“Professional Installation – free.” Seems simple, right? I mean, there’s no way DirectTV would just be using that as a bait-and-switch and actually end up charging you for an install…Right? As Dimitriy learned: Wrong.

Dimitriy’s Tip:

After purchasing HDTV this Black Friday, I have been looking for a good TV service and frankly there is no company with deals such as DirecTV’s. As much as I look, I can’t find another company that would offer over 40 HD channels, plus 5 Russian channels for under $100. So, of course, when I saw the current promotions you’re running, I jumped on the it and signed up momentarily. During online sign up process I was promised “No equipment to buy or startup costs” and “Professional installation included — free”, however when installers arrived, they wanted me to pay additional fees of at least $250.

They explained that additional equipment is required for installation on our apartment building roof(“flat roof”) and that DirecTV was not going to cover it. So I canceled that order and went on to try to find another deal with another company. Well, as I wrote earlier, there are no other companies that offer any deals even remotely similar to DirectTV’s, so I signed up again and decided to call customer service and explain my situation. When I called, I was met with a wall of misunderstanding. I was told that the “Professional installation included — free” was really just a standard installation, and that there were, possibly, many more charges I’ll have to pay in order to get my service installed and whenever I asked the representative to transfer me to their supervisor, they simply hung up on me.

Sounds like some “clever” wordplay and fine-print-mining on the part of the CSR. Clever until they hung up on our tipster. Always make sure you get what you are paying – or, not paying – for, Consumerists.

Pic:[Maulleigh]

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