# DirecTV "Resolution Department"



## kenpac89 (Jan 3, 2006)

How long will it take for the "Resolution Department" to get back to me?

I had a defective box replaced 2 days ago because there was some problem with the hardware. Three calls to the technical support division and two house calls determined that the box was indeed the problem. My contract ran out in April, however I just called them about something else and I asked when my contract was up and they said July 2012. I was floored. I told her that I only had a replacement, not an upgrade and I am part of the protection plan. I was under the impression that I did not renew a contract when that happened.

She said she was going to submit it to the Resolution Department and someone will call me. How long will it take for someone to actually get back to me? And, is there a way I can contact this department directly? (I am not very patient when I get screwed with like this.)

I have been a customer with them for basically the past 7 years and this is the first time I am really upset at something they did. I am not looking to leave, but I don't want to be under a 2 year contract if I am not supposed to be. I understand being under contract for equipment upgrades, but I received the exact same box I had before and the exact same services.

Thanks.


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## jefbal99 (Sep 7, 2007)

If they don't get back with you in 48hrs, follow up. If you are still unsatisfied, write an email to the office of the President and it will be resolved ASAP.


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## TITAN_53 (Jul 23, 2007)

If you did a replacement and not an upgrade then it should NOT start a commitment. I'd call and talk with the access card department.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

No sense getting upset until it (if) can't be resolved.


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## Hoosier205 (Sep 3, 2007)

If you had a replacement rather than an upgrade, they will fix it. No worries.


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## kenpac89 (Jan 3, 2006)

Well, in the past hour I have tried calling the complaint department twice, and both times they dropped the call on me. That doesn't make me any happier. Maybe I will find some compentent employees on the other end of the line later tonight when I get home from work.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Sounds like you've reached a point where you need a little more help .. Try this link and give these guys a little bit of time to get back to you. They'll help you out:

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageIFnorail.jsp?assetId=P4960016


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## kenpac89 (Jan 3, 2006)

Well, here is an update (if you care). I called and spoke with the 'Access Card' department. They investigated it and proceeded to tell me that because a technician installed a new box that he had in his truck, instead of having one mailed to me, I am under a two year contract. He said 'That is the way the system is and there isn't any way around it.' I then asked what would happen if I wanted to cancel my service before then, and he said that I would not be charged an early termination fee. He said that the Retentions Department would investigate, see I had a replacement for technical reasons, and waive the fee. I told him that I didn't believe him, since nobody told me about the commitment to begin with. I told him I am going to call back and cancel to test his statement.

Well, the first call I went through to Retentions, I explained that I would like to cancel and the CSR told me I would owe $460. I explained to him the situation and asked him to look into it for me. He hung up on me. He didn't say anything...I just got a dial tone.

So, I called AGAIN and finally got someone willing to work with me. He was nice and patient, but unfortunately he reiterated that there was no way to change my commitment. He did say that I would not be charged if I wanted to cancel and he left detailed notes on my account.

I find it ridiculous that they have this system in place, with no way to override it. I told him that I have never been more upset with DirecTV, because it is very deceptive to tell customers one thing, but then do another. They told me there would be no commitment extention/renewal, but that is exactly what happened. All because the guy had one on the truck. They are very, very close to losing this customer.

I sent an email to the Office of the DirecTV President with all of my thoughts and explanation with what happened, but at this point I don't expect anything to happen. I am still shaking my head at this system they have in place.


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## fourhokiefans (Jul 27, 2009)

You didn't indicate if you had the protection plan or not. My understanding is that UNLESS you have the PROTECTION PLAN - OR - the unit is under the manufacturer's warranty, ANY replacement will commence a new two year agreement - whether it is leased or owned. That is what the protection plan is all about - to prevent a new time commitment solely with the replacement of defective equipment. I may be fuzzy on some of the detail here, but I think I have the gist of it correctly.


