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AT&T Denies Refunds For DirecTV Now Customers, Despite the Service's Performance Issues (techcrunch.com)
A number of consumers report they're unable to get a refund for their subscription to AT&T's recently launched streaming service, DirecTV Now -- something they've requested after being unhappy with the new service's performance. From a report on TechCrunch: According to several postings on AT&T's official forums, customers found the only way to get help was through a hard-to-find chat feature, and when they asked the AT&T reps about refunds, the customers were told they were not offered. Writes one user with the handle EIUdrummerboy, after attempting to get a refund via chat, the rep told them specifically: "We do not currently have a policy in place to offer any refunds."
AT&T are pretty much just crooks
I have DTN. And yes, occasionally it freezes. But at $35/month versus my previous TV bill w/ comcast, well, I'm inclined to deal with a little freezing now and then. The service is still in its infancy and effectively at version 1. I'll endure a few months more while AT&T gets their footing. (jeez I sound like a shill)
As with everything AT&T, they only respond to FCC complaints. People who file FCC complaints HAVE been getting refunds.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
in Seattle, and they sold quite a few customers that didn't have south-facing apartment in my two buildings. They knew damn well that anyone without a south facing apartment couldn't get DirectTV and even the people with south-facing apartments couldn't get it either due to a taller building to the south that was two stories taller than our own building couldn't either, but they still tried to hold them to a contract. Dial-up and ISDN are the fast connections we can get, but that didn't stop them from still trying to collect.
They are preying on our hope of faster than dialup.
However, AT&T also knows that any punishment is likely to be a slap on the wrist and an order to comply in the future and is deemed an acceptable expense, and possibly lesser than the expense to set it up right, and respect customers.
Silence is a state of mime.
Is this Slashdot or The Consumerist?
We're so far north that it is hard to get a line of site site south to geo satellites.
I gave it up before trial was over, due to reception issues.
We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
As a business owner, it had never occurred to me to present such a clever argument.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Which we will never get. My 26.4kbps is so much better than nothing that I'm afraid to complain.
This. I have a pretty large yard to the south, but that still isn't low enough to the horizon to get DirectTV so I'm stuck with ISDN and per minute charges.
That AT&T is a crooked company, with all the billing scandals, then you DESERVE YOUR NO REFUND POLICY!
It's not DrectTVNow, it's DirectTVNom (nom). It's tasty!
I have a pretty large yard to the south, but that still isn't low enough to the horizon to get DirectTV so I'm stuck with ISDN and per minute charges.
Have you tried Exede internet?
I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are missing.
I tried to return my season ticket, but they wouldn't give me my money back. They said THEY wanted it.
--Lenny
As with everything in life a Simpsons quote captures the heart of the issue. AT&T will say that they *can't* give you your money back, but in reality it just boils down to the fact that they want to have your money more than they want you to have it.
Now 47N is "so far north"?
it's 2017 and stupid people still pre-order expensive electronics without seeing it in the store, pre-order games that don't work cause of bugs or service issues for weeks at a time and now they sign up for streaming services at release without seeing other people's experience
you get what you deserve
Other than sports, why would anyone pay much more than netfix, hulu, amazon prime, showtime, hbo, or stars to watch the same crap but with commercials.
I just dont get it.... cable channels are just awful these days and these services have limited on demand content.
Hulu with no commercials is a much better deal, amazon prime with showtime is a pretty nice deal.
Seattle says that by 2025 we'll have fast access so your joke is not funny.
Sawant promised 2033 so you are wrong.
Go to your card provider (Visa/MC/Discover/Amex) and tell them to remove the charge because the service was not rendered and/or the charge was improper.
They will.
Once AT&T starts getting a lot of chargebacks, they will do something about it.
I had this sort of thing happen do me years back in NYC with Verizon. I called to cancel, was given a confirmation # and everything, and was still billed again the next month. When called again, furious, the manager I was escalated to said that they could not offer a refund because they did not have that policy. I said I don't care about policy, give me a refund, and he said there was literally no way for him to do that in the system and suggested (of course) that I accept the service for a month, since I'd already paid for it, and then if I didn't want it next month, I could call and cancel [n.b. AGAIN] then.
I hung up on him, dialed Visa, and had them charge it back. Of course THAT got Verizon's attention and a day or two later I was called by retention or some similar department to offer me a discount if I would stay on, along with a lot of apology garbage.
