Being charged early termination illegally

I didn’t move. It’s a shame how they treat long-time customers.

No all I did was disconnect a genie and then a few weeks later before I mailed it back I asked if I could add it back. No new equipment. They said they would give me $5 off a month no commitment. And they said they would put a note in my file that I wasn’t to be charged and early termination if I decided to terminate. All lies unfortunately. My equipment was so old they told me to just take it to a recycle center but I returned it anyway because I didn’t want to get charged for not returning.

It would have been nice of them to explain that to me then, that it would trigger a 2-year contract renewal because I definitely wouldn’t have chosen to do that. The contract just showed up in my email a week later.

DirecTV's new billing account system is not supposed to allow reactivation of boxes. So is possible the box information was activated like it was an upgrade, which would trigger a 24 month agreement. If that is the case, the agreement was in error. You would need to call DirecTV and have them verify this so they could credit the ECF as that would be an invalid service agreement.

However, the agreement showing up in your email a week later doesn't make sense. Anything that affects the agreement has the confirmation emailed same day. So I would review the order confirmation to see if it was for something else.

You might want to review the LEGAL Terms of Service HERE

@Juniper I did all that. They told me it was in error and they would make a notation in my account so I wouldn’t get a termination fee if I ever discontinued. I discontinued service and have spent hours with different people and a couple said they would credit my account. Now I am being told there is nothing in my account that says that. I just paid them their $160 so they wouldn’t ruin my credit too. What a scam.

Making a notation on the account doesn't prevent the ECF itself. What is supposed to happen is that when you do cancel, the agent verifies the info that shows service agreement is in error and submits a waiver of the ECF at that time. The notes don't automatically do it for them.

Since the ECF was charged, then you call and dispute and the agent who verifies the service agreement was incorrect then credits the fee as it is already on the account.

This is one of the few complaints I have had about DirecTV (before AT&T acquired them), that a service agreement once on the account does not have a way of being removed even if error is proven and instead must have ECF waived upon cancellation or credited if by accident it wasn't waived.

Speaking to their retention/cancellation department (at the voice system say "cancel") and requesting a supervisor would be the current step. Hopefully they can clear this up showing agreement was just for the box that can be confirmed was a pre-existing one reactivated and not an upgrade. If not, then a complaint with the BBB or FCC would be next.

I feel this is a combination of the new system they migrated to, and agents from AT&T who are trying to learn both how DirecTV works and that new account system at the same time.