New Member
An extortion scam to always bill for unreturned equipment
Upon cancelling our service, I was told I'd have 21 days from the effective date of my cancellation to return my equipment. I was told that I'd be given a list of equipment to return within 24 hours of the termination of my service. After waiting 7 days with no list provided, we simply took *all* of our equipment- including remotes with batteries- to the UPS store, provided the account number, and shipped them.
A few weeks later, we received a bill for "unreturned equipment." It has been impossible to get through to anyone from AT&T, and I'm curious to see if they're running a scam where they *always* bill people for equipment, whether it is returned or not. I have dated receipts and documents from DIRECTV and The UPS Store that prove I met the return terms, and plan on submitting a formal complaint to the BBB, but before doing so, I was wondering if anyone else has been scammed by AT&T?
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Official Solution
Juniper
ACE - Expert
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22.9K Messages
4 years ago
HR22 is very old. That is not returnable. The only regular HDDVR that could still be returnable would be the last one, the HR24.
C41 is old enough to not be returnable as well. They have moved forward and are now in the C61 series of Mini Genie Clients.
H44 is the Genie Lite. There is only one model, but a few different manufactures (shown after the model number). As of April 2020 a returnable list that was shared only mentioned the -100 and -500 manufacture codes. So your -200 shouldn't be returnable, but as there is only a single line of Genie Lite I would hold onto this one for a couple months before recycling to be on the safe side.
Mentioning just in case: If H44 was a typo and is actually HR44 (the 2nd generation Genie), then that one is non-returnable.
Returning equipment to DirecTv | AT&T Community Forums
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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22.9K Messages
4 years ago
They are not "always" billing for equipment. But since changing the return process and then issues and delays from Covid has caused problems for their return process. If over the phone and having receipt of UPS taking possession does not resolve it, then the next step is a BBB complaint.
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themick29
New Member
4 years ago
I finally got a hold of someone today! The rep was very polite and helpful and explained that, despite requiring equipment to be returned within 21 days of the cancellation, it can take them weeks or even months for the equipment to be processed as "returned," and COVID of course is causing further delays as they are sanitizing equipment when it is received. So, more often than not, they do bill people for returned equipment, but as soon as the return gets processed, the bill is zeroed out. He said keep the receipts for the returns from UPS as well as the bills in case there are any issues, but the situation should be resolved without further trouble.
As long as they don't send my account to collections, which he said they won't since I contacted customer service and had a note put on my account with the reference number of my return receipt from The UPS Store, I am happy with the resolution.
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Pingon1
New Member
4 years ago
@themick29 where did you send the equipment to?(address)
I don't want to deal with Directv never again for the rest of my life.
Yes indeed they have become an extortion, scamming, lying, bad service and crappy programming company!
Thanks
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shannon02
ACE - Expert
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21K Messages
4 years ago
There is no return address, you take returnable receivers to UPS/FedEx. What are the model numbers?
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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22.9K Messages
4 years ago
@Pingon1
There is no address provided for you to arrange your own shipping, never has been.
If over 10 miles away from a participating location, then you call DirecTV to use the old process of sending you a prepaid return kit.
But what are the models of the boxes in the first place? Perhaps they are no longer returnable.
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Pingon1
New Member
4 years ago
Thank you to all for the feedback. I will take them to FedEx/UPS and get it done.
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Pingon1
New Member
4 years ago
For those who inquired about the models I had:
C41-700 (2)
H44-200 (1)
HR22-100 (1)
I have to drive 30 miles this afternoon (PST) to the closest FedEx/UPS store.
I took pictures of everything, just in case..I've read too many HORROr story's about this issue.
Thanks again.
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Pingon1
New Member
4 years ago
UPDATE: just finish talking with DTV rep, she checked the equipment models with the DTV-Warehouse (I guess they make the decisions as to what they want and what they don't want back) and she said they don't want them back. She also provided me with a reference number that they gave her. (She said they are the ones who 'decide' to charge you for the not returning their equipment)...I'll keep updating just in case I get a nasty email asking for money on their very old equipment.
Thanks for the feedback to all of you who helped me.
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Pingon1
New Member
4 years ago
Thanks Juniper, I will look again at the H44, and confirm the number, it could be my blind eyes! ;)
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Pingon1
New Member
4 years ago
@Juniper, Confirming your suspicion, yes indeed, it is an HR44-200 unit.
Thanks for helping clear the bad clouds over my head.
Thanks
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