FTC says DIRECTV wasn’t so direct about fees and negative options

They lied to me from the time I got on. Prices kept going up. I had to keep calling and calling. They charged my account two times. I was on the phone for three hours trying to get this figured out!! They also said I had a visa card coming but then after I talked to three people they said no to that!! This company is a scam!!

This company is the biggest rip off group ever. Each month the charges increase more, making the bill creep up with bogus $2 for this and $3 for that, then the 'system won't allow them to remove charges" -- unbelievable. Never again, going back to the antenna, because quite frankly, even if they offer 150 channels, there are only about 5 worth watching. Done.

I am so disgusted in this operation...who do I speak to??I am being charged $540.00 ..for a month and a half of service???They originally offered a" bundle package" $ 140.00 per month....now I'm being told my bill was not bundled...someone plz help!

Direct TV did the same thing to me. I'm fighting them now. Don't care if they ruin my credit. I will NEVER do business with them again, and am warning everyone I know.

I am so tired of getting ripped off by Directv. What can a little guy like me do? I guess vent here. They double bill. In December 2015 they charged me two times totaling $250. They said because they move my billing period. And I wasn't even using it. I had put my account on vacation mode (they call it suspension). Customer service was awful every time I called. They insisted I had an ATT account and proceeded to charge me for it.

Unbelievable business! Worst experience with customer service I have ever had. As a long-time AT&T customer, I was disappointed with my terrible experience dealing with DirecTV. I simply wanted to cancel my DirecTV service, yet retain all my other AT&T services, including Internet and phone. Over the course of an hour, and three phone calls later, the reps finally honored my request to cancel service. Also was promised a call from a supervisor. That call was never received. However, now they want to charge me a $260 early termination fee, stating that I am one year into a two-year contract. I certainly do not feel like I was treated as a long-time, loyal AT&T customer.

When I had a surgery years ago and called Directv about cutting off service and to stop drafting my card, they continued to draft my card up to $700. My sister opened up an account later and I was an authorized user. Four years later, they cut off our service by linking the new account to the old account. Now they will not reinstate our service until I pay them $700 dollars. I did not have $700 worth of service. So services were cut off without warning. But they say they have a right to cut off services even if my name is on my parents account as an authorized user. I only help talk to representatives if they need yet the said they have the right to cut off their services unless I pay the $700 balance. Being a faithful customer for 4 years, they just cut off service without warning. Now they want to link up a new account to an old one. They don't care. They just want money, anyway they can get it. I'm very disappointed in them.

I just found out I was over billed $93.73 on an automatic bill pay. For the last year.

This company is a total rip-off! They want to charge me $199 to move + $199 for new equipment or $420 to cancel. HORRIBLE!!!

I used DirecTV and ever. Month my bill was never what we agreed.up on when sign with them it was to be around 73$ a month and first bill 137 so I called and ever month after that was the same but higher this went on for two years so I canceled and now there saying I broke. Contract and put it against my credit you know somebody needs to show them there not above the law and put them in there place and help us little guys get what they owe us back and stop this slot of hard work people have been hurt by them and it time to stop them

people with both the government and companies you have to read the full detail's including the mouse print (fine print) all the offers, car leases home repair contracts etc it is a pain but you have to do it

Yeah, I signed up price was always higher than what they said !! Then watch out after second year they jumped up a lot , I'm paying 81 dollars for the xtra package now plus all other fees which add up to over a 105 plus dollars!!! It's highway robbery without a gun!!!

