Delinquent Refund From Closed Account

Final bills aren’t prorated

First never post personal info (like your account number) in a public forum. That is how you risk identity theft or other issues.

If your parents were legally married, then she absolutely could have taken the account over into her name. Any other situation then a new account must be created.

The retention/cancellation department that can either close the account or update to spouse taking over and sales (new account) are separate departments. Sounds like you got someone who gave you wrong info to boost their new account stats.

Call DirecTV and when you get the voice system say "cancel". Hopefully a retention specialist, or supervisor of that department, can straighten this out. If not then a BBB/FCC complaint is the next step as that takes it to the corporate level.

We don't owe anything to DirecTV. DirecTV owes money because the final was overpaid.

I think the mention of final bills are not prorated means there shouldn't have been a credit on the account. The final bill would have put that towards clearing the account.

A final bill being overpaid is unusual. But if you typed in the wrong amount then that would make sense. But as mentioned the account should never have been closed to begin with.

Traditionally if an account is properly closed and has a remaining credit balance, then after 30 days from the cancellation (end of service month now since they don't prorate anymore), a refund card should automatically go out. This delay is to allow any one-time charges to catch up if needed such as early cancellation fee (ECF), non-return fee (NRF), or unbilled PPVs found on the returned equipment. But if after 30 days and the credit is still just sitting on the account, then they may need to manually request a refund. That normally takes 10 business days to approve/deny, but can take longer per short staffing from the pandemic.

(use the 3 dots next to your post to edit your account number from where the world can see it).

I spoke to someone in retention a few months ago and all they offered was a couple months of $10 credits. They refused to go back and listen to the call logs. They finally offered an email address of someone in corporate and wished me a lot of luck with that. Their treatment of the situation was despicable, but we don't have the energy to pursue. However, we do want our money back.

Calls are randomly monitored for quality and training purposes only so if your call was recorded only higher ups have access.

@richhaus 

It is not they refused to listen to the call logs, but that there aren't call logs to listen to. They monitor calls randomly for quality/training purposes. They do not keep audio logs of all calls for record keeping.

...but we don't have the energy to pursue. However, we do want our money back.

Well you can want it as much as you like, but if you are no longer going to pursue it then that is just accepting you don't get the money back. I doubt the email address provided was legitimate as customer support agents normally don't have such information for their own use, let alone to give out. A FCC/BBB complaint would take it to the corporate level. But that would be up to you. Simply wanting something will not get it for you.

But we requested the refund and were told it was forthcoming. It has not yet shown up and we got another statement this month showing "-$24.83" balance. The customer service rep on the phone confirmed the negative number is what DirecTV owes. I don't care what the customary and usual processes are, the company seems to have not regard for customer service since AT&T took over. Seems the customer is never right.

is it worth this much hassle for 24 dollars? heck at this point just so we can close this thread id be willing to send you 24 dollars from my own pocket if it wasnt against forum rules

The account was in the deceased name.  A refund (if one is to be sent) will be sent in the account owners name (now deceased).  The refund would become part of the estate of the deceased. 

I recently had my late husband's estate settled (real estate, possessions, monies, etc.) which cost me a pretty penny in attorney fees.

Seems like a lot of work for < $25.

This doesn't require an attorney. However, the principle is worth the cost. We don't need to be nickeled and dimed by large corporations. 

If you want to spend time and money (hundreds of dollars?) on $25 because of the principal, that is up to you.

But the refund for a deceased customer must go to the "Executor of the Estate". At least verify they have the correct information on file for that. If nothing else a BBB/FCC complaint could be submitted before you start throwing money away at the principal.

(Edited per community guidelines), Jupiter. Some battles are worth fighting. Kind of like David and Goliath. 

@richhaus 

First of all it is Juniper, not Jupiter.

Some battles may be worth fighting. However spending hundreds of dollars or more for an amount of $25 is not something that finds much worth. And certainly the value does not equal David and Goliath. That comparison is an insult to what that scripture showcases.

You may disagree with me, but leave the insults at the door. Not the schoolyard playground, so please keep the discussion civil.

It's called ROI: Return On Investment.

You invest large amounts of time & money on a return of $25 which translates to bad ROI.