DirectTV and Lease Fees
Yes, this post is a bit of a departure from my normal posts. It just so happens that I've had it with DirecTV and I wanted to share my misfortunes so that hopefully others can avoid the same problems.
I can't get broadcast TV. Believe me, I've tried. Unfortunately there is a mountain in my way. I can't get cable TV. It just doesn't exist where I live. I have no idea why, it just doesn't. So the only real option to watch television is to get satellite TV. I've been with DirecTV about eight years now and have a bill that is probably higher than average. They obviously love me, because every time I call them gush over me and tell me that I am one of their best customers. I've even asked them several times to stop saying this until they are ready to treat me like one of their best customers.
About two months ago I called in to report a recurring problem on two channels that would cause glitches in the picture. I could go for days without the problem and then other days it was pretty constant. It was just two channels. They immediately said my receiver had gone bad. They offered to send a new one. I really didn't want a new one and made that quite clear. They assured me there was no cost. I didn't have to buy it. There was no shipping charge. Absolutely, positively free. So I relented and the box arrived.
It took all of about ten minutes to connect it. Then another half an hour on the phone to get it "activated". It didn't work at all. So after another hour and a half, I was back to my original receiver and they were sending yet another new receiver. Again, I had told them I didn't want it. This time they offered to send a technician out to install it.
The next one arrived and the technician got it installed. It seemed to work OK, but it didn't solve the original problem. I still was having the same problems with those two channels. In the meantime, I had also gotten a bill. I was charged for shipping. Yet another call and they removed that charge. I also noticed that they were charging me a "lease fee" for the new receiver. I had asked over and over and over again if there was any cost. They reassured me there was absolutely no cost. They would not remove the lease fee if I still had the new receiver. Oh, did I mention that both of the receivers they sent were refurbished? New, yea, right. They were also just plain lousy compared to the receiver I bought two years ago.
Since the new receiver now had a hidden fee associated with it and it didn't solve my problem, I just hooked up my old receiver and sent it back too. Then the next bill arrived. They charged me for shipping a second time. They charged me for the service call. They charged me the lease fee. They charged me for a subscription that I'd long ago cancelled. Altogether, there were $250 of extra charges.
So I spent yet another hour on the phone getting the bill fixed and switching back to my original receiver. At this point I'm back to where I started two months ago. Oh, except that $250 was issued as a credit on my account, but not on my credit card. It will take at least a couple of months before I use enough service to pay it off. Explain that one to the credit card company who wants me to pay my bill if I don't want to get another fee.
This was almost the end of the story. Except that I really could use a new receiver somewhere else in the house. Today I looked on Amazon and found out that every new receiver also had a hidden lease fee. No, the receivers aren't free. That means I buy the receiver and then I still have to pay a lease? Something doesn't sound right. I looked on the DirecTV Web site and there was no mention anywhere of these hidden fees that I could find.
Once again, I got on the phone. Yes, they still keep calling me one of their best customers. I asked the representative to explain exactly why I'm paying a fee. For twenty minutes she said she would try and give me the clearest explanation she could. Yet, she never told me why there was a fee. Just that any receiver bought after January 1, 2006 invokes a lease fee. Now I could guess reasons why there was a fee. Maybe it means I get free service calls. Maybe they replace it for free if it breaks. Both plausible explanations for which I might be willing to pay $4 a month. Yet she never said that. Basically if you want a new receiver, you have to pay for it twice. Once at the store and once through lease fees.
I have a feeling they won't be calling me one of their best customers much longer. They probably won't even be calling me a customer. All I can say is beware if you are a DirecTV customer and you buy a new receiver. You didn't really buy it!
I can't get broadcast TV. Believe me, I've tried. Unfortunately there is a mountain in my way. I can't get cable TV. It just doesn't exist where I live. I have no idea why, it just doesn't. So the only real option to watch television is to get satellite TV. I've been with DirecTV about eight years now and have a bill that is probably higher than average. They obviously love me, because every time I call them gush over me and tell me that I am one of their best customers. I've even asked them several times to stop saying this until they are ready to treat me like one of their best customers.