It comforts me to know this disturbing new trend of vendors HELPING THEMSELVES TO MY MONEY is happening to everyone. Just today have taken major steps to become invisible as theft #4 is a despicable act by Sears Roebuck that made me cry with a rage that left me drained and determined to make Sears pay for what they are doing to me and my 78 year old husband. It relates to Direct tv as DTV is Group #2 of thieving pigs to trespass on my property for $580. Claimed non-return of equipment , didn't care about my receipt nor that I sent it in a DTV issued box; and an absurd cancellation fee for essentially them breaching their own contract blah, blah. I CAN'T SCREAM THIS LOUD ENOUGH: DO NOT EVER HUMILIATE YOURSELF, ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE BULLIED, ENRAGED TO AN UNHEALTHY LEVEL, HANG UP ON YOU, AND MOST OF ALL, NEVER LET ANYBODY TREAT YOU WITH DISRESPECT SO ARROGANT I AM SINCERE IN SAYING I TOTALLY GET THE AK-47 THING. IT HAS TO BE STOPPED. NOW. I am of course referring to the 2016 business model of a Customer Service Department. Still trying to get our $1,078.00 from Sears as check was to be held pending a phone call from us to confirm/deny purchase (refrigerator wouldn't have fit, answer would have been no sale). This was August 10, today is September 22. Point is in dealing with DTV and Sears I found a pattern. Researched on this FTC.gov site and will try to make it simple? There is no customer service. You are wasting your time and health. Why, I don'the quite understand as enraging customers is messed up, but the plan is get customer anyway you can, Jerry them around for more more more and when they complain ship them to offshore call centers, or punk I'll bred American kids who were gross with the scripted answers they are to repeat over and over no matter how illegal, cruel, dangerous and morally corrupt the mantra is the bottom line is "Tough Shit". Do not allow this to happen, trust me you'Lloyd spend the rest of the day wanting to punch somebody in the face. Must sign off, but am meeting with Legal Aid next week, Sears will not get away with this. Can u believe they sent check that had "insufficient funds"? Please read all you can and file reports with every consumer outfit you can. I am refusing to pay extorted fees and mysterious rate hikes. Do it Pay what you owe, nothing more, nothing less. Never use cards. Small banks have free or close to free money orders. The take my money. Trust me what this world is doing is mostly illegal so they can'take get too loud because the whole thing is illegal. Do not be intimidated. They cave pretty easily actually. Stop allowing this extortion and what can they do? They count on the ones who can afford to or are too stupid not to pay their bills. Just say NO. IT WORKS. Pay what you owe and not another dimension. Blow off threats of fees adding up. They'really illegal, they can'take do anything. Do read all of this on ftc.gover. It will make more sense. One more thing: OUR lives and our money is being dictated to us by Asian kids and American punks. You are supposed to do what they say! You cannot win in 2016. For peace don'the even consider most customer service dept. They don'the exist anymore, with very few exceptions. Weak cowards steal by making an unauthorized withdrawal in the middle of the night. I know you all have been through or are going through this ILLEGAL

this is the response i got from them . this is such a rip off ..whom can we complaint i want to pursue this to make sure they don't rip people off ever again Included with this email is a copy of every billing statement issued from your DIRECTV account since activation of services (July 2015 – July 2016). The statements show when the New Customer discounts applied for the first year, as mentioned on the phone. The disconnection statement also shows where the NFL SUNDAY TICKET charge was reversed and Early Cancellation Fee applied. There were additional statements issued January and March of 2016 due to payment reversals. Other than that, each statement reflects a $0 balance as the Automatic Bill Payment processes the day statements are generated. It is important to note that during our investigation we confirmed the order was placed online. DIRECTV ensures the 24-month service agreement is detailed online during the order process. The service agreement terms are provided under the Terms & Conditions reflected on the Address & Payment Screen. Below the Terms & Conditions and to the left of the Submit Order Button is a statement “By clicking ‘Submit Order’, I agree to the terms and conditions.” We must trust that our customers have researched the terms and conditions associated with our service prior to acquiring our equipment and service, including the 24-month commitment requirement. Since services were discontinued prior to the fulfillment of the 24-month agreement, a prorated Early Cancellation Fee was assessed at $20 for each month not completed totaling $220.00. We hope this information better explains why we consider the billing accurate. Please let me know if you have further questions. Our top priority is to treat our customers to a premium experience every time they interact with us. Thank you for taking the time to contact us and explain your concerns. --

