Rude or Absent Customer Service

I think you are right to complain, but not cancel service. A wiser
tactic would have been to "suspend your account" for the time they
said it would take to get a technician out there. After all, why pay
for TV you're not watching?

If you suspend the account, they may be more motivated to get you back
on the paying hook, so to speak. If they simply can't get someone out
there sooner, you benefit by not paying while you're out of service.

Also, customers wrongly make many assumptions abouit service
agreements. Put simply, if it isn't in writing, it isn't there. Make
sure you know the response times, and make sure they're written. I
don't believe they would purposefully make a customer wait just to
tick them off.

Before you get emotional, think it through from their perspective.
They can't get to you because . . . ? They have other
installs/service calls/issues ahead of you is the probable set of
answers, and not because they hate you/they pupose to have bad
customer service/they don't want to help/they are lazy.

DIRECTV doesn't get as big and successful as it does without doing
something right. Keep a cool head and keep your options open. Giving
a "come service me or I'll cancel" ultimatum obviously closes doors,
closes minds, and shuts down any help you might have gotten.

Having worked in customer service, you'd know that . . . right?

You are right to not want to pay. This is a Direct TV tactic. They are
in the wrong and you should not have to pay. It is unacceptable to
wait 6 days for service. You pay for a service and you should get it.
I had Direct TV once and they had lousy service, this is breaking
their contract. I did not pay them and after going back and forth for
about a month. I did not have to pay their fee for ending the contract
early. They tried to make it sound it was my fault but they were in
the wrong and once I told them what their contract said they realized
they were in the wrong. I also complained to the BBB and that helped.

Sorry Nita, but I agree with the others, Direct TV did not break the
contract, no matter what the rep said, you did and now you are
responsible for the Early Termination Fee.

Just because no one could get you a repair tech earlier does not equal
rude. I'm sure there was some back and forth on your part before the
rep said that.

I do realize that 6 days without TV service is inconvenient but it's
not the end of the world.

You do realise you signed a two year contract and you unilaterally
cancelled it of your own free will because six (6) days without Direct
TV,DVR or local channels was unacceptable to someone who's retired and
for whom money is tight.

As interesting and informative as your resume' in the customer service
industry is, unless you're applying for employment, it takes away from
the issue.

"Finally, someone in the States" and "Unfortunately, he was not only
as uncooperative, but he was also RUDE!! After going a few rounds with
him..." is unpatriotic and crass. Does that mean it's o.k. to treat
foriegners poorly? Another thing that takes away from your letter.

Basically, you can't have things your way, so you kick a company to
the curb and go to a competitor. Do you honestly believe Dish TV is
going to say "Their set-up was fixable" when they just benefited from
"The perfect storm"? Of course they're going to say it's a piece of
junk, and if it wasn't, they'll make it so.

You got exactly what you wanted, you terminated a contract, returned
their equipment, and owe them the balance of what you agreed to.

I'm sorry Nita, but I fail to see where it says anywhere in the
insurance (of which I have for my own receivers) - which is the
protection plan for the receivers - does it say there is immediate
service. It does not say "call us and we will transport ourselves to
your place of residence immediately to fix the problem." Six days is
not that long of a time to wait. I'm sure you could have found some
other ways to entertain yourselves - books, gone out to the movies,
something other than planting yourself in front of the tv.

As for the contract, you broke that on your own. YOU chose to go with
another service, YOU chose to cancel DirecTv, so ultimately, YOU are
the one responsible for the termination fee. Perhaps you or your
husband should have calmed down enough to call back at a later time,
requested another manager and explained the sitation.

But no, you chose instead to put the cart before the horse and leave
yourself in this mess.

Bottom line: this is not DirecTv's fault.

If you had the "insurance" that meant they had to come out immediately
when you called for repairs, then make sure you can show this in
writing before you start pointing the finger at them for supposedly
cancelling your contract.

If your son and husband messed around with the set and tried to reset
the programs this may cancel out any said extra insurance you had with
them.

But unless you have that added insurance to cover immediate service
you will have to pay for the two years.

Did this "extra insurance" (did this plan have a name?) guarantee a
certain response time for repair?

Just because the employee couldn't stand your refusal to accept their
terms any longer and said "Go somewhere else" when you threatened to,
it doesn't mean he broke the company's contract. The CSR was simply
saying "If you don't like the rules here, go somewhere else." That
doesn't break the contract.

If you are so tight with money, you could have read a few books and
newspapers until DirecTV was able to get your service repaired. Now
you have to scrape up the remainder of your contract.

Sorry, Juanita, but I think you're wrong. The rep on the phone didn't
cancel the contract simply by uttering the words, "Go ahead and
switch." Why you made that assumption, I don't know.

And while going without television for six days is annoying, it's not
exactly a hardship or an emergency. Three people told you that next
Monday was the soonest a technician could be at your house. Did you
think they were lying and not giving you the earliest possible
appointment?

Your "insurance" probably doesn't say anything about the urgency with
which repairs/service will occur -- it just means you won't be charged
for those kinds of service calls.

While your letter may yield some results, I wouldn't hold my breath.