We do hate it when our advice turns out to be crappy. Daniel, the guy who switched his receiver only to find that he was stuck with a new 2 year contract, was told by the CEO’s office that he was, as they say, sh*t out of luck.

I wrote a few days ago regarding DirecTv trying to charge me a $480 cancelation fee.

As an update, I called the CEO’s office and was called back 3 hours later by a Steve from the President’s office (208-363-6015 or (800-577-4388).

After explaining my situation to him calmly and clearly, he stated that DirecTv’s CSRs would never activate a receiver without warning a subscriber of the 2 year commitment and that I have to either live out the commitment or pay $480 to cancel the service. I asked if I could just pay full price for the receiver and not have a commitment, to which he replied that I could not. He apologized for the inconvenience and said I had to understand that “it is what it is, sir.”

They did waive the $10 fee for canceling HBO, though, so that’s nice.

Thanks for the help, Consumerists. I only wish I could have provided a more happy ending.

-Daniel

That really sucks. Report them to your Attorney General’s office immediately. We hope you live in Minnesota, because the AG there really hates it when companies trick you into contract extensions. Sorry we failed you.

(Photo:a3r)

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