DirecTV Boycott!

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Wasn't there a credit card company that got in trouble recently for holding customer payments when by check until after the due date so they could call it late?
The scams these companies perpetrate astound me, but what is even worse is knowing there are people working for the companies that go along with it just for a buck.
What happened to having a conscience and morals??
I feel for you Jeekinz, had DirecTV for a long time, but finally got fed up with them 'loosing' payments for weeks at a time. I got even though, got a card reader from Canada, zipped it thru my laptop and scripted it, loaded it in my DirecTV receiver and got their service for free for over a year.
I think that made us about even in my book.
 
You have made an excellent point. As of last Friday all of my utilities bills and insurance payments are now deducted from my bank account. No more check writing and no more errors.
The problem with that is you are relying on the company you work for's payroll system to be 100% accurate at all times and allowing a company to deduct at will. You should never sign up for autopay. You can pay with your account, but do it manually, not automatically. Auto payments and blanket authorization to debit my account is why I will never again use Dish Network.

I had lost my job and temporarily suspended Dish. The person put in my request as a cancel instead of a suspend. Because it was put in as a cancellation, I had violated my contract. I put money in my bank account to cover my rent check and because of the blanket authorization I'd given to Dish to withdraw from my account, they took $375 the day I made the deposit. If I hadn't given a blanket "deduct my billing amount" to Dish, they couldn't have done it. I will never again tell a utility company they can auto deduct from my account. Never going to happen again.
 
The problem with that is you are relying on the company you work for's payroll system to be 100% accurate at all times and allowing a company to deduct at will. You should never sign up for autopay. You can pay with your account, but do it manually, not automatically. Auto payments and blanket authorization to debit my account is why I will never again use Dish Network.

I had lost my job and temporarily suspended Dish. The person put in my request as a cancel instead of a suspend. Because it was put in as a cancellation, I had violated my contract. I put money in my bank account to cover my rent check and because of the blanket authorization I'd given to Dish to withdraw from my account, they took $375 the day I made the deposit. If I hadn't given a blanket "deduct my billing amount" to Dish, they couldn't have done it. I will never again tell a utility company they can auto deduct from my account. Never going to happen again.

Sorry, but a suspension IS a cancellation in terms and it is still a violation of your contract. The withdrawal had nothing to do with an error as much as it had to do with the fact that your contract stated that you must pay X number of dollars per month on a continuing basis or you will be in violation. The company has a contract to provide service every month and your end of the contract is to pay every month. I think if you check with your cable company they may tell you this same thing. I worked for a company that provided contract service and this is the way it works.
 
Sorry, but a suspension IS a cancellation in terms and it is still a violation of your contract. The withdrawal had nothing to do with an error as much as it had to do with the fact that your contract stated that you must pay X number of dollars per month on a continuing basis or you will be in violation. The company has a contract to provide service every month and your end of the contract is to pay every month. I think if you check with your cable company they may tell you this same thing. I worked for a company that provided contract service and this is the way it works.
No, you are allowed to suspend your account for three months without penalty. A suspension is not a cancellation. If you do not return after three months, at that time you can be penalized. It was 2 weeks after I called in the suspension. A suspension is when a customer calls in and requests to enact that section of the contract. A cancellation is when you either cancel or get cut off for non-payment. Temporary suspension clauses are common in long term contracts. It gives people who are moving a chance to make a change without paying for service they don't have and it gives people in tough economic times a slight relief for a short time. And if it wasn't an error, why did the company give back the money and apologize?
 
I checked to see if Verizon is available here and it's not. I find it kinda surprising its not available in SF! Bummer....I might have to go with Comcast because I also hate DirecTV. My roomy has it in our living room and I think its cr*p!!
 
I have used DirectV for nearly 8 years and have not had one IOTA of a blemish on my account.

Last month, as usual, I send out my monthly payment. A few weeks later, DTV sends me a past due invoice that included last months payment plus what I owed up to date. I check out my bank account and the check was cleared shortly after it was sent, again as usual. I call DTV and try to explain to them that the check was cleared on 6/23/08. They tell me that I have to contact my bank to get the information that the check was cleared and that they (DTV) had no means of researching the payment! So now I have to do THEIR JOB!

I contact the bank and get all the information requested. I call DTV again, and every time you call you get a new idiot on the other end. I fax over the information and they say it will take 10 days to reserch the payment. Meanwhile, my service will be turned off in 5 days so "If you would like to pay what is open on the account now, we will refund your money after the investigation clears." What!? Am I losing my marbles here?

