New Member
covid virus trauma
My mother almost lost her life working against the covid virus as an RT due to a MRSA skin infection cellulitis toxic shock syndrome from a hospital isolation gown. Rare, I know but it happened to her. This led to her not being able to work, hopefully temporarily. We had to move in with her mom first, then moving in to our old home and an addition 500$ charge to reconnect our direct TV for an equipment upgrade which we cannot afford due to all the moving and healthcare expenses...we will be able to afford it when her workers comp is approved and/or she can work again. Meanwhile, with AT&T (who says that they want to keep us connected), I cannot find who in their company would put us on a forbearance plan to spread the payments out until we are back on our feet in the next six to twelve months (Peoples Bank has agreed to do this, God bless them.) We've been with AT&T consistently for twenty years. They've always been reasonable. I figure, AT&T would agree if I could find the right department. It's not like we do not want to pay it. We just cannot pay it right now due to a national emergency, of which we are all, unfortunately, aware. Where in AT&T can we get some help with this?
skeeterintexas
ACE - Expert
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28.3K Messages
5 years ago
Make Payment Arrangements
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shannon02
ACE - Expert
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21.1K Messages
5 years ago
Upgrades are never required except for the free SD to HD swap, a move order would have transferred the account to the first household then you would have paid $199 to move it to the second home.
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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22.9K Messages
5 years ago
Upgrades of equipment are optional. So the $500 should have been avoidable (which at that cost is quite the upgrade).
If the "upgrade" was replacing MPEG-2/SD-only boxes, then wrong order was placed. Since DirecTV has been shutting down their outdated MPEG-2 feeds, the swap to get MPEG-4 boxes is complimentary (not even a service agreement). So a required swap has no cost, unless tech does custom work on site (paid to tech), or there were too many boxes to be covered at DirecTV cost.
From what was mentioned, sounds like there may have been a Movers order in the mix. Traditionally account must be in good standing with at least 12 months of active service since original install (or last move) to be free. Otherwise it is $199.
You can call DirecTV to discuss a payment arrangement once past due. But all that does is push back the service interruption date back so many days. If any past due remains past that, then service is interrupted. They do not have an option to spread out past due over months. Once interrupted, the only option is to pay balance in full to reinstate service.
For reference if there is a financial issue in the future, in addition to setting a payment arrangement you can change services at any time (so can reduce cost and raise back up when comfortable for budget), or if able to cover current bill in full you can suspend service for up to 6 months which is just a $7 monthly vacation hold (an option if you need to several cut costs for a few months).
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jstraus6
New Member
5 years ago
Thank you all for your comments on my post above. We had had no financial issue with AT&T until this unasked for upgrade for $500 was performed. We had been up to date with our payments. The 199$ mover fee had been waived. We only had two Direct TV boxes which they replaced telling us that it was "required". What I am hearing you say is that it was not required and that someone was perhaps misunderstanding their instructions. If this is so, we should be able to have them remove the upgrade and reinstall at no charge our old boxes. I will call and ask. Thanks.
Is there an AT&T "internal affairs" like in CSI which can investigate possible problems with the AT&T systems processing leading to problems such as this? I would very much like to contact them. Thanks!
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skeeterintexas
ACE - Expert
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28.3K Messages
5 years ago
@jstraus6 There is no "internal affairs" or complaint department. File a report with your local BBB or the FTC. Others have reported that in doing so resulted in a call from the OOP.
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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22.9K Messages
5 years ago
What models were the boxes they claimed were required to be replaced? If it truly was a MPEG swap, then there should have been no charges. So the question is if a required MPEG swap was processed as an optional upgrade in error or if any part of the order was a legitimate upgrade.
In that situation the first step would be to speak to a retention specialist (or a supervisor in that department), as they are usually more experienced agents. Just say "cancel" when you get the voice system and it should route you directly.
If that doesn't resolve it, the next step would be a BBB/FCC complaint.
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jstraus6
New Member
5 years ago
MODEL: HR44-500 AND HR22-100
THANKS!
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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22.9K Messages
5 years ago
HR44 is a Genie and HR22 a regular HDDVR. Though models are slightly older, neither was required to be replaced. Also that is essentially the highest level setup (Genie and HDDVR).
What are the models of the new boxes? I bet that agent said it was "required" to scam an upgrade. Based on the models you say you had, there is very little that would be considered an upgrade as the alternatives sacrifice some features for others.
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jstraus6
New Member
5 years ago
Too late...they discontinued my family and me from the system. We've been terminated. Thanks anyway, everyone.
I'm not sure I'd want to be connected to Direct TV after this experience. They seem to nice people working their phones. But their software prevents them from doing the right thing for the customer.
Best regards...
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