Anything I can do to get out my Directv contract?

[househead]

*sorry for the long post and if it's in the wrong forum*

Customer since 10/07

Problems since week 1. My dish was not properly installed and fell down on my roof after the first week. They didn't want to send anyone out that saturday night, and it was a 3 hour fight with them to finally get someone to come out on sunday and fix their mistake. I didn't want the dish blowing totally off the roof and damaging anything. They didn't share my concern.

Since the spring I constantly get HD signals dropping with the 771 error signal. Service guy comes out last month and says they should have never installed the dish because the trees in my back yard and blocking the signal. Go figure! (service guy said to tell DirecTV that If I ever want to "get anything")

Last straw - this week I totally lost the picture from my HDMI output. After the normal annoying troubleshooting the guy asks if i have a picture using component cables. While I was back on hold I grabbed a set and found that the component output does work. They tell me there's nothing they can do for me because I am getting the HD signal with the component cables. He proceeds to tell me component is as good as HDMI and just hook up the 5 cables and be done with it. I argue that the box is not working properly and it needs to be addressed. If I want to use HDMI, why shouldn't I be able to? He said the supervisor agreed with his assessment, so I asked to talk to supervisor. I was disconnected after 45 minutes on hold. I called back, talked to someone else and she was having the supervisor call me this morning between 9-10am. It is almost 3pm and I haven't heard a thing.

As much as I disliked Comcast, I am ready to go back. In fact I am SO ready that I am willing to pay the cancellation fee.....unless you guys think there's a way I can avoid the charge?

[Xerios]

as far as you week one problems, sorry to say customer service sucks with all of the providers of cable since the jobs are contracted out to people who dont give a shit about there job other than getting paid. i had one guy from direct tv say hes not coming out cause it might rain and he hadnt been paid yet. so i sed screw it and went to cablevision and got the same type of ******* problem

and no you cant avoid the early termination fee sorry bro

[cajmoyper]

I was going to ask if DirecTV is the one with NFL Sunday Ticket but none of that seems worth. Especially if the one guy said you shouldn't even have had it installed because of the trees. What is the amount of the cancellation fee?

[stockstar1138]

a direct tv truck hit my car. worst company i have ever dealt with. they would be like, were sorry we hit your car, we are sending one of our guys out to assess damage today and it would take them like 3 days to get to my house? then it was like okay, we got our assessment now give us a call to work out compensation. and i would call in the moring, call in the afternoon, call in the evening, call at night, not once would the guy i was supposed to deal with pick up his phone. i finally got hold of him and was like WTF! DUDE! PICK UP YOUR CELL PHONE. He then accussed me of pushing him too hard or something, I had to go above him and speak to his suprivisor to get proper service. it was ridiculous, when they were in the wrong the whole time.

ended up getting a $2000 settlement though for a 90 Olds Delta 88, that still ran after it got hit though. so i came out ahead IMO, but it was the absolute worst compnay to deal with.

[Lucy Diamond]

Pay the fee, but make the decision when you are calm.

"Every decision should be made within the span of 7 breaths."
-Tsunetomo Yamamoto

[househead]

UGH! thanks guys. I'm not 100% sure but i think my fee will be around $200.

Which is what i was almost ready to pay for their HD DVR receiver.

[johnarnold101]

All you can do is call the Better Business Bureau with your list of complaints and the States Attorney Generals offices. If they have enough of a complaint list they will contact the company and sometimes that spooks the company into helping you out. If the installers/local dealer are the problem the BBB can put a notice on them if they have enough complaints. I would go to google and search out the dealer in the search engine and when they pop up put a review in on them, I actually look at those when I'm doing comparisons. Just a thought and good luck.

Before anyone post that these actions don't work.....this is how I just broke my one year lease 3 months into the lease, both BBB and Attorney Generals called the owner of the property and not the management group.....I got a letter of apology and a release letter to move anytime I want.

[aramis109]

Actually, if one of their techs says it should never have been installed due to your sightline/trees, you have a pretty good argument for termination right there, especially if your main beef is the reception you're getting (hint hint).

You're going to have to be patient, and push it to a higher level, and be firm. However, I believe you should be able to get out of it if they have installed a service that they cannot provide due to a pre-existing condition.

[CptGreedle]

BBB does hardly anything in real life.
The best bet is to leave and write them a long note describing why you left in full detail with names and numbers.
If they care at all about their customers, they will get back to you. If not, they will ignore you as they have been and you can get on with your life.
You could always claim you will take them to court over the fee and they might cancel it over that. Usually, if they feel you have any legal grounds (like poor installation and violating customer service on their part), they will do what they can to stop you from making it legal.

[Alan Gordon]

I've had NOTHING but good customer service with DirecTV as long as I've been with them... and they remain one of my favorite companies to deal with.

