SO I got a HD DVR, and they came out and installed a new dish. So, the HD didn't work even after three service calls, but they wouldn't let me cancel without an ETF AND they required me to return the HD DVR.

I'm all for outlawing early termination fees. I'd rather see a "if you don't stay with us for 2 years, you must return your equipment in good condition, otherwise pay $XXX to repair it."

Ok, I make this comment on every class action lawsuit post...

I am STILL waiting for my VISA Overseas Charges money and my Overpriced Diamonds money.

WTF. If they can't provide service, then there is no contact to begin with.

@Murph1908: Me too, for both of 'em.

I got hit with this when I called to move my service. I asked them how much the installation would be. "Free," she said. Yeah, free with a one year contract extension. An extension I didn't find out about until I called to cancel one year after my original install.

I canceled at a cost of $90. If I would have paid for the move, it would've been $50 without an extension.

@Murph1908: I got my Overseas Charge check about six months ago. It worked out well. My only overseas purchase was a Hard Rock t-shirt for the wife while our cruise ship stopped at the Bahamas. So the shirt basically ended up being free. (Let the flames about cruise ships and Hard Rock t-shirts commence.)

If memory serves, the check came as a postcard designed to look as much like junk mail as humanly possible.

But I still haven't received my diamond check.

You're not agreeing to a contract: DirecTV is simply dictating their terms and forcing you to them. Of course they're not going to point out the terms of the contract, too many would complain. Instead, they make you sign a stealth agreement. Of course, they can't enforce their terms legally, but that's your problem, not theirs. They'll send you to collections and that's the last they'll hear of you.

@Murph1908:

Unfortunately, they're both still tied up in appeals and won't pay out until all appeals are finalized...

DeBeers CA Lawsuit: [diamondsclassaction.com]

Foreign CC Fee CA Lawsuit: [ccfsettlement.com]

"I am STILL waiting for my VISA Overseas Charges money and my Overpriced Diamonds money."

Same here!!!

Not related to TFA, but my dad was very late in the interview/hiring process with DirecTV. They told him he was one of two they needed to choose from, sent him to get his drug test and started his background check.

He never heard from them again so he called and asked if he was still being considered, "yes, of course!" they said. It has been one month since then and they still haven't communicated a response to him.

@Brent Woodle: Weird...normally a drug test means you got the job. Unless...you're dad isn't a junkie, is he? :)

@That One Caveman:
Thanks for the info and the links. Good to know that I didn't throw it out as I had feared (and as tomok suggested was possible).

Early Termination Fees are something that need to be abolished permanently, especially in cases like this. If you go ahead and pay for the installation, you shouldn't be charged an ETF. Although, it is getting harder to find DIY Dish Network/etc boxes these days.
Same with cell phones. I came to my provider with an unlocked phone that I already owned. They subsidized nothing, yet I'm now in a contract because I changed my rate plan? That's ridiculous, and should be abolished. Too bad Congress won't do anything about it.

@Zclyh3: That's the argument I used when they tried to install and I couldn't receive a signal.

They tried to claim that they fulfilled the contract when they installed. I said "No, the contract is for you to provide service. Want to test this in court?"

They let me go. Good thing I know basic contract law.

I ordered a new HD box and they mentioned my agreement would reset about 3 times over the phone AND sent me a letter.

Earthlink did this to my parents--their DSL modem broke so they called up to request a new one, and this triggered an automatic renewal of their 2 year or whatever contract, even though they were month-to-month at the time. Then when they cancelled a few months ago because Earthlink sucks, they had to pay the early termination fee. If it was me I would have fought it, but my folks are in that oh-just-let-it-go camp of older people, and thus Earthlink gets a free $60.

I was a happy DirecTV customer for years, but for budgetary reasons decided last summer to move to Comcast to bundle television and internet (what can I say, pickings are slim here in the suburbs of Sacramento). I had long since fulfilled my original 12-month contract, but was unknowingly 're-upped' when they replaced my dead DVR box a few months prior.

