Why I HATE Directv
I was a Directv customer for over 5 years and to be honest, I never had too many issues with them. The service was pretty decent until I ‘upgraded’ to the HD DVR. The equipment was expensive, there was no way to ‘demo’ the service and of course.. the coveted 2 year agreement.
Like it or hate it… you were in a contract. A 2 YEAR contract. I was counting the seconds.. all 63,072,000 of them.
The HD DVR interface was very sluggish… the service sucked. Calling ‘tech support’ meant long hold times and talking to some guy from India or Mexico.
Root canal anyone?
I finally had enough in April of this year. Called and told the rep to get this thing outta my house. She said a box would be coming via FedEx, I should receive it in a couple days.
Guess what… the box never came. Can you guess what did?
That’s right… a bill for $618.
Of course, after a couple weeks, I forgot about the box. She never sent it… and life is busy. But they didn’t forget to start billing me for the receiver.
In May, the big ‘ol bill shows up in my mailbox. I freak out.
Called again, talked to a Billing Supervisor… the key word here is supervisor. After a little back and forth, she removed the charges and promised a box would be sent within a couple days.
I had enough by now and just wanted to cancel my service completely. I asked her “what would it take to buy out the remainder of the contract and cancel the service?” – “hold as I figure the total..” – long pause – “$192.79” She says.
Are you sure? No future bills? “Yes… $192.79” she says confidently.
I must sound like a broken record here… but I even ask her again. “$192.79 is the total sir.”
Don’t believe me? Listen to the highlights of the conversation yourself…
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Just when I thought I was free and clear of these incompetent boobs… guess what shows up a month later???
That’s right… another bill for $56.88
It seems the Billing Supervisor was incorrect and the verbal contract we entered into for $192.79 was negated by the all powerful, faceless corporation.
You’ve heard it before… it’s the insincere rambling you hear right before you get screwed. “We’re so sorry that person told you the wrong thing… but this is the right thing… now pay us for our incompetence”
Assholes.
Last week, I called again and talked to yet another Billing Supervisor… and after a whopping 45+ minutes on the phone, I resolved nothing.
When I explained the previous Directv representative had assured me this would be the last bill… [another long pause] – I’m sorry sir… the previous representative was incorrect, we will not remove the additional charges.
I did get several of those corporately inspired ‘apologies’
Oh well… why go on and on about it… listen to the highlights of the call yourself.
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So my next call was to the ‘Customer Advocate Team’ as listed on the Directv website.
Customer Advocate Team… what a joke this is.
A few hours later, I get a call from ‘Cindy’ – who I can only describe as baiting and argumentative. Her voice reminded me of that stupid Bernadette Peters character in the movie “The Jerk”.
After a few minutes with her… I knew she wasn’t calling to help me. She was calling to shut me down, shut me up… the corporate advocate.
At one point she was telling me “Directv advised me there may be future bills” – when I explained this wasn’t the case and in fact, the ‘Billing Supervisor’ assured me there would not be any further bills.
I then asked her if she wanted to hear the recorded conversation… her words were:
“If you are asking me if I want to hear recorded conversation of our representative telling you there will be no further bills… I choose no.”
WTF? Are you kidding me?
I had to go. After a couple choice words… I hung up. What a bitch.
I paid the damn bill.
Not because I owed it… but because a huge, faceless corporation essentially sent Bruno over… and I need my knees.
Isn’t extortion a crime?
Hey.. we say you owe money.. and there’s nothing you can do about it. Pay up or face the consequences.
–=–
Beware of OvernightPrints.com
So… I needed some cards printed for our New Love Ohio Launch and decided to try Overnight Prints (www.overnightprints.com) – I liked the website, they promised fast, quality service and they seemed very professional.
We ordered 5000 cards, double sided with gloss finish. This is the design we submitted:
This is the proof we agreed to: (click for bigger view)
Here is what we received (click for bigger view)
Are you kidding me? These look terrible. Like they were cut with scissors by a team of monkeys.