HOWEVER, just like any business, you MIGHT have to try CSR Roulette (calling several times, eventually hitting a CSR that can help you).

You can also try posting about this on DBSTALK.com, which is a GREAT site for DirecTV help... which even has some DirecTV CSRs posting there... who might be able to help you better...

~Alan

[obiwopkenobi62]

Do you have a copy of your written contract? I would call them again and ask them what their customer service guarantee is. Sounds to me like they are breaking their contract. Tell them that you will be referring this issue to your lawyer even if you don't have one. I have done that several times over the years and have had good results with it.
You can also call them and tell them to come get their shit because you're not paying for their service anymore. This usually puts a fire under their ass and then you might get some results.
I had directtv along time ago and was never happy with it. I have been with Dish Network now for about 4 years and in my opinion they are way better.
Also they are supposed to access where to put your dish first. They can't just put it up and expect it to work. Sounds like you had a real moron do your install.
I hope you can get this all worked out. Good luck.
P.S. they no longer have to put a dish on your roof anymore. Mine is on a pole, 6 feet off the ground on the side of my house and I've never had a problem.

[househead]

Originally Posted by johnarnold101

All you can do is call the Better Business Bureau with your list of complaints and the States Attorney Generals offices. If they have enough of a complaint list they will contact the company and sometimes that spooks the company into helping you out. If the installers/local dealer are the problem the BBB can put a notice on them if they have enough complaints. I would go to google and search out the dealer in the search engine and when they pop up put a review in on them, I actually look at those when I'm doing comparisons. Just a thought and good luck.

Before anyone post that these actions don't work.....this is how I just broke my one year lease 3 months into the lease, both BBB and Attorney Generals called the owner of the property and not the management group.....I got a letter of apology and a release letter to move anytime I want.

wow, great info. thanks a lot!

[nick1091]

Originally Posted by johnarnold101

Before anyone post that these actions don't work.....this is how I just broke my one year lease 3 months into the lease, both BBB and Attorney Generals called the owner of the property and not the management group.....I got a letter of apology and a release letter to move anytime I want.

The difference is that the place you lived probably were pretty concerned about their standing with the BBB. Big corporations normally could care less what their rating is with the BBB because they do so much volume individual complaints don't really effect their business.

The early termination fee is usually the hardest fee to get out of because there's really no incentive for them do waive it - usually someone looking to get out of their contract has no desire to do business with said company again, thus waiving the fee would cost them the only money they'd get out of the customer.

Re: your service issues, unfortunately most contracts like this are so one-sided in the provider's favor that they really offer no guarantee in regards to service quality. And the fact you've had the service for nearly a year, and recently acknowledged to their rep that you are still using it (though through an undesirable connection) would likely negate the argument that you should never have had the service installed.

I would also recommend the "CSR Roulette" approach. Explain your situation to them calmly, and tell them you wouldn't be averse to doing business with them in the future should your situation change, so they don't feel like their goodwill would be wasted by waiving the fee.

[jadedeath]

I tried google, myspace, facebook, and asking all of my friends from the U.S.

They all say the same thing, you should sacrifice a goat in order to get out of your contract.

Either that or a firstborn child will do in a pinch.

Logan

[GreenScar]

If you can get a tech to call in while at your place telling them that you don't have good line of sight and never should have been cleared as a new customer you should be able to get out of it. I did this with Dish Network once upon a time and it worked.

[nbxfan]

If you've spent that much time on the phone with them and with people coming out, you could always just call and ask if they would allow you to drop because of the unfixable and unacceptable problems. You signed a contract based on an expected service that they aren't providing. I'd say thats grounds to have it removed amicably.

If not, I'd consider hiring a professional rather than using there "free installation" person. Else, get your trees trimmed.

[Sith]

I'd just "make sure" your HD box didn't work...Have them send a new one...

You can't watch all 16 football games without Directv...and they have so many HD channels....

[Blu Jacket]

Same sort of thing happened to my brother. He signed a Direct TV contract but when they came out to install, they told him they couldn't because of tree coverage and he'd get no signal. But they also wouldn't let him out of his contract, total BS.

[Beefbowl]

Join the military. That's how I always get out of my contracts. lol

[Branden]

Originally Posted by househead

My dish was not properly installed.....I constantly get HD signals dropping.....I totally lost the picture from my HDMI output

sounds to me like they've already broken their end of the contract. take a close look at your contract for what level of service their obligated to provide.

a few years ago i signed up for internet access from telus. i signed up for a particular plan because of it's 1mbit upload bandwidth. after 4 weeks of never getting it anywhere near 1mbit and repeated calls in vain for them to fix it i told them i was cancelling. they said they would charge me $150 cancellation fee, i said i've been paying for a service that was never delivered, they've never upheld their end of the contract, and therefore i wasn't held to a cancellation fee in a broken contract. they let me go with no charge when i said i'd phone my lawyer to see if my argument was valid.