DTV hit me with a $360 ETF fee and refused to budge after multiple calls. I kindly told them where to place their ETF fee and went about my business with Comcast. Oddly enough, when I called them today to get my exact dates of service so I could join this suit, they offered to waive the ETF fee if I rejoined and a package well below the current advertised rate. I told them I'd think about it and get back to them.

I was more than satisfied with DTV, but the ETF left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm also guessing the only reason they are being so nice to me now is to keep another name from being added to the suit. Going to sleep on it.

@pot_roast: I disagree. If you are getting something from them that costs a lot of money up front, which is effectively being paid for by having a certain level of service for a period of time, and if you cancel during that time, you should have to pay.

For cell phones, that's the phone. You generally don't have to send the phone back at the end of the contract. They don't want it, anyway since it will be all beat up and full of baby slobber.

For satellite TV, it's for any equipment you keep, but also for the installation service.

Even when there is no up front costs like this, term contracts tend to have lower prices than month to month. My tenants have a choice between a one year lease and month to month. The lease is a lower rate per month than the month to month basis. The reason for that is financial planning. If I need to borrow money from the bank to fix up something, they take a look at projected income. The one year leases are to my advantage, so I offer then at a lower rate. Just about all landlords do that if they even offer month to month. At least I offer the choice from day one while most only offer the choice after one lease term has passed.

@shoelace414: "required me to return the HD DVR. " If you canceled or just because the HD didn't work?

DirecTV was insisting on charging my in-laws an early termination fee, even thought they were being forced from there home due to medical issues. All I wanted was a little compasion, and no termination fee. All calls to customer service were a waste of time. Only when I contacted Ellen.Filipiak@directv.com was the situation resolved (within 24 hours!) So, you can either participate in a class action suit and get lik $2.50 back, or you can send Ms. Filpiak an email and get it all back!

@Skaperen: Nothing they offer costs a lot up front.

The point of the fee is that you broke the contract. It has nothing to do with installation or subsidized phones.(Most phones really aren't, the msrp is going to be at least 50% more than what the store actually pays)

The goal is to make customers stay even if they don't like the service. It means customers can't leave on a whim for any random problem.

And if there is ever a difference in the month to month price and a contract, that is due to them wanting to convince you to sign the contract. Not due to any real cost they are trying to make up for.

There is also different accounting and value via working with contracts than having everyone be month to month. When valuing the company they get to list the full contract value all at once.

My ETF nightmare was featured on Consumerist last year. I'm joining the class action and giving them all of the documentation I have of it. I hope they get nailed on it.

Essentially, they effed up an install and "upgraded" my DVR and then said I agreed to a service commitment by including it in some user agreement.

It's like a lawn service driving by your house and throwing a rock in your yard that says, "you owe me $5" and then claiming that because they threw the rock in your yard and that's their standard procedure and it's mentioned on the back of the bill that if you don't explicitly refuse the rock in writing that you then owe for the rock. Wow - what a run on. Anyway, it's crap, and I will personally do all that I can to help these people nail DTV to the wall.

I just got a box replaced since the orginal diead on me. Nothing mentioned over a extension of the phone but later in the evening I recieve a email saying pretty much I have agreed to a new 24mo contract (been with them for 3-4years). Planning on calling them as soon as I get home about that tonight.

Good. I'm on board. DTV's ETF is teh sux0rz.

I'm at the nexus of two examples of DirecTV obnoxiousness. I signed up in May with all of the promised rebates, had said rebates applied to my first bill, but both bills since then have been for the full, no-rebate amount, despite five separate calls to customer service. This last time I asked about canceling so that I can switch back to TimeWarner Cable - if you're voluntarily switching to TWC, you know it's bad - as the rebate was a major reason I switched in the first place; bastards told me that canceling would mean I was ineligible for the rebate entirely, and that I'd further incur the $400 ETC. When I said that I had no intention of honoring a contract that DirecTV was itself not honoring, I was told that I could raise my dispute with their cancellation people.

To hell with these guys. I'm getting close to small-claims-court territory.