I have been a DirecTv customer for over 2 years (I am thankfully no longer in a contract). I have been enrolled in Auto-Pay the whole time, and always in good-standing. This month I needed to cancel the Auto-Pay for personal reasons that I don't have to explain to them or anyone else. The Auto-Pay always comes out on the 17th of the month, but my bill isn't due until the 22nd, so I needed that few extra days.
The week of January 3, 2011 I went online and cancelled my Auto-Pay. Their website showed this takes 5-7 business days to complete. Fine. On January 10, 2011 I rec'd an email from DirecTv confirming my Auto-Pay had been cancelled...
" You have canceled your enrollment in Auto Bill Pay Your Auto Bill Pay cancellation request has been received and payments will no longer be deducted automatically. Please go online to view your account balance and make a payment if applicable. Auto Bill Pay will give you greater peace of mind knowing that your important monthly payments are made on time, every time.
To re-enroll, visit page for more information. For your convenience, you can view your account information and payment details anytime at just click on
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So, everything is fine and dandy, right? WRONG. On January 17, 2011 DirecTv took it upon themselves to STEAL $63.17 from my account. They were not authorized to take this money, they confirmed above they would no longer deduct my account automatically. They stole my money.
I called DirecTv and was on the phone for 1 hour and 5 min. During this time I spoke w/ 3 people. I was pretty much told "too bad". I was told changes take 30 days to go into effect - not true because your website says 5-7 days. I was told DirecTv has no way to credit a credit card - not true if you can debit it, then you can credit it. Finally, after speaking with the second "Supervisor" I was told she would send my issue to "Esculations", whatever that means, but it would take up to 8 days to hear back - this is no help to me. I told her that and she then changed her mind and said someone would call me within 72 hours. ??
In the meantime, I have called my bank to dispute the charges, but since it's still in "pending" status I have to wait until it posts. Then I will be able to dispute the charge and any pending overdraft charges.
None of this helps me today. Even though the charges are pending, the money is not available to me. DirecTv could care less. I have been a good customer, but will be cancelling my service since I am not in a contract with them. I am currently looking into U-verse. I also will be cancelling that credit card right before I cancel DirecTV so they can't pull the "you didn't return our boxes" trick on me and steal more money.
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