Guess my comment of 9/21 didn't make the cut! Have been working on getting my life, money, and control back from cyberspace and tech abusers. Totally going underground for self preservation. Sears Roebuck stole $1,078. August 10, can't get past scripted "customer service" kids. FYI: I learned from a 21 year old in Sears' abusive "customer service rep" that if they offer, or God forbid act on anything except mundane tech or account issues, they lose the job. They are scripted and under no circumstances can they Fed Ex a refund to us or any customer even though I left sometimes tearful (Tears of RAGE) phone messages in Sears offices all over the country describing the hardship and $$ they have cost us, so far. It's 6 weeks now. Funny how their end uses electronic instant withdrawals, UNAUTHORIZED WITHDRAWALS, and the consumer has to wait 10 - 12 working days for US Mail. Instant cash for the vendor, illegally stolen, and their money source, us the customer, gets 6 weeks of bullying and appalling disrespect from kids while waiting and worrying. Despicable. Please sign me up for lawsuit, Direct tv was the 2nd bank robbery of 4 so I've earned it! Thank you, A. Welch

I "bit" on the "Please Don't Leave" special deal for $29.99 for Select package which was to come with free installation and free DVR, per the flier that came with the box for returning the receiver. This was in July. I had switched to CenturyLink Prism but when I got this screamin' deal flier from DirectTv, I decided to go back to it. So today I get a bill that has an additional $25 per month for the DVR and they say that's what I signed up for. I signed nothing that gave money amounts. That is how they get away with this. I signed a form that the service technician brought, but it did not include charges. "Not my job" he said. So now, I am tied into this, and I can't get out because of the additional costs. I was definitely misled by every customer service agent I spoke with. This company is not to be trusted.

look man alot of you guys on here need to read the TOS or the TOA that is E-mailed to you yes directv can and will deduct money from your account if you have not given back there equipment and also that if you owe them money what do you expect. they are a mulitbillion dollar business and they limit there liability every moment of the day. you either need to pay your bill and stop going past due and stop paying the past due amount and they tell you over the phone when you sign up. the amount for ECF and and all when you get your new directv service. you guys are idiots you sue them they will sue you for wasting there time.

DERECTV is a fraud. They do NOT honor the agreements regarding billing. I am currently on the phone with them now. This people are a joke. Why doesn't the FCC stop these deceptive practices????

Direct TV stole money out of my account 7 months after I had swapped to Dish I talked to several different CCustomer Service Representative I am not sure they gave me real name first one name was Mark I'd # 135882 he told me at first they stole the 266..7 from my account for equipment not returned. I assured him it was so the he told me three more different stories and each I pointed out to him he was lying and that I was recording him as I did all of them, after I pointed his lies out he transfered me to Kyle 509310 and just two minutes into the discussion he noted that the equipment was recieved in August and they stole my money on October 3,, 2016 and I talked to them October 4.

No I am. Not ordering I and a lot other of your customers that you have stole money out of our accounts is going to the fair banking laws and going to get my attorney file a class action law suit for you taking 266.71 out of my account on 10/03/2016 I have taped five of your employees telling a large range of lies and I have seen all the law suits that Direct Tv has on the Federal Trade Commision so I and a large number of the other customers are going to make YouTube videos and show them that Direct TV is thieves in all kinds of manners and believe me I a, home with surgery and plenty of time so I am going to put as many videos on all Social Media and make sure when someone GOOGLES Direct to they will automatically see all the claims against Direct to and let's don't leave out AT$T we're going to do the same for them also. Sincerely John T Collier

FTC is just a way to get friends of Govt officials a good paying job. Just think about it, everyone knows of Directv's decades of unlawful tactics yet until this day they continue. It's a wash, rinse & repeat process. Directv takes customers' money, They keep 1/2, give half to FTC (so it looks like they are actually doing something) in fines, (customers never get their lost money back). Then the whole process starts over again. Wash, Rinse & Repeat.

