Slashdot Mirror
Class-Action Lawsuit Accuses AT&T of Lying To Customers About DirecTV Now (kctv5.com)
A massive class-action lawsuit is accusing AT&T of lying to customers about DirecTV Now when it bought Time Warner. KCTV5 reprots: At the time, they promised customers and investors, they would be cutting prices for their streaming service called DirecTV Now. However, the lawsuit accuses the company of switching up TV packages, confusing customers by getting rid of the bundles it had been offering, charging higher prices for new types of bundles, and then bringing back the original bundles at a higher price. Investors were not happy about this because stock prices tanked. DirecTV Now was hemorrhaging customers, losing about 260,000 customers in December. "AT&T's registration statement 'touted yearly and quarterly growth trends... including quarterly subscriber gains in its DirecTV Now service sufficient to offset any decrease in traditional satellite DirecTV subscribers, such that AT&T was experiencing an ongoing trend of total video subscriber 'net additions,'" reports Ars Technica, citing a segment of the complaint.
"But in reality, 'DirecTV Now subscribers were leaving (i.e., not renewing) as soon as their promotional discount periods expired, while at the same time new potential DirecTV Now customers were unwilling to pay the higher prices and therefore not subscribing at all,' the complaint said. By the time AT&T bought Time Warner, 'AT&T's reported 'net additions' growth trend was already reversing into a severe 'net loss.' [T]he AT&T registration statement 'purported to warn of numerous risks that 'if' occurring 'may' or 'could' adversely affect the company while failing to disclose that these 'risks' had already materialized at the time of the acquisition,' the complaint said."
"But in reality, 'DirecTV Now subscribers were leaving (i.e., not renewing) as soon as their promotional discount periods expired, while at the same time new potential DirecTV Now customers were unwilling to pay the higher prices and therefore not subscribing at all,' the complaint said. By the time AT&T bought Time Warner, 'AT&T's reported 'net additions' growth trend was already reversing into a severe 'net loss.' [T]he AT&T registration statement 'purported to warn of numerous risks that 'if' occurring 'may' or 'could' adversely affect the company while failing to disclose that these 'risks' had already materialized at the time of the acquisition,' the complaint said."
Kinda like 5GE isn't it? Make that shyte up and trowel it out.
These mergers are always sold as "synergy, better service for less cost". They always turn out to be "Less competition, higher prices, folks out of jobs".
Only the lawyers get rich. And the companies don't pay enough to hurt them.
Corporatism != Free Market
the only thing AT&T will have left is a dial tone patent and cross connect fees. big iron got rusty and their retirees are not following their insurance and lawyers presented actuarial tables for unfunded liabilities and debt relief. oh well, momma bell sad to see you with and die, but hey, you had a good run. had to cute down a pine tree the other day, sad, but was encroaching upon my home and insurance company was frowning at me. oh well, from nut to nuthing.
I had this offer for DirecTV for $35/month for 3 months and a free 4K appleTV. Used it twice. Once to get my $160 appleTV for $105. The second to get another one and sell it for $120. Basically never used the service itself which was COMPLETELY USELESS. Most channels had GARBAGE and you could not skip the commercials (if you came back to the channel after surfing away, you got hit by the commercial again... ah, the beauty of streaming). So it is Netflix, Tubi or TPB for me and that's it. (But I have been considering subscription for Mubi... seems an interesting idea.)
As a long suffering DTVNOW subscriber (now moving on to PlayStation Vue), I can assure ATT investors that the cause of DTVNOW's decline has far, far more to do with their completely shitty service than any promo expirations. Having tried a few streaming services, I can safely say DTVNOW is the absolute worst. I would have abandoned it long ago if they weren't the only service with my favorite channel (TVG). Fortunately, that channel is now available separately for a nominal fee, and so adios DTVNOW! The buffering, inexplicable failures, lost DVR content, and just general garbageware that is DTVNOW (bordering on fraud) has driven away many many more subscribers than the $10 price bumps (after all, pretty much every other service has bumped their prices too)
I subscribed for DirecTV when it first came out. 7 day free trial. "CANCEL ANYTIME". 3 month subscription + AppleTV (which I was planning on selling).
The service was a buggy mess and I didn't get local channels live (and there's no real way to test this for all markets until after you sign up). I cancelled within 30 minutes. They refused to honor their own terms, and stated they could not cancel the shipment of the AppleTV.
(The & is actually in the log.)
AT&T : Welcome to DIRECTV NOW. May we have your name while we pull together resources and links to help get us started?
Charise R : Hello. How may I assist you today?
You : I signed up for DirecTV Now a few minutes ago to check it out.
You : But because I can't get local stations where I am I have to cancel.
You : I can't get the live Fox channel, for example, and all the on-demaind shows are delayed by 2 or 3 weeks, it looks like.
Charise R : OK
You : I signed up using the 3 month promo for the AppleTV. I cancelled the account already but it still lists it as going through to march.
You : I don't want to AppleTV and I want to cancel the whole order.
You : I signed up 30 minutes ago.
Charise R : I'm sorry, but this is a prepay product and it is paid through March.
Charise R : You can cancel, but you will still be receiving the Apple TV and you will have the service for 3 months. If you cancel, you will just no longer have the service after 3 months.
You : But I'm within the 7 days
You : The 7 days is a free trial
You : and the 3 months starts after that
You : I'm cancelling within the 7 day free trial
You : It said I could cancel within the trial
Charise R : You actually still get the free 7 days of service, but there is no cancellation during the free 7 days when you prepay.
