[RobR]

So I recently re-activated a receiver that I had taken off service when I replaced it with a SAT-W60, to my surprise the DirecTV rep told me that my contract basically just restarted from day one. Yep, the four months that just went by apparently means nothing and I just signed my life away, again. I mentioned to the rep that this was one of the units that was a part of my original contract, not a new unit, but he wasn't being very friendly and just torted back it didn't matter. I usually don't let reps get away with giving attitude but I had company and I let it go...

So here's the question... Is there anything I can do about it? Would I just be wasting my time? I would love to call just to vent my anger about the policy and the attitude, but I want to know how everyone else feels about this and should we do something about this as a group?

I say that we can't let them get away with this, it just can't be legal or that at least it shouldn't be. Either way, let's petition the hell out of them, and congress to show them that they are turning out to be as bad as the cable companies and to stop the merger if it comes to that.

 

[Karl Foster]

I reactivated a receiver recently (yesterday) and specifically asked them this question and they told me that activating a receiver and card that I own and was previously active on my account, that there was no commitment. They told me I would only incur a new commitment if I was activating a receiver and card that was owned by another person, or a new receiver. This is to prevent hackers from activating equipment and then immediately dactivating it.

I'd call back and talk to a supervisor and get it worked out. If you don't get satisfaction, keep going up the chain. Sounds like you had an a****le CSR.

 

[RobR]

So the story gets more interesting...

I called back and told the rep that the last one must have made a mistake because I had heard of a conflicting case in policy. (Thanks Karl) Unfortunately, this rep agreed with my last one, and even said that her supervisor agreed with their account of the policy.

So of course I gave her hell about the how I believed that it couldn't possibly be legal because they are essentially double charging. The point of the contract (or at least what I use to believe) was to guarantee that the company would make back what it spent on subsidizing the hardware in their promotions. Fair enough, but by restarting these contracts aren't they essentially double dipping? Any lawyers out there? This is got to be illegal on several levels, the double dipping, the lack of notification (in my case it was after the fact), dynamically changing the contract without consent (contract usually implies consent) and from what I remember from the few business courses I did take in college, contracts that are obviously and grossly unfair cannot be legally enforced. I guess most of those points can be considered subjective...

So, I apparently rattled the rep and I insisted that I speak with the supervisor myself. It never happened, the rep came back and said they will make an exception in my case. I said that was fine, but I'd like to speak to the supervisor because of the principal of the matter. That didn't go anywhere either, she just kept repeating herself as if I should be grateful for the emperor's pardon, so I left the call with the request that my complaint be logged and be escalated. She insisted that customer feedback is always listened to seriously.

Somehow I don't think it will lead to anything, they'll just keep hitting those up that don't put up the fight... in my case, I'll be calling in a few days to ask for my contract start date in writing to make sure they weren't just blowing me off...

 

[DishDude1]

This is an absurd policy. They can't develop a secure system so they put restriction on legally subscribing and paying customers! This sounds so Dish Network it isn't funny...