Welcome to Day 2 of Sweet 16 bloodshed! Unfortunately, because of exclusivity deals, those of you who haven’t paid $350 for the deluxe, HD/3D/Smell-o-Vision package will be blacked out from seeing the televised broadcast of these TV titans. [More]
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Which Worst Company Contenders Force Customers Into Mandatory Arbitration?
By 3.21.12
As we sifted through the mountain of nominations for this year’s Worst Company In America tournament, we noticed a trend of readers who cited companies’ mandatory binding arbitration clauses as a reason for nominating. And while it’s businesses like AT&T and Sony that have made all the headlines for effectively banning class action lawsuits, there are a lot of other WCIA contenders who are forcing customers into signing away their rights. [More]
Please Join Us In Welcoming Your Worst Company In America 2012 Sweet 16!
By 3.21.12
The floor of the Worst Company In America BattleDome is stained with the blood of the vanquished. But only one company can earn the privilege of placing the WCIA Golden Poo in its trophy case, so the violence must continue. [More]
Worst Company In America Round One: DirecTV Vs. Dish Network
By 3.15.12
Day 3 of competition in the arena suspended high above above the Worst Company In America Sarlacc Pit brings us a pair of pugilists that already spend most of the year trying to dish out some hurt on each other. [More]
Here It Is, Your Lineup For Worst Company In America 2012!
By 3.12.12
Welcome to Consumerist’s 7th Annual Worst Company In America tournament, where the businesses you nominated face off for a title that none of them will publicly admit to wanting — but which all of them try their hardest to earn. So it’s time to fill in the brackets and start another office pool. That is, unless you work at one of the 32 companies competing in the tournament. [More]
Philadelphia Fighting Satellite Providers Over Ugly Dishes
By 2.2.12
Last fall, the Philadelphia City Council passed a bill that would remove unused satellite dishes and pretty up any new ones that were bolted to the sides and roofs of city buildings. But that law is having some trouble becoming a reality after a group representing satellite TV providers filed a petition with the FCC. [More]
DirecTV Says My Being Out Of Town Is An Explanation For Mystery Porn Charges
By 1.5.12
We’re sure cable companies constantly get calls from parents complaining about pay-per-view porn charges that no one in their house will own up to. But apparently folks at the satellite provider also thinks people are breaking into empty houses just to watch overpriced T&A. [More]
DirecTV Tells ID Theft Victim To Take Her Complaint Elsewhere
By 12.13.11
Imagine opening the mail to find a notice from a collections agency that says you owe nearly $700 for a DirecTV account that you never opened at an address you’ve never even been to. Chances are, the first call you’d make would be to DirecTV. But for one person this actually happened to, that was a dead end. [More]
Fox And DirecTV Kiss & Make-Up Hours Before Blackout Deadline
By 10.31.11
With only a few hours to go until a retransmission fee dispute would have left DirecTV subscribers unable to watch a number of Fox cable channels, the two sides have put away their swords and decided to work out a deal. [More]
DirecTV Accuses Fox Of Misleading TV Viewers
By 10.27.11
If you’ve watched sporting events on Fox in the last week, you’ve likely spotted an ad from News Corp. alerting DirecTV customers that “soon, in some markets, you may lose your local Fox station” as a result of the ongoing contract dispute between the broadcaster and the satellite company. But these TV spots aren’t going over well with the folks at DirecTV who have complained to the FCC that Fox is misleading customers. [More]
Refer A Friend To DirecTV? Make Sure You Got Your Referral Bonus
By 10.14.11
Have you referred your friends, family, or neighbors to DirecTV recently, unable to resist the lure of the $100 referral bonus for both you and the new customer? It’s a great deal: when the referral fee actually shows up on your account. Robin warns that he still hasn’t received his fee from referring a neighbor, and he’s not alone. [More]
How Your Stupid Former Roommates Can Get Your Parents Blacklisted By DirecTV
By 10.12.11
It’s a common story: Young person leaves their apartment but the cable bill in her name somehow doesn’t get changed over to the roommates that remain. You won’t have much luck convincing the cable company of the error, but should your youthful screw-up impact your parents’ TV-viewing options? [More]
A Workaround For DirecTV's 50 Show DVR Limit
By 10.3.11
Reader Paul is pissed because he found out that DirecTV’s DVR will only let you schedule 50 shows to record and watched. Having more than one person in his house, he hit this limit pretty fast. So how can you record more than 50 shows on the DirecTV in-house brand DVR? One thing you can do is use the enhanced search function with “boolean operations.” [More]
DirecTV DVR Makes Me Watch Ads… But Only For DirecTV
By 9.29.11
We always knew that the cable companies that rent us our DVRs would eventually find a way to let customers time-shift, but still us all to watch commercials. DirecTV subscriber Dan wonders whether he’s alone in being unable to use his 30-second skip button only on his satellite provider’s in-house ads. [More]
How I Cut $120 From My Annual DirecTV Bill
By 9.27.11
Digital entertainment costs, like most other things, are steadily rising. So how did I cut back on expenses without scrimping on service? All I had to do was ask. [More]
DirecTV Promises No Extra Fees, Then Charges $10 Monthly Fee
By 9.23.11
After a recent move, Vincent signed up with DirecTV for his television-beaming needs. A sales representative quoted him a price, then assured him that no, there would be no extra fees on top of that. No one will be surprised at what happened next: a $10 per month HD fee appeared on his monthly bill. The person who originally signed him up refunded the fee and called it an “error.” But it didn’t go away with his next bill. Or ever. [More]
I Miss Sunday Ticket Football Games, Get Refund In Sony Online Store Credit
By 9.16.11
DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket To Go is a service for football fans who can’t have or don’t want a satellite dish bolted to the side of their house. It streams Sunday afternoon out-of-market football games to computers, mobile devices, and as of this week, to the Sony Playstation 3. At $340 for the season, it’s not cheap, but football fans love it anyway. The service’s Playstation debut on Sunday didn’t work all that well for most customers, and didn’t work for Edward at all. He called for a refund, which was issued, then canceled. Instead of a refund to his credit card, he and other users will receive a store credit. For $25. To the Playstation Network store. “As if that is somehow comparable!” he fumed to Consumerist. [More]
DirecTV Sees Your Father's Death As Sales Opportunity
By 8.22.11
Carl’s father had DirecTV service at the time that he passed away, and Carl called them up to cancel the account while settling the estate. The satellite provider chose to see his father’s death as a retention opportunity, using emotional appeals to try to get Carl to take over his father’s service at his own home. Carl was not pleased. [More]