You : That wasn't stated.
You : Please cancel the whole order.
You : If you can't do this please connect me to a supervisor.
Charise R : Hold on just a moment please. I'm looking on your account.
You : Sure.
Charise R : Just one more moment.
Charise R : I'm so sorry, but you are unable to cancel the account. We do not connect to a supervisor, but I can have one contact you in the next 24 hours if you still need.
You : You may cancel at any time and continue accessing the programming through the end of your renewal period. View, modify or cancel anytime at directvnow.com. No refunds or credits for any partial-month periods or unwatched content.
You : That states that I can cancel anytime at directvnow.com
You : I don't get a refund for partial months
You : But my 3 months haven't started.
You : SO I should be fully refunded.
You : As I'm within the 7-day window.
You : If you cannot cancel the account, I understand.
You : Please do not send the AppleTV.
Charise R : Just to clarify, you can cancel the account, but it will be prepaid through the date you paid through. Again, I'm sorry for any confusion, but there will be no refunds.
You : That only says no refunds for partial months.
You : I am not in a partial month, I'm in a free trial.
You : I will just cancel it via my credit card.
You : Do not send the AppleTV.
Charise R : We are unable to stop the shipment.
You : That's unfortunate.
You : I will cancel the payment via my credit card.
You : If I receive the APpleTV I will refuse shipment.
Charise R : I understand. Are there any other questions you may have?
You : No. Please have a supervisor contact me about this as soon as possible.
Charise R : Hold on just a moment while I get this set up.
Charise R : Is the phone number on your account the number you wish the supervisor to contact you at.
You : Yes, but please only contact me via email.
Charise R : I can request this, but it may be better for you to talk to them directly. Are you sure you want me to request the email way?
You : Yes, so I have a written record.
Charise R : Ok. Hold on one more moment.
Charise R : Do you want to use the email from your account?
Yo
I present the following as evidence:
1) The failed T-Mobile Merger which cost AT&T $5B ( CEO still has his job )
2) Let's buy DirecTv just as everyone and their brother are cutting the cord because $$$ and nothing worth watching is on it
3) Let's buy HBO which, once Game of Thrones is over, will become just another no-name movie channel
4) Let's also add CNN to our repertoire. One of THE most hated news ( if you can call them that ) outlets in existence
5) We're going to pin all our hopes on 5G ( and pray that it works well enough to sell - Prediction: I doubt it )
6) Let's be a Cloud Company ! We're not cozy at all with the Government who loves to peek at your data. . . We promise !
7) We want to be a content exclusive streaming service too because DirecTv Now worked out so well
On top of all this, these fools believe they can slash and burn their workforce in an effort to reduce their debt ( which stands at a commercial company record of ~$170B USD ) which won't even scratch the surface of it. Some folks are wondering if they're going full IBM and targeting their senior employees who were grandfathered into the now extinct pension plan. ( Don't have to keep that funded if we fire everyone we promised it to. )
They're selling off prime real-estate for the same reasons. ( Assuming anyone is left that can do the work to prep the buildings so they CAN be sold. Lots of equipment and data runs through those buildings that all have to be relocated first. )
AT&T doesn't know WHAT the hell it wants to be when ( and if ) it ever grows up.
Ed Whittacre needs to stride into Randall Stephenson's office, go full Super Saiyan and just slap the shiznit out of the man for being clueless and destroying a company.
They've been lying for years.
Oh, that's Direct TV Now?
Oh, that's different. Never mind. This is Emily Litella.
/Actually, it's not different. It's business as usual.
I have an account but can't be buggered to log in. Anyway, I was a DTV customer of theirs for quite a while, and I loved the package I was on, I wish it carried my local stations, but you can't win them all. Then one day I got an email from DTV saying, in essence, "Hey, that cool package you're on? Yeah, you're losing it. But here's the replacements!" The new packages had half the stations, same cost, no local stations....and I couldn't get everything I wanted that I had before, and they TRIPLED the cost of HBO.
No thanks. So I dumped them. Instantly. Hopped over to Playstation Vue, got all the previous stations, HBO and Showtime, and all my local stations (which was pretty awesome), and the only station I lost was the History channel. A small price to pay considering the cost remained the same for me--oh, and HBO and Showtime were included in the cost.
So, if some twat from DTV sees this: this is why you lost me, and lots of other people--your abject stupidity and greed. You didn't listen to the customers, you didn't provide good service, and your prices upon change to the "new format" were shit. This is ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT.
I sincerely hope the class action process nets me as little as 10 dollars, because to me, that's the pound of flesh I would be happy with to show them how utterly stupid AT&T became. They had been in a prime position....and squandered it. Fuck 'em.
A company as honorable as AT&T would never lie.
If you need to ask if that was sarcasm, you clearly have never dealt with AT&T before.
AT&T is absolutely a horrible company up there with the best of the worst. But again why not skip the teaser rates for new customers and give everyone a decent rate on services? Its probably a numbers games, you get that increase in subscribers for a period with deals, but then they bail because the regular rate is so much higher. Why nobody at AT&T could figure this out since its sort of a business 101 lesson that you don't do stunts for short term gain when you risk losing big time long term.
Isn't class action obsolete?
What ever happened to binding arbitration on a case-by-case basis?
Won't somebody think of the trial lawyers?