# Service in name of my family memeber that has passed away



## booboo (Mar 3, 2011)

Recently my mother passed away and we had the service here in her name. I don't want to continue the service in her name because it would be fraud in my opinion. I've called D** several times. I've gotten 3 different explanations from 3 different CSRs. We all know that the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing when it comes to CSRs some times. If any one can direct me in the proper way to take care of this I would be greatly appreciative. Oh yes I have the death certificate.


----------



## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

The executive of her estate is the one who should deal DirecTV.


----------



## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

You might scan the certificate and attach it to an email to them and explain what you are trying to get done.


----------



## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Drucifer said:


> The executive of her estate is the one who should deal DirecTV.


+1



booboo said:


> Recently my mother passed away and we had the service here in her name. I don't want to continue the service in her name because it would be fraud in my opinion. I've called D** several times. I've gotten 3 different explanations from 3 different CSRs. We all know that the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing when it comes to CSRs some times. If any one can direct me in the proper way to take care of this I would be greatly appreciative. Oh yes I have the death certificate.


Since the CSRs are giving you different information, I'd send an email to the VP of Customer Service ([email protected]). Tell her office what happened and that you have the death certificate if needed. Send it today and you'll probably be contacted before the weekend is over.

Sorry for your loss.


----------



## gov (Jan 11, 2013)

Hope she had many years of enjoyment with the service.

Our thoughts are with your family.


----------



## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

I'm sorry to hear about you mother. You have our deepest sympathies.

I suggest you, or the Executor/Executrix, call and ask for retention. In my experience it is always helpful to start with the passing of your mother and asking what documentation they would need to transfer service to the surviving family member. I've found that some places will want the official copy and others will accept a faxed/emailed version.

I know there are a lot of calls to make, accounts to close/transfer, and a myriad of details to take care of. I've been there. In my experience it's always much smoother to start with asking what the options are for the passing of the account holder. It usually leads to finding a procedure specifically for the passing of the account holder much quicker. DIRECTV certainly has to have had account holders pass away and I gotta believe they already have a procedure/protocol for just this situation. 

I hope this helps but I realize these situations can be frustrating...especially when you're just trying to do the right thing from the beginning.

Mike


----------



## booboo (Mar 3, 2011)

I wanted to say thanks to everyone's wonderful advice. I will be putting it to use.


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Please let us know how your situation (with DirecTV ) turns out.


----------



## Volatility (May 22, 2010)

jimmie57 said:


> You might scan the certificate and attach it to an email to them and explain what you are trying to get done.


Nopes. DirecTV does not require this anymore. A person such as a child of theirs or a husband can call in an cancel the account even if they are not physically on the account. New protocols state a person is considered authorized if they can validate something like the last billing amount or last 4 numbers of the ccard on file. If they give you a hard time getting it cancelled (and I mention this as some agents still think your name has to be on the account to be authorized which is not true if you can do as stated previously, you'd be suprised how many agents think this -.-) you should call no further and contact the Office of the President in an email you can find at DirecTV.com. DirecTV wants to make this as effortless as possible. Sorry for your lost and hope it is effortless.


----------



## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Volatility said:


> Nopes. DirecTV does not require this anymore. A person such as a child of theirs or a husband can call in an cancel the account even if they are not physically on the account. New protocols state a person is considered authorized if they can validate something like the last billing amount or last 4 numbers of the ccard on file. If they give you a hard time getting it cancelled (and I mention this as some agents still think your name has to be on the account to be authorized which is not true if you can do as stated previously, you'd be suprised how many agents think this -.-) you should call no further and contact the Office of the President in an email you can find at DirecTV.com. DirecTV wants to make this as effortless as possible. Sorry for your lost and hope it is effortless.


That's good to hear. It can be really frustrating to deal with people over the phone about someone's passing. It can take dozens of calls, faxes, letters, and even the odd over night shipment...add arguing with people over the phone too boot.

DIRECTV's policy actually makes sense. Not so mention with the internet it takes about a minute to find the obit.

How easy is it to transfer the account to the surviving family member...say spouse or children?

Mike


----------



## sbl (Jul 21, 2007)

Three years ago my brother died and I called DirecTV to cancel his account. At that time I was asked to send them a copy of his death certificate. They sent a return mailer and I shipped the box back. Not a lot of difficulty (other than that the tracking for the box never showed delivery, but I didn't hear from DirecTV again.)

What is being asked here is a bit different, but I would not be at all astonished if CSRs weren't all on the same page.


----------



## Volatility (May 22, 2010)

Mike Bertelson said:


> That's good to hear. It can be really frustrating to deal with people over the phone about someone's passing. It can take dozens of calls, faxes, letters, and even the odd over night shipment...add arguing with people over the phone too boot.
> 
> DIRECTV's policy actually makes sense. Not so mention with the internet it takes about a minute to find the obit.
> 
> ...


