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cancellation fee when cancellation due to death
My husband died on April 8, 2019, after a difficult battle with cancer. I signed up for Directv account in November 2018 (he was too sick to sign up) and my own name. When I called today to cancel service (I actually don't watch TV), was told I must pay about $260 cancellation fee. If account was in my late husband's name, representative said, there would be no cancellation fee. But since it's in my name, fee applies. I offered to send death certificate − nope. This seems so unfair and petty. Who could I appeal to?
TexasBrit
ACE - Expert
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14.1K Messages
6 years ago
It's unfortunate but the rep was correct. The account is in your name so your husband's death does not remove the cancellation fee.
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Anonymous
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1.7K Messages
6 years ago
Dear TexasBrit .... you miss the point entirely and sound more like an AT&T apologist than an "expert."
The issue isn't the fine-print ATT&T contract rules. The issue is whether a major corporation worth over $10 billion (that's DIRECTV, AT&T is worth far more) can make an exception when a person whose husband is dying of cancer makes the mistake of signing up in her own name because she doesn't realize that when her husband does die and she needs to move to a place that already has TV service she'll be charged hundreds of dollars because the service isn't in her late husband's name. How many people caring for a cancer patient would stop to read the fine print and realize this?
The question is why a $10 billion corporation cannot bend their own rules in a case like this. Of course they can.
BTW . . . I did manage to find an AT&T employee who actively sought a solution to the issue − and actually found a way to have the fee waved. So much for TexasBrit's expertise.
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TexasBrit
ACE - Expert
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14.1K Messages
6 years ago
I'm not an apologist. I just told you what the contract says. If you found someone inside ATT wiilng to bend the rules, that's fine.
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23K Messages
6 years ago
@Anonymous
It comes down to the agents cannot make an exception. When an account is closed they submit a waiver request on the ECF. Essentially if it is for any reason other than account owner is deceased, or moved and tech was unable to get line of sight, then the ECF is not waived.
We get you are in an unfortunate situation, but it is not DirecTV's or an agent's fault. And regardless of the reason why, but saying you didn't read the fine print is never a valid excuse.
If an agent was able to get a workaround, then you are lucky. But be prepared if whatever they did is audited and determined to be invalid because the ECF was valid and so recharges.
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