About two months ago I called in to report a recurring problem on two channels that would cause glitches in the picture. I could go for days without the problem and then other days it was pretty constant. It was just two channels. They immediately said my receiver had gone bad. They offered to send a new one. I really didn't want a new one and made that quite clear. They assured me there was no cost. I didn't have to buy it. There was no shipping charge. Absolutely, positively free. So I relented and the box arrived.
It took all of about ten minutes to connect it. Then another half an hour on the phone to get it "activated". It didn't work at all. So after another hour and a half, I was back to my original receiver and they were sending yet another new receiver. Again, I had told them I didn't want it. This time they offered to send a technician out to install it.
The next one arrived and the technician got it installed. It seemed to work OK, but it didn't solve the original problem. I still was having the same problems with those two channels. In the meantime, I had also gotten a bill. I was charged for shipping. Yet another call and they removed that charge. I also noticed that they were charging me a "lease fee" for the new receiver. I had asked over and over and over again if there was any cost. They reassured me there was absolutely no cost. They would not remove the lease fee if I still had the new receiver. Oh, did I mention that both of the receivers they sent were refurbished? New, yea, right. They were also just plain lousy compared to the receiver I bought two years ago.
Since the new receiver now had a hidden fee associated with it and it didn't solve my problem, I just hooked up my old receiver and sent it back too. Then the next bill arrived. They charged me for shipping a second time. They charged me for the service call. They charged me the lease fee. They charged me for a subscription that I'd long ago cancelled. Altogether, there were $250 of extra charges.
So I spent yet another hour on the phone getting the bill fixed and switching back to my original receiver. At this point I'm back to where I started two months ago. Oh, except that $250 was issued as a credit on my account, but not on my credit card. It will take at least a couple of months before I use enough service to pay it off. Explain that one to the credit card company who wants me to pay my bill if I don't want to get another fee.
This was almost the end of the story. Except that I really could use a new receiver somewhere else in the house. Today I looked on Amazon and found out that every new receiver also had a hidden lease fee. No, the receivers aren't free. That means I buy the receiver and then I still have to pay a lease? Something doesn't sound right. I looked on the DirecTV Web site and there was no mention anywhere of these hidden fees that I could find.
Once again, I got on the phone. Yes, they still keep calling me one of their best customers. I asked the representative to explain exactly why I'm paying a fee. For twenty minutes she said she would try and give me the clearest explanation she could. Yet, she never told me why there was a fee. Just that any receiver bought after January 1, 2006 invokes a lease fee. Now I could guess reasons why there was a fee. Maybe it means I get free service calls. Maybe they replace it for free if it breaks. Both plausible explanations for which I might be willing to pay $4 a month. Yet she never said that. Basically if you want a new receiver, you have to pay for it twice. Once at the store and once through lease fees.
I have a feeling they won't be calling me one of their best customers much longer. They probably won't even be calling me a customer. All I can say is beware if you are a DirecTV customer and you buy a new receiver. You didn't really buy it!
posted by Foster D. Coburn III at
8:05 PM
3 Comments:
i just had a similar conversation with a customer service rep about lease fees. why am i forced to pay a lease fee for something i already own?
I just cancelled my DirectTV service and they informed me that they would be sending me a "recovery kit" so I could return my "leased receiver."
This would be the leased receiver I *bought* for $250 last year. The customer service troll said that the $250 was an "up front lease fee."
I've never before had a company try and steal a legally purchased product back, but I suppose there's a first time for everything.
I guess DirectTv knows that with receivers costing what they do, there will be no legal ramifcations to their misbehavior because it won't be a lawyers time to get involved unless someone files a class action about this.
Meanwhile - let this be a warning to anyone who is considering doing business with one of the worst companies I've ever made the mistake of sending money to.
Never again.
If you have these feelings toward Direct TV please do not consider Dish Network, Direct TV is still learning how to screw you from Dish Network.
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