I sent them 2 emails (both unanswered) – I tried to call their toll free “customer service” number only to be on perpetual hold. When I finally did get someone, “Angelica” tells me that I would have to send back at least 90% of the damaged order to get the replacements AND it would take a week to get them.
So… let me get this straight..
- I ordered the cards with plenty of time before my event
- I paid them money
- They shipped me shit
- I must now send back the entire order, miss my deadline because this company didn’t proof the order for quality BEFORE sending it to me?
Looks like we were scammed here… hmmm…
A 5 year old child could see this order was screwed up, poor quality, imperfect, damaged, wrong, wrong, wrong… hello???
I don’t have time for these games… back and forth… back and forth…
Am I the only one who sees the right answer?
Here’s a clue…
You sincerely apologize, create another “overnight” order and ship it out overnight. Had you checked this order for quality before shipping it out, I wouldn’t be in this spot… you eat the cost.
I am waiting for a response from the company… and I’m not holding my breath.
–=–
Update: I finally get a response from my emails and you guessed it… customer service representative “Lisa” lays down the policy again.
This canned response dictates that I must box up these cards and run them to a UPS drop off center before they will “start the reprint process”
and… as an added bonus, I must now be further inconvenienced and take more of my precious time to box these up and locate a UPS shipping facility to send these back…
Why?
What reason could they possibly give to pardon this waste of my time and resources?
“…in efforts to see what went wrong & to improve our services in the future”
Bullshit.
But hey… they are extending a 10% discount on my next order… and hope that I will choose them again for my future printing needs.
Yeah… that’s pretty funny.
The Verdict?
I will be sending these cards back on Monday for a refund. If they do not process my refund promptly, I will issue a charge back with my credit card company.
This whole process has been a complete waste of my time and money.
Buyer beware. Overnight Prints is a business I will never use again.
btw… here’s how I sent this shit back to them :-)
–=–
—–Original Message—–
From: Overnight Prints [mailto:service@overnightprints.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 6:50 AM
To: Jason Burgess
Subject: lb: VERY VERY POOR ServiceDear Jason,
I would like to apologize for the unsatisfactory product you have received. We are willing to reprint your order, however to do so we must receive at least 90% of the defective product back. This is in efforts to see what went wrong & to improve our services in the future.
I will arrange for a Reprint Return Label (RRL – which takes one business day to generate) to be sent to you via e-mail. Once you have received this simply print it out & attach it to the package with the order you are returning. Please return it to the nearest UPS store or a facilities that ships out UPS packages (we have also provided you a link in the e-mail, where the nearest one is). Once the RRL has been issued & sent, we will start the reprint process in order to get the product back to you as soon as possible.
Again please note that no more than 10% of the product can be used & the rest must be sent back in order to receive compensation. Otherwise unfortunately we cannot reprint & would like to extend a 10% discount towards a future order. Please inform us as to how you would like to proceed with this matter, so that we can make the proper arrangements. We will await your response and appreciate your patience throughout this process.
We appreciate your business and hope you choose Overnight Prints in the future for all your printing needs. Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions at (888) 677-2000 or try our new chat feature under the FAQs tab at www.overnightprints.com. Remember to include all previous correspondence and your invoice number when contacting Overnight Prints.
Thank you,
Lisa
Customer Service Representative
Overnight Prints
E-Mail: service@overnightprints.com
Office: (888) 677-2000
–=–
You know, this is partially my fault… I should have done a little research before using them. There are plenty of horror stories from other “Overnight” customers.
Other unsatisfied customers of Overnight Prints:
“…corners looked like I cut them with a scissor at home”
http://www.mediabistro.com/bbs/cache/t37292_1.asp
This is an interesting list of unsatisfied people… read the “comments” area.. wow people are pissed
“was trimmed crookedly”
http://www.dgrin.com/archive/index.php/t-24523.html
There are plenty of poor ratings here…
Read customer reviews
This guy actually made a video…
Not happy with “overnight” shipping
“How not to run a postcard-printing service…”
Never Use OvernightPrints.com, Ever
“Save yourself the nightmare…”
Stay away from overnight prints
“The most horrible experience I’ve ever had…”
Read about it here
Wow… this looks familiar…
“It was not I that make the mistake; the mistake was done by Overnight Prints. The consumer should not be Overnight Prints’ quality control system. Overnight Prints should thank me for pointing out their mistake and promptly reprint the card per my request.”
