Having issues with DirecTV? You may have legal options.
Not sure whether DirecTV is good? Looking for more information on DirecTV plans and services, so that you can figure out whether it’s worth signing on for a contract?
Don’t worry, you aren’t the only one. So, to help you make a better choice about your service providers we’ve compiled some reviews and ratings for DirecTV taken from multiple sources.
According to Consumer Affairs, DirecTV has earned an overall satisfaction rating of 1 out of 5 stars. However, their rating for the DirecTV app from iTunes is 4.7 out of 5 stars.
DirecTV has made the claim that they are the highest rated for customer satisfaction and have been the highest rated for 18 years. DirecTV is best known for its Sports packages. According to the American Customer Satisfaction index for 2019, they live up to their claims of having good customer service. They are rated fourth for customer satisfaction coming behind two companies that use fiber optic cable instead of coaxial cables. But if you’re comparing DirecTV to all other coaxial cable television providers, they ranked the highest.
“From the very beginning, signing on, installation of equipment, and answering any question I had, the service I received was outstanding, thorough and complete. The cost was almost half of my past cable company. The second year was to go up some and this was understood. However, when I called to see if I could bring the cost down a little, AT&T without hesitation actually reduced the cost from the first year. All companies might do well to look at the management of AT&T. They care and are definitely client-oriented. They have worked hard to earned my loyalty and have succeeded.”
In fact, JD Power Rankings show them as the highest in the southern regions and Western regions for customer satisfaction in large part thanks to the benefits and exclusive packages they have for things like the DirecTV app where you can stream your television from your phone, and NFL Sunday Ticket packages.
One customer echoed the idea that DirecTV cares about customer loyalty when the following situation occurred:
“Today, I bought a new tv for my husband and he wanted to add 4K to our plan. I called and they told me we need to update our box and it would cost 399.00. So…I told them no thank you because that’s outrageous! We’ve had these boxes for three years. Anyway, I hung up disappointed. About half an hour later a manager called me. She said the representative I spoke to brought the situation to her attention and, after reviewing our account, they would like to offer us the upgraded equipment at no charge. We scheduled the installation date. I was honestly so surprised. Directv isn’t known for great service and we have had our ups and downs with them but, this went over and above. It was refreshing and so appreciated.”
This isn’t to say DirecTV isn’t without issues. Plenty of customer complaints about DirecTV have brought to light the issue of contracted costs going up every two years. While the customer service reviews above made it clear that reaching out was a great way to keep the rates stable or at least minimize them, plenty of people have faced issues where customer service wouldn’t prorate bills when they decided to cancel mid-month, or experienced issues with the NFL ticket not renewing when the customers and questions signed up specifically for the benefit of the sports packages for which DirecTV is so famous.
Many customers have submitted complaints about receiving bills from DirecTV even after cancellation:
“I canceled and was told no early termination would be charged but was charged anyway.”
Other customers say that DirecTV representatives have lied to them about the price of their subscription, often receiving unexpectedly high bills, even when the service isn’t working as expected.
Another main customer complaint about DirecTV has to do with all of the satellite television customers who find a great deal of interruption during major storms. Even though DirecTV advertises that they maintained a 99% signal reliability, customers have seen that even when there’s the smallest bit of rain, this is no longer true.
DirecTV provides six different television packages with a total of 330 channels available and no extra fees for equipment or installation for the first two rooms in which you have television installed.
You have to sign a two-year contract as is the case with most television providers but in some situations depending on which of the packages you choose you can lock in your rate for the entire two years. Still, whether you lock in that rate or not, DirecTV will increase your rate after the first year unless you bundle your television with a phone service or internet from AT&T.
The select package is the most basic at $60 per month with access to 155 channels that include popular channels like HGTV, Cartoon Network, and TNT.
Entertainment is the next level up which increases by $5 per month and subsequently increases the number of channels by five giving access to popular things like ESPN.
The middle of the road option is $70 per month with access to 185 channels including NFL and Nicktoons.
Their extra is $80 a month and you get 235 channels including the Golf Channel and oxygen.
Ultimate is $85 a month with access to 250 channels that includes Starz Encore and boomerang.
The top products you can get is the Premier package which is $135 a month and gives you access to all 330 channels they offer including Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, and HBO.
One thing to note with each of the packages is that the actual price will vary based on where you live so even though these are the average prices displayed on the site, you might have to pay more.
If you have a complaint against DirecTV, and you aren’t getting a solution to your problem, we can help.
The Ultimate Guide to Consumer Complaints
Learn More