I told them I'd rather eat a bug.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
Yep, I ditched "Ma Bell" too several years ago. Had their DSL back in the day, and at&t as my cellphone. Dropped them both! Now, it's just a 50 buck charge for my smartphone, and the kicker is I get to use the at&t towers with my MVNO. Their coverage is better where I live than anyone else. Amazing, I remember "Ma Bell" being broken up in the early 80's and it's been a little over 30 years, and they along with Verizon, have pretty much gobbled up everyone else. Oh, if you were ever a fan of WKRP in Cincinnati, "Dr. Johnny Fever" can clue you in on how Ma Bell works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I'm glad CenturyLink hasn't decided to disallow us from getting Internet access of any kind.
Satellite TV can work just fine in Seattle... you just need a bigger dish if a dinky 18" round or 30" toroidal dish won't do the job for you.
(and/or... you might need to put the dish on top of a pole if you're on the low side of a hill. Yes, you CAN do that with a dish, just like you can do it with a terrestrial antenna).
We do not currently have a policy in place to offer any refunds.
We've gotten away with disrespecting our customers before. Plus, the current anti-regulation attitude of the US courts and the incoming president means we'll soon be the fat cats getting the neo-liberal cream.
Almost 300 miles farther north than Toronto, so yes.
North of the satellite?
I live in Fairbanks Alaska and have DirecTV.
they dont tell new customers singing up that about half the channels with DirecTV is all home shopping channels! or some other sort if infomertials (spam) yup, that right when you buy DirectTV subscription you are basically paying them to spam you
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Yeah, I haven't asked for a refund YET; but was thinking about it. It is horrible. It only works with IE or Chrome and then only sometimes. It keeps giving a wrong browser page even saying only works with Chrome or Internet Explorer 11 - gives the error page when running IE11 or Chrome. Then, when it does come up in the browser, it won't actually start streaming - only timing out. I have Comcast internet and I have tried to use it everyday for a week; but it has only started streaming one default show ONCE and even that stopped after 2 minutes. So yes, it is a PoS right now, so wish I hadn't prepaid the 1st month and just taken the free month trial. Hopefully they will fix it in the next week or so. If not, then it will have to be one of those 'learning experiences' in getting bent over by AT&T which I should have already known.
I've had my issues with Directv Now service, but lately (within the last week or so) it's gotten much better. I pre-paid for the three months and got the Apple tV so I'm kind of stuck, but I think I'll probably keep it after that.
I'm more disappointed with the Apple TV than I am with Directv Now service though. I absolutely friggin hate the Apple TV remote. Wish they'd get the Roku app going.
so i'm not even complaining 105 bux 3 month of tv and the bugs are fixed im not even worried...
Now 47N is "so far north"?
Given that I originally hail from 70N, I see your point.
But here, the "so far north" is only with the perspective of being able to get decent transmissions from a satellite that sits above equator. Which you should be able to - the size of the dish and need to be able to aim it closer to the horizon increase as you go north, but at 47 degrees, it's still doable.
Pfft. 47N doesn't even get you to the southern part of the Great White unless you're in the Toronto area. You want to talk "far north", get yourself up around or even beyond the treeline first.
A class action lawsuit is needed to get AT&T to pay up. No one individual is going to sue for a couple hundred bucks. Go get 'em lawyers.
I understand that some high-rise building sitting south of you might shadow you, specially if you live in the lower floors, but to me, as an European, it seems already weird that you have to resort to satellite internet in a city. I read in other comments of people still on dialup in freaking Seattle, and that frankly scares me. Is it possible that there's not market even for a DSL operator, let alone fiber? In Seattle?
Yeah, when you combine "No refund policy is in place" with "you must submit your case to binding arbitration," you pretty much get a perfect storm of "fuck the consumer".
I got the same crap from their chat reps till I finally kept insisting on a manager or supervisor. They called me back about 2 hours later, apologized, gave me a refund and let me keep the free Apple TV that came with their prepay 3 months promo. They can do it just not with the chat grunts.
Disregard this guy. He has some beef with the Seattle government. There are FOUR providers with 1Gbps fiber in Seattle itself. You can look it up yourself.
being caught in the middle of all the suck, but you can't complain because your spouse works for the assholes... FML
Now that you know I'm being honest, we're talking about a phone company that doesn't even know it's own phone numbers. I can't tell you how many times their business support people have transferred me to non-existent internal phone lines, leaving me to call back and go through it all again.
Pretty sure there are none of those on the directv now service. Not that regular cable channels are much better content wise than rotating infomercials anyway....
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
But that would require a professional installation. And DirecTV only offers free "professional" installation.
From article:
Another, who tried to cancel their 7-day free trial was denied a refund even though they cancelled within a week. (The rep told them they had to cancel by 7 PM EST, and the customer was on central time, making them an hour late).
...and this, ATT, is why having globalized and outsourced call centers, with machine making decisions that Humans can't override costs, more money than just fucking paying people to do a job and make rational decisions in customer service.