DirecTV Scams Zennie62 With Phantom VIP Account
DirecTV has this blogger so angry he’s ready to use the latest social media approaches to embarrass the satellite TV service provider. Let’s deal with the current problem and then I’ll explain how we got here.
DirecTV wants me to pay them $804 – or is it $900? I’m confused. Why? Because someone in their social media department had this idea of a new account, but they didn’t tell me about it. A VIP account. Now, that I’ve discovered what they were doing that stuck me with this bill, I can’t find hide or hair of them, and a woman named Ashley Gillenwater who is the Customer Service Representative just basically talked to me like I’m a junk yard dog, telling me “VIP account, whatever account, the $809 is valid and you’re going to pay it in full.”
No I’m not, Ashley.
A person can’t treat me like that and then not expect to be outed – finding her name was easier pickings than I expected it to be.
At any rate, what happened was after my complaint last year about not being able to pay the DirecTV service on the television – because when I would return from long trips to Georgia, I expected it to be off and would pay it via the TV-based prompt – and my use of Twitter to do so, a person who was managing the DirecTV Twitter account stepped in with an idea such that, I thought, I would have some kind of grace period after the bill due date to respond to a note.
I was never told I would be given an account that just ran and ran – in fact, I wasn’t ever told I was being given a new account.
So, I went out of town again, back to Georgia – at points for a good 40 days at the max point. And all to visit with my Mom there in Atlanta. When I returned to Oakland, I found my DirecTV first not on, but I was so busy I didn’t take time to call – then it was on.
I went out of town again – I go to Georgia about every month – and then came back and it was running. This back and forth – me out of town then returning – went on all year. Over that time I never got one letter from DirecTV about a service change. Not one.
So, arrogant me thought for a time that either DirecTV was giving me comped service, or something was going on. So I looked back through the mail to see what I’d missed – and I found a bill for $900.
Yeah, part of this is my not paying attention to them, I’ll grant you that. But remember, I’m used to my service just going off, and then I’ll pay it. Fine. I have no issue with that, especially since I’m away a lot.
So just as this is happening, I get a text from the DirecTV social media guy who then told me what he’d done: he gave me a VIP account that doesn’t shut off. Trouble is, it is a money meter for DirecTV. I was really upset, so he came up with an idea that I would call them to have it turned on as I was paying down the $900.
Man, I didn’t like that. But off I went, traveling a ton – then when I sat down to focus on resolving this crap, guess what? I can’t find the guy at all. Moreover, I can’t find him on Twitter. So I used social media to call out DirecTV.
Meanwhile I get a bill that’s not $900, but $804. Why, I do not know. But I do know if they can play around with the bill, they can sure as hell not charge me that much, considering I WAS NOT INFORMED OF A SERVICE CHANGE!
My idea was for DirecTV to send logo photos that I could use in a month’s worth of my videos, to help promote DirecTV. So while the sponsorship value is much greater than $809 or $900, it would be a social media way of resolving a problem that started with social media.
Trouble is, I can’t find the right people to talk to and Ashley has pissed me off so bad I can’t see – so to speak.
So, I’m going to make massive noise about this until this is settled in a way that benefits both me and DirecTV, and not the current way, where DirecTV is trying to stick it to me. I’m going to push this with all my might until it gives.
Stay tuned.