Some time ago, I wrote about the impossibility of avoiding direcTV`s cancellation fees, and they really don`t indicate in small print that every time one of their DVRs fails and they replace it, your contract will automatically be renewed for 1-2 years. Note: Doug`s solution probably won`t work if you`ve been with them for less than two years. If so, they don`t care if you`ve been transferred to Pluto. They probably don`t care if you`re dead. This may seem like a simple request to cancel DirecTV, but errors are common. If you find that the company has received your equipment, call customer service to confirm that they have it and that your contract is terminated. Then, you need to select your device. There are many cool streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku, and Apple TV for you to choose from. And beware: if you`re a football fan, you get the NFL SUNDAY TICKET for free for the first year, but you`ll have to spend about $300 in the second year to keep it. As you can see, your monthly costs increase significantly in the second year of your DIRECTV contract. We are not big fans of this sneaky tactic.
It turns out that I have really smart and savvy readers here at Snappy Living. Some of you have tried different ways to get out of your cancellation fees or get them back. Another option, depending on the length of your service, is when they announce a rate increase. They usually do this at the end of the year, in November or December. However, if you have AT&T TV Now (formerly DirecTV Now), the streaming component of the same parent company, you can cancel your contract online. The company does not want to disclose the amount of the fee. After going through the process of terminating our DirecTV contract, I know exactly why they don`t want to make it public – because people would realize that by terminating their contract, they would save a lot of money. In this situation, the president`s office won`t help, but you can do what many of our readers have done – call the BBB and report direcTV for their shady business practices.
Within a few weeks, most of these readers were able to cancel without cancellation fees or get their cancellation fees refunded. The only bonus is that DIRECTV usually offers a nice gift on top of your plan, like a free NFL SUNDAY TICKET for a year, a free NBA League Pass for a year, free® HBO for a year or sometimes even a Visa gift card. Don`t waste time with customer service (800-531-5000). Forget the billing dispute (the address in Colorado you need to write to). Call or write to their headquarters in El Segundo, California, and it`s like dealing with a completely different company. How much does DIRECTV cost? Good question. DirectV`s costs are starting to get complicated. You will need to purchase a two-year contract to get DIRECTV access, but you will only get the promotional prices for the first year before upgrading to the current rate.
For the first three months, DIRECTV includes HBO®, SHOWTIME®, STARZ and Cinemax® at your service. Unless you have DIRECTV PREMIER™ that includes them in the package, these premium channels will cost you $53.99 each month after the launch period. Not to mention that it costs a lot of money to do a satellite installation, compared to almost nothing to install ATT TV. DirecTV requires a two-year contract to cover its installation costs. I wrote a letter to John Malone, the president of DirecTV in El Segundo, California, explaining my “frustration.” I have no idea what he will do, but I have stated that I will do everything I can to raise awareness of this ridiculous business practice. I also read about the California class action lawsuit and emailed the lead attorney for more information. If he answers me, I will post here. I don`t have a problem with contracts and termination fees in general, but with DirecTV: (1) their DVRs never last two years, and when they are replaced, it means that your contract will be automatically renewed, but nowhere in the fine print is this written, and (2) the cancellation fees should never be so high. Cutting cable on cable has been popular for several years. However, according to the International Business Times, 83% of American households still pay for some sort of cable TV program. Unlike many TV providers, DIRECTV does not offer its own Internet service.
However, you should look for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in your area. Enter your zip code below to see your options: Q. AT&T TV no longer requires a contract to sign up. SO, has DIRECTV also changed? I would consider getting it if I didn`t have to make the two-year deal to get the Sunday ticket. So, is AT&T abolishing contracts for all of its TV services? – Peter, New Haven, Connecticut. DIRECTV has a two-year contract, and you might be tempted to cancel if prices go up in the second year. Head up – it will cost you a nice penny. If you decide to do so, don`t forget to return your DVR and receivers, otherwise your cancellation fee will be huge. Doug found the solution, and it`s been working consistently for different readers for a few years now (see comments). AT&T is aware that the two-year contract, which comes with a penalty if you cancel prematurely, is a major obstacle to generating new subscribers. The company strongly promotes the new “no one-year contract” policy on the AT&T TV website.
Yes, it takes a bit of work to cancel DirecTV, but in a few simple steps, you can get out of the contract and save money every month. Whatever your financial situation, savings can be much better used. You can get a subscription to Hulu Live for a quarter of that cost and have pretty much the same experience you have with DirecTV. One last remark before we get to the solution: if it`s a convenient option where you live, you might want to ditch satellite/cable altogether and just opt for streaming. I did it in 2009 and I didn`t miss it at all. I had a direct TV service in the past where everything was fine and the service was good. I moved the address and called direct TV to inform them of the move, well, I discovered that the best option was to cancel this service and open a new service with the Internet and landline package. Everything was done by direct television, it worked according to the representative because I shared the services with my son-in-law on the second floor.
Well, after they signed me up for the whole package, I called att to change my landline phone number to the new address. To my surprise, I was then told that there were no more landlines in my area. I was then upset because I was already in the package with direct-to-home TV where they failed to inform me that they had simply signed me up without any problems. I then spent more than two hours on the phone with att, trying to disconnect the landline that had been delivered to me by direct TV, and I continued to run. After this incident, I then unplugged my services with cable and internet I was promised a speed of 50, which was the maximum for my area, and this is what my technician told me he had done.not only that, but he had to go hunting in my neighborhood to find my package for installation. He found it at another address, they sent my stuff to the wrong address. It wasn`t even half a month after the deal or signing with Direct TV. I was disconnected due to non-payment, which is strange considering I had the service for less than a month. I called direct tv where they told me that I had a credit on my bill and that they did not understand why my services were disconnected. They turned my cable back on, but then the internet I had to call because direct-to-home tv told me they had nothing to do with their share of the business.
I spent an hour and a half solving the Internet part. They said it was a mistake and that they would reactivate my services. I went to work and the next day I found out that I no longer had an internet connection. They never activated my service. After that, all the phone calls and round trips started with direct TV. I spoke to a supervisor who assured me that I wasn`t getting the speed I was supposed to achieve and that it would be an additional monthly fee to get it. I talked to a lot of representatives and a lot of supervisors and the customer service was terrible. I`ve spent many hours of my life solving problems, being led back and forth, hanging up, not receiving calls, being transferred to a company that had nothing to do with direct-to-home TV, meeting with service representatives who drove me crazy, and I just left the phone with a billing manager named Jessica.
The one at the end of my rant that I appreciate trying to separate my services gave me the silent treatment and I had to say hello about 5 times from time to time to get her attention, only to be told that she would not repeat herself very rudely and said that she could not do anything. He`s been using direct-to-home TV services for a few months now and I don`t think it`s fair for me to pay the cancellation fees and months of service. It is used. And I think everyone in my situation would agree with me in this part. It`s unfortunate that it got to the point where I didn`t even recommend or never had direct TV in my life because I was lied to, hung up, driven crazy, broadcast back and forth and ignored so many times when I had direct TV in the past. Peter, you`re right. AT&T TV, the telecommunications company`s new Internet TV service, no longer needs a two-year contract to subscribe. The change came last month when AT&T announced it would merge AT&T TV Now with AT&T TV. You can still get a two-year contract with AT&T TV to get a lower monthly price, but that`s no longer a subscription requirement.
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