DirecTV Drains Customer's Bank Account

[Elf_Boy]

People are stupid. I never sign up for auto-pay. I auto pay from my bank though a check to them, not from their side pulling from mine.

You know more often then not that auto pay your bank sends out is a "draft" which is a paper document having your routing number and account number on it.

Should a company with that information claim a prior business agreement or a debt owed they can send in an ACH payment request (what most people call an auto payment) and your bank will pay it. You will be left with the money gone having to take your time and energy trying to get the money back.

Fed reg E does not provide you much protection, specially if the dispute goes over 60 days, in which case your out the money unless you go to court.

 

[Elf_Boy]

This should be stickied.

The only time ANYONE should ever automatically bill/deduct you monthly is when you're paying a fixed price for something, that NEVER changes (like a newsgroup subscription or MMORPG). NEVER, EVER let ANY company on your account for anything that is a variable charge. EVER. $10/month for newsgroups=ok. $15/month for MMORPG= ok. Anything else=NOT ok.

I've worked the industry and taken the $500 classes from visa.

Once a company has your card number and/or your account number that is considered proof you consented to being billed by them for any amount for any reason. Doesnt matter why you gave it to them. Or what you thought they should are should not have done with it. Once you are billed its your problem to jump though the hoops with the bank/visa and if you send in one piece of paper 1 day past the deadline **to bad** game over.

The advise should be to not give card/account info out what so ever to any company you do not trust. Further if you are going to give out bank information give your CREDIT card number not your debit/checking/savings account number. If it is billed you have a much better chance of reimbursement and your day to day i-need-it-to-eat money is not in jepordy.

 

[Elf_Boy]

Not to put too fine a point on it. But did you inform them during the call that you would be recording?

If not, not only is your call inadmissable as evidence, but you could actually go to jail under current wire tapping laws.
.

If they have a message saying the line might be recorded for training, etc, then no it isnt wiretapping and consent was given. They cant say we are going to record it but you cant.

 

[TheWeazmeister]

Not to put too fine a point on it. But did you inform them during the call that you would be recording?

If not, not only is your call inadmissable as evidence, but you could actually go to jail under current wire tapping laws.
.

Not quite true. This varies from state to state, and in Texas, "one sided consent call recording" is perfectly legit and admissable.

 

[michael.pa2]

This is why I never sign up for automatic bill paying. No one gets direct access to my bank account but me.

 

[NathanM]

Anyone that has a dish is usually going to be a crook. Just look at satellite internet.

They know they're the option of people who have no other options, so they screw people over on a regular basis because they think that can get away with it.

Avoid satellite services in general and you will be better off for it.

 

[NathanM]

WTF, you can't edit posts here? I meant to say "anyone that offers a dish service." Be it internet, TV, whatever.

 

[bastage]

OK So I worked for DirecTV as did my wife for some time.. It is in there T&C's that if service is cancelled the account on file will be charged any outstanding balance including ETF's after I think it was 30 days.. Now in the case of the article above I bet that they were friends & since it requires a bank account or CC to start the account eh lady let her friend who was responsible & paid there bills while alive there account info for the setup process...

Not trying to defend this policy, but after working for them & seeing the shit that people do when they know they cant pay there bills I don't blame them for it.

@sKiDmArK - Try reading the T&C's.. You cant buy a DirecTV HD receiver for 100 bucks.. Thats the lease fee.. And whenever you get a new leased box there is a new 2 yr contract.. If you want to avoid this buy used & carry there Protection Plan. Keeps you from every having to do a new contract.

 

[Evil]

I had DirectTV for a 2 year contract once. I fulfilled my 2 year contract, I missed a payment after the two years, I had to personally ship my box back to them that they said was "My box" within the 2 year contract term period. And I was billed 10x the missed bill payment amount. During my 2 year term not once was my bill ever the promised $29.99 a month. It was between $29.99 - $119.99 a month and I swear to god it was a random amount and changed every single month of my contract period. I'll never go back to a satellite company again and DirectTV still claims I owe them over $300.00 for a single missed billed payment amount after my contract ended with them and I was classified as a month to month customer.

 

[Arcygenical]

This is why i refuse to work any form of customer service anymore, not only do stupid people pull shit like this they get fucking indignant with you when you try and explain to them what they signed without reading like you somehow fucked them over. Consumers are stupid and when they blindly sign up for shit its somehow YOUR fault.

