Is AT&T Charging $7/Mo for Suspended Directv Accounts

Yes, it's the standard charge now.

 

I just suspended mine Monday and no mention of this fee to me either. I've never heard of it before. I would have suspended anyway but just another example of how bad ATT is. I've never really considered dish too much but may have to reconsider. Trying the streaming services and I'm impressed how bad their guides are.

 

This is precisely the strategy a company should use to win back those suspended customers....charge them $7 a month for nothing (other than storing your company's crappy equipment for you). These guys are utterly clueless and the sea change that continues to build is going to continue to eat them alive.

 

I haven't bothered with Directv Now due to the price. Tried Hulu live and PS Vue and was done with them within a day due to the poor guides. I'm with YouTube TV for at least the next month. Might just go with sling at that point. Not much in terms of sports after middle of June that I need and can't get with Sling until football season.

 

If your account hasn't migrated to the AT&T system yet (i.e. still receiving the DTV style billing/managed by DTV.com) then there is no charge. If the DTV account has been converted to AT&T system (i.e. managed by AT&T.com, new 9-digit account number) then the $7/mo suspend charge applies.

 

Interesting, thanks everyone for pointing this out. I suspended my account through the automated voice assistant last month (customer since 1999) to evaluate YouTube TV as a primary television source and didn't see or hear any verbiage about a monthly fee online. I hadn't yet migrated to AT&T, so that could have been why. In any case, I just canceled yesterday. I called earlier this year to see if they could offer me any discounts and they just flatly said "no" despite escalation to cancellation.

For now, YouTube TV + the free Comedy Central app + HBO Now on an nVidia Shield gets me everything I need, plus I added Plex and an antenna for better-quality locals and automatic commercial skipping. All for $30 less per month than I was paying for DirecTV.

 

I suspect the charge is there due to the "fraudulent / abusive" abuse from people gaming the system.

 

You should have tried again. Earlier this year, they were being EXTREMELY stingy with discounts. I had to play CSR roulette 5 times before I got it put back on. April / May time frame is a whole new ball. They are back to handing out discounts like candy. I got one of my biggest discounts EVER on my first call and I didn't have to argue at all or point out competitor prices. I just said I was looking at cancelling due to the price and the lady says, "here... have $40/mo off for a year.".

 

Good to know, I suppose. Seems like a terrible way to run a business, though.

 

It is a terrible way to run a business. Kinda looks like they're trying to run it into the ground.

Rich

 

I think what really happened is that AT&T wanted to get out of the discount business. Kind of silly if you think about it to offer huge discounts lol. Then the drop in subs on the last ER was a wake up call for them.

My parents have Time Warner and they don't negotiate at all, so my parents dropped their package. Believe me, TM had the last laugh. My parents are now getting BRUTALLY r-word. Their internet went from 220 to 100 and they literally get about 20 channels in the package. They are paying about the same as I am... for 1Gbps + Preferred Xtra .

 

I think ATT is in panic mode. They have an alibi for everything.

Rich

 

I doubt they are in panic mode. Don't they have 22M subs? If they continue losing subs at the current rate, it'll still take them about 11 more years to get to zero lol.

Me personally, I still like the traditional service experience (though I'm hedging my bets by investing in streaming companies ): trick play, no buffering, etc.

Now that I upgraded my POS HR24 to the HR54, I've gotten used to the new UI and the speed issues have gone away. I actually LIKE a few things in the new UI that are easier for my OCD usage patterns to use. I.e. how they group upcoming airings by season. Before, I had to scroll through all the eps and either know what time the new eps come on, or kind of memorize the episode titles. Which worked fine, but the group by season way is faster.

I did also try to watch a few shows on the free VOD service through the HR54. WOW. How can people watch that? You can't FF through the 5 minutes commercial breaks. That wouldn't be so bad if they didn't play the same 4 commercials over and over.

By the 3rd episode I watched, I wanted to smash my TV every time the girl needing a whole village to help her graduate college ad came on, or the one where the phone addicted guy gives his wife his phone when he steps in the car. I gave up on VOD.

 

I gave up on D*'s VOD years ago. I do check it out from time to time and it hasn't gotten any better. Wonder how Dish's VOD is?

Rich