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

kenpac89 said:


> Well, here is an update (if you care). I called and spoke with the 'Access Card' department. They investigated it and proceeded to tell me that because a technician installed a new box that he had in his truck, instead of having one mailed to me, I am under a two year contract. He said 'That is the way the system is and there isn't any way around it.' I then asked what would happen if I wanted to cancel my service before then, and he said that I would not be charged an early termination fee. He said that the Retentions Department would investigate, see I had a replacement for technical reasons, and waive the fee. I told him that I didn't believe him, since nobody told me about the commitment to begin with. I told him I am going to call back and cancel to test his statement.
> 
> Well, the first call I went through to Retentions, I explained that I would like to cancel and the CSR told me I would owe $460. I explained to him the situation and asked him to look into it for me. He hung up on me. He didn't say anything...I just got a dial tone.
> 
> ...


The answer they gave you is wrong. Replacing defective leased equipment doesn't re-up or extend your commitment in any way, shape or form. The protection plan only comes into play by guaranteeing you free shipping of the new equipment.


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## kenpac89 (Jan 3, 2006)

fourhokiefans said:


> You didn't indicate if you had the protection plan or not. My understanding is that UNLESS you have the PROTECTION PLAN - OR - the unit is under the manufacturer's warranty, ANY replacement will commence a new two year agreement - whether it is leased or owned. That is what the protection plan is all about - to prevent a new time commitment solely with the replacement of defective equipment. I may be fuzzy on some of the detail here, but I think I have the gist of it correctly.


I do have the Protection Plan.


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## kenpac89 (Jan 3, 2006)

raoul5788 said:


> The answer they gave you is wrong. Replacing defective leased equipment doesn't re-up or extend your commitment in any way, shape or form. The protection plan only comes into play by guaranteeing you free shipping of the new equipment.


YEah, I am pretty upset about all of this. Hopefully the email I sent to the DTV President will clear something up.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Here's the real answer:

DirecTV's system is broken, has been broken for years, and they have no intention of fixing it because it's broken in their favor.

You see, a normal front-line CSR can only activate a receiver with a commitment. They don't even have an option otherwise. Only the Access Card Team can activate without a commitment, and they have to click a box to do so (and it's easy to forget). This is true for owned receivers as well as replacement receivers. Once a receiver is activated with a commitment, DirecTV currently has no way for their workers to modify the Commitment End Date. Yes, as crazy as that sounds, it simply can't be done.

Of *course*, one of their DBA's could go into the database and modify the date, but they don't do that. And of *course*, their custom-written customer service application could be modified to allow certain people to modify the commitment date, but despite years of complaints, this has never been done.

Yes, they will note your account, and yes, *most* of the time an investigation will find those notes (though it often takes digging, which some CSRs simply won't do), but as some have reported here, there are instances where the notes simply disappear.

Unfortunately, as many here know, the only way to avoid all this is to:

1. Know about the problem in advance.
2. When activating any receiver that should not restart a commitment, you MUST speak to a CSR (and not activate via phone or tech's handheld), ask/insist to be transferred to the Access Card Team, and explain that this is an owned or replacement receiver and that they need to check the box to NOT restart a commitment during the activation process.

Any other method, and you are screwed.


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## jefbal99 (Sep 7, 2007)

BattleZone said:


> Here's the real answer:
> 
> DirecTV's system is broken, has been broken for years, and they have no intention of fixing it because it's broken in their favor.
> 
> ...


BZ, great points here, but I remember reading cases where the Office of the President have gotten these issues fixed very quickly and properly.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

fourhokiefans said:


> You didn't indicate if you had the protection plan or not.


From the first post.



kenpac89 said:


> and I am part of the protection plan.


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## achildfromthe80s (Mar 15, 2007)

I had this very thing happen to me before I left DirecTV when I was with them the firs time. In fact, I really didn't want to go anywhere, I was very happy with the service and usually the CSR team was very good to me. However FIOS made me an offer I just couldn't refuse.