Read more of Alexander’s experience here
Jane says don’t use…
Don’t Use Overnightprints.com
–=–
On hold dance party
I have to say… I had a great time on hold today while waiting for a representative at Native Instruments.
I call it… “On hold dance party”
Who’s been in my safe?
Recently I went on my first cruise through the Caribbean. I heard how this particular cruise line was famous for their ‘Royal’ treatment. I beg to differ… but that is another post.
On my third night, I came back from dinner to find the safe unlocked… and it was locked when I left. Of course my wallet, birth certificate and credit cards were in the safe – nothing appeared to be missing. I found out later this is a very popular scam.
Let me explain…
When you lock the safe you close the door and type a 4 digit pin number using the key pad. Once you hit the "Lock" button, the door locks. Now, the only way to open the door is:
- by using your Pin Number
- the ship’s Master Code
- by using a Reset Device
When I left my room, the room attendant came in to clean up. She most likely allowed the thief access while cleaning.
The safe was opened using the ship’s Master Code or Reset Device. Once opened, the thief most likely scanned each credit card using a "Skimming Device", scanned my drivers license and made note of my name and birth date.
Because the thief didn’t know my pin number, he couldn’t re-lock the safe’s door. Instead, the thief closes the door tightly hoping I don’t check it before typing my pin.
Too bad for him, I did.
Upon reporting the breach, I got no assistance from the front desk. The manager couldn’t help me until the following morning. They assured me there is no way to break into that safe and insinuated that I must have left it unlocked. That was it. Nothing else was done on my behalf.
THIS SHIP’S MANAGEMENT DID NOTHING.
We were 2 days from anywhere, it was $8 a minute to call my bank to cancel my credit cards and getting really pissed might land me in the ship’s jail. They had me.
What Now?
Once I returned from my trip, I canceled my credit cards and my bank issued replacements (what a pain)
I then ordered a copy of my credit report from each of the 3 agencies.
My next move was to sign up for identity protection at LifeLock – I am sure you have seen the commercials. For $10 per month, my identity is protected from these thieves.
Needless to say, this will be my last cruise.
More Info on Credit Card Skimming
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20020524a.asp
Here is another victim of a cruise line skimming
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php?t-352488.html
Online Ordering?
It’s hard to find jeans that fit. Levi’s are terrible and I’m not paying $50 for jeans at the Gap. Aeropostale jeans fit great, the price is right but I can’t stand wading through teenagers in their store. So… this time I thought I’d be smart and buy a few pair online.
2 hours after I made my purchase, I get this email saying they cannot process my credit card. What?
Dear Jason:
Thank you for shopping at Aeropostale. Your business is important to us.
Unfortunately, your order is currently suspended because we are having difficulty obtaining authorization on your credit card. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.
There is nothing wrong with my credit card and there is nothing wrong with the billing info I gave them. But… they are sorry for the inconvenience.
The next morning I get another email saying they finally processed the card. Further, they wanted to tell me that I would receive my order in a month. What?
This shipping address includes the following item(s):
Benton Original Bootcut Jeans, LT WASH $19.75You can expect to receive your item(s) between 02/15/08 and 02/20/08
A month??? You have to be kidding. Endless.com will ship you a pair of shoes tomorrow. What is the deal at Aeropostale? Are they shipping from the moon?
I am sure you can guess what my reply was…
I won’t receive this order for over a month? This is unacceptable. If you cannot get these items to me in 5 days or less then cancel it.
I bet the canned response will contain the phrase: "sorry for your inconvenience"
This is about as close I will get to my new jeans. Bye bye new jeans. Too much inconvenience.