I wads lied to from the start. We moved to a small town great price love our home called to get tv and internet ? found myself talking to direct tv assured me all would be fine signed me up but internet? no had to call another number for internet.. now they say 2 year contract not first time we talked now

Experience similar problems with direct tv, who is apparently owned by at&t. These people are very dishonest . They use a form of bait & switch after being locked in ,your money is at their mercy. Just wander what the people who work there think of their elevated form of morality . I guess (%#k it). Get your's

I am wondering if there is a class action lawsuit filed against Direct TV regarding the unauthorized use of "one time credit card authorization" fees and taking the funds out of your bank account without authorization in excessive amounts? This has happened to me TWICE in the last 4 months then was "locked" out of my "account" to get my statements to provide as evidence. I used the "Paperless Billing" option. My story has been repeated over and over in the form of excessive charges, early termination fees, "bait and switch" pricing incentives, etc. I am not so sure I don't have a case with my banking institution as well but, my main focus is to get the Government intities to regulate and fine Direct TV accountable for their shady business practices. Any advice on where to start after complaint is registered? Thanks.

Please tell me how I can join this lawsuit. Tried to cancel due to financial hardship after being a loyal customer for over a year and they are trying to charge me an absurd cancellation fee. Their profits are insane and they want to punish me instead of work with me.

I was charged for services I did not signed up for, or used, ever.

I called direct to lower my payment because it had shot up form 86.00 a month to over 141.00. I was told when i joined them again i would have a set rate of 86.00 a month for 2 yrs. This I whyI went back to Direct.They billed me full price after 12 months. Me and my room mate are on a fixed income and have to manages our bills accordingly. So after I called I had to drop my package down 2 levels just to get it to what we could afford the 86. package. and she offered a bundle rate with Windstream a carrier in our area for internet, she said this would drop my bill another 10 dollars and would all be on 1 bill. The biggest night mare was to have the internet hooked up , after 3 anguishing calls to Windstream I received a bill for 135 dollars and still didn't even have the jack for service. These people at Windstream are as difficult as Direct. I finally got a service connected on the 5th after receiving the bill on the 4th. Now to find out they don't bundle with DIrect and I will still receive 2 different bills. So to say the least I am exhausted with both.

We are the victim of Direct TV with 2 year contract too, the deal was from only 29.99 now up to 73.24 due to all kinds of hidden fees and information. We have talked to 6-7 representative and 2 supervisors they just said sorry about those inaccurate informations. Can we get out that contract without paying penalty of 20$ / month

My family had an AT&T Bundle with Internet, phone and Uverse. We saw a deal online where we could change from Uverse to Direct TV and save money on our bundle, So I called the number on the ATT website to do so last September. In October, we paid twice because we were billed from ATT & Direct TV with 2 different account numbers. After numerous calls, we ended up paying so we could have uninterrupted service. Now I am trying to get the bills combined, and was notified we will have to pay twice for 2 months before the bills get combined. I am still on hold for 20 min. waiting for them to combine our bill. 1. We are being forced to pay 2 bills for 3 months if we want uninterrupted service 2. I was told the ATT Uverse bill would be prorated after disconnection. (We were charge almost double last month. 3. We have to pay 2 bills for 3 months 4. We wasted hours (at least 6) in attempting to get this resolved. 5. Still have not received the gift card promised 6. Half the time, I could not understand the customer service representative's English (And I speak Tagalog as a second language) I don;t know what else to do but change services. Would be be able to recover the unfair charges?

My bill for 3 cell phones went from $328 to $658 and ATT/Direct TV said it was going to be $285. Over an hour on hold with AT&T today - NADA.

every coment at the top of this page say is happened to me as well, I want my name added to the lawsuit also. I believe I can finally get rid of Direct T.V

Have only had DIRECTV for about 10 months... really sucks! Half the time no tv! Today, Nov 5, 2016 I had had enough. First called to ask why all my regular channels were not available. Reset the box, didn't fix the issue. Was told I'd have to pay $49.95 for a tech to come out to fix the issue... that made my blood boil. Told them no it wouldn't cost me anything because I wanted my service cancelled immediately. Dwayne the rep went on to tell me that there would be an early termination fee and since I was still under contract I would be billed $280 for cancelling early. Then the threat that if I didn't pay the fee they would charge any means of payment I had previously used to collect the $280. That's when I really lost it with these jerks! So I'll be cancelling the card I used to pay my bill with and will file a complaint with the FTC and my local city officials.

