Unsolicited Direct TV Calls Problem
by PO'd
Direct TV, as I'm sure many of you are aware, has horrible customer service, and general business practices. Though my experience seems to be less common than the billing and installation nightmares, it is still indicative of Direct TV's standard operating procedure. My wife and I have been loyal customers of Direct TV for years, probably close to 10 at this point. Last year we started getting marketing calls every night, and decided enough was enough, and called Direct TV customer service to have them stopped. Not as easy as it might sound, it required a call to a second phone number, and about 15 minutes to go through all the questions. Then we would have to wait for a form to come in the mail to sign and send back to confirm. Well, the calls stopped, but the form never showed up. No big deal, I assumed everything was taken care of. Then, starting this year, we started getting calls again from (877)372-4388, this time, no called ID name. Finally after the calls showed up for about 2 months, I Googled the number, surprise, Direct TV. This continued into March, so finally I started calling back when they called. The first couple of times I asked nicely to have the calls stopped. I didn't think I'd really need to record any names or dates, but the calls continued EVERY day, sometimes several times a day. So on March 9th I started writing notes. I got a promise and "Guarantee" from CSR badge #100225122 that calls would stop. On March 10th, I spoke with Sam, badge#100315757, same thing, promised I wouldn't get anymore calls. Somehow I lost the note pad page that recorded March 11-13, but rest assured I got calls, and called back, getting more and more annoyed each time. On the 14th I spoke with Daliah, and she confirmed that indeed there were at least two instances of "DNC", meaning Do Not Call listed on my account. I asked to talked to a manager. She put me on hold, and the phone hung up 3 minutes later. I called back and spoke with Dan. He said he would walk and personally get a manager to discuss the problem. Well, of course, Dan came back, and said that it could take 7-10 days for the calls to stop. I asked to personally speak with the manager, he said ok, and put me on hold. A short time later the line was picked up, I could hear some chatting in the background, then a dial tone. It would seem that someone deliberately hit the "Drop Call" button - an accidental drop of the receiver will not immediately hang up. Anyhow, at this point my wife and I are getting pretty well fed up. We looked into alternative services (Charter in our neighborhood), and found that we could get all the same channels, plus HD for a little less than we were paying for regular channels on Direct TV, and if we just added phone service (we already had internet through Charter), we could save around $70 a month.. bye, bye Direct TV right?? Wrong. We waited for the Charter installer to come out and finish the installation works, and continued to receive calls to the 15th, suddenly VOILA, no calls..... Until the 19th..... Well, 7-10 days, so much for that, still got calls on the 20th and 21st. Finally called back today to cancel. The Direct TV Customer Service Representative started off friendly enough, though it sounded like he was reading a script. When I asked to cancel, he said he couldn't do that, he'd have to put me on hold. Well, after being hung up on the last two times I was put on hold, you can imagine my response. I asked him for the phone number to the cancellation department. He claimed he didn't have it. Asked about a corporate phone number, again didn't have it, couldn't get it. I asked him how he planned on transferring me once he put me on hold, he said he couldn't tell me. I told him (rather heatedly), I didn't want to be stonewalled anymore, and I wanted the phone number. He got mad and said he didn't have to "Take this shit" from me, and hung up. I called back again, and the next Direct TV representative managed to connect me to "Customer retention, ummm, I mean service cancellation" without putting me on hold. Go figure. Finally spoke with Jamie, someone who finally talked to me like she wasn't reading from a script. She has been the ONLY highlight through this whole process. We'll have to wait and see what really happens though. Supposedly our service will be canceled, and we are actually owed a credit for prepayment - but I won't hold my breath. The reason we wanted the calls stopped??? Direct TV seems to have an uncanny knack for calling when our infant son is sleeping, and the ring wakes him up. Our number is unlisted, always has been. We only use the land line for outgoing calls if/when we're home. The phone doesn't ring except for Direct TV calls, and when the neighbor is about to come over to exercise with my wife. Petty? Maybe, but it's my phone, and if I don't want unsolicited calls, I'll do whatever it takes to stop them. Now that the service is canceled, I have recourse with the FTC. My understanding is the fine for unsolicited calls from businesses/marketers who's service you do not use is $11,000.
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