Direct TV

direct tv Numerous Problems With Direct TV El Segundo, California

19th of Mar, 2011 by User284120

I have had Direct TV for about 12 years on 2 separate accounts. In that time, I have been on the receiving end of rude customer service representatives, rude and obnoxious "supervisors" and have been told this, that and/or the other thing was going to be done, but never was. Case in point, my latest trial and tribulation with them. I don't pay for equipment with this company. I refuse when they are giving it out free to new customers. I called and asked for a replacement DVR to replace the old one that was not working properly. I was told no, no and double-no. I was also told by 2 different reps, including a "supervisor" that I should go ahead and disconnect my Direct TV. Hearing that twice in the same day was enough: connect me to the disconnection department. A person got on the phone, I told him the whole situation, he promised to send me a DVR, free, with no contract requirements (my contract with them ran out long ago and I do NOT want to get into another one with them). I was also promised 2 new remotes - yes, for free. A few days later, I received the receiver but no remotes. I spent another hour and a half on the phone talking to 5 different people before one of them finally agreed to send me 2 new remotes, yes, for free. I then realized that the receiver they sent me was NOT a DVR. Today, I called back. The first person said they should not have sent me a new receiver free at all, and didn't know why they did that. The second person said yes, they sent a regular receiver when they should have sent a DVR and connected me with some other department. The person at this next department reviewed everything and told me they were not going to send me a DVR, even though I fully explained the situation to her that I was promised a DVR. I asked for her supervisor. Her supervisor was rude and denigrating in stance towards me. He offered to send - after I refused to back down to him - a new DVR, but I would HAVE to agree to a 2 year commitment. I refused again, I was promised what I was promised, that is what I was going to get. I asked to speak to the disconnection department again, since he also said, basically, if I don't like it, have the service shut off. He said he IS the end of the line, HE will disconnect it for me. No, no and no. Connect me with the disconnection department, please. I asked 5 times and he finally said he would get another supervisor on the line to deal with me. In other words, he was going to make sure I didn't get what I wanted and he would talk to that supervisor directly. I hung up after he put me on hold and called Direct TV again knowing what his plan was, I was not falling for it. This time, I asked the first person to be connected to the disconnection department. The lady that got on the phone reviewed the whole thing - again - and said the same thing. No, no and no. That is my response every time. I will not take their BS as the final statement. I asked to speak to her supervisor. This man got on the phone after several minutes of being on hold (I spent a total of about 45 minutes on hold today with this company). He fixed it, is the long story short. This is only one story of 50 of them I could tell. Some of the stories about this company's management many people don't believe. I have had them calling me names, attempting to demoralize me, the list is long. I spent an entire trip from Flagstaff to Phoenix one time coming home from a work project on the phone with Direct TV - 3 different managers, all 3 of them treating me like trash. On that occasion - spending 3 days calling Direct TV and receiving the same treatment over and over (and note that I did NOT respond to them in kind, though, I am very blunt, factual and to the point in my dealings with them). The result of over 9 hours of phone conversations was $150 credit to my account; 2 new receivers; free movie channels and whatever else I can't remember now. Here's the point: yes, they are in a true sense of the word: ripoffs. They will take you for a ride if you let them. Knowing how to work their system is the key. You will not get the same answer from every person. You may get similar - nothing - answers from 3 of them and then a completely opposite response from a 4th person. You might be told by a supervisor that they aren't going to do anything about your situation and then call them back and have a regular operator take care of it. If you want to get anywhere with these people, you are going to have to resolve to take up with a lot of verbal abuse; being treated rudely and even told to go ahead and have your service shut off. If you have gone through a lot of phones calls - which most people just give up after the first person they talk to (and Direct TV is counting on you doing this, most people do not have the resolve to call them over and over and over, sometimes for days until you get what you want). If you cannot get anywhere with them through all the departments they may connect you with, the last line of defense is to call their corporate headquarters in El Segundo, California and ask to speak to the Office of the President. You will be transferred to a call center in Colorado who says they are the Office of the President. I chuckled at the one - the president's office is in El Segundo, not somewhere in Colorado, I think Denver. If you are polite, courteous and respectful and calmly recite the problem or the desired end to the phone call, you stand a good chance of getting what you want if it isn't unreasonable or otherwise outrageous in terms and nature. I didn't have to do that today with the last person I talked to - I think I talked to a total of 6 people at that company today. My request of that final person which is what got him on my side, so-to-speak, was to ask him to review the conversation I had had with the gentleman that I had spoken with 2 weeks ago about the fact that he promised a DVR, that I wouldn't have to pay for it and that it would not require me to agree to a 2 year commitment. I had to repeat that to him a few times to get it to sink in: there is recorded PROOF on THEIR end of this conversation. ALL calls at Direct TV, allegedly, are recorded now. Yes, I spent over 2 hours on the phone - but - I got what I wanted and I thought it time well-spent. Let me put it another way - I have had Dish Network and I have had the cable company that serves my area: COX cable. They ALL suck at customer service. ESPECIALLY Cox cable, they are the worst of the worst. You aren't going to get better service at a different company, it is all equally bad. Instead, play their game, but play it with a plan. The plan is to simply have a good, logical argument for why you should get free movie channels for nothing in exchange, or have whatever you need done, done for nothing and stick with it. Do not back down to them - but nice, kind, polite, courteous, respectful, all of that - YES. But do not let them intimidate you, they are playing a psychological game with you. They are in business, they train their employees to talk to you the way that they do for a reason. It is very manipulative and unless you see beyond that before you make your first phone call, you aren't going to get anywhere with them. Further remember that the first "tier" of employee you speak to probably doesn't have the authority to do much of anything to help you out if it's beyond a simple request such as having a card activated (though, I even had trouble with them doing THAT once and I ended up with freebies for that, too). Perseverance is the key. Good luck.

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