subscribers, no matter how deceiving it can be, though. Yes, you have heard it right, DirecTV, a leader in providing digitized entertainment, has goofed up things for its subscribers. People are confused, irritated and furious with anger. However, it seems to have no effect on the company, who is continuing with its malpractices.

Recently, a DirecTV subscriber has claimed that he was deceived by the company! Well, not new for us, though the reason can be. This time DirecTV has misled consumer through misrepresentation of the contract. The customer has alleged that what was offered in the contract was not that was ultimately in his kitty. According to him, he had agreed in the contract there would be no increment in the monthly charges, however, when he received the bill, there was a hike of about $13!

As the incident goes, the subscriber was with DirecTV for a couple of years, and he wanted to change the provider. Thereby, he asked the representative of DirecTV to review his present contract details. However, on learning that the customer was looking forward to discontinue services, the representative proposed lucrative offers to retain customer. And as we are aware that DirecTV can go to any limits to retain its subscriber, although wrongly.

No doubt, this customer was also tempted and he took up the contract. But when he received the bill, he was shocked to find that his monthly bill had increased, which led to disputes with the company. He also faced other problems with the giant as well, which were resolved gradually.

But this one, the increase in the monthly bill issue is still pending, and he is pissed off with the company. He is of the view that according to the contract which he signed, he was not supposed to get any additional charges on the receivers that he has. But unfortunately, he was charged for these. The consumer is still hoping to resolve this discrepancy soon.

Subscriber Drained for Late Friend’s Services – Is it DirecTV’s Mistake?

Sophia Johnson    DIRECTV     Refer a Friend

Yes, you’ve heard that right! A DirecTV subscriber was debited with about $800 as a charge against her late friend’s services. A recent report has revealed that a customer’s account was drained without notification. Reason, she was supposed to pay for unpaid services of DirecTV that her friend enjoyed. Post friend’s unfortunate death, the satellite TV provider deducted the amount from living customer’s bank account!

You must be aware of the ‘refer a friend’ program offered by DirecTV, which claims that whoever refers DirecTV to their relatives or friends will earn an extra $100. This is an exciting scheme, which attracted a lot of consumers. But for one such subscriber in Florida, it turned out to be a disaster. She may have referred the programs and packages of DirecTV to one of her friends, who passed away. And post death, this living friend suffered two great losses – one, losing a friend and other, money drained from account! One fine morning, without any information, her account stood at zero, when DirecTV debited her with rental amount that belonged to her late friend.

In one of the statements to NBC officials in Jacksonville, the lady remarked, “I was never told of this. I didn’t see any of this. I never signed for this. I was blindsided. I have no record of this….” She continued to state, “I have a sick child at home that I couldn’t afford to buy her Pedialyte… I had to ask for help from family. I had to get money for gas to get to work today, and DirecTV hasn’t offered anything.”

Even the terms and conditions of DirecTV had no such point, which stated that under this ‘refer a friend’ program, the person who refers will be liable to pay the rentals in case the friend dies. In addition, the company stated, “This is definitely not part of DirecTV’s policy. If a customer refers a friend, they are not responsible for making payments on their friend’s account”.

However, the satellite TV giant has refunded the money to this customer, when media intervened into the case. But we are still to find out whether or not it was a mistake on DirecTV’s part.

What is DirecTV Alleged For?

Sophia Johnson    DIRECTV    

Certainly DirecTV is clouded by all the allegations that have come in by large number of subscribers in the United States. The provider is in news for all the goof ups and scams and it has lured the customers into picking up its programming packages with futile promises, deceptive advertising and dubious sales pitch. Although, it has massively fined, but it seems that satellite TV giants in America are bent upon following malpractices and cheating on consumers, which is completely unfair business practice.

Here are a few of the allegations picked from the complaint box at the Attorney General’s office in different states of the US. Check out:

• People have complained that the sales scripts of DirecTV include nothing about the terms and conditions regarding the discount that it offered.
• Subscribers who refused to go for credit checks or resulted in bad credit had to suffer hundred of dollars as additional fees.
• DirecTV states that in order to receive the $29 per month price, subscribers should use an automatic payment. However, if one failed to do so, it added $5 to the bill each month.
• In case of defective equipment, subscribers complained and the unit was repaired. However, issues arose when service contract was renewed without their approval and that too for 2 months.
• Customers faced problems, as they were signed up for a $5.99 monthly service maintenance plan, which was not required by them. And when they wanted to cancel the same, they were charged a $10 as early termination fee.
• Consumers were delivered “Free HBO” stations for a trial period. However, without their consent they were rolled into a paid subscription.

If you think you too have been cheated, then you should file a complaint to the Attorney General immediately. You should raise your voice against DirecTV scams and claim restitution now. You have latest by June 9, 2011 to lodge a suit against the provider.