Usually the customer service department is very good and i'm going to kill my point here by bashing DISH because when I decided to come back to Satellite I had a very unfortunately situation arise with Dish Network that cured me of ever going back there.

Anyway, a email to the CEO should probably do the trick. In my case I had a very nice fellow here step in and get my contract mess taken care of. I don't know if he's still lurking around but there are people at DirecTV that can help you pretty quickly. It's getting past this first tier of CSR's that go by the book and have very little room to do anything. If you're not looking to go anywhere i'd give them some time to get this worked out, i'm sure they will. 

Brad


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## Dwight M (Jul 22, 2010)

I have the protection plan and I was no longer under contract. I had a bad H20 and the tech. verified the receiver was defective. He went to his truck and came back with a brand new H21 and he called and activated the receiver without saying anything to me other than you are right the H20 was bad. When he was done and ready to leave he said that I had to sign the paperwork and I would be now back under contract for 1 year because of the receiver replacement. I refused to sign the paperwork and told him I never agreed to this. He tried to say that anytime a defective receiver is replaced it restarts your contract for 1 year. I said you went and did this without giving me the option first so I am not signing anything. He said that I had to sign off on the work performed. I said I did not authorize any work so you can take that up with your boss. He left without my signature and I had a new receiver. 
I still to this day have DTV but never got put back under contract after that receiver replacement. In fact I just received a free PPV movie gift for my 3 years of service. I think DTV is the best thing going but I would drop them like a rock if they tried to put me back under contract because they had to replace some of their faulty equipment. 
That would be quite the business practice build equipment designed to fail before your contract is up so you can never get out of the contract without paying a penalty and paying for a protection plan at the same time.


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## oldengineer (May 25, 2008)

I and many other subscribers have the same problem. Here's my story:

1. Had a DVR upgrade in 9/08 which extended my commitment to 9/10
2. Replaced a defective H21 in 3/10.
3. Checked status on 7/17/10. Was told commitment date was 3/12. Told them it was a mistake because the H21 was a replacement not an upgrade. Was told date would be changed to 9/16/10, the correct date.
4. Rechecked status on 7/24/2010. Again told commitment date was 3/2012. Again after checking account was told the date would be corrected.
5. Rechecked status on 7/31/2010. Yet again told commitment date was 3/2012. Transferred to a specialist who told me the commitment date would be removed totally since there were only 45 days remaining on actual commitment. Was also told it would take 72 hrs for the change to appear on my account.

I really like DirecTv but issues like this are frustrating and not uncommon.


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

fourhokiefans said:


> You didn't indicate if you had the protection plan or not. My understanding is that UNLESS you have the PROTECTION PLAN - OR - the unit is under the manufacturer's warranty, ANY replacement will commence a new two year agreement - whether it is leased or owned. That is what the protection plan is all about - to prevent a new time commitment solely with the replacement of defective equipment. I may be fuzzy on some of the detail here, but I think I have the gist of it correctly.


No, you are not correct.


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## marquitos2 (Jan 10, 2004)

With all the respect to fellow members I don't care about the commitment issue because I love D* and I will stay with them for ever. I live out in the country and I have to choices, D* or E* and I don't do Charlie.


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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

oldengineer said:


> I really like DirecTv but issues like this are frustrating and not uncommon.


Agreed. And I'd like to know why this info isn't something we can access on our online account.


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## kenpac89 (Jan 3, 2006)

Another follow-up...

I received a phone call from the President's office this morning. He explained to me that I was repeatedly provided the wrong information and apologized, etc. He explained to me again, how the system is set up. He told me that he has the ability to remove the contract renewal that was applied the other day. He mentioned that it should take effect in the next few weeks once the system resets or something (I don't know why it takes so long), but until that time every CSR should have the ability to see right away that I am not under contract. I shouldn't have to bring it up or make them investigate it at all. 

So, I will probably call them in a few days with the simple question of asking when my contract is up to see what they say. At any rate, they have at least bought peace and quiet from me for another month or so.