DTV turns my paper check into an electronic transaction which destroys my paper check, so I can't even use the cancelled check as proof.

My service was suspended today. And Verizon is scheduled to install Fios TV next Tuesday. I explained to Verizon that I pay for the MLB package and there wouldn't be a refund. Verizon said they will pay my DirectV bill for the remainder of the MLB season and at the same time I will be able to use their TV services. How cool is that?!

What a way to treat a good customer DirectV.

Glad you are "hooked up" now, Jeeks. I pay all my bills on line. The few checks I do write (property taxes etc.), can be viewed (front & back) & printed out (or saved for tax purposes, etc). (I view my statements on line, as well.) There was only one occasion, where I was instructed to contact my bank, when using a credit card in a restaurant. Do yourself a favor, & forget the paper checks, & bank on line. My concern now, would be if my credit score will be affected, i.e. an unpaid or late bill.
 
Jeekinz, that's just awful. We've been a DTV customer for about 10 years and every so often we go through the same question whether to dump them or not. But I have to have Center Ice and DH has to have Sunday ticket so we're kind of stuck right now until we have other options.

My experience with DTV has been mixed. We either get the nicest, most knowledgeable CS person or we get the dumbest "I can only read from a script" person. And with our past experience with cable, no way will we ever go back. So our decision, for now, is not that hard but to stick with DTV.

We use the auto-payment method so we haven't had any experience with that. HOWEVER, since you have been a long-time customer, they should have given you the benefit of the doubt while they investigate the missing payment (what is another 10 days??????).
 
Not to mention, the DW loves movies and orders PPV on a regular basis. Plus, I order the MLB Extra Innings every year.

Luckily, Verizon will offer MLB next year. And, they are paying the DTV bill for the remainder of the MLB season.

Verizon comes Monday to install the TV. I already have Fios internet and phone so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

However, once the Verizon DVR is installed, Im going to look into ways to record shows on DVD. With my dish turned off I can't watch pre-recorded shows on the DVR! All my cooking shows and movies will be lost.
 
Jeekinz, do you have a DVD recorder? You may be able to record it to DVD. I've done that with some shows. Tedious and long but that's one way to save them.
 
Not to mention, the DW loves movies and orders PPV on a regular basis. Plus, I order the MLB Extra Innings every year.

Luckily, Verizon will offer MLB next year. And, they are paying the DTV bill for the remainder of the MLB season.

Verizon comes Monday to install the TV. I already have Fios internet and phone so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

However, once the Verizon DVR is installed, Im going to look into ways to record shows on DVD. With my dish turned off I can't watch pre-recorded shows on the DVR! All my cooking shows and movies will be lost.

I have the DVR system from my cable companies and it's the best recording system ever. You can store movies forever.
I'm curious to know why you order movies on PPV when you can get 90,000 titles from Netflix for a fraction of the cost. I'm subscribed for 9.95 per month and I can get as many as 9 movies per month. That's just a few cents over a dollar per movie. Take a look, it's worth it and they have several different plans to choose from. Netflix Online Movie Rentals - Rent DVDs, Classic Films to DVD New Releases. The movies come in your mailbox, you watch them and drop them back into your mailbox. No late fees and you can keep the movies as long as you want to. (Hey, do I get a commission for this???):LOL:
 
...I'm curious to know why you order movies on PPV when you can get 90,000 titles from Netflix for a fraction of the cost. I'm subscribed for 9.95 per month and I can get as many as 9 movies per month. That's just a few cents over a dollar per movie. Take a look, it's worth it and they have several different plans to choose from. Netflix Online Movie Rentals - Rent DVDs, Classic Films to DVD New Releases. The movies come in your mailbox, you watch them and drop them back into your mailbox. No late fees and you can keep the movies as long as you want to. (Hey, do I get a commission for this???):LOL:


I have an HDTV but I don;t have an HD DVD player so I can't watch a DVD in HD. I can rent an HD PPV movie and watch it in HD. It's worth the extra.
 
I'm curious to know why you order movies on PPV when you can get 90,000 titles from Netflix for a fraction of the cost.
It is only a fraction of the cost if you get a lot of movies. If you rent one movie every two weeks or so then Netflix ends up costing quite a bit more. Also, correct me if I am wrong, with Netflix you tell them a number of movies you would like to see and they send you what is available at the time so if you are in the mood for a comedy you would be out of luck if they decided to send you a drama. I am not saying that Netflix is bad. A lot of people who have it do love it. It is not a direct comparison between that and renting a single movie though.
 
