Contributor
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3 Messages
service call
I have been a DirecTV customer for many years now and I think I purchased the protection plan from day one. Last Wednesday I had a service call. Thursday I got an email from AT&T with changes to my DirecTV plan. They added the $20.99 premium protection to my account without my authorization. So I called DirecTV. The woman I talked to was very hard to understand. I believe she said the protection plan was changed because of the service call. She said that without the premium protection plan I would be charged $99 for the service call. I only have the basic service plan which only covers the equipment. This is (Edited per community guidelines). DirecTV owns the equipment. I pay every month to rent the equipment. Why should I have to pay for a protection plan for equipment I don't even own! I don't know when the conditions of the service plan changed, but I was unaware of it. I have had service calls in the past and they covered by my protection plan.
Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23.4K Messages
4 years ago
You do not rent the equipment as that has not been a DirecTV option. You pay for the receiver services and authorized TVs. The cost is the same regardless if you purchased to own the boxes (no longer an option) or got them 'leased' (discounted/free with 24 month agreement).
Only the receiver/client boxes DirecTV owns. Everything else upon install you own. That is why service calls are not free.
The agent was wrong regarding the protection plan level change. The basic version of the protection plan ($8.99) covers service calls ($99), delivery of replacement boxes ($19.95), and remotes. The 2nd level covers some non-DirecTV equipment that is connected (such as TV). However for many the basic plan is not worth it. You pay for it whether you use it or not, so end up paying much more in the long run. But it helps people who budget better with a small known cost every month even though they pay more over time.
So the conditions of the plan did not change. Agent misinformed you, plus you had wrong info as DirecTV never rented their boxes as their billing model is different.
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nabukl
ACE - Professor
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2.4K Messages
4 years ago
The tech upgraded your protection plan on his handheld device it happens ALL the time, offering to upgrade the protection plan is a requirement of all techs and protection plan csrs something I HATED as a protection plan agent, because of the high pressure to upgrade this is a result of what happens. Techs and csrs are NOT supposed to just add it without customer consent but they do. An upgrade is NOT required to cover the service call that was completely wrong information call back and remove the upgrade (protection plan premier)
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wildman684
Contributor
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3 Messages
4 years ago
I did ask to have the premier protection plan removed when I talked to the agent. She told me I have to call back on September 17th. I asked why she couldn't remove it now and she responded with some mumbo jumbo I couldn't understand.
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goldw1800
ACE - Professor
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2K Messages
4 years ago
@wildman684
Please use this link below to express your concerns :
Contacts | AT&T (att.com)
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nabukl
ACE - Professor
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2.4K Messages
4 years ago
@wildman684 , it could be that you have to keep it for 30 days so you don't get charged a $10.00 cancelation fee, the last few months I worked for them they did away with the fee but that might have changed, in this case I would dispute the cancel fee
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23.4K Messages
4 years ago
It used to be you had to keep the protection plan for a year or get the $10 early removal fee. Yes that got removed a while back, but some agents have been using outdated info.
It is premium packs (HBO, etc.) that have the 30 day requirement.
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DIRECTVhelp
Community Support
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255.7K Messages
4 years ago
Thank you so much @nabulk and @Juniper! This information was very helpful. We appreciate your help.
Thanks for reaching us out, @wildman684! We will share with you the phone number, so you can get further assistance with your request 800.531.5000, or if you prefer, you can click here to chat. We'll be happy to help you!
Matthew, DIRECTV Community Specialist.
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