I don't want to leave DTV, as I do love the programming, etc. But, this just rubbed me the wrong way.


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

kenpac89 said:


> Another follow-up...
> 
> I don't want to leave DTV, as I do love the programming, etc. But, this just rubbed me the wrong way.


Very understandable. I would email them and ask for the commitment date. That way you have a record of it.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

kenpac89 said:


> So, I will probably call them in a few days with the simple question of asking when my contract is up to see what they say. At any rate, they have at least bought peace and quiet from me for another month or so.
> 
> I don't want to leave DTV, as I do love the programming, etc. But, this just rubbed me the wrong way.


I understand the desire to call back, but if the office of the President said it would take a couple of weeks to show up, you may want to consider waiting the full two weeks.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

BattleZone said:


> Here's the real answer:
> 
> DirecTV's system is broken, has been broken for years, and they have no intention of fixing it because it's broken in their favor.


I totally disagree..  They don't change the software, because the reality is that would cost them millions to implement a true new system that would properly handle all the things it would need to handle, and they don't want to spend the money, they'd rather see it as profit... Thats why they don't upgrade, not because it screws customers.. Customer satisfaction either way is below bottom line profits for any and all companies....


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

*BattleZone*, I think that DirecTV deliberately doesn't want front line CSRs to be able to move a receiver from leased to purchased, that it isn't faulty software but a deliberate plan.

An inside/outside team, with half of the scammers lining up prospective DVRs and receivers, and the other half as CSRs, could steal equipment from DirecTV all day long if they could make the switch.

Don't like a conspiracy argument? How about incompetence. One of you sweet talking sumuva*****es gets a CSR confused (not hard), and encourages them to switch their leased piece an owned one. You win/DirecTV loses.

I would put this switch under the tightest of controls, and it looks like DirecTV feels the same way.

Of course, none of this forgives the poor way *kenpac89* was treated, but in the end, the system did work. Shabbily, but it did work.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Dish doesn't have any problem getting it right 99% of the time, and their CSRs have the ability to do it either way. I have no problem making it a "supervisor-approval" thing, but having NO ONE on the front lines having this ability is just stupid.


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

inkahauts said:


> I totally disagree..  They don't change the software, because the reality is that would cost them millions to implement a true new system that would properly handle all the things it would need to handle, and they don't want to spend the money, they'd rather see it as profit... Thats why they don't upgrade, not because it screws customers.. Customer satisfaction either way is below bottom line profits for any and all companies....


So instead they open themselves up for a class action lawsuit by knowingly extending the contracts on many, many customers without any authority whatsover to do so.


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

oldengineer said:


> I and many other subscribers have the same problem. Here's my story:
> 
> 1. Had a DVR upgrade in 9/08 which extended my commitment to 9/10
> 2. Replaced a defective H21 in 3/10.
> ...


When it is finally fixed what you need to do is email them and ask what the commitment date is. Then when they email that back keep that for your records. It will come in handy someday when you have not made anymore adjustments but have an email from D* stating that you are not under contract.


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

joshjr said:


> When it is finally fixed what you need to do is email them and ask what the commitment date is. Then when they email that back keep that for your records. It will come in handy someday when you have not made anymore adjustments but have an email from D* stating that you are not under contract.


http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2546867#post2546867


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

*raoul*, did your ego get bruised?


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

raoul5788 said:


> http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2546867#post2546867


Sorry. Should of said +1.


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

Carl Spock said:


> *raoul*, did your ego get bruised?


Nope. Did my post annoy you? If not, why did you respond to it?


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## JACKIEGAGA (Dec 11, 2006)

raoul5788 said:


> Very understandable. I would email them and ask for the commitment date. That way you have a record of it.


Can I have the email adress thanks


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Go to this page on DirecTV's website:

http://support.directv.com/app/ask


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## JACKIEGAGA (Dec 11, 2006)

Carl Spock said:


> Go to this page on DirecTV's website:
> 
> http://support.directv.com/app/ask


Thanks Carl


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