Sorry, but if you RENT a box and it BREAKS, the OWNER is responsible for it's replacement.

 

[Virtu]

Sorry, but if you RENT a box and it BREAKS, the OWNER is responsible for it's replacement.

In which case, since you are RENTING, the owner should be DirecTV. Case in point,y ou lease a vehicle, who pays for the maintenance and repairs? It sure wasn't me when I leased the Mercedes I had, it was infact the dealership and Mercedes in general that fulfilled every service and repair.

If a box breaks and you are paying for service that you CAN'T access because the box is required, it should be the sole responsibility for the provider to replace a MANDATORY piece of equipment that is being lease/rented. Sorry, DirecTV is a bunch of crooks and should be legally penalized for their type of business. I have a friend who already won one court case against them, maybe others should do the same!

 

[zomby]

ouch! I would be Screw You, I aint paying this cause its not in my name....and if they cant collect cause of a decease person, well tuff, closed the account. Its still expensive bill for TV, the person must of order movies from DirectTV which is a steal. $1.99 should be the price, not $5.99 per movie, might as well wait and buy the movie.

 

[Zoomer]

CREDIT card number not your debit/checking/savings account number. If it is billed you have a much better chance of reimbursement and your day to day i-need-it-to-eat money is not in jepordy.

Even better, use an AMEX. These guys will not give you any BS.

 

[gibber]

We have to warn them verbally like 3 times I think. Then yes, you can shoot to kill.

Hmm, if you yell "git git git" does that suffice?

I wish we could "verbally warn" the CEOs at these asshat companies.

 

[gibber]

If they have a message saying the line might be recorded for training, etc, then no it isnt wiretapping and consent was given. They cant say we are going to record it but you cant.

THAT is awesome - I didn't actually know that. Everyone should know that.

With cheap vast storage available today I wouldn't mind if I had my phone setup to automatically start recording whenever that message was detected

 

[bacon]

That's only partially correct. The issue with DirecTV (and I do think they're in pending litigation over this) is that:

- They don't keep their story straight when asked about the "receiver" lease.
- You don't always sign something when you buy a receiver.
- They automatically add 2 years when you ADD a receiver, not when you buy the receiver from retail.

I bought a receiver and did my due diligence on DirecTV and their receiver stuff. Twice, I got different answers from 2 different CSR's when I asked if by activating this new receiver if my account would be extended 2 years. One said yes, and one said no.

To top this off, they also charge a $5-$7 "receiver" lease fee every month per receiver. So why are you paying a $100-$200+ receiver purchase fee and then paying monthly to "lease" it but never given the option to own it? If that receiver breaks, guess what, you not only have to return it, but you have to buy (or "lease") another one at full price. Unless you pay the $5+ insurance fee per month.

Another issue lies with the fact that if you purchase a receiver for full price (used or what not), it is common practice for DirecTV to accidentally switch that from "owned" to "leased". Owning a receiver does not resolve you of the $5-$7 receiver fee either. According to a lot of consumers, it's a hell of a time getting them to switch that back to owned so you don't get hit with a fee over the receiver. And then, there's the fee for the receiver. After two+ years, that receiver model has been replaced by at least one (usually two to three) models, it is no longer worth the original MSRP of $700 that they are going to charge you for not returning it. I highly doubt it was ever worth the $700+ they charge for it. That'd be all fine and dandy if they didn't give their customers used or refurbished models part of the time when doing initial installs (you can't request a new receiver, they'll usually ignore it, people have tried). Paying full price for the receiver also does not dissolve you of the additional 2 years, since adding a receiver (owned or leased) will automatically add that.

Before you jump on someone about DirecTV's shady business model, you should check out all the DIrecTV sucks sites. They have some serious issues when it comes to business practices.

They should take a page from the Cable company and make it so you get the receivers (keep their "receiver" fee or raise it to $10) for free, and then they are returned when service ends. The way they do it now is intended to confuse the consumer into extending a contract without their knowledge.

I'm all for subsidizing expensive equipment with service contract terms, but imagine if the phone companies sold you an iPhone for $200 and then requested it back in good condition after your two years were up. That's exactly what DTV does.

This is exactly why I dropped them after 5 years of service. Not a single fucker would give me straight answer about ownership of the receiver. Why am I paying $200 for something I must pay a monthly lease on?

Its crooked bullshit, and any asshole that defends something like that should be dick punched repeatedly.