It is only a fraction of the cost if you get a lot of movies. If you rent one movie every two weeks or so then Netflix ends up costing quite a bit more. Also, correct me if I am wrong, with Netflix you tell them a number of movies you would like to see and they send you what is available at the time so if you are in the mood for a comedy you would be out of luck if they decided to send you a drama. I am not saying that Netflix is bad. A lot of people who have it do love it. It is not a direct comparison between that and renting a single movie though.

The cheapest plan Netflix offers is 4.99 per month. If you order two movies, which is what this plan allows, you pay 2.50 per movie. In the three years I've subscribed to Netflix, I have never experienced what you're talking about. I have a queue of movies and when I send one movie back they send me the next movie in my queue. They don't choose your movies for you, you choose your own movies. Never had a bad experience. If the next movie on my list is late in coming to me, they send me another copy plus the next movie on my list free of charge. This is the most customer friendly company I have ever dealt with. Sorry you had a bad experience but I can't understand why they wouldn't ship you the movie you chose.
 
I have an HDTV but I don;t have an HD DVD player so I can't watch a DVD in HD. I can rent an HD PPV movie and watch it in HD. It's worth the extra.

Okay I get what you're saying about the HD DVD player. If you are subscribed to a cable company that has the DVR system of recording, you can get this setup for 10.00 per month and the converter box records in HD - problem solved. I have the opposite problem in my RV, I have the DVR HD coverter, but my TV is not HD.
 
The cheapest plan Netflix offers is 4.99 per month.
My cable Co. charges $3.99 for a movie. If I get one movie every 2 weeks then it is less expensive to do PPV then Netflix. If I want to go 2 months without renting a movie then with PPV I can do that. With Netflix you pay per month even if you do not want any movies.

In the three years I've subscribed to Netflix, I have never experienced what you're talking about. I have a queue of movies and when I send one movie back they send me the next movie in my queue. They don't choose your movies for you, you choose your own movies.

You are misunderstanding what I am saying. Yes they only give you what is on your list, but if you have both dramas and comedies on your list they could send you either of those. For example, you might have both Animal House and Kramer vs Kramer on your list. Netflix decides which of those you will get next. If you are depressed and want a funny movie to cheer you up then you have to hope and pray that Netflix does not send you Kramer vs Kramer off of your list and make you even more depressed.
 
The cheapest plan Netflix offers is 4.99 per month. If you order two movies, which is what this plan allows, you pay 2.50 per movie. In the three years I've subscribed to Netflix, I have never experienced what you're talking about. I have a queue of movies and when I send one movie back they send me the next movie in my queue. They don't choose your movies for you, you choose your own movies. Never had a bad experience. If the next movie on my list is late in coming to me, they send me another copy plus the next movie on my list free of charge. This is the most customer friendly company I have ever dealt with. Sorry you had a bad experience but I can't understand why they wouldn't ship you the movie you chose.

I've had what GB's is talking about happen before, twice. I was all set for CSI:NY and they sent me Juno and Mrs. Winterborne. While both are movies I could have enjoyed, they were totally opposite from what I was ready to spend my weekend watching. For one, they totalled all of 3.5 hours and the two CSI disks totalled 8 hours. For two, they weren't CSI:NY and were totally different gendres. I still haven't watched Juno and I cancelled my Netfix account.
 
I have the DVR system from my cable companies and it's the best recording system ever. You can store movies forever.
I'm curious to know why you order movies on PPV when you can get 90,000 titles from Netflix for a fraction of the cost. I'm subscribed for 9.95 per month and I can get as many as 9 movies per month. That's just a few cents over a dollar per movie. Take a look, it's worth it and they have several different plans to choose from. Netflix Online Movie Rentals - Rent DVDs, Classic Films to DVD New Releases. The movies come in your mailbox, you watch them and drop them back into your mailbox. No late fees and you can keep the movies as long as you want to. (Hey, do I get a commission for this???):LOL:

It's very simple.

The DW is as much into movies as I am into cooking...or even motocross. Those big 'ol TV's we have, she bought to enjoy her movies. She tried the Netflix thing before but couldn't stand waiting for the newest titles to be available. And as far as renting them, it only costs like twenty cents more to use PPV.

.....she even rents movies during the month if she just "has" to see a certain flick. lol
 
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