DirecTV added Brazzers (porn) channel without my consent

What Happened in your household in April, any house guests? Programming doesn't just get added randomly, someone had to have called in, also I could be wrong but I seem to remember that some programming (like porn Channel subscriptions) can be added via remote. IF that's what happened then it will show which receiver it was ordered from. There are no refunds or credits. It's the customer's responsibility to view their bills.

No house guests and no one with account information who could have ordered it. They will either refund the charges or lose a customer with an expensive subscription. I guess we'll see which one they choose. There was a flurry of activity on the bill on April 7. Some of it doesn't even make sense, like perhaps a software error.

What kind of activity? And did anything at all cause you or someone else to call in on April 7th?

I did call in to request help with two of my TV's because the receivers weren't working. It was on a weekend and it quite possibly could have been on or about April 7. They should have a record of this. They use software in which the CSR's record notes of activity on the account. From the notes on the bill, it looks like their system went haywire.

From my May 03 bill: 

"Activity since last bill               Apr 04 - May 03  

1. Regional Sports Charge     Apr 07 - Apr 08   $0.57    < Service changed on Apr 08 - partial month charge

2. Regional Sports Charge     Apr 07 - May 03  -$5.98   < Service changed on Apr 07 - partial month credit  

3. BraZZers TV                      Apr 07 - May 03   $26.99  < Service changed on Apr 07 - partial month charge

4. Regional Sports Charge     Apr 9 - May 03     $5.53    < Service changed on Apr 09 - partial month charge"  

Agents cannot see what you watch as that is a privacy issue. They can't even tell how often you use your boxes. The satellite transmission is one way. Even if you have your boxes connected to internet, that only provides anonymous viewing data not account record keeping.

What the agents can do is see how any new monthly services were added to the account, be it calling in or ordered directly by the remote. To protect against orders from the remote, make sure you have parental controls setup on each box. That way ratings, PPV spending limits, hiding of adult specific channels, etc. are all protected with your PIN. If it was added over the phone, change your password (or if you don't have one then add one). If from the website then change that password.

If they have a legitimate way it was added, then though you can have it removed, any credits would be unlikely as it was left alone for a couple months.

If however an agent went into the account without someone calling in, or they were completing requests that occurred during any system outages/maintenance and went into the wrong account by accident, then it should be disputable.

The Regional Sport Network (RSN) fee applies to packages Choice and above. With charges and credits, unless it changed between packages where one had the fee and the other didn't, then something does seem odd. I would call DirecTV back and when you get the voice system say "cancel" just to get a retention specialist as this may need more experienced eyes to sort through this then a front line agent. Hope you get this sorted out ok.

It looks like the rsn fee was added for a day, removed and then added again, you're not showing the "-" sign in the "partial month credit" line so it's a little hard to balance it out you're also not showing the actual bill I would love to see the entire bill and all the line items, the vase package is missing here. Brazzers was definitely added and to be honest it was probably done by an idiot csr either on purpose or out of stupidity. Trust me I had to correct mistakes ALL the time but I was in the minority of csrs that actually review and research EVERY relevant action and transaction the software doesn't make csrs leave notes (they're supposed to but it takes time so most don't even though they're measured for it I didn't only rely on the comments I dug deeper into the account. 

I believe we already have the RSN, so don't understand all of the activity around that one. Here is the rest of the bill. Thanks for your help.

The rsn fee was removed on 4/7 (-$5.98) then added back on 4/9 ($5.53) so in essence you were prorated for 2 days which ends up being .45 the .57 charge for one day is throwing me off I can't figure that one out. What was the problem you were having?  Thanks for posting the bill.

I used to take supervisor calls and personally I would have removed Brazzers and credited the prorated charge after complete review of account activity and knowing that mistakes like this happen 

The partial charges/credits shows Brazzers added April 7, so just a few days into the service month. The RSN fee should not have done a proration as it doesn't show a package change so the fee had no reason to come off and come back on.

I would definitely give DirecTV a call back. The RSN fee strange proration timing with no reason points more to a system issue. That could be related to Brazzers popping on, but that could still be an agent error on that one that just happened about the same time.

After reviewing my bill I noticed that BRAZZERS was added without my knowledge. I spoke with AT&T and the very nice representative told me that it was added in April 2019--same as all the above complaints. She documented my complaint and it will be forwarded to a department for investigation. I did tell her about all the above complaints. She said it could have happened during an Direct TV upgrade, but that will be investigated. I would encourage everyone to call AT&T to lodge complaints, have the channel removed and ask for a refund. 

@LoisinOhio 

With the huge account migration this year to the new system, it is likely that there was an issue back in April. But only an internal review by them would confirm or not as we customers cannot see the inner workings.

However, I highly encourage everybody to be more aware of their bills. Don't have to review through it every month, but if nothing else at least be aware of the amount you are paying. That way if there are any concerns you can address them relatively soon instead of 6 or more months later.

This has happened to me for the last 3 months. They don't believe me and will not refund it I keep having it removed and it pops back up. I am also getting phone calls for me to turn in my equipment. ATT claims that is a scam,

Hey @grangrose! Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we are here to help.

In order to proper assist your concern, could you please create and individual post explaining what is happening in detail? We will be more than happy to help you with this.

SarhayM, AT&T Community Forums.

@grangrose 

Call DirecTV. Because of the ongoing issue I suggest speaking to a retention specialist (say "cancel" at the voice prompt) as they are usually more experienced then a front-line agent. Consider requesting a supervisor.

Find out if being added by agent access (such as when someone calls in), online, or from the remote. Check your parental controls on every box (set Spending Limit to $0) and consider changing PIN and possibly your online password for your account.

If they show requested by you or authorized user by calling, change/add password for when you call and possibly update who is authorized.

For further guidance from other customers, start a fresh thread. This one is from 2019.