Can't. They require the account to cancelled at that point.


sbl said:


> Three years ago my brother died and I called DirecTV to cancel his account. At that time I was asked to send them a copy of his death certificate. They sent a return mailer and I shipped the box back. Not a lot of difficulty (other than that the tracking for the box never showed delivery, but I didn't hear from DirecTV again.)
> 
> What is being asked here is a bit different, * but I would not be at all astonished if CSRs weren't all on the same page.*


With mostly any company--some of their reps are unforunately ignorant and do not know how to use their tools.


----------



## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Volatility said:


> Can't. They require the account to cancelled at that point.With mostly any company--some of their reps are unforunately ignorant and do not know how to use their tools.


It can't be transferred to a spouse? They would have to cancel, return everything, and then call for new service?

That doesn't make that much sense to me. :scratchin

Mike


----------



## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Mike Bertelson said:


> It can't be transferred to a spouse? They would have to cancel, return everything, and then call for new service?
> 
> That doesn't make that much sense to me. :scratchin
> 
> Mike


That makes two of us. I think of my in-laws and the steps this requires if they go through this (I guess it is more of a 'when' and not an 'if').

The last thing my MIL would want to deal with is returning equipment she is comfortable with with her channels and recordings set and then arranging for new service and 'new' equipment and then programming the DVR.

You would think if requested, DirecTV could transfer the equipment to surviving spouse or even child living at the same address.


----------



## Volatility (May 22, 2010)

Mike Bertelson said:


> It can't be transferred to a spouse? They would have to cancel, return everything, and then call for new service?
> 
> That doesn't make that much sense to me. :scratchin
> 
> Mike


 The agents are not supposed to change account ownership like that. Policies state the account must be cancelled, which I would agree does not make sense. That's not saying it hasn't been done.


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

The agents are not supposed to change account ownership like that. Policies state the account must be cancelled, which I would agree does not make sense.


I would think it makes sense since the contract was singed by the person who passed away. I not a lawyer but I would assume that a contract that was singed by a deceased person would hold no weight in court.


----------



## kkl (Feb 11, 2007)

Volatility said:


> A person such as a child of theirs or a husband can call in an cancel the account even if they are not physically on the account. New protocols state a person is considered authorized if they can validate something like the last billing amount or last 4 numbers of the ccard on file.


That's not the experience I recently had. Our account is in my wife's name. When I called in a couple of weeks ago about something, they asked my relationship to the account holder. They told me that the next time, my wife would need to call and give permission for them to deal with me. They said that this was a new policy.


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

I think your situation is different than canceling do to death.


----------



## goinsleeper (May 23, 2012)

Volatility said:


> Can't. They require the account to cancelled at that point.


The account can be changed to a spouse's name but that is all. If a child would like to take it over, it must be cancelled.


----------



## Volatility (May 22, 2010)

kkl said:


> That's not the experience I recently had. Our account is in my wife's name. When I called in a couple of weeks ago about something, they asked my relationship to the account holder. They told me that the next time, my wife would need to call and give permission for them to deal with me. They said that this was a new policy.


They change their policies frequently to be honest, but if you were the spouse and could verify something like the last 4 digits of the card on file they should have been able to help you. They had change their policy to reflect this last time I checked. I remember the scripts being updated saying a person is considered authorized if they could do that.


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

They change their policies frequently to be honest, but if you were the spouse and could verify something like the last 4 digits of the card on file they should have been able to help you. They had change their policy to reflect this last time I checked. I remember the scripts being updated saying a person is considered authorized if they could do that.


If this is in fact the case, I find this to be very bad policy by DirecTV. An authorized user should be that, a user that was authorized by the account holder. In this day and age where identity theft is through the roof, this is unacceptable


----------



## Volatility (May 22, 2010)

goinsleeper said:


> The account can be changed to a spouse's name but that is all. If a child would like to take it over, it must be cancelled.


I stand corrected and owns it.


----------



## booboo (Mar 3, 2011)

Ok I talked to office of the president. The lady I spoke to was very kind. Since my dad and mom had special request there was no obit. So they d** asked me to email a copy of the certificate to them. No problem except I get a mailer demon back saying I'm not authorized to email that address. [email protected] was what I was given. Please I want to move on and finish this. Any more advice would help. I have a name and employee number to put in the subject line. Thanks again


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Call back and talk to the same person again.


----------



## booboo (Mar 3, 2011)

Ok as soon as I posted that I checked my email and she had checked up with me. I had written the email down wrong by 1 letter. Update to how it's handled from here will come.


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

That's good news. They should always just send an email right while they are on the phone with you so you can make sure you have the right email address while you are still on the phone. And I mean all companies, not just DIRECTV, for anything of this nature.


----------



## booboo (Mar 3, 2011)

All was resolved. If you have a obit listed in the papers they look it up that way. If not you send a copy of the death certificate in by photo copy or fax. I took a picture with my smart phone and emailed it in like that. Thanks for everyone's support.


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Glad it worked out for you.


----------

