BUYER BEWARE ALERT

My wife and I recently had an eye-opening experience with Direct TV which I want to share with my readers. We are both in our eighties, but we are neither senile nor stupid.

After many years with Direct TV, my wife and I decided to drop that service over a dispute of what appeared to be some double billing and which we could not resolve with Direct TV representatives. We switched to Dish TV and notified Direct TV to stop their service to us. About a month later, after we had already paid the closing bill, we received a special Direct TV bill for $224.00.

My wife called Direct TV to find out why we got that additional billing. She was informed that the $224.00 was an early cancellation penalty. When she asked how they came up with that, she was told that when we ordered a couple of additional receivers, which they installed on 9-25-08, we agreed to a 24-month contract extension. That was news to us.

When the installer finished, he handed my wife a yellow copy entitled, "Installation/Service Satisfaction Checklist," which he asked her to sign. On the backside was a whole page of fine print. Because we thought that she was just acknowledging that the installation order had been completed to our satisfaction, she did not read that fine print before signing the copy. AT NO TIME did the Direct TV representative tell me that we were also getting a 24-month sevice extension when I placed the order for the two additional receivers. And the installer did not tell us so either.

It wasn't until after we received the early cancellation penalty bill that we noticed the back of the yellow form she signed had a small heading "DirectTV Equipment Lease Addendum." About a third of the way down the page there was a "Programming Commitment" section which told us we were agreeing to a 24-month contract extension.

I think the method employed by Direct TV is a borderline deceptive trade practice. We should have been advised at the time of placing the order that we would be obligated for an additional two years. And when the installer gave us the yellow form to sign it was too late because he had already completed his work. That was pretty sneaky of Direct TV.

By the way, when we ordered Dish TV, their representative never told me that we were going to be saddled with a two-year contract. Their installer gave us a 24-month term agreement form to sign, but that was not shown to us until after he had completed his work. I suspect that the cable companies, like Comcast and AT&T, do the same thing - that is their reprsentatives don't tell prospective customers about any contract terms and their installers don't do it either.

So, BUYER BEWARE! If you've recently signed up for a satellite or cable TV service and were not informed about your contractural obligations, you might want to look closely over the paper work you received from the installer. And if you plan to switch providers or intend to order some additional equipment, and if you plan to sign up for one of these services for the first time, you have now been warned NOT TO LET THEM SNEAK ONE OVER ON YOU!