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New Member

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7 Messages

Wednesday, January 25th, 2023 4:25 PM

Anyone noticing how hard it is to cancel? Is it always like this or is it because of the massive cancellations due to Newsmax?

I've been a customer for so long but trying to cancel over their dropping of Newsmax.  It's obviously political as DirectTV wouldn't agree to pay a much lower fee than they pay many news channels with far less ratings than Newsmax.  Newsmax has a large viewership.  Who are the people running the show at DirectTV?  

ACE - New Member

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5.2K Messages

2 years ago

This is just a public forum of other customers.

It was indeed dropped, you can cancel by calling in (number in my greeting below) and saying ‘cancel’ to the robot. All leased equipment gets returned to a participating FedEx or UPS location with your account number. Be sure to keep the receipt given to you by the clerk so you can avoid the possibility of an equipment non return fee (ERF) as you now have proof of return.

Additionally, if you are somehow still locked into a contract, DIRECTV will charge you $20 for every month left. This is known as the early termination fee (ETF). These are restarted when you add/upgrade to new equipment or move services to another address. If you haven’t done this within the last 2 years, you should be good to cancel without the fee. 

I’M SURE THERE ARE LARGE VOLUMES of people cancelling, so be prepared to wait on hold for awhile.

New Member

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7 Messages

2 years ago

On a call now and the guy said he's already received almost 40 cancel requests in the past couple hours.  Just with him. Gonna be a long month.  

ACE - Expert

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22.4K Messages

2 years ago

If DirecTV doesn't want to pay what Newsmax is requesting, that is their choice. Hence negotiations go on, and may even continue after deadline reached.

Time will tell if/when channel returns. If you cannot wait for the return, or confirmation gone indefinitely, then continue with your cancellation. If you have a long hold, then likely the channel's feed going off is the reason as there would be a burst of people who would call as they would be on the warpath as not being able to function without the channel (even if only temporarily). Not saying that is your mindset, but would certainly be a rush of many at the start.

1 Message

1 year ago

I just canceled my DirecTV subscription after 10 years.  They way they "allow" you to cancel should be illegal.  I was forced to answer questions from someone for 20 minutes before they would "allow" me to cancel.  Obviously their goal is to try and talk you into staying with them. 

When I told the woman from DirecTV that I did not want to answer any questions and that all I wanted was to cancel, she said, "Well you have to answer these questions, no one will complete your cancellation without you answering these questions.  If you don't want to answer them, you can always call back and talk to someone else who will require you to answer these questions.  We're open until 9PM"

I answered the questions with curt one word answers politely, even though I was very angry about being forced to do this.  It's interesting that you can easily sign up for DirecTV online, but they make it very difficult and frustrating to cancel.  I would love for someone in Congress to make this process illegal.  I strongly recommend against anyone sign up for DirecTV!

ACE - New Member

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5.2K Messages

1 year ago

@SHS1644 

You definitely should not have been forced to answer questions in order to cancel. At the time, did you say ‘cancel’ to the robot when initially canceling? Lower-end agents will often make these remarks, while a retention agent should get start to the point (although they too may ask the reason for you cancelling and try to offer promotions or possibly bill discounts). 

(edited)

ACE - Expert

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22.4K Messages

1 year ago

@SHS1644 

Agents (of any company) are required to find out why you are canceling and are normally required to make an offer to retain your business (which may include a 2nd attempt if you declined and further info is discussed). But it must be within reason.

I suspect they have drop down boxes to select, as opposed to just typing it in, which is required for the agent. But if you choose not to answer, that is up to you. It does sound like you were dealing with an inexperienced front-line agent. I would hate to think an actual retention/cancellation agent was like that.

Online cannot pick up on cues on issues with the service or any other needs, which makes sense why a live person is required. But it should not be as you've described. If that was a proper retention agent, they need retraining as that was very poor conduct.

(edited)


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