I have discovered that Direct TV has been charging me, and I'm sure many other customers for Receivers that are not in use. every time I have replaced a receiver in the past several years, they have charged me for the new receivers, and continued to charge me for the receivers I have disconnected. The charge is only $5 per month, but over several months, with possibly thousands of customers, this blatant fraud could add up to millions in additional revenue for Direct Tv.
what happens is this: You must call Direct TV to activate a new receiver. When you call they ask what room of your house you are in. Then they ask for the card number of the receiver. They have NEVER ask me if I was using the receiver I was disconnecting any more. They simply continue to charge you.I discovered that I am being charged for 7 receivers, and I only have had 4 active receivers for at least 4 years.I have talked with several other Direct TV customers the past few weeks, and the same is happening to them. Direct Tv should ask the consumer what they are doing with the receivers they are replacing, so the consumer does not continue to pay for them. They do not ask. which tells me this is a blatant intentional attempt to charge the consumer for something they are not getting.If you consider the tens of millions of Direct Tv customers across the country, this amount is surely in the millions.I have taken this up with Direct Tv, they have only offered to credit me for the past 2 months. By my calculation, they owe me at least $700.
One can only imagine the number of receivers replaced around the country the past few years, with HD now available. To get HD, you have to replace your old receiver with a new HD receiver.Since the extra charge is only $5 per month, many consumers are not noticing this on their monthly bill.
If you think about this, you will agree, the proper way for direct Tv to handle this, is to ask the consumer if they are permanently disconnecting the old receiver, so they will not be charged the monthly fee. They NEVER do this. which tells me it is intentional.
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