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Better Business Bureau Gives DIRECTV A Failing Grade We have all heard the horror stories on the Internet and on our local news about DirecTV's shady business practices. Over 20,000 DirecTV customers have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau in the past three years. Those complaints are just regarding cancellation fees that customers were never informed of and don't include everything else that could go wrong with their service. The result of all these complaints is that the Better Business Bureau has changed DirecTV's rating from a grade of C-minus to NR for “No Rating.” This means that the company has received so many complaints that the company's grade is now below failing. I know when I signed up for DirecTV they did tell me about the two-year contract, but informed me of cancellation charges. So being a DirecTV customer I couldn't help but feel somewhat concerned. So I did a little digging, actually a little is an understatement; a lot of digging sounds more like it. Sure people are complaining about cancellation fees but there must be a reason why they cancelled in the first place, right? The first thing I tried doing was to find their contract. This was a mission in its self. After several hours, about 50 different websites, and a couple of Hot Pockets later, I finally found the “Terms and Conditions.” They read more like stereo instructions then a contract, but from what I could understand the fee for canceling their service is $20 x Months Remaining. This I was unaware of. I have had DirecTV for six months now and I have never seen this contract, nor did anyone tell me when ordering. Now I understand why this fee came to be a surprise to most people. They don't tell the subscribers about it and the fees are hidden so well with in that contract, it's like they were hiding buried treasure from a boat full of angry pirates. Still they will only charge you these fees if you cancel your service. So I decided to look into some of the reasons why people have cancelled their service. Some of the things I found were normal everyday stuff you would expect when running a business. On the other hand there were some things I found that concerned me. Local channels are huge for a lot of people when it comes to TV, even if you don't watch them regularly. ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX are local channels. Now if you were a customer coming from cable, you wouldn't think twice about the availability of these channels. They have always just, been there. Well, what DirecTV fails to tell you is that your local channels are not always available. So if you don't ask they won't tell, which seems like a reoccurring theme with them. So you might be signing up for two years of television service without your locals. That means no local news, no local sports, and no Simpsons! I lucked out on this one. I live in a major city so my local channels were available. If you live too far away from a major city you may not be so lucky. The major reason I found for people canceling their service is somewhat ridiculous. I couldn't believe it at first, but it starts with DirecTV's prize possession the NFL Sunday Ticket. Now try to follow this because it's a crazy scheme DirecTV has come up with! DirecTV has a football package called NFL Sunday Ticket. What they do is rope you in by offering their best programming package “Premier” free for five months, if you order the NFL Sunday Ticket. Here is the price break down: NFL Sunday Ticket = 5 Payment of $59.99 Premier Package = $109.99 (first 5 month's free) So there is some savings there but that's how they get you. When you sign up for DirecTV and the installer comes to your house he will hook up a DirecTV receiver to each TV. What they fail to tell you is, that you will get whatever model receiver the installer has to best fit your package. You couldn't request the newest models even if you wanted to. So if you are getting an HD programming package and the installer has an older model HD receiver lying around that's what you're getting. Most people wouldn't even notice the difference when it comes to the receiver and that's what DirecTV counts on. When you sign up for the NFL Sunday Ticket they don't tell you the terms and conditions. Why? Because you didn't ask! It states, “**A D10 (or later model) interactive DIRECTV Receiver is required.” So you're probably thinking what happens if the installer doesn't give me the right receiver for your Sunday Ticket? No problem DirecTV's got you covered. If you want a new receiver whether it's because you want a newer model or even if the receiver broke DirecTV will gladly replace it and here is how. On most occasions they will make you pay upward to $199 to upgrade your receiver. If it's broken they will replace it for free with the same model. What they didn't tell you “because you didn't ask” is that, every time you upgrade or replace a receiver it renews your contract with them for another 2-years. This is the main reason why 20,000 people are surprised when they receive a cancellation fee of $480. I would be surprised too! They offer you this great deal to save money. They sell you the NFL Sunday Ticket, and then give you the wrong receivers forcing you to buy new ones, putting you into a longer contract. So in the long run you end up spending more money then you were going to save! ONE BIG SCHEME!!! I have read a lot of stories about how customers confront DirecTV about this. Some people get hung up on, some get calls from collections, and a lot of them are forced to pay the cancellation fee, but all of them just hit dead ends with no way out. If DirecTV is going to treat its customers this way, how will they treat me if I ever have a problem? I don't know, but I don't want to stick around to find out. I have no intention of staying with DirecTV, and you should be extremely cautious if you are considering it.
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