Is DirecTV charging you a bogus Early Termination Fee? FairShake can help.
An early termination fee is a very common fee listed under many contracts, especially long-term contracts. If you’ve ever signed up for a gym or even a home cleaning service, you might find the same early termination fee terminology under the terms and conditions that you see on your contract with DirecTV.
No matter what it is called or how it is worded, it serves the same purpose: to let DirecTV charge you if you cancel your contract early.
When you sign up for service with DirecTV, you enter into a legally binding contract where you agree to pay for that service and DirecTV agrees to offer you that service. You can of course cancel your service at any time; DirecTV nor any other company can force you to stick with them and use their products or services.
However, when you enter into a contract for a 24 months length of time, you’ve given DirecTV the right to charge you a fee if you end the contract early.
Yes, in almost all situations early termination fees are legal. DirecTV cannot legally force you to remain with their services, but if you choose to exercise your right to cancel prematurely they can charge you the early termination fee.
As long as DirecTV makes it clear that the early termination fees are part of your contract, usually under the section of your terms and conditions label “termination”, it’s likely to be perfectly legal. This is the section of the contract that explains under which circumstances DirecTV can cancel your contract, usually because you didn’t pay your bill, and under which circumstances you can cancel your contract, which is just about anything.
DirecTV will include information on early termination fees in the terms and conditions. You can also look at your DirecTV commercial customer agreement directly.
There are a few ways that you can try to avoid the early termination fees, namely sticking with the contract for the lifespan. In situations where you might be unable to afford the same services, you can speak with customer service about reducing the features in your plan to the basic package and allowing the contract to run its course until such time as the early termination fee is more affordable.
If you are unable to pay for your services any longer or you are simply moving to an area where they don’t offer that same service, or perhaps you lost your job, you might be able to speak with customer service about waiving the fee entirely.
If you can demonstrate that a salesperson misled you with regard to cancellation policies on your contract, the duration of your contract, or the cost of your plan, you can fight DirecTV. In these cases you can take legal action.
DirecTV can charge an early termination fee for different agreements or contracts and you simply might not know that your contract is one of them. This can happen when sales staff neglect to tell you the fine print or emphasize a promotional deal without telling you about any strings. With DirecTV you sign up for a two-year contract. If you cancel prior to the end of that two-year contract there is an early termination fee of $20 per month for every month that remains on your contract.
For example: If you have a 24-month contract and you cancel after 13 months, you will be charged $20 for the 11 remaining months or $220 in early termination fees.
If you cancel your service before any equipment has been installed, you can avoid this fee.
With FairShake, you can get representation and fight back when you are charged early termination fees that don’t apply.
Start a claim today…
The Ultimate Guide to Consumer Complaints
Learn More
