I have a love/hate relationship with DIRECTV
I have a love/hate relationship with DIRECTV. I'll post about the love later this week but I simply can't resist starting with the hate.
Many of you know I recently re-subscribed to DIRECTV. Rather than bore you with a long, drawn out story of the signup experience (which was awful), let me just sum it up as easy as I can.
What I wanted / what they advertised
Choice Xtra Package, $34.99/month for 12 Months
Free HD DVR (included as part of promotion)
3 Months Free Starz and Showtime (included as part of promotion)
Additional HD DVR (not included but which I would pay for)
What I got and what my first bill looked like (there are no typos below, I swear)
| Current Charges for Services Period 12/30/09 - 1/29/10 | |
| PLUS HD DVR Monthly | 75.99 |
| STARZ and SHOWTIME Monthly | 24.00 |
| DIRECTV Protection Plan Begins in 30 Days: $5.99/Month | 0.00 |
| Fees | |
| $19.95 Delivery and Handling | 19.95 |
| Remote Control | 15.00 |
| HD-DVR Upgrade | 199.00 |
| Leased Receiver | 5.00 |
| Primary Leased Receiver | 5.00 |
| Adjustments & Credits | |
| STARZ/SHOWTIME for 3 Mos | -24.00 |
| Plus HD DVR Partial Month Charge | 58.26 |
| STARZ and SHOWTIME Partial Month Charge | 18.40 |
| DIRECTV Protection Plan Partial Month Charge | 3.99 |
| DIRECTV DVR Service Partial Month Charge | 0.00 |
| DIRECTV DVR Service Partial Month Charge | 0.00 |
| DIRECTV DVR Service Partial Month Charge | 0.00 |
| DIRECTV on DEMAND Partial Month Charge | 0.00 |
| $19.95 Delivery and Handling | -19.95 |
| $19.95 Delivery and Handling | -19.95 |
| $19.95 Delivery and Handling | 19.95 |
| $19.95 Delivery and Handling | -19.95 |
| Credit: Equipment or Install | -15.00 |
| HD-DVR Upgrade | -99.00 |
| HD Upgrade | -99.00 |
| HD Upgrade | -99.00 |
| HD Upgrade | 99.00 |
| Leased Receiver | 3.33 |
| Primary Leased Receiver | 3.83 |
| Primary Leased Receiver | -3.83 |
| Primary Leased Receiver | -5.00 |
5 comments for this blog post so far...
January 19, 2010 at 10:15 am
asudduth
I just ran down that really quickly with a calculator… I may have messed up (missed lines, etc) but it seemed to me like it came to $47.02… that seems right in line with what you should have expected, right?
January 19, 2010 at 10:46 am
Patric Welch
@asudduth - That sounds low. My bill was actually right around $220 but I didn’t include a one-day NFL Sunday Ticket pass I bought that cost me right around $50.
Plus, the only way to get the rates advertised is by submitting rebate forms. So you still get charged full bill on everything until you submit the rebates.
January 30, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Jon Speer
I have a love / hate relationship with DirecTV too. Let’s just say this company has a poor customer service process (not necessarily the people you talk to). We had a bad access card on an old unit. They offered to replace it, no charge, because we’ve been long-term customers. During the course of the call, the good access card on another unit no longer worked. They offered to replace it too. We received and activated the cards--problems solved. Until we got the bill. We were charged for one of the cards and a fee for canceling the protection plan (which we didn’t want to begin with). We had to talk to two different customer service reps to resolve the billing errors. And it took some convincing. Very frustrating.
February 02, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Patric Welch
Jon, the funny thing is I swear DIRECTV brags about being #1 in customer service for the past several years. Man, how bad does the television service business have to be for DIRECTV to be able to say that?
February 04, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Jon Speer
Customer service is a lost art that I wish companies would spend some time trying to find.
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