They did to me EXACTLY what the FTC complaint states. I knew I signed a two year deal - for 27 bucks a month. But they jacked up the price. I found a link here, that helped me file official complaints with the government. http://thoughtforyourpenny.com/2016/05/break-directvs-contract-free/ .....a few things though. Try to stay calm. I know it's your lives, and you worked hard for the cash, but stress kills. Deep breaths, and don't deal with direct TV if you have to. Put an empty card on file to stop further charges, and file chargebacks and official complaints.

To those saying "I never authorized them to take money out of my account", yes, you did. Otherwise they wouldn't HAVE your card number. If your "daughters" account got charged on your card, they WILL prosecute her if you continue to pursue the claim you didn't authorize the charge. You didn't bother to listen (or read) all those disclaimers they read out loud when you paid that bill did you? It's ok, they recorded it for you. To those that say they should provide free service calls because it is their equipment, tell your car dealer that when you need new tires on that lease. You don't think that the price they charge is fair? Don't sign a 2 year contract or if you do, READ IT. Corporations aren't here to be the good guys, they are here to make money for shareholders. They supply the equipment and pay an installer to have that equipment installed in your house on the condition you pay your bill on time for 2 years. If you don't, they will recover the costs of that equipment and installation...as they should. In life there aren't participation trophies, there are bills and contracts...welcome to adult hood, pay your bills.

i was promised $89.99/mo turned into $267/mo. i overpaid by $1000 for the past year. they owe me.

Directv screwed me and then I called to cancel services and now supposedly I owe them 750.00 and they told me that they will continue taking money out of my account until directv is paid what is "owed" to them. What do I do?

Where is this case now? I just discovered that Direct TV has been charging me extra for a "sports pkg" I didn't order nor want. When I complained I was told it was included in the Premium Pkg. I ask why then wasn't it just added to the price of the Premium Pkg costs. I was told if I didn't wish to pay for the extra sports pkg I could drop the Premium Pkg. When I ck'ed on my Premium Pkg to see what it included there were several options to added more sports but the charge that was being added to my bill wasn't included. This isn't fair. I was told by Direct TV there was nothing they could do. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Cancelled service by phone on 11-29-16 and was told return mailer would be sent to me for equipment return. After one week I called again. After a lengthy sales pitch to stay with Directv I was told that the first mailer never went out but they would overnite me one. That was a week ago today. Still no mailer. Flippin Liars!

I am being scammed by DirecTV. They installed their satellite on my house and receivers in my house while I wasn't home and only my 16-year-old son was here. I signed no contracts or anything they have now attached a 455.91$ Bill to my credit. When he barely English-speaking individual called me tonight they told me they would wait this clean if I paid them $150 more what kind of a scam are they running?

The latest scam they have is their 4K packaging. They told me it would be included in the regular service. Then after half of them didn't even know what they had, I had deceptive ads coming to me saying enjoy 4k only select package needed, but the the only thing you get is the menu page. To get the channels you need the ultimate package, which. Is another 16 bucks. Finally got him to give me one moth credit to try it, but now they say 104, 105, and 106, but these channels don't exist on my 4k box.

We also have been ripped off. Good customer for 15+ yrs. Equipment failed and they came out to replace saying that although 1 box failed, the other was obsolete and replaced both. Bill came with additional charges for new equipment. When I called to cancel, they said that when equipment was replaced, that locked us in to a 2 yr contract and it's costing me $480 to get out of it. They did not make it clear that we were entering a contract because they failed to maintain equipment (that we rent) that would work. Pissed off but gkadly will pay to get rid of this horrible service!